Douluo: Martial Soul Seven Kill Sword, The Sword Opens Heaven's Gates

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Inside the ruins, it resembled a massive palace.

The decorative style was somewhat plain, but the interior was meticulously arranged.

The deeper they ventured, the stronger the gusts of wind blowing from the depths of the palace became, and faint wails could even be heard.

It was certain that the Abyssal Cavern lay within.

However, the palace was vast, and the group couldn't immediately locate its exact position.

After a short while, Feng Xiaotian stopped near a railing in the distance. When the others caught up to him, they finally understood the situation.

There was a spiral staircase leading both upward and downward. Standing on the staircase and looking down, they could see a cavern that seemed to have no bottom.

Here, the howling wind rushed past their ears, resembling cries from hell.

"This is the Abyssal Cavern?"

Seeing this, the group felt a sense of disappointment.

Clearly, this cavern differed greatly from what they had imagined.

With the evil god dead, the legendary veil surrounding the Abyssal Cavern had been completely shattered. Now, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary cavern emitting strong winds.

Feng Xiaotian clicked his tongue and said, "There seems to be something here attracting me, and the source might just be this cavern. But after I got closer, that feeling suddenly disappeared."

"Oh?" Ning Tianchen became interested and asked, "Was there something that made your heart tremble?"

Receiving an affirmative answer, he smiled and said, "It seems there should be an opportunity here meant for you."

Feng Xiaotian shrugged, removed his mask, and sighed, "Hopefully so. That feeling has disappeared—it might have been an illusion. However, if I train here, my cultivation should improve quickly."

Pointing at the staircase before him, he added, "I think we can look around nearby. This place is an ancient ruin—perhaps there are treasures left behind by predecessors."

Ning Rongrong subtly tugged at Ning Tianchen's sleeve.

Compared to the others, they still had a task to complete.

If it was a puzzle, then where was the riddle?

Ning Tianchen looked around but found no traces of any riddles.

After some thought, he instructed, "Xiaotian, Yu Die, Cai Die, and Zhuqing, you go down and take a look. The rest of us will go up."

"Approach with reverence—don't touch anything you shouldn't, to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Feng Xiaotian said, "We'll meet back here in an hour, regardless of whether we find anything or not."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The two groups climbed the stairs separately. Looking up or down, the staircase seemed endless.

"It's hard to imagine what kind of person would dare build a staircase here," Oscar remarked, his voice trembling slightly.

The handrail on one side of the staircase was very low, and carelessness could easily lead to a fall into the abyss. Oscar cautiously peered downward and always retracted his gaze with a shiver.

Ning Tianchen jumped lightly where he stood and chuckled, "This isn't a wooden staircase—it's metal. So rest assured, you won't fall."

"As for who built it, who knows? Maybe it was constructed along with the ruins."

This ruin was at least fifty thousand years old, and records about it had likely disappeared tens of thousands of years ago.

After climbing upward for several minutes, what lay before them was a cavern with pitch-black walls.

Ning Rongrong summoned her Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, and its nine-colored light illuminated the cavern, revealing a long corridor stretching endlessly into the distance.

"Shall we go inside?" Chen Huayu suggested quietly.

Ning Tianchen hooked his arm around Chen Huayu's shoulder and said, "Let's go. Don't be afraid—you're a Soul Emperor."

Chen Huayu mustered his courage and retorted, "Boss, don't look down on me—I'm not afraid."

With that, the two entered together.

The cramped, dark environment made Chen Huayu's legs tremble uncontrollably.

"Do you have claustrophobia?" Ning Tianchen asked.

Chen Huayu had never heard of such a condition and explained, "I just don't like cave environments—I'm not afraid."

Ning Tianchen chuckled and didn't say anything further.

With the illumination from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, the four quickly reached the corner at the end of the passage.

Continuing forward, the surroundings became much more spacious. Ning Tianchen lit a torch and threw it ahead.

In the weak glow of the torch, the faint outline of a secret chamber could be seen in the distance.

"It seems our luck isn't bad—there might be treasures ahead," Ning Tianchen said as he hurried forward.

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. Perhaps the riddle they were searching for was hidden in the secret chamber ahead.

Due to the passage of many years, the soul-guided devices protecting the chamber had already failed. Chen Huayu pushed open the heavy stone door, and the group entered.

"Wow, are all these bones soul bones?" 

Oscar's eyes sparkled as he and Chen Huayu rushed forward to sift through the pile.

