The White Tiger Temple was situated on a mountain peak in the West.
It was carved entirely from an unknown white giant rock, without a single brick or tile, forming a seamless whole.
Its style was majestic, every line exuding coldness and a murderous aura.
It was completely different from the vitality of the Azure Dragon Temple and the scorching heat of the Vermilion Bird Temple.
There was no aura of life here, only cold, pure Order and majesty.
Rather than a temple enshrining a God, it was more like the hilt of a giant sword plunged upside down between heaven and earth, its blade buried deep within the world's crust.
In the air, the faint Metal Qi had become incomparably dense.
Exposed skin could feel a continuous stinging sensation, as if being repeatedly sanded by extremely fine sandpaper.
A wide stone staircase wound upward from the foot of the mountain, leading directly to the temple's grand main entrance, which resembled the maw of a giant beast.
The entrance was deserted.
There were only a few White Tiger stone carvings, either crouching or lying down, their muscular lines knotted and their eyes empty, yet they exuded a killing intent that could freeze the soul.
Just as everyone thought they needed to announce their presence or solve some mechanism, the heavy stone gate, dozens of meters high, slid open silently to both sides with a low grinding sound.
Behind the gate, several Priests in plain white robes had already been waiting.
Their postures were straight and their expressions solemn, as if they had been waiting here for centuries.
The Old Priest at the head was white-haired, his face etched with the deep furrows of time, but when his eyes swept over, they carried a metallic cold light.
His gaze swept through the crowd and precisely locked onto Lin Qingyue.
On that face, as still as an ancient well, there was no surprise, but rather a hint of "as expected" understanding.
The Old Priest stepped forward, his posture so humble it was almost servile, and bowed deeply to Lin Qingyue and her three companions, performing an extremely ancient ritual of etiquette.
This gesture was not for mortals or Heroes.
It was the most primitive respect shown to a lifeform of a higher status.
"Otherworldly honored guests, thank you for calming the madness of the canyon."
"Lord Celestial God is aware of your achievements."
As his words fell, he only then slowly straightened his body, turning his gaze to the Hao Chi Squad that had followed along.
The respect on his face instantly faded away completely, switching to a professional, emotionless majesty.
"Warriors of Heavenly Craft, please enter first and await the Lord's inquiry."
This blatant double standard made Lin Xiyue raise an eyebrow.
Lin Qingyue chewed her candy, glancing at Hao Chi with a hint of sympathy.
But Hao Chi truly deserved his reputation as an elite of Yuheng University.
The members of the Heavenly Craft Squad behind him showed no trace of humiliation or frustration at being slighted.
Hao Chi even pulled a precision brass-colored measuring device from his tactical vest pocket, waved it over the material of the Temple gate, and swiftly jotted down a series of parameters in his small notebook.
"What a great mindset," Lin Qingyue remarked.
"Captain Lin is joking."
Hao Chi turned back calmly, his smile carrying a clarity unique to science students.
"In this Dungeon, everyone has their own ecological niche."
"You are the 'destructive force' responsible for physical screen clearing, and we are the 'maintenance force' responsible for logistics and rule research."
"The gods are more sensitive to the status of power. This is perfectly reasonable. After all, according to your words, they are just a bunch of employees."
He patted his teammate's shoulder, signaling everyone to carry their toolboxes properly:
"Let's go. Let's hear what mission this White Tiger Celestial God plans to issue, and see if we can find a couple of scraps of this white giant rock nearby to take back for research."
Seeing Hao Chi's calm demeanor of "I'm just here on a government-funded business trip and doing research on the side," Su Wan couldn't help but nod in approval.
"Indeed, in the brain circuits of these engineering men, a low-efficiency chemical reaction like 'sadness' simply does not exist."
Under the guidance of the Old Priest, Hao Chi and his four teammates walked step by step into the main hall of the Temple, which exuded a piercingly cold aura.
