Chapter 35: Burial Immortal Night Visitor

The "Nine Springs Map" was much clearer than the "Trace Meridian Chart." The location and activation sequence of each spring were meticulously marked.

The four springs in the limbs were naturally the earliest and simplest to activate.

It stated:

"Individuals with superior aptitude will surely succeed after ten years of arduous cultivation."

"Those with average aptitude may require anywhere from ten to thirty years."

The fifth spring was located in the "Central Hub" of the back, the sixth in the "Dan Zhong" of the chest, and the seventh in the "Bai Hui" at the top of the head.

Activating all seven springs would allow the body to be fully connected, enabling one to attempt to break through to higher realms.

"For those with superior aptitude, achieving seven springs is possible after twenty years of diligent cultivation."

Upon reading this, Li Wei Yi found the Golden Crow Blood even more remarkably precious. Even individuals with superior aptitude needed twenty years of intense training to have a chance at opening seven springs. How many years of cultivation time had he saved?

Martial cultivators in this world might begin training to open springs as early as three years old. By his age, they would have already trained for fifteen or sixteen years.

Moreover, he could drink Golden Crow Blood. Did the noble offspring of this world not possess rare blood elixirs?

The Golden Crow Blood was merely compensating for the fifteen or sixteen years he had lost, and it was still far from making up for all of it.

Furthermore, this only referred to those with superior aptitude. The text also stated that individuals with exceptionally outstanding talent could attempt to break through the eighth spring, "Feng Fu," located at the back of the head, and the ninth spring, "Zu Tian," below the navel.

A mortal who successfully activated "Feng Fu" could be called a prodigy, capable of overpowering aberrant humanoids and catching up to pure immortal physiques within the same realm.

A mortal who successfully activated "Zu Tian" could be called a perfect being, demonstrating the pinnacle of physical constitution, with a sharpness that could surpass pure immortal physiques.

Li Wei Yi was thrilled. So there *was* a way to catch up on the martial path. Although he was ordinary, he wasn't without a chance to challenge pure immortal physiques within the same realm. At this moment, his fighting spirit burned fiercely.

Mortals were suppressed by aberrant humanoids within the same realm, and even by lower-level pure immortal physiques across realms.

Li Wei Yi did not want to live such a frustrating life.

Feng Fu, Zu Tian...

But if mortals could attempt to activate Feng Fu and Zu Tian, couldn't aberrant humanoids and pure immortal physiques do so as well?

Wouldn't he still be suppressed then?

Just as he felt disheartened, Li Wei Yi's ears twitched. Hearing an unusual sound, he quickly unfurled the ghost flag that had been wrapped around the Evil Camel Bell and threw it over the campfire. The flames extinguished, leaving only thick smoke.

The entire room, and indeed the whole town of Buried Immortals, was completely enveloped in darkness.

"Thump-thump!"

Dense footsteps entered the town.

Some figures even darted across the rooftops with light steps.

Li Wei Yi tossed the "Nine Springs Compendium" into the Evil Camel Bell, draped the ghost flag over himself to conceal his aura, and transformed into a black shadow. He leaped over an earthen wall, moved through several houses consecutively, and finally hid himself on a roof beam.

"We clearly saw a fire from a distance, why did it disappear so suddenly?"

"Search, search every house."

The sounds of kicking down doors and hacking at various objects echoed around.

Over a dozen torches were lit.

Dozens of soldiers from the Direwolf King's Army had entered the town of Buried Immortals. They were all hand-picked experts, each having opened at least two springs.

Half of them, led by Xing Wan Xing, the tenth disciple of Stone Ninefold Hermitage, swiftly headed towards the northeastern corner of the market town.

There, a thousand-year-old apricot tree stood, so wide that it would take seven or eight people to encircle its trunk. Its branches were dense with leaves, and its roots were numerous.

Beneath the apricot tree was an ancient well, over ten meters in diameter, enclosed by stone railings and surrounded by dozens of giant stone statues. Enveloped in faint mist, it exuded an ancient, ethereal, and illusory aura.

Torches were positioned around the ancient well.

"Clang!"

With the strenuous pulling of numerous iron chains, there was a splashing sound as a silver coffin, as large as a series of connected houses, was slowly pulled up.

It was extremely heavy; over twenty immensely strong aberrant humanoid martial cultivators struggled greatly to pull it.

Yesterday, a large number of powerful individuals from the Beast Li Tribe came for rescue, forcing the Direwolf King's Army to retreat. However, this silver coffin was too heavy and massive to be moved, so it had to be hidden in the well.

Xing Wan Xing's eyes gleamed with excitement. He had already recognized yesterday that this coffin was extraordinary. Aside from the unknown contents within, the silver coffin itself was priceless.

Grand figures from the myriad households and sects would certainly be highly interested in such an otherworldly coffin.

Selling it for a hundred million silver coins would be commonplace.

A four-spring martial cultivator standing beside Xing Wan Xing whispered, "Master Xing, why don't we secretly open this coffin, take what's inside, and then put it back..."

"Silence! An otherworldly coffin loses much of its value once it's been opened."

