“Martial Uncle, what is the weakness of the Tomb of the Dead?” Zi Luo asked.

Li Danshu didn’t speak, looking toward the person in the Clear Heart Mirror.

A red tongue shot out from the “mouth” of the human face. Zanxing leaped up to dodge it. With a “puchi” sound, the tongue tip pierced through the tree in front of her.

From that mouth, saliva-like fluid gradually flowed out. Whether it was Zanxing’s imagination or not, in the eyes of the giant human face beneath her feet, there seemed to emerge some cunning smile, making one’s spine turn cold.

Zanxing was about to raise her staff when she suddenly felt herself sinking downward, a strong suction force pulling her toward the underground.

The Tomb of the Dead would devour everything that passed by. Even if it were just a feather falling on the land, it would be instantly absorbed as nutrients.

Zanxing struggled to jump up, grabbing onto a tree branch in front of her. When she steadied herself, she saw that her calf was bloody, with a layer of skin already corroded away.

This Tomb of the Dead was so powerful!

The land could move, and the human face could move too, which meant that as long as one stood on this piece of land, one couldn’t be a match for the Tomb of the Dead. And jumping onto trees…

Zanxing felt this tree slowly sinking, just like her current mood.

Although she knew she wouldn’t die, the thought of being buried alive made Zanxing feel all her body hair standing on end.

The human face beneath her feet seemed to grow impatient. In those hollow eyes, the eyeballs slowly rotated once, fixing on Yang Zanxing on the tree. Then, the tree beneath her snapped in two with a “crack.” Zanxing couldn’t dodge in time and had nowhere to climb, so that red mouth suddenly opened wide and swallowed Zanxing whole.

Inside and outside the map, it suddenly became quiet.

Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react. When Hua Yue realized that Zanxing had been swallowed by the Tomb of the Dead, there was no trace of Zanxing left on the ground.

“Damn it!” he roared angrily.

Hua Yue’s purpose had always been the secret treasure hidden on Zanxing’s body. But this Mo Xiu was of unknown origin and had swallowed the secret treasure along with the person. This way, wouldn’t all his efforts be in vain!

Outside the Clear Heart Mirror, Yueguang Daoren and his group were also stunned.

Gu Baiying, who had originally been lounging lazily, couldn’t help but sit up, frowning: “Is it over just like that?”

Although everyone knew in their hearts that Zanxing certainly couldn’t be a match for the Tomb of the Dead, they hadn’t expected her to be swallowed so cleanly and efficiently.

“With her current ranking, she should be around one hundredth place and won’t advance further.” Li Danshu pondered while looking at the names on the ranking stone, then suddenly froze. “Eh?”

“What’s wrong?” Xuan Lingzi asked.

“Why hasn’t her ranking changed?” Li Danshu was puzzled.

Since Zanxing was swallowed by the Tomb of the Dead, it meant she was defeated by it and would be forced to exit soon. For Zanxing, this examination was over—she wouldn’t gain more Yuanli, and her ranking would drop. But now, Zanxing’s ranking hadn’t budged at all.

Cui Yufu also asked: “Why hasn’t she exited yet?”

Meng Ying’s expression shifted slightly as she looked toward the person in the Clear Heart Mirror.

Hua Yue hid in the tree, looking toward that piece of land that was still squirming constantly. After the Tomb of the Dead devoured Zanxing, it gradually returned to calm. He silently drew the precious sword from his waist.

This Mo Xiu was of unknown origin, but since it was a high-level Mo Xiu, its Yuanli was naturally not low. Yang Zanxing was already out, but if he could slay this Mo Xiu, the Yuanli gains should make his name rise significantly in the ranking stone.

With his Golden Core cultivation, he wasn’t as useless as Yang Zanxing.

Thinking of this, Hua Yue suddenly wielded his sword, striking down toward the mouth of the Tomb of the Dead!

With a “boom,” the scene of the Mo Xiu being cut into several pieces by the sword blade didn’t appear. The land reeking of bloody red stench seemed to have gained life, like countless densely packed insects, firmly grasping his precious sword and desperately dragging it underground. For a moment, Hua Yue couldn’t pull it out.

His heart was alarmed, and before he could make his next reaction, he felt the land beneath his feet “gurgling” as it emitted steaming hot air, like water about to boil on a stove.

Then, the giant face showed an expression of pain. Its mouth opened, spewing out a thick, sticky fluid that wrapped around a familiar person and threw them out.

Zanxing was thrown to one side. Supporting herself by the neck, she sat up, “cough cough cough” spitting out a mouthful of sticky fluid, then took two deep breaths: “I was suffocating!”

“Yang Zanxing?” Hua Yue was greatly shocked: “How are you still alive?”

On the competition platform, Yueguang Daoren suddenly stood up, his face full of disbelief: “Impossible!”

Yueqin was also shocked: “Living beings swallowed by the Tomb of the Dead cannot possibly be spat out.” Even though all the Mo Xiu in the Xumi Jiezi Map were fake creatures outlined with Yuanli, with cultivation not as powerful as the real ones, their appearance, habits, characteristics, and weaknesses were identical to the real ones. People swallowed by the Tomb of the Dead would quickly become nutrients, with none surviving. In the examination ground, once Zanxing fell into that land where plague had broken out, she would immediately exit and terminate the examination.

But now, not only had she not exited, she had been spat out by this demonic tomb.

Mendong was standing obediently in place when he suddenly heard his young martial uncle’s voice transmission. Gu Baiying’s voice echoed in his ears, very cold and condensed, asking: “The Tomb of the Dead refuses to devour Yang Zanxing—is it because the Qin Chong seed is on her body?”

Mendong was completely confused and carefully replied: “I don’t know, Martial Uncle. I’ve never heard of Qin Chong seeds having this kind of function.”

Everyone was either surprised or shocked, each having their speculations. On the side, Cui Yufu stared at the scene in the Clear Heart Mirror for a long while, then suddenly laughed: “I know.”

The gazes of the others immediately turned toward him.

“Third Senior Brother, what do you know?” Xuan Lingzi asked.

“I know why the Tomb of the Dead spat this girl out.” Cui Yufu’s gaze focused on the person in the image as he slowly spoke.

“Why?” Zhao Mayi asked impatiently.

“Incense ash.” He said quietly, “Because of incense ash.”

Inside the Xumi Jiezi Map, Zanxing’s hand touched the brocade pouch in her chest pocket, suddenly understanding: “So it was the incense ash.”

The Tomb of the Dead was originally a piece of land that developed demonic intent because many plague-stricken people were buried alive in it. It would devour all passing living creatures as nutrients. It was simply an indiscriminate killing machine, but the dead were an exception.

The dead, to the demonic tomb, were nutrients and also part of it. So if something was already dead, the Tomb of the Dead wouldn’t attack it.

The day before the examination, Zanxing had taken Tian Fangfang to worship the examination god. Besides offering some spirit fruits and pills, she had also burned two stacks of paper money. Although she didn’t know if currency in the immortal realm was paper, it was the thought that counted. After burning them, she had also grabbed some incense ash and put it in a brocade pouch to wear on her body, treating it as a protective charm bestowed by the patriarch.

Who would have thought it would be such a lucky coincidence—incense ash, which was only used when worshipping the dead, actually made the Tomb of the Dead regard her as one of the “dead.” That’s why after swallowing Zanxing, it spat her back out.