The genius who counterattacked the mainland

As the last rune was touched, the Star Power pattern was fully activated. The pyramid's gate uttered a dull roar and slowly opened. An ancient and mysterious aura, tinged with a hint of coolness, filled the air, forming a stark contrast to the scorching desert heat outside.

Cautiously, the group entered the pyramid. The interior was dimly lit, with only a few rays of light filtering through cracks in the walls, barely allowing them to discern their surroundings. The walls were covered in murals, their colors still vibrant, as if freshly painted. Most of the murals depicted scenes of ancient sacrifices and mysterious rituals. The figures depicted, adorned with ornate garments and strange headdresses, worshipped around artifacts radiating starlight.

Walking along the passage, the ground was paved with huge stone slabs. With every step, one could feel a slight vibration from beneath the slabs, as if the pyramid had its own heartbeat. At the end of the passage was a vast circular hall with an extremely high dome, inlaid with countless luminous gems. These gems were arranged in complex constellation patterns, illuminating the hall with a dreamlike atmosphere.

In the center of the hall stood a square stone platform, upon which rested a golden treasure chest, inlaid with a variety of precious gems. The light from the gems intertwined, forming a brilliant halo that seemed to protect the treasure within. Surrounding the treasure chest were four enormous stone statues, each in the form of a lion, an eagle, a snake, and a crocodile. They were lifelike, each statue's eyes flickering an eerie red light, intently staring at the treasure chest on the platform.

"That treasure chest must contain what we need, and it may be related to other artifacts." Xu Tiancai said, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Just as the group was about to approach the stone platform, the four stone statues suddenly moved. The lion statue opened its bloody maw and let out a deafening roar, the sound waves surging towards the group like a physical object. The eagle statue spread its wings and soared high, its wings flapping as it whipped up a gust of wind, its feathers as sharp as knives. The snake statue twisted its massive body and spewed streams of green venom from its mouth. Wherever the venom touched, it corroded the ground into huge pits. The crocodile statue suddenly leaped towards the group, its massive tail sweeping across with astonishing force.

Everyone immediately took up defense. Xu Tiancai stuck his trident into the ground, releasing a colorful light that formed a semicircular shield, blocking the sonic attack of the lion statue. Agang swung his battle axe, his golden fighting spirit shining like the sun. He rushed towards the crocodile statue, and his battle axe collided with the crocodile statue's tail, splashing sparks. Lin cast wind elemental magic, creating powerful wind tornadoes. The wind tornadoes swept away the wind and feathers fanned out by the eagle statue, and at the same time counterattacked the eagle statue. The Ice Princess waved her wand and summoned a huge ice shield. The ice shield exuded a cold aura, freezing the venom spit out by the snake statue in mid-air. The mysterious figure quickly formed seals with his hands, and the power of darkness and light merged in his hands into huge energy balls. He threw the energy balls at the four statues, and the balls exploded around the statues, temporarily blocking their attacks. The man in white played the flute, and the sound of the flute turned into a group of shining light beasts. The light beasts rushed towards the stone statues. They used their own strength to fight with the stone statues. The light beasts that looked like unicorns burned the stone statues with flames, trying to dispel the strange red light on them.

During the fierce battle, everyone discovered that these stone statues were very hard and ordinary attacks could hardly cause any substantial damage to them. Moreover, they seemed to cooperate with each other tacitly, attacking wave after wave, leaving no chance for anyone to breathe.

"These stone statues are not easy to deal with. We have to find their weaknesses!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

While dodging the stone statues' attacks, Xu Tiancai noticed that whenever the statues attacked, certain parts of their bodies would experience brief energy fluctuations. The runes on these parts would flash more intensely at the moment of attack, seemingly related to the source of their power.

"Everyone, pay attention to the part of the stone statue where the runes are flashing violently. That may be the weakness!" Xu Tiancai reminded loudly.

Upon hearing this, everyone began to notice the changes in the runes on the statues. Lin, with her keen sense of wind, discovered that when the lion statue roared, the runes on its throat flickered most noticeably, and the energy fluctuations there were the strongest. Agang noticed that when the crocodile statue whipped its tail, a rune at its base glowed brightly. The Ice Princess observed a rune on the snake statue's head exhibit a unique energy shift when it spewed venom. The mysterious figure and the man in white also discovered that the runes on the eagle statue's wing joints and back, respectively, exhibited abnormalities when it attacked.

"Let's focus on attacking their weak points!" said Xu Tiancai.

Everyone adjusted their attack strategy, attacking the statue's weak points. Lin cast a forbidden spell of wind elemental magic, gathering all the surrounding air and compressing it into a massive air bomb. She controlled the air bomb and rolled it towards the lion statue's throat. When the air bomb made contact with the rune on the lion's throat, it exploded violently, and the lion statue's roar abruptly stopped. Its body shook, and a crack appeared in its throat.

Ah Gang seized the opportunity, concentrated his fighting spirit on the battle axe, and slashed hard at the rune at the base of the crocodile statue's tail. The battle axe hit the rune, sparks flew, and the crocodile statue's tail twitched violently, its movements becoming sluggish, and the rune at the base of its tail flickered.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, summoning a giant ice cone, which pierced the rune on the snake statue's head. The ice cone hit the target accurately, destroying the rune on the snake statue's head. The venom it spewed became scarce, and its body began to tremble slightly.

The mysterious figure formed hand seals, and the forces of darkness and light merged in his hands into a massive black and white energy column. He thrust the energy column toward the rune at the wing joint of the eagle statue. As it flew, the energy column continuously absorbed the surrounding free energy, growing thicker and stronger. When the energy column contacted the rune, it triggered a massive explosion, damaging the wing joint of the eagle statue. It fell from the sky and struggled to fly again.

