Inside the Great Tomb

A set of candles and a lantern cost ten thousand Green Beetles.

They had numerous effects: driving off evil, warding it away, destroying it, and helping a Yin Spirit return.

As a newcomer, he had to spend money where it was needed.

Wang Quan bought a lantern set, then asked the stallholder for information about the great tomb.

The stallholder casually tossed him a booklet. "Read it yourself!"

"If you can understand it, go inside. If you can't, gather materials outside. I buy materials back here, too."

The booklet was written in Daoist script.

Without understanding the three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures, it was impossible to read.

Wang Quan had the [First-Rank Dao Seal], so he naturally deciphered its contents with ease.

It described conditions inside the great tomb, recorded basic information about the surrounding ten thousand miles, and listed various precautions for traveling as a Yin Spirit.

Besides that, it mentioned numerous ways to deal with evil. One was called the [People-Crossing Scripture]: reciting it could permanently cleanse evil.

However, reciting the scripture once required a hundred measures of magical power, so Wang Quan skipped right over it.

The creatures in this second-layer world appeared intelligent, but were actually extraordinarily evil, savage, and bizarre. They were known as evil beings.

These evil beings resembled anomalous creatures, but were easier to kill.

After killing an evil creature, there was a chance of obtaining something called gloom sand.

This substance was quite valuable, and almost every stallholder bought it.

Wang Quan wandered around and discovered that these booklets were everywhere. Only then did he pick up his lantern and prepare to enter the great tomb.

Just then, a red pillar of light suddenly shot into the sky outside the great tomb.

The next second, the pillar vanished, leaving a person standing on the ground.

A thought stirred in Wang Quan's mind. Someone used his Yin Spirit to bring his physical body in.

For someone's physical body to enter the second-layer world, their Yin Spirit had to reach the level of a Yang Spirit or be exceptionally pure.

Such people were all infinitely close to Foundation Establishment, or were already Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Whoosh!

A crowd of Yin Spirits preparing to enter the great tomb rushed over to the newcomer. "Senior brother, take us into the great tomb with you!"

"Senior brother, give me a hand!"

Wang Quan also approached. The newcomer was in his thirties, wearing Daoist robes, with an imposing bearing.

The Daoist surveyed his surroundings.

"Everyone, I'm going to the deepest level of the great tomb. Who dares come?"

Whoosh!

More than half the Yin Spirits dispersed.

They could manage hanging around the outskirts of the great tomb.

But entering its deepest level? That was far too dangerous.

Still, a dozen or so Yin Spirits stayed, thumping their chests as they said, "I've been to the deepest level."

"So have I!"

The Daoist smiled. "Let's go!"

Whoosh!

A moment later, the group charged eagerly into the great tomb.

Wang Quan recalled what the booklet said: in the deepest part of the great tomb was an entity called the General.

Killing him was guaranteed to yield gloom sand worth around a million coins.

There were also plenty of other materials. If they could all be gathered, their value would approach ten million.

Each time the General was killed, the great tomb's power weakened a little.

Thus, capable cultivators all sought ways to kill the General.

I'll explore the outskirts for now and get a clearer picture. There'll be plenty of time to try attacking the center of the great tomb later.

With that thought, he carried his lantern into the great tomb.

The instant he entered, he appeared in a hall.

Vast quantities of Daoist script were carved inside the hall. The characters formed scriptures that covered the walls and floor, emitting a hazy glow that suppressed the great tomb.

Some Yin Spirits spat out mouthfuls of magical power to bolster the scriptures.

Some Yin Spirits missing arms or legs were repairing their limbs here.

Others lay on the ground, surrounded by candles illuminating their bodies, black smoke hissing from them.

Looks like this is a safe area for resting and recovering!

Doors stood around the hall.

They were marked with symbols for one, two, three, and so forth, corresponding to the great tomb's different levels.

Wang Quan went straight through the first-level door.

The next second, his Yin Spirit briefly felt dazed, as though he had entered another world.

A small town appeared before him, filled with lurid green candlelight. Behind him lay endless darkness.

The lantern in his hand could illuminate only a dozen or so meters around him.

