Elite Passage

Night.

The Amazon Jungle, South America.

The Qiankun-class Intelligent Fighter swooped down from high above, then slowly landed.

Whoosh~

The cabin door opened.

Yun He and the other eight War Gods stepped out with Yao Rao.

A stretch of barren land surrounded them, with an endless jungle in the distance. They could faintly make out the figures of a few monsters.

Hiss, hiss~

Suddenly, the ground trembled and parted to either side, revealing a passage five meters wide leading underground.

Beep~

A silver-gray elevator rose straight to the surface. Its doors opened, and an old man in red robes walked out.

"Councilor Yao Rao." The old man bowed slightly.

"Mm."

Yao Rao looked at Yun He and the other eight, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. "Once you enter the ruins, each of you will face something different. I hope you make it out alive."

Then Councilor Yao Rao darted into the Qiankun-class Fighter Jet and quickly flew away.

"Everyone, let's hurry. There are only two hours left before the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins close for the year," the old man in red reminded them.

They arrived in a spacious underground hall covering several hundred square meters.

Nearly a hundred staff members from various factions across Earth had gathered in the hall.

"Welcome, War Gods!"

"War Gods, we hope you make it out alive!"

"Go, go, go! When you come out, I'll pop some champagne to celebrate!"

The underground base's staff offered their well wishes to the War Gods about to enter the ruins.

Yun He and the others remained silent.

"Open the passage!" the old man in red shouted.

Clack, clack, clack~

The curved alloy wall directly ahead slowly split open, revealing a circular passage.

"My God!" The previously silent War Gods cried out, their eyes filled with horror as they stared at the circular passage.

Yun He could hardly hide his shock either. This was his first time witnessing such a fantastical sight in person.

The first two or three meters of the circular passage were still made of alloy. Beyond that, it turned a strange blackish brown, as though the passage had been formed from tangled, withered tree roots.

At the end of the passage stood a circular, glowing screen of light.

"Follow the passage and step through that screen of light to enter the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins."

"Once you enter, there's no turning back."

"Good luck to all nine of you."

The old man in red and the many staff members in the base watched Yun He and the other eight.

Whether they would return alive was unknown!

"Everyone, I'll go first!" Breaking the silence, Yun He smiled faintly and drew a light breath. He walked straight into the passage, stepped through the screen of light, and disappeared.

"Good luck, everyone!" His voice lingered in the passage.

This was a black hall with a hemispherical ceiling. The entire hall covered several hundred square meters, and hazy beams of light shone down from above, giving it a dreamlike appearance.

So these are the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins, the trial site that Hu Yanbo, the Master of Yunmo Star, set up on Earth back then.

Standing alone in the hall, Yun He surveyed his surroundings and thought to himself.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Suddenly, dreamlike beams of colored light shot down from the ceiling, enveloping Yun He.

Yun He stood quietly and waited. He knew the intelligence within the ruins was testing the trial participant's aptitude.

One minute later.

"XXX, XXXXXX..." A language he had never heard before rang out in the hall.

Yun He hurriedly looked down at his Communication Watch.

Congratulations. Your physical aptitude is superior, qualifying you to enter this trial base's Elite Passage. As this is the first time the Elite Passage has opened in over five thousand years, please wait fifteen minutes.

Superior aptitude...?

Just as I thought, the physical aptitude I gained through the system's upgrades qualifies me to open the Elite Passage!

A faint smile curved Yun He's lips as he stood quietly in the black hall and waited.

Everything was proceeding as expected.

Nothing unexpected had happened.

That was good.

Time ticked by, and fifteen minutes passed.

"XXXXXX..." Another announcement rang out in the black hall.

At the same time, one of the hall's walls began to tremble.

Yun He hurriedly looked down at his Communication Watch, whose display translated the message: "Please enter the Elite Passage."

When he raised his head, a deep, pitch-black passage had already appeared in the wall ahead.

"The Elite Passage."

Yun He drew a light breath, held his longsword in his left hand, and stepped into the black passage.

As he walked through it, he had no idea how long the passage was. Its end was nowhere in sight.

Whoosh!

Yun He picked up speed, pushing off the ground and shooting forward.

After traveling about a kilometer, he came upon several branching paths.

"Nine branches, just as expected!"

Yun He paused briefly, then chose the leftmost branch.

A moment later.

At the end of this branch, another nine branching paths appeared.

Without hesitation, Yun He continued down the leftmost branch.

Through one branch after another, Yun He raced forward, almost becoming a black streak of light as he sped through the ancient, deep passage formed from tangled black roots.

Suddenly, another nine branches appeared at the end of the passage ahead. A blurry black shadow seeped out of a branch's wall, dripped onto the ground like water, and gradually solidified into a black-robed figure wearing a gray mask.

A black-robed figure appeared in each of the branches ahead, nine in total.

The nine black-robed figures solidified, their eyes lighting up with green pupils. They stared at Yun He with undisguised killing intent!

Hmm?

Has the test begun?

Yun He raised an eyebrow. Rather than stopping, he accelerated again. Before the nine black-robed figures ahead could surround him, he charged straight at the one in the leftmost branch.

"Roar~~"

The black-robed figure fixed its green pupils on Yun He, its gaze brimming with killing intent. It let out an angry roar and charged toward him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

The black-robed figures in the other eight branches also rushed over.

Roar, roar, roar~

At the same time, nine roars rang out from the nine branches behind him!

Eighteen black-robed figures in total!

The thought flashed through Yun He's mind.

It all happened in an instant. Yun He had already reached the black-robed figure in the leftmost branch.

Shing!

His longsword flashed out of its sheath.

Full power!

Peak High-level War God: 512,000 kg.

Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, eighth layer: 6.3× power output!

Shing~

The longsword streaked through the dim passage like black lightning, seemingly slicing even the air ahead apart.

"Die!"

With his longsword in hand, Yun He became a streak of black sword light and pierced straight through the black-robed figure.

Boom!

The black-robed figure exploded, turning into liquid that merged back into the wall.

Yun He darted into the leftmost branch before the other seventeen black-robed figures could surround him.

Roar, roar, roar~

The seventeen black-robed figures behind him roared furiously, their green pupils filled with crazed killing intent as they pursued him into the branch.

Judging by the one I just fought, each black-robed figure should be at the peak High-level War God level, with twice the power output.

That means each one can unleash around a million kilograms of force at full power!

If I'd hesitated even slightly and let all eighteen surround me, things would have gone badly!

A single punch carrying a million kilograms of force would have been enough to severely injure Yun He.

Once severely injured in a place like this, he would probably be done for. He might as well delete his character and start over.

Good thing I came prepared.

Now they can't catch me!

Yun He drove his legs at full power, racing like a streak of light through the deep passage. He passed branch after branch and soon left the black-robed figures far behind.