Chapter 874: Ceremony Triggered

Upon entering the room, everyone felt an extremely dense concentration of water elements, with an ethereal mist pervasive throughout, making it difficult to see clearly into the distance.

What was even more striking, however, was the profound sense of resentment that permeated the air, thick enough to make one's spine tingle and hair stand on end, in addition to the dense water elements.

At the same time, a chilling wind seemed to sweep through the room, causing involuntary shivers. Bi Linglong hugged her arms, visibly trembling.

Zu An couldn't help but exclaim, "Why is there such an intense aura of resentment?"

Mi Li also frowned slightly. "Such profound resentment indicates either a grave injustice, enough to cause snow in June, or an overwhelming hatred. Given the grandeur of this tomb's design, these circumstances shouldn't normally apply."

Zu An speculated, "Could it be an ancestor of a Qin king, or perhaps someone like Hu Hai?"

As this was the imperial ancestral ground of the Qin dynasty, encountering remains of previous Qin kings was quite normal.

After Qin Shi Huang's death, Hu Hai ascended the throne and heavily favored the eunuch Zhao Gao. Eventually, rebel armies rose throughout the land, and seeing the tide turn, Zhao Gao forced Hu Hai to commit suicide as a scapegoat. It was understandable that Hu Hai would have died feeling greatly wronged, thus explaining such strong resentment.

"That is indeed possible," Mi Li affirmed. During her time with Zu An, she had learned not only about the events of the Qin dynasty after her sealing but also a good deal about the subsequent development of the Twenty-Four Histories, so she was naturally aware of Hu Hai's circumstances.

"With such immense resentment, could it form vengeful spirits or dangerous elemental creatures?" Bi Linglong asked, somewhat worried. Her earlier experience of having her sword severed by the Golden Wheel Phantom had left her extremely cautious.

"No, it won't," Mi Li replied, pointing to some newly discovered runes. "A master has set up a formation here, preventing this resentment from coalescing into spirits. It can only remain as pure resentment."

Zu An and Bi Linglong looked closer, observing the incredibly intricate runes everywhere. Neither understood runes, but the sheer complexity and precision of the patterns indicated they were the work of a powerful individual.

At that moment, Mi Li seemed to sense something, looking up towards a nearby spot where the chilling aura was strongest, and a faint glimmer could be seen.

As they approached, they saw it was a pool of water. At the bottom of the pool, a vague outline suggested a coffin.

Mi Li stood at the edge of the pool, pondered for a moment, and then instructed Zu An, "Use your Azure Drake to part the water; let's go down and see."

Clearly, after experiencing a series of rooms, the Five Elements Grand Formation, and this imperial-level tomb chamber, her curiosity about the identity of the deceased had only grown.

Zu An was momentarily stunned. "The Azure Drake can be used like that?"

Mi Li replied, "Perhaps not for large rivers, but with your current cultivation, this small pool is certainly manageable. Since your Azure Drake is naturally attuned to water elements, achieving this shouldn't be difficult. Use more imagination, instead of just thinking about sharing breath with girls underwater all day."

Zu An, being thick-skinned, was unfazed by the remark, but Bi Linglong wished she could disappear into the ground.

Following Mi Li's guidance, Zu An successfully parted the pool water, creating a gap wide enough for two people. Directly below was indeed the coffin.

Zu An couldn't help but marvel at how individuals of higher cultivation understood and utilized power and elements in ways utterly incomprehensible to those of lower realms. Had it not been for her guidance today, he wondered how many years it would have taken him to gradually discover this on his own.

Mi Li jumped down first, landing beside the coffin. Zu An and Bi Linglong quickly followed, and up close, they felt the intense resentment emanating from within even more strongly.

Zu An couldn't resist suggesting, "Do we really need to open the coffin? What if a powerful monster is sealed inside..."

Before he could finish, Mi Li flicked her sleeve, and with a resounding crash, the coffin lid was sent flying.

Zu An was speechless.

Well, it seemed his words were completely unnecessary.

Nevertheless, he looked inside with equal curiosity. By then, Mi Li had already opened the inner coffin lid.

"Oh?" Bi Linglong exclaimed from the side, for the figure lying within was not human.

More precisely, it had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.

Equally astonishing was the tomb's occupant's beautiful face. She had long blue hair and wore a crown made of coral and pearls on her forehead. Despite the lack of life in her features, it did not diminish the incomparable grace she must have possessed in life.

However, her brows were tightly furrowed, and her face was somewhat contorted, clearly indicating that she had died filled with resentment.

