Soon, all the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke had withdrawn into the ruins. Only a faint crimson haze lingered at the entrance. Wang Tianba, standing by the doorway, laughed and exchanged glances with Li Hansha and the other four Transforming Strength Great Boxers beside him before speaking in a deep voice.
"The entrance to the ruins is right in front of us, but this door doesn't look simple. The blood qi lingering on it is still keeping us out. We don't know what's inside, so why don't we open the door first, then decide how to explore?"
Li Hansha glanced at the Stone Gate and raised no objection. The other four Transforming Strength Great Boxers had none either, and all nodded in agreement.
"Then let's each strike once and break through that blood qi as quickly as possible. I'll go first..."
Before he finished speaking, Wang Tianba let out a low shout and stepped forward. Bending his front leg slightly, he swung a backhanded Three Emperors Cannon Punch at the door. His fist came down like a thousand-pound hammer, brutally simple as it tore through the air and slammed into the Stone Gate.
Boom!
His fist struck the blood qi shrouding the door. It was like smashing a hammer into rubber. Nearly half the blood qi scattered, but the force rebounding from it drove Wang Tianba back a step.
Li Hansha, standing nearby, drew a deep breath and followed up without a pause. He drove his foot into the ground, his Internal Force exploding and sending dirt flying. Power rose from the earth, passed through his thigh, waist, and spine into his arm, then surged into his fist. He punched like a cannonball.
Crack...
With a muffled sound, the blood qi surrounding the massive Stone Gate shattered, revealing a gap down the middle. A cold, sinister air seeped out. The interior was dim. Outside, the Manifesting Strength Boxers widened their eyes and stared tensely through the opening, eager to see what lay within.
None of them dared rush inside, though. Two Pillaring Grandmasters and four Transforming Strength Great Boxers still stood at the entrance. If they displeased those powerhouses, exploring the ruins would be the least of their worries. They might not make it out alive.
"That was one heavy punch! Let's push the door open and see what's inside these ruins."
Wang Tianba swung his fist at the Stone Gate again. The tremendous impact shoved it all the way open.
Pale golden sunlight spilled inside, and the Eternal Lamps flared to life one after another. The interior remained murky, but there was no obvious danger.
"Looks like there's nothing in the Wu Ming Ruins..."
"Great, no danger! We can explore without worrying. If we're lucky, maybe we'll even find that Human Immortal Martial Dao cultivation method..."
Listening to the excited Manifesting Strength Boxers around him, Gu Chen rolled his eyes. He had created the Wu Ming Ruins through Refine Falsehood Into Truth. He knew better than anyone what was inside.
The monsters the three tomb raiders had encountered were the Blood Qi Puppets he had designed. Made from corpses and refined with powerful blood qi, they were much like walking dead. The faint electromagnetic fields emitted by living creatures triggered them, turning them into puppet monsters that attacked intruders.
Naturally, he had not designed the Wu Ming Ruins to be explored so easily. The Blood Qi Puppets were there as obstacles. It was like a game: if it was so easy that players cleared it in no time, where was the fun? A challenging, exciting story was what left an impression.
He needed to warn these naive Manifesting Strength Boxers before they wandered in and got wiped out. They were prime crops who could provide him with Origin Points in the future. He couldn't let them be cut down here.
Gu Chen's eyes flickered as he linked his mind to his double, Li Hansha, who stood before the Stone Gate.
"Something isn't right in there..." Li Hansha said suddenly. Silence fell. The more than two hundred Manifesting Strength Boxers turned their attention to him, as did Wang Tianba and the four Transforming Strength Great Boxers beside him.
With Gu Chen's mind linked to his, Li Hansha offered no further explanation. He stepped through the Stone Gate. The moment he stopped, something whistled through the air. A humanoid creature wearing Beast Hide armor lunged at him with a beastlike roar.
Li Hansha shifted aside and struck the attacker with his palm. Violent Internal Force burst from the blow, sending the creature flying seven or eight meters out through the Stone Gate. It hit the ground with a dull thud.
Thud!
That palm strike had carried tremendous force, crushing half the attacker's rib cage. Broken ribs pierced through its flesh. Yet despite the grievous injury, it struggled to its feet and tried to attack the people nearby.
The Manifesting Strength Boxers exclaimed in astonishment. Quite a few pulled out their phones and began recording, intending to post the footage online later.
Curious, Wang Tianba picked up the humanoid monster by its old Beast Hide armor. Its flesh was as shriveled as a corpse's, its eyes sunken deep in their sockets. It wore its hair in a braid and was clearly a foreigner. A token hung at its waist, engraved with Seal Script. The moment Wang Tianba lifted it, he spoke in surprise.
"This is a dead man? No—or is it a puppet?"
He then dislocated its shoulder blades, neck, and leg bones. It could still move.
"Interesting. I wonder if it can survive having its head smashed in..."
With that, Wang Tianba punched it in the forehead.
Bang!
Its skull broke with a dull crack, revealing Silver Needles linked by faintly visible Golden Threads. The blood qi surrounding them dissipated, and the puppet finally went still.
Everyone found it hard to believe. The Wu Ming Ruins contained puppets made from corpses—and they could move and attack viciously. Apart from the weak point in the forehead, they could keep moving even after every bone in their bodies had been pulled apart!
Clearly, the Wu Ming Ruins were dangerous. Anyone who went in thinking it would be easy would find no mercy from these puppets. If one ambushed and killed them, there would be no one to complain to.
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