The Subterranean Crypt

"Heh... like Imperial Father?" A faint, rueful chuckle broke the silence of the cavern. Li Qingyan's eyes fixed quietly on Xu Yuan. "Do you mean to say Imperial Father wants to prune away your Chancellor's Manor, and then have Second Brother walk the very path they once trod all over again?" "A good question. I don't know." "..." Li Qingyan had no words. Relaxing, Xu Yuan propped his hands behind him and chuckled. "From childhood until now, I've only met the reigning Emperor a handful of times. I don't know the first thing about his character. Everything I just said was analyzed strictly from Li Zhaoyuan's perspective." An inscrutable smile curled the corner of Li Qingyan's lips. "So you think Second Brother would gamble his life and fortune entirely on a passing whim of Imperial Father's? Besides, when it comes to striking deals with the sects, my eldest brother would seem to hold the upper hand. After all, the venerable Imperial Preceptor is nominally Eldest Brother's master in the Sword Dao, and he even spent three years within the Sword Sect's mountain gates in his early days." Xu Yuan gave a slight nod. "You have a point. But other than that, does Li Zhaoyuan have any other choice?" "..." A brief silence fell. Li Qingyan shook her head, unimpressed. Xu Yuan murmured in a low voice, "His mother was a mere palace maid, and he isn't the firstborn. For your second brother to ascend the throne, every step upward is a gamble with his life. And this time, he is betting that your imperial father's attitude toward our Chancellor's Manor will change. By the looks of it, the odds are he won that bet. What remains to be seen is how my father will counter his move." Establishing ties with the sects was hardly the work of a single day. In other words, Li Zhaoyuan had most likely begun laying his groundwork ten or even twenty years ago. At the thought, Xu Yuan wiped away his solemn expression and gave an easy laugh. "Still, personally, I'd rather see our Imperial Father and my dad walk this path hand-in-hand to the very end, rather than pass it off to the next generation." After a brief pause, Xu Yuan said in a low voice: "And fulfill the romance of their youth." "Romance?" Li Qingyan echoed with a flicker of intrigue. In the gloomy cave, Xu Yuan's blood-tinted eyes glimmered. "A romance of unswerving devotion to a shared ideal until death." "..." Hearing this, Li Qingyan made no reply. Bracing her hands against her knees, she slowly stood up from the icy stone floor. Her red robe hung dark as coagulated blood in the dim cavern. Her slender figure stood straight, her voice cool and indifferent: "This cavern seems quite vast. I will scout the surroundings. But as for that sort of romance, Prince Consort, you would best look for it in storybooks. There ought to be plenty of tales like that in there." "..." A brief silence followed, and Xu Yuan clicked his tongue. "Tsk." He was mildly displeased by how easily this chest-bound princess ruined the mood. Pausing for a moment, Xu Yuan rubbed his chin as he gazed at her slender silhouette, asking with a smile, "Do you really have so little faith in your own imperial father?" "..." Li Qingyan did not break her stride, her back gradually fading into the darkness of the cavern. After a long pause, an inscrutable chuckle echoed from afar, followed by the faint drift of her calm voice: "As Duke Xu's child, Prince Consort, I would expect you to understand the taste of power better than anyone." With those parting words, nothing remained but the steady sound of her receding footsteps. "..." Xu Yuan frowned, but upon catching sight of the Sumeru ring on his finger, he let out a soft sigh. Women really were cuter when they were a bit more sentimental. In his previous life, Xu Yuan hadn't witnessed much grand history, but even in a piddling department of a dozen people, folks would play cutthroat office politics over petty scraps of authority—scheming day in and day out, tripping one another up, even stopping at nothing to frame a coworker and send them behind bars. If even a lousy private firm's department of a dozen people was like that, how much more so the supreme imperial throne? In his past life, even Emperor Xian of Han, a textbook puppet ruler, had racked his brains plotting coups to seize back power. Throughout history, if there was even the slimmest possibility, no monarch