The hellish game did not describe how powerful these two Statue Demons actually were, but guardians set to watch over the ancestral mausoleum could not possibly be weak.

After all, the weakest ones buried here were demon lords.

[The Statue Demons continue, saying that to worship the ancestors, you must be familiar with the demon race’s history as recorded on the divine stele. If you have already forgotten the glory of the demons, then you are not worthy to have the right to worship.]

Lin Xun smiled confidently. Was this not walking right into his wheelhouse?

He had already memorized the text on the stone stele down to the last detail. Even if he forgot, he could simply scroll up through the log to reread it.

How was this any different from an open-book exam?

[You once again state your desire to proceed to the lower level to worship the ancestors. Even if doing so carries a risk to your life, nothing can stop your resolve to pay your respects.]

[The Statue Demons greatly admire your attitude and begin asking their questions…]

[First question!]

[According to the history recorded on the divine stele, how many times has the divine war been launched?]

[1. Once]

[2. Twice]

[3. Three times]

Lin Xun gave a disdainful chuckle. “That’s it?”

He decisively chose the second option without even pausing to think.

[Upon hearing your firm answer, the Statue Demons nod approvingly and say that your answer is correct. Remembering the sacrifices of the ancestors is the duty of every later-generation demon.]

[If not for the ancestors’ sacrifices in the God Wars, the demon race would have long since been wiped from the river of history.]

[Now for the second question.]

[According to the history recorded on the divine stele, the great Abyss holds another main deity status for the stars. How did He become the deity of the stars?]

[1. Self-ascension]

[2. Exchange of Authority]

[3. Devouring an evil god]

“Too easy. This is practically a freebie…”

Lin Xun quickly pressed the third option, not wasting even a shred of time.

[Upon hearing your decisive answer, the Statue Demons once more nod approvingly and declare that you have answered correctly. Though the Abyss fell in the second God Wars, His Authority over the stars has not been completely lost.]

[That is precisely the key to the Abyss being able to revive and return.]

[Last question.]

[In the deepest part of the mausoleum is buried the strongest deity ever to arise among the demon race…]

[Please tell us the sacred name of the strongest Abyss deity ever born among the demons.]

[1. Lord of Corruption]

[2. Demon of Slaughter]

[3. Pillar of Gloom]

“Gah?”

Lin Xun was dumbfounded.

After the first two giveaway questions, he had thought the third would be at the same level.

Yet this third question… he had absolutely no idea what the answer was.

Thinking that he might not have remembered the stele’s history clearly, Lin Xun hurriedly scrolled back through the earlier text log, only to find that there was no such passage recorded at all.

“No, wait, did they not say all the questions would be based on the history recorded on the stele?”

“This is outside the syllabus.”

“Could it be that there is still hidden content on the stele that requires payment to view?”

There were only two possible explanations for this situation. One was that the stele contained additional text he had not seen, or that the stele he saw only recorded the general mythic history and the detailed history was carved on other steles, which was why he did not know the answer.

The other possibility was that the Statue Demons were deliberately asking a question outside the syllabus because they did not want him to enter the deeper levels of the mausoleum.

[…]

[Seeing that you have yet to answer for a long time, the Statue Demons speak sternly, asking if you, a later-generation descendant, have already forgotten that glorious period of history.]

[They demand that you loudly tell them, who is the strongest deity ever born among the demon race.]

The three unfamiliar options in front of him turned blood-red and began to tremble.

This signaled that if he did not make a choice soon, the Statue Demons would likely directly treat his answer as wrong.

“Damn it, just guess one. Picking at random still gives me a one-third chance to be right.”

To Lin Xun, the first option, Lord of Corruption, sounded somewhat familiar. As he weighed his choice, he prepared to press the first option.

“No.”

Lin Xun had just deduced two possibilities.

One was that there were other steles that recorded more detailed history. The other was that the Statue Demons were asking a question outside the syllabus because they did not want him to go deeper into the mausoleum.

He found the first possibility less convincing and leaned more heavily toward the second.

If the first were true and there really were additional steles, then it would be reasonable for him not to know the answer since he had not seen them.

But the Pain Demon’s shell also had not recalled any clues at all, which was a bit suspicious.

