Li Weiyi studied the two star charts on the massive stone tomb doors in detail. Silver and yellow gems gleamed with inner divine radiance—their material unknown, varied in size, densely studded in vast numbers, truly conveying the boundless expanse of a starry sky.
He observed the "Milky Way" upon the doors, comparing it against the night sky of his memories, searching for Orion, the Big Dipper, and other relatively simple and familiar celestial sights, hoping thereby to find the answer his heart yearned for.
Yet he could discern nothing conclusive.
Instead, the longer he looked, the dizzier his head spun and the more blurred his vision became, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
Evidently, the star charts contained some ancient and powerful thought force, far from being mere inlaid ornamentation.
Senior Coffin noticed something was wrong with his state and hurriedly cautioned, "Do not stare at them for long. These two star charts have extraordinary origins. They are tied to the God of Jiuli and touch upon the earliest secrets of the Jiuli Clan."
Li Weiyi snapped awake and hurriedly pulled back his gaze.
Truly worthy of the Jiuli Clan's ancestral realm; not a single thing here was ordinary or simple. Charging in with his current cultivation, had it not been for Master Coffin and the Nine Emperors Streamer, he would have died a dozen times over!
Following Senior Coffin's instructions, Li Weiyi methodically channeled dharma power into certain gems on the tomb doors one by one.
"Be careful, and do not make any mistakes under any circumstances. The two star charts on the doors to the Tomb of the Cang King contain over ten thousand spiritual light array runes. If triggered improperly, not even our bones will remain," Senior Coffin warned in an exceedingly solemn tone.
Li Weiyi immediately held his breath, doing his best to steady his hands.
After all, the greater the number of spiritual light array runes, the more powerful the array.
A hundred runes guarded a town; a thousand runes defended a city.
A single thousand-rune array text could defend an entire city.
Laying an array was not a simple stacking of runes; every array composition was fixed, often the crystallization of an array master's lifelong devotion.
Over ten thousand spiritual light array runes guarding a single tomb...
No matter how many tomb raiders came, all would die.
As Li Weiyi cautiously channeled dharma power, he could not help asking, "I'm curious. Logically speaking, since the Cang King is the ancestor of the Cangling Tribe, he wouldn't want his descendants disturbing his peace. No one should know how to crack the runes on these doors..."
Before Li Weiyi could finish, Senior Coffin said, "I cracked it. It took a hundred years."
Li Weiyi: "..."
Senior Coffin knew what Li Weiyi was thinking at this moment—most likely praising how "damn filial" he was—so he explained, "It was all born of necessity!
"The You Realm world has seen multiple apocalyptic wars, not just the one a millennium ago. The Jiuli Clan's legacy spans eons, but during those wars, parts of our cultivation codices were destroyed. In particular, the records detailing cultivation beyond the Changsheng Realm became severely fractured.
"As the chieftain of the Jiuli Clan a thousand years ago, I wished to mend what was lost and seek my own immortal path. Therefore, I unsealed several ancestral tombs within the ancestral realm in search of the codex's foundational chapters. Regrettably, after centuries of painstaking search, I found nothing!
"In the end, I attempted to breach the Jiuli Sacred Mountain and disturb the tomb of the God of Jiuli, only to nearly lose my life in the process."
Senior Coffin knew Li Weiyi had undoubtedly deduced his identity, so he no longer hid it.
Li Weiyi was secretly astonished by how formidable Master Coffin had been in life—to possess such an immense lifespan. Master Tablet and Master Jar were probably no lesser. No wonder the three of them had reached such a wretched state of death yet remained far from truly perished.
It was also no wonder they had been reluctant to reveal their identities before. The contrast between their past might and glory and their present existence as wisps of souls like candles flickering in the wind was simply too stark; accepting it was naturally agonizing.
They had no desire whatsoever to let old acquaintances or future generations know.
Furthermore, if their identities were exposed, both they and Li Weiyi would be thrust into extreme peril.
"Done!"
Having activated the final silver gem, Li Weiyi quickly stepped back two paces.
The ground shook, and a rumbling roar echoed.
Complex talisman-like runes rose from the surface of the stone doors, trembling and emitting a faint shimmer.
The two heavy stone doors slowly swung open.
"Wuu-wuu!"
Pitch-black within, a bone-chilling wind surged forth like icy blades flaying the skin.
From the depths of the darkness, peculiar cries could faintly be heard—wretched and piercing, like sounds drifting from hell.
Li Weiyi's expression changed. Swallowing hard, he said, "Master Coffin... why do I feel... something's off?"
Senior Coffin sounded full of confidence: "Don't be afraid! The tomb has been sealed for a thousand years. With an opening suddenly introduced, the wind passing through various objects naturally produces odd noises. The perils within the Tomb of the Cang King were cleared out by me a millennium ago. Treat it as if you're coming home."
