Bustling sounds were heard in the Xiao Clan training area where people from all over the city were gathering near the training zone to witness the one who will obtain the legacy. Some of them knew that once the selected went into the tomb, the true finals would begin and only one will emerged victorious.
The area was located in the southern area of Gao Ling City near the branch clan of the Xiao Sect is located. The place is currently full of spectators, clan members of the winners and the defeated that were here to witness the one who will emerge from the tomb bearing the treasure of the Moon Empress.
Truth to be told, all of them are here for one thing. They didn't care if anyone out of anyone emerged from the tomb alive. If they do, they will be waiting to snatch the treasure from them despite their backing is stronger. The defeated might lose their ground in the selection but they are still the respected clans and one of the powerful sects in their territory as well as in the empire. Most of the clans might be powerful but under the combined effort of the multiple clans and sect, none of them actually stand a chance if a war should occur. Whatever treasure the Moon Empress kept in her tomb was enough to cause a war between multiple factions in the empire and maybe the world.
Yun Che slept through the night accompanied by Mio, Retsu and Cang Yue before waking up early to modify Yoru. Due to tiredness and possibly continuous picking fights with Kon, he immediately fell asleep on the living room instead on one of the beds after eating too much that night. For someone who was going to do somethings dangerous on the next day actually slept peacefully is quite bizarre while rest including Li Yue were honing their skills. Retsu and the others didn't move him but they lied next to him in the living room to make him comfortable which is the thing he need right now.
The modification of Yoru didn't take that long as he merely infused the black sword with Vibramantium thus transforming the sword from durable to indestructible. The Vibramantium he gained from the Black Merchant Guild was only enough to infused any swords to make it indestructible but if he wanted to create armors or weapons from it, he must get the rest of the Vibramantium from the Empress's tomb. Given that she didn't place it somewhere in the continent.
As planned, he had Yoru as well as his Zanpakutos upgraded with Vibramantium and the results were shocking as it is. The material was making them lighter and indestructible as well as stronger. Moreover, he can see the after effects of the material on Zangetsu effectively.
At first, Zangetsu was really heavy and only with the support of Great Way of the Buddha that he could actually lift that sword. After being infused with Vibramantium, the sword was much lighter compared to its usual weight and a lot more durable than before. Even his bladed form Zanpakutos remain the same but much stronger and lighter than before including Zabimaru, Sogyo No Kotowari, Sode No Shirayuki and Hyourinmaru.
Now infused with Vibramantium, Yoru was much lighter and stronger compared from the selection. This time he can cast more energy attacks but still have doubts on using Getsuga Tenshou. In the end, he made a conclusion that his energy attacks were enough to combat those beneath his cultivation and only using Getsuga Tenshou if situation permitted him. As he was done, he left the inn quite early before dawn so he can transform back into his Mihawk's persona without anyone noticing.
After being pestered by Jasmine during his sleep, he reluctantly trained her to use Eagle Vision by using the same haki infusing method on her. As expected, she was shocked as well as excited when she could see the effects it had on her eyes as she can actually see the intent of a person clearly just like Retsu and the others in the arena. Same as the others, she can't use the vision while moving and he recommend her to move slowly before she could move. He had to respect her determination and curiosity in breaking through as she spent all night training her eyes to get used to the movement before she passed out from overusing it. Guess Yun Che didn't warn her about overusing all of her senses and haki at once can effect her mental toll. Sleep is more important so he just let her passed out.
When he arrived at the training ground, people were already showered him with adoration mixed with fear and jealousy. Even with those gazes, he walked them off until Jasmine's voice filled his mind once more. "I hope you're being careful on this. There are multiple red intents around you. Looks like none of them willing to back down even after witnessing your strength." The eagle vision was really convenient. Through it, he and Jasmine could actually see the hidden spies planted by the losing clans in the eyes of the people. He could guess why they're here. There's no need to flush these guys out. He had plenty of time doing that in the end.
