Clang—! With a sharp sound, Wei Liang twirled his sword gracefully, slicing down the entire lookout platform above them. Shards of sharp copper and iron, along with crumbling rocks and rubble, clattered down the stone walls, crashing into the base of the fortress.
Wei Liang caught the falling platform with the tip of his sword, using it as a shield against the incoming onslaught. His movements were as fluid as a drifting cloud as he smoothly descended to the center of the fortress. With a light spin of his sword, the platform whirled like a giant stone hammer, sweeping through the area. Any devil unable to retreat in time was crushed into a bloody pulp.
The intense chaos immediately drew the focus of all the devils nearby. “Now!” Under the cover of the stone wall, Qin Yunxi and his two juniors immediately summoned their swords and made a swift exit from Qianqi Pass.
Liu Qingyin bit her lip in frustration. Just as they were flying over the outer wall, she suddenly twisted her body mid-air and turned back. “Eldest Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, you go ahead! I will return to Master!”
“Liu Qingyin!” Qin Yunxi’s eyes widened in shock. He reached out to grab her, but Murong Chun caught his arm. “Let’s go! We’re not in good condition right now; staying here will only drag Master down. Junior Sister can sense spiritual herbs and is skilled at support—she’ll be a great help to Master!”
“But! But…” Qin Yunxi clenched his fists tightly.
“Think calmly, Eldest Senior Brother,” Murong Chun’s voice remained steady, “We are still going to face danger ahead, but Junior Sister will be safer with Master. Master would never let anything happen to her.”
Qin Yunxi hesitated, but it was clear that he hadn’t fully recovered. The waves of dizziness striking his spiritual sea almost caused his primordial spirit to leave his body. Gritting his teeth, he finally closed his eyes in resignation. The two hastily soared into the clouds just before the oncoming devils could encircle them.
At the base of the fortress, Wei Liang’s eyes glinted with faint mockery when he saw Liu Qingyin return. There was no change in his icy demeanor as he strode through the blood-soaked remains of the devils, gradually retreating toward the entrance of an underground bunker. With a resounding crash, he hurled the massive lookout platform he had been holding, temporarily sealing off the entrance.
He wrapped his arm around Lin Jiu’s waist and together they descended, step by step, down the damp and dark staircase.
“Master, I can’t sense any spiritual herbs here,” Liu Qingyin hurriedly said, following behind him. “Although many clues suggest that Wu Mengxia, the current head of the Wu family who guards Qianqi Pass, possesses an Aura Conduit Stalk’s yang plant, he has never admitted it. Besides, the Wang family has tried to obtain it from him for years, but to no avail.”
Wei Liang continued forward without hesitation, occasionally freezing the lurking devils they encountered into frozen sculptures with a flick of his sleeve. “Oh?” He responded nonchalantly, “Wu Mengxia is a descendant of Wu Nishui.”
In the dim corridor, the echo of Wei Liang’s cold voice sounded inexplicably eerie.
Liu Qingyin wasn’t sure why he suddenly mentioned Wu Nishui, but it was the first time he had directly spoken to her since his marriage. A surge of joy filled her heart, and she quickly replied, “Yes, Wu Nishui was a legendary Great Ascension cultivator from thousands of years ago. He led a thousand warriors and held off the most brutal invasion from the devils during the first Human-Devil War, defending this place for eighty-one days until reinforcements finally arrived! Wu Mengxia is indeed a descendant of that hero. Like his ancestor, he led the Wu family to defend Qianqi Pass, but unlike back then, they never received reinforcements from the Wang family. In the end, everyone at Qianqi Pass perished in battle!”
Mentioning the Wang family made her want to stomp on Lin Jiu. She gritted her teeth and angrily added, “Some people, if they hadn’t shamelessly wormed their way into our sect, would be better off mingling with the scum of the Wang family!”
Wei Liang paused slightly and glanced at Lin Jiu. However, Lin Jiu wasn’t paying attention to Liu Qingyin’s words at all. The moment they stepped into this dark, gloomy passageway of an unknown destination, she felt an unusual sensation, as if she were hearing a grand and heroic battle hymn. A sense of melancholy and intense emotion surged within her, resonating faintly.
Only a fool would argue at a time like this.
Lin Jiu reached back and grasped Wei Liang’s wrist, tilting her ear slightly as she guided him forward.
Wei Liang raised an eyebrow, silently allowing himself to be led forward. With his wife looking so focused, he could not bear to disturb her.
Liu Qingyin was about to speak again when she felt a cold, sharp spiritual blade brush past her lips—a silent warning. Startled, she instinctively lightened her steps and heightened her vigilance.
After walking a few more steps, Lin Jiu suddenly stopped, turned her head, and asked Wei Liang, “A few days ago, Wu Mengxia defended Qianqi Pass but never received reinforcements from the Wang family. In the end, he fell alongside this ancient fortress, right?”
“Yes,” Wei Liang’s voice was gentle and deep.
“He didn’t retreat because, thousands of years ago, his ancestor Wu Nishui successfully held Qianqi Pass, creating a legend passed down through the ages. As Wu Nishui’s descendant, he couldn’t tarnish his ancestor’s honor.”
“Correct,” Wei Liang replied. “He had many chances to abandon the pass and flee.”
“If I were Wu Mengxia, in my most desperate moment, I would hide anything precious as close to my ancestor as possible.”
“The underground tomb,” Wei Liang chuckled. “Great minds think alike; I had the same thought.”
“Do you know the way?” Lin Jiu asked.
Wei Liang gave a confident smile.
Liu Qingyin, entirely left out: “…”
Nothing seemed to block Wei Liang’s path. When faced with a stone wall, he simply cut out a new passage. The wind howled through the darkness, shadows flickered like haunting ghosts, and the distant roars of devils occasionally echoed from behind. The air was thick with the damp, musty scent of the underground mixed with the metallic tang of rusted military equipment.
Lin Jiu couldn’t shake the feeling that they were tunneling like grave robbers, chased by a horde of zombies. At some point, her hands clutched tightly around Wei Liang’s arm, her dark eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Wei Liang’s chest shook with a faint laugh. He withdrew his arm from her small grip and wrapped it around her, pulling her petite body fully into his embrace.
Liu Qingyin averted her gaze, biting her lips so hard until the taste of blood filled her mouth.
After wandering through the maze-like underground tunnels for one or two hours, Wei Liang finally broke through the last wall.
A vast, open space suddenly unfolded before them!
Eternal lamps burned on the walls, illuminating a wide underground chamber filled with tightly packed coffins. The original entrance to the underground tomb had been sealed off long ago. Devils were not adept at searching; they merely swept through like locusts, destroying anything in their sight. As a result, the Wu family’s tomb remained completely intact.
Neatly carved niches lined the stone walls, holding generations of ancestral tablets of the Wu family. Below the tablets stood a bronze statue of their heroic ancestor—Wu Nishui.
Between the statue’s hands, orange and red lights intertwined, flickering slowly.
The Aura Conduit Stalk’s yang plant is indeed here!
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