Chapter 68: Abbot's Dao Realm (Seeking First Subscription!)

Li Weiyi carefully examined the two star charts on the megalithic tomb door. Silver and yellow gemstones, of unknown material, shimmered with divine light from within. They varied in size, were densely scattered, and extremely numerous, truly conveying the vastness of the starry sky.

He observed the "Milky Way" on the door, comparing it to the star charts in his memory. He searched for familiar constellations like Orion and the Big Dipper, hoping to find the answers he yearned for.

But he couldn't make sense of it.

Instead, the more he looked, the dizzier he became, and his eyelids grew heavier.

Clearly, the star charts contained an ancient and powerful form of psychic energy; they were not merely simple inlaid decorations.

Stone Coffin Senior noticed his abnormal state and quickly warned him, "Don't look at them for too long. These two star charts are very significant, connected to the God of Jiuli, and involve the earliest secrets of the Jiuli tribe."

Li Weiyi snapped awake and quickly averted his gaze.

As expected of the Jiuli tribe's Ancestral Realm, nothing here was simple or ordinary. If he had ventured in with his current cultivation level, he would have died dozens of times over if not for Master Coffin and the Nine Emperor Banner!

Following Stone Coffin Senior's instructions, Li Weiyi methodically injected his magical power into certain gemstones on the tomb door, one by one.

"Be careful, don't make any mistakes," Stone Coffin Senior warned with a very serious tone. "The two star charts on King Cang's tomb door contain tens of thousands of spiritual formation runes. If they are activated incorrectly, neither of us will leave a trace."

Li Weiyi immediately held his breath, trying to keep his hand as steady as possible.

It was well known that the more spiritual formation runes there were, the stronger the formation's power.

A hundred runes could protect a town; a thousand could defend a city.

A single thousand-character formation inscription could defend an entire city.

Arranging formations was not simply stacking runes; each inscription was fixed and likely the crystallization of a formation master's life's work.

Tens of thousands of spiritual formation runes guarding a tomb...

However many tomb raiders came, that many would die.

As Li Weiyi cautiously injected his magical power, he couldn't help but ask, "I'm curious, since King Cang was the ancestor of the Cangli tribe, he shouldn't want his descendants to disturb his peace. So, no one should know how to decipher the runes on this tomb door..."

Before Li Weiyi could finish, Stone Coffin Senior said, "I deciphered it. It took me a hundred years."

Li Weiyi was speechless.

Stone Coffin Senior knew what Li Weiyi was thinking at that moment — likely praising his "filial piety" — so he explained, "It was all out of necessity!"

"The Underworld Realm experienced many destructive wars, not just the one a thousand years ago," he began. "The Jiuli tribe's heritage is ancient. During the wars, parts of our cultivation scriptures were damaged, especially the cultivation content beyond the Longevity Realm, which is very incomplete."

"As the chieftain of the Jiuli tribe a thousand years ago, I wanted to complete them and also find my own immortal path. So I opened many ancestral tombs in the Ancestral Realm, searching for the original chapters of the scriptures. Unfortunately, after centuries of tireless searching, I found nothing!"

"Finally, I wanted to venture into Mount Jiuli and disturb the tomb of the God of Jiuli, but I almost perished inside."

Stone Coffin Senior knew Li Weiyi must have already guessed his identity, so he no longer concealed it.

Li Weiyi was secretly shocked by Master Coffin's power in life and that his lifespan could be so long. Spirit Tablet Senior and Jar Master were likely no less powerful. No wonder the three of them hadn't completely perished, even in their current state.

It was also no wonder they had always been reluctant to reveal their identities. The disparity between their power and glory in life and their current state as mere wisps of souls flickering in the wind was too great, making it naturally hard for them to accept.

They absolutely did not want their old acquaintances or future descendants to know.

Moreover, once their identities were exposed, both they and Li Weiyi would be in extreme danger.

"Done!"

After activating the last silver gemstone, Li Weiyi quickly stepped back two paces.

The ground vibrated, and a rumbling sound echoed.

Complex, rune-like formation characters were shaken to the surface of the stone door, emitting faint glows.

The two heavy stone doors slowly opened.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

It was pitch black inside the door, and a bone-chilling wind surged out, like ice blades cutting the skin.

Faintly, from the depths of the darkness, strange cries could be heard, mournful and piercing, like sounds from hell.

Li Weiyi's expression changed, and he swallowed hard, saying, "Master Coffin... I feel like... something isn't right?"

Stone Coffin Senior was very confident. "Don't be afraid! The tomb has been sealed for a thousand years, and now it suddenly has a vent. Naturally, strange sounds will occur as the wind blows through some objects. All dangers in King Cang's tomb were already cleared by me a thousand years ago. Just treat it like coming home."

