The entire underground palace was rumbling and trembling, with fine dust and debris falling from the ceiling.
Inside the underground palace, it seemed some great change was happening.
“The grand tomb is going to collapse?!”
Bai Jinghong exclaimed in shock.
Everyone’s faces changed at once.
This underground palace was vast and magnificent, and they had no idea how deep they were beneath the ground. If the palace were to collapse, it would be more terrifying than a mountain collapsing.
Being buried alive inside would be frightening even for Fifth Stage External Vision experts, let alone them.
“It probably won’t collapse.”
Ke Mo said with a heavy expression, but still shook his head.
In his Heavenly Destiny Divine Eye, he had never seen anyone d*e because of the collapse of an underground palace.
Ying Bing frowned and pondered for a moment before softly saying,
“Somebody triggered the killing formation on the chessboard.”
Some people simply didn’t know the complex rules of this underground palace, probably wandering aimlessly, leading themselves to their doom.
“Not all those who descended into the tomb are weak; if they trigger the killing formation, they won’t just wait for d*ath.”
Tian Miao explained.
They were using brute force to break through.
Unable to comprehend the mysteries of the underground palace, they decided to use physical strength and forcefully break through, which might come at a high cost and possibly lead to unpredictable consequences.
“We need to speed up,” Ke Mo and Ying Bing exchanged glances and looked at Tian Miao.
At least, there was a Profound Master behind Jiang Yu, along with Sky Patrol Guards, and two Dharmaraja at Tan Zhuyin’s back, making it hard to say who would reach the main chamber first if they didn’t consider the costs.
Moreover, if the underground palace was damaged to a certain extent, the original method of solving it might become ineffective.
“Are you leaving?” Bai Jinghong hesitated and asked.
Ke Mo nodded, “Stay here and don’t move. This part of the underground palace is safe. Further ahead, I may not be able to take care of all of you.”
“In case something happens, a fire at the city gate could affect innocent bystanders…”
“…”
The Three Heroes of Hengyun were experiencing being minor characters for the first time, their expressions rather complicated.
They also knew Ke Mo had a point, so they decided to stay put.
“You can go. We will be fine.”
“Alright, just don’t wander around. You have read the stories, right? Curiosity often gets the best of people, and they end up paying the price…”
Ke Mo warned again, while Ice Chunk had already set the numbers on the door.
Their figures disappeared into the darkness once more.
The swordsmen, who had been so confident moments ago, suddenly felt how quiet everything was. The dark, vast environment made them feel that more tomb guardians could appear at any moment…
“We can… manage.”
“Sss, it feels so cold…”
The swordsmen silently became weak, helpless, and pitiful in the darkness, trembling in the crumbling underground palace.
Who isn’t just a child after all…
…
Ke Mo led the way at the front. As they followed the correct path, with Ice Chunk opening one door after another, they drew closer to the depths of the underground palace.
The thunderous sound kept a fluctuating distance from them.
“How much longer, Ice Chunk?”
Ke Mo asked, but received no response for a long time.
He saw Ying Bing crouched by the stone door, her eyes dazed, seemingly lost in thought.
“Ice Chunk? Are you alright?”
Ke Mo held her hand gently, calling out with a hint of concern.
“The situation in the underground palace has changed. I was just calculating the final step. It’s nothing.”
Ying Bing shook her head lightly, pursing her lips.
She adjusted the numbers on the base to the correct position.
“It’s open.”
A warm reminder: If you like this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.
Setting
Simplified Traditional
There was no rumbling sound of the underground palace this time; only the heavy friction of the stone door could be heard.
The soft light of the pearl illuminated the darkness ahead. This was a deep passage, and the traces on the stone walls clearly showed that it was man-made.
Ke Mo, with his strongest physical body, protected Ying Bing behind him.
“I’ll go first. Follow me.”
“Okay.”
Footsteps echoed.
Along this long passage, there were also murals, and the content was even more complete. The two murals they had seen before were included in them as well.
Or perhaps, these were continuations of the murals above.
The continuation depicted how the primordial spirit beings were transformed into totems by various forces, leading to the human tribes beginning to fight each other, until only two major ones remained.
One used red paint, while the other used black.
Behind both groups stood enormous figures, the Nine Heavens Immortals descending from the sky.
The five immortals behind the black tribe were led by a woman called the Nine Colors Original Phoenix, with the remaining three including the Dream God.
Four figures stood behind the white tribe, their identities unknown.
In the end, the black tribe won, and the white tribe was assimilated.
When the two tribes merged, the woman who embodied the Nine Colors Original Phoenix became a giant divine bird, sheltering the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths under her wings.
Another towering figure crowned himself emperor.
A kingdom was born.
“Is it the Heavenly Mandate Blackbird that descended and established the Great Shang?”
Ke Mo said, feeling that this sentence sounded familiar.
“So, the founder of the Great Shang was actually one of the immortals from the Nine Heavens?”
“Maybe,” Tian Miao couldn’t confirm such ancient matters.
“But we need to hurry.”
The three continued along the passage.
The murals behind recorded the succession of Great Shang emperors, and the timeline was getting closer to the day the underground palace was built.
Besides the paintings, some texts began appearing on the walls of the passage.
“The age of these characters should be very old…”
Tian Miao frowned, looking at it for a moment, then shook his head.
Ke Mo didn’t need to say more; he didn’t recognize any of them. These certainly weren’t Chinese characters.
“This is a diary,” Ying Bing suddenly said.
“A diary? Only a real person would write that kind of thing…”
Ke Mo was curious about what this diary, separated by thousands of years, contained.
Ying Bing gazed at the text on the wall and softly read aloud:
“Today is the 14th day since I started overseeing the construction of the Yunmeng Palace, and also my 82nd day as the leader of the Huan Shen Sect.”
“When building the Yunmeng Palace, I initially thought everything would be fine if done step-by-step, but during the process, I realized I could use the Nine Deaths Chess Formation to layout the design, a dead-end formed by the Cloud Dream Ancestor God’s game against the heavens.”
“Even if the Cloud Dream Ancestor God truly awakens, they cannot solve it…”
“I increasingly felt my own changes. Every morning, I felt myself becoming more unfamiliar.”
“This chess formation is truly difficult to set up; one wrong step and all efforts will be wasted.”
“If I were still immortal…”
The handwriting turned into scribbles, as if the writer was extremely shocked and panicked, wondering why such thoughts suddenly emerged.
“He’s not the sect leader? What does he mean by when he was an immortal?”
Ke Mo was also confused.
The following handwriting became very oppressive and restrained.
“I am Qin Yuzhi, the leader of the Huan Shen Sect, overseeing the construction of the Yunmeng underground palace…”
“I must hurry, or else He will awaken within me…from dream to reality…”
“At that time, my existence will merely be a dream of His…”
“Am I still myself now? I can’t tell, I really can’t tell…”
The mural ended here, and the passage was almost at its end.
