Chapter 1257: Immortal Corpse

The casket, which could effortlessly absorb minor spirits, was quite convenient. As for the small tree inside, he would think about how to use it later.

After dealing with Ghost King Xuanlu and the Soul Casket, they continued exploring the cave dwelling.

In the corners of the outer room, there were scattered remnants of broken wood, stone fragments, and porcelain, along with debris that seemed to have flaked off from unknown objects.

He Lingchuan scanned the area, stroking his chin as he said, “They're all scattered in the corners, aren't they?”

Did the owner of this room have a habit of piling junk in every corner?

Ling Guang pointed to one of the piles and said, “Those appear to be fragments of array artifacts.”

It seemed that arrays had once been set up here. The corners of the walls were blackened, with clear traces of burning.

It was too ancient; most clues had been carried away by time.

Fu Liushan first sent a few acorn figurines deeper into the cave. Seeing that they were unharmed, he then cautiously proceeded himself.

A few moments later, his shouts came from the inner room: “Hey, hey, hey, hurry! You guys, come look!”

The knowledgeable Master Fu rarely made such a fuss.

The two quickly walked into the inner room and discovered it was a bedroom. The furnishings were even simpler: a bed was carved into the stone wall, and in the corner was another pile of wood fragments, likely remnants of a chest or cabinet.

There might have been bedding on the stone bed, but it had long since deteriorated with time.

However, a skeleton sat upright on the stone bed, and Fu Liushan was bending over to examine it.

“It's a human,” he said.

The three humans and two apes could all tell at a glance that it was a human skeleton.

It sat leaning against the wall, mouth slightly agape, one leg bent, its left hand resting on its knee.

Such a leisurely posture is typical of someone relaxing under a tree or listening to music in a playhouse. How could someone be sitting like this in a sealed, dark chamber of an underground palace?

He Lingchuan held up a luminous spore to get a closer look, noticing that the clothes on the skeleton were neither silk nor brocade, and he couldn't tell what era they belonged to. Though drab and grey, they were remarkably intact, showing no signs of decay.

Although it was a skeleton, its bones were not a ghastly white. Dong Rui, not minding the dirt, casually took a cloth and wiped the dust off its arm bone, revealing that the bone structure was lustrous, dense, and shone like jade.

This was a place of intense Yin energy, where bodies would rot in three days and bones would decay in less than half a year. For this skeleton to remain in such a state, preserving its color in an underground palace filled with Yin energy, what level of cultivation must its owner have possessed during their lifetime?

“An Immortal!” the Soul-Devouring Mirror in He Lingchuan’s arms asserted definitively. “This is an Immortal with great cultivation! I am a relic from the early Middle Antiquity; I would never be mistaken.”

It was forged during the Middle Antiquity, when Immortals began to decline, but decline and disappearance were two different things.

The Soul-Devouring Mirror had personally seen Immortals.

“This Immortal was severely injured,” He Lingchuan said, brushing aside the cloth garments. He saw that three ribs of the corpse were broken, as if crushed by a heavy object. The right clavicle was cracked, the right palm bone fractured, and the right arm bone was blackened, resembling both a burn and poisoning.

“There are no signs of bone regeneration; he must have died shortly after being injured.”

Dong Rui glanced towards the entrance and said, “It seems he fled here after being wounded.”

“Let’s see if this Immortal left any last words.” The skeleton’s sitting posture was odd, so He Lingchuan followed the direction of its palm.

Its left hand pointed towards the opposite stone wall.

“There are words.”

Several lines of characters, written in an ancient Immortal script with fluid, powerful strokes, adorned the wall. He Lingchuan carefully distinguished that they were not carved with a blade or sword; a light touch with his finger confirmed this, indicating they were formed by direct impression.

He glanced back at the Immortal’s skeleton on the stone bed. For this person to be able to effortlessly inscribe characters on a hard stone wall with a finger before dying, their opponent, who forced them to die in this secret room, must also have been extraordinary.

