180: Chapter 180: The Tomb Chamber 180: Chapter 180: The Tomb Chamber The corridor was narrow, and the torches had been extinguished by arrows, instantly plunging everything into darkness.
Ye Shikai relied on his superior hearing to deftly evade, but the arrows kept coming relentlessly, arduous efforts were made by the crowd to dodge as well.
Ye Shikai channeled his Inner Strength, projecting it outward to create a protective shield for everyone, ensuring that no one got injured.
Ji Qian waved her Magic Wand, supplying energy to the shield.
Countless arrows struck against the shield, which was formed from Ye Shikai’s consolidation of Inner Strength, impervious even to bullets.
Ordinary bows and arrows would of course be trivial to it, but to their surprise, these arrows actually began to pose a threat to the shield.
Ji Qian aided Ye Shikai with the energy from her Magic Wand, blocking the arrows.
Clearly, these arrows were imbued with energy, prompting Ye Shikai to marvel that indeed, the tomb of a Great Sage was fraught with traps of such impressive destructive power.
“Everyone be careful, stay behind me,” Ye Shikai shouted to those behind him.
But the endless flow of arrows fell like rain, showing no sign of stopping.
Ye Shikai, becoming anxious, concentrated his Inner Strength into his palm and struck towards the depths of the darkness, yet his Inner Strength seemed to dissipate harmlessly into the abyss, swallowed by the pervasive black.
Annoyed, Ye Shikai grumbled to himself; even a clay Buddha has a three-point temper.
As a Main God, Ye Shikai seldom met his match.
Yet now, a mere mechanical trap had them, three Main Gods, at a standstill.
He signalled to the people behind him to be cautious and then withdrew the protective shield, concentrating all his Inner Strength into his palms to strike at the depth of darkness.
Ji Qian and Wang Kai also focused their Inner Strength, launching an assault into the deep.
While there was no explosion within, the onslaught of arrows gradually subsided.
A minute later, the tunnel descended back into silence.
Ye Shikai rekindled the torch with his Inner Strength, “The traps in this tomb are numerous, and this is no ordinary tomb, everyone must be extremely cautious.” If it were a common tomb, a few Tomb Robbers could have easily handled it, but this tomb was clearly out of the ordinary.
Leading the group, the tunnel became narrower as they progressed.
Eventually, it tapered to the width for just one person.
After about fifteen minutes, a light suddenly emanated from the depths of the darkness—it seemed they had reached the burial chamber.
They quickened their pace and soon found themselves within the tomb chamber—a vast space that looked more like a hall.
Though they expected a tomb hidden for so long would be in disrepair, to their surprise, as they entered the hall, two rows of lamps ignited, illuminating it.
Despite being covered in dust, everything was neatly placed, as if undisturbed by visitors.
“Look here,” Ji Qian said, pointing to a large stone stele in the center of the hall.
Ye Shikai approached, wiped off the dust, and found that unlike the other steles, the carvings here were meticulous and clear.
From the calligraphy, it seemed to be the Great Seal script used towards the end of the Western Zhou period.
“Xiang Qi of the Chu State,” Ji Qian, well-versed in various ancient and modern scripts, declared.
“Is there no other information?”
The hall was filled with various decorations, tables, chairs, and all the essentials for a scholar’s study, including bookshelves crammed with ancient books.
Ye Shikai could feel that this entire chamber was preserved under the protection of Inner Strength, allowing the contents to remain intact for thousands of years since the demise of its master.
The items inside were incredibly well preserved, which was truly miraculous.
Ye Shikai and Wang Kai weren’t that interested in these ancient manuscripts.
However, Ji Qian was very fascinated and sat down to study them.
Ye Shikai looked around the tomb hall; there were left, middle, and right paths to choose from.
According to the general design of tombs, the middle path should lead to the chamber containing the coffin, while the left and right paths would likely lead to the burial goods.
The entire tomb was vast, and to explore it one passage at a time would undoubtedly take a lot of time.
However, to be on the safe side, the group didn’t split into three.
Instead, they split into two groups: Ye Shikai and the Demoness took the middle path, while Wang Kai, Ji Qian, and Selena went to the right.
They left the left path for later.
Before departing, Ji Qian glanced reluctantly at Ye Shikai, a scene that the Demoness behind Ye Shikai caught sight of, her expression revealing displeasure.
The Demoness drew her Soft Sword and walked ahead of Ye Shikai, looking back at him smugly.
Ye Shikai was chagrined, “I’m saying, the tomb’s corridors aren’t safe, don’t mess around.” He knew about the Demoness’s temperament—if she got interested in something, she could become uncontrollable like a wild horse.
If she carelessly triggered a trap in the corridor, it would spell trouble.
“Nothing will happen,” the Demoness stuck out her tongue at Ye Shikai, and without paying attention, she clumsily tripped over a stone.
Ye Shikai, quick-eyed and agile, immediately caught her, looking at her speechlessly.
The corridors here were not as narrow as when they’d first entered, and Ye Shikai and the Demoness quickly reached the end.
Ye Shikai used a torch to light the way ahead, revealing a heavy door in front.
The Demoness, growing impatient, wanted to blast it open with her Inner Strength but was immediately stopped by Ye Shikai.
Ye Shikai tentatively touched the door, “This door is sealed with an Array.
It won’t be so easy to open.” Ye Shikai channeled his Inner Strength into the door, attempting to concentrate it at one point to break the Array’s seal.
However, the focused Inner Strength dissipated like it had hit a cotton ball, scattering quickly.
Every Array has its own circulation path, and without understanding the Array, any effort would be futile.
Ye Shikai closed his eyes, silently perceiving the flow of Inner Strength.
The Array’s complexity was endless, but Ye Shikai quickly grasped its pattern.
The flow of Inner Strength outlined a map in his mind, growing clearer and clearer…
“Here it is.” Ye Shikai focused his Inner Strength to a point and channeled it into the lower-left corner of the door.
The door issued a thunderous rumble and vibrated intensely, then slowly began to open…
Ye Shikai still envisioned the Array Map in his mind.
Prompted by the Demoness’s urging, he came back to his senses.
The Demoness nudged Ye Shikai’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go in.”
The two of them slowly walked into the chamber.
A wooden coffin was placed in the middle, and on either side of the coffin were burial objects, including gold and silver, as well as many elixirs—precious resources for cultivation.
The Demoness eagerly scavenged these resources, while Ye Shikai was fixated on the coffin in front of him.
He gently placed his hand on the coffin and felt a surge of tremendous energy.