With the rapid descent, the black hole slowly widened before Ye Chen's eyes, Ye Chen and the black-armored man falling into it one after the other, like cannonballs.
Upon entering the black hole, a flash of light crossed Ye Chen's vision, and immediately, he found himself able to clearly discern the surroundings within the void. All was darkness, pierced only by the faint outline of jagged, strange rocks. Below them was a small, inky-black dot, faintly shimmering with gold, slowly expanding—
Ye Chen focused his gaze and couldn't help but be slightly moved. This black dot was actually a pitch-black pyramid. The sharp pinnacle of the tower slowly opened, revealing a dark aperture from which a ferocious suction force gathered, pulling down anything that fell toward it.
Ye Chen's eyes flickered; he hesitated on whether to activate his Superman Mode to evade. Just then, a peripheral glance caught sight of something dark and restless surrounding the black pyramid, emanating a foul, putrid odor, as if a mixture of filth and excrement had congealed, intolerably noxious.
Ye Chen decisively did not stray; he allowed the suction to pull him directly into the black pyramid below.
Whoosh!
As his eyes darted around, he saw the black-armored man plunging rapidly behind him, still maintaining a crouched posture, his head tucked between his knees, resembling a perfect sphere.
A killing intent flashed in Ye Chen's eyes, a hint of cruelty curling his lips. He tapped his left foot onto the instep of his right, leveraging the push upward, then spun his body 180 degrees mid-air, unleashing a sweeping whirlwind kick that slammed into the black-armored man. The fierce force erupted, and a faint sound of cracking bones could be heard!
Swoosh!
The black-armored man cried out in agony, his body shot out like shrapnel, veering off the pyramid's entrance and plunging into the blackness below. He descended instantly like sand dropped into a calm lake, churning up a thousand waves. Around the pyramid, a chorus of boiling roars instantly erupted—countless monsters howled, mingled with the clanking sound of rattling iron chains.
The black-armored man was greatly alarmed. This sudden blow felt incredibly heavy, like ten thousand tons of rock slamming into his back. Several bones inside him had fractured, and his internal organs were jolted. If not for his divine power shielding him, he would have certainly lost his life!
For his physique, broken bones were extremely difficult to heal and required a massive infusion of divine power!
Unable to maintain his crouched posture, the black-armored man looked up in shock, just in time to see a dark silhouette fall into the entrance of the pyramid...
Then, the entrance slowly sealed shut.
The black-armored man's face was etched with disbelief. That silhouette was hauntingly familiar; if he wasn't mistaken, it was the adopted son he had thrown into the tornado!
But...
That adopted son clearly only possessed two to three hundred thousand combat power. How could he possibly injure him?
The black-armored man's mind swam in chaos as his body flew backward. The roar of the wind howled past his ears, accompanied by an overwhelming surge of beastly roars behind him—sounds that chilled the bone. Even with his composure, hearing so many ferocious, savage cries brimming with infinite murderous intent made his expression shift slightly.
"Ghost God Mode!"
The black-armored man roared low. His entire form shimmered ethereally. With his current reserves of divine power, he could sustain Ghost God Mode for a long time. In fact, those who reached the Ghost God Realm were rarely harmed by anything. However, in the previous tornado, even entering Ghost God Mode was useless; the pulling force, the gravity, and the wind force were all extremely subtle energies that affected him even in that state.
That was why he hadn't bothered to activate Ghost God Mode earlier.
Under the effect of Ghost God Mode, the black-armored man plunged into the dark abyss. Not long after, he heard the chorus of beastly roars intensifying, interspersed with the sounds of bones shattering, chewing, agonizing cries, and the tinkling of chains being dragged...
...
On the other side, Ye Chen fell into the black pyramid. Everything around him was pitch black; one could not see one's hand before one's face, as if even light feared this place!
Bang!
Ye Chen suddenly landed on the ground, sending a slight numbness up his legs. If he hadn't been in Ant Superman Mode, his body would likely have been crushed into meat paste.
Ye Chen slowly stood up, cautiously surveying his surroundings. He perceived an absolute silence, not a single sound. He circulated the qì energy within him, condensing a flame in his palm, which instantly illuminated the area!
Silence!
Ye Chen’s heart felt as if it had stopped beating for an instant as he widened his pupils, gazing in all directions...
Zombies!
No, to be precise, Mummies!
He saw figures wrapped in strips of white cloth, their limbs stiff, mouths slightly agape, revealing mouths full of broken, yellowed teeth. Their eyes were dull white, completely devoid of emotion as they stared fixedly at Ye Chen...
The shock quickly subsided, and Ye Chen's expression calmed. Using the light from the flame in his hand, he took in the surroundings. It was an oval room, quite spacious, perhaps a hundred feet across. Along the walls were sconces for candles, though they had long since withered into dust due to the passage of time.
In the room were 20 coffins, all with their lids thrown open...
Just as Ye Chen was examining the area, a mummy about three zhàng in front of him suddenly had its eyeballs shift. Its previously rigid limbs moved slightly.
