Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

Zachary walked up to the jade tablet and studied it carefully. There seemed to be no exit to this stone chamber, but it was obvious that it was the core of the maze, so there had to be a way out. And the tablet was the only thing in the room that looked like it might do something.

Having a close look at it, Zachary found an interplay of light and shadow moving silently and slowly across its surface. The strange image took the form of a dragon, displaying its fierce claws and teeth.

After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and gingerly touched the jade tablet with just the tips of his fingers. The artifact reacted immediately, emitting a dazzling green light that filled the entire stone chamber. The walls, ceiling, and floor all trembled violently. After a few seconds, the green glow pulsed, and the stone chamber itself disappeared, and so did the previous layers of black walls. All of Zachary's surroundings were gone, except for the jade tablet itself.

Mimi's sweet voice eased his sense of alarm somewhat. "You have triggered the ancient puzzle: the death of the Jade Dragon. Please discover why the Jade Dragon died on the God Worship Island within three days. After that, come back to the jade tablet to solve the ancient puzzle, and you will obtain many Exp points and treasures as rewards. If you can't solve the ancient puzzle within the allotted time, you will receive the punishment from the God Worship Island."

"What? Why do I have to get punished if I can't solve the puzzle? It doesn't make sense!" Zachary complained. Still, he couldn't really say he was surprised that the system would set things up so unreasonably.

"Mimi, you should at least give me some hints. There should be some clues about the death of the Jade Dragon." The ancient puzzle was sure to be a headache. He knew nothing about the God Worship Island, let alone the death of the Jade Dragon.

Mimi answered him at once, "It is said that the humans living on the God Worship Island were very talented and had supernatural strength. They had to use that strength to fight against all kinds of fierce birds and beasts on the island, in order to survive. An

." If he wanted to solve the ancient puzzle of the Jade Dragon's death, he had to clear up all his doubts.

After hesitating for a moment longer, he approached the center of the altar, carefully stepping across the field of smaller animal bones.

Soon he reached the dead dragon and ventured inside, stepping between ribs as tall as houses. Alert and ready for anything, he went deeper into the beast's remains, seeking the source of the miasma. The place felt like a forest of bones. Eventually, he came to something that looked like a fossilized heart, surrounded and tightly braced by a cluster of sharp, tooth-like bones. Its core seemed to be the source of the miasma.

"Mimi, help me identify what this is," Zachary said.

"Identifying...

Identification completed. This is the heart of an ancient diabolic beast, formed and sustained by its resentment even after death. It has absorbed the essential power of heaven and earth and turned it into the miasma, to confuse the mind of anything that draws near."

"Ancient diabolic beast?" Zachary echoed, frowning. "Shouldn't the Jade Dragon be a legendary beast?" If the Jade Dragon was only an ancient diabolic beast, then he now knew why it was suddenly killed. In fact, it was very simple. Such a creature could only have been killed by something stronger than itself, and the only one who possessed that kind of power had to be one of the Five Gods, the God of War himself.