I changed the world.

He walked straight toward the entrance of the tomb. When he arrived at the wide entrance to the tomb passage, he saw a black stone tablet being cleared out. The stone tablet was surrounded by intricately carved dragons and clouds. The words "Imperial Decree" were engraved in seal script at the center of the tablet, and below it was a neat inscription in regular script. Zhang Jing glanced at it and figured that the inscription was probably used to commemorate someone. He didn't have time to read the details carefully, so he simply took out his phone and took a picture of the inscription, intending to read it carefully later.

Chapter 121 The Sword That Cannot Be Looked At Directly

Several staff members were cleaning the soil around the entrance to the tomb passage and around the imperial stele, but they all seemed to ignore Zhang Jing, who was right in front of them.

Zhang Jing left no footprints in the areas he walked through, as if he were just a ghost without a physical form.

Picking up a flashlight from a toolbox lying on the ground, Zhang Jing walked straight into the tomb passage. The passage was deep but not high, only about a head taller than Zhang Jing standing upright. The walls were made of stone slabs, carved with various patterns of cranes, clouds, children, fairies, the Four Symbols, the Eight Trigrams, and other symbols of esoteric religious significance.

Although the tomb passage was dark, Zhang Jing could still clearly see the surrounding scenery thanks to the faint light coming from the entrance.

After walking about fifty meters forward, Zhang Jing found himself blocked off. Ahead lay a stone wall made of bricks, with a lifelike triple stone door carved in the center. The door opened in two directions, adorned with copper nails and pull rings. Two enormous stone lions flanked the door, coldly staring ahead like tomb guardians.

Zhang Jing examined it carefully and realized that the stone door was clearly carved, not a real door that could be opened. Moreover, it was obvious that no means of opening it were left when the door was made.

Zhang Jing guessed that the real tomb chamber should be behind this stone wall.

However, we need to confirm this again before proceeding.

Zhang Jing stretched out his right hand, made a fist, and gently struck the stone wall with it...

"Thump~~~~~~~~" The entire stone wall trembled, and a dull sound came from the stone wall.

Zhang Jing then punched the stone wall of the tomb passage on the right, his voice much lower than before.

Zhang Jing slammed his hammer against the stone wall again: "Thump~~~~~~~~"

Nodding, Zhang Jing was now certain that the area behind the stone wall was hollow. It seemed to be a tomb chamber without a doubt.

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.

....................................

"Senior Brother Yu, did you hear anything just now?" At the entrance of the tomb passage, a thin young man who was clearing the loose soil from the entrance listened intently with a hint of suspicion.

"What's that sound?" A slightly chubby young man who was using a small brush to remove the dirt embedded in the inscription on the imperial stele not far from him looked up and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Just now, I think I heard a sound coming from the tomb passage..." the thin young man said uncertainly.

Both of them were students at Southeast University, students of Professor Li Zichen, and they had a good relationship.

"Thump~~~~~~~~" Just as the words fell, another sound came from the tomb passage. This time, both of them heard it clearly.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously swallowed hard. Finally, it was "Senior Brother Yu" who spoke up: "How about... we go and inform the teacher first?"

"Yes, yes, this is a bit strange, we should tell the teacher first..."

....................................

Unconcerned about the trouble his actions caused the two students, Zhang Jing had already appeared behind the brick wall.

Using the techniques he learned from the "Heavenly Escape Scroll," Zhang Jing hid in the spatial interlayer and easily passed through the physical barrier in front of him.

Behind the brick wall was a spacious tomb chamber, pitch black all around, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and no light could penetrate it. Zhang Jing immediately held his breath. Now he could survive even in places without oxygen. He even suspected that, with his physical strength, he could stand in outer space without any protection.

However, his current eyesight was not good enough to see his surroundings clearly in complete darkness, so Zhang Jing took out the flashlight he had picked up earlier.

A bright white light shone from the flashlight, revealing another tomb passage ahead, the ground covered with a thin layer of dust.

Zhang Jing glanced around, then continued walking in. His steps were incredibly light; with a light touch of his toes, he glided forward several meters as if floating. So much so that he left hardly a trace on the dusty ground.

In this situation, even if there are so-called "mechanisms" installed in the tomb passage, they cannot be activated. After all, in ancient tombs, such mechanisms are mostly of the "pressure-activated" type.

Of course, Zhang Jing was still quite cautious, since this wish involved an "evil god." He held a flashlight in his right hand and had already put on an arm shield in his left hand, ready to block and protect at any time.

However, they encountered no unexpected events as they walked to the end of the tomb passage. Ahead was a rather large octagonal burial chamber, roughly the size of half a standard basketball court.

There is also a stone door on one side of the tomb chamber, which appears to lead to another tomb chamber.

Zhang Jing shone his flashlight into the tomb chamber, which was filled with a large number of furnishings, including tables, chairs, books, ornaments, porcelain, various cabinets, and clothing.

