Slowly and gently, Long Shen was sinking into that dark lake of blood, surrounded by the corpses and skeletons of those who had died there long ago, before the Blood Lake Pit was completely abandoned.

The crimson water, thick with blood, was denser than usual, making his entire body heavier and heavier as his clothes absorbed it, slowing his descent.

Despite all this, the young orphan had not yet awakened, still unconscious for a few minutes since he had fallen, surrounded by a thin layer of white energy that had previously emanated from his necklace.

Even though his life had been saved by that mysterious glow, his end would still be death if he remained unconscious in the lake, on the verge of drowning, until finally, he woke up.

Opening his eyes suddenly, without fully understanding the situation he was in, his mind still foggy from just waking up, he could only look around for a few seconds before feeling his eyes burn from the direct contact with the water, forcing him to close them immediately and begin to desperately swim upward.

"Huff... Huff... I... Am I alive!?"

Floating on the lake's surface, breathing heavily and coughing up some of the water he had swallowed while unconscious, Long Shen looked around, taking advantage of the light still emanating from his necklace to better observe that dark place.

Some deteriorated skeletons were floating in the vast lake, while the corpses, which Long Shen had briefly seen when he was near the bottom, were piled up, stacking on top of each other. The sight of those lifeless, partially torn and decomposed bodies was something that would certainly haunt his mind for some time.

Naturally, the stench in that place was unbearable, to the point where Long Shen constantly felt on the verge of vomiting, feeling slightly dazed by everything around him, even though he had always considered himself strong-minded.

But the worst thing the young man felt at that moment was not the smell or the sight, but the amount of strange, corrupted energy he sensed all around the area, mostly accumulating at the bottom of the lake. It was the complete opposite of the spiritual energy he was used to, which was calm and soothing. This energy, however, was violent and heavy, making him feel a sharp pain in his very soul and heart, a sensation so strange that he couldn't even describe it in words.

Realizing how weak his body was to keep swimming and having already recognized his surroundings, Long Shen began to swim toward one of the cave’s edges, quickly reaching it since he was quite close.

Sigh... What the hell do I do now... Ah, right! The necklace!!

Lying on the cave floor, the young man pulled his necklace from beneath his clothes. It was still emitting a faint glow, though much dimmer than before, and he began to inspect it.

The medallion on the necklace appeared unchanged, still showing the same dragon design on the metal that seemed rusted, given its bronzed color, or at least that was what he, as a layman, thought after examining it for a few seconds.

As expected... I can see absolutely no difference. It still looks like the same old medallion... Shit...

Doubts filled his mind. After all, this was the only inheritance his parents had left him, and given its appearance and the fact that it had never shown anything special over the years, how could he have imagined that it was an artifact that could save his life one day? Who were his parents, whom he had never known and no one had ever told him about?

With a brief sigh of frustration, still weak but knowing he didn’t have many options at the moment, Long Shen stood up and began to think about what he could do in such a situation. He set aside the necklace since, no matter how much he thought about it, he wouldn't be able to find any answers right now.

I was saved by the necklace, but... What the hell do I do now to get out of here? He thought, looking up to where he had fallen, unable to even see the top because of how deep the pit was.

There were countless ways he could die there, whether from hunger, thirst, or even being consumed by the mysterious energy that seemed to want to penetrate his body little by little.

Luckily for him, a vague memory suddenly crossed his mind about the few seconds he had seen what was at the bottom of the lake.

That lever!!

Looking down at the exact spot where he remembered seeing the lever, the young man took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself to dive back into that lake of blood, knowing how oppressive the energy at the bottom was. But he had no other choice, and so, after a few seconds, he dove back in.

Splash!

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Having removed most of his clothes before jumping into the water, even though he still felt the weight the water placed on his body, it was much lighter than when he had been wearing those soaked clothes, allowing him to swim better than he had expected toward the spot he had seen.

Ugh... Tsk! Damn energy.

As expected, the energy grew stronger and stronger as the young man reached the bottom of the lake, feeling an increasing tightness in his heart, but he had no choice but to push forward.

Then, focusing his spiritual energy into his eyes, Long Shen was able to see underwater for a few minutes, at least enough to avoid accidentally touching any corpse in his path.

What a hellish sight... How many people did the Star Sword Sect kill for there to be so many bodies?

After only a few moments of swimming, the young man finally reached the spot where he remembered seeing the lever, and there it was, completely painted red, almost blending into the blood-filled lake.

Here we go... He positioned himself beside the lever and began pulling it with all his strength. ...This... Is harder than I thought...

