Ruthless Methods!

"Little Er Ha, well done!" Feng Wu praised.

He provoked me and still thought he could run? What a joke!

The flames around Feng Wu's body receded as he picked up the Green Leaf Snake's Magic Crystal and walked toward the Snake Spirit Grass. After examining the area carefully again, he confirmed that there truly were no more guardian beasts.

The Iron Tail Leopard from before had likely only been an outsider coveting the Snake Spirit Grass, while the two Green Leaf Snakes had been the true guardian magical beasts of the herb.

The environment within the Magical Beast Mountain Range was indeed far more dangerous than the outside world. This was already the sixth magical beast Feng Wu had encountered in recent days that possessed the ability to threaten his life.

Its venom was unfortunate—more dangerous than that of some Second Order Magical Beasts—but its weakness was equally obvious!

The moment Feng Wu unleashed Peach Blossom Fire, he was practically invincible.

Since entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Feng Wu had advanced from Four Star Dou Zhe to the brink of Five Star Dou Zhe. His progress had been gratifying!

Even though he spent half of every day refining pills and medicine, the dense magical beast population in the Magical Beast Mountain Range allowed Feng Wu to encounter and kill five or six magical beasts a day on average, earning nearly thirty experience points!

If he went all out, encountering more than a dozen magical beasts in a single day probably would not be difficult!

But with more magical beasts came greater danger!

There were quite a few magical beasts that even Feng Wu and Little Er Ha could not handle.

So, even though Feng Wu and Little Er Ha were nearly invincible among those of the same rank, they had remained cautious at all times.

They were not afraid of death, but that did not mean they should seek it!

Only after confirming that the area was truly safe did Feng Wu take out his jade hoe and jade shovel. Under Little Er Ha's guard, he began digging up the roots of the Snake Spirit Grass.

The Magical Beast Mountain Range possessed uniquely favorable conditions, and precious medicinal herbs were not uncommon. Ordinary herbs were even more abundant—"one every three steps, a cluster every five."

But the moment he drove his shovel down, Feng Wu noticed something wrong! Why was the soil beneath this tree's roots so soft?

Feng Wu raised his head and glanced at the ancient tree before him. He had not noticed it earlier, but now that he looked, this tree stood head and shoulders above the surrounding forest!

Not only was it a head taller than the other trees, its canopy was lush and dense, while its trunk was incredibly broad—at least five people would have to join hands to encircle it!

How could the soil beneath such a massive tree be so loose?

The roots of a tree this enormous would spread in a tangled web, perhaps even reaching thousands of meters underground!

Moreover, tree roots were usually tough and resilient. With such dense roots, there was no way his jade shovel should have sunk straight into the earth all the way to the handle with a single thrust!

Unless the ground beneath this tree was hollow!

Feng Wu's gaze sharpened. "Could I have stumbled upon one of those legendary opportunities?"

He first dug out the Snake Spirit Grass's roots with several shovelfuls and stored them in his Storage Ring. Then Feng Wu stepped back, pulled Little Er Ha away, and instructed, "Little Er Ha, move farther back."

Earth Spring Impact!

A violent blast of flames erupted from the ground, blowing up the earth before the tree roots!

There really was something there!

Feng Wu's sharp eyes caught a faint metallic gleam beneath the tree through the gaps in the flowing flames inside the small "volcanic crater" created by the battle technique.

What was buried beneath this tree?

Feng Wu stomped again, and a second eruption of fire pillars burst forth from the volcanic crater, expanding the opening until it was deeper and wider!

This time, Feng Wu clearly saw what lay buried beneath the tree. It was an ancient, simple gate forged from black gold!

The roots beneath the entire giant ancient tree had been hollowed out and pushed aside from the middle, stretching along the left and right sides of the gate to sustain the tree's life.

The passage beyond the gate had taken the place of the tree's main root.

"A strong expert's dwelling or a tomb?" Feng Wu did not immediately open the gate. Instead, he surveyed the surroundings.

A blessed land—or a place of disaster—left behind by a strong expert would often contain traps or trials!

After thinking for a moment, Feng Wu led Little Er Ha back and summoned the Upgrade System, fixing his eyes on the gate. Perhaps it would be useful.

A Dou Wang's tomb. There are quite a few useful items within, but if you wish to enter, you must first beware of the mechanisms outside, lest you become one of its burial offerings.

A Dou Wang's tomb!

Feng Wu's blood began to race, and his eyes burned with excitement.

At the same time, the arrangements around the tomb entrance came into view under the system's scan.

Damaged hidden-arrow mechanism: A mechanism damaged by repeated powerful impacts. It has lost its lethality.

Disabled poison-gas mechanism: The violent impacts have released all of the potent poison gas inside, while the flames have burned away the remaining toxins.

...

Looking at the system's prompts, Feng Wu saw that all the mechanisms at the entrance had already failed. They had likely all been destroyed by his two uses of the Earth Spring Impact battle technique.

"Good. That saves me the trouble of dismantling the traps." Feng Wu dismissed the Upgrade System's panel and headed toward the entrance with Little Er Ha.

Feng Wu had truly learned how to make full use of the Upgrade System! It could upgrade all things, and Feng Wu could even upgrade items held in other people's hands from afar.

Naturally, it could also display the panel information of everything, making it the best choice for gathering intelligence!

"Little Er Ha, help me guard this place."

Feng Wu approached the Black Gold Gate and kicked an inconspicuous stone at its base, one that looked as though it had naturally grown there!

The stone shook, and then the Black Gold Gate let out a harsh mechanical grinding sound. The door slid slowly open from right to left!

The moment the gate opened, a musty, rotten stench rushed out, accompanied by a faint green haze!

Poison!

Feng Wu had not expected there to be another trick waiting after the gate opened!

He hurriedly stepped back!

At the same time, peach-colored flames ignited around his body, scorching the green poison gas and producing sizzling, crackling sounds, like insects being burned alive.

The Peach Blossom Fire even showed faint signs of being suppressed and extinguished, sending a chill down Feng Wu's spine!

"Damn it!" Feng Wu swept his left hand, pulling with Absorption Palm before thrusting with Cloud Dispelling Palm, directly sweeping the pale green poison gas out of the cave entrance!

The poison gas touched the vegetation outside and instantly corroded a patch of grass into withered ruin. Even the giant tree above the gate had a large section of its trunk charred black!

What a vicious method!

Under normal circumstances, anyone opening the dwelling would definitely lower their guard for an instant!

If Feng Wu had not possessed Peach Blossom Fire and used his two palms to protect himself and drive away the poison gas, he would likely have become a dried skeleton long ago!

"The system can only scan the mechanisms outside the dwelling. I can't be so confident next time," Feng Wu warned himself, still shaken.

This time, Feng Wu peered into the entrance again. Only after confirming that there were truly no traps or mechanisms in the passage did he light a Peach Blossom Fire in his left hand for illumination and slowly enter the Dou Wang's tomb.

"Crack!" The moment he stepped into the downward-sloping passage, Feng Wu crushed a section of dry bone beneath his foot!

He sent a streak of Peach Blossom Fire surging forward to light the way, revealing bones covering the entire passage—countless beyond measure!

A full layer of corpses clogged and covered the descending steps, their deaths horrifyingly tragic!

Craftsmen used as burial offerings by the strong expert had been trapped and killed within the tomb, corroded and suffocated to death by the poison-gas mechanisms while still alive!

"What ruthless methods!"