Chapter 287

At Wei Yuan's command, he immediately took out a flat tripod and started digging himself.

There was no help for it; the people present were all his elders. Feng Tingyu, who looked like an ignorant young girl, was actually the direct disciple of the King of Brightness Hall's Hall Master; if one were to seriously discuss it, she was of the same generation as True Person Fenhai, and Wei Yuan had to call her "Grand-Aunt-Master."

When there is work, the disciple serves; as the youngest generation, Wei Yuan could only do it himself. He couldn't command a single one of these great divine elders.

However, Wei Yuan had boundless strength and was a good hand at digging; with one scoop of the tripod, he tossed up a thousand catties of earth. He first dug up the two graves; this was the starting point of the strange changes.

The graves were exceptionally simple, no different from a mass grave. After shoveling away the mounds, there were coffins underneath; they were exceptionally thin and had long since been eaten away by worms until they were full of holes.

In the coffin of the large grave, there were only two pieces of clothing: one was a blue cloth shirt, and the other was a woman's small floral jacket. Besides this, there was nothing else. The lid of the small coffin was broken, and inside was only half a coffin of black water. That was not actually water, but absolute Yin Qi concentrated to the extreme; it was an extremely Yin and poisonous object.

The absolute Yin Qi turned into water; an ordinary cultivator would die if they touched even a bit of it. Sun Yu, however, took out a medicine cabinet that grew in size against the wind, collected all the black water, and filled more than ten medicine boxes before putting the cabinet away. This medicine cabinet was actually a gift Wei Yuan received after exchanging points; Sun Yu had refined it so it could be large or small, and he had carried it with him ever since.

Ji Liuli set up another formation to carefully examine the source of this absolute Yin Qi. This tiny coffin was definitely not the source of the Yin Qi; there must be another source.

Wei Yuan came to the large coffin and reached out to pick up the blue shirt to take a look.

The moment his fingers touched the blue shirt, he was suddenly in a vast space above and below. The cloth-clad swordsman stood with his hands behind his back, but at this moment, he did not have that giant sword in his hand.

Seeing Wei Yuan, he sighed and said, "I knew there would be no peace even after death; you still dug up my grave."

Wei Yuan could only say, "I was almost killed; I had to know the truth."

Wei Yuan spoke very vaguely. The cloth-clad swordsman before him should be a manifestation of a residual divine thought and likely didn't have much intelligence; perhaps he could trick some words out of him.

The cloth-clad swordsman became despondent and said slowly, "Everyone always wants to know the truth, but knowing it is not as good as not knowing."

"Even if I were to die, I would want to die with clarity, so it is better to know."

The cloth-clad swordsman said, "I knew you would say that. The truth is right here underground. They all thought it would perish along with the cave-heaven, but I knew you would come."

"Why would I come?" Wei Yuan asked.

"You are best at fishing for Qi luck. Such a big fish—either it swims toward you, or you walk toward it. A phrase you used to like saying most was: 'This object has a predestined affinity with me.'"

Wei Yuan suddenly felt a bit of a chill, but he couldn't rule out the possibility that this cloth-clad swordsman was bluffing him. After all, every immortal knew a trick or two about fishing for Qi luck; it was just that some thieves never left empty-handed, while others often returned empty-handed—there was no other reason, just different techniques.

Wei Yuan wanted to ask more, but the cloth-clad swordsman said, "The truth is below, but I cannot hold on for much longer. While I still have some strength, I must impart the general outline of the Myriad Ages and Thousand Autumns Sword to you. Didn't you notice that the half of the sword canon given to you was incomplete?"

"Why not give it to me all at once?"

"Once you obtained the benefits, wouldn't you turn around and leave? You wouldn't stay a moment longer, let alone consider the matter of avenging me."

Wei Yuan said, "You distrust me that much?"

The cloth-clad swordsman revealed a sneer and said, "Trust? I would rather trust Xu Wangu than trust you. If I had no choice, I wouldn't be walking with you."

Wei Yuan remained calm and continued to ask, "Why go so far?"

The cloth-clad swordsman said, "That is just how it is! It's just that under the Great Dao, there is no right or wrong. We naturally belong to the same camp and can only walk side by side. I don't want to talk to you anymore; this wisp of divine thought is about to dissipate. Receive the sword!"

A giant sword suddenly appeared in the cloth-clad swordsman's hand, and he slashed down at Wei Yuan's head!

Wei Yuan was instantly unable to move and could only watch helplessly as the giant sword slashed down. Then, everything went black before his eyes, and he had already retreated from that vast space.

