Liu Zi'ang gazed at the massive stone door before him.

The excitement in his eyes was impossible to hide.

He immediately ordered two of his subordinates to go forward and try to open the stone door.

"Yes, Young Master!"

Two burly professionals responded, both Level 50 powerhouses, exuding a formidable Qi.

The two walked to the stone door, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously roared.

"Hmph!"

Their bulging muscles instantly tensed, and veins like small snakes bulged on their arms.

They used all their strength, pressing their palms firmly against the cold stone door, pushing forward with all their might.

However, the giant hundred-meter-tall stone door remained completely motionless.

"Again!"

The two, refusing to believe, once again activated the energy within their bodies, their faces turning beet red.

The stone door remained silent, as if it had merged with the entire mountain wall, mocking their overestimation of their own abilities.

Liu Zi'ang's brow furrowed.

"A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

He snorted coldly and waved his hand at the others behind him.

"You few, join them!"

Another eight professionals stepped forward, making a total of ten powerhouses, including the previous two, all exerting their strength together.

"One! Two! Three! Open!"

Under their combined efforts, the stone door, which had been silent for countless years, finally let out a dull, prolonged "creak."

It swayed slightly, moving inward by no more than a finger's width.

Then, it fell silent once again.

No matter how much strength they exerted, they could not move it another inch.

Seeing this, Zhou Feng quickly stepped forward, a fawning smile on his face.

"Young Master Liu Zi'ang, it seems we don't have enough people."

"In my opinion, why don't we go back first, gather more people, and then we'll surely be able to open this door."

Liu Zi'ang's face was filled with impatience.

"Why bother with all that effort?"

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"Why don't we just blast it open? I refuse to believe this broken door can be that tough!"

Zhou Feng's expression instantly changed.

"You mustn't! Absolutely not, Young Master Liu Zi'ang!"

He quickly tried to dissuade him.

"This Ruin is not like a Secret Realm; it's said to have numerous traps and be extremely dangerous."

"If we forcibly destroy this door, we might trigger some unknown trap and attract unnecessary trouble!"

The old man responsible for scouting, who was standing nearby, also nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Chairman Zhou is right."

"Matters of the Ruin are not trivial; it's best to be cautious."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zi'ang's impatience grew, but he ultimately did not lash out.

He snorted coldly, tacitly agreeing to Zhou Feng's suggestion.

"Then quickly contact your father and have him send more powerhouses over!"

Just as his words fell.

A figure, flustered, rushed out of the dense fog from which they had come, moving extremely fast, as if being chased by something.

When the figure emerged from the dense fog, everyone finally saw his face.

It was a supervisor from the Radiant Alliance, named Zhang Meng.

At this moment, Zhang Meng's face was pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and his expression was extremely panicked.

Seeing him in this state, Zhou Feng's heart immediately filled with an ominous premonition, and his brows furrowed tightly.

"Zhang Meng!"

He demanded sharply.

"What happened? Why are you so flustered?"

Zhang Meng ran in front of everyone, leaning on his knees, panting heavily.

He calmed his rapid breathing before speaking in a voice tinged with a sob.

"Chair... Chairman! It's bad!"

"The more than 30,000 Magic Crystals we... we collected are suddenly... suddenly gone!"

"What?!"

Zhou Feng's eyes instantly widened, and his voice changed pitch.

The others behind him also exchanged glances, their faces filled with incomprehensible shock.

"What exactly happened?!" Zhou Feng grabbed Zhang Meng's collar and roared.

"So many people guard the Magic Crystal storage area day and night; how could over 30,000 Magic Crystals be moved away right under everyone's noses?!"

Zhang Meng's body trembled like a sieve.

"I... I don't know, Chairman!"

"Someone released an extremely clever illusion array in the Magic Crystal storage area; from the outside, no abnormalities could be detected at all."

"This morning, when we were preparing to move some Magic Crystals out, that's when we discovered something was wrong with the storage area."

