Chapter 1291: This Round Seems Secure!

That seemingly casual finger-point from Xu Que had actually pinpointed the burial site of that Great Ability from the Sea Race!

Back then, in order to enter the Fire Yuan Kingdom Imperial Mausoleum, he had specifically exchanged for tomb-raiding related memory techniques from the System Mall and inherited various Feng Shui Treasure Arts, allowing him to easily see through the terrain and locate the Dragon Vein.

Now, he was not only utilizing the Feng Shui Treasure Art, but the compass itself was the Six Ren Earth Plate he had snatched back in the Earth Continent, an existence at the Immortal Artifact Level.

Combining the two instantly amplified the effect of Xu Que's Feng Shui Treasure Art to infinity, allowing him to effortlessly locate the center of this terrain within the Buried Immortal Valley, precisely the spot where that Great Ability of the Sea Race could draw upon the power of the Blood Sacrifice.

However, finding it was one thing; digging over to it was far from simple.

Under Xu Que's guidance, and led by Er Gouzi and Duan Jiude—those two master pit-diggers most skilled at digging up ancestral tombs—the Zha Tian Bang Members joined in with united resolve; everyone was assigned a specially made iron shovel and began hammering away at the ground.

Yet after more than half a day, the crowd had only excavated a tunnel several dozen meters long; compared to the several thousand meters still remaining to reach that Great Ability's Tomb Chamber, these few dozen meters were truly insignificant!

"Kid, this won't work; by the time we dig over there, you'll probably already be cold!" Er Gouzi shouted at Xu Que, panting heavily with his tongue lolling out from exhaustion.

Xu Que's brows were also tightly locked, deeply worried about this efficiency.

In fact, he had joined in the digging himself, but this place was truly bizarre; the ground's hardness was beyond imagination, and every wisp of soil contained Spiritual Energy, which immediately rendered tools like excavators from his System Mall useless, leaving them no choice but to rely on Cultivators digging by manual labor.

However, if they continued digging at this speed, it was indeed very likely that, just as Er Gouzi had said, he would end up dying right here!

"How about we take a gamble? Use my Flesh Body to clash directly against this Heaven and Earth Furnace and force our way through?" Xu Que felt a stirring impulse to act.

After all, fundamentally, he possessed a Small Achievement Saint Body, and while everyone else standing in the outer perimeter felt their Vitality greatly affected and their internal Spiritual Power constantly draining...

... Mo Junchen, who possessed the Great Completion Underworld Prison Suppression Body, was also affected, yet the impact on him seemed so minor it could be ignored.

As for Xu Que himself, although he could sense that power between Heaven and Earth, he was the only one truly unaffected.

Of course, this was because they were currently located at the outer borderlands; if they moved forward and truly stepped into the range of the Heaven and Earth Furnace, everyone would surely suffer even greater effects, and Xu Que himself would no longer be an exception.

But this also revealed a fact to him: the stronger the Flesh Body, the better it could resist the Blood Sacrifice effect of the Heaven and Earth Furnace.

So... could he try using his Small Achievement Saint Body to withstand the influence of this place, dig underground before he himself was blood-sacrificed, and, before that Great Ability of the Sea Race recovered and awakened, drag him straight out from underground and stew him into a pot of seafood soup?

Once this thought arose, Xu Que was eager to try; he did not take risks lightly, and when there was a shortcut, he would absolutely never take the long way, and when there was a loophole to exploit, he would absolutely exploit it.

But when backed into a corner with no path forward, he would transform into a gambler; that ruthlessness deep in his bones made him willing to bet his life, because if he didn't gamble, he would lose his life anyway, so why not give it a try?

"Stop! No need to dig anymore!" Xu Que spoke up, calling a halt to everyone.

Although they were merely at the edge of the furnace, the crowd had nearly dug into the region of the Heaven and Earth Furnace; while being underground greatly reduced the Blood Sacrifice's effect on them, the hardness of the sand and soil still caused massive consumption of their Spiritual Energy, and by now, many were already exhausted.

Hearing Xu Que's voice, everyone stopped their work in unison, turning their heads to look at Xu Que standing at the cave entrance.