"A mermaid?" Zu An's eyes widened instantly. He had only ever seen them on television, never imagining they could be so stunning in reality.

However, as air entered the coffin after it was opened, her exquisite features almost immediately disintegrated into dust, leaving only a crystalline white skeleton.

"A beautiful skeleton..." He had often heard this term before, but experiencing it firsthand today delivered a powerful visual shock. Zu An even worried if it might leave him with some psychological trauma.

Alas, even such a beautiful woman ultimately became nothing but a pile of bones.

Thinking of this, he felt a touch of sadness. He had never particularly thought about immortality before, but now he strangely began to understand those who pursued it.

Just then, his gaze sharpened, noticing something. He reached into the clothing of the skeleton in the coffin.

Bi Linglong, standing nearby, looked at him with a strange expression. "She's dead. Isn't what you're doing a bit... inappropriate?"

However, she quickly realized her misunderstanding when she saw Zu An retrieve a translucent scale, as beautiful as a jade pendant.

"This looks somewhat familiar," Zu An murmured thoughtfully.

Mi Li asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing," Zu An smiled, tucking the jade-like scale into his pocket. "Do you recognize the woman in the coffin?"

"No, I don't. But judging by her attire, she must have been a very important figure among the merfolk, perhaps even their empress. It's no wonder she received a funeral of this caliber." Seeing it wasn't an acquaintance, Mi Li lost interest. She casually closed the coffin lid and then ascended to the surface, appearing preoccupied.

Just as Zu An was about to follow, Bi Linglong glanced curiously at the bottom of the coffin and remarked, "It seemed like a lot of water elemental energy just now flowed along the surrounding formation to some unknown distant location. The previous rooms also had similar occurrences. Could our actions have inadvertently triggered some sort of ritual?"

Zu An was startled and looked at Mi Li. "Is that true?"

Although his cultivation was high, his fundamental knowledge in cultivation was not as solid as Bi Linglong's, who had been trained in a prominent family from a young age.

Mi Li, who was on the surface examining something on the wall, answered nonchalantly when she heard him, "Indeed."

Zu An, having just returned to the surface, couldn't help but ask, "If you knew, why didn't you prevent it beforehand?"

"We didn't touch the coffins in the earth and fire element rooms, did we?" Mi Li replied. "This way, even if some unknown evil ritual is triggered, it will be incomplete and ultimately fail. This is a good opportunity to destroy it and prevent any major problems in the future."

Zu An laughed heartily. "Master, you truly possess foresight! My admiration for you is like a surging river, continuous and unending..."

"Continuous and unending my foot," Mi Li retorted, rolling her eyes. "Come look at these murals. They seem to depict Xu Fu's later voyage, where he found the merfolk tribe and then brought their princess or queen back to present to Ying Zheng."

"No wonder there's so much resentment," Bi Linglong mused. Thinking of the woman's fate, she suddenly felt a kinship. Her own life as a seemingly glamorous Crown Princess had, in reality, been entirely within someone else's scheme from beginning to end.

Just then, a series of rumbling sounds suddenly echoed from afar, and the entire room began to tremble.

Mi Li's expression changed. "The five elements are extremely active, filling the entire palace. Has the formation been triggered? But how could that be possible?"

Meanwhile, in the previous fire element room, the crystal coffin lay overturned on the ground. Fusu, who had been lifelike within, was now nothing but a skeleton.

He Li rummaged through the coffin for a moment, then pulled out a pile of burial artifacts and presented them to a large, stout man standing nearby. "Your Majesty, I've found these treasures."

Zhao Ruizhi scoffed. "Just some worthless junk. What kind of treasures are these?"

As burial artifacts for a prince, they clearly weren't worthless, but to an emperor who commanded vast wealth, they were naturally nothing remarkable.

Having found nothing of value in the earth element room, and now seeing this body that had remained uncorrupted for millennia, Zhao Ruizhi had hoped for secrets of immortality within. He was naturally very disappointed.

Just then, rumbling sounds echoed from the distance, and the room began to shake intermittently.

He Li and the two remaining warriors from Prince Qi's Mansion all blanched. Was this another instance of the room reconfiguring itself, like before?

Zhao Ruizhi, however, looked excited as he gazed into the distance. "It seems some formation mechanism has been triggered. I sense the aura of life!"

With that, he could wait no longer and instantly vanished.

He Li and his two companions hesitated for a long moment. Ultimately unable to resist the allure of immortality, they quickly followed.