CHAPTER 301: CHAPTER 301 WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR A LONG TIME

"This is impossible!" Yu Ruoyun quietly approached Bai Ji, took the pickaxe, and examined it. "Without an antidote, forget someone at the Star Sea level; even a Titled Strongman, or someone half a step into the Star Soul realm, couldn’t have safely reached this place. Do you think The Death Valley, the Life Forbidden Zone, is falsely reputed? Whoever came here must have already obtained the antidote... Huh?"

Suddenly, Yu Ruoyun exclaimed in surprise, "The production date on this pickaxe is... last December?"

"Last December? Wasn’t the Nine-layer Pagoda closed back then? It only reopened this year... So, this pickaxe only turned up here recently?"

"If the production date stamped on it isn’t random... then this pickaxe has been here for no more than five days, especially since we were on the first three levels for the past three days."

"But why would someone bring a pickaxe into The Death Valley?" Bai Ji asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Just now, Wang Lan and I found a Space Box from fifteen years ago in the dense forest. It was filled with Space Stones, which proves there’s a Space Stone mine on the fourth level."

"If he came here to mine, then based on our speculation, either he was thrown into The Death Valley to die, or The Death Valley was a necessary passage for him. But even if someone was thrown in here to die, they couldn’t have reached this spot, right? And those who sneak in to mine would definitely not be numerous. Taking a detour from another direction would mean facing the danger of encountering powerful Exotic Beasts. If they have an antidote, passing through The Death Valley would be the safest route. The Space Stone mine is either inside The Death Valley, or The Death Valley is a necessary passage to reach it."

"It’s unlikely to be a necessary passage. The Death Valley isn’t that large; at our pace, we could go around it in a day. It wouldn’t be worth braving the dangers of The Death Valley just to save one day."

"Then, why would someone leave a pickaxe here?"

"Either they accidentally dropped the pickaxe here, or they ran into trouble."

As they exchanged their thoughts and speculated, a logical chain of cause and effect was pieced together.

"Should we report this to the academy?"

"I don’t believe it’s just one person here to mine. They might be members of the team that entered with us and could be swinging their pickaxes right now. Let’s go find them. With both witnesses and physical evidence, there’ll be no room for denial. Damn it! No wonder Modu City has had Different Dimensional Spaces opened from time to time these years. I’ve always wondered how so many Space Stones emerged. So, the problem lies here."

"To dare to dig right under the Star Martial Academy’s nose, the person behind this has incredible gall," Yue Jifeng said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

The four began exploring The Death Valley. Since Ghost-eye had fled underground, Wang Lan first used the Song of Life to expel the Star Martial Toxins from their bodies. After all, both the antidote and the Ghost Eye Toxin are potent poisons; they only neutralize each other when mixed.

And Wang Lan also pondered where those who came to mine had obtained the antidote for the Star Martial Toxins? Furthermore, the oldest Space Box dated back fifteen years. This meant that the antidote had existed for over fifteen years, and Space Stones had been mined for that long? The Death Valley was designated as a forbidden territory over two decades ago, yet someone had been mining secretly? Was this done behind the academy’s back, or was it an arrangement made by the academy with those people?

"Ruoyun, Speedy Wind, sense any vibrations from an underground space," Bai Ji said suddenly, her fingers inserted into the ground.

"Where? Straight ahead, three kilometers."

"Let’s move out, alert formation."

A three-kilometer distance was virtually nothing for the four of them. In less than ten minutes, they had closed in on the location Bai Ji had mentioned.

From the surface, nothing seemed amiss. At the far end of the basin, the cliff walls were riddled with corroded holes. They resembled the craters on the moon’s surface, densely packed and uneven.

"The knocking sounds are directly below us," Bai Ji said gravely. "There shouldn’t be many, fewer than ten people."

"This aligns with our speculation. It couldn’t be large-scale mining, so there are only about ten people."

"Look over there!" Yue Jifeng pointed to a spot halfway up the cliff, one hole hidden among the many. The deep opening stood out starkly from the other holes.

"Go!"

The four flashed into motion, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the edge of the pit. Wang Lan touched the edges of the pit. He noted traces of human carving; it had to lead downwards.

Inside the pit, it was pitch black, so dark one couldn’t see one’s own hand in front of one’s face. But in the world of Star Martial Warriors, eyesight is not the only thing they rely on for action. Sound, airflow, atmospheric pressure, and even smell could serve as tools for navigating space. Especially for Wang Lan, whose heat-sensing vision enabled him to see in the dark. The entrance was small, but inside it was unexpectedly spacious. The winding, two-meter-wide tunnel appeared to have been entirely excavated with pickaxes.

Touching the marks on the tunnel walls, Wang Lan felt a growing sense of unease.

Yu Ruoyun took the lead, with Yue Jifeng bringing up the rear. Wang Lan and Bai Ji, who needed protection, were in the middle. Yu Ruoyun seemed intent on catching those secretly mining Space Stones. Though she appeared to walk at a measured pace, she was actually moving very quickly.

"Ruoyun, slow down a bit. Something doesn’t feel right," Wang Lan said softly.

"What feels off?"

"I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something strange about this tunnel. We’ve descended at least three hundred meters, which means we should be underground by now. So why is the tunnel entrance on a cliff face?"

"Isn’t it for concealment?" asked Yue Jifeng from behind. "With all these similar corroded caves around, choosing one as the mine entrance would be inconspicuous."

