After a short period of darkness, Zhang Lie appeared within a cramped underground chamber. It wasn't particularly large, and the sconce on the wall was only dimly lit. A person rested by one corner of the room— or, more accurately, a skeleton.

This supposed treasury left Zhang Lie somewhat disappointed.

After all, given how ornate the castle had been, why did this underground treasury look so dilapidated? It was the treasury of the Eclipse Sage himself!

Regardless, Zhang Lie was quite certain that this place was indeed the Eclipse Sage's underground treasury. He glanced all around him. There were no treasures heaped up into small hills, or any sort of framework or technique manuals.

In fact, within this supposed treasury, there was nothing but that skeleton left.

Zhang Lie carefully inspected his surroundings, and eventually focused on the skeleton.

In his past life, he had once accessed these ruins, but never the treasury. However, after the treasury was first accessed, a hunter who claimed to be the successor of the Eclipse Sage had appeared. Not only had that hunter learned [Eclipse], he had even acquired another of the Eclipse Sage's trademark techniques, [Art of the Rising Moon]. 

Unfortunately for the hunter, he had died to a beast horde within the dimensional world, causing [Eclipse] to be lost forevermore.

Zhang Lie made no further discoveries despite inspecting the skeleton for quite some time. There were no storage-type artifacts on the skeleton's body, and its clothes were as normal as could be. What on Earth could be going on?

Zhang Lie had spent half the night—on the eve of the Void Cup, no less—searching for these ruins for [Eclipse]. Was he to return empty-handed?

He tried to search all around the skeleton's body, but out of respect for the dead, he avoided touching the skeleton as much as he could.

"Well, are you disappointed?"

Zhang Lie's face grew dismal after a fruitless search, but just as the light from the sconce petered out and a beam of moonlight shone in from above, a striking specter appeared in front of Zhang Lie's eyes, his mien severe, his robes white and expansive, his sword gleaming and brilliant.

The moment Zhang Lie saw him, he was certain of his identity.

"The Eclipse Sage!"

"Yes, it's me!"

"Y-You can speak? Are you man or ghost?"

"Hah, I'm neither! A remnant of who I was, nothing more."

"A remnant? I didn't realize remnants were able to communicate so normally..."

"It'll take too long to explain the details, so you can just treat me like an artificial intelligence!"

"Very well, Eclipse Sage. I apologize for interrupting your rest, but as one of humanity's greats, surely you understand my intentions for coming here?"

"For [Eclipse], of course."

"Yes, Sage! Your [Eclipse] has been used to devastating effect against the lifeforms of the dimensional world, and for it to remain a lost art would be a pity."

The Sage's remnant seemed to smile. "You're rather frank, aren't you? [Eclipse] has been a lifetime's worth of work for me. What makes you think I'll hand it over so easily?"

Zhang Lie grinned. "What else would be the purpose of this extradimensional space? Given how hard you worked to advance humanity, you surely wouldn't allow death to terminate your efforts."

"Haha, not bad, not bad! You must have done quite a bit of research before coming here. In that case, I won't beat around the bush. Take on my final challenge!"

The Sage's words were quite surprising to Zhang Lie. After all, they had only shared a few words at best, and the Sage had no understanding of his character at all. Was he so cavalier about his inheritance?

Zhang Lie had no time to think further. The moment the Sage finished talking, the four walls of the chamber shone with fiery inscriptions. A frightening surge of energy pressed down on his body, and he barely managed to stay upright.

Instinctively, Zhang Lie countered the spiritual pressure with his own genetic energy. A black serpent emerged, coiling around him protectively. However, the moment his genetic energy left his body, he noticed something amiss—it was quickly being depleted, no, being dissolved!

Wisps of black smoke were floating away from the serpent surrounding him.

This unusual technique... could it be [Eclipse]?! Zhang Lie's heart leapt, first in surprise, then in greed. It had to be, without a doubt! After experiencing the effects of [Eclipse] for himself, he was even more adamant about acquiring it. It was simply far too compatible with the second stage of his [Ninecarp Transformation].

However, he would have to focus on the challenge at hand first. If he didn't reduce the speed at which his genetic energy was being sapped away, he would be drained within five minutes, and even his genetic core would be in danger.

Furthermore, if he didn't pass this trial and obtain the recognition of the Eclipse Sage, he would be unable to acquire [Eclipse].

What was he to do? How could he prevent the loss of his genetic energy?

If he used his genetic energy to counteract the dreadful pressure surrounding him, it would increase the rate at which his energy was being drained.

However, if he didn't, his body would have to bear the brunt of the tremendous pressure.

As expected, [Eclipse] was extremely difficult to deal with.

Zhang Lie couldn't think of a strategy to counteract it in the heart of the moment.

He felt more and more of his energy draining away; if he didn't come up with a solution quickly, he would soon be eliminated. But no amount of anxiety would help him now. No, he would have to calm down and focus, despite the inexorable drain.

Zhang Lie closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged on the floor. He sensed the minute changes and fluctuations in his genetic energy at the moment they came into contact with [Eclipse], as though it were being devoured bit by bit.

The more intensely his genetic energy surged, the faster the devouring process: his initial guess had been correct.

Zhang Lie had no choice but to firmly suppress his genetic energy and keep it close to his core, but doing so would expose his body to the pressure.

He shook as he retracted his genetic energy. 

Fortunately for him, he had filled all his gene fragments to capacity, and his body had been strengthened by both his foundational breakthrough and his consumption of Potion #1. Any other hunter would have been severely wounded the moment they stopped surrounding their body with a protective layer of genetic energy.

As he forced himself to cope with the pressure, Zhang Lie activated his [Ninecarp Transformation], all his genetic energy condensed within his compact core, attempting to corrode his environment even as he himself was being drained.

This was the only strategy he could come up with against [Eclipse].