Their flashlights shone toward the middle of the rift. This underground chasm was a full five or six hundred meters wide at the bottom, and the rubble below lay in heaps like little hills.
In the middle of the rift, an enormous mass of rock had been carved into a series of terraces, resembling a small pyramid. A long stone staircase ran up one side, with a small lamp-bearing servant statue on either side of every step.
What caught everyone's attention was the object sitting on the stone platform: an enormous white stone outer coffin the size of a car. Nine stone-carved, hundred-legged dragons coiled beneath it, forming the shape of a lotus. Four black stone figures stood around it, facing the four directions in kneeling obeisance.
Before the outer coffin stood a large ritual cauldron for offerings. Behind it was a screen wall, though they could not make out what was carved on it.
Wu Xie sucked in a breath of cold air:
"Is that thing King Wannu's Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin?"
Fatty said:
"It absolutely is! Who would've thought that crack in the rock really led straight to the heart of the Cloud Palace? Heh, Lord Fatty here has been all over and gone down into plenty of tombs, but this is the first time I've gone straight to the heart of one. Aside from that blizzard on the way up the mountain, we haven't run into any danger at all."
He glanced at Cao Ya, who had guided them along this route. Where on earth had he learned so much?
But asking Cao Ya would be a waste of breath. He definitely would not tell them. Fatty shook his head.
"Come on, let's get closer and take a look." Pan Zi was a little excited too.
Cao Ya held out an arm to stop them:
"Not so fast. That thing has guardians."
Fatty said nonchalantly:
"They're stone carvings. What's there to be scared of?"
Cao Ya wore a half-smile:
"Stone carvings? What the hell is wrong with your eyes? Take another good look at those things beside the platform."
Beside the platform?
Judging by Cao Ya's expression, he was not joking. But however hard they looked around the platform, they could not see anything there.
Poker-Face, who had been silent almost the entire way, suddenly spoke:
"Volcano Centipedes."
"What things?" Fatty had not understood.
Poker-Face said expressionlessly:
"Volcano Centipedes are carnivorous insects, extremely vicious and fast. Creatures our size are their favorite prey."
Poker-Face shone his flashlight over and pointed. At first, Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, and Shunzi saw nothing either. Just as their confusion reached its peak, they suddenly noticed the stone platform move. Their scalps prickled, and their hearts began to race.
An enormous Volcano Centipede was actually coiled atop the platform, a full five or six meters long. It was so huge, and its shell was almost exactly the same color as the volcanic rock, that a cursory glance could never have revealed the creature sprawled there.
Once they spotted the first, they quickly found a second, a third, and a fourth. In all, they counted nine giant centipedes, all coiled around the stone platform like relief carvings, almost completely blending into the rock.
Nine dragons lifting a corpse-it truly lived up to its name!
Their scalps felt ready to burst. What had these things eaten to grow so large? They were five or six meters long! Normally, they only lived for two or three years. No matter how wildly they grew, there was no way they could reach five or six meters in that time.
Could these Volcano Centipedes have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years?
The nine enormous centipedes lay motionless around the coffin platform at the bottom of the rift, but everyone still felt an immense pressure. Their faces turned deathly pale, and they backed away involuntarily.
"Damn it, we don't even have a gun. We're screwed." Pan Zi swallowed.
Poker-Face said evenly:
"You don't need to be so nervous. It's winter now. There are hot springs, but the temperature here still isn't high enough. The centipedes are hibernating. These insects won't wake up that easily."
Holy shit, Poker-Face really has been here before. He knows all about these things... So we're the only idiots,
coming here without knowing a damn thing... Wu Xie, Fatty, and Pan Zi exchanged glances, all feeling a little dejected.
"Volcano Centipedes, and King Wannu too."
"Heh."
Cao Ya chuckled and motioned for the others to follow him. He was going over to kill those Volcano Centipedes.
What? Did I hear that right? Cao Ya's going to kill those giant centipedes? Is he joking? Isn't that just asking to die? Sure, he's powerful, but those bugs are the size of a two-story house-and there are nine of them!
A swarm of thoughts raced through their minds, but before they could speak up to stop him, Cao Ya had already moved.
With a blur of movement, Cao Ya covered several dozen meters. Two more flickers, and he was atop the coffin platform.
Behind him, everyone's jaws nearly hit the ground. Their faces were full of disbelief.
Is he really a fucking immortal cultivator?!
Once atop the platform, Cao Ya formed neither a palm seal nor a fist seal. He simply raised his hand and slapped down, golden light swirling around it. One slap reduced a hibernating Volcano Centipede to a pulp.
These creatures could not exactly be called weak. They had some strength, but before him, they were utterly outclassed.
Never mind their defenseless, hibernating state-even awake and at their peak, Cao Ya could still kill each one with a single slap.
As though sensing their companion's death, the other eight Volcano Centipedes' eyelids twitched, and their bodies trembled. They seemed about to awaken.
Cao Ya threw eight punches with incomparable speed. Eight golden fist seals flashed, followed by eight bangs. The eight centipedes followed the first to their deaths, all smashed to a pulp by Cao Ya.
The others, who were hurrying after him, froze like wooden chickens.
Cao Ya paid them no attention. He did not even look at King Wannu's outer coffin. Its lid was shifting ever so slowly, as though its occupant had been awakened too.
Cao Ya tilted his head back and saw countless dark shapes in the darkness at the top of the rift. They were some kind of strange bird.
Boom!
Cao Ya punched, and golden light illuminated the dark rift. The others spotted the strange birds too and jumped in fright.
Then they watched the golden fist rampage through them, trailing vast swathes of divine light. Like an immortal from myth unleashing his power, he killed countless strange birds with a single strike.
Wu Xie was stunned. In that instant, countless emotions surged through him, until a thousand words finally condensed into one sentence: "Holy shit!"
Everyone stared at Cao Ya and rubbed their eyes, wondering whether they had seen wrong.
Being a martial arts master who knew kung fu was one thing, but he really was a fucking immortal cultivator?!
Poker-Face was shaken. His fists clenched, then relaxed. Now he understood how Wu Xie and the others had felt before.
The group ran up onto the coffin platform, their faces filled with shock. Just as they were about to ask him about it, Cao Ya suddenly pressed his palm against King Wannu's outer coffin.
Only then did they notice that, at some point, King Wannu's enormous outer coffin had opened a crack. Three bluish-purple things resembling arms had reached out from inside. Their extraordinarily long fingernails swept through the air, as though trying to grab something.
Yes, they had seen correctly. There were three!
Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, and Shunzi looked at one another.
After more than ten seconds of silence, Wu Xie spoke in a slightly odd tone:
"Are we all hallucinating?"
Before you continue