Ning Rongrong came to Ning Tianchen's side and whispered, "Brother Tianchen, have you found anything?"

When they first entered the chamber, Ning Tianchen's gaze had been scanning the surroundings.

He replied, "On the lintel at the entrance, there's a blue-green claw mark. The floor beneath our feet also seems to bear the same mark. Aside from that, there's only the black ash scattered around." 

"After Fatty opened the door, the wind from outside rushed in. It's possible that this ash was once books, but due to the passage of time, they've carbonized. Even if they hadn't been blown away, we wouldn't be able to read their contents."

Both of them knew that the content of the divine trial necessarily included the possibility of completion.

If these ancient texts were truly the key to solving the riddle, the divine trial wouldn't require them to decipher it.

Ning Rongrong sighed regretfully and looked down at the ground, where a faint but enormous blue-green claw mark could be seen.

On the claw-like section of the mark lay a pile of bones.

"Could this be the totem of a certain god?" Ning Rongrong speculated.

Ning Tianchen thought it was possible, but with so little information, they couldn't determine the specifics of the place or link it to any deity.

"Boss, quick—aren't these soul bones?"

Chen Huayu picked up a bone and asked.

Ning Tianchen glanced at the bone in his hand and then at the pile of bones on the ground.

After a pause, he stepped forward, bent down, and examined them carefully.

The shape of these bones was similar to soul bones, but there wasn't a trace of soul power fluctuation in them.

Picking up a bone and applying slight pressure, it crumbled into powder.

After a moment of thought, he shrugged indifferently and said, "We're tens of thousands of years too late. This pile should have originally been soul bones, but too much time has passed—the soul power inside has completely dissipated, rendering them useless."

"Ahh!"

Chen Huayu and Oscar clutched their heads in deep regret.

A rough count revealed at least twenty bones of various sizes. If these had been soul bones, they would have hit the jackpot.

"Soul bones will come in the future—don't dwell on it," Ning Tianchen consoled, patting their shoulders.

Though losing twenty soul bones was somewhat regrettable, they weren't necessarily high-year soul bones, so there was no need to obsess over them.

After a brief inspection of the surroundings, Ning Tianchen and the others exited and continued upward.

After an unknown distance, they reached the end of the staircase—the highest point of the ruins.

Under the illumination of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's light, they discovered that above their heads was a manhole cover.

"Is this the exit?"

Chen Huayu took a few steps forward and exerted all his strength to try and lift the cover.

Ning Tianchen immediately lent a hand, and with their combined effort, the cover emitted a "clang clang" sound.

As the manhole cover was gradually lifted, a sliver of light shone in.

Before long, the two managed to pry it open, and sunlight poured in fully.

Above the Abyssal Cavern, someone had clearly transformed it into a ruin, and this vertical shaft led directly to the outside. When the manhole was opened, a powerful gale howled out.

"Not right."

Ning Tianchen stroked his chin.

Thanks to the unique treasure-identification ability of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, he could sense that the material of the manhole cover and the staircase beneath their feet wasn't rare metal, unlike the hall they had entered earlier.

This vertical shaft should also have been a soul-guided device, but clearly, it had long since failed. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to easily lift the manhole cover above their heads.

"What's wrong?"

Oscar and Chen Huayu asked in confusion.

"These are two separate ruins. The hall we entered earlier was likely a new ruin built on top of this vertical shaft. Moreover, the construction times of the two ruins are at least ten thousand years apart."

Ning Rongrong added, "What Brother Tianchen says is correct. When we arrived, the soul-guided devices in that hall hadn't failed. If they were built at the same time, there wouldn't be such a significant difference between the inner and outer structures."

It seemed that they had discovered the puzzle.

To solve it, they must first figure out who built these two ruins.

Ning Tianchen looked down and sighed. "I hope Xiaotian's group can find something."

Currently, the clues they had were too few. If Feng Xiaotian's group found nothing, this riddle might never be solved.

"Let's go back down. We've finished exploring here."

---

An hour passed, and both groups returned to the meeting point.

Feng Xiaotian pointed at the ceiling above and couldn't help but ask, "Did you open the top?"

Ning Tianchen smiled. "Yes. Don't you feel that the wind has stopped blowing in here?"

Feng Xiaotian nodded, and the two groups exchanged their findings.

Feng Xiaotian's group had continued downward, reaching the end of the staircase.