“If the Statue Demons deliberately do not want me to enter the depths of the mausoleum, then all three options are very likely wrong answers.”

Narrowing his eyes, Lin Xun decisively activated his own Flesh Authority.

Faced with a question outside the syllabus, he would respond with an answer outside the syllabus.

[You loudly declare to the Statue Demons glaring at you like tigers watching their prey that you have already remembered that glorious period of history and have already found the familiar sacred name among the three options.]

[You will tell them, with absolute certainty, the answer they desire.]

[A hint of a smile flashes in the Statue Demons’ eyes. Without changing their expressions, they motion for you to loudly speak the answer.]

[You grow even more certain of what you suspect in your heart. With a cold laugh, you raise your voice and say that Lord of Corruption… is wrong, Demon of Slaughter… is also wrong, and Pillar of Gloom… is even more wrong.]

[The moment you say the name Lord of Corruption, the Statue Demons’ mouths curl up slightly, as if your choice greatly pleases them.]

[Yet you immediately deny it and then proceed to deny all three options, causing their expressions to shift again and again.]

[They roar furiously, saying that you ignorant later-generation descendant had best provide a reasonable explanation, otherwise your denial of three great demon gods will be regarded as oath-breaking.]

[They will certainly kill you on the spot.]

[You are completely unafraid. Tilting your head back, you stare at the Statue Demons and declare that perhaps those three great demon gods did indeed make outstanding contributions in the God Wars, and perhaps they were once the strongest deities of the demon race.]

[But regardless of what the true history used to be, by this moment in time, it is no longer correct…]

[Because the strongest Abyss deity ever born in the history of the demon race has only just now come into being, namely the Abyss Child recorded in the history on the divine stele.]

[And that Abyss Child is standing right in front of them at this very moment, blocked on the path of worshipping the ancestral demons.]

[As your words fall, the Statue Demons’ anger reaches its peak. They roar madly that someone like you dares to impersonate the Abyss Child.]

[In their fury, the two Statue Demons raise their halberd-spears and cleave them down at you together.]

[The aura they release in this instant is terrifying in the extreme, leaving you breathless and your chest tight.]

[You immediately understand that both Statue Demons possess incredibly powerful strength.]

[You are just about to switch shells to fight them when they suddenly freeze in place. The cold, gray stone color begins to spread from the tips of their claws, creeping along their arms, then across their torsos, and finally up their heads.]

[The Statue Demons cry out in horror, saying that this is impossible, that your answer is actually correct.]

[The Abyss Child really has been born… such a weak being is actually the Abyss Child…]

[Before they can finish speaking, the two Statue Demons have already reverted to lifeless statues.]

[If not for the slashing posture they still maintain, you would have thought that their revival, questioning, and testing just now was only your own illusion.]

[Now, no one can obstruct your path deeper into the mausoleum. Do you wish to proceed to the second level of the Ancient Mausoleum?]

It seemed that the two Statue Demons had been constrained by some rule. In a situation where the responder’s answer was correct, even if that answer was something the ‘examiners’ themselves did not know, it would still be judged as a pass.

That was what caused the Statue Demons to turn back into statues.

“I am the Abyss Child?”

Lin Xun was stunned. No one knew better than he did that he was a counterfeit.

It was only due to a teleportation error and a series of random accidents that he had taken the place of the original Abyss Child.

Yet from the situation now, he did not seem to be an impostor but the genuine Abyss Child, as real as could be.

“What in the world is going on?”

Time was tight. The Statue Demons’ test had already consumed quite a bit of it. Lin Xun did not have the leisure to think too much and could only continue exploring for now.

“If I reach the end of this pit and there is nothing here, I will have taken a huge loss.”

Thinking this, Lin Xun decided that since he had come this far, he would pluck every feather he could, not leaving the enemy so much as a needle or a thread.

He once again activated his Flesh Authority.

[You do not immediately head to the deeper levels of the mausoleum. Instead, you take out the Teleportation Trap Device and use it on the two Statue Demon figures…]

[As teleportation light engulfs the two statues, the Abyss Statue Demons are completely unable to resist as you imprison them inside the Star Cage.]

[You smile faintly and then proceed to the next level of the mausoleum…]