There are also some terracotta figurines made into the shapes of young boys and girls. The terracotta figures are very lifelike, but in this environment, these stiff-faced figurines seem somewhat eerie.

Serving the dead as if they were alive is a characteristic of traditional Eastern burial practices, and this tomb clearly embodies this characteristic.

The walls surrounding the tomb chamber are adorned with murals painted in vibrant colors.

What amazed Zhang Jing was that these murals, despite their age, still retained their vibrant colors. However, recalling some obscure facts he had gleaned from his previous life, he roughly guessed that this was because the stagnant air inside the tomb contained a large amount of inert gases, causing the paintings to oxidize very slowly. He figured that once the tomb was actually opened, the paintings would likely fade quickly. Zhang Jing had heard that the Terracotta Army in his previous life had faced the same problem.

The murals depict images related to deities, but what caught Zhang Jing's attention was that they did not depict traditional esoteric legends. Instead, they showed numerous battle scenes. The deities in the murals were mostly glaring with angry eyes, holding various weapons, while their opponents were strange and ferocious demons.

These kinds of murals depicting deities subduing demons are actually quite rare in traditional Xuanmen painting. Zhang Jing picked up his phone and carefully photographed all the murals.

The ceiling of the tomb chamber is carved with the pattern of the Eight Trigrams of the Primordial Heaven, which is a typical symbol of the Xuanmen (Taoist school).

The next moment, two golden flames lit up in Zhang Jing's eyes, and at the same time, seven different colored dots of varying sizes appeared in his field of vision within the octagonal tomb chamber.

Zhang Jing's eyes narrowed slightly. This was the first time he had ever seen so many powerful treasures appear together at once outside of a grotto-heaven. He immediately understood that his wish might just be fulfilled here.

Of all the treasures, the one that attracted Zhang Jing's attention the most was a sword hanging on the wall. The reason was simple: the aura emanating from the sword was a greenish-blue color. Although the aura wasn't very intense in Zhang Jing's vision, upon closer inspection, it gave him a blinding feeling, as if it were a divine punishment from the heavens. Upon closer examination, it even possessed an inexplicable depth that made him dare not look at it for too long.

This was the first time Zhang Jing had ever seen a halo of this color. Even the halo he had seen when he obtained the Demon Refining Pot wasn't this color. As Zhang Jing pondered this, he carefully examined the sword, trying to see more deeply. However, at that moment, a strong burning sensation rose in his eyes…

"Ah!!" Zhang Jing cried out, immediately snapping out of the "True Fire Refining the Eyes" state and covering his eyes with his hands.

After a while, Zhang Jing slowly recovered from the burning sensation. He wiped away the tears in his eyes and checked them briefly. Fortunately, his eyes were not actually injured. However, even so, he could not use "True Fire Refining Eyes" for a while.

This was the first time Zhang Jing had encountered such a situation while using True Fire to refine his eyes. However, Zhang Jing also knew that this precisely demonstrated the extraordinary nature of the longsword before him, and was not a bad thing.

Of course, to prevent any accidents, Zhang Jing did not take the sword first. Instead, he started with the other items. Of the remaining six items, apart from a key and a silver box, the rest were all jade tablets or jade scepters. After collecting these items, Zhang Jing simply went to Lishan Cave and put all the collected items inside before returning to the tomb.

Still not touching the sword on the wall, Zhang Jingxian went to the stone door on the side of the tomb chamber and shone his flashlight inside. He saw that the space inside was not large, rectangular, with an intricately carved stone coffin in the center. It seemed that this was the location of the tomb owner's remains.

The golden flames in Zhang Jing's eyes had not yet faded. When he looked at the stone coffin, he saw only darkness within it, devoid of any light. As Zhang Jing's cultivation improved and he became increasingly adept at using the "True Fire Refining Eyes" secret technique, obstacles such as stone slabs could no longer prevent him from peering into the treasures behind them. This was similar to how he could see through the outer layer of a jade stone to its core when gambling on jade.

Therefore, Zhang Jing was able to be fairly certain that there were no items containing traces of power hidden in the coffin.

In that case, there's no need to open the coffin to find out what's inside, since this is considered quite impolite in traditional folk customs.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Jing straightened his clothes, bowed to the coffin and said, "Senior, I had no choice but to take a few of your items. I hope you will not blame me. Thank you."

After finishing these tasks, Zhang Jing turned and walked to the sword hanging on the wall. This sword was wider than the kind of swords that elderly people in parks use for exercise. Because of the scabbard, the exact design of the blade was obscured; only the materials of the guard and hilt were discernible—neither metal nor wood, and adorned with mysterious patterns. A dragon head was carved at the end of the hilt, its mouth agape in a lifelike, murderous pose. The scabbard appeared to be made of some kind of wood, wrapped with fish skin, but perhaps due to its age, it was somewhat rotten, and the fish skin had loosened.

