Zhang Yuanqing returned to the main hall, bathed in candlelight, calming the pain from his recurring illness and taking a moment for purification. According to timing calculations, the spirit of resentment would soon attach itself to him within one or two minutes—thus, it was definitely unsuitable to enter the eastern wing and face the zombies directly. After resting for five or six minutes, his condition worsened further: headaches accompanied by mild dizziness. He realized that the corpse poison was gradually seeping into his body, showing initial symptoms of infiltration. The candlelight in the main hall seemed unable to cleanse the toxins within him. “It can’t be delayed any longer…” He needed to make swift progress before the red dance shoes expired in half an hour and complete the instance at once. Zhang Yuanqing left the main hall, walking along the stone path through the overgrown grasses, reaching the Si-Hé-Yuán. Standing within the meadow of tall grasses, he opened his inventory and summoned the Red Dance Shoes. Two subtle streaks of dark red light danced gracefully in the night air, forming a pair of fresh dance shoes. “Choose the second form!” He silently murmured. The Red Dance Shoes dissolved again into delicate streaks of dark red light, tracing two arcs that wrapped around his feet. In an instant, his running shoes transformed into a large size red pair of dance shoes. Well—this was effectively a transformation into female attire; fortunately, it was red ballet slippers instead of heels… Zhang Yuanqing glanced at his feet with some discomfort and felt oddly out of place. He forced himself to ignore this detail, took the corpse seal in hand, and walked through the archway under the soft rustling of the banyan tree’s leaves, again arriving at the eastern wing. Inside the eastern wing, tall grasses swayed gently beneath the bright moonlight, two large buildings stood quietly—everything was so still and serene. He carefully surveyed the area and did not spot any trace of zombies. He then moved cautiously through the courtyard toward the four-roomed building that housed the coffins. The wooden door had already been blown off its hinges—he didn’t need to enter; instead, he gazed across the threshold into the room. Moonlight streamed through the broken tiles, illuminating the bodies, coffins, the lifted lid of one coffin, and the bronze artifact—everything remained undisturbed. No zombies were visible within. “Could it have settled back inside the coffin?” He couldn’t see what was happening inside from this angle. As he hesitated, he suddenly noticed that the moonlight had dimmed. Shadows descended from above, enveloping him completely. Then, a strong stench of rotting flesh drifted on the night breeze, accompanied by deep, guttural groans. It—was hiding in the trees? Zhang Yuanqing was startled; his heart contracted with instinctive alarm and he prepared to evade. At that moment, the red dance shoes lit up subtly beneath his feet, and Zhang Yuanqing suddenly slipped on the grass—he hadn’t had time to react—and launched into a slide, carving a trail through the meadow. BOOM! The cloth-wrapped zombie missed its target, landing in a stumble. He had—avoided it! Zhang Yuanqing scrambled up, astonished, and his heart finally settled back into place. Indeed, the Red Dance Shoes were truly magical—the evasive ability surpassed his expectations. With his own reaction speed, he would have been unable to dodge such an attack. Zhang Yuanqing’s confidence grew strong. “Hrrr—” The zombie’s hair like withered grass emitted a deep roar that vibrated in the air; its eyes bulged with fierce intensity, and it flexed its knees, charging again toward him at high speed—fast as if racing on an express highway. With the scent of decay rushing past his face, the creature was now close enough to feel threatening. Zhang Yuanqing instinctively twisted his feet in a smooth, ballet-like rotation, cutting through the sharp nails and reaching behind the zombie’s back. Then, naturally, he executed a split—his body sagged suddenly, and a strong gust of wind blew across his head as both arms swept outward. Tugged, tugged—all the way to the point of tearing! Zhang Yuanqing’s face contorted with pain; he wanted to clutch his hips and cry out, but the red dance shoes propelled him upward—lifting him into a spring-like motion. He soared high above, delivering powerful kicks directly onto the zombie's chest. BOOM! The sound of impact sent fine dust flying from the zombie’s tattered clothing. It roared in anger and frustration, being thrown face-first to the ground by this forceful thrust. Opportunity! Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing disregarded the painful strain on his hips and rushed forward, pressing the corpse seal firmly against the highly decayed, foul-smelling face of the zombie. He struck it directly on the forehead. CRACK! The aggressive, blood-thirsty zombie suddenly stiffened as if enchanted—every movement ceased. All motion came to a halt, and silence settled completely. The zombie lay flat in the grasses, its fierce eyes slowly fading from crimson to dullness. It had lost vitality. Staring at the now lifeless, immobile creature, Zhang Yuanqing breathed heavily; both exhaustion and joy surged within him. He had survived! “Without the Red Dance Shoes, it would have been difficult to defeat a single zombie—yet zombies were only one of the anomalies. Undoubtedly, this is an S-level Spirit Realm—it was truly formidable. But the construction crew has so many people—their performance should not be this poor…” Zhang Yuanqing sighed, now understanding why. The corpse seal had been found in a pocket beneath the window where a senior team member had received it; however, he had kept it hidden from his colleagues instead of sharing it. Human hearts are more complex and frightening than ghosts. Having defeated the zombie, next came the task of visiting the well to find that ungracious female spirit. Yet before that, there was another item that held Zhang Yuanqing’s attention deeply. He left behind the zombie, walked toward the room displaying the coffins, and stepped over the threshold, supporting himself against the door frame. In the dim light, moonbeams streamed in like beams of sunlight. He stopped in front of the dry mummy, bent down, and picked up a bronze cone. Though made of bronze, it felt unexpectedly cool—almost as smooth and warm as jade. Then, information appeared in his field of vision: [Name: Artifact] [Type: Weapon] [Function: Purification, Spirit Stabilization, Magical Breakthrough] [Description: A weapon infused with the power of the Sun God; it is the ultimate counter to all negative entities. By sacrificing one’s own blood to this artifact, one receives the divine power of the Sun God.] [Note: How powerful? It was earned at the cost of one’s life.] Indeed, a true artifact—its functions clearly surpass even the candlelight in the main hall. The senior crew member had intended to use it to kill the zombie but failed—a testament to how many lives were already lost before they even began their fight against the zombies… Zhang Yuanqing felt grateful for his timely judgment. He had skillfully utilized the Red Dance Shoes to overcome this obstacle. Of course, the senior crew member could not have secured this rule-based artifact—nor did most of them survive due to being trampled underfoot by the dance shoes. “With this specialized weapon that counteracts negative entities and combined with the Red Dance Shoes, my chances of successfully completing the trial are greatly enhanced.” Holding the Artifact firmly in hand, Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of strong confidence—before the five-minute limit expired, he left the room and returned to the courtyard. This time, he headed straight for the ancient well for his final inspection. The well opening was deep and dark, with a damp, decaying vegetation smell rising upward. Let’s go down and see… Zhang Yuanqing gripped the Artifact tightly, assumed a defensive stance, lifted one foot onto the well’s edge, and then stepped forward—walking smoothly along the walls as if they were level ground. Had it not been for this moment, he would have hesitated to descend—beyond the danger of the well floor, without rope or assistance, stepping down into the depths would mean certain death. Soon, he reached the bottom of a relatively shallow well; moonlight was now very faint. The water had long since dried up—the bottom was covered in black silt, edges dotted with clumps of wild grasses, and thick green moss grew along the well walls. “There’s no ghost down here…” Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows—he thought this didn’t make sense; he had clearly seen a faceless female spirit extending from the well. He carefully inspected every corner at the bottom—due to the limited duration of the dance shoes’ effect, he was forced to climb back up along the steep walls and quickly returned to the main hall’s eaves. Only then did he finally remove the dance shoes with relief. … In the main hall, bathed in golden candlelight, Zhang Yuanqing leaned heavily against a table of offerings. The body’s erosion from the corpse poison deepened—he now experienced dizziness, breathing difficulties, and chest and lung pains. Time was running short. “I’ve explored both wings of the rear courtyards and successfully subdued the zombies—but my trial has not yet ended. This means there must still be one area I have not visited.” He had examined every room in each wing, even reached the well’s depths—there could be no error or oversight. Then, when all possibilities were eliminated, only one location remained—the one that seemed most improbable yet absolutely undeniable… He murmured this to himself, slowly lifting his body. The place he had not explored was precisely here—in front of him—the main hall itself. Zhang Yuanqing’s gaze slowly swept across the main hall and finally settled on the statue of the San Dao Mountain Goddess. A subtle detail from his first visit had caught his attention—her right hand hung empty, yet it appeared to be in a grasp position—as though she had once been holding something. Previously, he did not know what she had held—it now became clear. It was the Artifact—the Magical Rod of the Divine Power. With cautious optimism, Zhang Yuanqing approached, inserted the bright yellow Artifact into the hollow of her right hand, and stepped down from the base before retreating a few steps. Almost as he stepped back, cracks began to spread across the base surface—cracking sound rose with a fine dust rising—then the entire base collapsed, revealing a deep, dark cave beneath it.