Outside the hall, the martial artists taking part in the trial watched its doors swing open, unable to contain the excitement in their eyes.
No one waited to discuss it. Someone took the lead and leaped into the ruins.
With the first person leading the way, the others followed close behind. More than a dozen figures rushed in and scattered, each ducking into collapsed stone chambers and searching among broken beams and ruined walls, eager to find fortuitous treasures.
Liu Yunche remained where he was, his expression calm, and did not rashly follow.
Beside him, Yuan Kong likewise stayed put, his plain robes stirring in the wind. His gaze swept lightly over the youths eager to seize treasures, his expression unruffled.
Their eyes met across the distance, and each understood the other.
The secret realm had only just opened, and deadly dangers lurked in the shadows. This was not the time to clash with their peers.
Fighting too early would only waste their strength and introduce more uncertainty.
After their brief exchange of glances, the two nodded silently, then turned and went their separate ways.
Yuan Kong headed into the deep, shadowy corridor on the left, alone and unhurried.
Liu Yunche stepped into the rubble on the right, slowly venturing deeper under cover of the overlapping shadows.
In an instant, the quiet ruins of the ancient hall became noisy and chaotic.
The sounds of stones being overturned and beams dismantled, the sharp clinks of weapons, and the angry shouts of martial artists arguing rose one after another.
Everyone was intent on finding treasure, treating this place as an ancient treasure ground brimming with opportunities.
None noticed the faint scraping of joints that drifted intermittently from deep underground beneath these deathly still ruins.
At first, it was too faint to distinguish,