Yun Che deactivated his own eagle vision before he sighs "They thought that I might back down if they pester me with numbers. I can assume that these red intents are more on barks than bite."
Then, he continued "Well, these people have these bad intents to all of the winners. No matter who will come out later won't have a happy ending. Not even me or Li Yue." But, if they dare to give him a bad ending. He'll make his own before showing the others what will happen if they cross the Death God himself.
"Right, speaking of this Li Yue. You seemed to know her that well." Jasmine suddenly asked with a hint of jealousy in her tone. She knew that Yun Che helped her in the arena and he didn't help her just because she is a woman.
Yun Che just shrugged her statement and responded "Don't know. I just felt like I knew her. That's all."
Jasmine was a bit puzzled before she spoke "Knew her? Have you met her before?"
"Nope. More like knew her energy from somewhere. I might have to unmasked her just to find out." Yun Che deliberately didn't tell Jasmine about the truth to prevent her from suspecting something. Well, he couldn't tell her the plot-line of the future so he had to keep everything about it a secret. People might know her but he actually knew everything about her. With the help of the system's database of course. The thing is, if he told anyone about the plot-line of the future. It won't or it will never happened at all. Besides, he had planned his own plotline well and waiting for the right moment to fuck the original up.
When they arrived at the training area, it was completely unearthed forming a large crater that almost covered the entire training zone. The surrounding spectators just stood on the edge as the training area was protected by a barrier surrounding it to prevent any unwanted visitors from entering the tomb. Most of them demanded to be let into the grounds but Xiao Clan only let the city lord, clans and sect members of the winners were allowed to enter the zone aside from the winners. They weren't joking about the training area was built on top of a ruin of an old temple making this place looked like an archaeological site with all this earth covering the entire training zone.
When the area was completely unearthed, they could see an ancient Chinese temple in ruins that was covered by the earth on every corner. Even the shape didn't look like a temple anymore but the unearth process was able to show the shape of it. By the looks of it, the temple was built thousands of years ago to seal it from the world and the Xiao Clan just manage to unearth most of it.
Fang Luoyang was escorted by his guards and had all the selected winners behind him. All of them were escorted by the winners' clan members who had the privilege of entering the temple. Those who lost can only watch nearby along with the spectators. The rest of the Burning Heaven Clan and the Heavenly Sword Villa didn't show their faces her to save them from embarrassment but they had spies among the spectators to monitor if anyone comes out.
Judging from the preparation of the winners, they were well prepared and had body armors as well as weapons on them. Most of them are Earth Profound Realm items. They are really prepared and bend on killing each other in the tomb. Only Li Yue and Yun Che remained the same as they were yesterday. She was still using her black robe and Yun Che still use his Mihawk's attire. For anyone wanted to enter an unknown tomb, they looked really casual about it.
Li Yue who was walking next to him suddenly spoke "Are you not prepared to enter the tomb?" She spend the whole night just to prepare mentally before entering the tomb. This guy might be expressionless and sometimes scary but seeing him doesn't actually prepare makes someone think twice when seeing him.
He merely looked at her and simply spoke "Why would I?"
"..." Li Yue widen her eyes on Yun Che's response. She expected him to be prepared as the battles in there might cause them their lives and he doesn't even prepare anything makes her really annoyed. He might didn't even take this tomb seriously.
Seeing her being friendly to the swordsman, the other participants suddenly looked towards their direction. Both of them actually knew each other? They did hear from their spies that they spotted them together in the Black Merchant Guild and even had the branch guild master being courteous to them. Despite their relationship, both of them are still the stars of the selection. If both of them teamed up, all of them will be in trouble. Besides, they didn't even bother to talk to them as equals and both Li Yue and Yun Che dismissed them on the spot when they tried to befriend them. There's no bother befriending someone who has bad intention towards them. Unless, they wanted to use them through and through.
As they reached the outskirts of the temple, the city lord, Fang Luoyang suddenly asked "How long did the Xiao Clan discovered this ancient temple?"
