"Up ahead is the fourth anomaly point..."
Leading the way was Luo Lin, followed by three Valkyries, swiftly navigating through the seawater. The depth here wasn't significant, and sunlight still illuminated the surroundings, allowing the Valkyries to see clearly.
Whitley asked in a puzzled tone, "Is that... a cave?"
Indeed, what caught the Valkyries' eyes was a peculiar small mountain made of rocks. Halfway up the mountain, there was a dark and deep cave emitting strong Honkai Energy fluctuations.
One of the Valkyries trailing behind asked, "What's wrong, Lady Luo Lin?"
Luo Lin's perception of Honkai Energy was extremely keen, and she sensed that the overall concentration of Honkai Energy nearby was gradually increasing at an extremely weak rate.
Is it because the "Anti-Honkai Energy Array" is gradually failing?
The black-haired girl fell silent for two seconds, then said, "Proceed with caution and stay on guard."
The group entered the cave, continuing forward with headlamps illuminating their path. After groping for about a hundred meters and turning a corner, the scenery ahead suddenly opened up—
It was an extremely spacious cave, with an unknown light source at the top, illuminating everything inside brightly.
From afar, the Valkyries could see a huge stone door deep in the cave, surrounded by many carvings of dragons.
And a golden barrier stood before them, separating the seawater outside and keeping the interior of the cave dry.
"It seems this is the legendary Nine Realms!"
Whitley exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the door, "That's a very obvious artificial structure!"
"But there's still a barrier ahead..."
One of the Valkyries in the group squinted and said, "This barrier... seems to be similar to the shields surrounding the golden swords we encountered earlier?"
"Indeed..."
Luo Lin, bold and daring, relying on her "Yao Guang Dark Feather" and a series of healing skills, directly reached out and touched the golden barrier. She found that her arm easily passed through.
The black-haired girl made a decisive decision, "Let's go in!"
Whitley and the remaining two Valkyries glanced at each other, shrugged, and spoke, "Let's go!"
So, the four of them passed through the barrier, took off their fins needed for swimming in the water, hung them behind their backs, and stood steadily on the ground.
Whitley took out a portable detector and waved it around in the cave. She looked at the results and said, "The air here is no different from the outside, and we can even take off our masks to move around—though I don't recommend it, after all, this is just the periphery of the cave, who knows what changes are inside."
"Okay, then let's continue wearing our breathing masks; we still have plenty of oxygen."
The four lined up in a combat formation and cautiously advanced towards the stone door.
As they walked through the cave, Luo Lin and her team discovered more details, including paths paved with slabs of stone, and some collapsed building remnants, all proving that people had lived here a long time ago.
Soon, the Valkyries arrived in front of the stone door adorned with dragon patterns.
Luo Lin asked, "Is communication with the research vessel still normal?"
"The signal is a bit weak, but communication is still functioning normally."
The black-haired girl nodded, looking around, and spotted a stone tablet with ancient Shenzhou characters carved on it next to the door.
"Everyone, come and take a look, there are words on it!"
Whitley naturally also noticed the stone tablet. She took a few steps to ensure that her camera could capture the entire tablet, and said, "Alvitr, help me check the database of Schicksal to see if there's a translation of these characters?"
"Okay, Captain! Let me..."
Luo Lin stepped forward, "No need, I know how to translate this."
Whitley was already shocked to the point of numbness, "You still know this language!?"
Luo Lin didn't know, but Senti does. She just needed to play the role of a parrot.
"Senti, I choose you!"
"Okay, okay, okay, fine." Senti reluctantly rubbed her temples, "Wait a moment, let me think about it. This is not the same as the characters in the Silk Book from before..."
"What's written here is: 'To the destined ones of future generations, I am Lianshan, the leader of the Shenzhou tribe. My comrade, Jixuanyuan, used her life to seal the monster Chiyou that threatened Shenzhou...'"
Senti in the system space was surprised.
She looked at the Book of Fuxi beside her, "She's the one who translated the characters carved on the stone tablet just now."
Book of Fuxi was sitting on the floating ball made of soulium. She looked at the TV screen in front of her with a complicated expression (the screen displayed Luo Lin's perspective). She paused for a moment and continued to translate.
"All I can do for her is to use these stone tablets to record her legend, hoping that future generations can remember her sacrifice... Lianshan, ah, you little brat..."
Luo Lin acted as a parrot and read out the translation.
"Lianshan? Isn't that the hero who lived in the same era as Jixuanyuan in Shenzhou legends?"
Captain Whitley was somewhat excited, clenching her fists, and shouted, "Then it seems that this is indeed the Nine Realms!"
Meanwhile, the research vessel was already bustling with activity, celebrating their accurate discovery of the location of the Stigma Ruins.