would ever tolerate imperial authority slipping from their grasp. If Li Yaoxuan were to abandon such power for the sake of an ideal, he wouldn't be an emperor; he would have transcended into a saint. Yet judging by the present situation, neither of the two old men had managed that. Li Yaoxuan needed the imperial lineage to endure, ensuring the Li clan's royal house did not end with his generation. And behind Xu Yuan's father stood all those followers who had walked alongside him for half a lifetime. When they were lowly and obscure, they shared a single ideal. When they met again at the summit, the surrounding landscape had already changed. Such romance was, in all likelihood, something that truly belonged only in storybooks. While Li Qingyan scouted for an exit, Xu Yuan remained in place to recover his Source Qi. The Source Qi Li Qingyan had infused into him served only a protective purpose; having exhausted his own Source Qi, his constitution remained hollow and somewhat weak. Still, Xu Yuan didn't care. *I'm rich.* The authority that came with being the Chancellor's Manor's head of the Northern Border had let him gorge himself until grease ran down his chin. Precious pills he had never been willing to consume while playing the game in his previous life were now stacked by the bottle in his Sumeru ring. Who knew how much time had passed in the cavern, punctuated only by the occasional drip-drop of water seeping from the stalactite tips. The moment he opened his eyes, Xu Yuan saw her, clad in red robes, having returned to his side at some unknown point. Coming and going like a phantom, without a single sound. If they got married in the future and he went whoring in a pleasure house, she might be sitting right next to him watching him fool around without him even knowing. *Hiss... thinking about it like that is genuinely terrifying.* Reining in his wandering thoughts, Xu Yuan smiled and asked in a low voice, "Back so soon? Did you find a way out?" "No." Li Qingyan shook her head, a solemn look in her phoenix eyes. "This doesn't seem to be a cavern, but rather a subterranean crypt." "A subterranean crypt?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, murmuring instinctively before asking, "Two shichen have passed. Even if this crypt is huge, with the strength of your intent-soul, Qingyan, shouldn't you have been able to find an exit?" Li Qingyan pointed toward the cavern's inner wall. "Prince Consort, inspect it with your intent-soul and you will understand." "..." Xu Yuan's gaze narrowed. His intent-soul reached out from his sea of consciousness, searching outward. The next moment, under Li Qingyan's watchful eye, Xu Yuan's brow furrowed by degrees. Once he circulated his cultivation art, his eyes gained a degree of night vision. Yet in this absolute darkness, that night vision was weakened to the extreme. An intent-soul, however, functioned more like an infrasonic scan from his past life, projecting the surrounding environment directly into his mind, unaffected by light or shadow. Yet at this moment, the instant his intent-soul touched the cavern wall, it felt as though it had sunk into a stasis field, turning limp and powerless. What was more, the placid cavern wall was devouring his intent-soul... It was an extremely subtle sensation. Had he not grown accustomed to the encroachment of Meishen spores during his dual cultivation with Su Jinxuan, even with his Innate Soul Body, Xu Yuan would never have detected it right away. "..." In the silence, Xu Yuan silently stood up and walked over to the stone wall. Stepping close, he slowly raised a hand to gently caress the surface. The wall was not cold to the touch. It was velvety, fuzzy, and somewhat damp. *Is this... vegetation?* *Whoosh—* A wisp of blood flame abruptly ignited, instantly scattering the pitch darkness within the cavern. Bringing the blood flame in his hand closer to the bizarre growth coating the cave wall, Xu Yuan focused his gaze. After a faint rustling, the growth nearest the flame pulled away as if alive. Move the blood flame away, and the growth crept back. Witnessing this, Xu Yuan used the firelight in his palm to look around. And then, he suddenly realized that throughout this spacious cavern, whether on the floor or the walls, everything was covered in a layer of unknown vegetation. It was brownish-red, looking distinctly eerie under the illumination of