Chapter 921: Enter the Secret Cave

"Regarding 'Volume Four: Wind Rises Overseas' and 'Volume Six: Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure', what's the situation? Can we capture our targets before Old Devil Xuan's avatar gives a warning? If they escape, it will certainly alert him." One of the two figures transmitted this message to the other in an unusually sharp voice.

"Hmph! King Xuan's so-called avatars are nothing more than puppets. He forcefully refined several of his subordinates into them using the Soul Extraction and Mystery Transformation technique, so their intelligence is greatly diminished. Although they possess early Nascent Soul realm cultivation, they are far easier to handle than normal cultivators of the same rank. Working together, it won't be difficult to take them down. But the fact that the old devil would allow his avatars to operate alone at such a time is truly heaven-sent for us. Destroying them will be like severing one of his arms. After that, our actions will be much more assured." The other, lower voice said darkly.

"Brother Tianfeng makes a lot of sense. I'm just a bit curious as to who these two avatars are tracking. It's strange that they were sent out of the ancient tomb at such a critical moment, and now they seem to have suddenly lost their target." The first voice sounded a bit puzzled.

"Who knows? Regardless of who they're after, it won't affect our plan. Once King Xuan leaves the tomb chamber, his cultivation will certainly diminish greatly, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Normally, that old devil is extremely cunning and utterly unwilling to leave the tomb chamber even for a moment. If I, this True Monarch, hadn't set a trap for him this time, I doubt we would have had any chance at all. After all, as long as the old devil remains within the ancient tomb, his divine abilities are in no way inferior to those of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator."

"Hehe! If Old Devil Xuan knew that fellow Daoist had secretly leaked the plan to the other two noble families in advance, his face would be a sight to behold. I imagine those two families have also secretly invited their backing sects and are quietly waiting for the old devil to take the bait. Moreover, even if the old devil possesses other divine abilities and somehow manages to escape the encirclement, we'll still be ambushing him outside the tomb chamber. He'll have no way to escape." The sharp voice said with a sinister chuckle.

"Indeed. This time, we brothers have spent nearly a decade planning for this success. From the moment the trap was laid, we've had subordinates constantly monitoring the old devil's every move, allowing us to pinpoint the perfect moment for action. Once this demon is eliminated, his favored concubine, 'Lady Yuhua,' and his only son, who just advanced to Corpse King, won't stand a chance against a combined attack from the three of us. At that point, all the treasures the old devil has collected over so many years, as well as the thousands of corpse soldiers sleeping in the mausoleum, will be enough for us three to divide equally. Furthermore, I've heard that this old devil's Heavenly Corpse Body is nearing completion. Given his cautious nature, the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, which must also be near completion from his cultivation, is likely hidden somewhere within the tomb chamber. As long as we obtain this pearl and eliminate his original nascent soul, even if we don't possess a Corpse King physique, we can use it to cultivate our bodies to become impervious to water and fire, like bronze heads and iron arms. It's truly the best treasure for cultivating a Dharma Body." Brother Tianfeng's voice subtly revealed a hint of greed.

"Haha! The cultivation method I practice doesn't emphasize physical cultivation. So, I have no interest in this Heavenly Corpse Pearl whatsoever. I only need the thousands of corpse soldiers from the mausoleum. With them as my subordinates, I can establish my own force within Wudong Mountain." The sharp voice said with a light chuckle.

"I knew Fellow Daoist Yin would say that. Indeed, only your Corpse Spirit can command these corpse soldiers with such ease. Otherwise, with so many other fellow Daoists available, my brother and I wouldn't have sought you out specifically. We two and you, Fellow Daoist, are each getting exactly what we need!" The other person seemed very pleased to hear this.

"Naturally. But it's almost time. Brother Kuangsha is trailing the old devil, so I presume there won't be any issues there. To prevent any further complications, let's quickly eliminate the old devil's two avatars, and then head back to ambush by the mausoleum. If the old devil escapes back to the mausoleum, that would be a major disaster." The owner of the sharp voice glanced at the two green figures still lingering in the distance and suggested.

"Hmm, yes, it's almost time. The old devil should have already left the Snow Ridge Mountains. Let's make our move."

Brother Tianfeng hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the two green figures in the distance were still restlessly growling.

A moment later, they suddenly felt an astonishing spiritual energy fluctuation erupt behind them. They couldn't help but turn around simultaneously to look.

What met their eyes were vast expanses of dark demonic clouds and astonishing white, misty hurricanes. They suddenly descended from high in the sky, overwhelmingly pressing down on the two figures, instantly engulfing them...

At this moment, Han Li stood before a stone door hidden behind a waterfall, unaware that a major problem about to befall him had been strangely and unintentionally resolved by others. Otherwise, had those two avatars arrived together, Han Li, though capable of easily slaying powerful foes, would certainly have exhausted his last chance to unseal his magic power.

His gaze was now fixed on the lower right corner of the stone door, where a slight protrusion held a small, inch-sized hole.