Xing Wan Xing had certainly harbored covetous thoughts himself.

The truth was, an expert could tell at a glance if an otherworldly coffin had ever been opened.

Stone Ninefold Hermitage was not easily deceived, and Xing Wan Xing truly lacked the courage to try.

Furthermore, opening an unknown coffin carried immense risks.

The contents might be worthless, or even nothing at all. Alternatively, a terrifying beast might be sealed inside, and opening the coffin could lead to many deaths.

Xing Wan Xing had heard a story about a prominent clan in a large city that spent three hundred million silver coins on a rare otherworldly coffin. Upon opening it, an incomprehensible entity was released, killing millions of people in the entire city and turning it into a forbidden dead city.

There were also legends of corpses inside unknown coffins suddenly reviving after being opened, killing all those who opened them before departing.

Some coffins contained hidden mechanisms and traps, others poisonous substances or corpse worms.

If opening unknown coffins truly offered profit without loss and no risk at all, then otherworldly coffins would not circulate on the market.

If retrieving, lifting, and opening coffins weren't extremely dangerous, how could the Jiuli Tribe continuously dominate the upstream of this industry chain?

Risk and reward are always directly proportional.

"Boom!"

As the massive silver coffin was just pulled out of the ancient well, it was so heavy that the hemp ropes binding it suddenly snapped.

The coffin fell to the ground.

With a resounding clang, the lid was shaken open, sliding down more than a foot.

Everyone recoiled in fright.

Xing Wan Xing was about to explode with rage: "Can't any of you be more careful... That's..."

From the gap where the lid had slipped, a silver auspicious glow erupted, releasing a rich, unusual fragrance.

The mist enveloping the surrounding houses instantly turned silver, becoming as magnificent and mysterious as celestial clouds, with silver flowers crystallizing within it.

Xing Wan Xing instantly froze, his eyes wide with astonishment.

This didn't seem like an ominous coffin; it was definitely a treasure coffin containing countless rare items from another world.

"Master Xing, it wasn't our fault. The sealing nails were pried off long ago, which is why the lid slipped when it hit the ground. It's highly likely that the Cang Li Tribe opened it when they retrieved it from the Sea of Blood!" someone reported after an inspection.

The four-spring martial cultivator behind Xing Wan Xing whispered again, "Since a corner is already open, why not see what's inside?"

Xing Wan Xing secretly pondered. If there truly were rare treasures inside, why not take them and flee far away? In any case, given this unexpected turn of events, transporting the coffin back would still lead to suspicion from Stone Ninefold Hermitage.

After Xing Wan Xing gave the order, several aberrant humanoids collectively heaved open the heavy silver coffin lid.

The silver glow emanating from the coffin became even more dazzling, illuminating half of the town of Buried Immortals.

More and more silver flowers materialized within the mist.

Inside the coffin lay a silent, eleven to twelve-meter-long skeleton of a silver giant. The bones appeared to have a galaxy flowing within them, exceptionally brilliant. But apart from this, there was nothing else.

Xing Wan Xing sighed deeply, greatly disappointed.

This silver skeleton might be useful to some powerful cultivators, but to him, it was worthless.

"Perhaps the true treasure was already taken by the Cang Li Tribe," he thought to himself.

"Whoosh!"

Like a wisp of clear breeze under the night sky, Li Ling, with her slender and graceful figure, floated down onto the three-story rooftop not far from the ancient well, leaving faint trails of blue mist.

She had originally followed Li Wei Yi to the town of Buried Immortals, but unexpectedly stumbled upon something else.

Weren't these the 'Buddhist Robbers' from yesterday?

A chilling aura emanated from her eyes, and her jade-like hand retrieved a silken insect pouch from her waist, tipping it open.

"Buzzing!"

Swarms of rice-grain-sized insects flew out, resembling countless firefly-like points of light, and swarmed towards the more than twenty robbers by the ancient well.

Hearing the dense buzzing of wings, Xing Wan Xing turned, his face changing instantly: "It's Chimera Fire Ladybugs! Don't let them touch you, scatter quickly!"

Too late!

The first aberrant humanoid to be landed on by a Chimera Fire Ladybug screamed in agony. Its back was instantly burned through, and the flames rapidly spread, transforming it into a massive fireball.

Three breaths later, his two-meter-tall, massive body was reduced to ashes.

The second, the third...

Soldiers of the Direwolf King's Army began to ignite one after another.

Screams and wails rose and fell, creating complete chaos. Some fled into the distance, while others jumped into the ancient well.

Li Wei Yi peered through a crack in the window, looking at the slender, graceful figure of the girl on the distant rooftop. He recognized her. He couldn't believe she would appear here.

Sensing that she was being watched, Li Ling turned her head and casually glanced at the abandoned house where Li Wei Yi was hiding.

"Such strong perceptive abilities?"

Li Wei Yi quickly averted his gaze, suddenly realizing that Li Ling's presence here might be because of him.

Why?

In that instant, many thoughts flooded Li Wei Yi's mind.

Had a great favor turned into enmity? Or had the secret of his magical artifact been exposed?

Otherwise, why would she secretly follow him?

Something must have gone wrong.