I, a cultivator, have ended up in the world of tomb raiding.

In a short while, most of the centipedes in the hall were swept away, and the remaining ones had no power to resist.

Seeing the situation reverse in an instant, Chen Yulou was overjoyed and praised Li Yue loudly:

"Brother Li's method of controlling beasts is truly miraculous; this great undertaking is now assured!"

Having said that, he suddenly turned around, waved his arm at his nearly one thousand men behind him, and shouted sharply:

"Men! If you want to get rich, follow me!"

"I dumped her!"

The bandits and engineers roared in response, shouting excitedly, and split into several groups, holding torches high.

Like fiery dragons, they surged into the first main hall, stepping over stone bridges and steps.

The place was bustling with noise and the torches were brightly lit.

Everyone was caught up in the frenzy of their impending fortune and rushed in eagerly.

Li Yue saw this and knew that this was the best time to escape.

This group of bandits is a motley crew, and traveling with them would not only make things difficult but also delay my important business.

He had already memorized the structure of these palaces when he scouted the way with Partridge Whistle and the others.

The flying eaves and interwoven stone beams on the beams provided an excellent cover for hiding and maneuvering.

Without further hesitation, he swept his gaze across the towering stone beam adorned with a relief of a dragon amidst clouds.

He then bent down, pretending to gather the angry-eyed rooster, and slung the bamboo basket behind his back.

Taking advantage of the chaos and the moment when no one was paying attention, Li Yue lightly touched the ground with his toes.

His figure moved like a startled swan, using the cloud-patterned pillars beside him for leverage, and he lightly leaped onto the beams of the palace without making a sound.

Their clothes were not fluttering, and their footsteps were not heard.

He moved lightly among the crisscrossing stone beams and eaves, silently bypassing the noisy and crowded procession below, like a shadow falling in the dark night.

Most of the centipedes inside the hall had been cleared away, and the chickens were driven into the back hall by the thieves to hunt down the remaining poisonous creatures.

The firelight was dim, and the sounds of voices, roosters crowing, and footsteps mingled together.

Between the double eaves and ridges of the palace roof, very little is exposed.

In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed that Li Yue had already carried the Angry Sun Chicken on his back and quietly made his way deeper into the palace.

Li Yue's route was not a random, aimless walk.

He followed the direction where the underground yin energy was most concentrated and oppressive, moving along the way, always walking on those huge stone beams.

Before long, another grand hall with an ancient and magnificent style appeared before us.

This hall is called the Wuliang Hall, which means "without beams".

The entire building has no wooden beams, completely abandoning the common sense of wooden architecture.

The roof and four walls of the hall are all made of huge blue bricks and granite, and the weight is supported by the interlocking and layering of brick and stone arches.

From a distance, it resembles the back of a giant beast, majestic and imposing, exuding an eternal sense of deathly stillness and oppression.

The palace's exterior design imitates the traditional style of a double-eaved hip roof.

Exquisite brick carvings adorn the eaves, doors, windows, and lintels, with lifelike brackets and flying eaves.

Although it lacks the delicacy of wood, it possesses the ruggedness and weight of stone.

The dome is high and wide, with brick arches encircling it, like an inverted giant dome that envelops the entire palace.

There were no more stone beams to stand on, so Li Yue stopped being a "gentleman on the roof beam".

With a leap, he floated lightly down to the ground.

Stepping through the palace gates, the interior layout becomes even more spacious.

The dome is covered with intersecting vaults, and several red-lacquered pillars, each almost as thick as two people could hug, stand in between.

Li Yue blew on a tinderbox, and the faint warm light barely illuminated the area of ​​about ten feet around it.

His night vision range was wider than that of a candle; he lit the lamp not to light the way, but to dispel the darkness.

The underground palace is filled with yin energy, and the darker it gets, the more chaotic it becomes. There is too much chaotic information, which is mentally taxing.

Li Yue lit a small fire and looked around.

The hall had no beams or pillars; instead, it was entirely constructed of stacked brick and stone arches.

