In the deep sea cave, Ling Feng and the others easily dealt with all the obstructing Honkai Beasts.
Following the plan, Ling Feng and the others continued to explore.
Not long after, Ling Feng and Himeko seemed to have discovered something and stopped. They quickly pulled Kiana to take cover, peeked out, and looked ahead.
Not far from them, there were many tactical mechs.
Kiana poked her head out and recognized the tactical mechs, looking somewhat puzzled.
"Hey, why are there Anti-Entropy's tactical mechs here?"
Himeko, with a serious expression, rested her chin on her hand and speculated.
"Could it be that Anti-Entropy is also searching for the Xuanyuan Sword and Herrscher Stigmata? Interesting."
Mei, beside Himeko, said seriously.
"We didn't expect Anti-Entropy to appear. Major Himeko, Teacher Ling Feng, for safety's sake, shouldn't we retreat first?"
Ling Feng didn't answer but looked at Himeko, as she was the main commander here.
"Yes, although it's very frustrating, for safety reasons, we can only retreat temporarily for now."
Himeko nodded.
On the battlefield, not knowing the enemy's strength and acting rashly could lead to sacrifice due to misjudgment.
"No! Himeko, we can't retreat! Such a good opportunity! Your illness..."
Kiana immediately became anxious.
From Bronya and Fu Hua, she had learned that Himeko had very low Honkai energy adaptability.
Although she successfully had an artificial Herrscher Stigmata implanted, the Honkai energy was constantly eroding her body.
If she didn't obtain new Herrscher Stigmata and advance the research on artificial Herrscher Stigmata to solve this problem, Himeko would likely be slowly infected by Honkai energy and die.
"What illness?"
Himeko asked with a frown.
Kiana immediately realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly changed her tune.
"No, I mean, Himeko, you, ah, it's like this, this is Ji Lin's Herrscher Stigmata!"
"If Anti-Entropy gets it, the world will definitely be destroyed!"
Ling Feng and the others: ...
Could your excuse be any more ridiculous?
How could a Ji Lin Herrscher Stigmata cause the destruction of the world?
Himeko herself didn't want to give up on this mission, so she went along with Kiana's excuse.
"I apologize, I was not thoughtful enough. We will continue with the mission now, but we must proceed with caution!"
Since they had decided to continue the mission, the obstacles along the way naturally had to be dealt with.
Ling Feng took the lead and rushed forward.
A dozen small robots shaking their heads heard the commotion, turned around crookedly.
"Eh, these robots are quite cute, aren't they? Are they detection robots?"
Just as Ling Feng was about to grab one to study, the eyes of the dozen small robots suddenly lit up red.
Their little spider legs scurried towards Ling Feng.
"Ling Feng, those are self-destructing spiders!"
Mei shouted urgently.
What?!
Ling Feng was startled, and then he sensed a strong high-energy reaction from the dozen little cuties.
*Zzzzt!*
Damn it!
These weren't little cuties at all, they were self-destructing infantry!
Before the little cutie running at the forefront could explode, Ling Feng's figure, like a ghost, instantly appeared in front of it.
The little cutie was stunned and quickly tried to detonate.
However, at this moment, it had already taken flight and landed on its teammates.
*Boom!*
Hearing this, Himeko put down her greatsword, shouldered it again, and said apologetically.
"I apologize, I was a bit impatient. Well then, let's split into two teams and find the switch."
Ling Feng felt a bit embarrassed, he hadn't expected Himeko's problem-solving method to be so violent and direct.
After splitting into two teams to find the key to the stone gate, they successfully opened it.
After passing through the stone gate, Kiana suddenly shouted.
"There are several stone tablets here, and there seems to be writing carved on them. Let me see~ Mouth..."
After Kiana finished reading, her head was full of question marks. What did this mean?
Bronya stepped closer, analyzed it, and then frowned.
"It's strange, this kind of writing doesn't exist in Bronya's database."
As if out of habit, everyone looked at Ling Feng first.
"Don't look at me, I don't recognize it either. Ask Fu Hua."
Himeko nodded and immediately contacted St. Freya.
"Fu Hua, can you help us see what kind of writing this is?"
"Okay... Major Himeko, this is a type of writing that has been passed down in ancient Shenzhou. I've only seen it in family heirloom ancient books."
"Can you interpret this writing?"
"Ah, I'll try."
Fu Hua began to interpret the writing on the stone tablet through video.
Simply put, the stone tablet was a record kept by Lian Shan, intended to remind future generations not to forget Ji Lin, the hero of Shenzhou.
At the same time, the stone tablet also stated that this was the Nine Nether Realm.
The content on the stone tablet ended there. Under Kiana's guidance, they discovered another stone tablet.
Not long after, they arrived at another stone tablet, which was submerged in a shallow puddle.
Himeko immediately sent an image of the stone tablet to Fu Hua.
"Hmm, let me see. A year ago, Ji Lin, carrying the Xuanyuan Sword, infiltrated the Nine Nether Realm alone and sealed Chi You."
"I wanted to retrieve her remains but couldn't find the Nine Nether Realm in the vast ocean."
"When I was about to give up, the Red Kite bird kept circling the sea without rest."
"She is Ji Lin's beloved bird, and it is said that this name originated from a former friend of hers."
"Finally, it led me here, but it departed ahead of me."
As everyone was listening intently, Kiana's sudden crying startled them.
"So touching! *Sob sob sob sob*, it reminds me of Sora from my hometown."
