The Decoy Tomb of the Water Aspect

Su Zinan wore a smile on his face as he shared this good news with Old Wu, yet what he was doing was butchering a loyal servant. The web had been woven from the sinews drawn from a spirit python reared in the snake pit. The python was called an Earth-bound Dragon, so stretching the truth slightly to call the threads dragon sinew was not entirely undeserved. The sinews had first been soaked in spirit medicines for a hundred years and then refined through ninety-nine procedures to forge this web. Transparent and concealed, its tenacity was rarely seen in this world. Old Wu had fallen into the trap, ensnared in the web. "You beast!" Old Wu could never have imagined that the boy he had raised with his own hands would plunge him into eternal doom. Su Zinan remained unmoved. Not only did he show no trace of shame, but his eyes also burned with intense anticipation. The dragon-sinew web pulled taut, and python silhouettes surfaced one after another. The strands of dragon sinew seemed to revert into Earth-bound Dragons, joined head to tail, their bodies entangling and squirming ceaselessly. *Thud!* The center of the dragon-sinew web bulged outward violently, releasing a muffled crash. The Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe was attacking wildly within the net. Su Zinan gave a cold snort. Unhurriedly, he flicked his fingers. Radiance erupted in the void as a talisman array suddenly manifested. Driven by its Qi, talisman silhouettes swirled and gathered inside the web, aiming straight for the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe. With every talisman silhouette that landed on the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe, its spiritual glow dimmed by a fraction. Old Wu felt the treasure growing heavier and heavier, as if an extra barrier had formed between him and his lifebound magic treasure. Su Zinan knew Old Wu all too well. The trap was not just the dragon-sinew web; there was also a talisman array specifically targeting the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe! A strange cry escaped Old Wu's throat, and the blood silhouette reappeared over his body. However, it was far fainter than the one he had used during his fight with Qin Sang, and judging by the contortion of Old Wu's expression, summoning it was far more strenuous. The destruction of the blood silhouette by the Sun God Tree had dealt him a severe blow. Old Wu forcibly summoned the blood silhouette to assist in executing the Delusion-Breaking Demonic Dagger-Axe. Unexpectedly, the three faceless heads pounced forward. Wide mouths tore open on their blank faces, and in the blink of an eye, they had devoured more than half of the blood silhouette. The momentum of the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe shifted from peak to decline. The technique was nearly broken. Old Wu let out a shrill roar and burned his blood essence, relying solely on his own strength to forcibly complete the Delusion-Breaking Demonic Dagger-Axe. The dragon-sinew web strained taut. Two intersecting bloody marks abruptly formed at its center. With a sharp tearing screech, the dragon sinews snapped. The Earth-bound Dragons wailed silently as the web was ripped apart by the bloody marks. By this point, the power of the talisman array had congealed on the surface of the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe like a layer of frost, causing its spiritual light to dull and rendering it impossible to wield freely. Old Wu did not even dare fight to reclaim his lifebound magic treasure. He flipped his palm and brought out a talisman plate. The inscriptions upon it were exceedingly concise, containing only three talismans! *Crack!* The talisman plate shattered, releasing the talismans. The three talismans fused into one. Their power condensed in the void into a pair of blood-red wings, dripping with gore and radiating a towering baleful aura! In a flash, the blood wings appeared beside Old Wu's ribs, flapping violently. Old Wu transformed into a bloody rainbow, fleeing through the air. To his horror, the blood wings had flapped only once when the radiance of a spirit array suddenly surfaced within the medicinal pool. An inconspicuous beam of dark light shot forth, striking Old Wu squarely in midair. With a loud pop, Old Wu's physical body exploded on the spot into a mist of blood, leaving not a trace of bone or ash. "Did you forget that every skill I possess was learned from you...?" Su Zinan wore an eerie smile. Shifting his gaze, he glanced leisurely toward one side of the bamboo grove. *Bang!