Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

”No.” Zheng Lie lifted Huo Wenbei onto the motorcycle, preparing to retreat.

Huo Wenbei pondered aloud, ”Bringing me out midway, is Huo Wen’an planning to secretly kill me to eliminate future troubles?”

Zheng Lie sneered, ”You? Does our Pilot need to personally take action?” Zheng Lie snorted, ”Killing you would dirty our Pilot’s hands.”

Zheng Lie: ”...”

”Then why release us so suddenly?” Thinking of something, Huo Wenbei was a bit taken aback. He asked, ”Is the Old Helmsman dead?”

Zheng Lie gave Huo Wenbei an amused look and said, ”If you’re so eager for the Old Helmsman to die, I could send you to him, give you a chance to ask him yourself.”

Huo Wenbei wanted to ask something else, but Zheng Lie impatiently swore, ”Shut up, no talking!”

Zheng Lie stepped on the gas, and the motorcycle shot down the winding mountain road like an arrow.

Just as Zheng Lie and the others descended the mountain, the Sky Pillar in the Central Cave suddenly began to sink.

The Sky Pillar, located at the center of the Central Cave, had cracks extending from it in two directions, southeast. Huo Wen’an and his companions sat in the cockpit of the Eagle Sparrow, keeping a close watch on the slowly descending Sky Pillar, their expressions somewhat grave.

Song Chi said, ”I never expected that the Sky Pillar, used as a dungeon by the Huo Family, is the key to opening the entrance to the Divine Hidden Dynasty.”

”Not quite.” Xu Xingguang said, ”The Divine Hidden Sword is the key to unlock the lock. The Sky Pillar is the lock that seals the Divine Hidden Dynasty. Both are indispensable.”

Huo Wen’an said, ”Xingguang, if you don’t understand the design of mechanisms and secret passageways, you wouldn’t know how to unlock them. Without unlocking the seventh level of the Sacrificial Tower, we can’t acquire the Divine Hidden Sword, and thus can’t unlock the lock of the Divine Hidden Dynasty in the Central Cave...”

He turned to gaze at Xu Xingguang, suddenly understanding why the world’s consciousness requested the Reincarnation Mirror to send Xu Xingguang to experience the reincarnations of ten worlds.

Each reincarnation was to refine her will, imparting the knowledge needed to save the Mortal World.

Xu Xingguang had long understood the connections within.

She quietly interlocked fingers with Huo Wen’an and squeezed lightly.

The Sky Pillar’s sinking speed increased rapidly until it finally halted, with a part sinking into the depths of the ocean and another part remaining in the sea water of the Central Cave.

Xu Xingguang stared at the top of the Sky Pillar and said, ”The entrance to the Divine Hidden Dynasty is at a certain place on that pillar.”

”Search!”

Xu Xingguang started the Eagle Sparrow, and the three of them, seated in its cockpit, meticulously searched around the base of the Sky Pillar for the entrance. They spiraled upward, and as they neared the top of the Sky Pillar, they spotted a somewhat damaged groove.

Due to its connection to the ground above the Central Cave and having endured over two thousand years of erosion, the shape of the groove was already quite blurred.

But there was still a general outline.

This time, without waiting for Xu Xingguang’s cue, Huo Wen’an, without any oxygen equipment, held his breath and swam to the groove carrying the Divine Hidden Sword. He inserted the Divine Hidden Sword into the groove, causing a circular stone door at the top of the groove to suddenly pop open.

The appearance of the stone door swallowed Huo Wen’an and the surrounding sea water instantly.

In the water, a storm vortex appeared at once.

Seeing this, Xu Xingguang suddenly grabbed Song Chi and shouted, ”Hold your breath!!”

Song Chi hastily held his breath.

The next second, he realized the Eagle Sparrow was gone, and he, along with Xu Xingguang, got sucked into the vortex inside the Sky Pillar.

Approximately ten seconds later, the stone door atop the Sky Pillar automatically closed, sealing all living things and seawater outside.

The Sky Pillar was about six meters wide, with its outermost ring carved out to form three-meter-deep small cells, and the inside held a vertical passage about one meter in diameter.

Once inside the Sky Pillar, Xu Xingguang and Song Chi, encased in seawater, continuously plummeted along the vertical passage.

The intense feeling of weightlessness frightened even Xu Xingguang.

In those short few dozen seconds, countless images flashed through Song Chi’s mind. He thought of Bai Xi, Zheng Lie, Sister Lin from Cangshan Town, and the medicinal field on the mountainside nearing harvest...

What a pity, he hadn’t even had the chance to leave any last words.

...

Thud!

They fell into a large pool along with the seawater.

As soon as she sensed her body had stopped falling, Xu Xingguang opened her eyes and, grabbing Song Chi’s arm, pulled him upward.

Song Chi soon regained his senses.

He quickly swam upward with Xu Xingguang.

Soon, both emerged from the water.

Looking up, Xu Xingguang saw the Sky Pillar suspended above them, with its bottom exit wedged on a circular high platform. In the middle of the Sky Pillar was indeed a vertical passage about one meter wide, and they had just fallen through it, landing in the pool below.

”Boss,” Song Chi, caught some sight with a shaken expression, called out to Xu Xingguang, his voice trembling.

Xu Xingguang withdrew her gaze from above, looked back, and followed Song Chi’s line of sight. She first saw countless massive stone pillars like the Sky Pillar, connecting heaven and earth, holding up a sky beneath the sea.

Where they were actually was a small lake.

Upon reaching the shore, they found a wide plaza, behind which stood a majestic castle built into the mountain. Under the illumination of countless luminous pearls, the castle shone like a vibrant pearl lost in the jungle, dazzling and surreal.

Xu Xingguang had never seen such a grand and magnificent castle in the real world; it was more like a fictional backdrop created with special effects in a film.

At this moment, standing on the terrace in front of the castle, was a man holding a sword.

It was Huo Wen’an.

Xu Xingguang and Song Chi hurriedly came ashore.

With their clothes soaking wet and uncomfortable, Xu Xingguang took off her shirt, leaving only a vest and long pants. Song Chi also removed his shirt, wearing only his wet pants, as he and Xu Xingguang approached Huo Wen’an.