Second-Level Tomb

Yang Lingrui followed Li Cheng through the passageway.

Judging by the depth, they should have reached the second level of the ancient tomb.

"Oh? A fork in the road? Interesting."

The four stopped before five branching paths that led in different directions.

Yang Lingrui immediately understood the layout of the second level.

Unlike the open space of the first level, the second level of the ancient tomb consisted entirely of passageways like these.

The passageways stretched ever downward, twisting and branching, forming a peculiar underground tomb structure.

"Ling Rui, are you usually lucky?" Li Cheng asked.

Yang Lingrui thought for a moment. "I suppose I'm fairly lucky."

"Then you choose. I've been plagued by bad luck since I was little. I've never picked anything right."

"Mm..."

After pondering for a moment, Yang Lingrui chose the passageway on the far right.

The four entered it, and before they had gone far, they encountered their first wave of attacks.

It was a swarm of corpse-born worms that burrowed out of the ground. These strange insects could devour a cultivator's spiritual power. Alone, they possessed no combat strength, but in great swarms, they were exceedingly troublesome.

However, with Li Cheng, a Sixth Level of Qi Gathering cultivator, present, the insects naturally posed no problem. A few slaps killed them all.

Li Cheng cultivated an external manifestation technique, which allowed him to unleash his various moves in the form of condensed external manifestations.

As he put it, if he had Five Elements talismans to empower him, he could grant his spells their corresponding attributes and respond to enemies with flexibility.

After passing through the swarm of insects, the four arrived in a room where a coffin lay horizontally.

Li Cheng inspected it, then opened it after confirming there were no mechanisms.

There was no corpse inside the coffin, only a pile of burial goods.

The most valuable item was a Qi Gathering Early-stage Spirit Awakening Pill, which Li Cheng tucked into his pocket.

After walking farther ahead, they came upon another fork in the road.

This time, Yang Lingrui once again chose the right-hand path.

Nothing happened along the second stretch. The four reached a new room without any obstruction and found three Qi Gathering Mid-stage Mountain Moving Talismans there.

These talismans could greatly increase a Qi Gathering Cultivator's physical strength and were extremely practical. Li Cheng gave one to Yang Lingrui and kept the remaining two.

They continued onward. The same kind of fork, and once again, they chose the right path.

On the third stretch, they encountered a Skeleton Python.

This sinister thing was not a Demon Beast, but a creature formed from corpses infested with resentful souls gathering together.

"Third Level of Qi Gathering. Ling Rui, why don't you take this one?"

"Just what I wanted."

Yang Lingrui knew Li Cheng wanted to see what he was capable of.

He had been itching for a fight himself, so he would use this Skeleton Python to loosen his muscles.

Wind, rise.

Yang Lingrui murmured inwardly, and gust after gust of Gale Wind rose with his thoughts.

Crack, crack—

The Skeleton Python twisted its body and charged forward.

Gale Wind wrapped around his body as Yang Lingrui spun into motion in an instant.

With a flip, he arrived behind the Skeleton Python, then summoned several wind blades and fired them out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fierce wind blades struck the Skeleton Python's massive body, instantly stirring the sinister creature's savagery. It turned and roared as it lunged at him.

"Gather."

Yang Lingrui remained calm, gathering several streams of Gale Wind in his palm.

When the creature closed in, he released them in an instant.

A wind drill of astonishing speed shot forth. In the eyes of the four, it became a gray streak, boring into the Skeleton Python's head, punching through half its body, and bursting out the other side.

The Skeleton Python fell with a crash. The corpses making up its body scattered across the ground and gradually turned to flying ash.

"Excellent technique!"

Li Cheng clapped and praised him.

The two trusted subordinates behind him also looked at Yang Lingrui differently now.

The Skeleton Python was no easy enemy. If it had been them, even in the same realm, they could never have ended the battle so quickly.

"This kid's wind techniques are formidable."

"Indeed. And his mastery is extremely deep—he has both power and speed."

The two spoke quietly, calculating in their hearts how many chances they would have of winning if they faced Yang Lingrui themselves.

"I've made a fool of myself. To be honest, this is the only technique Ling Rui knows," Yang Lingrui said with a smile.

"So what? One fresh move can feed you all across the world! With techniques, refinement matters more than quantity. Look at me—I only cultivate an external manifestation technique too."

Having seen Yang Lingrui's strength, Li Cheng was thoroughly satisfied. His mood naturally brightened, and his steps became lighter as well.

In the third room, they found a stone.

Li Cheng examined it and confirmed that it was a naturally formed Exotic Stone.

"Does Ling Rui know what this is?"

"I know a little. There were records of it in the books my elders brought back," Yang Lingrui replied.

In truth, Yang Lingrui had been a little excited the instant he saw this Exotic Stone, but he concealed it well.

As something of the stone attribute, it could be supplied to his Immortal Venerable Spirit Stone.

"Mm, but its use is unknown, and its value is hard to determine. It might very well be useless."

Li Cheng patted his pouch. "How about trading it for something else from me?"

"Ah, it's fine, Young Master Li. There's no need to dwell on such things. Treasure hunting is about luck and ability in the first place."

Yang Lingrui politely declined. "No need to exchange it for anything else. This Exotic Stone alone will do."

"That's true. Perhaps it really is a treasure."

The Exotic Stone was handed to Yang Lingrui. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he stored it in his storage pouch.

This counts as a gain. Once I return, I'll give this to the Immortal Venerable.

Yang Lingrui thought.

After that, the four passed through another two forks in the road.

One of the branching paths held no danger, while the other contained a Fourth Layer of Qi Gathering ghost general. Li Cheng did not intervene, and Yang Lingrui joined forces with the other two to defeat it.

From the two rooms, they respectively obtained a Qi Gathering Early-stage treasured sword and a Qi Gathering Early-stage Vitality Returning Grass.

After successfully passing through five stretches of passageway, there were no more forks ahead. A broad path led directly to the third level of the ancient tomb.

Yang Lingrui's luck had been rather good. Out of the five paths, he had chosen two safe passageways.

By that reasoning, if one's luck was good enough, even a First Level of Qi Gathering cultivator could obtain five rewards without lifting a finger and pass through the passageways to reach the third level, so long as they chose a safe branch without danger every time.

Upon reaching the third-level area, a gloomy main hall came into view.

When Yang Lingrui and the others arrived, Huang Yan and Zheng Huaming had already gotten there ahead of them.

"You two fellow cultivators moved quickly," Li Cheng said with a smile.

"Not at all. Young Master Li was simply being modest. Otherwise, how could we have had the chance to get there first?"

"Indeed. We hope Young Master Li will not blame us."

The two apologized.

Li Cheng was not such a petty man. He did not dwell on the matter and turned to look at the main hall.

The entire hall was built from purplish-black stone, the same material as the entrance to the ancient tomb they had seen earlier.

The lower half of the hall was carved with crowds of people kneeling and praying. The middle was covered in intricate, complex incantations, while higher up sat a blurry-faced figure upon an altar.

He now understood why Huang Yan and Zheng Huaming had not opened the hall doors and continued onward, instead choosing to wait here for them.

It was because this main hall was simply too strange.

The patterns above clearly imitated an image of all living beings worshipping Buddha.

Yet the effect before their eyes did not resemble Buddha worship in the slightest.

It looked more like worshipping ghosts.