Li Weiyi carefully examined the two star maps on the massive stone tomb door. The silver and yellow gemstones embedded within seemed to contain a divine brilliance, though their material was unknown. They were densely scattered, varying in size, and countless in number, giving a true sense of the vastness of the starry sky.
He observed the "Milky Way" on the door, comparing it to the starry sky in his memory, searching for familiar constellations like Orion and the Big Dipper. He hoped to find the answers he longed for in his heart. But he couldn't make sense of it.
Instead, the longer he looked, the more dizzy and heavy his eyelids became. It was clear that the star maps contained some ancient and powerful spiritual force, far from being mere decorative inlays. The stone coffin elder noticed his condition and quickly warned, "Don't stare at it for too long.
These two star maps have a significant origin, related to the gods of the Nine Li Tribe. They touch upon the most ancient secrets of the Nine Li people." Li Weiyi snapped out of his daze and quickly averted his gaze.
As expected of the ancestral realm of the Nine Li Tribe. Nothing here was simple or ordinary. With his current cultivation level, if it weren't for the coffin master and the Nine Emperor Banners, he would have died a dozen times over already!
Following the stone coffin elder's instructions, Li Weiyi methodically infused his spiritual energy into certain gemstones on the tomb door.
"Be careful, don't make any mistakes. The two star maps on the door of the Cang King's tomb contain tens of thousands of spirit light array characters. If triggered, both of us will be reduced to ashes," the stone coffin elder said with utmost seriousness.
Li Weiyi immediately held his breath, trying to steady his hands. The more spirit light array characters there were, the more powerful the array. A hundred characters could protect a town, a thousand could guard a city.
A single array text of a thousand characters could defend an entire city. Setting up an array wasn't just about stacking characters. Each array text was fixed, likely the culmination of an array master's lifelong efforts.
Tens of thousands of spirit light array characters guarding a tomb... No matter how many tomb raiders came, they would all die. As Li Weiyi carefully infused his spiritual energy, he couldn't help but ask, "I'm curious.
Logically, since Cang King is the ancestor of the Cang Li Tribe, he wouldn't want his descendants disturbing his peace. So, the array characters on the tomb door shouldn't have a known method of being broken, right..." Before Li Weiyi could finish, the stone coffin elder interjected, "I broke it.
It took me a hundred years." Li Weiyi was speechless. The stone coffin elder knew what Li Weiyi was thinking—probably something along the lines of "how filial of you"—and explained, "It was all out of necessity!"
"The Ghost Realm has experienced multiple world-shattering wars, not just the one a thousand years ago. The Nine Li Tribe's heritage is ancient, and during the wars, parts of their cultivation manuals were destroyed, especially the content beyond the Longevity Realm, which is severely fragmented."
"As the leader of the Nine Li Tribe a thousand years ago, I wanted to restore it and also find my own path to immortality. So, I opened several ancestral tombs in the ancestral realm, searching for the initial chapters of the manuals. Unfortunately, after centuries of searching, I found nothing!"
"In the end, I tried to enter the Nine Li Divine Mountain and disturb the tomb of the Nine Li gods, but I nearly died there."
The stone coffin elder knew that Li Weiyi had probably already guessed his identity, so he no longer hid it. Li Weiyi was secretly shocked by the coffin master's former strength. His lifespan had been so long, and the spirit tablet master and jar master were likely no less formidable.
No wonder the three of them hadn't completely perished even after dying to such an extent. No wonder they had been reluctant to reveal their identities before. The contrast between their former glory and their current state as mere wisps of soul was too great, and it was hard for them to accept.
They simply didn't want their old acquaintances and descendants to know. Moreover, once their identities were exposed, both they and Li Weiyi would be in extreme danger.
"Done!"
After activating the last silver gemstone, Li Weiyi quickly took two steps back. The ground shook, and a rumbling sound echoed. Complex array characters, resembling talismans, emerged from the surface of the stone door, emitting a faint glow.
The two heavy stone doors slowly opened.
"Whoosh!"
Inside the door was pitch black, and a bone-chilling wind rushed out, cutting like icy blades. From the depths of the darkness, strange cries could be faintly heard, eerie and piercing, like sounds from hell. Li Weiyi's expression changed, and he swallowed hard.
"Coffin Master... I feel like... something's not right."
The stone coffin elder was confident.
