Chapter 1264: Immortal Remains

This box can suck in little ghosts at a wave of the hand — still quite convenient. The little tree inside the box, he'd think later about how to use it. After dealing with the Xuanlu Ghost King and the soul box, they continued exploring this cave dwelling.

In the corners of the outer room, some broken wood, stone fragments, and porcelain still lay scattered, along with impurities peeled off who knows what.

He Lingchuan swept his gaze around, stroking his chin: "All scattered in the corners, hmm?"

Did the owner of this house have a habit of piling junk in every corner? Lingguang pointed at one pile: "That should be fragments of a formation device."

Was there originally a formation laid out here?

The wall corners are all blackened, "There are traces of burning here too."

Too much time has passed; most clues have been taken by the years.

Fu Liushan sent a few acorn figurines ahead into the depths; seeing they were unharmed, he himself walked in carefully.

A few breaths later, his shout came from the inner room: "Hey hey hey, come quick! Come look at this!"

The widely knowledgeable Master Fu rarely made such a fuss over nothing.

The two hurried into the inner room and found it was a bedroom, furnishings even simpler. A bed was chiseled out of the stone wall, and in the corner another pile of wood scraps — probably originally chests or cabinets.

There may have been bedding on the stone bed once, but it had long since been worn away by the years.

Yet on the stone bed sat a skeleton, and Fu Liushan was bending over examining it.

"This is a person."

The three people and two apes could all tell at a glance — these were human remains.

Its mouth slightly open, it leaned against the wall sitting, one leg bent, left hand resting on its knee.

A person adopting such a leisurely sitting posture — either cooling off under a tree or listening to opera in a theater — how could they be sitting in a sealed dark chamber of an underground palace? He Lingchuan raised a luminous spore close, and saw the clothes on it were neither silk nor cloth, and who knew what era the style was from; though gray and dingy, they were surprisingly intact, not rotted at all.

Though they are remains, the bones are not deathly pale. Dong Rui didn't mind the dirt either, casually taking a handkerchief to wipe the dust off its arm bone — only to see the skeleton lustrous and dense, gleaming like jade.

This is a yin-sha land; corpses rot in three days, bones decay in less than half a year. Yet this skeleton, staying in an underground palace permeated with yin-sha, can maintain such luster — what cultivation did its owner have in life? "An immortal!" The Soul-Capturing Mirror in He Lingchuan's arms bit down on the verdict, "This is an immortal with great cultivation! I am a relic from the early Middle Antiquity — I would never misidentify one."

It was forged in the Middle Antiquity when immortals began to decline, but decline and disappearance are two different matters.

This Soul-Capturing Mirror has personally seen immortals.

"This immortal was badly injured." He Lingchuan brushed aside the cloth robe and saw three of the corpse's ribs broken, as if shattered by a heavy blow; the right clavicle cracked, right metacarpals fractured, right arm bone blackened — looking both like burns and like poisoning.

"No signs of bone regrowth; he died not long after being wounded."

Dong Rui glanced at the doorway: "Looks like he was beaten and fled in here."

"Let's see if this immortal left any last words." The corpse's sitting posture was strange, so He Lingchuan followed the direction of its palm.

Its left hand pointed at the stone wall opposite.

"There's writing."

A few lines on the wall, dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, written in ancient immortal script. He Lingchuan examined carefully — not carved by knife or sword; he poked with a finger, and it fit.

He glanced back at the immortal remains on the stone bed — this one, before death, could casually use a finger to write seal script on hard stone wall. Then the opponent who forced him to die in this secret chamber was certainly no simple figure either.

Thinking of the celestial demon corpse outside, He Lingchuan knew there was probably some history between the man before him and the celestial demon.

He Lingchuan raised the luminous spore to illuminate the stone wall, and Dong Rui subconsciously recited aloud:

"Hahaha, Miao Zhantian..."

Hahaha, Miao Zhantian, you came too late. I've already burned all my research findings to ash — you get nothing! The celestial demons have already lost, yet you still dream of stealing my results, secretly returning to the mortal world later? You're dreaming! I don't want this life anymore, my spirit has self-dissipated, my life's work self-destroyed — coming and going with no regrets. Only pity I won't live to see you, this stinking woman, eat dirt.

Qu Yu, laughing wildly, final brushstroke.

The content on the stone wall was just these few sparse lines.

Several people finished reading and let out a long breath.

Though the room was quiet, they felt as if the man's heroic laughter before death still echoed here.

Fu Liushan said: "So the original owner of this cave dwelling was named Qu Yu."

Between the lines, where is even a trace of immortal bearing? He Lingchuan recalled the first dream he had after obtaining the Black Dragon scale fragment.

In the dream, before the Shou'an Immortal cast the divine sword, the disciples had mentioned this name: Qu Yu.

The Shou'an Immortal once warned him, "Stand beneath the sun" and you'll be unharmed.

Yet Qu Yu ultimately still died in this sunless underground palace.

A prophecy fulfilled.

Putting these two clues together, the pieced-together truth makes one's hair stand on end:

"Years ago, before the celestial demons fled, Miao Zhantian led other celestial demons to ambush Immortal Qu Yu, trying to seize his research results. Qu Yu was no match, fled in here, burned the data and self-detonated his Primordial Spirit, leaving Miao Zhantian empty-handed."

Fu Liushan asked curiously: "Who is this Miao Zhantian?"

He Lingchuan replied offhandedly: "One of the Celestial Demon True Gods, boundless magic power."

On Mount Xushan, Miao Zhantian even searched his soul and tested his lies with a touchstone. Good thing he had a Questioning Dao Tree leaf on him and luckily muddled through.

But Miao Zhantian's terror still left a deep impression on him.

This True God hadn't even descended to the mortal world, yet could leave him utterly defenseless at the time.

But from the wall inscription, Miao Zhantian personally came to Qu Yu's cave dwelling to seize him.

He Lingchuan had seen the scene of celestial demons fleeing beyond the realm in his dream — truly a chaotic mess. Even at such a time, Miao Zhantian insisted on coming — showing how much he valued Qu Yu's research results.

And Qu Yu, staking his cultivation, life, and Primordial Spirit, still had to destroy his life's work — afraid the research would fall into celestial demon hands, afraid they would "secretly return to the mortal world later"! Those last few words truly made He Lingchuan's hair stand on end!

Both sides expending such effort — doesn't that prove Qu Yu's research results could indeed enable celestial demons to return to the mortal world?

What on earth did this guy concoct in the underground palace? Dong Rui coughed: "That surnamed Qu wouldn't be bluffing, would he? It's been thousands of years, and we haven't seen celestial demons truly descend."

"They yearn for it day and night." He Lingchuan's face was heavy and solemn, recalling Zhong Shengguang's words:

Lady Lady Lady Mitian hoped Red General would strengthen himself quickly, only then could he bear its full descent! Over a hundred years ago, Lady Lady Lady Mitian already found a method to descend, though it required borrowing the Great Square Vessel.

Since it could find a way, who's to say other celestial gods can't find another path?

To descend to the mortal world, bypassing the Heavenly Net Star and the Two Realms' barrier is key.

Does Qu Yu's research have results in this aspect?

(End of Chapter)