Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 114 Fallen Pyramid

They wove their way through the city streets, toward the crashed pyramid. It was propped up at a twenty-five degree angle on what likely used to be buildings, creating an easy path up onto the side of the pyramid and a far more gentle incline on the highest side.

Jie followed Pan Tian up the rubble and onto the highest side of the pyramid. The dim light of their lanterns illuminated worn, ancient hieroglyphs carved into the stone.

Ithilix and Xue followed them up and they walked upon the pyramid. The gentler slope made it a relatively easy walk but the pyramid was enormous and huge chunks of its surface were missing. That, combined with all of them trying not to make too much noise, made it a slower journey than it otherwise would've been.

They crept along the surface of the pyramid and made it to a hole deep enough in the stone to breach the interior. Pan Tian climbed down into it, using her claws of light to find a grip on the stone. Jie followed her, relying on her superior strength to make climbing easier. She kept her eyes open and scanned everything around them with her spirit sense as best she could, not willing to let her guard drop even for a moment. As she climbed down, a loose rock crumbled beneath her grip, showering Pan Tian with dust and debris.

"Watch it," Pan Tian said.

"Sorry," Jie said.

Pan Tian paused, and Jie wondered if the older girl had discovered a threat of some kind...

Then, Pan Tian sneezed. The sound echoed in the darkness and they continued down.

Ithilix strolled down the walls of the hole behind Jie as though out for a leisurely walk and utterly defying gravity while carrying Xue in her arms. Xue looked over the hole and the others like an emperor overseeing his kingdom. Jie felt his deep sense of satisfaction at being spared the mundane task of climbing thanks to Ithilix radiating through their bond.

"Smug little cat," Jie muttered.

Xue looked her up and down and yawned. Ithilix scratched the side of his neck, and he gave a contented mrowr.

"You could at least pretend like climbing is difficult for you," Pan Tian said.

"This one doesn't see the point of that," Ithilix said and scratched Xue's side as she continued to defy gravity, her feet easily adhering to the walls.

They made it down to the bottom of the hole, the floor of which was like stained glass with veins of a darker material running through it. They walked along the surface of it until they found a large crack where a section of wall had broken apart, creating an opening deeper into the building. Pan Tian slipped inside and Jie followed her. The darkness within was almost total apart from their lanterns.

"We can probably risk a little more light in here. If we find more gaps in the walls, we'll have to turn it back down," Pan Tian said as she dialed up the light on her lantern.

Jie and the others copied her, revealing more of the chamber they found themselves in.

Noctilith corpses littered the dusty floor with huge chunks of their exoskeletons ripped apart or sliced in two. More hieroglyphics covered the walls, better preserved than those outside. Large metal pipes ran along the ceiling high above with the occasional much larger cylinder around them, which looked oddly similar to capacitors.

They walked deeper into the pyramid with Pan Tian leading the way and checking for traps. The floor was tilted on its side, as was the entire pyramid, but though the stone was smooth and easy to slip on, the angle wasn't extreme enough to make walking too difficult.

Ithilix had no difficulty whatsoever. Something that was starting to make Jie jealous.

Their footsteps echoed around them as they traveled through an endless maze of corridors. It reminded Jie of the catacombs at the start of the dungeon.