"Come out!" Xu Que beckoned to the crowd, his expression calm and unusually solemn: "This time, I'll do it myself!"

Do it himself?

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

Mo Junchen sighed softly, having already guessed what Xu Que intended to do.

Liu Jingning's delicate brows knitted tightly, filled with worry: "You want to break in alone?"

"It's the only way; originally I wanted to take it easy, but judging by the current trend, I'm afraid taking it easy isn't an option!" Xu Que said with a relaxed smile, his tone very calm, showing not a hint of nervousness.

Yet this smile of his made Liu Jingning even more uneasy.

Knowing Xu Que's personality, if he had confidence in something, the smile he displayed was usually full of self-assurance, a kind of unbelievable confidence that made others feel the same, and the result was that he always managed to do it, accomplishing miracles.

If it was something he wasn't confident about, this lad should be frowning tightly, looking grave; of course, sometimes even when he was extremely confident, he would deliberately pretend to be very serious.

But this time, he was too calm, too relaxed, as if he didn't regard the Heaven and Earth Furnace as anything at all, which was actually very different from his usual behavior.

Therefore, Liu Jingning vaguely sensed something.

This lad clearly had no confidence at all, not even a sliver of it, which was why he acted this way, trying to put those around him at ease.

"Is there no other way?" Liu Jingning pondered for a moment before asking softly.

She knew the answer in her heart; if there were another way, Xu Que would be less willing to take risks than anyone else.

But this time there truly was no other way; digging through from underground would take at least several tens of days, and retreating now would be tantamount to letting that prophecy come true, resulting in Xuan Yuan Wanrong being swallowed by the Buried Immortal Valley and Xu Que dying alongside her.

So, the only method now was indeed to gamble with his life, rush in, and give it a try.

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've been in such a situation; I will return!" Xu Que smiled slightly, reaching out to ruffle Liu Jingning's head.

Liu Jingning felt a pang of panic in her heart; at some point, the youth who had always been a little kid in her eyes had grown up, become powerful, and was now capable of holding up a sky for her.

But now, he was going to risk his life, to do something with an uncertain outcome between life and death, and right before her very eyes; this was truly hard for Liu Jingning to accept.

"Damn it, kid, this Divine Venerable will go in with you!" At this moment, Er Gouzi gritted his teeth, full of fighting spirit, and shouted loudly.

This instantly made Xu Que, Duan Jiude, and the others widen their eyes in shock.

Something's not right; since when did this idiot become so loyal?

"What the hell are you staring at? Damn it, if it weren't for the fact that you kid are really about to die this time, this Divine Venerable wouldn't want to take the risk either; you want to clash with your Flesh Body, well, this Divine Venerable can do that too; if we join forces and dig in together, it will surely be much faster than you going alone!" Er Gouzi said, looking completely ready to sacrifice himself, a rare sight of seriousness.

This moved Duan Jiude and the others deeply.

"Teacher Er Gou, you... have made this old man look at you with new eyes!" Duan Jiude patted Er Gouzi, speaking with a slightly trembling voice.

He knew very well that this time was no joke; once Xu Que and Er Gouzi went in, they might never return again.

In the past, the combination of two men and one dog, the "Virtue-Lacking Dog," had once dominated the Kingdom; even though they had tricked each other before, those days had been extraordinarily brilliant.

Thinking of this, endless reluctance and sorrow surged up in Duan Jiude's heart.

"Teacher Er Gou, don't be like this; this Divine Venerable is also afraid that this kid will go and never return, so it's better to take a gamble; the chances of winning will be much greater!" Er Gouzi patted Duan Jiude's shoulders, speaking with earnest sincerity.

The man and the dog, who had once disliked each other, later found they shared the same foul tastes and admired one another; now, facing what was likely a life-and-death parting, they could no longer care about bickering.

"Teacher Er Gou, this old man will wait here for your triumphant return; you once said you would teach this old man to sing a song, so don't break your promise!" Duan Jiude said with deep emotion, his hands trembling slightly.

