### Chapter 2: Form is Void (6)
In the dimly lit underground palace, surrounded by flickering, enchanting lights that seemed to hide secrets within, the gang members trembled as they took their first steps.
Leng Yi fixed his eyes on one of the gang members, hoping to pick up on the rules governing the workings of the sealing array.
Step one, step two, step three…
The flashing, complex patterns looked almost decorative, posing no immediate threat to the gang member, or so it seemed.
A collective sigh of relief escaped the other gang members, perhaps this meant they could evade the fate of being cannon fodder.
But just as their spirits began to lift, calamity struck.
With a dull thud, the fourth step taken by the gang member suddenly erupted into a cloud of bl**d mist, as if a bomb had exploded, scattering body parts everywhere, yet the sealing array remained untouched, with all the filth falling outside its intricate boundaries, only making the circular array’s edge even clearer.
Everyone, including Leng Yi, was stunned.
No one had expected that guy to go out in such a gruesome fashion.
Leng Yi frowned and glanced at the other four.
“You four, come with me inside.”
“But Boss… We…”
With a kn*fe drawn, Leng Yi casually replied, “Simple choose-your-own-adventure here: step in for a chance at survival, or I can just end you right now.”
The gang members froze in fear.
Only now did they truly remember that their boss had a reputation for being a ruthless killer.
Since taking on the role of boss, he had reined it in a bit, but his methods had always been harsh, never showing mercy to disobedient underlings.
Though they clearly knew the room was filled with traps—a near-d*ath experience waiting to happen—they could only cower in fright and follow Leng Yi’s orders, forming a protective circle around him as they cautiously advanced towards the stone coffin.
As they took their second step, Leng Yi suddenly shouted,
“Run!”
The five of them dashed forward, hoping to leap onto the gigantic stone coffin before the array activated.
“Boom, boom!”
Leng Yi noticed the flickering patterns beneath them flashing violently.
He leaped high, betting on who the array would eliminate first.
Previously, he observed that the array had a targeting tendency, and he intended to exploit the slightest gap between the order of their movements to execute his plan.
As he suspected, the array chose those four.
“Ahhhh…”
The four could barely manage a brief scream before the array disintegrated them into countless bloody pieces.
Using that tiny moment of distraction, Leng Yi unleashed a flurry of movement, even using the rebound from his kn*fe against the ground to land right above the coffin within a split second.
He immediately crouched low, as if trying to avoid the prying eyes of the array.
After what felt like an eternity, he had escaped being blown to bits like his gang members.
He succeeded! The array settled back into a state of gently flowing light, seemingly forgetting about him entirely.
But Leng Yi knew that as soon as he stepped out of the coffin’s range, the array would unleash its full wrath upon him.
There was only one way out now: face the Human Emperor head-on.
If he hesitated, his fate would mirror that of the others.
Well then, Human Emperor, let me see your true form.
At this point, it was either you d*e or I do.
And if you’re willing to lend me your power, oh, wouldn’t that be splendid!
This world certainly needs strong individuals who don’t adhere to the old order; life, day in and day out, must be so dreary.
Leng Yi raised his treasured sword high, channeling his inner energy into its thin blade.
Like when he opened the stone door of the tomb, this time wasn’t just a repeat of the past; it was a do-or-d*e moment, and the sheer intensity of his effort coated the blade in a thick layer of demon energy.
The stone coffin lid, something that ordinary folks would spend their entire lives struggling to open, cracked under the tremendous force of Leng Yi’s desperate strike.
To his surprise, the lid was tougher than he had anticipated, but that last blow had already depleted much of his strength.
Gasping for air, Leng Yi prepared for another strike.
Just then, a cacophony of shouting and clashing drifted in from outside. The remaining twenty-odd members of the Giant Wave Gang nervously looked back, seeing the mountain stronghold crew retreating under pursuit from a swarm of vicious demons.
While they had lost their aerial advantage, they had numbers on their side; for every one defeated, ten more seemed to rush in.
Thanks to Trissa’s harp shield, the mountain stronghold crew had remarkably held their ground against overwhelming odds until now.
But they had retreated deep into the underground palace, with nowhere left to go.
The Giant Wave Gang reluctantly joined the fight to buy time for their boss to open the coffin.
d*mn it, time waits for no one.
But their internal energies were recovering slowly; it would take at least a few more minutes to be back to normal.
With a whole horde of demons closing in, were these all former subordinates of the Human Emperor?
Wait, something was off: some of these demons had dark red markings that differentiated them from those they’d seen before.
Could their target be the Human Emperor too?
With that thought, Leng Yi grew increasingly anxious. He couldn’t wait any longer for his energy to regenerate. He swung at the crack with a heavy downward chop.
“Boom! Boom!”
Accompanied by the shaking of the coffin, the crack seemed to widen, but was still far from breaking completely.
Meanwhile, more and more Fallen Species were flooding into the palace, jamming up the entrance, and the resistance put up by the mountain stronghold and Giant Wave Gang was growing weaker by the second.
Trissa was almost out of energy.
When even a support’s stamina was on the brink, that was a sure sign the battle was about to flip.
Fatty barely dodged the jaws of a Fallen belonging to a fallen beast, frantically swinging his heavy sword to keep the foul creatures at bay.
Sadly, ever since they had discovered the underground palace, the enemy’s aggression had grown even fiercer.
People retreated, eventually backing themselves up against the Human Emperor’s tomb, with no way left to flee.
Fatty glanced over at Leng Yi, who was crouched by the coffin and shouted, “Boss Leng, if what you’re doing can help us turn the tide, please hurry up!”
He noticed scraps of flesh and bloodied fabric piling up around the sealing array, with a strong metallic smell wafting through the air.
As the demon horde swarmed in, an idea struck him, and he pointed towards the coffin room and shouted, “What you want is in there!”
At Fatty’s shout, those who had been guarding the entrance to the Human Emperor’s tomb immediately parted, revealing a broad path.
With a chorus of howls, the Fallen Species surged into the room, eager to seize whatever they could before Leng Yi could open the coffin.
Meanwhile, another segment of the Fallen Species pursued Fatty and the others, but for the people, the pressure was suddenly much easier to handle.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
A series of thundering sounds erupted from within; any Fallen Species that had just dashed in was blown to smithereens.
