The light, arriving at the most opportune moment, shone upon the giant dragon, causing it discomfort and pausing its furious movements for a few seconds.
Seizing this hard-won opportunity, Chen Long turned and sprinted towards the finish line.
By the time the dragon reacted and tried to stop him, it was too late.
With agile steps, Chen Long had already burst out of the Trial Road's boundaries and slapped his hand on the golden box before him.
ROAR!
With a roar of unwilling fury, the dragon's form gradually blurred until it dissipated.
It was evident that Chen Long's success in passing the Trial Road this time was thanks to the timely, forced intervention of righteousness at the last moment.
However, Chen Long couldn't dwell on that now, cradling the heavy golden box in his arms.
"Chen Long! Bring the thing over here quickly."
His father, standing on the other side, was constrained by the Trial Road and could not pass. He could only shout from afar. Hill, having narrowly escaped, dared not make any sudden moves, standing on the blank stone slab and watching vigilantly.
Although the inner demons within the stone slab beneath her feet had been annihilated by the dragon's roar, she feared that any restless movement on her part might restart the Trial Road, summoning the dragon that had just disappeared.
Chen Long nodded at his father's words, cradling the golden box with both hands as he walked towards him.
As Chen Long moved, the hieroglyphs on the golden box began to emit light. The seal slabs of the entire Trial Road responded to the summons. Each time Chen Long stepped on a sealed slab, the inner demon within it would transform into a beam of light and merge into the hieroglyphs. This even included the slab belonging to the dragon.
When Chen Long reached his father with the golden box, it automatically unlocked after absorbing the power of all the inner demons from the slabs.
Hill stepped forward and carefully lifted the lid of the box. A spherical object lay quietly inside.
Judging by its appearance alone, the sphere seemed to be cast in gold, shimmering brightly, about the size of a baby's fist. On its surface was a raised pattern resembling an eye.
This was undoubtedly the Eye of Horus that everyone had been searching for.
Just standing nearby, his father could feel the vigorous magical fluctuations emanating from it, which only strengthened his resolve that this item must not fall into the hands of the Holy Lord.
Although Hill could not discern the item's uniqueness or feel the magical fluctuations it emitted, she knew one thing: she had paid with the lives of over a dozen excellent S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to obtain this golden eye.
Hill took a palm-sized metal disc from her tactical belt, activated it, and formed a transparent cubic box. She carefully transferred the Eye of Horus from the golden box into it.
Regardless, this thing had been lying in the tomb for over a century. Who knew if it carried any fatal bacteria or viruses.
The ultraviolet light within this box could provide preliminary disinfection for the eyeball.
With the item secured, Chen Long, still holding the golden box, asked, "How do we get out of here now? Should we go find that ascetic?"
Hill shook her head, took out an instrument resembling a walkie-talkie, and pointed at the large hole blasted open in the ceiling by lightning. "I've already called for backup. Someone will be here to pick us up soon."
After finding the tomb, Chen Long and the others hadn't all descended at once. They had left one-third of their personnel above to set up camp and handle logistics.
However, the tomb's isolation effect was too good. Initially, they could still communicate with the outside world, but the deeper they went into the tomb, the weaker the signal became, until it was completely cut off.
But now, with the lightning creating an opening in the ceiling, there was at least a weak signal.
Sensing this, Hill had decisively contacted those above.
The people above were already taking action and would be able to escort the three of them out shortly.
While the three waited for rescue, his father had already taken the box from Hill and was examining the Eye of Horus through the glass.
As for Chen Long, his gaze fell upon the slabs of the Trial Road.
Even though the inner demons in the slabs had vanished, as an archaeologist, how could Chen Long pass up such an opportunity to study ancient Egyptian civilization?
Seeing this, Hill shook her head helplessly and stepped forward, saying, "Mr. Chen, if you truly wish to study these stones, we can take them out with us. Wouldn't it be better to study them with the aid of professional equipment then?"
Chen Long's eyes lit up at this. "That would be greatly appreciated. These slabs are historically significant and hold immense research value."
Hill didn't voice her thoughts, but inwardly, she was dismissive. In her opinion, they were just a pile of stones buried in an ancient tomb; what was there to research?
As the three were occupied with their own matters, none of them noticed that the ascetic, who had initially been sitting cross-legged before the stone door, had, at some point, entered and taken the golden box containing the Eye of Horus into his embrace.
"What are you doing!"
By the time Hill noticed and called out, the ascetic had already walked past the Trial Road, holding the golden box, and placed it back on the original stone platform.
In response to Hill's inquiry, the ascetic slowly turned and said, "You may take the Eye of Horus. I will not stop you. But this, you cannot take. It belongs here."
Hill expressed her displeasure, "What belongs here? I think you just want to take it out and sell it for money after we leave."
With that, she lunged forward to snatch the golden box back. After all, in Hill's eyes, S.H.I.E.L.D. had invested so much human and material resources into this expedition, and the casualties in the tomb were heavy. Besides the Eye of Horus, which had been agreed upon beforehand, it would be best to bring back more valuable items if possible.
This golden box, placed here to hold the Eye of Horus and having just absorbed all the inner demons of the entire Trial Road, must be an extraordinary item. Such a thing could not simply be handed over to an old man of unknown origin.
As for selling it for money, any discerning person could see that was impossible.
Otherwise, if the ascetic had truly been motivated by wealth, he would have carted away everything in the tomb over the years he had survived here.
The reason he said that was merely to find an excuse to stop them.
It was a pity that Hill had underestimated the old man.
Seeing her attempt to snatch it, the ascetic didn't hold back. He delivered an elbow strike, sending Hill flying several meters away.
"You!"
Clutching her aching abdomen, Hill glared hatefully at the ascetic before her, her hand reaching for the gun on her hip.
Just as Hill was about to draw her weapon and shoot him, Chen Long intervened and stopped her. Then, his father's faint voice echoed, "Forget it. You can't take this. And another thing, don't provoke an ascetic. This is my advice to you."
Hearing his father's words, Hill could only back down.
However, giving up was out of the question for her.
Hill had already made up her mind. The tomb had been destroyed anyway. Once they left, she would send in a larger force. By then, they would surely be able to handle one ascetic.