Considering the Heavenly Demon corpse outside, He Lingchuan knew there was likely a conflict between the person here and the Heavenly Demons.

He Lingchuan held up the luminous spore to illuminate the stone wall, and Dong Rui unconsciously read aloud:

“Hahaha, Miao Zhantian, you’re too late! I’ve already burned all my research to ashes; you won’t get anything! The Heavenly Demons’ defeat is set, yet you still delusionally scheme to steal my work and quietly return to the human realm someday? Dream on! I no longer care for this life, my spirit has self-annihilated, and my life’s work has been destroyed. I have no lingering attachments as I depart, but it’s a pity I won’t get to see you, you wretched hag, thwarted.”Below, it read: “Qu Yu, Final Words with a Great Laugh.”

The content on the stone wall consisted of just these few lines.

After reading, the group let out a long breath.

Though the room was silent, they felt as if the hearty laughter of the person’s final moments still echoed within.

Fu Liushan said, “So, the original owner of this cave dwelling was named Qu Yu.”

The words contained not the slightest hint of an Immortal’s ethereal demeanor.

He Lingchuan, meanwhile, recalled the first dream he had after acquiring the Black Dragon scale.

In the dream, before Immortal Shou’an threw the divine sword, his disciples had mentioned this name: Qu Yu.

Immortal Shou’an had once warned him that he would be safe if he “stood under the sun.”

However, Qu Yu ultimately died in this sunless underground palace.

A chilling prophecy indeed.

Connecting these two clues, the assembled facts were chilling:

“In the past, before the Heavenly Demons retreated, Miao Zhantian led other Heavenly Demons in a sneak attack on Immortal Qu Yu, intending to seize his research findings. Qu Yu, unable to resist, fled here to burn his data and self-detonate his primordial spirit, leaving Miao Zhantian to return empty-handed.”

Fu Liushan asked curiously, “And who is Miao Zhantian?”

He Lingchuan casually replied, “One of the Heavenly Demon’s True Gods, with boundless power.”

On Mount Xu, Miao Zhantian had even searched his soul and used a touchstone to test his lies. Fortunately, he had a leaf from the Dao-Seeking Tree on him and narrowly managed to deceive her.

But Miao Zhantian’s terror had left a deep impression on him.

This True God had not even descended to the human realm, yet she had rendered him utterly defenseless at the time.

However, judging by the inscription on the wall, Miao Zhantian had personally come to Qu Yu’s cave dwelling to apprehend him.

He Lingchuan had seen the chaotic scene of the Heavenly Demons retreating beyond the realm in his dream. Even at such a critical juncture, Miao Zhantian felt compelled to come, highlighting the importance placed on Qu Yu’s research findings.

And Qu Yu, risking his cultivation, life, and primordial spirit, had to destroy his life’s work. This was out of fear that his research findings would fall into the Heavenly Demons’ hands, and that they would “quietly return to the human realm someday”!

These last few words truly sent shivers down He Lingchuan’s spine!

For both sides to exert such great effort, didn’t it suggest that Qu Yu’s research findings could indeed allow the Heavenly Demons to return to the human realm?

What exactly did this person tinker with in the underground palace?

Dong Rui coughed. “Surely Qu isn't exaggerating, is he? Thousands of years have passed, and we haven’t seen the Heavenly Demons truly descend.”

“They yearn for it day and night,” He Lingchuan said with a grim expression, recalling Zhong Shengguang’s words:

Mitian hopes General Hong will strengthen himself as soon as possible, for only then can he receive its full descent!

Over a hundred years ago, Mitian had already found a way to descend into the world, though it required the aid of the Great Square Flask.

If it could find a way, who’s to say other Heavenly Gods couldn’t forge a different path?

To descend into the human realm, circumventing the Heavenly Net Star and the two-realm barrier was key.

Did Qu Yu’s research yield results in this area?