All participants holding tokens gathered at the entrance of the Designer’s Ruins.

  One by one, they took out their tokens.

  At that exact moment, both High Priests raised their hands.

  A strange energy spread outward from them. Mysterious inscriptions formed in the air and slowly moved toward the ancient gates of the ruins.

  The massive gates trembled.

  Then suddenly—

  A powerful suction force erupted from the entrance.

  Every participant holding a token was pulled forward.

  In the blink of an eye—

  All forty-two explorers disappeared into the ruins.

  Winay landed lightly on the stone floor.

  The surroundings were dim but calm.

  He quietly observed the environment.

  I sensed a faint energy when the High Priests activated their inscriptions, he thought.

  At first I wondered why only forty-two people were allowed to enter.

  Now he understood.

  The energy released by both High Priests was actually suppressing their own bodies and souls.

  If they had opened even one additional slot…

  Their bodies might have collapsed under the pressure.

  A moment later, someone cleared his throat.

  “Khuhm… khuhm…”

  A young man stepped forward confidently.

  “Hello everyone.”

  “My name is Sairaf Fastin, second-generation disciple of the Temple of Destruction.”

  He looked around at the group.

  “For many of you, this might be your first time entering these ruins.”

  “So you may not know how to proceed.”

  He straightened his posture proudly.

  “Since I am the most senior person here, I will take the lead.”

  “How about that?”

  Several disciples from the Temple of Destruction nodded.

  “Sure, Sairaf.”

  But a calm voice interrupted.

  “We don’t need a leader here.”

  Everyone turned.

  It was Remoree, a second-generation disciple from the Temple of Creation.

  “The only thing we need is cooperation,” she said calmly.

  “Let’s simply support each other.”

  Sairaf laughed awkwardly.

  “Haha… of course.”

  “I was just trying to encourage everyone.”

  Inside his mind, however, his thoughts were different.

  Remoree is stronger than me…

  I can’t confront her here.

  But how dare she oppose me like that…

  Winay suddenly remembered something.

  Just before entering the ruins, High Priestess Rexana had called him aside.

  Her words echoed in his mind.

  “I don’t know what is happening with you.”

  “If you enter the ruins like this, you will definitely become crippled.”

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  “You won’t die because of the goddess protection inside the ruins, but your cultivation path will end.”

  She had sighed slightly.

  “So I’ll help you activate your blessing to the Votary level.”

  “Though I doubt your blessing is anything higher than Herald.”

  She then pointed a finger at him.

  “And remember this clearly.”

  “I’m not doing this for you.”

  “I’m doing it because High Priest Nova would annoy me for the rest of my life if something happened to you.”

  “And I don’t want a promising seedling to wither before it becomes a tree.”

  Then her expression turned cold.

  “And if you dare tell Rainor that I helped you…”

  “I’ll cripple you myself.”

  Winay shivered slightly remembering that moment.

  She really is terrifying…

  Professor and that High Priest definitely behave like siblings…

  Rexana had then placed her hand on his forehead.

  A mysterious energy flowed into his body.

  Winay had briefly noticed something strange.

  The ring on her finger seemed connected to that energy.

  Back in the present.

  Since I’m not feeling any pressure…

  The blessing must be working.

  After walking for about five minutes, the group reached a massive hallway.

  It was enormous.

  Spotlessly clean.

  There was no dust anywhere.

  At the end of the hall—

  Five massive doors stood side by side.

  Remoree turned toward her disciples after a short discussion.

  “Alright everyone.”

  “This is where the real exploration begins.”

  She pointed toward the doors.

  “There are five entrances leading to the First Floor.”

  “The Temple of Creation will take the second door.”

  She glanced at the others.

  “If anyone wishes to join us, you’re welcome.”

  “As always, whatever you obtain inside the ruins belongs to you. No one will check your storage inscriptions.”

  Without waiting further, her group entered the second door.

  Sairaf spoke next.

  “The Temple of Destruction will take the fourth door, as usual.”

  “If anyone wants to join us, you’re welcome.”

  Then a cold voice echoed.

  The leader of the Black Sand Corporation stepped forward.

  Young Master Meren.

  “We will take the first door.”

  His gaze swept across the independent cultivators.

  “And no one is allowed to follow us.”