Half-convinced, Li Weiyi tightened his grip on the Nine Emperors Streamer and stepped through the tomb doors.
"Rumble!"
Nearly five feet thick and over ten zhang tall, the tomb doors instantly slammed shut.
The nine skulls atop the Nine Emperors Streamer surged with energy, causing the nine white banners and their scripture to radiate a luminous glow, illuminating the pitch-black, cavernous tomb passage.
The floor was paved with smooth jade stone, while the walls were composed of hard rock speckled with metallic grains.
The ceiling of the tomb passage stood flush with the doors, likewise over ten zhang high, imparting an overwhelming sense of grandeur. Compared to this, the imperial tombs on Earth seemed utterly shabby, like slums.
Senior Coffin's tone was breezy and natural: "Now do you believe there is no danger here? Everything is peaceful and tranquil. I once lived here... for several years..."
Before his words had fully faded—
A bizarre woman's laughter echoed from the darkness deep within the passage, at once bewitching and spine-chillingly eerie.
Amplified by layered echoes, it could frighten the very soul out of a person.
Li Weiyi's muscles tensed all over. Staring intently into the dark corridor ahead, he drew a deep breath and looked toward the stone coffin on his shoulder: "That laughter... was very clear... It can't be the wind, right?"
Senior Coffin fell silent for a moment before replying, "Perhaps it's an auditory hallucination."
"Tap, tap!"
Footsteps sounded in the dark.
Following that, a pink mist billowed from the depths of the corridor, drifting with wisps of white luminous gauze.
A tall, enchanting, and exquisitely beautiful figure stepped out of the mist pace by pace. Her face could not be seen clearly, but her legs were slender and jade-white, her long hair drifting on the air, accompanied by a shower of countless flower petals as she advanced.
Had he encountered such a sight anywhere else, Li Weiyi would certainly have found it pleasing to the eye and couldn't have resisted looking twice.
Yet appearing in this place, she only made his skin crawl.
Turning to flee, he found the tomb doors had long since closed.
The voice within the stone coffin suddenly lost its confidence: "It seems... there is a slight problem... Use the Nine Emperors Streamer; it wards off evil... or try taking her in, see if you can seal her inside..."
The bewitching laughter from the enchanting figure ahead abruptly transformed into a shrill, bizarre shriek, like a vengeful ghost, like a demon.
Blood mist, luminous gauze, petals, and her now hideously grotesque form flew toward Li Weiyi beneath the tomb doors at extraordinary speed, arms outspread.
Li Weiyi mobilized the dharma power within him and channeled it entirely into the Nine Emperors Streamer.
Whoosh!
The radiance from the nine white banners erupted, bathing the passage in daylight, scattering the blood mist and luminous gauze as it collided with that enchanting figure.
With a tremendous boom, a powerful shockwave and light rippled through the corridor.
The exquisite figure seemed restrained by the Nine Emperors Streamer; letting out a shriek, it fled at top speed back into the dark depths of the passage.
Li Weiyi let out a long breath. Fortunately, the Nine Emperors Streamer truly could ward off evil. Still shaken, he said, "Master Coffin, let's get out of here quickly. I really feel like I could train for another two years before coming back."
"Walk fifty paces forward first," Senior Coffin said, having figured something out.
Fifty paces Li Weiyi still dared to take.
After taking fifty cautious paces, Li Weiyi stopped. Without needing Senior Coffin to point it out, his gaze had already locked onto a mural on the left stone wall of the passage.
It depicted a sea of flowers and a lake. By the lakeshore stood a breathtakingly gorgeous young woman wearing green gauze feather robes, her figure supple and graceful, her legs long and straight, depicted with lifelike vividness.
Senior Coffin said, "This mural is something I painted back when I lived here. I added a bit of her demon blood to the pigments. What we just encountered must have been the painting spirit of this mural. An inadvertent act a thousand years ago nearly caused a catastrophe... Fortunately, she is still very weak..."
From within the Daozu Taiji Fish came Senior Tablet's cold, deep voice: "No wonder back then you'd often disappear for years on end; you were here painting a vixen. Don't think I don't know who she was—the flower demon of Qixia Lake, the peerless beauty Xia Jin."
Master Jar's voice chimed in, stirring up trouble without fear of making a scene: "I'm familiar with Xia Jin! She truly deserved the title of peerless beauty. If she were still alive, she'd certainly be one of the demon kings of the Lingxiao Realm of the Living by now. Weiyi, when you get outside, ask around for Master Jar. I want to rekindle our old affinity."
Senior Coffin hurriedly explained, "It was just a mural! It's not as though you didn't take part in that demon scourge back then. We collected plenty of demon blood in that war; staying here, it was merely an idle creation!"
