Qin Xiaoyu let out a long breath and turned to beckon everyone over.
"Come on. One last trial."
The passage went deeper than the previous one.
The stone steps spiraled downward. With every level they descended, the concentration of spiritual power in the air increased. By the bottom, even breathing made their chests feel painfully swollen.
Yang Wanqing rubbed her nose as she walked. "This energy concentration is ridiculous. It's like drinking soup—one mouthful and you're full."
At the end of the passage lay another underground chamber, slightly smaller than the last.
No wooden figures. No glowing formation.
Only a stone stele.
The stele stood about three meters tall and a meter and a half wide, densely covered in Primordial Script.
The writing was arranged differently from the earlier runes. Rather than formation diagrams, it consisted of passages of text.
Xiao Yuanfeng strode up, stared at the stele for three seconds, then stepped back.
He still couldn't recognize a single word.
Chen Siyao approached the stele and began deciphering its inscription.
In the livestream, sixty million viewers held their breath.
The scrolling comments almost stopped—everyone was waiting for Chen Siyao's translation.
Chen Siyao's phone was still recording, its camera aimed at the stele. As she read, she translated the Primordial Script into modern Chinese, sentence by sentence.
"'My name is Ji Li, an inner disciple of the Heavenly Reach Sect. By order of the sect leader, I guard Penglai's Thirty-Sixth Island.'"
She paused, then continued reading.
"'This formation contains three trials. The first tests mastery of formations, the second tests combat prowess, and the third tests the art of Artifact Refining. Once all three are passed, the formation will dissolve on its own.'"
"'The third trial requires neither combat nor breaking a formation. I have left an Artifact Refining task