  “If you try…”

  “We will cripple you.”

  Everyone understood the warning.

  No one argued.

  The Council members split into two groups.

  One group entered the second door.

  The other entered the fourth door.

  Those doors were known to offer balanced difficulty and growth opportunities.

  Most participants followed them.

  A small group of six independent cultivators gathered together.

  They entered the fifth door.

  Soon only one person remained.

  Winay.

  He stood silently in the empty hallway.

  It would be safer to follow a group, he thought.

  Especially through the first or fifth door.

  Those are the easiest routes.

  But then he remembered Ayaril’s words.

  If I follow everyone…

  I might miss the opportunity she mentioned.

  His gaze slowly moved to the center door.

  The third door.

  Rainor’s warning echoed in his mind.

  The third door has the highest threat level.

  The energy there is extremely concentrated.

  Winay exhaled slowly.

  “I’ll take the risk.”

  He stepped forward.

  And entered the third door.

  The moment he stepped through—

  Winay froze.

  A mysterious energy surrounded him.

  But instead of pressure…

  It felt refreshing.

  “Wait…”

  “Did Professor describe it correctly?”

  He had said the energy would crush bones.

  But Winay felt none of that.

  Instead—

  His body felt lighter.

  His blood flow became smoother.

  His veins felt as if they were being cleansed.

  The effect slowly faded after a few seconds.

  But the refreshing sensation remained.

  After walking for two minutes—

  Winay finally arrived at the First Floor.

  “So this is the first floor…”

  Hundreds of floating elemental spirits filled the area.

  Fire.

  Water.

  Wind.

  Lightning.

  Earth.

  Yet none of them paid attention to him.

  “That’s strange.”

  But Winay didn’t complain.

  “Well… that works for me.”

  He began searching the floor.

  Rainor had mentioned that some explorers found elemental essence materials here.

  But after searching briefly—

  He found nothing.

  “Well, I shouldn’t waste time.”

  “If I stay longer than twelve hours, I’ll be teleported out.”

  His gaze moved toward the far wall.

  “That corner… looks like a hidden door.”

  “That must lead to the second floor.”

  Winay stepped forward.

  The moment he took one step—

  A massive elemental attack shot toward him.

  BOOM!

  The explosion blasted a massive crater into the ground.

  The spirits returned to floating calmly.

  From inside the smoke—

  A voice spoke.

  “Phew…”

  “That was close.”

  Winay stepped out unharmed.

  “I got careless.”

  “Even with my void energy defense, I can’t completely stop attacks like that yet.”

  He looked toward the spirits.

  “So this is why they recommend exploring in groups.”

  Winay stepped forward again.

  This time—

  Ten spirits attacked simultaneously.

  Fire.

  Water.

  Lightning.

  Wind.

  Winay’s eyes glowed.

  Void Eye activated.

  “I see.”

  “All these spirits are controlled by that central core.”

  “And those cores… must be valuable.”

  The attacks rushed toward him.

  “Innate Skill – Erase.”

  The elemental attacks vanished instantly.

  “Now…”

  “Void Thread – Second Form: Multithread Slash.”

  Sharp void threads shot forward.

  They pierced the spirits’ cores.

  One by one—

  The spirits disappeared.

  Winay blinked.

  “They didn’t even try to dodge.”

  “They’re just mechanisms.”

  He waved his hand again.

  “Void Thread – Multithread Slash.”

  All remaining spirits collapsed instantly.

  Winay picked up a broken core.

  “So this is elemental essence…”

  But most of the energy had already dissipated.

  “These are useless now.”

  He shrugged.

  “Well, that was easier than expected.”

  Winay walked toward the next doorway.

  Then—

  The ground trembled.

  A massive Rock Spirit appeared.

  Ten times larger than the previous spirits.

  Its aura was terrifying.

  Winay narrowed his eyes.

  “So this is the floor guardian.”

  He observed the creature carefully.

  The core inside its body kept shifting locations every second.

  Winay sighed.

  “This will be tricky.”

  “I can’t completely cancel physical attacks yet.”

  “And this monster clearly uses materialized attacks.”

  He slowly raised his hand.

  “But…”

  His eyes glowed with Void energy.

  Designer’s Ruins finally begins.

  third door alone, where the energy inside the ruins behaves strangely around him.