Below, there were two secret chambers. One was completely sealed by a soul-guided device, which they couldn't open. The soul-guided device protecting the other chamber had long since failed, but they found little inside.

First, Ning Tianchen led Feng Xiaotian and his four companions to the upper ruins where the soul bones had appeared.

Next, the group headed downward to investigate the remaining two ruins.

Along the way, Feng Xiaotian and the others couldn't help but feel regretful.

The loss of twenty soul bones was painful for anyone.

Not long after, they arrived at the first secret chamber below.

This chamber wasn't particularly special—it was similar to the one above, with the same blue-green claw mark on the lintel.

Inside the chamber, there was nothing remarkable; it resembled more of a secluded room for cultivation.

In the lowest chamber, within the nearby cave, there were lit soul-guided lamps.

Feng Xiaotian voiced his confusion: "This place is strange. The soul-guided devices in the upper ruins are clearly broken, yet here they're intact. Before, we tried various methods, but we couldn't open this chamber."

Ning Tianchen lightly patted his shoulder and said, "This isn't one ruin—it's two. Two separate ruins were built together, separated by ten thousand years. So, the later-built ruins' soul-guided devices haven't failed."

"That's troublesome—we can't find a way to get inside," Feng Xiaotian frowned.

Ning Tianchen entered and began inspecting carefully.

From the outside, this ruin appeared to be a circular structure. There was no blue-green claw mark on the lintel, nor any conspicuous markings around it.

After some thought, he took out the Seven Kill Sword and slashed it against the wall.

The sword vibrated violently, but the wall showed no trace of damage.

"Forget it—how are we supposed to get in?" Chen Huayu couldn't help but complain.

Compared to the other two chambers, this one was undoubtedly the largest. It likely contained many valuable items inside.

"Let me try."

Ning Rongrong felt that something about this ruin was drawing her in.

The moment her palm touched the door of the chamber, a wisp of golden energy separated from the golden mark on her forehead.

It fell onto the door, producing a faint sound, and then the chamber door slowly opened.

"It just opened like that?"

Everyone couldn't help but gasp.

To avoid exposing the divine trial, Ning Rongrong awkwardly laughed and said, "I think I accidentally triggered some kind of mechanism."

No one asked further questions, and they rushed into the chamber to search for treasures.

Ning Tianchen deliberately stayed at the back of the group, and Ning Rongrong quietly told him, "Brother Tianchen, I think this place might be related to the Light God."

Ning Tianchen nodded.

The specifics would only become clear after entering the chamber and gathering more information.

---

In the center of the chamber stood an altar. Around the altar were five stone statues, each holding a long sword in front of them. In the center of the altar lay a long sword radiating holy light.

"A divine artifact!"

Ning Tianchen immediately made his judgment.

Chen Huayu wanted to step forward to take it, but Ning Tianchen quickly stopped him.

"Fifth soul skill, Earth-Shaking Power!"

The Seven Kill Sword shot out, landing in front of Chen Huayu. The soul power fluctuations emanating from the sword knocked him back.

Chen Huayu scrambled to his feet and hurriedly asked, "Boss, what are you doing?!"

Ning Tianchen explained, "Don't approach recklessly. Even a slight sword qi from this sword could kill all of us."

Based on the current situation, this long sword was likely a divine artifact of the Light God.

As the inheritor of the Light God, only Ning Rongrong could retrieve the divine artifact.

However, this might very well be part of Ning Rongrong's future trial, so it was best not to act rashly for now.

"Fatty, what Tianchen says makes sense. We shouldn't be reckless," Oscar lightly patted his shoulder.

Chen Huayu reluctantly retracted his neck and turned to search for other treasures nearby.

Ning Rongrong stared blankly at the sword on the altar, unable to snap out of her trance.

She could feel that this sword seemed to be prepared specifically for her.

But every time she wanted to step forward and take the sword, a voice in her mind kept warning her not to approach carelessly.

Ning Tianchen noticed her emotions and walked over to comfort her. "Rongrong, you'll have the chance to take it in the future."

Ning Rongrong nodded numbly, but her gaze remained fixed on the sword.

Not long after, Feng Xiaotian shouted, "Everyone, come quick! There are murals here!"

Upon hearing this, everyone hurried over to him.

After carefully searching the area, they realized there were not just the murals Feng Xiaotian had pointed out—there were many more.

Ning Rongrong and Ning Tianchen exchanged a glance without prior agreement.

The style of these murals was similar to the ones they had seen in the core region of the Extreme North.

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