"Don't be afraid! The tomb has been sealed for a thousand years. Now that there's ventilation, it's natural for the wind to make strange noises as it passes over some objects. The dangers in the Cang King's tomb were cleared out by me a thousand years ago. Just treat it like coming home."
Li Weiyi was half-convinced and gripped the Nine Emperor Banners tighter as he stepped through the tomb door.
"Boom!"
The nearly five-foot-thick, several-zhang-high tomb door instantly closed. The nine skulls at the top of the Nine Emperor Banners contained energy, causing the nine white banners and scriptures to emit a soft glow, illuminating the pitch-black, wide tomb passage. The floor was paved with smooth jade, and the walls were made of hard rock with metallic particles.
The ceiling of the tomb passage was as high as the stone door, several zhang tall, giving a grand and majestic feeling. The imperial tombs on Earth paled in comparison, looking like slums next to this. The stone coffin elder's tone was relaxed and natural.
"Now do you believe there's no danger here? Everything is peaceful and serene. I once lived here... for several years..."
Before he could finish. A strange woman's laughter echoed from the depths of the dark tomb passage, both seductive and sinister. With the layers of echoes, it was enough to scare the soul out of anyone.
Li Weiyi's muscles tensed, and he stared intently into the dark tomb passage ahead. He took a deep breath and looked at the stone coffin on his shoulder.
"That laughter... it's very clear... it can't be the wind, right?"
The stone coffin elder was silent for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it's some kind of auditory illusion."
"Tap, tap!"
Footsteps echoed in the darkness. Then, a pink mist surged from the depths of the tomb passage, with strands of white light gauze floating within. A tall, stunningly beautiful figure stepped out of the mist.
Her face was unclear, but her long, jade-white legs and flowing hair were visible, accompanied by a shower of flower petals as she walked forward. If Li Weiyi had seen such a sight elsewhere, he would have found it pleasing to the eye and couldn't help but take a few more glances.
But her appearance here only made his hair stand on end. He turned to flee, only to find that the tomb door had already closed. The voice from the stone coffin suddenly lacked confidence.
"It seems there's a bit of a problem... Use the Nine Emperor Banners, they can ward off evil... Or try to capture her, see if you can trap her inside..."
The seductive laughter from the beautiful figure suddenly turned into a piercing screech, like a vengeful ghost or a demon. Blood mist, light gauze, flower petals, and her now terrifyingly grotesque figure flew toward Li Weiyi at the base of the tomb door at an extraordinary speed, her arms outstretched.
Li Weiyi channeled all his spiritual energy into the Nine Emperor Banners.
"Whoosh!"
The light from the nine white banners surged, illuminating the tomb passage as bright as day, dispersing the blood mist and light gauze, and colliding with the beautiful figure. A powerful shockwave and light burst erupted in the tomb passage.
The beautiful figure seemed to be suppressed by the Nine Emperor Banners, letting out a scream before fleeing back into the depths of the dark tomb passage. Li Weiyi let out a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, the Nine Emperor Banners really could ward off evil.
Still shaken, he said, "Coffin Master, let's get out of here. I feel like I really need a couple more years of training before coming back."
"Take fifty steps forward first," the stone coffin elder said, as if he had figured something out.
Fifty steps—Li Weiyi could manage that. After carefully walking fifty steps, Li Weiyi stopped. Without the stone coffin elder's reminder, his gaze was already fixed on a mural on the left wall of the tomb passage.
The mural depicted a sea of flowers and a lake, with a stunningly beautiful young woman standing by the shore. She wore a green gauze dress, her figure graceful, her legs long and straight, looking lifelike. The stone coffin elder said, "This mural was painted by me when I lived here.
I added a bit of her demon blood to the paint. What we encountered earlier was likely the spirit of this painting. A careless act a thousand years ago nearly caused a disaster...
Thankfully, she's still quite weak..." From the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish, the spirit tablet elder's cold voice rang out.
"No wonder you often disappeared for years back then. You were here painting a demoness. Don't think I don't know who she is—Xia Jin, the Flower Demon of Qixia Lake, the most beautiful woman."
The jar master chimed in, stirring the pot.
"I know Xia Jin well. She deserves the title of the most beautiful woman. If she were still alive, she'd definitely be one of the demon kings of the Lingxiao Life Realm. Weiyi, when you get out, help me find out about her. I want to reconnect with her."