A few seconds passed, but he couldn’t pull the lever, forcing him to use his internal energy in his body, finally seeing some progress.

Clunk!

Thus, Long Shen began looking around, expecting to see something change, but nothing seemed different, so he resurfaced to check if anything had happened, and to his relief, he noticed a change on one of the cave walls.

Huff... Huff... Wait, was that passage there before?

Wasting no time, excited to have found a way out of what seemed like a completely sealed place, Long Shen quickly swam back to the lake's edge, put his clothes back on, and headed toward the newly opened entrance.

A completely different environment from the cave presented itself to him, with smooth surfaces painted in white and gold, luminous crystals that he had never seen before in his life attached to the ceiling, and a flight of red stairs descending straight down.

For a few seconds, the young man wondered if it was really a good idea to enter that unknown and mysterious place, whose origins or contents he didn’t know, however, his doubt quickly faded when he realized he didn’t have a better option anyway. Still somewhat hesitant, he began descending the steps.

Seconds turned into minutes, and the staircase seemed endless. Five minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of the bottom, causing his anxiety to grow as thoughts of what might lie ahead raced through his mind.

Finally, he reached the end, only to find, contrary to his expectations, a long corridor lined with broken white doors and a tattered red carpet covering the floor.

What the hell happened to this place?

Broken paintings, statues, and vases, dried blood on the floors, walls, and ceiling, unknown destroyed doors, and a torn carpet, along with holes and slash marks scattered everywhere, made the place look like the scene of a massacre.

Occasionally, Long Shen entered the rooms connected to the various corridors, but he only found more destroyed spaces, ranging from libraries to bedrooms, even finding broken and extremely old weapons like swords and scythes stained with blood, however, nothing that could help him in his current situation was discovered.

Why was this place near his old sect? Had anyone ever discovered it, or was he the first person? What had happened inside this hidden location? And, ultimately, what was this place? So many questions, but unfortunately, no answers.

The corridors felt like a maze, and after nearly an hour of walking, Long Shen had no idea where he had come from, vaguely recalling his path, leaving him with no choice but to keep moving forward, searching for something.

Hmm? Another staircase?

In one of the rooms, beneath a torn carpet, he found another staircase leading further down. However, unlike the rest of the environment, this staircase didn’t share the same aesthetic, being made of stone similar to the rest of the outer cave.

This staircase didn’t take long, and soon Long Shen reached its end, facing an enormous room with a gigantic stone door, full of slashes, punctures, and holes. The door stood at a height of about 20 meters, and on either side were stone statues of fully armored angels holding scythes.

“Wow! These statues have such an overwhelming presence, they almost seem alive.”

Suddenly, as he stood in front of the giant door, wondering what to do next, his necklace began glowing once again, and a hole shaped like his medallion also started to glow in response.

Twinkle!

The answer was obvious as to what he needed to do. Despite the doubts filling his mind about the true origin of the medallion and his parents, Long Shen decided to set them aside for now, simply going with the flow of events. He placed the medallion into the hole and removed it once the light faded.

The sound of grinding stone echoed throughout the room as the door slowly began to open, with Long Shen witnessing an incredible sight: both of the large statues moved to stand in front of the door and opened it themselves.

“They were actually alive!?!!”

As much as he wanted to continue marveling at the sight, the noise was so loud and grating that he instinctively covered his ears and closed his eyes, waiting for the sound to fade.

Sigh... Is it finally over?

In front of him, through the large doors, an astonishing scene was revealed: a grand hall fit for a king, with white statues, enormous paintings of knights in black armor, white vases adorned with skulls and angels, and golden walls as far as Long Shen could see.

The place was practically untouched, the complete opposite of the other rooms he had seen earlier, making him think that the likely invaders had never been able to get past the door before.

Ignoring the rest of the hall, a few meters ahead, after ascending a small set of stairs covered by a red carpet, there stood what seemed to be a white stone pedestal, and atop it was a mysterious black orb, emanating a subtle yet elegant and mesmerizing purple energy.

Almost as if entranced by the orb, without thinking of anything else or even looking further around, Long Shen began walking toward it, slowly climbing the steps until he stood right in front of the pedestal, placing his hands on the orb.

The energy grew even stronger, with an intense purple glow starting to radiate around him, nearly blinding him, so he was immediately forced to regain his senses, seeing, after removing his arm from his eyes once the light faded, that the orb had disappeared, and something else had taken its place.

Ding!

[Compatible heir successfully found! Initiating the inheritance process of the Death Herald System...]

Damn, I was hypnotized... Huh? What the fuck... Is this!?