"Sora? I've never heard you mention this woman before~"
Mei suddenly placed a hand on Kiana's shoulder, with a kind, smiling face, staring at Kiana with a slightly strange tone.
*Hiss...*
The atmosphere here seemed a little off. Everyone looked at Mei and Kiana with gossip in their eyes.
It seemed... like there was going to be a show.
Ling Feng silently took out a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket.
If you're going to watch a show, how can you be without sunflower seeds?
"Bronya sees a love triangle..."
Kiana shivered and quickly explained.
"No, no, Mei, you've misunderstood~ Sora was the cat I used to have, with white fur and a golden tail~"
*Snap!*
We've taken off our pants, and you're telling us this?!
Where's the love triangle?!
"Ahem, now is not the time to talk about cats. Fu Hua, what's the next part?"
"This stone tablet also ends here. The last thing written is that the Red Kite bird guides the way forward."
"Alright, then let's hurry and find the next stone tablet."
After much searching, they finally found the last stone tablet at the end of a passage.
Himeko skillfully took photos and sent them.
"Unfortunately, when I found this place, I couldn't even find her remains."
"Her only heirloom, the Xuanyuan Sword, is also missing."
"The only thing I could do for my wife was to erect stone tablets here to tell her story."
"And to carve a statue of her beloved Red Kite bird here to accompany her forever."
After Fu Hua finished speaking, Himeko asked uncertainly.
"This... is that all?"
"That's correct, Major Himeko."
Fu Hua replied.
"If... the remains disappeared, then the Herrscher Stigmata on the remains must have also disappeared."
"Damn it, I didn't expect it to be all for nothing in the end."
Himeko's face showed a dejected expression. The hope of obtaining Herrscher Stigmata was gone.
Seeing Himeko like this, Ling Feng planned to go back and refine some healing pills to see if he could recover the effects of the Honkai energy erosion.
In fact, he had only just learned about Himeko's current physical condition.
As for the recovery pills he had obtained from previous lucky draws, they were all used up in the battle of Inazuma.
Shagiri asked.
"Look, isn't that statue over there the Red Kite? Should we go investigate it?"
"Statue?"
"Didn't the stone tablet just say that the Red Kite bird guides the way forward? Perhaps there will be some discovery."
Shagiri pondered for a moment and guessed.
There was nowhere else to go now; this was the end of the road.
Thinking this, they gathered around the Red Kite statue.
"Wow! This statue is so big!"
Kiana looked up at the Red Kite statue, which was much taller than her, and was very amazed.
Himeko walked around the statue a few times, tapped it a couple of times, which produced a *dong dong* sound, and observed it seriously.
"Although this statue is exquisitely crafted, it's just stone."
Mirai suddenly analyzed and speculated softly.
"The Red Kite bird guides the way forward... Could it be that the direction its head is pointing holds a secret?"
Hearing this, Himeko followed the direction the Red Kite's head was looking. It was a stone wall.
"Could it be that there's something hidden behind this stone wall? I'll go take a look."
Himeko walked up to the stone wall, examining it up and down, and touched it. It felt solid.
There was no problem.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice echoed in her ear.
"You've finally come to find me... Filthy human."
"Huh? What voice??"
Himeko immediately became alert, and then the stone wall emitted a dazzling light.
"Honkai energy reaction rising! The stone wall seems to have reacted to the Honkai energy on Major Himeko!"
"Get away from the stone wall, Himeko!"
Kiana shouted in panic.
But it was too late. Himeko was completely sucked into the stone wall.
Mei: "Major Himeko... she was just sucked into the stone wall!"
Kiana: "If people with Honkai energy on them are sucked in by touching the stone wall, then we can go in too! Let's chase!"
Kiana took the lead, touched the stone wall, and passed through.
The others, worried about Kiana, quickly followed and touched the stone wall, passing through.
After passing through the stone wall, they found a world within.
The exposed space was several times larger than the previous area.
"Wow, behind the stone wall, there's actually such a vast place."
As soon as she entered, Kiana was amazed by her surroundings.
Ling Feng looked around but couldn't see Himeko. He released his spiritual sense and detected something unusual in one area.
"Everyone, don't split up, especially you, Kiana. Let's search for Himeko carefully."
After leaving the small cave, they entered the spacious underground space.
Ling Feng surveyed the terrain from a high vantage point, and his pupils slightly constricted in surprise.
"Bagua formation?!"
"Bagua formation? What is that?"
Hearing this unfamiliar term, Kiana and Mei looked at him with curiosity and confusion.
"The Bagua formation is a formation from Shenzhou with many functions, capable of trapping enemies and sealing things, incredibly mysterious."
"If someone who doesn't understand it rushes into a Bagua formation, they can easily get lost."
"In ancient times, it was even used to trap armies."
Ling Feng explained briefly.
"Is it that amazing? Then I'll just make marks along the way."
Kiana put her hands on her hips, seemingly proud of her proposed solution.
"Then you underestimate the Bagua formation too much. For ordinary ones, your method would indeed work, but that's assuming you wouldn't starve to death."
"But for more special ones, the marks you make would be as if you made none, and you might not even be able to destroy that area with a missile."
"These are just for trapping people. I can't fully explain the specific mysteries of the Bagua formation in a short time."
Kiana was shocked.
"That terrifying?!"
"Alright, follow me closely later. I think I have a general idea of where the exit of this trapping formation is."