Su Zhuyi looked up and couldn’t see the sky at all, not knowing how deep this cave was. She sniffed and only smelled the surrounding muddy, fishy odor.
She now had sparse spiritual energy in her body and no materials to create a flying magic treasure. Her natal magic treasure was a hoe, which was quite weak and couldn’t carry her in flight at all. In other words, Su Zhuyi was currently unable to escape this unfathomably deep black hole.
If she didn’t find a way out, she might starve to death trapped in here. Su Zhuyi checked and found that the life-saving substitute straw doll was still on her. So without much hesitation, she beckoned for the hoe to scout ahead, then walked toward that glowing direction.
The light point looked close, but was very far away.
As Su Zhuyi walked, she discovered many roots and vines in the mud under her feet. She bent down and pinched off a section, also sensing spiritual energy from it, and her heart gained some understanding. It seemed something spiritual was buried here, and the old tree at the village entrance had taken root here and absorbed spiritual energy.
She just didn’t know if it was truly related to Ji Wuxin.
After continuing forward for a while, Su Zhuyi felt that the cave entrance was becoming increasingly narrow. In the end, it was like a tunnel, only as tall as a person. She was quite small now, but if an adult came in, they would have to crouch to pass through this section.
However, after passing through the narrowest opening, the path ahead suddenly opened up again, becoming wider and wider as if an exit was in sight. Only that glimmering white light kept flashing before her eyes, neither far nor near, as if she hadn’t moved a single step in all this time.
She wasn’t in a hurry and continued forward. When tired, she rested in place, pulled up some tree roots to chew on, then continued. She also sat down to cultivate the Meridian Moistening Formula. Before long, she saw that the light point had moved slightly closer.
After noticing the light point’s movement, Su Zhuyi was certain that there was an illusory formation here, and that light point was the lure.
Su Zhuyi was, after all, a demon lord who had lived for over a thousand years. Though her current physical body was like a weakling, her primordial spirit was still strong, so she wouldn’t be confused. Looking at that light point, it was just a light point. But for others, that light point was temptation.
The obsessions in their hearts, anything they wanted to grasp – treasures, beauties, power, or other things. All the desires in their hearts.
Running endlessly in pursuit of desires, clearly seeing everything they dreamed of within reach right before their eyes, yet unable to grasp it no matter what, desperately chasing until death. But now she remained unmoved, so that light point came seeking her instead.
The light point was an azure stone lotus flower with a jade Qiuniu placed on it. The moment Su Zhuyi saw that stone lotus flower and jade Qiuniu, her expression changed slightly. She immediately thought of the Xueluo Sect’s village massacre, blood sacrifice, and their use of hand seals to create barriers and burn the old tree. This stone lotus flower was a sacrificial altar. At first glance, Su Zhuyi felt the yin and malevolent energy from it. But since a Qiuniu was placed on this sacrificial altar, it wasn’t an ordinary altar but a spirit formation platform used to guard tombs.
Su Zhuyi carefully examined the jade Qiuniu. She discovered that the Qiuniu was crystal clear and lustrous. Looking through the jade, she could see a small round dot in its belly, which should be a formation. Only after noticing these details did she show some emotional reaction. If she wasn’t mistaken, this jade Qiuniu contained a sealed spiritual vein.
The cultivation world had spiritual mountains and spiritual springs.
This jade Qiuniu sealed an entire spiritual mountain – undoubtedly a great treasure. However, Su Zhuyi didn’t dare touch it. Such sacrificial altars were gatherings of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy and couldn’t actively harm people, but if someone’s heart harbored greed and wanted to steal or destroy it, they would lose their life. The jade Qiuniu’s ability to hook people’s desires wasn’t weak, but though Su Zhuyi’s primordial spirit was sealed, her will was firm. Having seen great storms and waves, she wouldn’t be confused by such a small illusion. Of course, the real reason was that her strength was weak – touching it would mean instant death. Preserving her life was more important. Who knew what was in here, especially since she only had one substitute straw doll…
Su Zhuyi didn’t touch the jade Qiuniu and continued forward. Soon, she saw another stone lotus flower with a Yazi placed on it. Similarly, it also contained a spiritual vein. Judging by the color, it should be sealing a pool of spiritual spring water. When she saw several other stone lotus platforms, Su Zhuyi was already certain of her thoughts. Though she had currently only seen five lotus platforms, she was sure there were nine lotus platforms here in total.
Dragons have nine sons. Nine dragon sons placed on nine lotus platforms, respectively called “Jian Lin Platform,” “Ding Luo Platform,” “Xing Shun Platform,” “Kun Cu Platform,” “Zhen Xian Platform,” “He Zhang Platform,” “Kong Ta Platform,” “Kong Ju Platform,” and “Sui Men Platform.” The nine lotus platforms formed the Dragon-Slaying Formation, aimed at using the spirits of mountains and rivers to defend the tomb. Mountains have spirits, waters have spirits, but cultivating them is extremely difficult, requiring hundreds of thousands of years to take shape. Once successfully cultivated, they directly ascend, and their strength would probably be even greater than Qin Jianglan’s in his prime, since Qin Jianglan ultimately never passed the ascension thunder tribulation.
Truly cultivated mountain and river spirits existed only in legends and absolutely couldn’t be provoked. The mountain and river spirits within the Dragon-Slaying Formation were artificially created, so their strength was inferior, but as time passed and long years went by, they could also nurture extremely powerful spiritual beings. They were spiritual beings, not demons, ghosts, or monsters!
