Myth Beyond Heaven

Yun Lintian, his curiosity piqued, approached the dissolving corpse of the creature.

"Let me try something," Yun Lintian said, crouching beside the pulsating ichor. He extended a hand, channeling the Great Law of Life. Green tendrils of energy erupted from his palm, swirling around the corrupted remains.

The effect was immediate. The sickly green ichor began to lose its putrid hue, slowly transforming into a clear, almost ethereal liquid. The tendrils of the Great Law of Life delved deeper, seeking the core of the creature's being.

Suddenly, a jolt of surprise ran through Yun Lintian. The corrupted energy he expected to encounter was absent. Instead, he felt… metal?

Confusion clouded his mind. This wasn't a living creature at all. It felt more like a complex machine, albeit one intricately woven with corrupted energy.

He withdrew his hand, the green tendrils dissipating. "This isn't a beast," he announced, his voice laced with disbelief. "It's… a construct. Made of metal."

Lan Qinghe frowned deeply and used her spiritual sense to check the metallic core. She spoke. "It wasn't fueled by life force, but some sort of external energy source. The corrupted energy seems to have been a recent addition, perhaps to enhance its power."

She paused for a moment and said in doubt. "There are no records of such constructs in any historical texts I've encountered. Where did this come from?"

Buzz—

As if on cue, a faint symbol flickered into existence on the exposed metallic core of the creature. It was faint, almost invisible to the naked eye, but Lan Qinghe's sharp senses detected it immediately. She focused her energy, enhancing her vision, and gasped.

"This symbol…" she muttered, tracing the intricate design with her finger. "I've seen it before. In the ancient texts…"

Her mind raced back to the forgotten knowledge. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything at the moment.

Yun Lintian and the others were even more clueless about it.

"For now, it doesn't matter," Lan Qinghe said, shaking her head. "Its creator must be around here somewhere."

Everyone's gaze turned towards the distant, imposing structure – God's Sanctum. Perhaps the answer lay within its walls.

With a wave of her hand, Lan Qinghe reduced the corrupted flesh and blood of the creature to dust. "Let's proceed," she declared.

No objections arose, and the group resumed their journey. The air grew colder and heavier with each step deeper into the God's Tomb. The faint path illumination had vanished, leaving them in an oppressive darkness that gnawed at their senses.

Finally, Yun Lintian's group reached the imposing form of God's Sanctum. Constructed from an unknown material, the building defied the ravages of time.

The massive doors of God's Sanctum loomed before Yun Lintian and his companions, a stark contrast to the crumbling ruins that surrounded them. The oppressive darkness seemed to emanate from the building itself, heavy with secrets and a sense of foreboding.

Yun Lintian stepped forward and examined the doors. He ran his hand across the smooth surface, searching for any inscription or mechanism that might open them. Silence. No response.

Rumble—

Just as he was about to try again, the imposing doors of God's Sanctum groaned open, revealing an inky blackness that seemed to devour the light. A wave of oppressive energy washed over Yun Lintian and his companions, sending shivers down their spines.

Yun Lintian, ever the cautious one, hesitated at the threshold. "Be careful, everyone," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

Li Shan bravely took the lead, walking into the building, followed by Lan Qinghe and the others. The darkness swallowed them whole. The only light came from the faint glow emanating from their weapons and artifacts. The air grew thick and stale, carrying the weight of countless ages.

Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught Yun Lintian's eye in the distance. A faint, bioluminescent glow pulsed in the darkness, beckoning them forward.

Through the Eyes of Heaven, Yun Lintian saw mixed energy flow around the place. The strongest one was an energy similar to a True God but it was dormant, surrounded by the dark energy.

"Let's take a look." Yun Lintian said and walked towards the light.

The glow grew brighter as they approached, revealing a long, winding corridor that stretched before them. The walls were adorned with strange symbols and murals that seemed to writhe and pulsate in the eerie light. The air crackled with a strange energy, sending a tingling sensation through their fingertips.

As they rounded a corner, the corridor abruptly opened into a vast chamber. The sight that greeted them sent a gasp escaping Tang Wei's lips.

In the center of the chamber, bathed in an otherworldly white light that pulsed rhythmically, stood a colossal statue. It wasn't a depiction of a human or any creature they recognized. Instead, it resembled a humanoid figure forged from pure, gleaming metal – the same material that made up the construct they had just destroyed.

The statue towered over them, easily reaching a height of ten men stacked on top of each other. Its intricate details were breathtaking, depicting flowing robes made of what seemed like metallic scales and a helm that concealed its head.

Two massive wings, also crafted from the same metal, spread out behind the statue, reaching nearly the length of the chamber itself.

Scattered around the base were broken fragments of what appeared to be other statues, their forms similar but smaller in scale. These broken pieces, unlike the central one, weren't made of pristine metal. They were a twisted amalgamation of metal and bone, hinting at a horrifying origin.

Most disturbing of all, however, was a fresh trail of what looked like metallic dust leading away from the base of the central statue and towards a hidden passage in the far wall. It was as if someone had recently tampered with the colossal figure, perhaps even repaired it using the shattered remains of its fallen brethren.

Yun Lintian activated his Eyes of Heaven and scanned the area. The dormant True God energy he sensed earlier pulsed strongest from the central statue, but it felt… incomplete. As if it were a mere shell waiting to be filled.

"This..." Tang Wei stammered.

He'd known countless ancient gods slumbered here, but he hadn't expected them to be so horrifying. Without Yun Lintian's group, he would have fled long ago.

Lan Qinghe, her brow furrowed in deep concentration, used her spiritual sense to probe the colossal statue. "There's no life force here," she finally admitted, her voice laced with doubt. "It's just metal similar to the one outside."