* The soil blasted open. A streak of blood shot toward the sky—it was Old Wu's Nascent Soul. He had abandoned his physical body, attempting to pull off a deception. At this moment, the Nascent Soul's eyes were tightly shut, trembling uncontrollably, having lost its spiritual sense. The three faceless heads spun rapidly around the Nascent Soul, spewing bone-chilling ghostly Qi without pause. Unable to restrain itself, one of the faceless heads slammed violently into the other two, split open its wide mouth, and swallowed Old Wu's Nascent Soul in a single gulp, eagerly flying back to its master's side. The other two let out unwilling shrieks, yet could do nothing. By now, Su Zinan was already seated cross-legged on the ground. His fingers moved in a blur, completing one extraordinarily complex seal after another and striking them into the head that had swallowed Old Wu's Nascent Soul. The head tumbled back and forth, emitting continuous shrieks. Before long, the head finally settled down. Certain spots on its smooth face rose while others sank, forming facial features out of thin air until it looked identical to Old Wu. Beneath the head floated a murky azure ghost mist, wherein Old Wu's spirit sank into damnation. The ghostly head of Old Wu snapped its eyes open. Catching sight of Su Zinan, it shot out beams of hatred. Its expression twisted in violent struggle, but the movements grew smaller and smaller until it became completely numb. "Only two more to go..." Looking at the completed ghost head, Su Zinan muttered to himself. *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!* Old Wu's ghost head and the other two faceless heads flew before Su Zinan. He flipped his palm to take out a triangular black banner and swept them inside. Rising to his feet, Su Zinan stretched lazily. He swept his gaze across the battlefield, his lips curving into a sinister smirk, then turned and walked out of the purple bamboo grove. Having not seen their lover for several years, the women's longing had overflowed. When they saw Su Zinan, broad smiles bloomed on their faces, tinged with gentle resentment. Surrounded by beauties, what a delight it was. Soft murmurs and sweet laughter filled the air, amidst fragrant scents of orchid and sweet osmanthus. Su Zinan embraced them left and right, narrowing his eyes as he indulged in the tender warmth. Out of nowhere, he asked, "Did you hear any sounds just now?" The women froze in unison and hastily shook their heads. Su Zinan glanced around and sighed softly. "How lamentable that time is merciless and youth fleeting; in the snap of a finger, beauty withers." Before his voice had even faded, strands of dragon sinew shot out from his fingertips. With a flurry of whooshes, they wrapped tightly around the fair necks of the women, hoisting them into midair. *Crack, crack...* Their neck bones were nearly strangled to snapping. Agony covered their faces as they struggled at death's door in utter disbelief. Only a moment ago he had been an affectionate lover, yet he had turned utterly cold and merciless in an instant. Seeing their current expressions, Su Zinan felt only deeper disgust. Tossing them like garbage, he hurled them into the snake pit within the bamboo grove to be devoured by the Earth-bound Dragons. Only one female cultivator remained, shivering in terror, her cultivation at the Core Formation stage. Su Zinan walked over, pinched her chin to tilt her face up slightly, and tapped her glabella with a finger. "Forget it." The woman closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again. Looking at the lover standing right before her, a faint blush touched her cheeks, her eyes turning soft as water and brimming with tenderness. "Once you form your Nascent Soul, you will be Lady Yue." Su Zinan kissed her lightly, then turned and walked out of Luye. …… Inside the ice cavern. Qin Sang and his incarnation plunged into the fissure. As he fell, Qin Sang calculated the time in his mind. Various clues indicated that the Deity Transformation cultivators of Zhongzhou had vanished, and Lady Yue's words had confirmed this. When that old fellow went back for reinforcements, at most he could summon Nascent Soul cultivators. However, this only allowed Qin Sang to be a bit bolder in his decisions. Against powerful enemies capable of condemning him to eternal ruin, no one could be certain without absolute confidence. His true body followed along to assess the situation. If the path led straight to the tomb of the Water Aspect Master, joining the strength of his true body and incarnation would make suppressing Old Man Yanshan an easy task. Taking the relics and leaving immediately went without saying. Yet if the situation below proved too complicated