Chapter 802: Hell Wasteland Beast

Wu Manyue and Ren Guhong walked over, equally dumbfounded.

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't this joke going too far?"

"This little mound in front of us is smaller than my old dog's grave."

Wu Manyue's eyes widened. If the wooden plaque hadn't clearly stated "Tomb of Xiao Feng," she would never have believed this was the burial site of a great sage.

Ren Guhong gasped, "No wonder the Beast Taming Sect's patriarch didn't take any burial items. Turns out, there's not even a single hair here. There's nothing to take even if you wanted to."

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched. "I really want to know what the Divine Movement Sect people are thinking right now." Three generations of searching, ten years of patient waiting, an excavation that gambled their sect's fate—the result? Just this.

They looked up and, sure enough, saw ten figures in black robes standing silently in front of the small mound. Clearly, they too were questioning their life choices.

"My Lord," one of the black-robed figures addressed the mysterious person, the only one among them wearing a long red robe. "Are we still digging this tomb?"

The red-robed figure was an old man. His ancient voice, slightly deep, commanded, "Dig! Whatever we find, that's what we get!"

Evidently, he hadn't anticipated this either. The imagined scene of widespread inheritances, abundant spiritual treasures and secret medicines, and frequent appearances of world-shaking artifacts had not materialized. If even this small mound was empty, he would go mad. The Divine Movement Sect would also go completely mad.

With a command, a black-robed figure took out a hook, wrapped it around the tombstone from a distance, and carefully pulled it off. They had expected it to be extremely dangerous and had taken ample precautions. But to their surprise, as soon as he applied force, the tombstone crumbled into splinters. The wooden plaque had existed for too long and had long since decayed. This caused the red-robed old man's expression to darken further.

Was this truly the tomb of a great sage? What kind of great sage would have such a shoddy burial?

"Dig!" he ordered. There was still a glimmer of hope. If they could dig up a coffin...

Unfortunately, the thought was still in his mind when two disciples lifted their hoes and lightly dug, easily clearing away the small mound. This revealed a few rotten feathers, only the tips of which remained.

"My Lord, we've dug to the bottom," the two digging disciples announced, dumbfounded.

The red-robed old man's eyes went wide; he snatched the hoe, declaring, "I'll do it!" He grunted and dug a few times, but beneath, there was only soil. There was no coffin at all. Inside the small mound were just a few rotten feathers.

He staggered back, nearly falling backward onto the ground. Fortunately, the two people beside him caught him.

"My Lord, don't... don't get agitated."

The red-robed old man flung the two away, then let out a trembling, bitter laugh: "A hundred years of searching! For just a few feathers? Heavens above! Why are you so cruel to my Divine Movement Sect?"

The remaining nine black-robed figures also remained silent. Evidently, they had suffered an immense blow.

Wu Manyue burst out laughing inwardly: "Hahahaha! I'm dying of laughter! They were so full of themselves, and in the end, they just got a few feathers. Hahahahaha!"

Ren Guhong also felt much better. "They paid such a huge price for *this*? Haha."

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "If the mound only contained a few rotten feathers, then what about the Earth Phoenix Grass juice outside? It couldn't have grown out of thin air, could it?"

The two stopped laughing and pondered.

Wu Manyue mused suspiciously, "Don't tell me... there might actually be something else in that mound. They just had too high expectations and hastily dug through the soil without searching thoroughly. If they were to break apart each clod of earth and search bit by bit, they'd probably find something useful."

Just as she thought this, the red-robed old man, after a moment of self-mockery, slowly calmed down. His gaze refocused on the small mound. As if he too realized the problem, a glint appeared in his eyes: "Clear away all the soil. Search meticulously!"

The black-robed figures were about to resume digging when the red-robed old man suddenly sensed something. He abruptly roared, "Who's there? Show yourselves!" His sharp gaze swept across the surroundings. The air trembled as a terrifying aura, emanating from his body at the Nascent Soul realm, swept across the area.

Jiang Fan's expression changed dramatically. In his mind, Wu Manyue and Ren Guhong's terrified exclamations appeared one after another: "It's a Nascent Soul realm cultivator! They sent a Nascent Soul realm expert to oversee this! We've been discovered! Retreat quickly!"

How could three disciples possibly contend with a Nascent Soul cultivator face-to-face? Even escaping with their lives was a slim possibility. Jiang Fan's heart pounded. Even with several powerful magic artifacts he now possessed, he could never directly confront a Nascent Soul cultivator.

He was preparing to retreat when his peripheral vision caught something. His pupils contracted as he said, "He didn't find us!"

Wu Manyue and Ren Guhong suppressed their fear. They looked carefully and realized the red-robed old man wasn't looking at them. Instead, his ancient eyes were fixed on the darkness in the distance. The two followed his gaze, and their pupils also constricted sharply. For in that darkness, a colossal, mountain-like shadow seemed to slowly rise from the ground.

*Thump—*

It took a step. The entire earth trembled. A violent and savage aura, like a storm, swept towards them.

The red-robed old man's gaze was solemn as he gravely ordered, "Quick! Pack up the grave soil and take it with you! Something formidable is lurking here!"

Jiang Fan's eyes narrowed. He remembered what Gong Caiyi had said: not long ago, the spirit beasts collecting Earth Phoenix Grass juice refused to come down. It turned out they had sensed something extremely dangerous underground.

*Thump—*

The mountain-like behemoth took another step. The earth trembled again. Jiang Fan's heart also began to pound like a drum with its footsteps. He had encountered many Nascent Soul cultivators and demon emperors before. He had even been chased by a two-headed hellhound. Yet, none had ever given him such an immense sense of oppression as this one before him. He felt a suffocating sensation, as if plunging into an abyss ten thousand feet deep.

As the giant shadow drew closer, his blood flow involuntarily accelerated. Goosebumps rose in layers on his skin. A creeping fear spread uncontrollably in his heart.

He took a small step back, accidentally bumping into Wu Manyue. Her soft body felt unusually stiff at that moment; she was clearly terrified by the intimidating aura.

"Retreat!" he whispered. "We can't handle this fierce creature. Perhaps not even the Divine Movement Sect's Nascent Soul cultivator can deal with it?"

*Thump— Thump-thump—*

The giant shadow slowly advanced. In the darkness, two enormous blood-red eyes shone like two high-hanging blood moons, emitting a terrifying bloody glow! A brutal and fierce ancient aura also spread forth.

*Bang—*

Finally, the giant shadow arrived. A massive black claw gently landed in the torchlight. The claw was ink-black, and under the dim torchlight, it reflected a cold, dark sheen.

Jiang Fan looked. His pupils constricted to a needlepoint! Because this giant claw... was missing a digit!