Demonic Cave of Mount Li

The characters on the silk manuscript were like brands seared red-hot, scorching Cheng Xi's fingertips.

Yong City! Lao Ai's rebellion!

Historical records state that after King Zhuangxiang of Qin died, Zhao Ji engaged in illicit relations with the fake eunuch Lao Ai within the palace walls. They even had two sons in Yong City (the old capital of Qin, where the Empress Dowager resided), which ultimately led to Lao Ai falsely issuing an edict and rebelling, only to be defeated and executed!

The timeline... is next year! The fourth year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin's reign!

However, the information revealed by the silk manuscript was a hundred times more bloody and sinister than historical records!

Lu Buwei used demonic beings! In the shadowy depths of Mount Li, they nurtured demonic evils with the earth energy of the Imperial Mausoleum! The Mohist Grand Master investigated, only to meet a fate of "ten deaths and no life," leaving behind a "final testament"!

This was no mere palace scandal and rebellion! It was clearly Lu Buwei colluding with demonic beings, using the Imperial Mausoleum's earth energy as a furnace and living people as fuel to create a monstrous catastrophe! And the target was none other than Ying Zheng, who was about to assume power, and the very fate of Great Qin!

A chill crawled up Cheng Xi's spine to the top of his head! He finally understood why, in history, Lao Ai, a mere ruffian from the marketplace, could gather thousands of retainers and Death Warriors in Yong City to launch a rebellion! Those "retainers and Death Warriors" were likely not human at all! They were monsters created by Lu Buwei and the demonic beings through dark arts!

The Mohist Grand Master died to pass on this message... the weight of this intelligence was as heavy as Mount Tai! The mute servant A Mao risked his life to deliver it... Who was behind this? Was it the remnants of the Mohist School? Or... was it someone within Xianyang Palace who was also aware of the crisis but unable to speak of it?

Cheng Xi's gaze involuntarily drifted in the direction of Zhangtai Palace. Ying Zheng... how much did he know?

"Hoo..." He forced himself to calm down. The priority now was to verify the authenticity of the intelligence! The shadowy depths of Mount Li, the location of the Imperial Mausoleum! If it truly had become a nest for demonic evils... the consequences would be unimaginable!

He immediately focused his mind, communicating with the System, whose energy in his sea of consciousness had recovered to 18%.

[Task Established: Scan Mount Li region... Target: Anomalous energy concentration / Earth vein disturbance... Related keywords: Imperial Mausoleum earth energy / Demonic Evils... Initiating deduction...]

A pale blue light screen frantically refreshed data streams in his mind. Combining Cheng Xi's vague memories from his past life of Mount Li's geography and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (the burial mound, the structure of the underground palace, the rivers of mercury, etc.), a complex energy model was constructed.

A moment later, the results appeared:

[Mount Li main vein earth energy flow abnormal! Yin Yu region (valley northeast of the Imperial Mausoleum) contains a high-intensity earth vein energy extraction node! Extraction pattern: Predatory / Polluting... Node vicinity detected high concentration of Yin Sha resentful energy / unnatural life fluctuations (demonized characteristics)... Correlation judgment: Silk manuscript intelligence credibility: 92.7%!]

92.7%!

Cheng Xi's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. Lu Buwei and those demonic beings were indeed using the Dragon Vein Earth Energy of the Imperial Mausoleum to perform this heaven-defying dark art!

He had to stop it! Otherwise, once those demonic evils were successfully "nurtured" on a large scale and released during Lao Ai's rebellion... Xianyang would be turned into a living hell! Ying Zheng was in danger! Qin was in danger! And he, Cheng Xi, would not be able to escape unscathed!

But how could he stop it? With his own strength, venturing into a dragon's den? It would be no different from seeking death!

He suddenly looked in the direction of the side hall—Yan Lingji! And that segment containing the Sky-Severing Sword Intent, the Qingping Sword Sheath!

A bold plan rapidly took shape in his mind!

That night, when the palace was deep in slumber.

Cheng Xi avoided the palace's prying eyes and quietly arrived at the side hall where Yan Lingji was recuperating. Yan Lingji had not slept; she was sitting cross-legged on the couch, holding the segment of the jade sword sheath with both hands, her eyes closed in deep concentration. The sword sheath emitted a cool, soft halo, which seemed to be slowly repairing her injuries and exhaustion, resonating with the faint, fiery white Witch Fire within her.