"Old Coffin, why do you sound so flustered?" Master Jar chuckled.
Senior Coffin said, "Is this the only one I painted in the passage? Every fiendish demon whose blood I collected, I painted one by one... They couldn't have birthed painting spirits too, could they?"
Li Weiyi: "..."
Senior Tablet said, "Weiyi, there is no need to fear these painting spirits. Scrape off the murals with your sword, and the painting spirits will naturally turn to ash and smoke."
"Understood!"
Li Weiyi's heart was in his throat, making him all the more decisive; he immediately drew the Yellow Dragon Sword.
Deep in the dark corridor.
The exquisite figure seemed to sense danger and charged forth again, riding the red mist and luminous gauze.
Accompanying her was a saber-toothed giant ape demon, several zhang tall and possessing four arms. Both spirits were savage and fierce, seeking to stop Li Weiyi from destroying the mural.
Slash! Slash!
Two strikes of his sword flashed out.
A deep cross-shaped sword gouge scarred the mural, sending shattered stone and dust flying.
Amid a wretched shriek, the exquisite form quickly dissolved into ash and smoke.
"Roar!"
The saber-toothed giant ape demon howled, its voice rattling the corridor as it balled its fists and swung its arms at Li Weiyi. It came on fiercely, but its aura was stronger than its actual substance; its power fell short of Tang Yan in the Wuhai Realm.
Li Weiyi did not clash head-on, deploying the Qingxu Cicada-Chasing Step to slip under it.
At top speed, he dashed toward the depths of the passage.
After several dozen paces, he indeed saw the mural depicting the four-armed saber-toothed ape.
Slash! Slash!
Two sword strikes slashed down, ruining the painting.
The saber-toothed giant ape demon chasing behind let out an unwilling roar, then dispersed like smoke and dust.
Li Weiyi advanced, slashing two strikes through every demon mural he encountered, whether a painting spirit had manifested or not. He destroyed a full seventeen before reaching the end of the corridor.
Carrying the coffin out of the tomb passage, he arrived in a wide, open area.
The radiance emitted by the Nine Emperors Streamer could not fully illuminate the expanse; the air was bitterly cold, like stepping into an icehouse.
Looking up, darkness stretched above, the ceiling invisible.
After walking across this open space for a quarter of an hour, a circular formation stacked from megaliths appeared ahead. Measuring a hundred meters in diameter, every megalith stood several times taller than Li Weiyi, magnificent and imposing.
Yet it was severely damaged, with many megaliths fallen to the ground, ruining the original array structure.
"Master Coffin, is this your doing as well?"
Li Weiyi marvelled, sensing that this stone circle was anything but ordinary, though its purpose remained unknown.
Senior Coffin said, "This array has always existed in the Tomb of the Cang King; it has nothing to do with me.
"The stone used to build the array is quite peculiar. I have never seen such rock anywhere in the Lingxiao Realm of the Living. I studied it for some time but could make little sense of it. Pay it no mind; let us first go to the Tianfa Earth Spring to retrieve the insect eggs. Go around from the right—there is a hidden passage there."
A "Tianfa Earth Spring" was a spring orifice of heaven and earth, similar to a spring orifice within a martial artist's body, drawing the dharma of the surrounding world and transforming it into dharma qi that gushed forth in an endless stream. A large Tianfa Earth Spring could transform the surrounding area into a Dao Domain, such as the one in Jiuli City.
The Tianfa Earth Spring in the Tomb of the Cang King naturally could not compare to the one in Jiuli City; it was merely a small spring orifice.
Passing through the hidden passage, Li Weiyi spotted the Tianfa Earth Spring in the distance.
The Tianfa Earth Spring hovered several meters above the ground. Its orifice was only the size of a bowl, yet extraordinarily wondrous: it not only spewed thick dharma qi visible to the naked eye, but also welled up with sparkling speckles of light that illuminated the dark, rendering this vast chamber ethereal and hazy, like an immortal realm.
What was more, the sound of bubbling spring water could be heard.
Across the one-zhang space beneath the spring orifice, dharma qi condensed into thick fog, amounting to a miniature Dao Domain.
From several dozen zhang away, Li Weiyi circulated his breathing technique.
Instantly, his crown trembled slightly; the sturdy barrier of his seventh spring felt like a thin film, seemingly ready to break with the gentlest push.
"The dharma qi is ridiculously dense. No wonder everyone fights for a spot to cultivate in the Jiuli Dao Academy. Cultivating in a Dao Domain must surely multiply one's speed," Li Weiyi remarked in awe.
Senior Coffin said, "This Tianfa Earth Spring seems to have grown slightly larger; it has already formed a one-zhang Dao Domain. That brood nest was placed right on the stone platform beneath the spring orifice."
Chapter 68