to resolve on the spot and dragged on, he would send either his true body or his incarnation away depending on the circumstances, leaving himself an escape route. The fissure led to an unknown realm. The further down they descended, the colder it grew, and the denser the cold fiend Qi became. These signs indicated that the source of the cold fiend Qi lay below, very likely originating from the Water Aspect Master's tomb. Restrictions were everywhere. As Qin Sang proceeded, he discovered that some restrictions had already been dispelled, undoubtedly the work of Old Man Yanshan. In many places, the restrictions remained completely intact, and Qin Sang could not fathom how the old man had bypassed them. Although there were signs of forced breach, the methods used were exceedingly subtle, showing that he was intimately familiar with this place. Qin Sang could only resort to brute force. Guided by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, the demonic fire and the Fourfold Tengshe Seal struck in turns, forcibly blasting open a path. Deep within the fissure. Old Man Yanshan stood before a wall of white ice, pressing both hands against it. Ripples of blue water welled from his palms and spread across the entire ice wall. Embedded in the stone cliff, the wall was no ordinary mystic ice; it incorporated formidable restrictions that blocked both spiritual senses and physical vision, concealing whatever lay within. Under the buffeting of the water ripples, the ice wall gradually shifted from white to transparent. Once the white faded completely, it would signify that the wall's power was spent, allowing Old Man Yanshan to enter the tomb. Just as he was fully focused on breaking the restriction, the subterranean depths began to tremble violently. Old Man Yanshan's expression changed drastically. He looked up, but saw only dense layers of restrictions. His eyes shifted unpredictably as he stirred his true essence, focusing his voice into a thread that pierced through the restrictions. "I did not expect Fellow Daoist to prevail so quickly. No wonder Sect Master Situ spoke so highly of you in his letter." Qin Sang, who was rapidly breaking restrictions on his way down, faintly caught Old Man Yanshan's voice. Pausing slightly, he glanced at his surroundings and had his incarnation reply, "I also did not expect that you, Fellow Daoist, were the successor of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect's Water Aspect!" "Not so," Old Man Yanshan denied. "I can hardly be considered a successor. The Water Aspect of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect is divided into the Water Element and Cold Ice branches. I merely had the fortune to obtain a few cultivation methods and secret arts of the Water Element branch, learning a tiny fraction of its secrets—hardly worth mentioning. Otherwise, I would not have had to linger in the Northern Barrens for so many years, waiting until today." "Is this truly the Water Aspect Master's tomb? And what of that snow fox?" Qin Sang did not stop his advance, pressing the question in a grave voice. Old Man Yanshan was unexpectedly willing to explain. "Indeed, the outside is a decoy tomb; the real tomb lies within! The snow fox was merely a guide to keep the treasures from being buried in obscurity. If a true successor of the Water Aspect passed through the snowfield and discovered the snow fox, they would know this was their founder's tomb, gain the fox's recognition, and claim the Water Aspect Master's relics. I suspect that, fearing someone possessing spirit-eye abilities like yourself might beat them to it, the Water Aspect Master laid out a decoy tomb outside. Those ignorant of the truth would assume this place was merely used to condense cold crystals, steal the crystals, and overlook the true treasure..." Qin Sang nodded inwardly. The Water Aspect Master's arrangements were indeed exquisite. To make it convincing, he had even laid a lethal array within an array, as if genuinely guarding against someone stealing the cold crystals. Before Old Man Yanshan vanished, Qin Sang had indeed never considered this possibility. Had Old Man Yanshan not snuck in and disrupted the seamless layout of the site, even Qin Sang searching alongside the Heavenly Eye Butterfly would not have seen through it so easily. Qin Sang had been in the dark, but that did not mean Luye was unaware. Had Luye not intervened, Old Man Yanshan could have left with Qin Sang first, then returned quietly to retrieve the treasure, leaving Qin Sang completely unaware of having been used. "So you used me to locate the tomb?" Qin Sang asked again. Old Man Yanshan did not give a direct