Chapter 69: Earthen Soldier

Ian followed Veronica’s gaze and sure enough, right in the center of this circular basement was a circular formation, with three smaller circles inside it—obviously meant for people to stand on.

“Don’t you know what the formation does? Isn’t that dangerous? Can’t we try some other way to get out of here?” Ian asked.

“We’ve tried every other way, but none of them worked. So now we’re wondering if we should use this formation,” Veronica said, crossing her arms and looking at Ian and Lillian with a slightly sour tone, as if a bit jealous.

“What do you think?” Ian turned to Lillian.

After all, it was something only the three of them could do together, so getting Lillian’s opinion was necessary.

“Ah, me…?” Lillian stammered, clearly flustered.

This wasn’t the kind of decision that needed her input; Ian and Veronica could have decided on their own.

“I… I don’t have any objections.”

Seeing Lillian had no opinion either, Ian took a deep breath and made up his mind.

“Since no one objects and we have no other way out, let’s activate the formation.”

“We’ll each stand on one of the smaller circles and see what happens.” Veronica snorted softly but didn’t say more.

Instead, she picked a nearby small circle and stepped onto it.

Once all three stepped onto their circles, the round formation burst forth with a powerful energy that was blinding.

The harsh white light made Ian unable to open his eyes.

After a while, Ian regained his senses.

The previously solid center of the formation now had a pit opening.

“Do we have to go down again?” Ian complained silently.

If they really had to keep going down, wouldn’t they just keep descending endlessly?

He looked at Veronica and Lillian, now uncertain whether they should go down or stay put.

After a long pause, Veronica finally spoke slowly, “Let’s go. Staying here will only starve us eventually.”

“If that’s the case, we might as well head down and try our luck.”

Ian then looked to Lillian, waiting for her opinion.

“I’ll… I’ll go with Veronica’s suggestion,” Lillian said meekly.

Ian felt a headache coming on.

Why did Lillian have no will of her own and always just follow others?

Though this kind of personality made it easier for Ian to guide her on how to win over Ethelrina, was it really healthy?

If Lillian ended up with Ethelrina, wouldn’t she just get emotionally manipulated to death?

Even though Lillian only paid Ian to help her win Ethelrina’s favor, Ian felt responsible for helping her improve her weak personality.

“Do you really think that way?” Ian’s sharp gaze met Lillian’s.

Lillian’s eyes instinctively looked away.

“Y-yes.”

“You don’t actually have to agree with what others say. Just express your own opinion.”

“I… I really think that way.”

Well, teaching Lillian to have her own independent thoughts was clearly going to be difficult right now.

Plus, the situation was urgent—no one knew what awaited them deeper in the Basement.

So, Ian decided to save teaching her independence for later.

While Ian and Lillian talked, Veronica standing nearby looked somewhat displeased.

Earlier, Ian only cared about her feelings, but now he seemed to be ignoring her.

A murky shadow flickered in Veronica’s clear pink eyes, and even she didn’t know why she felt that way.

“Since no one objects, let’s go down,” Ian sighed, no longer forcing Lillian.

“I’ll go first to scout the way. You two follow behind me—be careful.” Ian took the initiative to assume responsibility.

After all, he had the Soulstone given by Elia, which gave him some self-defense capability.

Veronica and Lillian both had less than 10% Bloodline Development and no skills yet, so Ian with the Soulstone probably had stronger combat power than Veronica.

But this was just Ian’s guess—he hadn’t seen Veronica fight at full strength.

Ian crouched and tentatively stepped onto the stone step at the edge of the pit.

He lit a torch; its dim light barely illuminated the narrow passage as he descended step by step.

Behind him came the footsteps of Lillian and Veronica.

“This place… feels so eerie,” Lillian whispered, instinctively moving closer to Ian.

Veronica pursed her lips and looked away at the sight.

After some time, the three finally climbed out of the tunnel into an enormous space—a hundred times larger than the circular Basement they had just left.

“Where is this?”

This secret chamber was filled with earthen soldiers carved from soil—some holding spears, some long guns, others bows and arrows.

In short, the statues carried all kinds of weapons.

Ian looked at these lifelike sculptures with awe, as if they radiated an aura of authority.

At the center stood a sculpture several times larger than the others, clad in gleaming armor.

What puzzled Ian was that these were made of soil, yet exhibited such effects—it defied logic.

“Notice anything unusual?” Veronica asked Ian.

“Not yet. Let’s split up to explore and see if there’s a way to help us leave here.”

At Ian’s words, Lillian trembled briefly before nodding in agreement.

“Of course, don’t go too far. If anyone gets into trouble, we need to be able to rescue them quickly.”

“Mm,” both replied in unison.

After the reminders, Ian raised his torch and headed in one direction.

The vast space stretched endlessly, so he decided to examine the area around the passage first.

Ian approached one of the earthen soldiers and studied it closely.

“Ah!”

Lillian’s voice came from behind Ian.

He instinctively turned to look at her and saw an earthen soldier, previously still, now raising its spear.

If the spear hit Lillian, she would certainly die, and Ian knew he wouldn’t have time to rush over.

Just as the earthen soldier’s attack was about to strike, Ian took out the Soulstone.

Several chains of light burst forth, wrapping around the earthen soldier.

At that moment, Lillian was crouching, hands covering her head, trembling uncontrollably.