What was the purpose of whoever arranged this tomb, using the Dragon-Slaying Formation to nurture such a spiritual being? If it were merely to guard the tomb, there was no need to go to such great lengths.
Soon, Su Zhuyi reached the end of the underground cave. She saw the last stone lotus platform placed on a very large vermilion coffin. The coffin was as wide as a door panel, wide enough for three people to lie across it with room to spare. Could it be that nurturing spiritual beings was really for guarding this coffin?
Looking at it this way, this coffin might contain Ji Wuxin. After all, Ji Wuxin was a professional tomb robber who dealt with tombs and dead people daily – this was exactly his specialty.
Ji Wuxin was a legendary figure from five thousand years ago.
However, five thousand years wasn’t enough time to nurture mountain and river spirits. So when she walked here, she only saw nine stone lotus platforms and encountered no spiritual beings before reaching the vicinity of the coffin.
Uh, it wasn’t that there were no obstructions. The illusory formation’s temptation counted as one, but for those with stronger primordial spirits, it probably had no effect. Ji Wuxin, a demonic path expert, was so soft-hearted? She was also an expert in this area and hadn’t seen any other traps in the cave.
Su Zhuyi had now reached the end of the underground cave. There was no exit here, and going back, she couldn’t climb out of the black hole either. Relying on eating tree roots to absorb that tiny bit of spiritual energy, she feared that even staying in this cave for ten or twenty years wouldn’t be enough to drive the hoe for aerial flight. Her only hope was to find Ji Wuxin’s treasure and quickly advance her cultivation.
With her experience, aptitude, and primordial spirit strength, as long as she had sufficient spiritual energy, her cultivation could greatly improve in a short time.
Su Zhuyi sent the hoe flying to the front of the coffin while she gripped the substitute straw doll tightly in her hand.
The moment the hoe flew over, the area around the coffin suddenly lit up. It turned out there were white candles at the four corners of the coffin, and the moment the hoe approached, the candle flames ignited with a ‘hiss.’ At the same time, the stone lotus platform on the coffin glowed faintly, and the Chiwen on top emitted a slight radiance before speaking in human language.
“I have sworn to never again create killing karma. Little Baldy, this is not a place you should come. You should leave.”
The female demon lord felt displeased. “What little baldy? Others call her little monk, which sounds much better than little baldy!”
If someone had insulted her so unpleasantly in the past, she would have killed them, or at minimum pulled out their tongue. However, now, after weighing her strength, Su Zhuyi silently endured it.
Little baldy, it is then better than being called little baldhead.
That speaking voice was low and hoarse, sounding extremely weary. Su Zhuyi glanced at the jade Chiwen and understood. It was a remnant soul.
A wisp of remnant soul residing in the jade Chiwen, still retaining the original owner’s consciousness, was enough to prove that this Ji Wuxin was indeed a remarkable figure with formidable strength.
“I didn’t want to come either. Lightning struck a pit in the ground, then there was an earthquake, and I fell here.” Su Zhuyi spouted complete nonsense.
“You’re not afraid?” that voice asked again.
Su Zhuyi looked somewhat panicked and hurriedly said, “But you said you don’t create killing karma.”
“With your meager spiritual energy, you haven’t even reached the entry level of cultivation and can’t break my Wuding Gourd. Since you were able to enter here, it must be fate.” The voice said this, then sighed and continued, “Little Baldy, let’s make a deal.”
Wuding Gourd! She had fallen into the Wuding Gourd.
The Wuding Gourd was Ji Wuxin’s famous magic treasure that could absorb all living beings into the gourd and refine them into water. He used this corpse water to bathe the living corpses he raised, greatly increasing their strength.
She had just fallen into the gourd like that. No wonder the path was wide at both ends and narrow in the middle – it was indeed the belly of a gourd.
Being inside the gourd, she had to lower her head. Su Zhuyi frowned and asked, “What deal?”
“I can give you spirit stones and teach you cultivation, helping you leave this place, but you must use the method I teach you to help me repair the Wuding Gourd.” Fearing Su Zhuyi wouldn’t understand, Ji Wuxin’s remnant soul also explained.
This Wuding Gourd had seals set on it – people and animals couldn’t enter, but now the gourd had been split open by lightning. If it wasn’t repaired, more people might fall in.
People and animals couldn’t enter, but plants could. No wonder – mountain and river spirits had to be nurtured between heaven and earth and couldn’t grow in a completely sealed environment. That’s why the roots of the old tree at the village entrance had coincidentally taken root here and benefited greatly.
“My cultivation is so low, not even reaching entry level. Can I repair your treasure gourd?” Su Zhuyi tilted her head slightly and asked.
“The Wuding Gourd is a celestial artifact and can repair itself. I just don’t want any accidents to occur. The gourd was split by lightning, so naturally, spiritual energy leaked out. If we’re unlucky and it’s discovered by powerful cultivators, everything I’ve done will be in vain…”
“What are you trying to do?” Su Zhuyi kept a straight face, appearing very calm. “If you’re planning to do bad things, how can I help you?”
A female demon lord saying such righteous words without blushing…
“I said I no longer create killing karma. I have sworn an oath – if I violate it, I will surely be struck by five thunders and die a terrible death.”
Su Zhuyi was silent for a moment, then said, “But you’re already dead.”
As her words fell, the Chiwen on the stone lotus platform moved slightly, then laughed heartily twice. “Oh, I almost forgot.”
He paused, then said slowly, “It’s not a bad thing. To wash away all the killing karma on my body, I sacrificed myself while still alive. Everything I do is just hoping my child will have a chance to resurrect and see the outside world again.”