Location: The Savage Wilds – Sector C (The Bone Wasteland)

  Time: Day 3 of the Trial

  ?The jungle had given way to a desert of grey dust and massive, bleached ribcages that curved out of the sand like cathedral arches. This was the graveyard of the gigantic beasts that had died creating this pocket dimension.

  ?Aris (Han Xiao) trudged through the sand, wiping "sweat" from his brow.

  ?"Are we there yet?" Aris whined aloud, kicking a skull.

  ?"Master," Mo whispered, walking a step behind him. "We have been walking for six hours. You do not sweat. Stop wasting water."

  ?"It's called method acting, Mo," Aris projected telepathically, his posture straightening for a split second before slumping again. "We are approaching the coordinates from Feng Yu's map. Prepare yourself. The 'Elite' trash will be gathering here."

  ?They crested a dune.

  ?Below them lay a massive, circular depression in the sand—an ancient amphitheater made of obsidian. At the center stood a colossal stone door, sealed with glowing blue runes.

  ?A camp had already been established around the door. Silk tents, floating pavilions, and guards in shining armor marked the presence of the Core Disciples.

  ?[Abyssal Eye: Scan]

  ?Target Location: The Tomb of the Beast King (Sealed). ?Barrier Strength: Level 80 (Dao Severing Grade). ?Population: 50 Cultivators. ?Threat Assessment: ?Guards: Level 50 (Nascent Soul). ?Leader A: Iron-Mountain (Disciple of the Earth Sect). Level 62. ?Leader B: Lady Lin (Disciple of the Ice-Phoenix Sect). Level 65.

  ?"Level 65," Aris noted. "Stronger than the local leaders back in Sector 994. The Middle Realm really does feed them well."

  ?"Do we kill them?" Mo asked, his hand drifting to his sword.

  ?"No," Aris replied. "They are trying to open the door. Look."

  ?Down in the amphitheater, a group of scholars were chanting, pouring buckets of beast blood onto the runes. The door hummed but refused to budge.

  ?"They are using a Brute Force Decryption algorithm," Aris sneered. "Trying to overload the mana circuit with blood. Primitive. That lock is a harmonic frequency seal. It needs a specific sound key, not blood."

  ?Aris adjusted his messy robes. "Time to go 'trip' and fix their mistake."

  ?Location: The Amphitheater – The Sealed Gate

  Time: 10 Minutes Later

  ?"Push harder! Pour more blood!"

  ?Iron-Mountain, a giant of a man with skin like polished bronze, roared at his subordinates. He swung a massive warhammer against the door. CLANG. The barrier didn't even ripple. The force of the blow blew back into his face, knocking him down.

  ?"Useless!" Lady Lin hissed. She sat on a floating ice throne, sipping tea. "This is the Tomb of the Beast King. A Dao Severing barrier cannot be broken by hitting it with a stick, you brute."

  ?"You have a better idea, Ice-Witch?" Iron-Mountain grunted, standing up.

  ?"I am calculating the runic flow," she said coolly. "It will take... three days."

  ?"We don't have three days! The trial ends in four!"

  ?While they argued, a small, dusty figure rolled down the sand dune and tumbled into the center of the camp.

  ?"Waaaaah!"

  ?Aris rolled to a stop right at Lady Lin's feet. He looked up, his face covered in sand, clutching his bag of "pills."

  ?"D-don't eat me!" Aris shrieked.

  ?Lady Lin looked down at him with absolute disgust. "A rat? How did a Foundation Establishment trash survive the jungle?"

  ?"I... I ran!" Aris stammered. "I just kept running! Please, let me hide here! The spiders are scary!"

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  ?Iron-Mountain laughed. "Look at him. Pathetic. Hey, boy! Get lost before I squash you."

  ?"Y-yes! Yes, sir!"

  ?Aris scrambled to his feet. He turned to run, but "tripped" over his own robe.

  ?He flailed forward.

  ?In his hand, he held the iron scrap he had looted from the Orc days ago.

  ?As he fell toward the massive Obsidian Door, Aris's eyes flashed violet for a nanosecond.

  ?[Abyssal Eye: Frequency Match]

  [Target Point: Resonance Node 4.]

  [Force Required: 2.5 Newtons.]

  ?Aris's iron scrap hit a small, insignificant protrusion on the door.

  ?Ting.

  ?It was a tiny sound. Barely a whisper.

  ?But the vibration traveled through the door. It hit the resonance node. The frequency amplified. The blue runes flashed white.

  ?CRACK-BOOM.

  ?The sound of a thousand heavy locks disengaging echoed across the desert.

  ?The massive stone doors groaned and slowly began to grind open.

  ?Silence fell over the camp.

  ?Iron-Mountain dropped his hammer. Lady Lin spilled her tea.

  ?Aris lay on the ground in front of the opening door, looking terrified.

  ?"I... I didn't break it!" Aris cried, shielding his head. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

  ?"He..." Iron-Mountain stared at the door. "He opened it."

  ?"He tripped," Lady Lin whispered, standing up, her eyes wide. "He tripped and hit the pressure point. The sheer... dumb... luck."

  ?The darkness inside the tomb beckoned. A scent of ancient treasure and condensed Qi wafted out.

  ?Greed instantly replaced shock.

