On the sea, the atmosphere was incredibly eerie.

Thor, Yingsi Lan, Karen.

Three SS-rank Prodigies, from different countries, hailed as the top of the younger generation, now stood facing each other, each holding an identical golden pendulum.

The expression on everyone’s face was as if they had swallowed a fly, utterly unpleasant.

The euphoria and pride that had filled the air moments ago were long gone.

In their place was a thick sense of suspicion and absurdity.

“What in the world is going on?”

Prince Karen was the first to lose his composure; he pointed at the pendulums in the other two’s hands, his voice slightly distorted.

“Why do you also have a pendulum of life?!”

“The ones in your hands must be fakes!”

Thor snorted, electric light flickering in his sapphire-blue eyes, filled with savagery.

“Mine was found at the bottom of a lake on an island.”

“When I found it, I was also ambushed by thousands of mutated beasts.”

“This absolutely cannot be fake!”

Yingsi Lan maintained his usual cold demeanor, merely glancing at the two.

“Mine, too.”

For a moment, the three fell silent again.

None of them were fools.

For three identical Divine Artifacts to ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) appear simultaneously, there were only two possibilities.

Either two of them were fakes.

Or all three were fakes.

They had been tricked by this cursed ruin!

Thinking of this, Thor’s face completely darkened, the electric snakes wildly dancing around him becoming even more violent, boiling the surrounding seawater with a sizzling sound.

Just as the tension was at its peak.

A gentle and sacred figure descended silently from the Free Federation’s airship.

It was Archbishop Andrew.

The compassionate smile on his face seemed never to change.

But as soon as he appeared, the atmosphere in the field, tense to the point of near-solidification, was instantly replaced by an invisible pressure.

“Thor. Let me see the item in your hand.”

Andrew spoke in a calm tone.

Upon hearing this, Thor’s lightning aura instantly receded.

He turned and bowed respectfully to Andrew.

“Yes, Your Excellency Archbishop.”

Without hesitation, Thor respectfully presented the golden pendulum with both hands.

Andrew extended his hand, as fair as a work of art, and gently grasped the body of the pendulum.

However, the moment he touched the pendulum.

His face, which always wore a gentle smile, showed a subtle change for the first time.

As the Archbishop of the Free Federation, he had once had the privilege of personally touching a true Divine Artifact.

The aura emanating from that Divine Artifact, though somewhat similar to the pendulum in his hand, contained a vastness and majesty derived from the Origin of the world’s Law that was thousands, tens of thousands of times stronger than this pendulum!

This...

Is fake.

Andrew instantly reached a conclusion in his heart.

However, before he could voice his judgment.

An unexpected change occurred!

The golden pendulum in his hand suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light!

Immediately after, its sturdy metal body began to rapidly dissipate like a sand sculpture!

Transforming into billions of golden dust particles, slowly ascending into the air.

Not just the one in his hand.

In the distance, the two pendulums in Yingsi Lan’s and Karen’s hands underwent the same change at the exact same time!

“What! What’s going on?!”

Prince Karen’s eyes widened, watching his dissipating “Divine Artifact” in disbelief.

Three golden streaks of light, formed from converging dust, circled in the air.

Then, as if guided by some mysterious force, they all turned direction and plunged into the sea.

Disappearing without a trace.

Everyone stared at this scene, their minds blank.

After all that, they were all fakes?

Apart from the people from the Free Federation, Sakura Country, and Ancient Egypt, the representatives from other countries showed expressions of relief.

Good, good.

A false alarm.

“No—!”

A suppressed roar, pushed to its limit, exploded like thunder over the sea!

Thor roared to the sky, his brilliant golden hair stood on end without a breeze!

Terrifying thunder power erupted from his body!

He had been tricked!

He, Thor, the God of Thunder, had actually been tricked by a mere ruin!

This was an utter humiliation!

“I must find the real Divine Artifact!”

“Then I’ll completely destroy this damned ruin!”

Thor’s eyes were bloodshot, and he unleashed all his fury upon the innocent sea beneath his feet!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thick blue lightning bolts, like spears of divine punishment, furiously smashed into the sea!

