A direct spiritual attack, unlike other forms of attack, is a zero-sum game.

There’s no such thing as a win-win, and no holding back.

Once initiated, a winner is inevitably decided. One side’s gain is the other’s equivalent loss. This makes such attacks incredibly dangerous in actual combat; misjudging an opponent’s strength leads to a severe backlash.

Looking at the withered flowers, Shi Ming quickly deduced what had happened. His Spiritual Power was so immense that the attack had triggered a rebound effect, causing all the Dream Flowers to wilt and die.

’There shouldn’t be any other dangers, right?’

He had been coveting that Treasure Pearl for a long time.

A treasure with a starting level of 7 was bound to be extraordinary.

The Treasure Pearl, much like the Lamp of Wishes from before, had a "Corroded" prefix.

Moreover, the materials required for an upgrade were identical: 300 grams of Purifying Marrow.

He had never seen this Purifying Marrow and had no idea where to obtain it. But judging from the two reminders from the Brain of Creation, it seemed necessary for upgrading any corroded item and eliminating its negative effects.

’I’ll have to keep an eye out for it.’

Although the Full Moon Pearl was corroded, its light remained quite soft. The only issue was the colorful impurities that had appeared within it—a result of being eroded by the Dream Flowers over countless years. For now, it was unclear what effect cleansing the corruption would have.

Shi Ming put it away. After confirming there was nothing else of note in the area, he continued deeper into the Pyramid.

The passageway sloped continuously upward, and the tomb chambers grew increasingly cramped.

The Sunshooter could barely navigate through.

After another ten minutes of cautious, slow navigation, the space suddenly opened up.

This was the core of the entire Pyramid, the main tomb chamber of the Scorpion King. Four smaller chambers were arranged around it like stars orbiting a moon, each belonging to a Consort buried with him.

’If there are any treasures, they have to be here.’

Just like before, a massive pillar of Bone Marrow stood in the center, supporting the chamber’s domed ceiling.

The chamber doors had long since crumbled in the seawater. Shi Ming carefully steered the Sunshooter into the flooded main tomb.

The Sunshooter hovered in the water like a fish as Shi Ming observed the details of the chamber.

The chamber was over three hundred square meters. A Golden Coffin was placed in the center of a massive pool. The pool was now completely filled with seawater, making it impossible to tell what liquid it originally held. The coffin itself was submerged, yet even after so many years, it remained bright and brilliant, emitting the alluring gleam of Gold.

Gold has a price, but treasures are priceless.

A single glance revealed that the place was indeed filled with treasures.

Pearls, gemstones, pure Gold, and Silver were scattered about. Some had decayed, but others were still dazzling.

Beyond that, what most attracted Shi Ming’s attention were four items placed to the south, east, north, and west of the coffin.

Directly south of the Golden Coffin stood a two-meter-tall stone stele.

Directly north, a dim bronze mirror over three meters tall was embedded in the stone wall.

Directly east, a scepter inlaid with an azure stone rested on a stone platform.

Directly west was a man-high scorpion cast from Gold.

Even without using the Brain of Creation, Shi Ming could sense that these items were extraordinary. He didn’t rush to collect them. Instead, as he always did, he used the power of the Brain of Creation to inspect each one.

First was the scepter inlaid with the azure stone.

[Meteorite Sub-Core]

[Level: 4]

[The sub-core of an extraterrestrial meteorite, a mysterious azure crystal. In the current age, it can be used as the power core for a General-class drifter or certain industrial constructs. It has no other use.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 1000 ml each of 7 different S-rank Sea Beast Bloods, Starry Sky Chain x1]

’The Crystal Stone on this staff must be one of the materials that can replace the Sailing Star, used to upgrade a General-class drifter to King-class.’

It was also Shi Ming’s primary objective for this expedition.

’And it can be upgraded again? Once upgraded, it’ll probably become the legendary King-class core!’

With a flicker of his Ice Annihilation Power, Shi Ming unceremoniously took it.

He moved on to the other items.

The stele gave no prompt and was not upgradeable.

But Shi Ming guessed this must be the Divine Revelation Stele that the Female Warlock had offered to the Red King. Its importance was self-evident.

Moreover, despite having soaked in seawater for so long, the stele was completely undamaged, its script still clear and legible. These characters, which resembled arcane runes, were of the same origin as the three words identifying the Crystal Staff’s core—obviously the same type of writing.

Although Shi Ming felt a strong sense of déjà vu looking at them, he couldn’t understand the script.

He no longer had that feeling of sudden, intuitive understanding either.

He took it.

The bronze mirror also gave no prompt. It was deeply embedded in the stone wall and couldn’t be taken. To remove it, he would have to dismantle it first, but it was so intertwined with the Pyramid’s structure that it would be difficult to detach quickly.

As for the final item...

The Gold scorpion... it was actually cast from solid Gold, weighing a full 78 kilograms!

He took it.

’These treasures shouldn’t be buried in the deep sea, never to see the light of day.’

’They need a master to bring them into the modern world and let them shine once more!’

Shi Ming’s eyes continued to scan the area.

But he found nothing else of note.

There was only one last place left to check.

The Golden Coffin.

He had specifically saved one use of his Eye of Intelligence for an occasion just like this.

’Time to check for anything I missed!’

’I’ve come all this way. How could I miss out?’

’Eye of Intelligence, gather information!’

BEEP... BEEP...

[Organizing information...]

[Searching... Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing information... Information generated.]

[The Star Lamp in the Golden Coffin]

[Of course the most important treasure must be kept close! Before his death, the Scorpion King tightly gripped his Star Lamp, hoping it would guide him correctly even in the Netherworld. However, the Star Lamp has no desire to slumber eternally with him!]

[After all, its sights are set on the sea of stars!]

’Heh, the Eye of Intelligence and I were on the same page!’

’Let’s respect the Star Lamp’s wishes!’

The Scorpion King’s Golden Coffin opened with a single push. The coffin was completely empty, with no trace of the long-dead king. There was only a single lamp, submerged in the seawater.

[Star Lamp (Extinguished)]

[Level: 9]

[After soaking in seawater for over a decade, its light has finally been extinguished. The once-mighty lamp of guidance is now lost in eternal darkness.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 100g of Holy Hall-level Sea Beast Flesh and Blood]

’An upgrade requires 100 grams of flesh and blood from a Holy Hall-level Sea Beast?’

’Where am I supposed to get that?’

’Infiltrate Fujing Mountain?’

’I’ll worry about that later. First, I need to secure the treasure in front of me.’ With a thought, Shi Ming collected the lamp.

Just then, the surface of the bronze mirror embedded in the stone wall rippled, almost imperceptibly.

SWIRL~

The dim surface of the mirror reflected an endless, brilliant starry sky.