The heavy stone gate slowly closed behind them, cutting off the inside from the outside.
Outside the gate, the atmosphere fell silent once again.
The remaining priests stood with their hands down, their eyes fixed straight ahead, like stone statues.
Lin Qingyue, on the other hand, seemed completely bored.
She took out another fruit hard candy from her pocket, unwrapped the wrapper, and stuffed it into her mouth, her cheek bulging as she chewed, without the slightest hint of nervousness about the upcoming meeting with a god.
The wait was not long.
In less than ten minutes, the heavy stone gate opened again.
Hao Chi and the members of his Heavenly Craft Squad filed out, each person's expression extremely strange.
It was a stunned expression, a mix of bewilderment, confusion, and a hint of the philosophical triple question: "Who am I, where am I, and what did I just experience?"
"Well?" Lin Qingyue asked, her words muffled.
Hao Chi shrugged and put away the small notebook filled with dense notes.
"We saw him... or rather, we heard him."
He tried to organize his thoughts.
"As soon as we went in, we heard a grand and majestic voice echoing in our minds. We couldn't see Lord Celestial God's true form at all."
"He... He praised our 'unity' and 'courage,' saying we were the hope of another world."
"And then?"
Xia Lian asked curiously.
"And then,"
Hao Chi's expression became even stranger,
"He told us a story about the Ancient God Shadow, similar to what you just said, but he spoke very vaguely, leaving us completely in the dark."
"Finally, He encouraged us to continue fighting for world peace, and then... He let us out."
One of his teammates couldn't help but add in a low voice:
"It felt like being dragged to a completely useless military training pep rally."
"As for how to solve the problem..."
Hao Chi spread his hands wide.
"Lord Celestial God's exact words were: 'Darkness will descend. Only the steadiest will and purest courage can illuminate the path ahead. Go forth, warriors, and with your wisdom and your own hands, defend the Order of this world.'"
"Translation: We're supporting you spiritually, but you'll have to figure out the specifics yourselves."
Su Wan's lips curled into a mocking smile.
The group exchanged glances.
"Oh, He also gave us a small squad buff, increasing our negative emotion resistance by 10%. Better than nothing."
"You're just leaving like this? Don't you feel cheated?" Lin Xiyue asked.
Hao Chi pointed to the temple gates behind him. "Cheated? During those ten minutes, my teammates were already using sonic detectors to analyze the vibration frequency of the temple's main beams. Since the god doesn't want to give us a specific walkthrough, we plan to set our own pace."
He pushed up the tactical goggles on the bridge of his nose, his eyes gleaming with the wisdom of "everything can be quantified."
"Captain Lin, thank you for your guidance earlier. Our squad won't waste any more of your time here. We plan to check out other areas first to see if we can find more concrete clues."
"We hardware maintenance personnel won't get mixed up in the 'mythological plot' inside this temple."
He paused, then revealed a sincere smile.
"Enjoy your overtime."
Lin Qingyue crunched a piece of candy and nodded. "We'll meet again. Stay safe."
Hao Chi cupped his hands in a stylish salute to Lin Qingyue, then turned and led his maintenance... er, Heavenly Craft Squad, heading back down the mountain the same way they came.
"If those guys ever go back to the real world, they'll probably tear all the dungeons in every city apart and sell them for scrap."
Lin Qingyue watched their receding figures, clicking her tongue in amazement.
After they left, the atmosphere at the temple gates instantly changed.
The High Priest, who had been maintaining a strictly professional expression, quickly walked up to Lin Qingyue.
The straight back he had held so stiffly before was now bent at a very humble angle.
This time, the expression on his face could no longer be described as merely respectful; it was a kind of awe bordering on the devout.
"Otherworldly guest."
His voice had become gentle and pious, a completely different person from when he had been speaking to Hao Chi.
"The Lord has cleared the temple for you."
"He has been waiting for you at the deepest level for a long time."