"Ah—!"
A piercing scream echoed through the vast, silent underwater hall, making the chill in the air seem to recoil.
It had happened too fast. No one had time to react.
The dried skeleton that had sat cross-legged on the Cold Jade Chair for who knew how many years had actually "come to life." Its hand, nothing but stark white bones, had sunk deep into Qian Tong's left shoulder like an iron hook.
Blood gushed out in an instant, staining the pristine Cold Jade Chair and the skeleton's faded robes red.
"Get off me! Get off!"
Qian Tong's face twisted in agony. The air of pampered comfort and shrewd command he usually wore as a manager of the merchant association had vanished. He swung his right palm wildly, sending a surge of powerful inner force crashing into the skeleton's skull.
"Crack!"
With a sharp snap, the skeleton's already-fragile neck broke. Its head, with its eerie green ghost fire (actually phosphor fire), rolled away and came to a stop right at Lu Chen's feet.
At the same time, the bony hand embedded in Qian Tong's shoulder sagged limply without support, but its fingers remained clamped tightly in his flesh.
"Manager!"
Only then did the four Flying Horse Merchant Association guards snap out of their shock and rush over with cries of alarm.
The tall, thin man in black moved especially fast, leaving a blur as he appeared beside Qian Tong in an instant. He held two fingers together like a blade and precisely severed the remaining arm bone, then swiftly tapped several major acupoints on Qian Tong's shoulder to stop the gushing blood.
"Wh-what kind of ghostly thing is this? Did it come back from the dead?"
One of the guards stared at the scattered bones, his face deathly pale and the hand gripping his saber trembling slightly.
In these bottomless underwater ruins, anyone would feel a chill shoot from the soles of their feet straight to their crown when confronted with a skeleton that suddenly sprang up to attack.
Only Lu Chen stood calmly a few steps away, a faint, elusive smile on his face.
His fingers twitched slightly, and several transparent threads, fine as silk and all but invisible to the naked eye, silently slipped back into his sleeve.
This was Puppet Silk.
A little trick from the heretical path that he had specifically asked Wang Xiaoliu to prepare last night. He hadn't expected it to work so well.
"Hall Master Lu!"
Qian Tong's face was deathly pale, his forehead slick with cold sweat. He glared at Lu Chen, resentment and suspicion filling his eyes. "You were the closest just now. Why didn't you help?!"
Though he was in terrible pain, he hadn't lost his wits. In that instant, he had clearly sensed a faint ripple of force—and the skeleton had attacked at a suspiciously perfect moment, right as he reached out to feel around.
"Manager Qian, that's a most unfair accusation."
Lu Chen spread his hands, looking entirely innocent. "I was scared out of my wits, too. Who could've guessed that a senior who'd been dead for hundreds of years would still have such a temper and refuse to let anyone touch him?"
As he spoke, he lightly nudged the skull at his feet with the tip of his boot, kicking it aside as if it were a ball.
"You..."
Qian Tong choked on his anger and was about to lash out when the man in black beside him gave him a light tug.
"Manager, look at this."
The man in black pried a piece of black metal from the severed arm bone.
The fragment had been clutched tightly in the skeleton's hand, and the strike had dislodged it. It was semicircular, etched with intricate patterns and exuding an ancient, weathered aura.
Qian Tong took the fragment, and his face, twisted with pain, suddenly froze.
Then a surge of elation welled up inside him, eclipsing even the agony in his shoulder.
"This... This is..."
With trembling hands, he took a semicircular jade pendant of the same material from his robes.
Before the journey, the Ye Family Patriarch had personally given him this token, saying it was the key to unlocking the Profound Nether Sect's true inheritance.
The two fragments, one black and one white, fit together perfectly along their edges.
Qian Tong took a deep breath and slowly joined the two pieces.
"Vmm—!"
A deep, resonant hum rang out.
The silent hall suddenly trembled. Countless blue lines of light appeared on the bare stone wall behind the Cold Jade Chair. They intertwined and flowed, eventually gathering into a massive array pattern.
"Rumble..."
Amid a heavy grinding sound, the stone wall slowly slid apart, revealing a hidden chamber behind it.
A wave of cold air ten times denser than that in the hall surged out of the chamber!
"Hss—"
Everyone present except Lu Chen drew in a sharp breath, their eyebrows and hair instantly frosting over.
Even Qian Tong and the others, protected by Water Repelling Pearls, felt as if their blood was about to freeze.
Yet their eyes immediately burned with excitement.
The chamber was small, barely a few feet across.
At its center stood a waist-high Ice Stone Platform.
Two objects floated quietly above it.
On the left was a booklet glowing with a faint blue light. Three ancient seal-script characters could just be made out on its cover: Ice Soul Art.
On the right was a translucent jade bottle, its stopper slightly ajar. A refreshing medicinal fragrance mingled with the cold and drifted out. Just one breath was enough to make their pores open and their true qi circulate a little faster.
"A mid-grade Spirit Tier cultivation art, Ice Soul Art! And... is that the legendary Marrow Cleansing Pill?!"
Qian Tong's eyes turned red in an instant, like a rabbit's—filled with greed and frenzy.
In that moment, he forgot his pain, forgot the danger, and even forgot Lu Chen was beside him.
These were the treasures the Ye Family Patriarch had dreamed of obtaining!
