Chapter 150: Breaking Through the Passageway

The passageway was discovered by an assassin during a careful search of the main building.

On the Western Continent, every assassin could double as a thief. They were always able to find all sorts of mechanisms and hidden traps. They also had the skill to disarm traps and other devices. A powerful assassin wouldn’t let traps stop an assassination.

While Lin Qi and the others were looting the annex, this assassin first circled the main building twice outside, then walked through the interior structures. He immediately realized that, based on the thickness of the main building’s walls and the space it occupied, an area of several square meters mysteriously disappeared from the main hall.

He immediately conducted a thorough search on the ground floor. Finally, he spotted a delicate pull ring hidden inside the fireplace. He tugged lightly on the concealed ring. Silently, a downward tunnel entrance appeared beneath the stairs leading to the second floor.

Lin Qi and the others were now inside this tunnel. Outside, assassins and family members wielding heavy crossbows stood guard. Long Cheng, shield on his shoulder, took the lead. The group descended along a wide, spiral staircase. After going about thirty meters deep, they finally reached the entrance of a clean, wide passageway.

The entire passageway was paved with ‘Radiant Sacred Stone.’ This precious material was named by the Church as the foremost among many sacred stones. Top-grade Radiant Sacred Stones were crystal clear, resembling crystal. They contained exceptionally powerful and pure Light Power, making them the most valued resource of the Church’s powerful Dawn Pantheon.

The stones paving this passageway were naturally not the top-grade gems suitable for making an Energy Core for a Magic Wand. These were medium-grade Radiant Sacred Stones, containing impurities and looking like translucent frosted glass. Despite being medium-grade, they still held vast amounts of Light Power. No lamps were lit, yet the passageway glowed brilliantly, indistinguishable from daylight.

The passageway was three meters high and three meters wide, extending only a hundred meters in length. Standing at the entrance, they could see a bronze metal door at the far end. The passageway was immaculate, free of any dust – a characteristic of Light Power. Where radiance shone, it rejected powers and entities of all other attributes.

On the walls of the passageway were intricate, complex Magic Array patterns. The Magic Arrays faintly emitted an unsettling aura. Especially since, from a distance, they resembled hundreds of eye-like patterns, each the size of a water vat, exuding an unsettling presence.

“Who will scout ahead?” Long Cheng turned and asked.

“The capable one shoulders the burden!” Lin Qi laughed, giving Long Cheng a gentle push. He grinned, “You still need to get information from me, right?”

Long Cheng’s face darkened. He glanced at the assassins and family followers behind Lin Qi. None of them moved. Lin Qi had told Long Cheng to scout, so his followers wouldn’t act rashly – doing the scouting themselves would seem like they were disrespecting the prowess of Long Cheng!

Grinding his teeth in irritation, Long Cheng shook his head. He pulled a Copper Coin from his sleeve and tossed it softly into the passage.

The coin clinked as it hit the floor. Instantly, the Magic Array closest to the coin erupted with intense light. It was like a giant eye snapping open. From the array’s core – the pupil of that giant eye – a hair-thin strand of white light flashed. With a sizzle, the Copper Coin vaporized completely, leaving no ash nor residue behind.

Lin Qi sucked in a sharp breath. He muttered quietly, “How vicious! How do they get through themselves?”

Long Cheng also shook his head, whispering a curse. “These ruthless wild monkeys. Well, this is your Western Divine Art trap. I only know a little about our Eastern Spirit Arts. While broadly similar, the details differ dramatically. I dare not risk it.”

Silence fell in the passage. Everyone stared at this mere hundred-meter-long corridor, eyes thoughtful.

After a while, an assassin spoke gravely, “Young Master, Divine Art traps like this can only be safely traversed by someone possessing Divine Arts. Meaning, those with Divine Power can pass through safely without any precautions. For us, the traps must be disabled first to pass.”

Lin Qi spread his hands and chuckled wryly. “The problem is, who knows how to break this kind of trap?”

The shortest assassin stepped forward. He said grimly, “Simultaneously destroying the cores of all Magic Arrays should give us about a seventy percent chance of disabling the passage’s Magic Trap. But there are hundreds of arrays of the same size here. We cannot destroy them all simultaneously!”

His words were barely spoken when Long Cheng flung out a large handful of Copper Coins. He said firmly, “Falling Flowers Rain, Soul Snatcher, GO!”

Hundreds of Copper Coins scattered forward like flower petals dancing gently in a breeze, drifting sluggishly onward. In the blink of an eye, every single array core was struck by a coin. A cacophony of cracking sounds echoed as all the Magic Arrays shattered simultaneously. The Radiant Sacred Stones paving the passageway fractured into countless thin fissures all at once.

Waves of thick white flames surged from these fissures, engulfing Lin Qi and the others. All they felt was an intense burning sensation covering their bodies. Those with slightly weaker power even had blisters forming on their skin. Long Cheng grunted coldly once more. A purple glow rolled out from between his eyebrows, sweeping forward like a curtain of light. A wave of chill shot out around them, and the white flames were completely extinguished by his Purple Qi.

Long Cheng’s face paled slightly. “It’s disabled here,” he declared. “Let’s continue.”

Lin Qi stared at Long Cheng, startled. When he first saw Long Cheng at sea, he had noticed the Purple Qi seeping from his brow. Lin Qi had suspected then that Long Cheng was one of those freaks rumored to cultivate both combat techniques and spells. Today’s sight confirmed it! Long Cheng truly was a monster cultivating both Combat Qi and spells, both having reached the Middle Heaven Rank!

No wonder he dared make such a wager, Lin Qi couldn’t help but shake his head repeatedly.

After marveling for a moment and seeing Long Cheng already at the end of the passage, Lin Qi quickly ordered a few men to guard the entrance, then rushed after Long Cheng with the others.

The bronze metal door, three meters high and wide, was massive, thick, and ancient. In its center was a huge Holy Cross Emblem.

The Holy Cross Emblem was simple, unadorned – the original design. A circle was carved above, below, left, and right of it. A small circle marked its very center. Below the emblem was a large section of moveable metal letters.

Staring at these moveable letters, Lin Qi fell into deep thought. Clearly, the door would only open if these metal letters were correctly placed into the five circles. This was some kind of clever Magic Trap. But who knew what letters belonged in those circles?

He knew absolutely nothing about the Church’s lore and allusions!