With a single sweep of his hand over his storage bag, the shimmering silver key appeared in Han Li's hand.

With a flick of his finger, a silver gleam shot forth, precisely entering the small hole.

The front half of the key was perfectly sized, slotting neatly into the hole, with only the handle protruding.

Seeing this, Han Li smiled faintly.

He lightly tapped the key with one finger.

A misty green spiritual thread shot accurately onto the key. Immediately, the key's handle rotated half a turn on its own, and the previously cold, gray stone door began to shimmer with spiritual light. A layer of milky-white energy appeared, and after a slight tremor, the stone door slowly rose, revealing a small opening.

Han Li glanced towards the opening, then calmly stepped inside.

After walking only about ten zhang, a teleportation array, roughly a zhang in size, appeared before him. All seven or eight grooves around the array were empty.

Seeing this, Han Li chuckled.

Anyone unaware of the hidden mechanism would likely be torn to shreds by spatial forces the moment they attempted to teleport, had they filled all those grooves with spirit stones.

The person who designed this Feng Family Secret Cave long ago truly possessed profound cunning!

Han Li took a few steps towards the array. After his gaze flickered a few times, he shook his sleeve, and five low-grade spirit stones flew precisely into five of the grooves. Then, with a raised hand, he cast a spell onto the array.

Instantly, the entire teleportation array emitted a low humming sound!

Given Han Li's mastery of array formations, he could naturally discern at a glance whether the teleportation array was safe. Feeling reassured, he shifted his body and stepped into the center of the array.

White shimmering light swirled outwards, and Han Li's figure vanished within the spiritual radiance.

The teleportation distance was clearly not far. With Han Li's powerful divine sense, he didn't even feel much dizziness. Then, amidst a flash of white light, he appeared in an unknown hall.

With a single sweep of his gaze, he took in the entire hall.

The hall was not particularly large, only about twenty zhang across. The floor and all four walls were exceptionally clean, constructed entirely from a strange, warm stone. The hall contained few items: only two rows of emerald-green wooden shelves and three silver boxes, each several feet in size.

This was the Feng Family Secret Cave. Its small scale was even less than Han Li had anticipated.

The wooden shelves, crafted from an unknown rare wood, had been stored there for a long time. Yet, their color remained unchanged, and they still faintly emitted a light, refreshing fragrance.

On one shelf, various magical artifacts of differing grades were displayed, primarily mid-tier artifacts, numbering over thirty. Several unknown magic treasures were interspersed among them, particularly eye-catching. On the other shelf lay jade slips of various colors, nearly a hundred in total, densely packed across the wooden frame.

Han Li didn't linger on the magical artifacts or treasures, nor did he glance at the silver boxes. Without a word, he walked directly to the wooden shelf holding the jade slips.

After a brief scan, he casually picked up one jade slip and quickly immersed his divine sense within it to scan its contents.

Given Han Li's powerful divine sense, all the jade slips were thoroughly reviewed in the time it would take to eat a meal. To his surprise, there were no Buddhist cultivation methods among them whatsoever.

Could it be that what Feng Zhen said was false?

Han Li shook his head, casting the thought aside. He had used the Dream Guiding Technique to verify the truthfulness of the other person's words, and given the opponent's divine sense, deceiving him would have been impossible.

After some contemplation, Han Li's gaze finally landed on the three silver boxes.

After a brief moment of deliberation, Han Li walked over. With a flick of his sleeve, he opened them one by one.

One box was filled with hundreds of mid-grade spirit stones. Another was filled with jade boxes of various sizes.

When Han Li's divine sense permeated the second box, he discovered it contained rare materials for artifact refining and alchemy, clearly more valuable than the box filled with spirit stones.

After opening these two boxes and still not finding what he sought, Han Li's expression involuntarily darkened.

When the final box was opened, what appeared before Han Li's eyes were stacks of talismans of various sizes, shimmering with different spiritual lights. Han Li immediately showed disappointment, but after his divine sense thoroughly scanned the box, his expression shifted. He suddenly reached out and made a grasping motion in the air above the box.

With a "whoosh," an object shot out from beneath the numerous talismans and landed in Han Li's hand.

Upon closer inspection, it was a reddish wooden casket, roughly half a foot long, with a light yellow talisman affixed to its top. The casket's surface was carved with various Buddhist scriptures and symbols.

Han Li examined the talisman and immediately recognized it as a common one used simply to restrict spiritual energy. Without hesitation, he tore it off and opened the wooden casket.

The moment the lid was lifted, a seven-colored spiritual light burst forth from within. The source of this Buddhist radiance was a thumb-sized, milky-white, bead-like object.

"Sarira!" Han Li breathed out softly, his face unable to conceal his delight.

For alongside the sarira in the wooden casket were surprisingly two Buddhist magical artifacts and a yellow jade slip.

The artifacts were a Dharma wheel and a string of pale golden Buddhist beads, both emitting a faint spiritual glow. While the jade slip appeared inconspicuous, Han Li's attention was now entirely focused on it.