“Hmm? Are we missing someone?”
In a dark corner of the grand tomb, it was said to be a secluded room, but it was a whole other world inside.
Water from an unknown underground river quietly flowed in, and a row of withered willow trees stood silently upon floating bridges.
Tan Zhuyin turned back to take a look and vaguely felt something was off.
Zhu Jiji turned around, his googly eyes serious as he began counting out loud:
“Holy Son, sixty-four people!”
“Sixty my head, we came down with forty people!”
Luo Yexian jumped in surprise, then smacked the back of Zhu Jiji’s head: “It’s obviously thirty-two people.”
“Eight are missing? When did that happen?”
Tan Zhuyin’s expression changed slightly; he hadn’t noticed at all.
This meant that the two Law Kings following him hadn’t noticed anything either.
“Maybe the tomb master is the ancestor god of Yunmeng. Can we use the ancestor statue to communicate with the tomb?” Luo Yexian asked.
Tan Zhuyin felt this method could work, pondering for a moment before pulling out the ancestor god statue from his pocket.
After a brief interaction with the statue, he said in a deep voice:
“Useless.”
Luo Yexian and the other members of the Huanmo Sect tried as well, shaking their heads in unison.
This meant that either the tomb had some kind of formation rendering their communication ineffective, or the Dream God was once again trapped in slumber.
The latter seemed more likely.
If it was the former, they wouldn’t have received a response earlier.
“Let’s not look for those people just yet; let’s find an exit first.”
Tan Zhuyin’s voice seemed to be ‘turned off,’ drifting over the empty lake surface.
The group of sorcerers moved forward on the floating bridge.
However, the bridge was excessively long, and gradually they seemed to march faster and faster, yet the scenery in front of them remained unchanged.
Tan Zhuyin’s inner impatience rose.
Just as he was about to turn back and call on the two Law Kings to take action, Luo Yexian suddenly pointed ahead.
“What… what is that?”
The group looked, and their expressions changed instantly.
It was a jumble of corpses, exactly eight in number, each in a tragic state, their round eyes wide open in shock.
“Shi Yong! How did he d*e here?”
“How did they d*e without a sound?”
“Something sinister must be lurking nearby…”
These members of the Huanmo Sect weren’t exactly newbies, but seeing such a bizarre scene made them collectively gasp.
Moreover, this meant they hadn’t actually moved far, just been spinning in place!
Gulp—
Suddenly, the lake water surged, countless shadowy figures emerged, it was hundreds, if not thousands, of Dream Ju, but rather than attacking, they coldly stared at the members of the Huanmo Sect.
Uh-oh?
The sorcerers felt chills run down their spines, but could not help but be puzzled.
Two figures, one fat and one thin, suddenly appeared beside Tan Zhuyin—those were the two Law Kings who had come with him.
“The only thing that can restrain Dream Ju’s desire for souls is a higher-level existence.”
…..
“So this is the layout of the underground palace?”
Ke Mo looked at the layout of the tomb on the ground.
This was devised by Tian Miao just moments ago, and Ke Mo had drawn it out based on her calculations.
Tian Miao nodded with a somewhat pale face, a trickle of bl**d running from her mouth, and she weakly smiled: “Pretty impressive, right?”
“…..”
Ke Mo didn’t expect Tian Miao would ask something like this at this moment, so he just gave a thumbs-up, meaning ‘awesome.’
Then he pulled out some healing elixirs for her—the tomb was unpredictable, so having some extra strength was always a good idea.
“Feels kinda familiar…”
Ying Bing pondered, her delicate hand gripping the scabbard of the Tian Shuang sword, pointing at the diagram.
Moments later, she turned back and said seriously: “I know how to get there.”
Little Ke leaned back slightly: “Ice Chunk, are you sure? This isn’t Ke Mo’s tomb…”
“?”
Ying Bing tightened her grip on the sword scabbard, recalling that map filled with Ke Mo’s details….
But everyone knew, Ice Chunk was the best at playing it cool, acting as if she didn’t understand a thing that was being said.
“What I mean is, this underground palace layout looks like a chessboard.”
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“It’s your move.”
“Hmm?”
Li Mo squinted as he surveyed the layout, but considering he probably wouldn’t even recognize that chessboard.
He was too busy showing off in front of others at the time.
Seeing Little Li’s confused gaze, Ying Bing gently said: “The changes within this underground palace follow that chessboard.”
“When we stepped into the underground palace, it counted as entering the game. Within the chess game, some places are deadly traps. If we carelessly walk in, the situation will become increasingly dangerous, potentially leading to a dead end.”
“Chess game?”
Tian Miao leaned closer to have a look, her face starting to pale again as she hastily withdrew her gaze.
She stared blankly: “A chess game like this… how could anyone decipher it? This…”
“If the chess game can’t be solved, how would the entrance even appear?” Li Mo reminded.
“That’s true; I wonder who has such chess skills…”
As Tian Miao said this, she glanced at Ying Bing with admiration: “You really are something, being able to see this is a chess game.”
“Because the one who can break the game is her.”
“…..”
The three continued to search within the underground palace, and finally found the entrance. Beside the entrance were two copper beasts, with numbers from ‘one’ to ‘nineteen’ engraved on their bases.
How does the first move go again?
Crack—
Ying Bing twisted the left copper beast to nine and the right one to thirteen.
Boom, rumble—
The ground shook ominously, as if the entire underground palace was quaking, like a giant Rubik’s Cube being twisted by immense power.
Then the correct side room shifted toward them.
Li Mo appeared thoughtful.
So, the maze-like underground palace was a layer of security.
Ensuring that only the one who broke the chess game could reach the hidden tomb?
“A tomb possessing such craftsmanship is astonishing.”
“I wonder what kind of power the Huanmo Sect had back then…”
Tian Miao pondered: “At that time, they would probably still be called the Huan Shen Sect, right?”
She was curious about what kind of being the tomb dwellers were, because when she had deduced earlier, all she saw was a blur and emptiness.
With a loud bang, the entrance opened.
Li Mo, holding Star Pillar, stepped forward first.
…..
Having moved forward for who knows how long, they arrived at a place that resembled an alchemy room, but much larger than the Danding Peak of the Qingyuan Sect.
There were also Dream Ju guarding this place, but they seemed quite different from those they encountered earlier.
Their aura was much deeper; they wore long robes and even had flowing hair, and their skin had a lustrous texture.
From a distance, they almost looked like living people.
Speaking in a voice akin to a servant:
“One person per month may claim one vial of elixir.”
After saying this, it lowered its head again and didn’t specify what kind of elixirs they were.
So it seemed, as long as those who came here weren’t too greedy, they could leave unscathed, even with a reward.
However, after such a long time, many elixirs had already lost their effectiveness.
“The San Yuan Gathering Spirit Pill, this item has long been extinct; I can’t believe it’s still here and incredibly preserved.”
Tian Miao was quite pleased with the elixir she chose.
“What do I have?”
There were not many elixirs still effective, so Li Mo just randomly picked one.
Tian Miao took a glance: “Youdan, eat it and you can take a good nap.”
“Here you go.”
Ying Bing poured out the elixir from the porcelain vial in her hand, a total of four pills, and she gave three of them to Li Mo.
“What is this…?” Li Mo felt the aura was somewhat similar to the bl**d of the Golden Crow, but he didn’t know the specifics.
Tian Miao’s expression was strange: “A little something.”
“What’s it for?”
“Enhancing performance.”
“？”
