Seeing Second Senior Brother Fu Ming appear, Yang An finally felt a little more at ease, so he told him everything that had happened last night without leaving out a single detail.
After hearing Yang An's account, Fu Ming could not help coughing several times, but his furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
"Junior Brother need not worry. That was indeed your Sixth Senior Brother Jin Tong."
"Because of the Fate Dao Technique, he can only remain asleep for ten of the twelve hours each day. That is why he enjoys entering other people's dreams to play around. Don't take it to heart."
"If he had dared harbor ill intent toward you, Master certainly would not have spared him."
"..."
Hearing Second Senior Brother's explanation, Yang An fell silent and suddenly felt a headache coming on.
What kind of oddballs were these people?!
"So Sixth Senior Brother did not truly intend to harm me?"
"That is right. It is simply in his nature. He once even dared enter Master's dream. After Master discovered him, he nearly died with his Dao scattered. Fortunately, Master showed mercy and spared his life, but alas, a leopard cannot change its spots."
What a ruthless man. He had even dared enter the Old Man's dream. He truly was not afraid of death.
After hearing Second Senior Brother say that, Yang An immediately felt that this Sixth Senior Brother was likely no less formidable than First Senior Brother and Senior Sister, who had dared make a move against the Old Man. They were all ruthless people who feared no death.
"Is there any way to stop him from entering my dreams?"
Yang An asked. He carried secrets with him; it would be terrible if they were exposed in a dream.
"Yes!"
Fu Ming nodded.
Yang An immediately looked at him with hopeful anticipation.
"Junior Brother, wait a moment. I will report this to Master at once and return shortly."
"..."
Fine then. It seemed one thing really did restrain another more reliably.
Watching Second Senior Brother hurry away, Yang An did not stop him. He had been badly frightened last night, and Sixth Senior Brother truly needed to give an explanation for this.
Quite some time passed.
Then several sudden, shrill, miserable wails came from afar, ringing throughout Corpse Saliva Valley.
Yang An knew the matter had apparently been settled.
Those were indeed the sounds he had heard in his dream last night. Sixth Senior Brother must be paying the price now.
And the truth was exactly as he had thought. At this very moment, at Old Man Fate Crane's cultivation grounds—
This was the tallest building in all of Corpse Saliva Valley. It was named Jing Tian Pavilion, and from within its upper floors, one could take in everything throughout Corpse Saliva Valley at a glance.
Fu Ming covered his mouth and coughed from time to time, waiting obediently outside Jing Tian Pavilion without saying a word.
Although the piercing screams from Master's cultivation grounds continued without end, he was utterly unmoved, his expression calm.
Only after quite a while did a bloodied, scarred figure get heavily thrown out. Fu Ming still did not spare him a glance. Then he received Master's summons and entered the pavilion.
"This is the decree for Ascension Cave. Take your Junior Brother there and let him choose one item."
A crimson command talisman slowly flew before Fu Ming, and he caught it in his hand.
"Yes, Master!"
Fu Ming nodded and respectfully took his leave.
He knew very well that Ascension Cave was Master's hidden treasury, the foundation of the entire Fate Crane Sect. Yet Master ordinarily would not casually open Ascension Cave for disciples to enter.
But now Master had given him the decree and told him to bring Junior Brother Yang An there.
It went without saying that for Master to be so generous, Sixth Junior Brother Jin Tong must have paid a steep price.
Before leaving, Fu Ming still glanced once at Jin Tong, who remained lying on the ground.
Jin Tong was now taking in more breath than he let out. He looked as though he were on his last legs, as if he might die at any moment.
Yet Fu Ming merely gave him that calm glance before quickly withdrawing his gaze. His face showed neither grief nor joy as he left.
When he returned to Yang An's residence, Fu Ming informed him of Master's instructions and told him that Sixth Senior Brother Jin Tong would not dare relapse into his old habits again, at least not anytime soon.
Yang An was quite surprised by this.