Wei Yuan was still squatting beside the coffin, but the blue shirt he had been holding had already turned into flying ash, dissipating in pieces. Wei Yuan suddenly broke into a cold sweat; that sword just now could have been the imparting of the sword, but it could also have instantly turned into a killer move, enough to slash and destroy the Dharma Form of a late-stage cultivator.

At this moment, a giant sword appeared in Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, slanted into the desolate earth; this was the general outline of the Myriad Ages and Thousand Autumns Sword.

This was the true face of the Myriad Ages and Thousand Autumns Sword. It was merely a general outline, yet if it were turned into sword Qi, it would be enough to kill a Dharma Form. Such powerful strength, yet it was only enough to carry the general outline of the sword canon; not even one extra sword technique would work.

Wei Yuan's spiritual sense probed into the giant sword, and in an instant, there was endless sword light before his eyes. In the sea of sword Qi, the cloth-clad swordsman stood on the waves, one hand gripping the hilt, the other supporting the sword body, holding the giant sword horizontally before him, observing the sword.

Just this one stance of observing the sword contained countless sword Dao principles, and even a hint of the charm of the operation of the heaven and earth Great Dao. For a moment, Wei Yuan could only barely memorize one or two out of ten thousand; he was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from even touching the surface.

Wei Yuan withdrew his spiritual sense; there would be plenty of time to slowly comprehend it in the future. For now, there was still serious business to attend to. According to the cloth-clad swordsman, there were still several sword moves waiting for Wei Yuan underground.

Wei Yuan felt deep disdain for the cloth-clad swordsman in his heart. What did he take him for? Wei Yuan dared not say that everything he did was for the sake of the world's public good, but at least he had contributed to the sect and the human race along the way.

He wanted to dig up this place and explore the truth because he wanted to find out about the little girl's encounter, destroy the place of absolute Yin, and find the mastermind behind the scenes. All three things were upright and proper; it wasn't for the sake of any sword moves.

... He just didn't know how many moves were left, and whether they were as detailed as the general outline. Originally, the Shadow of the Mid-Month also gave half of the Myriad Ages and Thousand Autumns Sword, which seemed to have condensed from the cloth-clad swordsman's primordial spirit. But what it gave was a secret manual, requiring Wei Yuan to comprehend the sword intent himself.

And the general outline given by the cloth-clad swordsman also included the sword Dao principles he had comprehended himself, which Wei Yuan could directly experience; it was somewhat similar to the jade wall in the Water-Moon Hall that recorded the insights of the Immortal Lord. What the Shadow of the Mid-Month gave was equivalent to a handwritten jade paper secret manual, which contained no true intent.

The sword-observing technique was the cultivation method for the Myriad Ages and Thousand Autumns Sword, through which one could directly ascend to the immortal gate. The general outline was the body, and the subsequent sword moves were all applicable. Just by comprehending it slightly, Wei Yuan realized that half of the sword canon was enough to ascend to immortality, and it went further than most Dao paths. With this half of the sword canon, it was enough to open a hall of one's own in the Grand Beginning Palace.

Since he knew the place of absolute Yin was underground, Wei Yuan didn't delay any longer and called over everyone who had been searching in the palace. With so many hands, digging the ground was naturally easy.

Ji Liuli had already determined the orientation of the place of absolute Yin, while Yu Zhizhuo used his spiritual sense to survey the underground structure and reset the excavation route.

Over a hundred Dao Foundation cultivators were divided into several groups; some dug the ground, some transported the earth, and Yu Zhizhuo's two junior brothers were responsible for reinforcing the passageway.

Wei Yuan followed Yu Zhizhuo to this place and, according to the angle he specified, cast the Golden Light Water Blade Technique to begin digging the passageway.

Yu Zhizhuo was indeed a mining genius; under his command, the progress of digging the ground was shockingly fast. Not long after, three inclined shafts were all completed, with exits leading into different underground dark rivers. Wei Yuan dug the main passageway, while the other two were auxiliary paths used for maintenance, reinforcement, and emergency escape.

According to Yu Zhizhuo's survey results, the place of absolute Yin should be a fairly large underground space, and these underground dark rivers all led there. Opening a passageway directly into the place of absolute Yin might trigger some unforeseen events; it was safer to probe along these natural passageways like the underground dark rivers.

Wei Yuan entered the passageway first, then entered the underground dark river, and followed the river course forward. Not long after, the space ahead suddenly opened up, but his path was blocked by a rock wall.

!.