the blood flame in his hand. Withdrawing his hand, the blood flame dissipated, and the cavern plunged back into darkness. Xu Yuan let out a breath and walked back to sit down beside Li Qingyan. Where they sat was the only "clean patch" around; the vegetation in this area had likely been obliterated by the spatial turbulence that accompanied their teleportation. After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan asked in a low voice, "Qingyan, do you know what this creep is?" Li Qingyan rubbed her Sumeru ring between two slender fingers. "There are few plants in this world that can block an intent-soul, and none among them are brownish-red. It is likely unique to this crypt." "Unique?" Xu Yuan murmured, then grinned. "Then we've hit the jackpot. This brownish creep is a brand-new material. Once we get out, we'll bring some samples to my fourth sister and hire people to mine it. Who knows, she might whip up quite a surprise." "..." Li Qingyan looked at him with an increasingly strange expression. "Just joking." Seeing her gaze, Xu Yuan spread his hands, the smile fading from his eyes. In this supernatural world, the colossal profits of discovering an entirely new material were indeed astonishing, but all of that was predicated on the two of them getting out alive first. The moment he witnessed the uncanny nature of this brownish-red creep, Xu Yuan suddenly recalled something—something he had almost forgotten. His karmic fortune was a whopping three points high. Cooped up training at home, one couldn't tell just how terrible that was; only during random teleportations like this did the "benefits" of such high fortune truly shine. Back in the Qionghua secret realm, he had been teleported straight into the perilous Cherry Leech Lake. This time, in all likelihood, they had landed in yet another deathtrap. At the thought, Xu Yuan glanced sideways at the transcendentally lovely Li Qingyan beside him and sighed. It seemed this chest-bound princess's karmic fortune was pretty abysmal as well. *Mm... Day N+1 of missing the treasure-hunting girl.* Seeing that Xu Yuan had fallen silent, Li Qingyan softly recounted what she had observed during her scouting: "Though this crypt is intricate and labyrinthine, there are distinct traces of human construction. It is very likely an ancient tomb, or perhaps a maze laid down by predecessors..." "Qingyan," Xu Yuan interrupted suddenly, pointing up at the cavern's ceiling. "Can you try blasting straight through here?" In *Cangyuan*, terrain destruction wasn't allowed, but reality had no such restrictions. A labyrinth? Why bother navigating a labyrinth? Just bore right through it! Li Qingyan smiled faintly at his words. The next instant— *Clang!* The blade at her waist cleared its scabbard in a flash. A blaze of fire streaked through the pitch darkness as the sharp tip thrust violently toward the ceiling above. *Hum—* The blade let out a crisp ring, and a gale-force squall rippled outward with Li Qingyan at its center. Her red sleeves settled, revealing a small, circular bore hole, bottomless and showing no trace of daylight. Sheathing her blade, Li Qingyan said crisply, "I already tried earlier. This subterranean crypt lies very deep; even I cannot be certain how far we are from the surface." Xu Yuan looked up at the hole in the ceiling and hesitated slightly. "Try attacking it several times in succession?" "..." Li Qingyan didn't answer. She gently placed an index finger against her red lips, gazing into the pitch-black depths of the cavern. "Shh..." Xu Yuan frowned, his eyes narrowing. It seemed there were "mobs" in this crypt... Amid his thoughts, Xu Yuan fixed his gaze and extended his intent-soul. Yet in the very next instant, a burly, humanoid shadow lunged from the darkness as fast as lightning! The shadow arrived with jarring suddenness, undetectable by his intent-soul and devoid of any sound. Its speed was ferocious; only with the enhancement of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art could Xu Yuan barely track its movement trajectory. In other words, however, such speed was likely as slow as a crawling turtle in Li Qingyan's eyes. Just as Xu Yuan thought, a fiery red arc of blade-light flashed across the cavern, illuminating the pitch-black space before cleaving the incoming figure in two mid-air. Borne by its own momentum, it crashed to the ground beside the two of them