Duan Chong's Silver Tongue and Wicked Servant Act, the Mountain of Gold and Sea of Jade That Shocked the Heart

"Are you sure it's here?" Chen Duan asked, raising a hand to point toward the ruins of Kongling Village.

"It's hidden beneath that coffin."

Old Feng, perched on Chen Duan's shoulder, snorted unhappily, his tone brimming with displeasure. "What? Now you know to ask this old man? You left that impostor alive, didn't you? Why didn't you ask him?~"

He still held a grudge over Chen Duan sparing the impostor's life.

He was clearly already here, yet Chen Duan had brought in someone else as well. It was simply intolerable.

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, Chen Duan not only failed to grow angry, but burst into laughter instead.

"Old Feng, Old Feng, isn't this because I saw how lonely you usually are, without even anyone to bicker with? I went out of my way to find you a companion to relieve your boredom!"

He raised his head and glanced at the sky. Though they had gone through one upheaval after another, making it seem as if several months had passed, in reality, it was still early. Nightfall was a long way off.

"Time waits for no one. To prevent complications from dragging on, everyone, listen up!" Chen Duan's voice suddenly turned stern.

"Get to work at once. Open the tomb!"

Since they had time now, they might as well settle everything in one go and avoid unforeseen complications later.

The great battle was over. Now came the harvest.

After Kong Tianpeng's treatment, the Kong Family members' injuries had mostly recovered. Though they were still visibly weak, without exception, Chen Duan had forcibly summoned every one of them to serve as laborers.

After all, they were Martial Masters. Their sinews and bones were strong, and they could take a beating!

There was strength in numbers. Before long, the sounds of digging rang throughout the ruins.

"Faster! Did none of you eat? Why are you dragging your feet?" Duan Chonghe had somehow gotten hold of a whip. Every so often, he cracked it through the air with a crisp snap, driving the Kong Family Disciples like a foreman. He had the pose down to a T.

"Damn it! Does he really think we're all doing forced labor?" one of the younger Kong Family members muttered angrily.

Crack!

The response was an even louder whip crack. Though it did not strike him, its intimidating effect was unmistakable.

"What are you grumbling about? Get to work! No slacking!" Duan Chonghe shouted harshly, radiating authority.

Seeing his petty villain's act, Kong Tianpeng's heart burned with anger, and he felt deeply uncomfortable.

He strode over to Chen Duan's side and whispered a few words into his ear.

Chen Duan nodded slightly, then turned his gaze toward Duan Chonghe and said calmly, "Little Duan, you and your men should go down and help as well."

Duan Chonghe froze for a moment, then noticed Kong Tianpeng standing beside Chen Duan, flashing him a smug smile.

He immediately smiled at Chen Duan, put away his whip with an aggrieved look, called over several of his subordinates, and personally joined the work, digging with even greater vigor than the Kong Family members.

"Husband, haven't you gone a little too far?" Xu Miao quietly approached Duan Chonghe. Watching him dig with his bare hands, she asked with a complicated expression.

She truly could not bring herself to like Duan Chonghe's servile-dog demeanor. It was worlds apart from the graceful and elegant husband in her memory.

"My lady, you still haven't seen through the situation before us!" Duan Chonghe replied in a low, rapid voice while vigorously shoveling dirt.

"Our lives are both in the hands of others. If we don't put on an exaggerated show of loyalty now, when will we? The more extreme we are, the safer we'll be."

"But there was no need to set yourself so openly against the Kong Family, was there? I saw that That Lord seemed to have a close relationship with Kong Tianpeng. What if he says something against us behind our backs? Wouldn't we then..."

"Precisely because of that, I must do this!" A glint of shrewdness flashed through Duan Chonghe's eyes.

"Didn't you notice? That Lord didn't stop me from making things difficult for the Kong Family earlier. It was only when Kong Tianpeng spoke up just now that he stepped in to stop me.

"What does that tell us? It tells us that the villainous role I'm playing is exactly what he needs. I've successfully drawn most of the Kong Family's resentment onto myself, so That Lord doesn't have to personally do these thankless tasks and offend people. Why wouldn't he?"

Listening to Duan Chonghe's analysis, Xu Miao's delicate brows drew together slightly, and she still found it difficult to fully let go of her feelings.

He was thinking of Chen Duan at every turn. Hadn't he truly become a complete sycophant?

Still, she ultimately did not question him further. Though she did not understand, she chose to trust her husband. He would not harm her.

And as it turned out, Duan Chonghe had judged the situation correctly.

Everything was indeed happening with Chen Duan's tacit approval.

Kong Tianpeng counted as half a friend to him, so naturally he had to show him some consideration. But the feelings of the other Kong Family members had nothing to do with him.

He did not care if others resented him, but if Duan Chonghe willingly stepped forward to shoulder some of that resentment, it would spare him a bit of peace and quiet.

It had to be said that Duan Chonghe knew how to handle things.

Though he was a thorough fence-sitter, Chen Duan did not mind.

