The Fifty-Thousand-Year-Old Corpse

“No wonder so many Muya Jing appeared beneath Mist Island. Ruins, indeed! Discovering ruins truly is the fastest way to get rich. Hong became the wealthiest person on Earth by discovering several ruins, even capable of manufacturing unique intelligent fighter jets.” Immediately, a black membrane flowed over Luo Feng’s body, covering him completely.This ruin was vast. He had to enter it personally to explore every corner! “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” With a thought, Duntiansuo instantly transformed into the ‘Mountain Shield,’ and the blade fragments also hovered around him. Luo Feng narrowed his eyes slightly and quietly stepped to the hatch entrance. Inside the hatch was a passage approximately twelve meters wide and eight meters deep, leading to a wide corridor branching left and right at its end. “Muya Jing!” Luo Feng looked down at what was before him. Right there on the ground of the hatch entrance passage, crystal after crystal, faintly glowing with a white aura, were gathered together—ten, twenty, thirty... densely packed. The rich, rice-like fragrance, as Luo Feng stepped through the hatch, made him feel breathless! Luo Feng squatted down and quickly collected these semi-floating clusters of Muya Jing, one by one, into his black backpack. As he picked up the Muya Jing, Luo Feng counted them. “289 pieces!” As he placed the last Muya Jing into his backpack, Luo Feng still felt his heart pounding rapidly, like a heavy hammer striking a drum. “All Earth’s factions combined had only publicly reported finding 42 Muya Jing over three days! Even accounting for undisclosed finds, the total would probably be around 60.” Luo Feng estimated a rough number; each Muya Jing was a huge fortune for humanity on Earth! Hong might have been overjoyed with ten pieces. He even quoted Luo Feng and the others a price of ‘20 Star Points per Muya Jing.’ Now... Luo Feng had picked up a staggering 289 pieces right at the hatch entrance! Far more than all Earth’s factions combined. “This was clearly a Muya Jing storage area; how many could possibly be scattered outside?” “289 pieces just at the hatch entrance, who knew what else lay inside.” Luo Feng was filled with anticipation. An ancient civilization ruin couldn’t possibly contain only Muya Jing... But the sheer number of Muya Jing at the entrance alone indicated one thing: this ancient civilization ruin was incredibly wealthy! Far richer than most other ruins discovered on Earth. ... Luo Feng cautiously advanced along the entrance passage, the ground already covered in a layer of dust. At the end of the entrance passage was a wide corridor branching left and right. As Luo Feng stepped into the intersection and looked left and right, he froze: “That, that...” In the left corridor, the walls were forged from strange metal, but now they bore huge, sunken fist prints—a total of nine massive indentations. And on the corridor floor, leaning against the wall, was a massive corpse! “Auxiliary AI, scan.” Luo Feng immediately aimed his auxiliary AI at the massive corpse ahead. “Target shows no life signs, deceased.” Text appeared on the auxiliary AI screen. Yes, a corpse! Luo Feng held his breath, carefully observing the massive corpse. Its entire body was dark-skinned, with thick arms, and it wore a layer of special battle armor embedded with intricate patterns—patterns infinitely more complex than those on Duntiansuo. It also wore special gloves on its fists, and its blood-red eyes were still wide open. “My heavens.” Luo Feng’s heart trembled as his eyes met those of the corpse, feeling like an ant facing a dragon... No! More accurately, it was like a mortal facing Pangu, who created heaven and earth. Even in death, those eyes, though devoid of their former sharpness, and despite countless years having passed... still held a residual power that made Luo Feng’s heart tremble, cold sweat instantly beading on his back and forehead. “What, what level of expert was this? It’s terrifying.” Luo Feng gasped. “Calm down.” “Calm down.” Luo Feng found he couldn’t meet the corpse’s gaze. The moment he did, no matter how much he tried to calm himself, an uncontrollable fear would seize him. It was a fear born from a difference in life-level! Even the strongest will was useless. “Don’t look at its eyes.” Luo Feng gradually calmed down, bypassing the corpse’s eyes to observe carefully. “It’s estimated to be eight meters tall! At first glance, it resembles a gorilla, but its skin is completely hairless, smooth and black! However, judging by the surroundings, it must have died many, many years ago. Yet, its skin and hair show no signs of decay or dryness? It looks just like it’s alive?” If not for the layer of dust covering the corpse, Luo Feng might have thought this mysterious expert had only recently died. “There seem to be no wounds on the corpse? How did it die?” After observing for a long time, Luo Feng could only shake his head, unable to deduce anything. “Let’s look inside.” Luo Feng wasn’t in a hurry to examine this corpse. Instead, he walked past the tall, corpse-like figure. He proceeded unimpeded along this wide corridor, ignoring the various side passages, and continued straight along the widest path. After walking about three hundred meters, the corridor curved, and then a towering gate appeared! This gate was over