Thud!

Wang Quan planted the lantern in the ground, walked to the edge of its light, and reached his hand beyond it.

The next second, he felt a needlelike stabbing pain in his arm.

Without the lantern's protection, my Yin Spirit will keep taking damage.

Hmm... in two hours at most, my Yin Spirit would be eaten away.

He withdrew his arm.

Under the lantern's light, wisps of black smoke rose from it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Wang Quan headed straight for the town.

A large pagoda tree stood at the town entrance, with elderly men and women chatting beneath it.

When they saw Wang Quan approach, their faces lit up with kindly smiles.

"Outsider, the town's masters are treating everyone to a banquet tonight."

"You've come at just the right time. Come along and join the feast."

Wang Quan shook his head. "Sorry, I don't want to join the feast."

At those words, the kindly faces of the elderly men and women instantly twisted into vicious expressions. "If you don't join the feast, what are we supposed to eat?"

"Come on. Join our feast."

They growled and rushed at Wang Quan.

Wang Quan slapped his case, and a Paper Person flew out.

Bang!

The Paper Person transformed into a Palace Maiden wielding twin sabers.

The Palace Maiden gave a sharp cry, her twin sabers whirling.

Crack!

Crack!

Blades flashed, heads fell, and corpses burned.

In barely two or three breaths, the Paper Person Palace Maiden had slaughtered all the elderly men and women.

So weak!

These evil beings were no different from ordinary people and posed no threat whatsoever.

An idea struck Wang Quan, and he slapped the case.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Blue smoke burst forth, and twenty or thirty Palace Maidens appeared.

"Go. Clear out all the evil beings!"

"As you command!"

Weapons in hand, the Palace Maidens charged into the town.

The seemingly normal townsfolk turned savage when faced with the attacking Palace Maidens.

They grabbed clubs, pitchforks, and the like, then charged at them.

"Kill him!"

"Put him on the banquet table!"

"Aaargh, these women are vicious!"

"Aaargh, I'm dying! I'm dying!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The evil beings' bodies burned one after another.

Some Paper People specifically inspected the burning corpses, searching for traces of gloom sand.

Meanwhile, Wang Quan carried his lantern toward the town center.

As he walked, more and more evil beings charged at him from every direction.

Yet the Paper Person Palace Maidens, loaded with the slaughtering memories of over a thousand martial arts experts, cut them down as easily as chopping melons and slicing vegetables.

The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed...

Then the time it took an incense stick to burn...

Crack!

After the Palace Maidens killed the mayor, who was hosting a lavish banquet, every building in the town began to burn.

He had completely cleared the evil beings from this area.

The only pity was that he had not found a single grain of gloom sand.

A moment later, a repelling force acted upon his Yin Spirit.

Wang Quan's thoughts stirred, and he allowed the repelling force to act upon his Yin Spirit.

The next second, his view shifted, and he returned to the scripture-covered hall.

Afterward, Wang Quan entered the second level, then the third...

As the levels increased, the towns and scenarios he encountered changed.

The higher the level, the more complicated the town's story became.

The first level was simply a feast. If he refused to attend, the evil beings flew into a rage.

On the second level, he encountered a wedding scenario. He had intended to give it a try, but the evil beings actually wanted him to be the bride.

Although plenty of male cultivators liked being brides, Wang Quan did not.

So he unleashed a massacre.

The third level featured a wedding in another town. The evil beings could identify his sex, so the villagers stabbed the groom and made Wang Quan take his place.

Wang Quan flew into a rage. "If you dare turn the previous groom into a bride now, you'll dare turn me into a bride in a moment!"

"I'm not being a bride!"

Then, under the bewildered gazes of the evil beings, he released a crowd of Paper Person Palace Maidens, who wielded chopping blades and hacked away wildly.

On this level, he obtained a handful of gloom sand.

A handful of gloom sand could sell for eight hundred to a thousand Green Beetles.

But after deducting the lantern's wear and the time spent, his earnings amounted to only eighty to a hundred Green Beetles.

Making money this way isn't worthwhile right now!

Rather than earning this pittance, I'd be better off refining magical power!