The Path to Another World

The moment their feet touched the ground, before they could even take in their surroundings, a row of lights mounted on the wall suddenly lit up automatically. As if activated by a sensor, they weren't electric or oil lamps; instead, they emitted a soft white light from a white gemstone they'd never seen before. The light was striking in the darkness, making the entire passage crystal clear. The two stared in amazement at this high-tech artifact from thousands of years ago. Tian Jun almost drooled: "This bead is so big, and it can even glow on its own! Even if it's not as valuable as a luminous pearl, it's probably not much less! So many of them, how much money would they be worth!"

Ye Fan rolled his eyes at Tian Jun, who was almost drooling, and cautiously examined the seemingly safe passage. His mental energy spread outwards like a spider web, checking for any hidden mechanisms underground. Only after confirming there were no traps did he confidently approach the corridor. As soon as they stepped into the brightly lit corridor, they felt as if they had entered another world. The corridor's ceiling, made of some unknown material, resembled a clear blue sky, making it seem as if they were directly connected to it. They didn't realize they were still in an ancient tomb thousands of meters underground. The sides of the corridor were covered with exquisite stone carvings, lifelike and priceless. The two stared in disbelief at this magnificent and incredible feat of engineering. This wasn't an art exhibition; it was an ancient tomb thousands of meters underground.

The two carefully examined each stone carving, each depicting an epic battle: galloping warhorses, soaring dragons, and various races—humans, beastmen, and many others they had never seen before. The further they looked at the scenes, the more their expressions darkened. This familiar scene—wasn't this the vivid dream that had haunted their dreams? How could it be here? They exchanged a knowing glance, their confusion evident. Could that earth-shattering battle have truly occurred? But why was there no record of it in history? And what about those strange and wondrous races—did they really exist?

Filled with numerous questions, the two followed the mural, spending nearly half a day to understand the whole story. In a great calamity that occurs once every thousand years, for the survival of the continent, the righteous side, led by the Goddess of Nature, commanded a united army of various races against the Dark Legion led by the Dark Pope. High-ranking officials were almost entirely wiped out, and countless ordinary soldiers also perished. Ultimately, they could not reverse the defeat, and the Goddess of Nature was forced to self-destruct, ending the scene abruptly. The entire scene was identical to their dream, as if a calm observer or participant had clearly recorded everything. Ye Fan suddenly remembered that at the moment of the Goddess of Nature's self-destruction, a white light flashed into the pendant and fell into the spatial rift along with it. Ye Fan was quite knowledgeable and had studied Taoism since childhood. Connecting everything before him with that absurd dream, an outlandish yet audacious idea suddenly appeared in his mind: Could that white light be the soul of the Goddess of Nature? She escaped into a spatial rift using a magical artifact, and accidentally arrived on Earth during a spatial fluctuation, which led to all the events that followed. Thinking about it, the more she considered her own idea, the more believable it seemed. It was somewhat amusing; this was supposed to be a scientifically-minded society...

As they reached the end of the corridor, the lights outside automatically turned on again. This time, the scene was even more breathtaking. The square, spanning several square kilometers, was completely empty. The rooftops were no longer the azure sky, but had transformed into a vast expanse of stars. White gemstones of varying sizes emitted mesmerizing glows. Gemini, Cancer... all the constellations were present, like a miniature version of the real universe, mysteriously rotating there. Below the starry sky was only a towering altar, upon which stood a colossal statue hundreds of meters tall. Despite its immense size, the features and limbs were exquisitely sculpted. Every smile, every gesture was perfectly executed, exuding both gentleness and domineering power, nobility and kindness. To their astonishment, this statue was exactly identical to the nature goddess Ge Qiu Sha from their dreams, as if they had been carved from the same mold. At this moment, the pendant that had settled down in Tian Jun's arms suddenly started to move again. Before Tian Jun could react, the pendant flew out of control again, as if a child seeing a relative was dancing around the statue.

Ye Fan and Tian Jun stared in disbelief at the towering, work-of-art-like statue. Ye Fan was now completely certain of his guess: this Goddess of Nature truly had an extraordinary connection to the village's ancestors, or perhaps she was the village's ancestor herself? Although it was merely a lifeless statue, an innate, superior aura emanated from her. The two climbed the steps of the altar, hoping to bask in the glory of this former battlefield heroine. At first, it was alright, but with each step, the pressure intensified. The closer they got to the statue, the denser the spiritual energy became, until the statue's base almost felt solid.

The two struggled to move forward on the steps, their willpower propelling them forward with great difficulty. Large beads of sweat rolled down their faces. "Fanzi, what's going on? Why does the air resistance feel so strong here?" Tian Jun asked through gritted teeth. "This isn't resistance, it's spiritual pressure. Junzi, I think our opportunity has arrived. This statue is our opportunity. Keep going! We must reach the altar to gain anything!" Ye Fan, equally exhausted, stopped and took a deep breath before replying. Hearing Ye Fan's words, Tian Jun, who had almost given up, mustered his strength and followed behind Ye Fan, gritting his teeth as they continued climbing. The ninety-nine steps took them almost a whole day, especially the last few. For each step, they spent about an hour recovering their strength. Just as they reached the top of the altar, the pressure suddenly vanished, and the two collapsed onto the platform. Looking down at the less than one hundred steps below, they couldn't help but feel a sense of pride; it was truly a feat.

Lying blankly on the altar, watching the pendant that seemed to be whispering to the statue, taking the opportunity to recover its lost physical and mental strength, Ye Fan, who was the first to recover, couldn't help but brighten up and exclaimed in surprise, "Junzi, look at your mental strength, has it increased? Mine has increased by about 10%, almost equivalent to my two years of hard training. Climbing those steps wasn't in vain after all." "Really? Let me see..." Tian Jun, who hadn't had time to check if he had made any progress, was startled awake by Ye Fan's scream, "No, are you trying to kill us?" Amidst Ye Fan's terrified scream, Tian Jun saw in horror that the pendant that had been revolving around the statue suddenly emitted a burst of blue light, enveloping the statue once again. The familiar scene was repeating itself. In their despairing gazes, the entire statue, including the altar beneath them, was enveloped in blue light. The countless strange symbols they hadn't noticed before gradually appeared, forming a blue six-pointed star array in an instant. Ye Fan and Tian Jun were lying precisely at the center of this array. The entire world turned blue, and their vision went black as they sensed something terrible was about to happen, yet they were powerless to stop it… They could only scream in their hearts…

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