"Are you sure?" Wang Lan turned and looked back at Yue Jifeng. "Then why did you spot this cave entrance so easily? Moreover, this tunnel is indeed artificially excavated. But... there are no traces of ores on the rock walls. A normal mine would have signs of ore all over its walls; even if the amounts were too small to be worth mining, they would definitely be present. However, the rock walls inside this tunnel are no different from those outside. Are we sure there are Space Stones here?"

"While everything you’ve said is correct, since we’ve discovered this man-made tunnel, we must find out who excavated it and why," Yu Ruoyun said afterward.

"Who’s there!" Suddenly, a sharp cry came from within the mine tunnel. Hearing the noise, Yu Ruoyun instantly dashed forward.

The other party, seemingly sensing the movement ahead, suddenly had a brilliant Star Energy Fluctuation ignite around him, and his figure flashed towards the depths of the cave at high speed.

"Chase!" The moment Yu Ruoyun finished speaking, she had already transformed into a streak of light and vanished. Wang Lan was too late to stop her, even if he had wanted to. Gritting his teeth, he could only follow reluctantly. Star Power surged around him as the gates to his Star Palace opened. In an instant, the Phoenix Constellation Saint Cloth burst forth from his Star Palace and enveloped him.

Wang Lan feared there might be traps inside; in a sudden attack, the Saint Cloth would be the last line of defense. If an attack couldn’t be blocked by the Saint Cloth, then dodging it would also be impossible.

No longer concerned about exposing themselves, the four pursued their quarry with lightning speed. The three hundred meters that had taken them nearly half an hour to traverse before, they now covered in a split second.

In the blink of an eye, they followed the figure ahead into a large cavern, where they found a pyramid constructed from Space Stones. At that moment, a circle of instruments around the pyramid sparked with electrical arcs, yet strangely, without the usual crackling sound.

Activating her Star Power, Yu Ruoyun summoned wind blades that flanked and struck down the fleeing Star Martial Warrior.

Her figure flickered, landing beside the pyramid.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Seeing the pyramid, she had already confirmed that this place was not a mine, and there was no Space Stone ore. Perhaps the Space Box from fifteen years ago wasn’t filled with Space Stones mined in the Nine-layer Pagoda; perhaps Space Stones were transported *into* the Nine-layer Pagoda?

With that thought, Yu Ruoyun’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why did you transport so many Space Stones here?"

"Princess Yu, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time," suddenly, a figure clad in black appeared atop the pyramid.

"Waiting for me?"

"Yes, waiting for you! My master invites Princess Yu for a trip to a Different Dimensional Space!"

As the other’s words fell, Wang Lan’s expression suddenly changed drastically. His figure shot backward in retreat.

BOOM—

He slammed straight into an invisible barrier. Wang Lan’s expression changed dramatically. They really had stumbled headlong into a trap; their adversaries had already laid a Sky Net, waiting for them.

BOOM—

The pyramid before them suddenly erupted with blinding light. A terrifying energy swept out, engulfing and instantly dissipating the person who had stood atop the pyramid.

"Shatter the Space Stones—" In his urgency, Wang Lan cried out hoarsely.

Instantly, Star Power surged through him as the four interconnected Star Martial Skills he knew converged within his body. He poured all his Star Power unreservedly into this earth-shattering attack.

Beside him, Yu Ruoyun also reacted to Wang Lan’s warning. She fused five attributes, launching a complex Star Martial Skill similar to Wang Lan’s.

"Purple Flame Thunder Spear—"

"Chaos Dragon Elephant—"

"Gale Electric Slash—"

BOOM—

Three devastating attacks instantly struck the Space Stones before them. The pyramid built from Space Stones immediately shattered. Terrifying energy spilled out in all directions, but the anticipated explosive aftermath didn’t occur.

The rampant energy was absorbed by a distorted spatial projection that appeared above them, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The Space Stones crumbled and disintegrated like a pile of burnt-out firewood, while the space above them distorted violently. However, because Wang Lan and his companions had launched their terrifying coordinated attack, the surrounding barrier had already vanished.

Wang Lan grabbed Yu Ruoyun’s hand. "Let’s go! We need to get out of here quickly!"

However, he felt Yu Ruoyun resisting his pull.

"This situation is beyond our..." Wang Lan’s words suddenly halted.

Something was wrong. It wasn’t just Yu Ruoyun resisting; Wang Lan’s own body was also being pulled backward by an invisible force. Wang Lan whipped his head around. The previously distorted spatial projection above them had now become a gaping rift.

While he held Yu Ruoyun’s hand, Yue Jifeng held Bai Ji’s, both barely resisting the suction from the spatial rift above.

"Ruoyun, you’re smart. Can you explain... why can a Different Dimensional Space be opened within another Different Dimensional Space?"

"Opening one Different Dimensional Space within another would normally only cause the two spaces to merge. Unless... both are fixed spaces. The Nine-layer Pagoda is unique; what happens here can’t be explained by common sense."

"Stop analyzing and think of something... I can’t hold on much longer!" Yue Jifeng shouted desperately, his hand clinging tightly to a rock.

"You *say* you’re about to lose your grip, but I *already* can’t hold on anymore..." Bai Ji’s words were cut short as her body suddenly flew backward. She, along with Yue Jifeng, was swallowed by the spatial rift.

And as the spatial rift swallowed Yue Jifeng and Bai Ji, Wang Lan also lost his grip. He was sucked into the rift as if by a vacuum cleaner and instantly vanished.