Celestial Bloodline

Upon noticing Kyle and Yue, Jian and Bia quickly approached them, inquiring about Yue's well-being. Asher cast a glance at Yue with admiration in his eyes, but before he could approach the elven woman, Kyle halted him with a dark expression.

The half-dragon blinked and withdrew from the lovely elven lady with a sigh. Why are all the gorgeous people always taken?

Bia swiftly landed on Kyle's shoulder and promptly lifted one of her feet to kick Nox away with a sharp gaze. The lynx gasped at her with disbelief but, upon meeting her gaze, he quietly left the silver-haired man's side. But he almost spat out blood when he tried to sit on Yue's shoulder, only to be kicked by the phoenix once more.

-"You're not a helpless cub without the strength to fly. It's a part of your training to become stronger. You mustn't sit. Otherwise, you will grow lazy."

Kyle's eyes flickered with a touch of amusement at the phoenix's sharp words. Yue and Jian both stifled their laughter, and Asher was simply speechless, witnessing the lynx obediently nod at the little bird as if she possessed supreme strength.

She did seem unique in some way, but ultimately, she was just a bird... little did he know that he would soon regret his words and follow in Nox's footsteps.

Kyle reached out to caress Bia's head on Yue's shoulder to distract her. He glanced at the sky with narrowed eyes.

"Asher, you need to tell us what happened. I can't detect any undead anymore. It's as if they all vanished the moment the strange sound of the bell rang out in the air."

However, before Asher could reply, Jian raised his hand with a smirk.

"I know. Let me explain. The bell sound is like a warning mechanical alarm in the tomb that goes off when the sky is going to clear or get dark. In this tomb, there's no sun or moon, so day and night come suddenly without any warning."

Asher and Bia nodded.

"The bell is the only sound that signals the end or beginning of the day. Moreover, when the sky clears, the undead disappear, but when it darkens, the undead show up to harm everyone around."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. It looked like they were safe from the undead during the day and only had to worry about them at night. This setup was way better since nobody could handle fighting or being constantly surrounded by the undead creatures.

"What about the statues scattered throughout the tomb?"

Jian gestured to his right, far from the lake where they were floating, another marble statue stood. It was mostly shattered, but half of its form remained upright.

"Are you referring to those? They serve as the entrances to the trial grounds where we can undertake various challenges and get different treasures as rewards. The trials also hold the remnants of many races and their legacies, gathered by three powerful figures thousands of years ago. Some of these races are unknown and have vanished into history."

Kyle let out an 'Oh'. He had some suspicions, but now they were confirmed. However, a look of surprise crossed his face when he learned that everything in this tomb was gathered by certain individuals. Wasn't this meant to be an ancient tomb? Why was he hearing that everything inside was gathered by just a bunch of people?

"Three powerful figures? Who?"

He asked with curiosity. If they built this tomb, why weren't they famous? And why did they do it? For the future generations?

Jian scratched his head with a sigh and glanced at Asher because the half-dragon hadn't said a word about the three powerful individuals yet. Catching his gaze on Asher, Kyle's eyes shifted to the half-dragon too, who cleared his throat with a serious expression and gazed at the sky as if he was about to share the most significant information he possessed.

"Those three individuals... even after being here for a hundred years, I couldn't dig up much about them. Their names were never disclosed; I found many old books from the trials I cleared and spotted loads of ancient writing on the statues. But they only ever mentioned that three powerful figures created this tomb."

Kyle rubbed his chin with a frown, but after considering that knowing about the three people was probably useless, his curiosity died instantly. He glanced at Asher.

"Let's just forget about them. We are not here to uncover the history of this tomb but to grow stronger. Now that the undead are no longer around us, Asher, guide us to the platform you mentioned last night that can assist those at the peak of divine rank in reaching the transcendent rank."

Jian and Bia's eyes widened when Kyle spoke, and they both glanced at Asher, who facepalmed after hearing Kyle's words. He had not informed the bird and red-haired man about the platform.

The half-dragon smiled wryly, sighed, and looked at the silver-haired man.

"You know that was a privilege I only granted you because you were the first friend I made after so many years... I never expected you to share it with everyone. Well, I can't do anything now that they all know. Just come with me."

Jian and Bia gazed at Asher's head with solemn expressions as he headed towards the statue Jian had pointed out earlier. The duo thought Asher was their friend after sharing a good meal with him, but it appears they were utterly mistaken.

Feeling their gaze, Asher shot a look back with narrowed eyes, but the duo turned their eyes away and chose to ignore him.

'Did I make a mistake...?'

The three individuals and two beasts around the half-dragon silently followed. It didn't take them long to reach the statue.

They paused under the broken statue, which bore the likeness of a woman, and promptly spotted a small square marble structure adjacent to it. An open entrance in the structure, obscured by dust and spiderwebs, led into darkness.

Kyle glanced at the entrance, but before he could wave his hand to clear the dust, Yue murmured a spell and swept all the dust away from the entrance. He smiled at her, and his eyes caught sight of a few strange symbols engraved on the wall of the structure next to the entrance.

"Hmm?"

He looked at Asher, who entered the dark entrance without a care, as if he already knew all about what lay inside. Jian, Yue, and the two beasts followed behind him.

Kyle extended his scent perception skill to ensure they avoided any traps and entered the entrance behind them.

But before proceeding, he glanced at the symbols once more. They weren't clearly visible, but as an array master, he took note of them and unconsciously traced them in his mind to learn them, even though he had no idea of their purpose.