ten meters wide and over ten meters high, currently half-open. “This is...” Luo Feng tried to make no sound as he walked through the gate. “My heavens.” Luo Feng couldn’t help but gasp. This was a magnificent, semi-circular hall, dozens of meters high and nearly two hundred meters long and wide. What shocked Luo Feng most was... there were actually five strangely shaped corpses inside the hall! No... to be precise, six corpses! Luo Feng used his auxiliary AI to scan them; indeed, none showed any life signs or fluctuations. Because five of the corpses were lifelike, without any decay or degradation. The sixth corpse, however, was reduced to only golden-hued bones; its skin, hair, and other tissues had long turned to ash. “These six corpses.” Luo Feng observed them carefully. One of the corpses resembled the one found by the entrance passage, though slightly smaller and leaner, with a physique similar to a giant gorilla, about six meters tall. This corpse was half-kneeling on the ground. Its battle armor was shattered, and its body was covered in gruesome wounds, yet not a single wound showed signs of decay. The second corpse was human-like in form, about four meters tall, with black scales covering its entire body, a single horn on its forehead, and a scale-covered tail! The third corpse was human-like in form, but six meters tall, with skin resembling a ‘turtle shell,’ much like the Thing from the old American movie ‘Fantastic Four’ that Luo Feng was familiar with, though this corpse was clearly more aesthetically pleasing than the Thing. Its ‘turtle shell’ was lustrous, forming what looked like incredibly precise battle armor. The fourth corpse was, one could say, identical to an Earth human! Yellow skin, black hair, and a scar on its face. It sat calmly cross-legged on the ground, covered in a layer of dust. “An Earthling? A Huaxia native?” Luo Feng stared at the fourth corpse, a mix of curiosity and regret. Luo Feng could feel... even though the individual had been dead for a very, very long time, the faint residual power emanating from the corpse still made his heart tremble! This was a true peerless expert! Infinitely stronger than Hong, Lei Shen, and others, and infinitely stronger than Luo Feng himself. Moreover, this person’s appearance was almost identical to a Huaxia native, which made Luo Feng feel even more regretful that they were dead. “This fifth corpse?” Luo Feng looked at it with some confusion. While the four corpses already observed in the hall all had injuries, none appeared fatal. This fifth corpse, however, was five meters tall, entirely purplish-bronze, as if cast from the metal itself. A large hole appeared in the center of its chest, as if a hand had torn through it. Strangely... inside the large chest cavity, there was still purplish-bronze, strange material, with no internal organs. “Is this even a person?” Luo Feng shook his head. “This sixth corpse seems more normal.” Luo Feng observed. The sixth corpse was about two meters tall, reduced to only golden-hued bones. Most uniquely, its skull had a slightly curved horn, seemingly indicating its difference from Earth humans. ... Six corpses, plus the one at the entrance passage, made a total of seven corpses. Of these seven corpses, only one had decayed to just golden bones; the other six were perfectly preserved, lifelike. “If they all died at the same time, this one, decayed to only golden bones, clearly died a very, very long time ago. But how are the other corpses completely unrotted?” Luo Feng was very puzzled. Time was a powerful weapon; what kind of corpse could resist decay under its relentless flow? He looked around the hall. It was empty, save for occasional indentations on the floor and ceiling, seemingly from a battle. “Beep!” A sound rang out. “Hm?” Luo Feng was startled. Suddenly, the previously dim hall lit up, dazzling light streaming down from high above, illuminating the entire space. At the same time, strange lights converged in the center of the hall, beginning to form a black virtual figure. It was a small being, only about 1.45 meters tall, like a child, with two pointed horns on its forehead, blood-red eyes, and dressed in a black robe. “Luo Feng, you’ve finally arrived.” The black-robed child looked at Luo Feng, a hint of joy in its blood-red eyes. “Who are you?” Luo Feng cautiously eyed the black-robed child before him. The other party was speaking an Earth language, Chinese! And it even knew his name! “I’ve been waiting for you for fifty thousand years.” The black-robed child shook its head. “The aptitude of your Earth humans is truly too poor; it took fifty thousand years for me to find a suitable person.” “Fifty thousand years?” Luo Feng was slightly stunned. “Are you saying this ruin has been here for fifty thousand years, and they’ve also been dead for fifty thousand years?” Luo Feng pointed to the six strange corpses around them. “Yes.” “They have been dead for fifty thousand years.” The black-robed child glanced at the six corpses in the hall, shaking its head with a sigh. “They were all peerless figures in the vast cosmos, immortal beings before whom time itself paled. Even in death... their bodies remain eternally incorruptible.” “However, once their master died, they had to be buried with him.” The black-robed child looked at Luo Feng. “Luo Feng, come with me to pay respects to the master.”