This minute action did not escape Ye Chen's notice. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He raised a hand and pointed, concentrating a strand of fiery red light into a single point, which shot out like a bullet, aimed directly at the mummy's brow.
Ye Chen was no stranger to mummy monsters. In his previous life, he had accompanied a team to Africa, where they encountered a siege of mummies in an ancient Egyptian civilization. For him, who was still very weak then, those Level 50 mummies were formidable foes, difficult to kill, and he had nearly perished there.
From that experience, he knew the mummy's weakness: the head!
The white wrappings on their bodies were not ordinary cloth but material treated with special medicines. Sealed for a thousand years, they would not degrade and were hard enough that ordinary blades could barely cut them.
Pfft!
The beam of qì energy struck the mummy's skull.
Ye Chen expected to see the head explode, but his pupils suddenly contracted. He noticed the beam of qì energy abruptly shrink, slowly flowing into the mummy's body and vanishing.
Simultaneously, Ye Chen felt a disconnect from the energy beam and froze. Had his qì been... devoured?
After absorbing the energy, the mummy's pale-white eyes flared with a crimson tinge, and its limbs slowly began to move, shuffling toward Ye Chen.
Ye Chen frowned. His mind racing, he took a step forward, harnessing the unrestrained power of the Ant Superman Mode, and threw a punch at the mummy with supreme violence!
Bang!
The fist landed precisely on the mummy's chest. The savage force exploded outward, and the creature was sent flying backward like a cannonball without hesitation, smashing heavily into the wall, leaving a large indentation. Its chest was slightly caved in, but it was not pierced through.
Ye Chen's pupils contracted, his face filled with astonishment. This time, it was genuine shock.
He had to remember that under Ant Superman Mode, his strength was amplified sixtyfold, reaching over 400,000 levels! Yet, he couldn't kill a single mummy?
Furthermore...
With such terrifying force, the wall hadn't shattered. Its hardness probably surpassed that of a Rune Spaceship!
With his current punching power, hitting a Rune Spaceship could destroy it!
Just then, the sound of shifting sand echoed. Under Ye Chen's stunned gaze, the monstrous mummy slowly swayed, then managed to pull itself up from the ground. It raised its head, stared at Ye Chen, and staggered closer.
A chill ran down Ye Chen's spine. Without hesitation, he rapidly retreated backward. Fortunately, the other mummies around remained motionless. Only the one that had consumed Ye Chen's qì was moving, albeit very slowly.
Ye Chen quickly backed out of the mummy's perimeter and suddenly realized that his Superman Mode had deactivated prematurely. His expression shifted slightly. By his calculations, the mode still had 20 seconds left, but it had ended early?
At this critical juncture, Ye Chen had no time to ponder. After breaking free from the mummy's immediate threat, he dashed toward the only passage, secretly thankful he hadn't used an area-of-effect qì attack earlier. Otherwise, all 20 mummies might have swallowed his energy as sustenance and awakened to hunt him.
As soon as he reached the passage entrance, before stepping through, Ye Chen's face changed, and he quickly stopped, hugging the nearby wall to look outside.
Beyond the room was an extremely spacious main hall. Along the walls, candlelight flickered faintly, emitting a soft hissing sound. In the center of the hall, three upright coffins were arranged in a triangle, all tightly sealed.
Suspended between these three coffins was a jade stone emitting a faint, spectral glow. This ethereal light illuminated the three caskets, seeming to suppress something within.
Ye Chen observed carefully and noticed no signs of the three coffins opening. At the same time, footsteps were approaching from behind. He turned to see the mummy walking with its neck askew, its movements extremely uncoordinated, its mouth slightly open in a terrifying manner.
Based on its previous behavior, Ye Chen had vaguely guessed that these mummies were sustained by qì energy!
After all, qì was the concentrated essence of life force!
Therefore, to the mummies, he was like a delicious, mobile meal!
Attacking them with qì was tantamount to providing them with feed. As for physical attacks... if even Ant Superman Mode couldn't kill one, a normal state stood no chance.
He couldn't win; he could only run.
In his peripheral vision, Ye Chen noticed the other mummies beginning to stir slightly. Although their movements were slower than the first, they seemed to have awakened as well.
Ye Chen lingered no longer. He stepped forward, rushing into the hall. He swept his gaze around and saw three doors connecting to the hall walls. He immediately sprinted toward the nearest one.
Kacha!
Ye Chen twisted the handle. This door felt like a great mountain. Even with his base wrist strength of 7,000, he could only turn the handle halfway before it seized up.
Ye Chen kicked it twice; there was silence inside. Ye Chen had no time to delay. Seeing the mummy approaching rapidly behind him, he rushed to the second door.
Ye Chen put forth his full strength, wrenching the latch, but only managed to cause a slight shudder, and his face changed. Just then, this heavy, dark door slowly swung open by itself, and a head emerged from within—a face shaped like a melon seed, exquisitely beautiful, with crimson lips and white teeth, eyes holding a hint of surprise.