The stone coffin elder quickly explained, "It's just a mural! You were there during the demon calamity back then. We collected a lot of demon blood during that battle.
I was just bored and painted this while living here!"
"Old Coffin, why are you so flustered?" the jar master teased.
The stone coffin elder said, "I painted more than just this one in the tomb passage. I painted all the evil spirits whose blood I collected... Could they have also spawned mural spirits?"
Li Weiyi was speechless. The spirit tablet elder said, "Weiyi, don't be afraid of these mural spirits. Use your sword to destroy the mural, and the spirit will vanish."
"Alright!"
Li Weiyi was panicking, so he acted decisively, immediately drawing the Yellow Dragon Sword. From the depths of the dark tomb passage. The beautiful figure seemed to sense the danger and rushed out again, riding on red mist and light gauze.
Accompanying her was a several-zhang-tall, four-armed saber-toothed ape demon. Both spirits were fierce, intent on stopping Li Weiyi from destroying the mural.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two sword strikes. A deep cross-shaped mark appeared on the mural, and fragments of stone and dust flew out. The beautiful figure let out a scream and quickly dissipated into nothingness.
"Roar!"
The saber-toothed ape demon roared, its voice shaking the tomb passage as it swung its massive arms at Li Weiyi. Though its aura was powerful, its strength was no match for Tang Yan of the Five Seas Realm. Li Weiyi didn't engage it head-on.
Instead, he used the Clear Void Cicada Step to slip past it. He sprinted toward the depths of the tomb passage as fast as he could. After dozens of steps, he indeed saw a mural depicting the four-armed saber-toothed ape.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two more sword strikes, and the mural was destroyed. The pursuing saber-toothed ape demon let out a frustrated roar before dissipating like smoke and dust. Li Weiyi continued forward, encountering demon murals along the way.
Whether they had spawned spirits or not, he destroyed them all with two swift sword strikes. After destroying seventeen murals, he finally reached the end of the tomb passage. Carrying the coffin, he stepped out of the tomb passage into a vast, open area.
The light from the Nine Emperor Banners couldn't fully illuminate the space. The air was freezing, as if they had entered an ice cellar. Looking up, the ceiling was pitch black, impossible to see.
After walking for a quarter of an hour in this open area, a massive circular array made of giant stones appeared ahead. It was a hundred meters in diameter, with each stone several times taller than Li Weiyi, making it a grand and imposing sight. But it was severely damaged, with many stones toppled, disrupting the original array structure.
"Coffin Master, was this your doing too?"
Li Weiyi was amazed, sensing that this stone array was no ordinary formation, though he didn't know its purpose. The stone coffin elder said, "This array has always been in the Cang King's tomb. It has nothing to do with me."
"The stones used to build the array are quite special. I've never seen this kind of stone in the Lingxiao Life Realm. I studied it for a while but didn't make much progress. Don't worry about it. Let's head to the Heavenly Law Earth Spring to get the insect eggs. Go around to the right; there's a hidden passage there."
The "Heavenly Law Earth Spring" was the spring of heaven and earth, similar to the spring within a martial artist's body. It drew the laws of the surrounding heaven and earth, transforming them into law energy that continuously surged forth.
A large Heavenly Law Earth Spring could turn the surrounding area into a Dao Domain, like the one in Nine Li City. The Heavenly Law Earth Spring in the Cang King's tomb was naturally incomparable to the one in Nine Li City. It was just a small spring.
After passing through the hidden passage, Li Weiyi saw the Heavenly Law Earth Spring in the distance. The spring hovered several meters above the ground, its opening only the size of a bowl.
But it was incredibly mystical, not only spewing thick law energy visible to the naked eye but also emitting light particles that illuminated the darkness, making the vast space seem ethereal, like a fairyland. Moreover, the sound of flowing water could be heard. Below the spring, the law energy had condensed into a dense fog, forming a small Dao Domain.
Standing dozens of zhang away, Li Weiyi activated his breathing technique. Instantly, the barrier of his seventh spring trembled slightly, as if it could be broken with a light touch.
"The law energy here is so dense. No wonder everyone fights for a spot to cultivate in the Nine Li Academy. Cultivating in a Dao Domain would definitely double one's speed," Li Weiyi remarked.
The stone coffin elder said, "This Heavenly Law Earth Spring seems to have grown a bit, forming a Fangzhang Dao Domain. The insect nest is placed on the stone platform below the spring."
(End of Chapter)