Chapter 161

Did that person just say this place is the Qinling Mountains?

Yang Chu inquired, never imagining that having just arrived in Zhongzhou, he would already be here.

The Qinling Mountains are renowned far and wide in Zhongzhou; virtually no cultivator is unaware of them.

This is a strange region, endowed with endless legends, fraught with danger yet also brimming with opportunity.

The Qinling Mountains stretch boundlessly, formed from countless mountain ranges; the great peaks are as numerous as grains of sand, innumerable, all majestic and towering.

Moreover, there are rumors that the Qinling contains two sacred sites—the Dragon Cave and the Pool of Ascension—and obtaining either one can grant immortality, which is why countless peerless experts have been drawn here throughout the ages.

What a pity; although this place is extraordinary, it is certainly not the Dragon Cave or the Pool of Ascension.

Yang Chu declared that although the Pool of Ascension cannot compare to Purple Mountain, it is still extraordinarily exceptional; even ordinary rare terrains cannot match it.

Purple Mountain features nine veins guarding a pearl, each vein being a world-shaking divine pulse that may have settled for tens of millions of years at the least.

Within them, the dragon energy is as vast as a galaxy, with countless divine sources; each dragon vein winds and twists, some stretching hundreds of thousands of miles, surpassing even the Forbidden Zone of Life.

Otherwise, they would not have been selected by the two transcendent emperors, the Undying Heavenly Emperor and the Beginningless Great Emperor.

One is the strongest emperor in history, invincible throughout ancient and modern times with no rival; the other is a deity of the ancient clan, revered by all races.

Even among the many emperors, their status remains extremely high.

No matter how inferior the Pool of Ascension may be, the dragon veins are at least tens of thousands of miles long, whereas these three before us are only a few thousand miles—a world of difference.

But I have a vague feeling that this place is quite extraordinary...

Having said that, Yang Chu took the lead and set off.

The entrance is located on a protruding cliff on the mountainside, surrounded by jutting stone pillars that are as sharp as a blade, quite strange.

This place resembles an Azure Dragon in Nirvana, seeking to break free from its cocoon; it should be the source of the dragon vein.

Duan De introduced that they finally landed on the protruding cliff, not rushing in but instead measuring the surroundings.

How are you, Daoist?

Yang Chu was puzzled; although he understood the terrain well, he was far inferior to Duan De when it came to ancient tomb traces.

The terrain here is extremely obvious; after so many years, someone should have discovered it long ago, which leaves two possibilities. Duan De said, his words were to the point.

You fat bastard, stop beating around the bush and speak quickly! the big black dog urged.

First, the contents inside have been taken by someone who got there first; second, that person used the terrain here to bury himself.

Some peerless experts who have lived for ages, when their lifespan wanes, will go far away to find a suitable place for secluded cultivation or burial.

When three dragons connect, their meanings intertwine; if one is buried here, a treasure will necessarily be placed beneath each dragon's mouth, also called a suppressing artifact.

As he spoke, Duan De stopped at a spot, looked around to see no one else, and began digging downward.

Clang! After digging only half a zhang, his divine shovel seemed to strike something metal, producing a clear ringing sound.

My goodness, digging graves really depends on you.

The big black dog praised in a sentence, immediately rushed over, and stared intently at the pit's bottom.

That's only natural.

Duan De deliberately, in just a few moves, took out a wooden box, then vigilantly watched the Black Emperor.

You damned dog, let the Daoist see what it is, stop always thinking about grabbing it.

He rolled his eyes; these two rascals often teamed up, but the Black Emperor always spoke ill, always wanting to strike first, and they frequently quarreled because of it.

What's our relationship? I, the Emperor, am not that kind of person; I'm just worried you might be in danger.

The big black dog didn't care at all, placed its large paw on Duan De's shoulder, its eyes glowing with an eerie green light, its greed plainly visible. 'Tch, I still don't know you...'

The wicked Daoist muttered, greed like a black dog—something everyone knows.

Forget it; anyway, there's more than one. If you keep grabbing, I won't bring you to look for the others.

Duan De, unable to wait, carefully opened the box, expecting some rare treasure, only to find a broken piece of jade inside.

The jade piece is only about half a palm in size, its material not particularly good; rather, it's quite ordinary, with no inscriptions, clearly just a common fragment of jade.

How boring; the old coot buried inside must be a pauper, otherwise why bury this junk?

Upon seeing the object, the Black Emperor instantly lost interest, wandering off on its own to search for other treasures.

How could that be? It shouldn't be like that...

Picking up the jade fragment, Duan De examined it from all sides, finding nothing unusual; could it really just be an ordinary piece of jade?

The person who discovered this terrain must have considerable cultivation; why would they be so shabby? This left him baffled.

Let me have a look.

Yang Chu stepped forward, took the jade, studied it for a moment, still found nothing abnormal, and even probed it with his divine sense, but to no avail.

Since this object was deliberately buried here, there must be some reason; although we haven't found anything yet, we might discover clues once we go inside.

However, Yang Chu believed that the tomb's owner would not have buried this jade in such an important place for no reason; it must be connected to something.

Alright, then the two of us will go find the other two pieces together.

Duan De and the Black Emperor inscribed formation markings, each heading to a location, and together dug up the remaining two wooden boxes.

After obtaining the Word-Group Secret, the Black Emperor's mastery of Daoist arts grew even more profound, with no mishaps occurring.

In less than half a moment, the big black dog and Duan De each returned holding a jade fragment; joining the three pieces together formed a complete jade tablet.

However, strangely, when the broken edges of the jade pieces joined, they gradually repaired themselves, becoming flawless.

Damn it, this old bastard is playing us!

After waiting half a day, the jade tablet still showed no reaction, infuriating the wicked Daoist, who swore profusely.

Perhaps it's some kind of key, said the Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool.

It's possible; we'll know its purpose once we go inside.

Yang Chu put away the jade tablet and, together with the others, went deeper inside.

The cave was naturally formed, very spacious, over ten meters high; upon entering, one could clearly feel that the surrounding spiritual energy was noticeably richer.

The road sloped slightly downward; it seemed to be going deep underground, and as they went down they encountered no danger.

"There are many corpses here."

After going a few li deeper, they saw corpses scattered everywhere, lying haphazardly on the ground.

The corpses' faces were deathly pale, showing terror; they bore no major wounds, but each had their brow pierced, killed by a single blow.

"What kind of creature is this?"

Duan De, in a corner, found a severed worm.

The worm was as thick as two fingers, its body gleaming gold like two pieces of brilliant metal; it had no eyes or nose, and at each end grew a slender, sharp horn, sinister and poisonous—just looking at it made one's heart shudder.

"Isn't this thing supposed to be extinct? I never expected to encounter it here…"

When the big black dog saw this worm, its hairs stood on end and it shivered involuntarily.

(End of chapter)