"Was it Book of Fuxi that translated just now?" Luo Lin asked Senti.
"Yes." Senti glanced at the Elf, "She's feeling... lost now."
For the Book of Fuxi, memories were stored firmly in the database. She vividly remembered the scene when she and Nuwa sacrificed themselves. Now, seeing the traces left by her acquaintance thousands of years ago, the feeling of things changing but people remaining the same overwhelmed the ELF's heart.
"...I'm fine." Book of Fuxi forced a smile, "Luo Lin, the translation on this stone tablet is done, continue to search nearby. There should be other stone tablets."
"Okay."
Luo Lin immediately took action and indeed found several other stone tablets nearby.
"One year ago, Jixuanyuan entered the Nine Realms alone with the Xuanyuan Sword, sealing Chiyou. I wanted to find her body but couldn't find the Nine Realms in the vast ocean. When I was about to give up, the Nian Beast kept hovering over the sea..."
"The Nian Beast?" Senti's train of thought was a bit off track, "Isn't that the chubby little guy on Mount Taixu?"
Luo Lin hesitated and said, "It shouldn't... be?"
Book of Fuxi answered everyone's doubts, "It's that Nian Beast! The Nian Beast on Taixu Mountain was specially bred by Jingwei. It was used to commemorate Jixuanyuan... but something happened later, and she forgot about it herself."
Senti sighed, "Ah, 'Fenghuang Down'... continue with the translation."
Book of Fuxi nodded, "The Nian Beast was Jixuanyuan's beloved pet. It is said that the name comes from her former friend. In the end, it brought me here, but left on its own... The story on this stone tablet ends here, but there's a sentence added at the end: The Nian Beast points the way forward."
"Hmm... I have some impression..."
Luo Lin rubbed her chin, vaguely remembering that in the game, Kiana's team seemed to have moved three bird-shaped stone statues next, and then the seal was broken...
Alright, then she would definitely not move the stone statues!
Listening to Luo Lin's retelling of the story, Alvitr sighed, "I didn't expect this to be a story? But I feel like this story hasn't finished yet, right? Perhaps there are other stone tablets nearby?"
"Over there! There's another one over there!"
One of the Valkyries in the team reached out her hand, pointing into the distance.
So, the four hurried over to the last stone tablet.
"...Unfortunately, when I came here, I couldn't even find her body. Her most important artifact, the Xuanyuan Sword, is also missing... All I can do for my wife is to erect this stone tablet here to tell her story and carve a statue of her beloved Nian Beast, to accompany her here forever."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all." Luo Lin nodded.
Whitley asked, "If I didn't hear wrong, did the stone tablet say that Jixuanyuan's body couldn't be found? Then the Stigmata should not have been preserved... It's a bit of a pity."
One of the Valkyries in the team comforted, "It's not that bad. Didn't we find three artifacts that can emit light and erect protective shields?"
"Those things look useless to me. I think we still need to search more in the Nine Realms." Whitley scratched her head, "Lady Luo Lin, what do you think?"
"I agree, but it's best for everyone to act together. Who knows if there are any traps here—after all, in a sense, this place is Jixuanyuan's tomb, right? The people of Shenzhou are fond of setting up traps in tombs to prevent grave robbers."
"Ah, that's... true."
The black-haired girl stretched her shoulders, preparing to continue searching with others when she heard a strange sound in her ear.
"You finally came to find me... filthy humans..."
"Huh?"
Luo Lin frowned and looked in the direction of the sound.
It was a stone wall with mysterious and profound runes carved on it, but in just a blink of an eye, bright purple lines had climbed up it, completely corroding it!
The next moment, the stone wall shattered with a bang, and countless debris flew towards Luo Lin and her team like bullets!
"Get behind me!"
Luo Lin stepped forward, drew out the Mimetic Longsword, and initiated the Taixu Swordsmanship's Guarding Sword Form, creating a dense series of sword lights to intercept all the flying debris.
The Valkyries watched the rising smoke with solemn expressions.
"Dada, dada, dada, dada..."
The crisp collision echoed in the cave, and the intense Honkai Energy response accompanied the sound, gradually approaching.
Whitley also took a defensive stance, her ear cocked, and said, "Is that... the sound of horseshoes?! Knight-class Honkai beast?!"
"No, it shouldn't be..."
Luo Lin narrowed her eyes.
A black sword emitting a bloody light tore through the smoke, and a slender figure riding an armored warhorse appeared in front of the Valkyries.
The weapon looked familiar, a variant of a mass-produced Divine Key, and the person riding it looked very familiar to Luo Lin, also a classic variant of someone.
The Valkyries murmured, "Wow, how did you get out..."
Dark Jixuanyuan's expression was blank, pointing the sword at Luo Lin and the others.
"Die!"