in two distinct *thuds*! Li Qingyan didn't halt there. With a flick of her jade-like hand, two fiery red sword silhouettes shot out, pinning the bisected figure firmly to the ground. Pointing at the two halves, she said softly: "Take a look, Prince Consort." "..." The glow radiating from the red flames allowed Xu Yuan to see the assailant clearly. It was indeed a humanoid creature; he could even faintly discern the blurred facial features upon its head. It had been cleaved vertically down the middle by Li Qingyan's blade-light. Yet eerily, even split in two, nothing resembling blood flowed from the wound. Instead, tens of thousands of tiny flesh tentacles... Crawled and squirmed outward from the severed edges, thrashing about in an effort to reknit the bisected body back together. A prickle of numbness ran across Xu Yuan's scalp, and he instinctively sprang to his feet. Looking back toward Li Qingyan, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. *Motherfucker, just how goddamn low is this woman's karmic fortune? Did she drag him here with her?* The Silent Crypt—an open-world Level 90 dungeon. "..." Seeing Xu Yuan's reaction, Li Qingyan knit her brows slightly and asked in a clear voice, "Do you know what this bizarre creature is, Prince Consort?" Thoughts raced through Xu Yuan's mind. He licked his lips. "Yeah." Li Qingyan smiled at his answer. Rising to her feet, she lifted a hand. The two flaming red swords pinning the monster instantly flared with dazzling crimson light! Blistering flames surged, and the creature, still struggling to reconnect its split torso, was consumed in an instant. Amid the embers of the flames, Li Qingyan walked up to Xu Yuan in her boots, her eyes curving in a gentle smile. "In that case, Prince Consort, would you care to tell me what this bizarre thing is?" "I know," Xu Yuan said, staring straight into Li Qingyan's eyes. In an intensely grave whisper, he said, "Li Qingyan, the Chancellor's Manor's Class-A internal files contain records regarding this subterranean crypt. If you want to survive, do not doubt a single word I say." "..." Li Qingyan's crimson eyes narrowed. After a momentary silence, she gave a slight nod, her voice solemn: "Very well... Since you put it that way, Prince Consort, I naturally will not doubt you." Hearing that promise, Xu Yuan felt a slight weight lift from his chest. To be honest, he was genuinely afraid this strong-willed, chest-bound princess would insist on doing things her own way in a place like this. Resting her hand on her hilt, Li Qingyan asked softly, "Judging by your expression, Prince Consort, this creature must be quite troublesome?" After a beat of silence, Xu Yuan pointed at the scorched ground. "This is an aberrant ghost—a monster possessing immense vitality and terrifyingly infectious properties. Before being infected, that creature was likely a human cultivator." Pausing, Xu Yuan pointed toward the creep capable of shielding against and devouring intent-souls: "That should be the aberrant ghosts' black death creep. It provides them with Source Qi and flesh for regeneration." Li Qingyan listened closely before posing the question she cared about most: "Prince Consort, according to your Chancellor's Manor's intel, are there aberrant ghosts in this crypt stronger than me?" "Yes," Xu Yuan answered decisively. "And far stronger than you are right now. The strongest aberrant ghost ranks among the very elite even in the First-Rank Transcendent Realm." Silence fell as soon as the words left his mouth. Cold severity settled across Li Qingyan's delicate face, and her hand tightened slightly on her hilt. Xu Yuan gave a faint, reassuring smile. "Of course, you don't need to worry too much. As long as we don't make a huge racket, that thing won't wake up—" Before he could finish— *BOOM!!!!!!* A deafening roar accompanied by an earth-shattering tremor surged from the deepest recesses of the subterranean crypt, making it hard to keep their footing. Following the tremor came the violent backdraft of a fist wind rolling down the labyrinthine corridors. The biting gale whipped their robes, snapping noisily in the wind. In the breathless silence, Li Qingyan glanced toward the source of the noise, then looked back at Xu Yuan, jutting her chin toward the disturbance. *What now?* "..." Xu Yuan licked his dry lips and ventured hesitantly: "Is that... the Barbarian King?"