answer. "I had no intention of harming you. You came for the cold crystals, while my goal was the Water Aspect Master's relics—our purposes did not conflict. I had no desire to monopolize the cold crystals and fully satisfied your request; can that truly be called deception? We merely took what we each needed." "And how do you explain what happened with Luye?" Qin Sang narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them. That Old Man Yanshan wanted to keep the Water Aspect Master's relics for himself was only human nature, and Qin Sang could understand it. But he would not tolerate being plotted against and forced into an enmity with Luye. Old Man Yanshan sighed softly. "If I said I was genuinely unaware and had never encountered anyone from Luye here before, you probably would not believe me, would you? Had I known, I would never have been so careless while hunting the snow fox. Besides... did you not also have a helper lurking in the shadows, hidden for a full six months? You two certainly have impressive patience!" Situ Yu had not mentioned in his letter that Qin Sang possessed an incarnation, so Old Man Yanshan was ignorant of the truth. Hearing this, Qin Sang sighed. He was no saint; in the name of pursuing the Dao, he had forcibly seized treasures, disguised himself, and stolen from others. Still, whenever cooperation was an option, he preferred to cooperate. His true body had followed along only as a precaution. Even if he said so, Old Man Yanshan would never believe him. Putting himself in the other's shoes, he too would harbor doubts and be on guard. After a brief silence, Old Man Yanshan sighed. "Fortunately, you had that hidden piece in reserve; otherwise, both of us would have met a grim end today. Whether you believe it or not, I never harbored any intent to harm you. I admired your divine abilities and thought we could become good friends, but fate makes fools of us all. Since you have seen through everything, I have nothing more to say. As for the Water Aspect Master's relics, each will rely on their own abilities! From now on, we go our separate ways!" As he said this, Qin Sang was closing in rapidly, and the fissure trembled with increasing violence. Old Man Yanshan pulled back his gaze and stared intently at his hands. His ten fingers trembled as dense ripples surged forth. Not only did they wash across the surface of the ice wall, but they also began seeping visibly into its depths. Under the impact of the ripples, the white color within grew increasingly faint. What he had obtained was an incomplete legacy. After years of hard contemplation, being able to achieve this much was already no small feat. Whether affected by the vibrations outside or the ice wall's own tremors, a recoiling force traveled back into Old Man Yanshan's palms, causing his breathing to quicken. In the blink of an eye, the white within the ice wall thinned by another layer, turning increasingly transparent. Overjoyed by this, Old Man Yanshan spared no effort in driving his true essence. One-Origin Heavy Water seeped from his palms into the interior of the ice wall like the heavy strike of a massive hammer. With a sharp crack, a fissure actually appeared at the center of the ice wall. Once a flaw appeared, the ice wall could no longer hold. The crack spread at lightning speed. *Boom!* The ice wall shattered, sending shards of ice flying in all directions. Unable to conceal his delight, Old Man Yanshan braved the falling ice and charged into the tomb. The tomb was not large, square in shape. On the wall directly facing the entrance, several lines of characters were engraved, presumably the last testament of the Water Aspect Master. The furnishings inside were laid bare at a glance. At the center lay a rectangular block of mystic ice. Old Man Yanshan had initially thought it was a coffin holding the Water Aspect Master's remains, but saw no corpse or bones; it was merely a solid ice bed. The Water Aspect Master had likely already returned to heaven and earth. Neatly arranged upon the ice bed were three jade boxes. In front of the ice bed, a spirit array had been laid down, still running to this day. At the heart of the array hovered an exquisitely crafted ice plate, suspended in midair, crystalline and translucent, looking far from mortal work. Driven by the spirit array, a wisp of cold fiend Qi would leach out from the ice plate at set intervals, secretly channeled up into the decoy tomb above to condense into cold crystals and mislead any intruders who stumbled upon the place. Old Man Yanshan's gaze turned fervent. Once his eyes fell upon the ice plate within the spirit array, he could not look away.