Hearing the movement, she suddenly opened her eyes, her flame-like irises lighting up in the darkness as she warily looked towards the door.

"It's me." Cheng Xi flashed inside and quickly closed the hall door.

"Something wrong?" Yan Lingji put down the sword sheath. Her voice was still a bit hoarse, but her breathing was much steadier.

Cheng Xi cut to the chase, directly handing her the Mohist token and the silk manuscript with the Grand Master's final testament.

Yan Lingji took them with a puzzled expression. Under the faint moonlight filtering in from the window, she quickly scanned them. When she saw words like "nurturing demonic evils" and "Mohist disciples ten deaths and no life," her face changed drastically! Especially upon seeing the description of "demonic evils" mentioning "scales," "sulfurous odor," and "bloodthirsty frenzy," she looked up sharply, flames raging in her eyes!

"It's them! Those 'Mountain Specters'! Monsters created by the Yin Yang School and demonic beings!" Her voice trembled with anger, and the unhealed wound on her shoulder seemed to ache again. "They're in Mount Li... raising more?!"

"That's right," Cheng Xi's voice was icy. "And they're using the Imperial Mausoleum's Dragon Vein Earth Energy to raise them! Once these things mature and are released... you know the consequences."

Yan Lingji clenched the silk manuscript tightly, her knuckles turning white. The blood feud of her people, her own experiences, made her harbor a deep-seated hatred and fear of these demonic evils.

"What do you want to do?" She looked at Cheng Xi, her flame-like eyes burning with resolve.

"Destroy the nest, cut off their roots!" Cheng Xi stated decisively. "But with just the two of us, it's not enough. I need your fire, and this—" he pointed to the Qingping Sword Sheath in Yan Lingji's hand, "—and the Sword Immortal's sword intent within the sheath!"

He quickly outlined his plan: using the Qingping Sword Sheath's sensitivity to spatial fluctuations, combined with Yan Lingji's Witch Fire and his own recovered Earth Element Spiritual Energy, they would create an "accidental," small-scale earth vein disturbance and spatial ripple on the outskirts of Mount Li's Yin Yu! The goal was not to destroy the nest, but merely to stir things up, alert the people inside, and perhaps even... alert any potential masterminds behind the scenes! As long as chaos erupted and a flaw was exposed, there would be a chance to ascertain the truth and even find the key node to destroy the nest!

"It's very dangerous," Yan Lingji said after a moment of silence, looking directly into Cheng Xi's eyes. "We might die."

"If we stay here and wait for them to mature and attack, we'll die too," Cheng Xi's voice was terrifyingly calm. "And many more will die."

Yan Lingji looked at Cheng Xi's eyes, which shone remarkably in the darkness, then lowered her gaze to the warm yet supremely sharp jade sword sheath in her hand. She remembered the desperate horde of corpses in the Secluded Valley, and the moment Cheng Xi activated the sword sheath to help her escape.

"Okay." She uttered only one word, her flame-like eyes devoid of hesitation, filled only with a resolve to burn everything.

Three days later, at night. Mount Li's northern foothills, Yin Yu.

This place had steep terrain, dense forests, and was shrouded in mist year-round, rarely visited by humans. Especially near the Qin King's Mausoleum, which was under construction, it was heavily guarded and considered a forbidden area.

At this moment, beneath a sheltered cliff deep within Yin Yu, Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji clung to the cold rock face like geckos. Below them lay a bottomless, dark canyon, where a dense mist with the smell of earth and sulfur rolled like viscous liquid.

Through the gaps in the thick fog, they could vaguely see a massive, artificially carved platform on the opposite side of the canyon. The platform extended deep into the mountain, its entrance sealed by a heavy bronze gate inscribed with bizarre runes. On either side of the gate stood several ferocious bronze statues, neither human nor beast. The eyes of the statues flickered with a greenish phosphorescent light, scanning the canyon as if alive. Along the edge of the platform, patrolling figures could be vaguely seen, their movements stiff and their steps heavy—definitely not living people!

