[Vol. 8] Chapter 233: The Long White Jade Stairs
The three followed behind, only to realize that right behind the statue was an entrance to a staircase made of white stone that led downward. The steps stretched far into the distance, and it was impossible to see where they ended. Although the stairs were beautifully and brightly built, they were completely hidden behind the statue. Unless someone walked all the way around the grand hall, it would be very hard to notice this hidden path inside.
“So it was hidden right under our noses~ No time to waste, let’s go.”
Just like that, with Aldrich leading the way, the three newcomers followed closely behind. The group of four quickly descended the stairs into the tomb below.
At first, the staircase was only about three meters wide, but as they kept walking down, the space around the white jade steps became wider and wider. There were no torches or magical lamps on either side, yet the stairs gave off a soft glow on their own, making it not too dark and rather amazing to see.
As he confidently led the way at the front, Aldrich began to explain.
“This path is quite long. Once we get through it, we’ll reach the actual ruins. I’ve never gone into the ruins myself, but from what others who came out said, it's like a whole world in there — with mountains, rivers, flowers, animals, even many ancient rare treasures and divine relics that no longer exist in the outside world. That’s why so many people are drawn here... But...”
Seeing that he hesitated, Bevis raised an eyebrow.
“Please, go ahead.”
“Sigh, alright then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. There may be lots of treasures in there, but from what I’ve seen, the people who got the biggest rewards from the ruins all ended up badly. Some died in fights over treasure. Some went crazy and disappeared. There were even cases where whole families were wiped out because of it.”
Aldrich let out a sigh, his face full of helplessness.
“If you ask me, I think this place is cursed. Like one of those legendary boxes full of disasters. It looks full of chances and luck, but actually brings nothing but misfortune. It should’ve been sealed off a long time ago.”
“But the Church doesn’t care about this place at all, and I’m just a small-time adventurer. I can’t change anything. That’s all I have to say. Be extra careful.”
“……”
Hearing Aldrich’s unexpected but strangely sincere warning, the three of them exchanged silent glances. Their expressions changed slightly as they looked at their temporary guide. Even the swordsman, who had never liked him, gave a slight nod and bowed slightly with a fist salute.
“Thanks for the warning.”
Just like that, the group kept walking and talking. The white jade steps around them had stopped getting wider, but the path still went down and down, seemingly endless. As they walked, Aldrich suddenly stopped and frowned.
“Wait a minute. What’s going on? Why is the road before the cutoff point so long now? We should’ve arrived already.”
“What’s wrong?”
It was the first time for Violet and the others to visit this place, so they had no idea how long the path should be. But as Aldrich looked around, his expression grew more serious. Finally, with a sharp metallic sound, he drew the blade from his waist.
“Something’s wrong. There’s definitely a problem. The path from the hall to the cutoff point should be no more than two thousand steps, but we’ve already walked over three thousand, and there’s still no sign of the cutoff. I’ve been to this ruin seven or eight times and never seen anything like this. Stay alert!”
“An endless road? Sounds kind of like... one of those ghost maze traps...”
The priestess muttered softly to herself. With a single thought, she turned her SP into divine sense and quietly spread it out in all directions. But to her surprise, no matter how far her divine sense reached, all she could see was the same unchanging white jade staircase. Even the entrance that had led back to the outer hall had disappeared at some unknown point.
It was clear now: this place no longer belonged to the real world.
When did it change? Was it because they had knocked on those two bronze statues earlier, triggering some kind of hidden rule? Or was it something else entirely?
She turned her head and met the gaze of Xiao Guang, who was also secretly watching the surroundings. The two women understood each other without words. Xiao Guang immediately caught Violet’s meaning and gave a small nod.
“It’s definitely a bit complicated, but I could force it open with the Primordial Flame. Should I do it, Master?”
“What would happen if you force it open?”
“I’m not sure. But from the feeling of it, this seems to be some kind of trial. If we skip it by force, it might mess up something important later on.”
“…?”
Wait, what? Why is there suddenly some kind of test out of nowhere? Who even are you, anyway?
The priestess was speechless. She wasn’t the type to follow someone else’s plan without question. Just as Violet was about to order her dragon to forcefully break through everything, a voice of realization suddenly came from beside her.
“Oh? This feeling… I think I might know what’s going on.”
All three turned their heads in surprise. The Sword Saint had crouched down and was now tapping the white jade bricks with the hilt of his sword, knocking on them one by one with a heavy clang. Until—
“Dong~”
A sound rang out, clearer and brighter than all the previous ones. Everyone’s face changed at once!
There was something under that tile!?
Bevis looked slightly surprised but didn’t bother worrying about whether destroying the scene would be a problem. He simply pressed his hand down on the stone. With the immense power of a Saint-level being, the entire white jade tile instantly crumbled into dust. The others quickly crowded around to look, and beneath the spot, lying there clearly, was a shimmering silver scale!
“…Is that… a dragon scale?”
As a pure-blooded Holy Crystal Dragon, and now officially recognized as the Dragon God, Xiao Guang was especially sensitive to the aura of her own kind. She recognized the silver scale almost instantly. Violet, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow and quickly noticed something odd.
“A silver dragon scale… I don’t think that belongs to any of the Seven Great Dragon Clans. Could it be from a mutated species or something? By the way, Mr. Bevis, how did you even know something was buried under that tile?”
She continued, “This whole space is clearly built with a powerful magical formation. To keep people inside from easily cracking it, any hidden items would naturally be covered by a barrier. So as skilled as you are in swordsmanship, it doesn’t really make sense that you’d be better than us at this kind of detection, right?”
As expected, the Sword Saint nodded slightly. A sharp gleam flickered in his aged eyes, but he didn’t hide anything.
“This should be an ancient dragon formation, the [Tenfold Illusion Array]. I once… had the luck to read about it in a book, so I know a little about it.”