Chapter 50 - Death Crisis

The detritus layer, humus layer, illuvial layer, calcic horizon, and ash layer…Richard passed through layer upon layer of soil structure, sinking about one meter down into the rocks.

At this point, the reassuring sense of gliding through water like a fish vanished, replaced by the sticky resistance of moving through glue. It was slightly uncomfortable and resistant, yet he still could move freely.

Steadying his mind, he traced the source of a spiritual fluctuation within the mountain and continued to sink deeper, attempting to find any possible cracks or passages in the process. After all, he could only introduce his physical body from the outside world after discovering such an opening. But despite searching for quite some time, he found none. On the contrary, the waves from the spiritual source grew increasingly intense.

Continuing to descend a few dozen meters, the sensation of swimming through glue abruptly disappeared, and Richard’s consciousness felt suddenly lighter as a space within the mountain came into view.

The space was not particularly large, merely the size of two rooms, but it was distinctly square and bore the clear marks of human construction.

This was strange.

“There’s no passageway connecting the inside to the outside, yet there’s an interior space, how was this constructed? Building a secret chamber first and then piling up a mountain around it? Or perhaps, through some spell?” Richard thought to himself as he looked ahead.

In the precise center of this space stood a two-tiered altar with a Crystal Skull placed on top, brilliantly clear and life-like.

Upon seeing the Crystal Skull, Richard was moved and couldn’t help but recall some related legends from modern Earth.

Legend had it that ancient Earth once possessed 12 Crystal Skulls, capable of speaking and singing. These skulls concealed knowledge about human origins and death; they could help humanity unravel the mystery of life in the universe. Humanity must find all 12 Crystal Skulls before the end of the world, or when the 5126-year-long calendar cycle concludes, the world would be destroyed.

Another legend suggested there were 52 Crystal Skulls scattered around the world. Of those, 12 movable jawbones, known as “singing skulls”, contained a wealth of knowledge and were gifts from a mysterious civilization. The remaining 40 fixed jawbones, or “speaking skulls”, held no stored knowledge but could nonetheless enhance human abilities such as Physical Strength, Endurance, Agility, and Wisdom, turning individuals into Guardians who spread the knowledge of the “speaking skulls”.

There was also a tale that the Crystal Skulls were sacrifices to the Sun by the native Aztecs of Mexico.

Yet another claimed that the Crystal Skulls were holy relics of the Mayans, able to summon the mighty Feathered Serpent God once gathered.

In any case, the legends varied widely. The Crystal Skulls spoken of in rumors were half the size of a normal human’s head, but the one before him was even smaller, not even a quarter of a normal human body, and could be fully grasped in hand.

At this moment, the seemingly mini yet genuinely dangerous Crystal Skull continuously emitted psychic waves to the outside world. Richard cautiously approached, attempting to study it.

Five meters, four meters, three meters…

Suddenly! Just as he neared the altar, within three meters of the Crystal Skull, it began to violently shake as if threatened, unleashing even more powerful spiritual power. A portion of it burst forth directly targeting Richard’s consciousness.

This!

Richard was shocked and quickly retreated while using his own spiritual power to block.

However, in the next moment, something bizarre happened. Richard found his consciousness bound by some force, unable to retreat. Under the influence of an invisible force, his consciousness was irresistibly drawn closer towards the Crystal Skull on the altar.

Three meters, two and a half meters, two meters!

The increasingly intense psychic waves kept assaulting, attempting to erode his consciousness. Richard resisted with all his might. After a while, he realized that this could not continue, and with a thought, he intended to use the transparent strip behind his neck to return to his body. Yet, the method that always worked without fail was now being suppressed.

Richard could clearly feel a great force coming from the transparent strap behind his neck, trying to pull the Consciousness backward, but the Crystal Skull emitted an even stronger force, continuing to pull toward the top of the altar.

The two completely opposite forces, like a tug of war, struggled over the Consciousness in the middle, and waves of pain as if being torn apart passed through.

This won’t do!

Richard thought to himself, and the next moment he deliberately slowed down the force of the transparent strap, letting his entire Consciousness slide toward the top of the altar.

Two meters, one and a half meters, one meter!

The erosive psychic waves became stronger, and Richard could feel bloodthirsty, angry thoughts constantly trying to take control, but at the same time, the pulling force eased slightly.

Now is the moment!

Richard concentrated his Spiritual Power, controlling the transparent strap with all his might to pull backward, his mind filled with one thought: Return to the body, return to the body, return to the body!

Swoosh!

An unprecedentedly powerful force descended, enveloping the Consciousness.

At that moment, the Crystal Skull, as if enraged, unleashed a fierce psychic wave.

“Bang!”

The next instant, the psychic wave from the Crystal Skull violently collided with the surface of the Consciousness, obstructed by the descending powerful force, and then forcefully rebounded.

With a “crack,” a fine crack appeared on the surface of the perfect Crystal Skull, and an eerie wail emerged from within. The entire altar began to tremble, showing signs of collapsing, and the binding force acting on the Consciousness vanished instantly.

Finally, the transparent strap behind made an impact, violently pulling the Consciousness out of the mountain. Richard then felt as though he had fallen into a wormhole. One second he was outside the mountain in mid-air, and the next he had traversed space and time, appearing instantly in a room within the ancient castle, before harshly crashing back into his body.

The change was so swift, there was almost no time to react. As he returned to his body, the Consciousness still maintained a super-high speed of movement and then stopped abruptly. An inertia-like force erupted, and Richard, who had just opened his eyes while sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, uncontrollably fell to the floor.

“Bang!”

He crashed hard onto the floor, pain spreading throughout, and then Richard realized how bad the situation was.

Initially, it was just the Consciousness exploring the mountain, but in this instant, the body felt like it had sustained a fatal injury. Blood uncontrollably flowed from his nose and mouth, and his body felt completely broken, with pain in every part.

Of course, that wasn’t the most important thing. The most crucial was the heart in his chest which, in a calm state, was beating uncontrollably fast, with a heart rate approaching 200 beats per minute.

“Thump thump thump thump thump!”

At that moment, Richard could clearly feel a stuffiness in his chest, swelling in his neck, and his vision started to darken, followed by dizziness. His body, weakened, couldn’t stand up, and if this continued, he was likely to faint and die.

This—