Li Weiyi was half-convinced. He clutched the Nine Emperor Banner tighter and stepped through the tomb door.

"Boom!"

The tomb door, nearly five feet thick and dozens of feet high, instantly closed.

The nine skulls at the top of the Nine Emperor Banner contained energy, causing the nine white banners and scriptures to emit a shimmering glow, illuminating the wide, pitch-black tomb passage.

The ground was paved with smooth jade, and the walls were made of hard rock with metallic particles.

The ceiling of the tomb passage was level with the top of the stone door, also dozens of feet high, giving it a magnificent feel. Compared to this, the imperial tombs on Earth seemed paltry, like slums.

Stone Coffin Senior's tone was very relaxed and natural. "Now do you believe there's no danger here? Everything is peaceful and serene. I once lived here... for several years..."

Before he finished speaking.

A strange feminine laugh rang out from the darkness deep within the tomb passage, both enchanting and eerily sinister.

Coupled with layers of echoing reverberations, it was enough to scare the wits out of anyone.

Li Weiyi's muscles tensed. He stared fixedly into the dark tomb passage ahead, took a deep breath, and looked at the stone coffin on his shoulder. "That laugh... it's very clear... it shouldn't be the sound of wind, right?"

Stone Coffin Senior was silent for a moment, then said, "Perhaps it's some kind of auditory hallucination."

"Thump-thump!"

Footsteps echoed in the darkness.

Then, pink mist surged from the depths of the tomb passage, with wisps of white luminous gauze floating within it.

A tall, captivatingly beautiful figure stepped out of the mist, one step at a time. Her face was obscured, but her legs were visibly long and as white as jade, her long hair billowed, and countless flower petals accompanied her as she moved.

Had he seen such a sight elsewhere, Li Weiyi would naturally find it pleasing to the eye and couldn't help but take a second look.

But her appearance here only sent shivers down Li Weiyi's spine.

He turned to flee, only to find the tomb door already closed.

The voice from the stone coffin suddenly lost its confidence. "It seems like... there's a slight problem... Use the Nine Emperor Banner, it can ward off evil... or rather, absorb her, see if it can take her in..."

The enchanting laughter from the beautiful figure ahead suddenly turned into a piercing shriek, like a malevolent ghost, like a demon.

Blood mist, luminous gauze, and flower petals, along with her now grotesque and terrifying figure, flew with extraordinary speed towards Li Weiyi, who stood beneath the tomb door, her arms spread wide.

Li Weiyi mobilized the magical power within his body and poured it all into the Nine Emperor Banner.

"Whoosh!"

The radiance emitted by the nine white banners surged, illuminating the tomb passage as if it were day, dispelling the blood mist and luminous gauze, and colliding with the beautiful figure.

With a roar, powerful airwaves and light ripples surged through the tomb passage.

The beautiful figure seemed to be suppressed by the Nine Emperor Banner. She let out a shriek and rapidly fled into the depths of the dark tomb passage.

Li Weiyi let out a long breath, grateful that the Nine Emperor Banner really could ward off evil, and said with lingering fear, "Master Coffin, let's get out of here quickly. I feel like I could really use another two years of training before coming back."

"You walk fifty steps forward first," Stone Coffin Senior said, as if he had realized something.

Fifty steps, Li Weiyi was still willing to walk.

After cautiously walking fifty steps, Li Weiyi stopped. Without needing a reminder from Stone Coffin Senior, his gaze was already fixed on a mural on the left stone wall of the tomb passage.

The painting depicted a sea of flowers and a lake. By the lake stood a young woman of peerless beauty, dressed in a cyan gauze feather robe. Her figure was graceful and flowing, her legs long and straight, and she was utterly lifelike.

Stone Coffin Senior said, "This mural was painted by me when I lived here back then; I added a little bit of her demon blood to the paint. What we just encountered should be the painting spirit of this mural. A thousand years ago, an unintentional act almost caused a catastrophe... Fortunately, she is still very weak right now..."

From within the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish, Spirit Tablet Senior's cold, calm voice rang out: "No wonder you often disappeared for years back then; you were actually here painting a demoness. Don't think I don't know who she is: the Qixia Lake Flower Demon, the most beautiful, Xia Jin."

Jar Master's voice chimed in, goading them on, unafraid of stirring up trouble: "I know Xia Jin well. She truly deserves the title of 'most beautiful'. If she were still alive, she'd surely be one of the Demon Kings of the Lingxiao Living Realm. Weiyi, after you get out, help Jar Master inquire; I want to rekindle our past connection with her."

Stone Coffin Senior quickly explained, "It's just a mural! You all participated in the demon calamity back then, didn't you? We collected a lot of demon blood from that battle. Living here, it was just something to do in my spare time!"

"Old Coffin, why are you sounding incoherent?" Jar Master chuckled.

