The Red-Robed Ancient Corpse

"This is..."

Upon entering the burial chamber, he saw the traces of the gray-robed men's excavation at a glance: a bottomless chasm in the rock.

"That was quite a project. I doubt anyone below the fourth rank could get across this chasm."

"The excavated passage connects the chasm to the surface. Once they lure the protagonist into the trap, he'll naturally fall into the chasm. Then they'll seal the tomb entrance, and the Qingzhou Prince's heir will never get out again... That's the theory, anyway. Too bad they don't know about a little thing called protagonist halo."

Gu Yuan sighed softly. He couldn't be sure he had protagonist halo himself.

"It looks pretty deep down there..."

The protagonist wouldn't die from the fall, but he might.

He had no intention of taking that risk. He took out the canvas he had prepared, cut it into a circle, and tied cords securely around it one by one...

"What is he doing?"

Qi Yueli's eyes filled with curiosity.

There was something very strange about Gu Yuan's behavior. He was unlike anyone else she had met.

There was a hint of mystery about him that made her want to get to the bottom of it...

"Done."

Gu Yuan shook out the canvas, gripped the cords in both hands, and leaped down.

!!!

Qi Yueli's heart skipped a beat.

The drop in this burial chamber was enormous, and bottomless chasms surrounded it. With Gu Yuan's movement technique, he would surely be killed or injured if he fell.

She thought to intervene and was just about to save him.

But the next moment, she was surprised to see Gu Yuan floating through the air.

"He's using the canvas to slow his fall while sending true qi into the rock wall, then using the recoil to adjust his direction..."

The corners of Qi Yueli's lips rose slightly.

"How interesting."

She worried no longer and watched Gu Yuan sail across the chasm and land steadily atop the central burial chamber.

Only after Gu Yuan entered the central burial chamber did she reveal herself. With a light tap of her feet, she easily landed where Gu Yuan had just stood.

Half an hour passed.

Gu Yuan still hadn't reached the end.

"This tomb really is huge. Only the imperial family of Great Li could have one on this scale, at the very least."

"But this tomb is clearly near Qi Capital, yet it's remained undiscovered all this time. That's really puzzling..."

Qi Yueli, following behind him, was equally puzzled.

Mount Mangdang was where the imperial gardens stood. By rights, a tomb this large couldn't have gone unnoticed when the gardens were built.

Had someone deliberately concealed the tomb's existence?

But why would they do that?

The tomb must contain a secret that could not be revealed!

The same thought occurred to Gu Yuan and Qi Yueli at the same time.

Just then.

A shriek rang out.

Both of their expressions hardened.

In front of Gu Yuan, a pair of crimson eyes opened in the darkness.

"So, you're here."

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

True Yang Art!

Blazing yang flames ignited in Gu Yuan's left palm, and he spread them over his peachwood sword.

The yang flames pierced the darkness, illuminating the surroundings and the owner of those crimson eyes.

It was an ancient corpse.

Its body was as black as ink, its whole form shrouded in faint black smoke. There was no reason in its eyes, only the instinct of a creature that had spotted food.

It wanted to eat Gu Yuan!

The next moment.

The ancient corpse charged at him with incredible speed.

Gu Yuan swung his peachwood sword, affixed a black-rice talisman to it, and gathered true qi along its blade before slashing down with a crash.

It was super effective!

A piercing shriek echoed through the burial chamber.

The ancient corpse was cleaved in two, one half to the left and the other to the right, both twitching until they finally stopped moving.

"These items really do come in handy."

Gu Yuan smiled faintly.

In his previous life, he had relied on these items to slaughter thousands of ancient corpse monsters before breaking through to max level.

Qi Yueli was astonished.

Even a fifth-rank martial artist would have had to expend considerable effort dealing with that ancient corpse.

Yet before Gu Yuan, it had been so easily defeated.

And that wasn't all. What surprised Qi Yueli even more was that,

when Gu Yuan saw the ancient corpse, there hadn't been the slightest trace of fear in his eyes...

Wouldn't a normal person be afraid?