What shocked Cheng Xi even more was that the mist filling the canyon was not naturally formed! He could clearly feel that the earth vein spiritual energy from the ground beneath them was being forcibly drawn from the main vein of the Imperial Mausoleum by a powerful and sinister force, converging like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea behind that bronze gate! The strange runes on the gate flickered with a dim light, as if breathing, nourished by the dense earth energy!

[Energy flow confirmed! Earth vein plunder node! Demonized guards (Corpse Puppets) x12... Bronze gate structure analysis... Core defense runes locked...]

The System's scan results confirmed the scene before his eyes. This place was the core of the demonic nest!

"Ready?" Cheng Xi lowered his voice, looking at Yan Lingji beside him.

Yan Lingji took a deep breath and nodded, her hands gripping the Qingping Sword Sheath tightly, the fiery white Witch Fire at her fingertips slowly rising.

Cheng Xi hesitated no longer! He slammed his palms onto the cold rock face!

The 18% System energy in his sea of consciousness instantly burned! Pure, dense Earth Element Spiritual Energy, mixed with a trace of the Xirang Crystal's origin power, surged into the earth beneath their feet like a roaring river!

[Earth Element Law Overloaded Application! Target: Local Earth Vein Backflow / Rock Layer Resonance!]

RUMBLE--!

Centered on the cliff where the two stood, the mountains within dozens of feet violently trembled! It was as if a sleeping giant beast had been awakened! Rocks groaned under the unbearable weight, falling in cascades! The thick mist in the canyon churned violently from the tremors!

"Now!" Cheng Xi roared!

Flames erupted from Yan Lingji's eyes! She poured all her blazing white Witch Fire into the Qingping Sword Sheath without reservation!

"Zheng--!"

A clear sword cry echoed through the Secluded Valley! The Qingping Sword Sheath erupted with unprecedented radiance! The cold blue light and blazing white flames completely merged, transforming into a condensed, solid, and incomparably sharp blue-white sword energy! Within the sword energy, it contained that wisp of Sky-Severing Sword Intent from Lord Tongtian, capable of severing all!

The sword energy did not strike the bronze gate, but instead, guided by Yan Lingji, it fiercely slashed towards the center of the canyon, the point in the void where the Earth Element Spiritual Energy converged most violently!

Screech!

Space, like fragile silk brocade, was forcefully torn open by this sword energy containing Sky-Severing Sword Intent, creating a black rift about ten feet long!

Terrifying spatial turbulence instantly surged from the rift! Like countless invisible blades, it cut and churned madly!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Earth Element Spiritual Energy, which had been forcibly guided and flowing smoothly in the canyon, was instantly thrown into chaos by the dual impact of the sudden spatial turbulence and the earth vein backflow! Like a torrent into which a boulder has been thrown, it surged, collided, and exploded!

The entire Yin Yu trembled and shook! Rocks cascaded down! The thick mist in the canyon was torn to shreds by the violent energy turbulence!

"Enemy attack!!!"

On the opposite platform, a piercing alarm sounded mournfully! Those patrolling stiff figures (Corpse Puppets) let out inhuman roars, their movements instantly becoming frantic! The bronze gate, inscribed with runes, glowed with an eerie light, clearly its internal defense mechanisms fully activated!

Chaos! Absolute chaos!

"Go!" Cheng Xi grabbed the swaying Yan Lingji, who had exhausted her strength, and using the dust from the collapsing mountains and the cover of the energy turbulence, he moved like a phantom, rapidly climbing upwards along the steep rock face!

Just as they were about to reach the cliff top!

"What impudent wretch dares to disturb the Holy Lord's altar!"

A cold, hoarse, grating roar, like metal friction, suddenly came from the direction of the bronze gate! The sound was not loud, but it pierced through the chaotic roars and exploded directly in their sea of consciousness!

Immediately after!

A sinister, cold, terrifying pressure filled with the aura of decay and death, like an invisible giant hand, instantly enveloped the entire Yin Yu!

A withered, black, ghost claw phantom with sharp, hook-like nails, ignoring the chaotic spatial turbulence and collapsing rocks, let out a piercing ghost cry, broke through the dust, and clawed fiercely towards the backs of Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji! Its speed was so fast that there was no escape!