A brilliant light burst out of the altar. Shining streaks extended in all directions, and the entire tomb released a dense wave of energy. At that instant, it was as if the entire tomb had come alive.
…
Meanwhile, Gonggong’s crystal skull suddenly raised his head and he exclaimed, “Yu the Great’s aura!”
The Fiend Emperor was surprised, thinking, That Yu the Great seems to be this guy’s greatest enemy. An opportunity has come…
“Follow me!” Gonggong called out. The dark aura around him had already transformed into a black-robed human body. Apart from his head, which was still a skull, the other parts of his body weren’t too different from a normal person's. With a wave of his sleeves, he turned into a cloud of black energy and disappeared.
The Fiend Emperor naturally wouldn’t miss out on such a good chance. His body flickered and also disappeared from his original location. For those at the earth immortal level, spatial distance wasn’t much of a hindrance.
Only the Golden Crow Crow Prince was left behind, a stupefied expression on his face. He subconsciously thought about following them, but how in the world would he keep up with earth immortals?
The giant, silent hidden tomb felt like a giant beast carefully stalking its prey. The crown prince shivered inwardly. He waved his arms while shouting, “I haven’t gotten on yet! I haven’t gotten on yet!”
A second later, a golden flash of light appeared, and the Fiend Emperor suddenly appeared next to him. He grabbed his son’s shoulder, and the two of them disappeared once again.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An had just placed the Nine Cauldron on the altar. Soon afterward, he heard something rumbling. A huge crack opened in the ceiling, and a flight of stairs extended downward from it.
Xiang Liu seemed to have recalled something from the past, briefly appearing absent-minded.
Zu An took the chance to pull the three women to his side, then used Grandgale to instantly move toward the stairs.
Xiang Liu snapped out of his daze. He said to Fuyou, “Stay here. I’m going to follow them and take a look.” He disappeared as soon as he spoke.
Fuyou was wounded by the dragon energy, so focusing on his recovery was what was the most important thing to him. He naturally had no objection.
…
As Xiang Liu headed deeper inside, the descending staircase suddenly began to turn indistinct. Then, it disappeared. Even the hole in the ceiling was gone, leaving a perfectly smooth surface, as if nothing had ever been there.
Suddenly, the surrounding space distorted. Then, one after another, Gonggong, the Fiend Emperor, and the crown prince appeared.
“Master!” Fuyou quickly greeted Gonggong.
“What happened to you?” Gonggong asked, shocked to see Fuyou’s severe injuries.
The Fiend Emperor was also shocked. Judging from their earlier interactions, he knew that Zu An’s real fighting strength definitely couldn't be evaluated purely by his cultivation rank, but he still hadn’t expected it to be this ridiculous. An earth immortal had been injured this badly?
Even though Fuyou was weaker than the Fiend Emperor, he wasn’t that much weaker. Didn’t that imply it would be really dangerous for the Fiend Emperor to act against Zu An’s group in the future too? He felt glad that Fuyou had helped him test the waters first. Otherwise, if he faced their group with his previous impressions, he might have ended up paying the price.
“That kid was able to use dragon energy. I was caught unprepared and suffered as a result,” Fuyou said hatefully. He had actually been defeated by an ant he looked down on! It really was quite humiliating.
“So the dragon vein power from earlier was because of him,” Gonggong said in surprise. He looked around him and asked, “Where are they then?”
“A hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling, revealing a flight of stairs…” Fuyou gave them a recount of what had just happened.
“Yu the Great!” Gonggong spat, gritting his teeth as he realized something.
He turned into a cloud of black energy and searched the entire chamber, trying to figure out where exactly the secret space was. However, the tomb had been meticulously designed by Yu the Great. The runes in it were complex and profound, so not even Gonggong would necessarily be able to find it within a short amount of time.
When he saw Gonggong disappear again, this time, the Fiend Emperor didn’t follow him, but instead remained in place.
Off to the side, Fuyou frowned and asked, “Why are you still here?”