Even she had been momentarily stunned at first sight.

But Gu Yuan hadn't been affected in the slightest. It was as if he had seen ancient corpses countless times before...

One, two, three...

After slaying a full six ancient corpses, Gu Yuan finally reached the innermost burial chamber.

He pushed open the stone door. A jade coffin stood in the middle of the chamber, and inside it lay an ancient corpse dressed in red.

Across from the jade coffin stood the jade pedestal where the Dragon Seal was kept!

"Found it."

"But according to dungeon logic, I should be facing the final boss any moment now..."

Qi Yueli didn't understand what Gu Yuan meant, but she knew danger was at hand.

The next instant.

The jade coffin moved!

Its lid suddenly flew off and hurtled toward Gu Yuan with a crash!

"No opening lines? You just attack without warning? That's no way to uphold martial virtue!"

Gu Yuan cursed as he dodged to the side.

With a thunderous boom, the rock cracked, and the coffin lid embedded itself in the wall.

If he had been a second slower, that lid would definitely have crushed him into a bloody pulp.

The red-robed ancient corpse let out a violent shriek and rose upright, taking the entire jade coffin with it!

"No time to play with you."

Six Yang Finger!

Yang-flame true qi shot from his fingertips, blasting the red-robed ancient corpse again and again.

The red-robed ancient corpse seemed to fear the yang flames and instinctively turned, using the coffin to shield itself.

"His true qi isn't strong enough to break through the jade coffin," Qi Yueli murmured to herself. "It seems I need to give him a hand..."

However.

When she caught sight of the smile on Gu Yuan's lips, she lowered the hand she had raised.

"Could he be trying to..."

The yang-flame true qi continued to pound against the jade coffin.

It did no damage at all.

The red-robed ancient corpse seemed to possess awareness, letting out a hoarse cry that sounded like a sneer.

Gu Yuan's lips curved.

He had kept changing positions between attacks, and now he was only one step away from the jade pedestal holding the Dragon Seal.

"Bye-bye. Hope we never meet again!"

Gu Yuan reached out and grabbed the Dragon Seal, then bit the tip of his tongue and shot through the tomb door at incredible speed, fleeing into the distance.

The red-robed ancient corpse froze, then suddenly looked at the jade pedestal. Only then did it realize it had been tricked!

The yang-flame true qi attacks had been nothing more than a way to draw its attention!

Roar-!

An enraged roar resounded through the ancient tomb.

The next instant.

The ground began to shake, and the entire ancient tomb miraculously began sinking.

At the same time, the red-robed ancient corpse turned into a blur, about to give chase in the direction Gu Yuan had disappeared.

"Stop right there!"

Bang!

Terrifying true qi slammed into the red-robed ancient corpse, kicking it straight back into the burial chamber.

Qi Yueli landed gently, standing in the burial chamber's stone doorway.

"Lie back down in your coffin, and I won't destroy you."

Its crimson eyes stared fixedly at Qi Yueli, filled with bewilderment, anger, and fear.

"You seem to have emotions. Your eyes are different from those of ordinary ancient corpses." There was curiosity in Qi Yueli's eyes.

The red-robed ancient corpse roared, but didn't dare come forward.

"Are you... a member of Great Li's imperial family?"

The words "Great Li" seemed to flip a switch. The red-robed ancient corpse shuddered, and its agitated roars gradually subsided.

"Who... are... you...?" A dry, hoarse voice squeezed out of its decayed throat.

Qi Yueli calmly raised her eyes.

"Qi Yueli, empress of Great Qi."

!!!!!

"Great Qi...!! Great Qi...!! Kill them... kill them all...!! Aah-! Kill-!"

The red-robed ancient corpse suddenly let out a piercing shriek.

The next moment.

The ground shook even more violently, and blocks of masonry began sinking one after another.

Qi Yueli's expression changed, and she vanished in an instant.

A dozen breaths later.

The entire ancient tomb collapsed.

Gu Yuan, Qi Yueli, and the red-robed ancient corpse were all buried within...