Chapter 122 The Celestial Master Manifests His Power

Zhang Jing withdrew his "True Fire Refining Eyes" technique. Under normal vision, the sword appeared to be just an ordinary antique, without the slightest hint of anything unusual.

Reaching out, Zhang Jing carefully grasped the sword with his right hand and took it down from the wall.

It seems that nothing happened.

The sword was surprisingly heavy, at least twice as heavy as a similarly sized iron sword. Zhang Jing grabbed the scabbard with his left hand and drew it out. The scabbard was rotten, and with a single pull, large pieces of it fell to the ground.

This was actually a broken sword, and it was severely damaged. Only about one-third of the blade remained, while the rest was missing.

Ignoring the fallen scabbard, Zhang Jing lifted the sword and examined it closely with a flashlight. The broken sword, now only a third of its original size, inexplicably gave off a sense of tragic devastation. The blade was dark and made of an unknown metal, its surface mottled and uneven. The blade was riddled with serrated notches and cracks, and covered in blood-red patterns resembling rust. However, when Zhang Jing tried to scrape at it, he found these "rust" marks impossible to pry off, no matter how much force he applied.

With his current finger strength, kneading iron like mud would be a piece of cake for him. The material of this sword is clearly not ordinary.

And right on the blade, near the guard, are two clearly engraved divination characters – “Heavenly Punishment”.

Zhang Jing tentatively used the Qi within his body in conjunction with his divine sense to refine the longsword in his hand at a specific frequency. He had previously used this method of refining and controlling magical artifacts on the "Demon Refining Pot".

However, this time, the moment Zhang Jing's divine sense invaded the longsword, he sensed something was wrong. The longsword seemed to contain a vast power, like the deep sea, a silent yet unfathomable force, like layers of tribulation clouds obscuring the sky. At least, given Zhang Jing's current cultivation level, the power within the longsword was beyond his comprehension.

Just as he was pondering this, the immense power within the longsword seemed to be startled by the wisp of divine thought that Zhang Jing had probed into it. Immediately afterward, it stirred violently, like a giant beast whose territory had been offended...

The next moment, a burst of lightning erupted from the longsword, violently sending Zhang Jing, who was holding the sword, flying away. With a muffled thud, he crashed into the wall of the tomb chamber, causing the mural behind him to collapse, with cracks spreading out from the core of the impact.

"Pfft!" Zhang Jing spat out a mouthful of blood mist, which was mixed with wisps of silvery-white electric arcs. He felt his blood and qi churning inside his body, and for a moment his mind went blank. His whole body seemed to have lost all sensation and he could not move.

At that moment, a torrent of lightning erupted from the longsword, which remained suspended motionless in mid-air. As time passed, the surging sword light gradually transformed into a lifelike electric dragon, as thick as a washbasin, its claws outstretched, circling the room once before disappearing through the tomb chamber, its whereabouts unknown…

After that, the sword gradually faded away and slowly fell to the ground.

................................................

"You mean, there was a sound coming from inside just now?" At the entrance of the tomb passage, Li Zichen frowned as he stared at his two students and asked.

"Yes, teacher, we clearly heard a sound coming from inside just now."

"Yes, teacher, both my junior brother Jiang and I heard it. It was that 'thump...thump...' sound."

Seeing that the students all said so, Li Zichen also had some doubts. He simply led a few students, carrying flashlights, and carefully walked into the tomb passage.

However, even after they reached the brick wall at the end of the tomb passage, they didn't seem to find anything unusual. Everyone looked at each other somewhat bewildered, especially the two students who had initially discovered the sound. They anxiously shone their flashlights around, searching for something to prove they weren't crying wolf, but ultimately found nothing.

"Fatty Yu, you guys are just scared of yourselves..." A classmate who was familiar with him couldn't help but tease him from behind.

The young man known as Fatty Yu's face flushed red, and he retorted loudly, "There really was a sound! Surely Junior Brother Jiang and I couldn't have both misheard!"

"Alright, alright, let's just forget about it if we can't find it. Maybe we misheard..." Professor Li Zichen interjected, but the implication in his words seemed to be that he didn't quite believe it either, though he didn't say it outright.

The two students who reported the news had expressions of mixed resentment and embarrassment, but since the teacher had already said so, they didn't know what to say and followed the others out with their heads down.

However, just as they stepped out of the tomb passage, a bright white light suddenly flashed in the passage, causing everyone to turn around and look into the tomb.

What happened next left everyone speechless and will be unforgettable for all present.

A dragon, its scales clearly defined and made of lightning, emerged from the brick wall, its head shaking and tail swaying, and swam towards the tomb entrance. To the astonishment of the archaeologists, mouths agape and faces filled with disbelief, the electric dragon charged straight out of the tomb entrance…

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Just outside the isolation zone markings at the archaeological site, two middle-aged men dressed in feathered robes and wearing blue Xuanmen crowns, resembling religious figures, were being interviewed by reporters.