"Don't worry; when this Divine Venerable returns, I will definitely teach you that song 'Saddle Rod'; that melody is majestic and full of spirit; in the future, we will chant it together, dominate the Kingdom, and surely leave a legacy for a hundred generations!" Er Gouzi forced a smile, carelessly patting Duan Jiude's shoulders as he made a promise.

Standing aside, Xu Que nearly burst out laughing; could this damn Er Gouzi actually sing 'Saddle Rod'? It seemed this idiot had truly learned everything back on Earth!

"Little one, I will wait for you here; if you don't return, I will go in to find you!" At this moment, Liu Jingning looked at Xu Que and said softly.

Her voice was very quiet, yet it conveyed a kind of determination.

Xu Que paused for a moment; a gentle breeze blew across the hair at his forehead, and a smile appeared on his handsome face: "Good, I will definitely return!"

Saying this, his gaze swept around and settled outside the Buried Immortal Valley as he sighed with emotion: "Time really flies so fast! I miss everything from back then; as time passes, I never would have imagined, even in my wildest dreams, that there would be a scene like this today."

Liu Jingning looked at him calmly.

Everyone present fell silent one after another, watching Xu Que with complex emotions.

Everyone knew clearly that this was very likely the gang leader's final words, a last testament!

"Little Demoness!" Suddenly, Xu Que turned his head to look at Liu Jingning, smiling faintly: "Do you know which year I have liked the most all this time?"

"Which year?" Liu Jingning also smiled, and what appeared in her mind was the scene of their first reunion and meeting in the Eastern Wasteland with Xu Que back then.

She felt that this was probably the year Xu Que wanted to mention as well.

The corner of Xu Que's mouth lifted slightly, revealing that utterly rogue smile: "Love you for ten thousand years!"

Having said this, he turned around, waved his hand with his back to the crowd, and strode forward with great strides, resolutely stepping into the depths of Buried Immortal Valley.

Everyone instantly stood stunned on the spot, convinced in their hearts, secretly sighing "awesome"; such a flirtatious love quote truly befitted the gang leader, the big shot!

Liu Jingning also stood in place, a beautiful smile blooming on her face like ten thousand flowers, yet a line of tear-drops like dew slid from the corner of her eye as she silently watched that figure gradually recede into the distance.

At this moment, everyone was silent, speaking no words; the receding backs of that one person and one dog were like a heavy stone, pressing heavily upon their hearts!

Buried Immortal Valley's Heaven and Earth Furnace, a Blood Sacrifice of ten thousand things!

Beneath the furnace lies buried a great ability of the Sea Race who has slept for tens of thousands of years, in life comparable to a Human Race Immortal Emperor!

With the two of them going there, can they really return?

In the hearts of the crowd, there was no answer!

And at this moment, Xu Que and Er Gouzi, who had already stepped within the scope of the Heaven and Earth Furnace, were already infinitely close to that Spirit Eye Mountain Range.

The flesh bodies of the one person and one dog showed no abnormality, yet the vitality within their bodies was already flowing away rapidly, and Immortal Yuan Power was constantly being evaporated; Er Gouzi might still be fine, but if Xu Que had not activated the System Auto-Recovery Function, he would already be unable to endure it!

"Sigh, to think that I, this awesome Saint, would also have such a day; even with a Small Achievement Saint Body, I still cannot do as I please!" Xu Que sighed and turned his head to look at Er Gouzi.

But what he saw was Er Gouzi's dog face, scrunching up its brows and eyes, smiling as brilliantly as a chrysanthemum!

Holy crap!

Xu Que widened his eyes; this round seemed stable!

……

……

【The first major chapter has been delivered! Recently, Q Reading is holding a writer support event; you can find it by going to "Claim Benefits" under "Discover" on the homepage.

Currently, our Awesome Gang is in first place, but we could be knocked down at any time; I hope everyone can work together to let me drop to fourth place.

Because when I signed up for the competition, I filled in the promise randomly, writing that if I reached the top three, I would release photos of myself in women's clothing! I truly thought back then that I wouldn't make the top three, but you guys caused trouble and got me in!

I am Taishang Buyi, and right now I am panicking like crazy!!!】