Peerless Spiritual Link

Based on the pressure, Zhang Huan deduced that the deceased's strength was somewhat lower than the Demonic Box's owner. He quickly suppressed the guarding Quasi-Emperor Artifact and cleared out the resources.

This was the second time Zhang Huan had swallowed Quasi-Emperor Origin.

After the absorption was complete, his strength surged again. Zhang Huan forcibly suppressed it, transforming it into fundamental essence for future use in condensing a Divine Embryo.

After adjusting for a while, Zhang Huan emerged from the tomb and headed towards the third one.

Day after day, Zhang Huan roamed among the mausoleums, repeating this monotonous and tedious process.

Soon, he had searched all the tombs known to the little Demonic Box. There were seven Quasi-Emperors, each surrounded by burial pits with tens of thousands of grave goods.

Standing on a cliff and looking out, he saw an endless sea of white bones. Skeletons were densely packed, filling a thousand-mile area so completely that not a drop of water could pass through, exuding an overwhelming death aura.

This was merely a corner of the burial grounds. Within the entire Underworld, there were countless such pits.

Some were many times larger, with piled-up bones. Just the exposed portions were vaster than immortal mountains, burying an unknown number of living beings.

It made one suspect that an entire era could be buried within.

Since the Nether Emperor founded the Underworld, its secrets have not been fully unearthed to this day. Even a partial truth would make a Supreme Being tremble.

A mysterious dark cloud perpetually hung over this place, obscuring all sources of dread.

Beneath the sea of bones lay a tomb. Zhang Huan probed it with Origin Arts and finally located it.

Gathering the essence of myriad spirits and drawing upon the death aura of the Underworld, they mingled and fused within the attrition, finally nurturing a true spirit that awakened from the corpse, achieving a different kind of seizing of a lifetime.

Such a feat was astonishing, with few in the entire universe capable of it. It could only be accomplished by a true powerhouse.

The fact that this place had attracted death aura for countless years without being disrupted by the people of the Underworld, and that a specific region seemed to have been designated for it, indicated that the tomb's owner's status in life was absolutely extraordinary.

"Master, there's something strange about this place."

A sense of solemnity emanated from the little Demonic Box's Divine Sense, warning Zhang Huan to be cautious.

Like Zhang Huan, it had sensed a terrifying black hole below, continuously devouring nutrients. The faint pressure it emitted made even it hesitant to provoke.

"We've found a giant crocodile this time. We can't take it down quickly, and there might be complications. We need a long-term plan."

Zhang Huan cast a cautious glance at the area below the sea of bones, avoided the restrictions, and walked out of the bone sea.

Even from this distance, he could feel the formidable strength of the tomb's owner. It was definitely a formidable entity, far more powerful than any Quasi-Emperor he had encountered before.

It was vastly different from the fourth-level Quasi-Emperor strength of the Demonic Box's previous owner. He could no longer ascertain its specific power; it was an almost invincible expert, whose Blood Essence could shatter clouds from a thousand miles away, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

"The tomb owner's aura is so unrestrained, completely different from those encountered before. Could it be that it has reached a critical juncture in its slumber and can no longer contain its own energy?"

Zhang Huan analyzed based on past cases. He asked the little Demonic Box, whose cautious demeanor suggested it knew something about this white bone tomb's owner.

"Fortunately, we didn't provoke that thing so easily..."

The little Demonic Box expressed a sense of relief as if it had narrowly escaped a disaster. It felt as though provoking the other party would be tantamount to suicide, and it truly believed this.

"The tomb owner's strength before death was at least a sixth-level Quasi-Emperor, a level rarely seen even among the experts of the Underworld back then!"

The shocking statement from the little Demonic Box made Zhang Huan thankful for not acting impulsively. But then it added another sentence.

"The most terrifying thing is, it's about to come alive! It has its own consciousness, its corpse is sentient, and it's controlling its body!"

Zhang Huan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, sensing an unfathomable danger.

Even though he had already left the sea of bones, he still felt a prickling sensation on his back.

"Could it sense the outside world? When I was using my Divine Sense to investigate the tomb, was it also observing me?"

If Zhang Huan's thoughts were correct, his actions just now had practically provoked an ultimate enemy for himself.

Images flashed through his mind as Zhang Huan urgently sought an answer.

"If it can sense the outside world, with its strength, would it let me go?"

Zhang Huan calmed himself and analyzed with the Demonic Box.

"That Quasi-Emperor corpse is at a critical stage of spirit fusion. Even if it discovered its master, it wouldn't act unless absolutely necessary. Unless the transformation is forcibly interrupted, it can only wait for the spirit fusion to complete, until the soul and body merge into one."

"If the spirit fusion is interrupted and solidified at this point, not only will its cultivation plummet, but it will never be able to merge with its body again. It would be equivalent to soul possession, and it would never be able to advance further."

According to this, even if the owner in the tomb discovered Zhang Huan, it wouldn't rashly emerge to seek revenge. After the spirit fusion was complete, it would likely be millennia, or even tens of thousands of years later. Such forbearance, this sentient Quasi-Emperor intended to defy the heavens in the future.

"If external forces were to interrupt its transformation, to what level would its realm fall?"

"Hmm, at the very least, it would be a Quasi-Emperor, with its physical body and Dao laws retaining the level of its original form."

Ultimately, it was dead, no longer what it once was. How much of its original strength could a sentient soul exert?

Zhang Huan would never dare to plot against it when it was alive, but a corpse...

Zhang Huan's eyes flickered. After some thought, he still moved towards his residence. It was better to make some preparations first.

These past few days, I've plundered quite a few tombs and gained a lot. It's time to digest it all.

This spiritual Quasi-Emperor corpse is currently no different from being dead. Zhang Huan isn't afraid of it holding a grudge. When it comes back next time, we'll see who the real prey is.

Before it can get revenge, I'll kill it first.

Returning to his mansion, apart from that page of Imperial Edict, the scenery was almost identical to when Zhang Huan left. It was spotless, existing in its own space.

He placed the Imperial Edict on the table and ignored it. Zhang Huan flipped over the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Jar, and from its dark opening, it spat out numerous Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. They were multicolored, illuminating the entire room in vibrant hues for a moment.

In some tombs, there were peerless great medicines left by the tomb owners, as well as immortal gold the size of a fist. These were all things they had left for their future selves, each one a masterpiece, rare in the world, and now all conveniently obtained by Zhang Huan.

Among them was a half-scroll of silver pages, inscribed with partial inheritances from an Ancient Heavenly Venerate. Though incomplete, a Quasi-Emperor had studied it for a lifetime, inscribing all his lifelong insights onto it to be buried with him.

The Art of Weapon Control!

Its progenitor was one of the Nine Secrets, the Soldier Secret, which could manipulate weapons. It was the ultimate path for countering weapons, and when cultivated to its peak, it could control any external object, even influencing enemies in battle. Nothing was beyond its control.

If one's realm was sufficient, even Extreme Dao weapons could be influenced.

According to that Quasi-Emperor's speculation, this Art of Weapon Control was most likely derived from the Nine Secrets, bearing its shadow. Cultivating it to great completion could reproduce one or two-tenths of the Soldier Secret's might, making it already extremely precious.

After studying it, Zhang Huan realized this inheritance was indeed extraordinary and intended to use the insights on the silver pages to quickly get started.

The other ancient medicines, immortal gold, and other resources were not needed for the time being, so he sealed them away.