The room is covered by a dome and surrounded by thick walls, with dim light and shadow, creating a quiet and desolate atmosphere.

In the very center of the hall, there is a circular stone platform that rises several feet above the ground.

A huge white jade dome was placed on the platform.

The jade is warm and dark, with intricate ancient patterns carved on its surface.

Li Yue stepped forward slowly, tapped the jade lid with his finger; it was thick, hard, and cold to the touch.

He observed it for a moment and realized that the jade lid was not a simple cover.

Instead, it has a ring-shaped interlocking mechanism, similar to an underground drainage outlet.

He channeled his energy into his palm and slowly pressed down on one side of the jade cover.

The heavy jade lid rolled along the track, producing a dull, muffled sound like a stone mill.

The half-face rotated and shifted, revealing a huge, dark, and deep hole below.

A chilling and dense aura, far more intense than that inside the hall, drifted upwards like a cold current.

"It seems that the source of that yin energy we sensed is here."

Looking down into the cave, Li Yue had a general idea of ​​what to do.

Although the bandits of the Unloading Ridge were obsessed with plundering funerary objects, it wouldn't be long before they realized he was missing.

And we'll find this place sooner or later anyway, so we'd better act quickly.

He lowered his gaze, extinguished the fire tumbler, braced himself against the cold edge of the cave entrance with one hand, leaned forward, and leaped into the air decisively.

The cave's interior walls are straight and steep, resembling a giant deep well.

Li Yue used the gecko climbing technique.

With fingers spread wide, he precisely gripped the numerous tiny crevices on the rock face, and with a burst of strength from his limbs, he hung steadily against the cliff.

These indentations are neatly arranged in a circle, and their size is just right to fit the knuckles, making them an excellent place to gain leverage.

"Whoosh!"

Just as he regained his footing, the jade canopy mechanism above his head, which had been freed from its oppressive state, rebounded under the force.

A faint scraping sound rang out, and the heavy jade lid closed again.

Fine dust fell in a flurry, covering Li Yue's head and shoulders with powder.

He shook his head, brushed the dust off his face, and looked around.

He was lying on the wall of a huge well, though calling it a well wouldn't be accurate.

The cave is extremely wide horizontally, more like an ancient vertical cavern, with smooth and flat walls, like a mirror.

At regular intervals, a neatly carved recess is found in the cliff face.

However, it was not intended for people to climb; each recess contained a stone lamp depicting a golden-armored deity holding a fire.

This is a unique style of eternal lamp used only in ancestral temples and royal mausoleums of emperors.

It is said that by burning a special oil, the fire can burn for ten thousand years.

Each recess containing a stone lamp is a lamp trough.

Inside the entire enormous cave, the rock walls on both sides are covered with these ancient lamps.

The scattered glimmers of light in the dark ravine resembled a kaleidoscope of sparks.

Li Yue gripped a light trough with each hand and found a foothold, using the dim light to look down.

The lamp oil has been used up for thousands of years and is now nearly exhausted.

At this moment, the firelight was dim and faint, with layers of hazy, yellowish light floating and swirling in the deep space, its bottom unseen.

Legend has it that the eternal lamps in ancient tombs were made with mermaid oil, and that they "would not go out for a long time."

"Mermaid ointment" is mostly believed to be whale oil, which is the slowest burning ointment known to the ancients and can last for thousands of years.

However, Li Yue guessed that there should be a substance like phosphorescence hidden inside the lamp.

Oxygen can be introduced by the airflow brought in through the flipping of the jade lid.

The remaining phosphorus in the wick will spontaneously combust with a "poof," and the eerie flame will reignite, repeating the cycle.

When Li Yue looked down into the well, he indeed saw no candlelight, which made him even more certain of his guess.

He lowered his head and brought it close to a small stone lamp beside him, taking a light sniff.

A faint scent of candlelight mixed with the aroma of aged sandalwood incense wafted over, without a trace of the stench of decaying corpse oil, and the lamp was exquisitely crafted.

It seems that the regulations and oil used here are much more advanced than those underground palaces at the foot of the mountain.