"That mountain-like pile of Magic Crystals was just an empty shell! The Magic Crystals inside were all... all gone!"

Zhou Feng's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Liu Zi'ang's expression also grew serious.

But he did not lose his composure like Zhou Feng; instead, he calmly analyzed.

"Chairman Zhou, don't worry yet."

"This is nearly a thousand meters underground, and the entrance is tightly guarded by us."

"Even if the other party could sneak in, they might not be able to get out."

"In my opinion, that thief must still be mixed in with the professionals we captured."

"As long as we go back and interrogate them one by one, we'll surely find clues!"

Zhou Feng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart.

He nodded, his voice cold.

"Let's go! We'll head back first!"

...

Meanwhile, in the square of the Ancient City Ruins.

Zhou Huai was still immersed in Yasuo's body, feeling the overwhelmingly dominant Golden Lightning of Judgment.

Just then, he suddenly noticed that his Soul link with Qin Ming was rapidly weakening.

This was a sign that Qin Ming had already left the Abyss of Mist.

Normally, this might be interpreted as Qin Ming returning to his cave to rest.

But at this critical juncture, Zhou Huai deduced.

That his act of stealing Magic Crystals had been exposed.

Zhou Huai's consciousness quickly withdrew from Yasuo's body and switched to Moria.

He solemnly instructed Molly, who was not far away.

"Molly, you lead the others to continue exploring this Ruin; be extremely careful."

"Yes, Master!"

Moria said no more, his figure flickered, transforming into a pool of flowing ink, silently merging into the shadows on the ground and disappearing.

This was the best escape opportunity he had created for Li Gang.

Just in case, it was better to go and see for himself.

Perhaps he could even help him from the shadows.

After all, with his and the Eternal Night Guild's current strength, they were not yet strong enough to contend with the Zhou and Liu families.

To prevent {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} them from finding the Divine Artifact in the Ruin first.

The Military must be involved.

Moria's figure moved swiftly through the shadows.

When he arrived at the exit of the Secret Realm, he found that all the professionals who usually came and went, transporting various Materials and Magic Crystals, had disappeared.

The road was empty, not a single person in sight.

This further solidified Zhou Huai's judgment.

The Radiant Alliance must have gathered everyone back, preparing for a harsh interrogation.

Moria's figure passed through the gate connecting the Secret Realm to the outside world, once again arriving in the huge, empty underground cave.

The sight before him deepened the chill in his eyes.

Inside the huge, empty cave, more than four thousand professionals, who had been captured to serve as laborers, were all gathered there.

They were forced by the members of the Radiant Alliance with weapons, kneeling in a dense mass on the ground, utterly silent.

The entire cave was filled with a chilling and oppressive atmosphere.

The illusion array set up by Zhuge Kongming in the Magic Crystal storage area had now been forcibly broken.

The mountain-like pile formed by tens of thousands of Magic Crystals had long since disappeared, leaving only a few dozen scattered on the empty ground, looking particularly glaring.

At the edge of the storage area, three professionals were kneeling on the ground.

They were the last three responsible for guarding the Magic Crystals.

A black whip, soaked in water, tore through the air with a crisp "snap," lashing fiercely across the back of one of them.

Flesh ripped open, and blood splattered.

"Ah—!"

A piercing scream echoed in the silent cave.

A member of the Radiant Alliance, holding the whip, had a fierce expression.

He whipped furiously, roaring hoarsely.

"Are you going to talk or not!"

"Are you going to talk or not!"

"Was it you three who stole the Magic Crystals!"

The three professionals had long been beaten beyond recognition, able only to lie on the ground, wailing in pain and pleading helplessly.

"Sir! Have mercy! We truly didn't take them!"

"We just moved the Magic Crystals as usual; we didn't even touch a single one!"

However, their pleas were met with even more furious lashing.

The whip did not stop for a moment.

In a short while, it had beaten the three of them to within an inch of their lives, completely silencing them.