  ?"Move!" Iron-Mountain roared, charging forward. "The Inheritance is mine!"

  ?"Stop him!" Lady Lin commanded her ice-guards. "Freeze the entrance!"

  ?The camp erupted into chaos. Fifty cultivators charged the door, ignoring the "useless" alchemist cowering in the sand.

  ?As the last of them ran inside, Aris slowly sat up. He dusted off his knees.

  ?Mo stepped out of the shadows next to him.

  ?"Subtle," Mo deadpanned.

  ?"It works," Aris smirked, walking calmly toward the dark entrance. "They are the trap sweepers. We let them trigger the defenses, then we walk over their bodies to the throne room."

  ?Aris paused at the threshold. He touched the doorframe.

  ?[System Warning]

  [Dungeon Type: Labyrinth.]

  [Rule: "The Strong shall fall. The Weak shall crawl."]**

  ?"Oh, this is going to be fun," Aris chuckled. "The dungeon punishes high energy output. The stronger they flex, the harder the traps will hit them."

  ?He stepped into the darkness.

  ?"Stay close, Mo. And keep your power level at zero. We're going for a stroll."

  ?Location: Inside the Tomb – The Hall of Whispers

  Time: 30 Minutes Later

  ?The screams started almost immediately.

  ?Aris and Mo walked down a long corridor lined with statues of beast-headed warriors. Ahead of them, the path was littered with ice shards and blood.

  ?They stepped over the corpse of an Ice-Phoenix guard. He had been skewered by a spear that shot out of the floor.

  ?"See?" Aris pointed. "He used an Ice Shield. The trap sensed the mana spike and deployed a Piercing Spear. If he had just walked normally, nothing would have happened."

  ?Aris walked past a pressure plate. He stepped on it.

  ?Nothing happened.

  ?"Han Xiao is trash," Aris said cheerfully. "The dungeon ignores trash."

  ?They reached a large central chamber.

  ?The Core Disciples were pinned down.

  ?In the center of the room was a Stone Golem the size of a house. It was smashing Iron-Mountain into the floor. Lady Lin was flying in circles, blasting it with ice, but every time she used magic, the Golem grew larger and glowed redder.

  ?"Stop attacking!" Lady Lin screamed. "It absorbs energy!"

  ?"I can't just let it kill me!" Iron-Mountain yelled back, blocking a fist that shattered the ground.

  ?Aris and Mo stood in the shadows of the entrance, watching.

  ?"That's the Guardian," Aris analyzed. "Level 68 Construct. Kinetic Absorption Plating."

  ?"Do we intervene?" Mo asked.

  ?"Not yet," Aris said, leaning against a pillar. "Let them weaken it. I want to see what that Golem is guarding."

  ?Aris looked past the chaos. Behind the Golem, on a raised dais, sat a small wooden box. It wasn't gold or jade. It was simple, rotting wood.

  ?But to Aris's Abyssal Eye, that box was radiating a blinding white light.

  ?[Item Detected]

  [Name: The Beast King's Heart.]

  [Type: Organic Artifact / Seed.]

  [Description: The crystallized core of a Divine Beast. Can be used to evolve a Bloodline or terraform a planet.]

  ?"Jackpot," Aris whispered.

  ?Suddenly, the Golem roared. It grabbed Iron-Mountain by the leg and threw him.

  ?The massive man flew across the room—directly toward Aris.

  ?Aris's eyes widened. This wasn't part of the plan.

  ?If he dodged too fast, he'd reveal his speed. If he took the hit, 'Han Xiao' would die.

  ?"Mo!"

  ?Mo didn't need orders. He stepped forward, grabbed Aris by the collar, and threw him to the side.

  ?Iron-Mountain crashed into the pillar where Aris had been standing, pulverizing the stone.

  ?The impact shook the room. A piece of the ceiling dislodged—a massive stalactite—falling directly toward the wooden box on the dais.

  ?"No!" Lady Lin screamed.

  ?If the box was crushed, the trial was failed.

  ?Time slowed.

  ?Aris, lying on the floor, calculated the trajectory.

  ?[Law Manipulation: Vector Push]

  ?He couldn't use a visible attack. He had to be invisible.

  ?He focused on the air underneath the falling rock. He increased the air density for a millisecond.

  ?The stalactite glided sideways, missing the box by an inch.

  ?It crashed onto the dais, shattering the stone around the box. The impact caused the wooden box to fly into the air.

  ?It arced across the room.

  ?Straight toward the cowering Alchemist.

  ?Aris sat up, blinking. The box landed in his lap with a soft thud.

  ?The room went silent.

  ?The Golem froze (its programming confused by the sudden shift in the artifact's location).

  ?Iron-Mountain pulled himself out of the rubble, bleeding. Lady Lin landed on the ground, panting.

  ?Fifty pairs of eyes locked onto Aris.

  ?Aris looked at the box in his lap. He looked up at the murderous cultivators.

  ?He swallowed hard.

  ?"Uh... delivery?" Aris squeaked.

  ?Iron-Mountain's eyes turned red. "KILL HIM!"

  ?Update:

  ?Dungeon Mechanics: The Tomb creates traps based on the intruder's power level. The stronger the Qi signature, the deadlier the trap. Aris (hiding his Qi) is effectively invisible to the automated defenses.