The dark river water continued forward, flowing in beneath the rock wall.

The rock wall ahead was clearly a protective formation, but its power only remained at one or two tenths of its original state. Under Ji Liuli's guidance, the cultivators joined forces, and after a moment, they broke the formation. As the rock wall crumbled and disappeared, a gust of Yin wind blew out from behind the rock wall, causing everyone to stagger.

Wei Yuan's mind drifted, and the scenery before his eyes changed, appearing as a quiet and elegant courtyard. The courtyard had its own rockeries and ponds, decorated in a way that even a vulgar person like Wei Yuan could see was extraordinary.

Sitting in the courtyard was a young man in a blue shirt, smiling as he watched the woman and little girl playing in the courtyard. This young man's face was somewhat similar to the cloth-clad swordsman; it was strikingly his appearance when he was young.

The young man suddenly turned his head to look at Wei Yuan, the smile on his face instantly turning miserable, and two lines of blood and tears fell from his eyes, saying, "... Better to return."

The illusion shattered, and Wei Yuan finally saw the true scene ahead.

Before everyone was a huge underground space, shaped like a blooming lotus flower. The central plaza rose in layers, with a hundred-foot giant pillar standing upright. The giant pillar was covered with lotus petals, only the colors were somewhat mottled.

Perched on top of the giant pillar was something that looked like a human and a demon, indescribably ferocious and evil, as if it could pounce down at any moment to choose people to devour. Although it was only a statue, it still made people's hearts palpitate.

Coiled around the giant pillar was also a terrifying demon over ten feet long, as if it wanted to pounce toward the statue on top of the pillar, but it was bound by heavy chains. The chains were covered in burn marks, and the demon itself had long since lost all life force.

On the surrounding mountain walls, palaces were built, layer upon layer, like the petals of a blooming lotus flower. The entire underground space was at least a thousand feet in circumference, and the palace complex was extremely magnificent; it was truly a grand undertaking, and one didn't know how much manpower and material resources were spent when it was built.

Such a layout was beyond everyone's expectations. After weighing the options, Zhang Sheng said, "Near first, then far; slowly approach the center."

This was a steady plan, so everyone executed it accordingly, first exploring the few palaces nearby. These palaces were all part of the outer lotus petals; there were probably hundreds or thousands of them in the entire underground space, and they were the most ordinary.

Arriving before a palace, Wei Yuan broke through the door first. Among the group, whether in primordial spirit or physical body, Wei Yuan was unique and the most capable of taking a beating. If it weren't for the fact that the monster transformed from the little girl inexplicably always attacked Wei Yuan, the group might have suffered more losses.

As soon as he entered the palace door, Wei Yuan's spiritual sense felt a trance again, and a great hall appeared before him.

A pair of young man and woman were walking toward the great hall. The woman was uneasy, and the young man comforted her, "It doesn't matter; you and I are in love, and Father would be too happy to be angry. My sixteen older brothers and twenty-one older sisters before me have no offspring; it's up to you to carry on the family line for our Xu family."

The woman was both nervous and shy, nodding imperceptibly.

In the blink of an eye, the scene changed. The young man and woman were kneeling in the center of the great hall. Sitting on the high platform above was a person; one only felt they were high, distant, and majestic, but one couldn't see their face clearly.

The young man reported tremblingly, and a thunderous voice came from above, filled with fury: "Bastard! Marriage is a major life event; how can you decide it yourself? Your wife has already been decided; it is her. You will marry tonight! As for this woman, give her a sum of immortal silver and send her back to her original home."

From behind the high platform above, a woman walked out gracefully, bald with green pupils, yet exuding a somewhat eerie holiness.

At the moment he saw the woman, the young man was stunned: "Sister-in-law?!"

The scene before Wei Yuan's eyes shattered, and he returned to the hall. Only then did he look at the layout inside the hall.

The hall was divided into two layers, upper and lower, with wooden boxes shaped like shrines placed one after another. In each wooden box stood a person, either male or female, all completely naked. They all looked very young, around fourteen or fifteen years old, and regardless of gender, they were all very similar. Their height was similar, their brows and eyes were similar, and even their inner temperament was very similar!

And this was just one hall; if other halls had similar layouts, wouldn't there be tens of thousands of young boys and girls underground?

Wei Yuan suddenly discovered that in the brows and eyes of these young boys and girls, there was vaguely a shadow of the cloth-clad swordsman!

A young girl in a shrine slowly opened her eyes, revealing green pupils, and said softly, "... Better to return."

(End of chapter)