Dapeng's Time Travel Life

Chapter 192 Stepping into the Ruins: Four Perils

As the Chaos Token shone brightly, the ancient stone door slowly opened, releasing an ancient and mysterious aura mixed with complex spiritual energy fluctuations, filling everyone with both curiosity and trepidation. Zhang Peng stepped through the stone door first, followed closely by Lin Wan'er and Xia Lijuan, and the three of them cautiously entered the ruins.

Inside the stone gate was a long passage, its walls inlaid with strange gems that emitted a faint glow, barely illuminating the path ahead. The passage was lined with mysterious runes and patterns, seemingly telling ancient tales. Zhang Peng walked along, carefully examining the runes, trying to find some clues.

"Zhang Peng, these runes look very ancient. Could they be hiding some secret?" Lin Wan'er asked softly, her voice echoing in the silent passage with a hint of tension.

Zhang Peng nodded slightly: "It's very possible. The style of these runes is different from any we've seen before, and they may be related to the secrets within the ruins."

Just then, a low roar suddenly came from ahead of the passage, growing louder and louder, as if some enormous creature was approaching. The three of them immediately stopped. Zhang Peng quickly drew his sword, while Lin Wan'er and Xia Lijuan also prepared for battle.

"Watch out, something's coming!" Zhang Peng whispered a warning.

As the roar grew closer, a colossal stone beast slowly emerged from the darkness. Resembling a Qilin, its entire body was composed of black stone, its eyes gleaming with red light, radiating a powerful sense of oppression.

"This is... an ancient guardian beast!" Xia Lijuan exclaimed, her voice tinged with fear.

Zhang Peng's expression was grave. He knew the power of the ancient guardian beasts, and this stone beast's strength was probably no less than that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. "Everyone be careful, don't attack rashly," he whispered, while secretly circulating his spiritual energy to find the stone beast's weakness.

The stone beast roared and pounced on the three of them. It was incredibly fast, arriving before them in an instant. Zhang Peng quickly unleashed his mid-stage Golden Core spiritual power, swinging his sword to defend. With a loud clang, Zhang Peng was forced back several steps by the stone beast's attack, his arm going numb.

Seeing this, Lin Wan'er immediately used wood-based magic, and countless vines surged from the ground, wrapping around the stone beast. The stone beast swung its claws, easily severing the vines, and then continued to pounce on Zhang Peng.

Xia Lijuan was not to be outdone. She unleashed an ice-based spell, a beam of icy blue light shooting towards the stone beast. The stone beast was struck by the light and its body momentarily froze, but it quickly regained its ability to move.

"This stone beast is too powerful, we can't fight it head-on!" Zhang Peng shouted, dodging the stone beast's attacks while thinking of a countermeasure.

Suddenly, Zhang Peng realized that the stone beast's eyes seemed to be its weak point. An idea struck him, and he concentrated his spiritual power, unleashing a powerful sword aura that shot towards the stone beast's eyes.

The stone beast seemed to sense the danger; it quickly closed its eyes and used its hard shell to block the sword energy. The sword energy struck the stone beast's shell with a loud bang, but only left a shallow mark on it.

"It seems this stone beast's defenses are too strong; we must find a way to distract it," Zhang Peng said, his eyes revealing determination.

Just then, Lin Wan'er suddenly thought of a way. She used wood-based magic to summon a swarm of colorful butterflies, which fluttered around the stone beast, attracting its attention.

"Zhang Peng, now!" Lin Wan'er shouted.

Zhang Peng immediately seized the opportunity, unleashing his full power, fusing the power of the Dragon Ball, the spiritual power of the Five Elements, and his own power of law together to form a powerful attack that shot towards the stone beast's eye.

Attracted by the butterfly, the stone beast failed to dodge in time. With a "thud," Zhang Peng's attack struck the stone beast's eye. The stone beast let out a painful roar, swayed a few times, and finally collapsed to the ground, losing its fighting ability.

The three breathed a sigh of relief; they hadn't expected their first challenge upon entering the ruins to be so difficult. "Let's continue, but be careful of other dangers," Zhang Peng said, sheathing his sword and leading Lin Wan'er and Xia Lijuan along the passage.

As they ventured deeper into the ruins, the surrounding environment became increasingly eerie. Strange phantoms began to appear on the walls on either side of the passage, appearing and disappearing intermittently, leaving them completely baffled.

"What are these phantoms?" Xia Lijuan asked in confusion.

Zhang Peng carefully observed these phantoms and discovered that they seemed to be depicting some ancient scenes. "These might be fragments of memories left behind by the owner of the ruins; perhaps we can find clues to unlock the secrets within them," he said.

Just as they were focused on the illusion, the ground suddenly began to shake violently, and countless sharp spikes burst forth from the ground, piercing towards the three of them.