Chapter 111: The Annihilation Incident from Years Ago

By the Path of Rebirth, Guo Cai’er, the Scholar, and the Martial Artist stood rigid, listening intently to the cold voice in their ears.

[Before the conclusion of Second Act, “Agents in the Shadows,”¹ players of the Court Faction have two choices. First, remain undercover in Prince Huai’s residence, waiting for the right moment while gathering crucial intelligence for the Court Faction and participating in the final battle. Second, return immediately to the capital and report the events here truthfully to Emperor Jing, awaiting the commencement of the final battle.]

[If the Court Faction ultimately triumphs in the final battle, each player will receive generous rewards. Outstanding performers may even earn entry into the Great Qian Dynasty’s academy and obtain an official career path.]

[Ding~! Successfully clearing the fourth trial. All players of the Court Faction have received one “Essence-Replenishing Pill,” which can heal all injuries and ailments.]

The cold voice gradually faded from their ears.

Seated on the ground, the Scholar popped the pill into his mouth and stated concisely, “Alright, we’ve made it this far. That marks the end of Act Two.”

“What do these two choices mean?” The Horsekeeper gazed blankly into the bronze mirror. “Staying undercover sounds incredibly risky! Will this affect the final player evaluation?”

Whoosh!

A flash of white light, and Xing Tao appeared in the burial chamber. His wounds had completely vanished, clearly a result of consuming the pill just moments ago.

It was worth noting that Ren Ye had only made it through a third of the Path of Rebirth with the help of blue fire, while Xing Tao had endured the entire journey through sheer willpower and blood.

What kind of obsession had granted him such unwavering determination?

Xing Tao crouched beside Guo Cai’er, took a pill from her hand, and gently fed it to her, smiling as he said, “We… we can rest for a bit now.”

Guo Cai’er didn’t even glance at the pill being placed in her mouth. She simply stared at Xing Tao, tears streaming down her face, and threw her arms around him tightly.

She believed that if the Horsekeeper and the Scholar cast another dark look her way, Xing Tao would still stand in front of her without hesitation.

At this moment, it felt as though she had found something to rely on once again. All her grievances and pain melted away.

Everything between them remained unspoken yet deeply felt.

There was nothing more to say.

Xing Tao had both failed and succeeded in this trial.

Sometimes, the false could reveal the truth… and he was fortunate to have the chance to test both.

The Scholar slowly got up, turning toward Xing Tao. “I must—”

“Don’t say anything, because I might not be able to stop myself from killing you,” Xing Tao’s voice was ice-cold. “Our second act is over. I should be able to use supernatural abilities now, right?”

The Scholar was silent for a long moment. “Fine. I don’t care what choices you all make, but I won’t stay undercover any longer. I’m leaving Prince Huai’s residence and returning to the court.”

“Why are you so adamant about returning to the capital?” the Horsekeeper asked.

“This Star Gate has been foreshadowing for so long; the final battle is bound to be massive. I even have a feeling… it won’t just be a fight between two factions or a handful of players, but a confrontation that could impact real-world powers—perhaps even rivaling the earth-shattering war from three years ago. After all, we’ve all seen what this Star Gate has revealed. I believe the ultimate inheritance will, at the very least, be one of those three rare professions…” The Scholar turned to the Horsekeeper. “And can you be certain what rewards Prince Huai has gained in this act? Staying undercover is too risky.”

The Horsekeeper nodded at his words.

“Of course, returning to the capital could also mean punishment from the court. But that doesn’t matter, as long as we don’t die,” the Scholar said, looking up. “What about you two? What will you choose?”

“I’ll go back with you,” the Horsekeeper responded.

Xing Tao and Guo Cai’er completely ignored them.

“Let’s meet up in reality sometime. What do you think?” the Horsekeeper asked the Scholar.

The two exchanged glances and gave a slight nod.

…

On the eighth level, in the collapsed tomb chamber.

The trio of “Big Brains” stood together under the bright sunlight, examining the contents of a “modern notebook.”

The first dozens of pages read more like a “work log.” They contained segmented notes on at least eight different Star Gates, detailing preparations for clearing them, compiled information, and basic world-building descriptions.