Stone Coffin Senior said, "I painted more than just this one in the tomb passage, didn't I? Every fiendish demon whose blood I collected, I painted one by one... They wouldn't have also given birth to painting spirits, would they?"

Li Weiyi was speechless.

Spirit Tablet Senior said, "Weiyi, don't fear these painting spirits. Just use your sword to scrape off the murals, and the painting spirits will naturally turn to dust."

"Understood!"

Li Weiyi was panicking inwardly, so he was very decisive and immediately drew his Yellow Dragon Sword.

In the depths of the dark tomb passage.

The beautiful figure seemed to realize the danger and once again, rode the red mist and luminous gauze, charging out.

Accompanying her was a sabre-toothed giant ape demon, dozens of feet tall with four arms. Both spirits were extremely fierce, aiming to prevent Li Weiyi from destroying the murals.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

He swung his sword twice.

A deep cross-shaped sword mark appeared on the mural, with shattered rock and dust flying out.

The beautiful figure, amidst a shriek, quickly turned to dust and vanished.

"Roar!"

The sabre-toothed giant ape demon roared in fury, its voice making the tomb passage tremble. It clenched its fists and swung its arms, attacking Li Weiyi. Its momentum was fierce, but only its aura was powerful; its strength did not match Tang Yan of the Five Seas Realm.

Li Weiyi did not confront it directly. He used his Clear Void Cicada-Chasing Steps and slipped past it.

At the fastest possible speed, he rushed towards the depths of the tomb passage.

Dozens of steps later, he indeed saw a mural depicting a four-armed sabre-toothed ape.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two sword strikes destroyed the mural.

The pursuing sabre-toothed giant ape demon let out an unwilling roar, and then dissipated like smoke and dust.

Li Weiyi continued onward. Whenever he encountered a demon mural, regardless of whether a painting spirit had been born from it, he would strike twice with a "whoosh whoosh." He destroyed a total of seventeen murals before finally reaching the end of the tomb passage.

Carrying the coffin, he walked out of the tomb passage and arrived at an open area.

The radiance emitted by the Nine Emperor Banner could not fully illuminate this place. The air was extremely cold, like entering an ice cellar.

Looking up, it was pitch black above; the ceiling was out of sight.

After walking for a quarter of an hour in this open area, a circular formation made of stacked megaliths appeared ahead. It was a hundred meters in diameter, and each megalith was several times taller than Li Weiyi, making it truly magnificent and spectacular.

But it was severely damaged; many megaliths lay toppled on the ground, disrupting the original formation structure.

"Master Coffin, is this your work too?"

Li Weiyi exclaimed in awe, feeling that the megalithic array before him was anything but simple, though he didn't know its purpose.

Stone Coffin Senior said, "This formation has always been in King Cang's tomb; it has nothing to do with me."

"The stone material used to build this formation is quite special," he continued. "I haven't seen this type of stone in the Lingxiao Living Realm. I studied it for a while, but didn't find many clues. Never mind it; let's first go to the Heavenly Law Earth Spring to get the insect eggs. Go around to the right; there's a hidden passage there."

A "Heavenly Law Earth Spring" is a spring of heaven and earth, similar to the spiritual springs within martial artists. It draws "laws" from the surrounding heaven and earth, transforms them into spiritual energy, which continuously gushes forth. A large Heavenly Law Earth Spring can transform the surrounding area into a Dao Domain, like the one in Jiuli City.

This Heavenly Law Earth Spring in King Cang's tomb naturally couldn't compare to the one in Jiuli City; it was merely a small spring eye.

Li Weiyi walked through the hidden passage and saw the Heavenly Law Earth Spring in the distance.

The Heavenly Law Earth Spring floated several meters above the ground. Its spring eye was only the size of a bowl, but it was exceptionally wondrous. Not only did it gush out visibly thick spiritual energy, but also luminous particles emerged, illuminating the darkness and making this vast space ethereal and hazy, like a fairyland.

Moreover, the sound of gushing water could be heard.

The square-meter area beneath the spring eye had spiritual energy so dense it condensed into mist, practically forming a small Dao Domain.

From dozens of feet away, Li Weiyi performed his breathing technique.

Instantly, the spiritual spring atop his head trembled slightly, and the sturdy barrier of the seventh spring was like a thin film, seemingly able to be broken with a light touch.

"The spiritual energy is too dense," Li Weiyi exclaimed. "No wonder everyone is vying for a cultivation spot in Jiuli Dao Academy. Cultivating in a Dao Domain would definitely double one's cultivation speed."

Stone Coffin Senior said, "This Heavenly Law Earth Spring seems to have grown larger; it has already formed a square-meter Dao Domain. That cluster of insect nests is on the stone platform below the spring eye."