Those who understood the times were heroes. There was nothing shameful about that.

Chen Duan had treated Duan Chonghe as a tool from the start. He had never intended to bare his heart to him, so why care about his character?

Looking at the people digging the tomb with shovels, Chen Duan felt that things were rather inconvenient.

Sure enough, many matters ultimately exceeded the means of a single person. Take his Blood Food reserves, for example. One battle had completely depleted them. The large wooden chest had limited capacity, and carrying it around at all times was inconvenient as well.

Many hands made light work. With the Martial Masters working together, it did not take long before the tomb entrance buried beneath the rubble was cleared out again.

However, the place had already suffered structural damage in the battle between Chen Duan and Feng Qu Xian, leaving it in complete disarray. To reach the core area, they still had to dig deeper underground.

After a great deal of work, it was not until deep into the night that they finally neared the end.

It turned out that beneath the main Tomb Chamber, another Profound Mechanism had been hidden.

The entrance was inside the Stone Coffin. A compartment and mechanism had been installed in the coffin's base. Once activated, it revealed a deep, shadowy passage leading downward to an even more concealed underground Tomb Chamber.

It looked somewhat like a cellar, which naturally brought something to Chen Duan's mind.

He first tossed Duan Chonghe and Kong Mingcheng down to scout the way, then took Kong Tianpeng and the others down with torches in hand.

The underground Tomb Chamber was far more intricate and sturdy than the one above. Despite the fierce battle overhead, it remained completely intact, without the slightest damage.

According to Feng Qu Xian's original plan, this place should have been his stronghold after his rebirth, the base from which he would accumulate strength and rise again.

When the firelight completely dispelled the darkness in the Tomb Chamber and illuminated everything inside, the people following behind all sucked in a cold breath and cried out in alarm.

To a Demonic Path Magnate from the Previous Dynasty, the scene before them might have seemed somewhat "vulgar."

If it had only been gold, silver, and treasures, it would not have been enough to make these Martial Masters lose their composure. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity was simply too astonishing, reaching an utterly inconceivable level.

As far as the eye could see, gold, silver, and jewels were piled up like mountains, dazzling the eyes.

When something became "vulgar" enough, it was no longer vulgar.

The underground Tomb Chamber was vast, while the gold and silver, pearls, and jade were piled up like genuine mountains, forming one rolling range after another. It truly was "worth a city," as though they had stumbled into the imperial treasury.

"Even the imperial palace in the Capital City probably isn't much better than this..." Kong Yuanhong murmured, his heart aching with regret.

Never mind anything else. If they could carry out this "mountain of gold and sea of silver," it would be enough to support the Kong Family in establishing a sizable army.

Unfortunately, none of this had anything to do with the Kong Family anymore.

Noticing his elder brother's expression, Kong Mingcheng hurriedly tugged at his sleeve and signaled with his eyes that he absolutely must not do anything foolish.

Even Kong Mingcheng, who prided himself on his detached temperament, could not help feeling his mouth go dry and his heart race in the face of such heaven-defying wealth.

People died for wealth, and birds died for food. It had always been so.

Of wealth, companions, techniques, and terrain, wealth came first.

Most problems in the world could be solved with "wealth." If they could not, then most likely there simply was not enough wealth.

Though Chen Duan had already learned from Old Feng that great treasures were hidden here and had mentally prepared himself, he was still shaken when he witnessed the sight with his own eyes.

In the end, poverty had limited his imagination of wealth.

People occasionally sent him money in his daily life, but it was only enough for his personal expenses. If he wanted to accomplish anything significant, it was a drop in the bucket.

Now that he had obtained Feng Qu Xian's "start-up capital," originally meant for his rise back to power, he had truly solved the problem once and for all.

He then lifted his torch and carefully searched the Tomb Chamber.

Before long, with Old Feng's guidance, he found several hidden compartments and mechanisms, opening several more connected Tomb Chambers.

Some Tomb Chambers contained all kinds of Divine Weapons; others were piled high with ancient bamboo slips, jade tablets, and beast-hide scrolls recording cultivation techniques and secret arts. One Tomb Chamber was filled with a bone-chilling air, and within it were nothing but frozen corpses and Gu worms.

"Hmph! Are you stunned now?" Old Feng stood with his arms folded, his face full of pride and disdain.

"Let me tell you, this is only the tip of the iceberg. At the peak of my Sacred Sect, the wealth we had accumulated and the depth of our foundation surpassed even the Imperial Court of that era."

He suddenly changed tack, his tone turning mocking as he said:

"Kid, you're a Grandmaster who's about to Break Apex. If you let these shallow possessions before you muddle your mind and blind your eyes, then your Martial Path... Hmph, it ends here."

"Heh, you do have a point." Chen Duan smiled at his words, then turned and stepped into another adjacent Tomb Chamber.

Unlike the previous Tomb Chamber, this place was unusually spacious, with bare, desolate walls.

However, upon closer inspection, one would find countless intricate and strange patterns densely covering the floor, walls, and even the domed ceiling.