These details immediately confirmed the speculations of Tang Feng and Ren Ye.

The owner of this notebook was also a Star Gate player…

As they continued reading, the three of them came across a description of the last Star Gate.

The description was written from the owner’s first-person perspective, interspersed with many personal judgments.

Mission Star Gate: Great Qian Dynasty
Note: Before accepting the mission, I conducted a brief investigation into the world setting and discovered that this is an extremely vast Star Gate, seemingly of a high rank. However, due to time constraints, I couldn’t determine its exact phase. I must proceed with caution—trust no one.

Mission Type: Multiplayer clearance.

Note: A total of 216 participants?! Damn, it’s been a long time since I’ve taken on a multiplayer mission of this scale…

Mission Issuing Entity: Great Qian Dynasty – Tianjian Division.²

Note: I asked a clueless teammate about this, and from what I gathered, the Tianjian Division is an occult department within the Great Qian Dynasty Star Gate, primarily serving the dog emperor behind the scenes. But whatever, as long as the pay is good and the rewards are generous, I’d even call a dog “Your Majesty.”

Mission Objective: Use the teleportation array set up by the Tianjian Division to transport directly to a First-Tier Star Gate called Qingliang Prefecture, then work together to break through the barriers of the Princess Anping’s Tomb. Once inside, retrieve the lost fate and an artifact known as the Human Emperor Seal for the dog emperor.

Note: Holy shit, this Star Gate is bizarre—it can interact with another Star Gate?! And why are high-tier players like us allowed to enter a First-Tier Star Gate? Plus, we’re not even restricted by the Heavenly Dao’s rules and can utilize our full power. This… this is unbelievable. I’ve never encountered anything like this before. Something is seriously off. I have a bad feeling about this mission—it seems extremely dangerous. From now on: Caution. Caution. Caution.

The entry stopped there.

Below it, in the blank space, were three lines of handwritten words scrawled in blood:

They’re all dead.

All 216 players… dead. We weren’t the ones meant to be here. The ninth level of this tomb… it’s waiting for a Heavenly Pardoned One. We couldn’t even enter.

This… this mission is bullshit. The thing on the ninth level is too strong… It doesn’t belong in this world! The only way to counter it, and the only way to clear this mission, was to force it to leave—killing it was impossible.

But those idiots who were positioned at the formation’s core… tried to run… We missed our chance to exploit its weakness… I regret this. I shouldn’t have come.

I’m going to die too…

The moment they finished reading the blood-stained words, Ren Ye and the others felt a chill run down their spines.

“…So before us, there were 216 players who accepted the same multiplayer mission, came here, and were wiped out?!” Imperial Inspector Liu felt a wave of horror creeping over him. He raised his head, staring at the ceiling. “Then… that thing on the ninth level… just what is it? Why is it so powerful?!”

“Could it be the one that’s waiting for you?” Tang Feng turned to Ren Ye.

“…Hard to say.” Ren Ye shook his head, staring at the notebook. “There’s no timestamp here, so we don’t even know how long ago these players died. Years? Decades?! Tang Feng, were there Star Gates that far back?”

Tang Feng hesitated for a moment. “From what I know, Star Gates have existed for a very, very long time, but the number of players was extremely low back then. Only in recent years have they become more widespread.”

Ren Ye nodded slowly, his face filled with astonishment. “I never would’ve thought… that this Star Gate had already been visited by another batch of players long ago. And that so many of them took on a mission issued by the imperial court… Why does it feel like the scale of everything has suddenly expanded beyond comprehension?”

“I feel the same way.” Tang Feng nodded solemnly.

Ren Ye walked through the ruins, his mind racing. “Let’s break this down logically. Look, in the third level, we found a booklet that stated that in the ninth year of Emperor Wu’s reign, the old Prince Huai planted peach blossoms on Qingliang Mountain and sent eleven people into Princess Anping’s Tomb to retrieve the Human Emperor Seal. But all eleven of them died at the third trial—the sacrificial test.

Now that we look at it… they failed this stage because they lacked a leader willing to take responsibility, and they wiped out due to internal conflict.