The Fiend Emperor looked at him with a smile, saying, “You’re injured, so I’m keeping you company here, of course.”
“I don’t need you to keep me company. Hurry and go help master,” Fuyou said, letting out a cold snort.
“No, you do need it,” the Fiend Emperor said as he surreptitiously walked behind Fuyou. Behind his back, an incredibly long and sharp fingernail emerged from his hand.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An brought the three women up the stairs. Only then did they discover that the tomb contained a hidden floor, filled with all sorts of grand statues and refined murals. All the decorations surrounded a giant bronze coffin at the very center.
“What is that…” At first, Zu An and the others wanted to see the contents of the murals, but they couldn’t help but have their attention drawn by the giant bronze coffin. Gonggong’s coffin had already been quite impressive, but compared to the one before them, it was substantially smaller.
Black and green energies suddenly swirled through the air, and Xiang Liu appeared again! He was about to attack Zu An’s group when he saw the bronze coffin in the chamber. As if he had just recalled some unpleasant memory, he exclaimed with a mix of fear and awe, “Yu the Great!”
The others were surprised. The one resting inside was Yu the Great?!
Zu An suddenly understood what was happening. It was no wonder that ever since he had entered the dungeon, his Nine Cauldron had felt as if something were summoning it. Earlier, he had needed to use it to activate the mechanism too. He hadn’t expected that the medicine cauldron he had gotten from Shen Xuzi at the Royal Academy would really be one of the legendary Nine Cauldrons!
However, there was something else that left him confused. If it was one of the Nine Cauldrons, why was it so small? The Nine Cauldrons from the legends were massive objects!
Xiang Liu quickly recovered from his surprise. He burst into mad laughter, exclaiming, “Hahahah! In the past, we all felt being sealed was a fate worse than death. Now, however, we who were defeated have been revived. Meanwhile, you, the victor, have already become nothing more than bones. Who could have predicted this wild change in circumstances?”
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Zu An and the others gave him a look of surprise. Ever since they had met him, except for the start when he had been in the form of a frightening serpent with nine human heads, Xiang Liu had quickly taken human form; from then on, he had maintained the appearance of a refined and elegant young master. This was the first time they had seen him lose his composure.
Zu An couldn't help but ask, “All of you managed to survive until now, so couldn’t the even stronger Yu the Great have survived too?”
Perhaps due to the joy he felt from seeing his old enemy die, Xiang Liu wasn’t in a rush to attack them anymore. Instead, he replied, “That is different. Under normal circumstances, we would not have been able to survive for that long either. We would not have been able to withstand the corrosion of time. Even if we ascended to heaven, that would not mean we could really live forever.”
Zu An keenly seized the implied meaning within his words. Does that mean you can still die after achieving immortality?
“However, we were sealed while we were still at our strongest, and had our freedom restricted. For all that time, we really wished we were dead instead. However, there was one benefit that came with that. Because we were sealed, we were spared from the ravages of time, and would naturally be revived if the seal were broken,” Xiang Liu said as he looked at the giant bronze coffin. “But who in this world would want to be sealed? Being sealed is not too different from death.”
Zu An and the others all nodded inwardly. A seal could indeed prolong one’s life, but that meant one would lose their freedom, and would even lose consciousness. As such, one wouldn’t even be able to experience a prolonged life; for the sealed individual, it wouldn’t feel like the case. Rather, they would be trapped for countless ages; if the seal were never undone, it really would be a fate worse than death.
“Yu the Great was the victor in the past, so of course, he must have already lived out his life how he wished. The countless ages between then and now should be enough for him to have died several times over,” Xiang Liu said, looking at Zu An’s group. He continued, “Enough. I have already answered your questions. I advise against any futile resistance; just follow me back to meet master. I can guarantee that all of you will keep your lives.”
Zu An suddenly widened his eyes as he looked behind Xiang Liu and exclaimed, “Yu the Great… has been revived?”
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