Embers of Sword

Chapter 495 Dead Man
"Hey, hey."

Yan Xie said with some helplessness, "This is the Bai Ze Secret Tomb, a secret tomb that countless people have searched for for a thousand years without success. How would I know anything about the things inside this secret tomb?"

"..."

Qin Qianlian remained silent, simply staring directly into Yan Xie's eyes.

it is more than words.

"Although Lu Yu and I did have a deal, he has never set foot in this secret tomb."

Yan Xie shrugged. "You should have seen it before, right? The 'vital energy' provided by the Great Chu Treasure Ship became the final straw that opened the Secret Tomb... Before that, no one had ever set foot here; everyone was a guest of the Secret Tomb."

"If he didn't have a backup plan, Lu Yu really wouldn't have opened the secret tomb."

Qin Qianlian calmly said, "You were able to transmit your voice to my heart lake in the secret tomb, which shows that you are different from others."

"……All right."

Yan Xie sighed deeply and said sincerely, "I do have a slight advantage. But I need to explain to you that my understanding of this secret tomb is only superficial. The reason I can use telepathy is because the Yin-Yang Mirror connects our minds. This secret tomb is frantically absorbing vital energy, but it does not suppress divine sense techniques. If we were too far apart, even if we used the Yin-Yang Mirror to transmit our thoughts, it would not work."

Qin Qianlian frowned.

During his time with Yan Xie, he was still able to discern the truthfulness of Yan Xie's words through the latter's reactions.

Yan Xie was not lying.

"This is what I saw earlier..."

Qin Qianlian leaned against the mountain wall to recover his spiritual sense. He slowly sent out his thoughts, using the Yin-Yang Mirror to replicate the scene of the previous hall.

Twelve armored giants, each guarding a treasure.

He looked at Yan Xie and asked again, "How many more halls like this are there?"

"You've asked the right person."

Yan Xie chuckled softly: "It is said that the Great Sage Bai Ze had four disciples during his lifetime, and all four disciples cultivated to the 'Great Venerable' realm. However, in that era, it was extremely difficult to break through to the next level, and none of them became a new Great Sage. They all lived to the end of their lifespan. After these four disciples died... Bai Ze collected their remains and took them into the secret tomb. The scene in the secret hall that you see should be the 'relics' left behind by the four Great Venerable disciples."

"These relics weren't even left by Bai Ze?"

Qin Qianlian was somewhat shocked upon hearing this.

"The thousand-year-old dragon heart fruit is indeed precious... but it is not exactly rare."

Yan Xie shook his head: "This secret hall should have been set up to commemorate the former Grand Master's disciple... If I'm not mistaken, there are three more such secret halls."

"Where did you learn all this from?" Qin Qianlian asked, frowning.

"Actually, there are records of the story of 'Bai Ze' in Tianyuan Mountain of the Daoist sect."

Yan Xie said softly, "A thousand years ago, Bai Ze and Dao Zu were old friends with a close relationship. When you become a prospective head of the sect and step into Tianyuan Mountain, you will naturally see this past."

"..."

Qin Qianlian fell silent.

Because of the scandal of the "smoke evil" incident that occurred at Changshengzhai ten years ago, the selection of disciples has become extremely strict.

With Qin Qianlian's strength, he could have become the new head of the sect long ago.

However, this matter was suppressed by Grand Master Chongkan and there was no follow-up. In terms of cultivation level alone, Li Chen, the master of the Taishangzhai next door, might not be much stronger than him.

"Speaking of which, there is a troublesome matter that you need to be careful about."

Yan Xie saw the hint of sadness that flashed across his junior brother's eyes.

He quickly changed the subject, smiling as he pointed to a spot not far away: "When I was traveling here earlier, I sensed a rather powerful divine sense... It's not far away. I suppose that direction is where another secret palace is located."

"You've found the second secret sanctuary... This should be a good thing..."

After resting for a while, Qin Qianlian felt much better.

He took a deep breath and rallied his spirits.

The Bai Ze Secret Tomb is interconnected. After entering the outer perimeter of the secret tomb through the giant gate, the formation will activate, and everyone will be twisted to different locations. However, they will all end up in the same place. As long as they survive and continue to go deeper, they will eventually reunite. This secret tomb is completely dark, and it is impossible to use the Yuan Qi. In his opinion, the biggest problem is that he does not know the full picture of the abyss and cannot meet up in time.

"No no no..."

Yan Xie shook his head, his expression grave: "You just encountered 'Plague Master', didn't you?"

Qin Qianlian was stunned for a moment.

"The White Ghost and the Crimson Immortal cherish their lives... but the chief disciples of the three major sects have all entered the Secret Tomb."

"Although I don't know what's going on in this secret tomb, not everyone is as powerful as you, able to fight head-on with a cultivator at the level of the top disciple of the three major sects."

Yan Xie hesitated slightly before slowly saying, "Junior brother... the divine sense I just sensed came from True Person Baihe of Yinshan. Their secret hall has been completely wiped out. If the Yin-Yang Mirror's perception is correct, then all the Great Chu cultivators in that secret hall have been killed by True Person Baihe."

There was a pause.

Yan Xie sighed deeply and said regretfully, "Alright, some things always have to be said, so I won't hide it from you anymore... I actually sensed the aura of the Changshengzhai disciple. If I'm not mistaken, then the unlucky guy who bumped into Yinshan Baihe Zhenren should be 'Bingyou' from Xuanzhui Mountain."

The three characters of the Bingyou year were like a bolt from the blue.

Qin Qianlian looked somewhat dazed for a moment.

This time, he brought many disciples south from Changshengzhai. He remembered every face among them, including a particularly young junior sister named Song Yu. The reason she left such a deep impression on him was that when they were cultivating in the temple, his good-for-nothing nephew Su Hong always fawned over her and kept asking him, "Uncle, are we Daoist disciples forbidden from having worldly relationships after entering the temple?"

Who can't see through a little kid's thoughts?
For this trip south, Renshou Palace prepared a list of names, and Su Hong begged himself not to let his junior sister go south with him.

He told Su Hong that it was alright, and that going south to vanquish the demons was not too dangerous.

He had made a promise to these disciples.

May you come into this world safely and leave safely.

However, Qin Qianlian never imagined that things would turn out this way. He never thought that Qingfu Mountain would be attacked so decisively by the three major sects, never thought that the Da Chu Treasure Ship would be unable to sail out once it entered the Southern Frontier, and never thought that his "protective actions" out of good intentions would ultimately kill the Changshengzhai disciples who boarded the Bingyou Ship.

A treasure ship full of wounded soldiers encountered the White Crane Immortal.

Qin Qianlian couldn't bear to think about what his young disciples in his monastery would go through.

"Junior brother."

Yan Xie crouched down, patted Qin Qianlian's shoulder, and comforted him gently, saying, "Entering this secret tomb... is destined to result in death. Don't be too sad. Baihe Zhenren might pass by here later, so you must handle the remains of this Wen Zhenren carefully. These evil cultivators all have very keen senses of smell. If they smell the familiar scent of blood, then things will really be bad."

(End of this chapter)