My guess? The Great Qian Dynasty’s Emperor Wu initially wanted to obtain the Human Emperor Seal through the proper process—by passing the princess’ trials…”

“Exactly.” Tang Feng nodded immediately. “Then Emperor Wu and the old Prince Huai realized that this method wouldn’t work. The people they sent couldn’t make it to the end, so they ordered that department called the Tianjian Division to make grand preparations and use a high-reward incentive to recruit elites from across the land in an attempt to force open the princess’s tomb. And the ones they recruited… turned out to be players. Any player who arrived in this Star Gate and met the rank requirements could receive this quest.”

Ren Ye picked up the thread. “Then, 216 top-tier players set out together. But after these ‘tomb raiders’ opened the princess’s tomb, they discovered that the ninth level was waiting for a Heavenly Pardoned One. The tomb-raiding party angered that being from beyond this world… so they were all slaughtered. That explains why, after all these years, the court never attempted to force open the tomb again—without a Heavenly Pardoned One, they simply couldn’t get in. No matter how many they sent, they would all likely die.”

He continued walking to the side. “Let’s push forward with this line of thought. Right now, Emperor Jing of Great Qian also wants to obtain the Human Emperor Seal and claim its fortune, but he hasn’t made a move… until the Vigil Keeper heard that the Star Gate was calling for me, calling for a Heavenly Pardoned One. That’s why I entered, and then I discovered that Prince Huai’s residence was filled with court spies. That’s when the conflict began, and both sides started entering the tomb to compete for it.”

“This reasoning checks out.” Tang Feng immediately stepped forward. “But… this also means that the imperial court must have already known you were the Heavenly Pardoned One before this. Otherwise… how do we explain why Emperor Jing had spies placed in Prince Huai’s residence?”

“But if that’s the case, Zhu Zigui clearly isn’t the Heavenly Pardoned One—I am.” Ren Ye frowned. “Yet, even before I knew about the Star Gate, Emperor Jing could already predict that I would enter it? That’s simply impossible!”

“Yeah, that part is hard to explain.” Tang Feng shook his head. “We still don’t have enough information, but we’re getting very close to the truth.”

At that moment, Imperial Inspector Liu, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly interjected, “216 top-tier players—exactly the same number as the 216 ghosts we saw on the previous level. And before Li Yan killed himself, he said he was the last remaining soul… Doesn’t that mean he was one of the tomb raiders?!”

His words were like a wake-up call. Tang Feng turned to look at Imperial Inspector Liu, and, unable to resist, gave him a playful slap on the rear. “…Damn, you’re onto something! Yeah, if we look at it that way, Li Yan was also one of the tomb raiders. But then why didn’t he die?”

Imperial Inspector Liu blinked. “If you let me monologue freely for a bit, I’ll tell you the answer.”

“Yeah, why didn’t Li Yan die?” Ren Ye muttered with a frown. “215 players were wiped out—why was he the only one left? Does he have an extra pair of balls or something? And he said his body is on the ninth level—why? Was he really here to rob the tomb?” He shook his head. “Forget it. Let’s stop overthinking this and just head straight to the ninth level.”

“Sounds good!”

“Let’s go!”

“…!”

Everyone was burning with curiosity, eager to uncover the truth, so they moved together toward the winding passage leading upward.

Moments later, the three arrived at the entrance of an antechamber and looked up at the path leading to the ninth level of the tomb.

The tomb passage was filled with thick, mist-like vapor that resembled immortal fog, obscuring their vision. Through the haze, they could only vaguely make out the green stone steps and the cold, lifeless walls.

“Go on, you first.” Imperial Inspector Liu nudged Ren Ye.

Ren Ye stepped forward, preparing to enter the passage to the ninth level.

“Swish!”

Just then, a figure appeared.

The silhouette stood faintly in the mist, motionless and upright.

After a long moment, a hoarse voice rang out, tinged with both excitement and reverence:

“You’ve finally arrived… Heavenly Pardoned One!”

—

Author’s note:
This arc is nearing its end. After setting the stage… the curtain will rise on the world of Star Gate, carrying the sentiment of: “The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, washing away all the heroes in its waves.”