On a nearby wall, there was a rusty pull ring, likely a mechanism for the mercury pool.
Ning Beichen hadn't decided whether to pull the ring when James, forgetting Ning Beichen's instructions, excitedly grabbed it and yanked.
"No!"
Ning Beichen tried to stop him, but it was too late. The area they were in suddenly descended, and the mercury from the pool surged towards them like a tidal wave.
Witnessing this, James was filled with remorse. He slapped himself hard and looked at Ning Beichen with the expression of someone who had done something wrong.
Ning Beichen was helpless against the man's curious recklessness.
However, he couldn't just watch James die. He swiftly flew over, grabbed him, and used his Qinggong to land them in a safe spot.
"I... I'm sorry."
James quickly apologized to Ning Beichen, knowing his actions had made their situation worse.
Ning Beichen didn't bother to blame him, instead focusing on the changes around them.
While James's rashness had caused danger, it had also activated the trap, revealing the true mechanism to Ning Beichen.
This mechanism was on the wall, with flowing mercury below. An ordinary person would have no way to operate it, but Ning Beichen could.
Ning Beichen instructed James to stay put and not move, even if knives were falling, fearing another outburst of his hyperactivity.
James repeatedly assured Ning Beichen that he wouldn't leave, no matter what.
As James wondered what Ning Beichen was up to, he suddenly saw Ning Beichen leap into the air, directly over the mercury pool. James was startled, thinking Ning Beichen was attempting suicide.
However, when he saw Ning Beichen merely flying over the mercury and not falling in, his heart finally relaxed.
Ning Beichen's toes lightly touched the surface of the mercury, and he then vaulted upwards, flying towards an isolated wall. He swung his fist, creating an indentation in the wall.
Using the indentation as a foothold, Ning Beichen turned and leaped in the opposite direction. He reached another wall, and with another aerial punch, created another indentation.
After repeating this process three or four times, Ning Beichen reached the mechanism, which was a bronze handle.
Ning Beichen grabbed the handle and pushed it down. With a click, some dirt and debris flew out, and the bronze handle was pressed down by Ning Beichen.
A rumbling sound followed. The mercury in the pool rapidly flowed out through the opened mechanism. In a short time, the mercury pool was empty.
Ning Beichen then flew back from the bronze handle mechanism, easily returning to the ground.
His series of dreamlike movements left James wide-eyed, his mouth agape as if he had seen an alien.
While he was stunned, Ning Beichen had returned to his side.
"Still spacing out? Let's go."
Ning Beichen said to James, who snapped back to reality and quickly followed Ning Beichen forward.
With the mercury gone, the pool was no longer a threat. Ning Beichen and James walked across it with ease, then passed through a safe passage and discovered a staircase leading down.
This staircase was clearly man-made, not a natural formation, which brought a hopeful smile to Ning Beichen and James's faces. It seemed the ancient vampire treasure vault was not far.
Indeed, after descending the stairs, they found a stone structure below that appeared to be a treasure vault.
However, the vault was blocked by a heavy stone door, which they needed to open to enter.
Ning Beichen went over and tried to push it with force, but the stone door wouldn't budge. He only managed to dislodge some dust.
Then, Ning Beichen unleashed a full-powered punch against the stone door.
The stone door let out a deafening boom!
The ground itself trembled a few times, causing James, who was nearby, to gasp and mutter to himself.
"Is... is this still human?"
Yet, the stone door only trembled a few times; it didn't shatter or break through, which also astonished Ning Beichen.
He hadn't held back his strength in that punch; it was almost his full power, and yet it failed to break the stone door.
Ning Beichen stepped closer to examine it. He was surprised to discover that the stone door was crafted from a natural giant stone from the area.
This meant the stone door was not just a separate entity but integrated with its surroundings. No wonder Ning Beichen's near-full-power punch couldn't break it.
However, this presented a challenge for Ning Beichen. He had already observed that there were no mechanisms on the door itself. The opening mechanism was likely elsewhere, making it almost impossible to open the stone door by that means.
Since it couldn't be opened by mechanisms, there was only one way left: brute force.
If one punch couldn't break the stone door, Ning Beichen wasn't disheartened. If one punch wouldn't do it, then he would just throw more punches.
"James, step back. I'm going to break this stone door."
Ning Beichen told James, who was behind him.
James immediately retreated a few meters. Ning Beichen then indicated that it wasn't far enough, so James had to retreat further, all the way to about ten meters away, before Ning Beichen stopped him.
Ning Beichen then took a deep breath and stepped back a few paces. This time, his attack was not ordinary; it contained the power of the "Crossing the Sea of Bitterness" cultivation technique.
Furious power roared in Ning Beichen's arm, shattering his sleeve. Then, his fist, charged with all his strength, like an ancient beast, struck the stone door heavily.
With a thunderous roar!
The entire area shook, and the snow mountain outside, affected by the tremor, began to experience a terrifying avalanche.
The disciples of the Emblematic Sect and the Blood Clan, hiding somewhere on the mountain, were in grave danger, as the avalanche was heading directly towards their location.
Suddenly, the disciples and vampires scrambled to escape, as if wishing their parents had given them more legs.
Fortunately, they were not ordinary people, but even so, only the faster vampires managed to escape the avalanche.
Most of them were buried under the snow.
The avalanche lasted for several minutes. The landscape had drastically changed. Those vampires who had escaped didn't have time to celebrate their luck; they immediately rushed to rescue their companions buried in the snow.