’Perhaps the secrets within this Pyramid are far beyond my imagination.’

Shi Ming recalled the hint the Eye of Intelligence had given him when he first found the treasure map.

[Perhaps, with this, you can find a decent treasure and uncover the great secret of an ancient place!]

’What kind of secret,’

’could be called a "great secret"?’

’Just how great could a secret be for the Eye of Intelligence to consider it "great"?’

Shi Ming was very curious about Big Yiyi, but the most important thing right now was to find the treasure first and explore step by step.

The Sun-Shooter passed through a long corridor and arrived in a wide-open space inside the Pyramid. If this tomb was the Scorpion King’s bedchamber, then this hall was more like the first reception room for arriving guests.

It was just a bit spooky.

Iron chains hung from the top of the hall. Something had probably been suspended from them, but it had long since decayed and vanished.

"Could this be the so-called Skeleton Hall?"

The Skeleton Hall.

It had been mentioned on both the map and in the earlier murals.

In his time, the Scorpion King’s methods for dealing with enemies were vicious. He would melt away the flesh and blood of enemy leaders, leaving only their skeletons. These would serve as his trophies, hung on display in his palace. Shi Ming just hadn’t expected the Scorpion King to move his collection into his tomb after his death. The ordinary human skeletons that had hung from those chains certainly couldn’t have lasted for several thousand years; they had long since turned to dust.

’Who would’ve thought this Scorpion King was a collector.’

The skeletons hanging from the iron chains had all decayed, but in the corners, buried under the sand, Shi Ming could still see some skeletons that hadn’t completely decomposed.

They didn’t appear to be human. A faint luster still flowed across their massive frames. Though decaying, they weren’t entirely weathered away and were quite conspicuous even in the darkness.

’Like higher-quality collectibles.’

Shi Ming shook his head.

’There’s obviously no treasure here. No need to waste time. The most crucial thing is to find the final treasure location and achieve this trip’s objective.’

’Let’s go!’

The Sun-Shooter swayed silently in the seawater.

As it moved through the hall, it seemed to disturb something.

’Huh?’

The skeletons scattered in the yellow sand actually began to crawl out from beneath it, one by one. Like building blocks, they automatically assembled into a creature resembling a Bone Serpent. The creature seemed to have a will of its own, piecing its body together completely. A faint blue light even ignited in its eye sockets!

ROAR~

’Did it just make a sound?’

The Map of the Endless Sea flashed in Shi Ming’s hand for an instant before he put it away.

’Not a sea beast!’

’No matter! Whether it is or not, what kind of trouble can these decaying old bones possibly cause?!’

A greatsword radiating a biting chill materialized in Shi Ming’s hand. He deftly pushed off a surface in the Skeleton Hall, leaped, and brought his blade down precisely on the Bone Serpent’s head! With the Dinglan Pearl, fighting in the deep sea was as natural as a fish in water!

CRACK!

The Ice Sword cut through the seawater, and tiny shards of ice quietly formed in its wake.

Then, they all shattered amid the shockwave.

The Bone Serpent hadn’t even finished assembling when it was hit by another ferocious attack. Its already decaying skull cracked again, shattering into tiny pieces that scattered across the yellow sand flowing in from outside the Pyramid.

"Decaying bones can still move? What’s the principle behind this?"

Before the words had even left Shi Ming’s mouth, the shattered skull fragments, as if summoned, reassembled themselves into a perfect skull.

The eerie blue flame within the skull lit up once more!

This time, it was much more agile. It slithered rapidly through the hall like a real serpent, then whipped its tail in a vicious arc, the skeletal tip shooting toward Shi Ming.

"You don’t even have blood."

"I have no interest in killing you."

A tangible chill, a result of using Ice Annihilation Power, emanated from Shi Ming’s eyes.

The air inside the cabin’s protective shield was humid, and a layer of white frost had formed on his thick, black eyebrows. He took a deep breath, and the ordinary, meter-long Ice Sword in his hand rapidly expanded, becoming a massive 2.2-meter-long broadsword in the blink of an eye.

He swung the giant sword, slapping it against the Bone Serpent’s body. The ferocious force shattered the Bone Serpent into pieces, sending them flying into the wall.

Then, Shi Ming shattered the greatsword. The gleaming Ice Sword broke into nearly a thousand frosty ice spikes.

Each ice spike shot toward a piece of the shattered Bone Serpent. Densely packed, they pierced through every fragment of its body, pinning them to the stone-slab walls of the hall. The chill then reacted with the seawater, freezing them solid against the walls.

An aesthetically pleasing bas-relief of a Bone Serpent now appeared on the walls of the Skeleton Hall.

Like a disassembled specimen.

"A perfect finish."

"Now *this* is true art."

He couldn’t appreciate those abstract murals from before at all.

Shi Ming leaped back to the Sun-Shooter. Just as he was about to press on, he suddenly saw a blue Crystal Core fall from the location of the serpent’s "seven-inch spot."

"Oh?"

"There’s loot?"

His Eye of Creation swept over it.

[Puppet Core]

[Level: 3]

[A Puppet Core created by Scorpion King III’s Female Warlock, based on the methods described on the Divine Revelation Stele. Integrating it into the corpse of a C-rank or lower fiend or sea beast can transform the corresponding corpse into a puppet-like object that will obey set commands until destroyed.]

[Upgrade Requirement: B-rank fiend or Sea Beast Flesh and Blood x5000g, Beast Blood x500g.]

’A Puppet Core?’

’People from the ancient past, thousands of years ago, could actually create something like this? The so-called Female Warlock made it based on the description on the Divine Revelation Stele? What is this Divine Revelation Stele, then? Does it count as the "great secret" the Eye of Intelligence mentioned?’

Speaking of steles, Shi Ming recalled many things.

According to legend, on what was once Mount Everest, in the only area in the world that could still be considered a continent, there was also a Mysterious Stele.

When the Wandering Era had just begun, it was by following the hints on that stele and through their own explorations that people discovered the secret of "awakening," gradually carving out a foothold for themselves in the long war against the sea beasts.

Moreover, the text on that stele was also being gradually deciphered by various research institutes.

For example, the "Catalog of Marvels of the Endless Ocean" deciphered by the Xirang Research Institute was part of the stele’s contents.

’These two steles,’

’I wonder if they’re connected?’

’Whatever the case, I’ll store this Puppet Core first.’

The Sun-Shooter deftly turned toward the target. Without needing to act personally, Shi Ming unleashed his Ice Annihilation Power. A layer of ice crystals formed on the Crystal Core lying on the ground, and under his Ice Control Power, it flew toward him. With a wave of his hands, the thing was stored in his system inventory.

Skillfully using the Ice Annihilation Power could, to some extent, free up his hands.

"I wonder if there’s any other loot in this hall?"

"Brain of Creation! Activate!"

His eyes swept across the entire hall.