The man in white played his flute at top speed, the sound transforming into enormous beasts of light. These beasts varied in form: a kirin ablaze with flames, a soaring dragon of light with wings spread, and a lightning-fast tiger of light. Carrying divine light, the beasts charged towards the runes on the eagle statue's back, attacking them with their own might. The kirin's flames seared the runes, the dragon's claws tore at them, and the tiger's speed allowed it to dart around them with ease, continuously assaulting the surrounding defenses. Under the beasts' assault, the runes on the eagle statue's back were severely damaged, and its power was greatly weakened.

With everyone's concerted attack, the statue's weak spots were severely damaged, and its attacks became increasingly chaotic. Everyone seized this opportunity and intensified their attacks. Lin continued to cast wind magic, creating more air bombs and hurling them at the statue's weak spots. Agang swung his battle axe even more swiftly, each strike leaving deep marks on the statue. The Ice Princess continued to summon ice giants and ice spikes, inflicting more damage to the statue. The mysterious figure and the man in white also continued to unleash energy attacks that blended the forces of darkness and light, fiercely bombarding the statue.

As the battle dragged on, the statues suffered increasing damage. The crack in the lion's throat widened, until its entire head faltered. The rune at the base of the crocodile's tail was completely destroyed, leaving it powerless and severely hampered. The snake's head, repeatedly attacked by ice spikes, was riddled with holes, preventing it from spitting out its venom. The eagle's wings and back runes were completely destroyed by the light beasts, leaving it unable to fly and struggling on the ground.

Finally, with a loud bang, the four stone statues shattered, turning into a pile of rubble scattered on the ground. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the treasure chest in the center of the stone platform. Xu Tiancai reached out to touch the treasure chest. The moment his hand touched the treasure chest, a powerful energy surged from it, knocking him back several steps.

"This treasure chest has a powerful seal, we must open it carefully." Xu Tiancai said.

Everyone began to study the seal on the treasure chest and found that the seal was made up of multiple energies, including the power of the stars, the power of the ancient curse, and some unknown mysterious power. These forces were intertwined, forming a complex energy network that covered the surface of the treasure chest.

Lin discovered a pattern in the flow of wind elements within the seal, seemingly linked to the direction of the desert wind outside the pyramid. Agang noticed that the seal's energy intensity varied at specific times, subtly linked to the sun's position in the sky. The Ice Princess, sensing the magical power of ice, detected a connection between the seal's coldness and the temperature differences within the pyramid. The mysterious figure and the man in white wielded the power of darkness and light to analyze the seal's energy structure and the underlying logic.

After careful research, they discovered that they could use environmental factors inside and outside the pyramid and changes in time to gradually weaken the seal. They decided to wait for the right time and use a specific method to unlock the seal of the treasure chest.

While waiting, the group continued to explore the pyramid. They discovered small passages around the main hall, leading to different rooms. In one room, they found ancient scrolls that recorded the history of the pyramid's construction and some information about the mysterious rituals that had been performed there.

It turns out that this pyramid was built by an ancient tribe that worshipped the power of the stars to seal a powerful artifact. This artifact possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth, but it was also entangled in a terrible curse. The tribe's priests used all their strength to seal the artifact within a treasure chest, setting up numerous mechanisms and guardian stone statues to prevent anyone from opening the treasure chest and releasing the artifact and the curse.

"We must act with caution. Once the seal is lifted, we may face great danger," said the Ice Princess.

Everyone nodded in agreement and returned to the hall, waiting for the perfect moment to unlock the treasure chest. When the sun moved to a specific position in the sky and the wind direction in the desert met their requirements, they began to move.

Lin casts wind magic, adjusting the flow of air around the seal according to the flow patterns of the wind element within it, weakening the force of the wind within. At specific moments, Gang uses his fighting spirit to attack the seal, exploiting the fluctuations in its energy intensity to find a breakthrough. The Ice Princess uses her ice magic to stabilize the seal's energy fluctuations based on temperature differences within the pyramid, preventing any unforeseen consequences. The mysterious figure and the man in white wield the power of darkness and light, unlocking key nodes within the seal from the perspective of energy structure.

With everyone's concerted efforts, the seal on the treasure chest gradually loosened. As the last bit of the seal was broken, the treasure chest slowly opened, and a dazzling light shone from it. The light pierced everyone's eyes, causing them to temporarily close their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they saw a sword emitting a mysterious light inside the treasure chest.

The sword's blade was slender, radiating a star-like glow. Its blade was engraved with intricate runes, and its hilt was forged from a mysterious black metal, inlaid with a massive red gem that seemed to blaze with flame. A faint black mist surrounded the sword, and within it seemed to linger resentful spirits, emitting a chilling aura.

"This is the sealed artifact. It seems that its curse has not disappeared yet." Xu Tiancai said with a frown.

The crowd cautiously approached the sword, attempting to study its curse and power. As they drew closer, vengeful spirits within the black mist suddenly pounced upon them, their fangs bared and claws snarling, their mouths emitting shrill cries. The spirits pounced upon the crowd, attempting to invade their souls. A chill suddenly rose from their hearts, and all sorts of terrifying images played out in their minds.

There were painful scenes of being burned by flames, despairing images of being swallowed by the dark abyss, and the sorrowful scenes of friends and family dying before their eyes. These images, as if they were actually happening, assaulted everyone's mental defenses and caused great torment to their souls.