If he brought them back, his standing in the Ye Family would soar. He might even be granted the Ye surname and become a true core clan member!
"Quick! Go get them!"
Qian Tong shouted, shoving the man in black beside him.
The man was just as excited. He blurred forward, ready to rush into the chamber.
But—
"Thud!"
A muffled impact.
The moment the man in black touched the entrance, it was as if he had run into an invisible wall. He was hurled backward and slammed hard onto the ground.
"What happened?!" Qian Tong cried in alarm.
A faint blue barrier had appeared across the entrance, its surface rippling with a chilling light.
"There's a restriction!"
The man in black got back to his feet, his expression grim. "It's powerful. Forcing our way through probably won't work."
"Useless! You're all useless!"
Qian Tong was so anxious he stamped his feet. He could see a mountain of treasure right before him but couldn't get through the door. The frustration gnawed at him worse than being killed.
Just then, several lines of ancient writing slowly appeared on one side of the chamber wall, glowing faintly.
Everyone stared at them.
"I am Han Shanzi, third-generation Sect Master of the Profound Nether Sect. I leave this inheritance for those destined to find it."
"To enter, one must meet one of the following conditions:"
"First, possess an Extreme Yin Extreme Cold Physique."
"Second, cultivate the Profound Nether Sect's basic art, Profound Nether Hand, and condense Profound Nether Cold Qi."
There were only a few lines, but their meaning was clear.
This was a means of screening applicants. The Profound Nether Sect didn't want its inheritance falling into outsiders' hands, so it had set this threshold.
After reading the inscription, the hall fell into a deathly silence.
An Extreme Yin Extreme Cold Physique?
That kind of physique was one in ten thousand. No one present could possibly have it.
That left only the second path.
Cultivate Profound Nether Hand and condense Profound Nether Cold Qi.
Almost simultaneously, everyone's gaze turned toward Lu Chen.
Qian Tong's expression changed.
His earlier greed and anxiety gave way in an instant to malice, cruelty, and undisguised murderous intent.
He slowly turned to Lu Chen, who had been standing silently in the corner, and a vicious smile curled across his lips.
"Hall Master Lu."
Qian Tong's voice was quiet, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness. "It seems fate has arranged everything."
"What you found underwater earlier must have been Profound Nether Hand, right?"
"And judging by the way you fought earlier, that chilling energy of yours... You've already condensed Profound Nether Cold Qi, haven't you?"
Lu Chen looked at him expressionlessly, neither confirming nor denying it.
He simply stroked the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand, his fingertips gliding along its cold edge.
"What is it you want to say, Manager Qian?" Lu Chen asked mildly.
"What I want to say? Hall Master Lu is a clever man. I'm sure you understand."
Qian Tong stopped pretending. Clutching his injured shoulder, he stepped back and signaled to the four guards.
With a clatter, the four guards fanned out, surrounding Lu Chen.
The man in black drew the long saber at his waist, its point aimed straight at Lu Chen's throat. He unleashed every ounce of his killing intent.
"Lu Chen."
Qian Tong sneered. "I'd planned to pay you off with silver. After all, we're businessmen. We believe in keeping things amicable to make a profit. But now it seems we'll have to handle this deal differently."
"Since you're the only one who can claim the inheritance, I'll have to trouble Hall Master Lu to go in, take those two things, and hand them over to me."
"As soon as I have them, I'll let you live. And I'll still pay you the thirty thousand taels I promised—not a single tael less!"
"Oh?"
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow, his eyes playful. "Do you believe that yourself, Manager Qian?"
"Isn't killing the mule after it's done the work what wealthy families like yours are best at? If I bring the treasures out and hand them over, my head will be rolling the next second, won't it?"
Exposed, Qian Tong wasn't the least bit annoyed. Instead, he smiled even more broadly.
"Hall Master Lu really is a clear-eyed man."
"Since we've laid everything out, I won't beat around the bush."
Qian Tong's expression darkened, and he barked:
"That's right! You have only two choices today!"
"Either you obey and retrieve the inheritance. You'll still die in the end, but I'll make it quick and leave your body intact!"
"Or I'll have my men break your arms and legs right now, then drag you in like a dead dog!"
"Choose!"
As Qian Tong's words fell, the four guards advanced a step together.
The man in black locked his Qi Mechanism onto Lu Chen. The slightest sign of movement, and he would strike like a thunderbolt.
The atmosphere instantly tightened to the breaking point.
It was like a bowstring pulled taut, ready to snap at any moment.
Lu Chen looked at the greedy, vicious faces surrounding him and suddenly smiled.
His smile was faint and soft.
In that tense atmosphere, though, it rang out like a slap.
"Choose?"
Lu Chen shook his head and slowly raised his Hundred Refinements Steel Saber, its tip angled toward the ground.
"Only children have to choose."
"Adults..."
His gaze turned icy, like a bottomless pool of dead water.
"Take it all!"
"Qian Tong, do you really think you can take me down with this handful of bottom-feeding trash?"
Lu Chen's brazen attitude enraged Qian Tong. He swept his hand out and issued his final order:
"You refused a toast, so drink a forfeit!"
"Get him! Break him! Just leave him breathing!"
"Brother Lu, I'm afraid we'll have to rough you up a little."
The five experts from the Prefectural City advanced on Lu Chen at once, their killing intent surging like a tide.
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