The sea boiled, and giant waves surged!

Countless marine creatures, unable to dodge in time, were instantly incinerated by the lightning strikes!

After venting for a long time, Thor’s rage finally subsided slightly.

He didn’t even glance at the others, his body once again transforming into a streak of lightning, and he plunged back into the ruin’s entrance without hesitation!

On Sakura Country’s ship, Watada Heizan glanced at the equally displeased Yingsi Lan and said in a deep voice.

“Yingsi-kun, since these are all fakes.”

“Then I’ll trouble you to make another effort.”

Yingsi Lan respectfully nodded to Watada Heizan.

“Yes.”

With that, his figure flickered, and he silently leaped back into the sea like a ghost.

A farce triggered by three fake Divine Artifacts thus came to an end.

However, no one noticed.

The three golden streaks of light had not dissipated.

As if possessing their own consciousness, they returned to the ruin once more.

Rapidly heading towards a certain direction in the deep sea of the ruin.

Passing through layers of seawater, they finally arrived at an absolutely deep sea, as dark as ink, where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face.

Here, light and sound seemed to be completely swallowed.

The three streaks of light slowly stopped, suspended in this dead silent sea area.

After an unknown amount of time.

In this pitch-black deep sea, one pair, two pairs, three pairs...

Countless pairs of giant eyes, emitting a faint blue glow, slowly opened.

... ...

At the same time.

Inside the ruin, on that solitary small island.

Zhou Huai remained seated cross-legged.

The island at this moment had long lost its previous appearance of a paradise with singing birds and fragrant flowers.

The entire island, along with the surrounding sea surface for several kilometers, had been completely frozen.

Transformed into a massive ice mountain emitting colorful cold Qi.

And within the crystal-clear ice, the ferocious and frenzied expressions of thousands of marine mutated beasts in their dying moments were forever frozen.

After nearly an hour of saturation attacks with forbidden spells, the endless army of mutated beasts finally quieted down.

But Zhou Huai did not choose to leave immediately.

Firstly, he temporarily couldn’t find his way back.

Secondly, the confusion in his heart had not been answered.

Clearly, there was some unknown consciousness existing in this ruin.

It was it that guided those mutated beasts to “escort” him all the way to this small island.

But after he obtained the so-called “pendulum of life,” it then attracted a furious siege from the mutated beast army.

These two events were inherently contradictory.

If that consciousness didn’t want him to take the “pendulum of life,” then why bother leading him here?

But if it wanted him to take it, then why launch such a terrifying attack?

Unless...

What it wanted him to find was not that pendulum at all!

That pendulum was just a decoy, a trick to mislead him!

The real key might still be on this island!

Zhou Huai’s gaze once again fell on the frozen freshwater lake in the center of the island.

He thought of a possibility.

At that time, all his attention was drawn to the glittering golden pendulum.

Perhaps in some corner of the lake bottom, something he hadn’t discovered was still hidden.

Thinking of this, Zhou Huai no longer hesitated.

He controlled Gandalf to stand up, and with a thought.

The solid ice beneath his feet began to melt rapidly, and a staircase of ice, just wide enough for one person, appeared out of thin air, winding down to the bottom of the freshwater lake in the center of the island.

Gandalf descended the stairs, step by step.

Soon, he returned to the frozen lake bottom.

This time, he didn’t rush to search for anything.

Instead, he pushed his Mental Energy to its limit.

Like the most precise radar, scanning every corner of the lake bottom, inch by inch.

Not missing even the slightest detail.

Time passed, minute by minute.

Finally, in a very inconspicuous corner of the lake bottom, Zhou Huai made a discovery.

It was covered by thick mud and aquatic plants.

If not for careful Mental Energy probing, it would have been impossible to detect any abnormality.

With a thought from Zhou Huai, a gentle stream of water appeared out of thin air, washing away all the mud and aquatic plants in that area.

Something was revealed.

It was a key.

A huge key, ancient in style, entirely crafted from some unknown bronze material.

It was as thick as an adult’s arm, covered with mottled verdigris and traces of time.

At the top of the key, a complex and mysterious spiral totem was carved.

“Is this... the real objective?”