Chapter 169: Chapter 166: The Corrosion of the Scorpion King’s Sea of Flowers

Through Shi Ming’s explorations, the Brain of Creation had been developed for a wide variety of uses besides just upgrades.

Identification, scanning, indexing...

And now, another function had been added: treasure hunting.

Most of the areas scanned by the Brain of Creation yielded no notifications. Only a few fragmented stone pillars and carvings were flagged by the Eye of Creation as upgradeable, but these items were mostly mundane and not worth taking.

It was only when it scanned the pillar at the center of the Skeleton Hall that a notification from the Brain of Creation caught Shi Ming’s attention.

[Bone Marrow]

[Level: 3]

[The spine of the ferocious beast, the Steel-Maned Celestial Horse, supports this malevolent Skeleton Hall. After eons, the viciousness within the spine has completely vanished, but the essence of its marrow remains. Consuming it can moderately increase Endurance and Attack Power, depending on the individual’s ability to digest it.]

[Upgrade Requirement: 300ml of blood from an equine-type ferocious beast or Sea Beast Blood]

’This giant pillar is actually the spine of a ferocious beast, ground into a cylinder?’

Shi Ming shook his head reluctantly. He really wanted to tear this pillar down—after all, he wasn’t one to leave treasure behind—but if he demolished the central pillar of the Skeleton Hall now, it would probably bring the whole house down, destabilizing the entire Pyramid’s foundation.

’I haven’t even gotten the treasure yet,’

’I haven’t even uncovered the great secret,’

’How can I let the place collapse on me?’

’I’ll wait.’

Beyond the Skeleton Hall was another long corridor. The sand that had filled it grew thinner, revealing the Pyramid’s original stone slabs. After being submerged in seawater for so long, the slabs showed clear signs of salt corrosion.

An ordinary person’s step would shatter them instantly.

But Shi Ming was exploring from his vessel. The canoe was small and nimble, perfectly capable of navigating the corridor in one direction.

It advanced in a suspended state, never touching any of the objects within the Pyramid. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

...

As he continued on, he saw a glimmer of light.

’Could it be some kind of treasure, like a Luminous Pearl?’

’Or maybe an Everlasting Lamp, like the ones recorded in the texts aboard the Pharaoh? No, that’s not right. This place is completely submerged in seawater; an Everlasting Lamp shouldn’t still be lit.’

Light stands out in the darkness. Even the faintest glimmer would catch the eye of any normal person, to say nothing of Shi Ming.

The Sun-Shooter, his canoe, sailed onward, and the light grew steadily brighter.

It wasn’t a harsh, blinding glare, but a gentle, warm light, as comforting as the moon.

Not only that,

but Shi Ming also detected a fragrance.

It smelled like flowers.

The floral scent had infused the seawater, which then carried it through the Sun-Shooter’s air barrier to his nose.

He immediately sealed the Sun-Shooter’s air shield. In a situation like this, any unusual scent could signal danger. Ahead lay the Scorpion King’s Garden, as marked on his map. ’Does this garden actually have flowers?’

The Sun-Shooter glided slowly out of the corridor.

He beheld a romantic scene.

A giant, luminous pearl hung high in the water like a full moon.

A dilapidated swing hung from a stone pillar. Beneath it, countless flowers swayed gracefully in the seawater. They all seemed to be the same species, yet they bloomed in a myriad of different colors, filling Shi Ming’s entire field of vision with a vibrant tapestry.

The Sun-Shooter’s passage created a gentle current, causing the flowers to drift slowly, creating a dreamlike, ethereal sight.

If he could ignore the seawater flooding the chamber, Shi Ming would have thought he’d stumbled into a garden of the Royal Family.

He did not venture into this undersea field of blooming flowers.

’Are you kidding me?’

In his past life, Shi Ming had played plenty of Souls-like games to unwind—titles like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and so on. In those games, whenever something beautiful appeared in a bizarre setting, it inevitably concealed something even more sinister. Take, for example, that one controversial game with the scene where a gorgeous bridal chamber suddenly appears deep underground...

’Any fool would know there’s something nasty in there.’

’Brain of Creation, activate!’

He first looked toward the giant Luminous Pearl.

[Corroded Full Moon Pearl]

[Level 7]

[A Treasure Pearl the Scorpion King plundered from the Full Moon Tribe and gifted to his favorite Consort, Aisuya. Its gentle light, like that of the moon, made flowers bloom wherever it shone, and under its glow, the two would share their love. After the Scorpion King died, Aisuya and the pearl were moved into his tomb to accompany him in eternal slumber amidst a sea of gracefully swaying dream flowers. After several thousand years, this perfect Treasure Pearl has finally been corroded.]

[Upgrade Requirement: 300g of Purifying Marrow]

’Doesn’t seem to be a problem,’

’just a treasure corroded by the sea?’

Shi Ming’s eyes darted around as he scanned the rest of the area.

The corroded swing,

the corroded stone table,

all sorts of other corroded items.

Everything was corroded.

’Corroded by what?’

’The sea?’

’No, that’s not right!’

’The Brain of Creation’s description said that after "several thousand years," this Treasure Pearl had "finally" been corroded.’

’Doesn’t that mean the source of corrosion has been present for thousands of years?’

’But this place has only been submerged for a mere thirty years.’

’So in the time between the tomb’s construction and thirty years ago, this bright Treasure Pearl was constantly being corroded?’

An armor of ice crystals formed over Shi Ming’s body, sealing him in completely. It could block most kinds of toxic and saline corrosion. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to test the waters.

He piloted the Sun-Shooter forward a short distance, having already programmed "moss" to retreat immediately at the first sign of anything unusual.

The Sun-Shooter entered the sea of flowers.

WHOA—

Shi Ming was instantly hit by a wave of vertigo. In his daze, every flower swaying in the water around him transformed into a beautiful face, luring him to stay and enjoy the lovely moonlight with them.

But that was the extent of it.

The vertigo lasted only a moment.

His powerful Spiritual Power allowed him to adapt and quickly become immune to the Illusion Realm created by the flowers. The dizziness and the mental assault were less than a third of the Spiritual Power he had expended when upgrading his ship; it was a piece of cake.

Shi Ming had never known the exact value of his Spiritual Power,

but he estimated it was probably quite high.

That was because his "Ice Annihilation" ability was fueled by Spiritual Power.

The higher his Spiritual Power, the stronger the Ice Annihilation. The Ice Annihilation Shi Ming unleashed was even more powerful than that of an A-rank sea beast like the Glacier Dragon!

At full power, he could even freeze a Deep Sea Titan that stood over 100 meters tall!

The passive mental assault from these flowers had little effect on him.

Not only that, but the intense psychic shock seemed to provoke a backlash from Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power. An invisible wave of mental energy formed a passive defense in his mind. For the first time, these Dream Flowers—which had grown for millennia and survived tenaciously even in the sea—faced a powerful counterattack.

It was as if they had been sprayed with the world’s most potent herbicide! In an instant, they all withered and decayed!

Utterly wiped out.

???

’Am I that terrifying?’

The Sun-Shooter retreated.

Shi Ming stared at the field of ruined flowers, unsure for a moment whether he was too powerful, or if the flowers were just too fragile.