When he learned that he could enter Ascension Cave and freely choose one item, Yang An could not help clicking his tongue in wonder. Ecstatic, all his previous dislike for Sixth Senior Brother vanished like smoke in thin air.
He had not expected such an unexpected gain.
Looking at it this way, Sixth Senior Brother really was a good man!
He even wanted to say that Sixth Senior Brother should come a few more times—his Junior Brother would surely sweep the couch and welcome him!
Getting such tremendous benefits just from being frightened in a dream was simply a blood profit. Even if it happened several more times, he could bear it.
As for entering Ascension Cave, Yang An looked toward Second Senior Brother and asked:
"Senior Brother must be very familiar with it. Do you have any advice?"
Fu Ming clearly pondered for a moment.
"The Fate Dao Technique is naturally the most important. There are quite a few techniques in Ascension Cave. Junior Brother must be cautious; some techniques are not something we can touch."
Yang An immediately understood, believing that Second Senior Brother was warning him that the prices demanded by certain techniques were far too dangerous.
"Thank you, Senior Brother. I will remember it!"
Looking at it this way, this Second Senior Brother truly seemed to be quite a decent person. Yang An's impression of him rose again.
After having the Corpse Slave Fu Gui lead the other Corpse Slaves in guarding the residence, Yang An followed Fu Ming to Ascension Cave.
The name Ascension Cave was rather strange when one thought about it.
The words "ascension" clearly carried the meaning of climbing high and becoming immortal, yet it also had the word "cave" attached. It was obviously located within some underground cavern.
Could it be called ascension, while in truth it meant being buried underground?
This made Yang An think of everything related to cultivation in this world. Although it could make cultivators increasingly powerful, they also had to pay a heavy price.
Perhaps there was some kind of connection. Yang An could not think of much else, so he stopped dwelling on it.
Before long, the two arrived at Ascension Cave. Just as Yang An had expected, it was an underground hollow.
Well, an underground hollow without any entrance or exit. If Fu Ming had not pointed it out, he might have thought it was merely ordinary ground.
When Fu Ming took out the decree Master had given him—the equivalent of a one-time authorization to enter Ascension Cave—and threw it into the air to shatter it, the decree immediately turned into countless scattered points of light that fell onto the ground.
As the countless points of light fell, several twisted, intertwining hidden lines gradually emerged in the spot that had originally contained nothing.
When those lines tightly entangled one another, they soon wove a phantom door upon the ground.
"Junior Brother, you must not remain in Ascension Cave for longer than one hour. Go quickly and return quickly."
"Thank you, Senior Brother!"
Yang An thanked him, then approached the phantom door alone and stepped inside.
As light and shadow crossed in an instant, as though day and night had been overturned, Yang An rubbed his eyes before gradually adapting to his surroundings. It was pitch-black here, as if sunlight had never reached it in all eternity.
Fortunately, as a cultivator of the False Eater Realm, he only needed to channel Mana into his eyes to gain the ability to see in darkness, so it was no obstacle.
But when he clearly saw the layout of this underground cavern, he could not help being startled.
Looking around, the entire cavern was roughly half the size of a football field.
Yet within this cavern, aside from some items placed about everywhere, there were also many humanoid stone statues of every conceivable kind.
These stone statues were all human-sized and human-shaped in equal proportion, their facial features and expressions all different.
Some were in pain, some in despair, some enraged, some terrified...
They were lifelike, as though alive, numbering more than several dozen.
For one brief moment, Yang An even had the illusion that he had entered some living hell.
Fortunately, these stone statues were not truly living things. They had apparently been placed here for many years, weathering countless changes, but that was all.
Yang An found it strange. He swept the cavern several times but did not see any books or scrolls recording techniques. The objects scattered around were clearly magical artifacts and spiritual items.
Could the Old Man's treasured techniques be hidden within these stone statues?
In the end, his gaze still fell upon the humanoid stone statues before him.
Before you continue