Creeeak-
An unbroken succession of teeth-grating sounds echoed through the vast yet enclosed underground space, like an invisible beast scraping its claws against the stone walls, unspeakably harsh and heavy.
Each sound dragged on, ricocheting between the surrounding stone walls and lingering long afterward.
Although Chen Changming could actually have pressed this Rune Stone into the stone door in a single breath, he did not do so.
Never revealing his trump cards had always been his guiding principle.
There was plenty of time now anyway, and pressing in a Rune Stone would not take very long. At most, a dozen or so breaths would suffice to push one completely into the stone door.
Chen Changming deliberately kept his pace steady and unhurried, appearing neither strained nor overly relaxed, maintaining just the right impression of effort-as though he could "just barely manage it."
Soon, the instant Chen Changming pressed the first Rune Stone fully into the stone door, a powerful recoil surged back like a tsunami, traveling through his palm, arm, and shoulder blade with fierce, violent force.
Chen Changming deliberately gave a muffled grunt, pretending that his arm had taken a blow. He leaned back slightly, then quickly withdrew his arm and made a show of rotating his wrist.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, are you all right?"
Standing a short distance away, Dong Xueqi deliberately asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
Chen Changming made a show of lowering his head to inspect his palm, then waved dismissively and said in a relaxed tone, "The recoil is certainly powerful, with quite a bit of force behind it, but it isn't enough to hurt me. It only left me a little numb."
"Your physical strength is astonishing, Fellow Daoist Chen. Truly extraordinary. Even if you don't obtain Marquis Xuangang's inheritance, once you break through