The escorting elder as well as one of the selected to go into the tomb answered him "We discovered it a year ago when one of our disciples use his battle techniques on the ground and unearth a large part of it. That's when we discovered there's actually something unearth it when he fell through a hole when trying to explore the unearth part of the ground. He was alive and found a large hallway underneath it. We send a small team down the that hole and actually discovered an ancient temple down here."
Fang Luoyang gave a nod of understanding before answering "I take it you found treasures down here?"
"No, there's nothing in the hallway as if the temple was abandoned before the earth decided to cover it. There's nothing in there but the place looked like it was completely preserved. The only thing we found in there was an ancient teleporting formation with a statue in the middle of it."
"Statue?"
"You'll see." After a while, they arrived at the large door still covered by dirt. Some of it still had dirt covering the door indicating that this door was just being restored. The moment they opened the large door, they were shocked to see the temple was completely preserved like nothing happened to it. A little bit dusty but the temple's inside wasn't even disturbed even after thousands of years. The smell of dust sullied the air but most of them were aired out by the excavation team. As mentioned by the Xiao Clan elder, everything was completely preserved and there's not even one item or treasure present. Not even a single furniture.
The only thing they saw was a glowing rune like formation around a statue of a veiled female. When looking at the statue closely, everyone could see the beauty of the sculpture sculpted into statue. It was the grand beauty they ever laid their eyes on except for Yun Che and Li Yue. As for Yun Che, he did however pull a breath of relief as the female's feature didn't match anyone he knew but he admitted the statue was a little pretty.
"So beautiful. The view of an ultimate beauty. Is this the Moon Empress?" Fang Luoyang spoke earning a curious nod from the others.
"Yes, a statue of veiled female in front of us is indeed the Moon Empress. All of us were stunned seeing the beauty of that statue at the first time. Some of the disciples refused to move after seeing it. She stood proudly in the middle of the formation as if she was strong enough to take down the entire world. And all of us had one name comes to mind. It was indeed her."
"We did try to enter the tomb through the teleporting formation but most of us were denied entrance when a barrier suddenly blocked our path." When the Xiao Clan elder touched the teleporting formation, a sound was suddenly heard from the temple before a barrier suddenly surround the entire teleporting formation. Suddenly, one by one. Words came out from the barrier before forming into a complete phrase before a complete sentence.
"Only those with can stood on the peak of the sky itself and have experience life over thirty decades shall be permitted to enter my tomb."
"So, the formation wasn't kidding on letting anyone entering the tomb." Jasmine suddenly spoke as she read the words. She always wondered only younger generations only allowed to enter tombs and trial areas even in the realm of the gods. Never expected this one only allows thirty year old men with peak Sky Profound Realm can enter.
"So, this is where our roles come in gentlemen and my lady. When all ten of you stood inside the formation. It will soon activate and teleported you inside the tomb. Whatever happened in there will be unknown here. So whatever matters you wanted to settle, settle everything right now."
Hearing his explanation, The sect master of the Heaven's Above sect saw this as an opportunity and suddenly spoke "Fellow sect masters, since we are all equals here. I propose we allied ourselves. We should share the legacy of the Moon Empress instead of keeping it to ourselves. Even if we won the treasure, we can't protect it all by ourselves."
"Even if we can share the legacy, what about those who didn't have any allegiance?" When the escorting elder from the Zhou Clan suddenly spoke, all eyes suddenly turned onto Yun Che and Li Yue. Both of them are indeed without any allies and on their own.
"Great Swordsman Dracule Mihawk and Fairy Li Yue, it is best for you to allied with one of us. Even if you two managed to obtained the legacy. There's no way you can protect it on your own. Both of you only two people against clans and sects of the Blue Wind Empire." One of the participants, Shen Yimu spoke to them. Seeing both of them in a pinch brings music to his ears as he tried to incite them further.
Both Li Yue and Yun Che kept quiet but Yun Che can sense that Li Yue was already having some second thoughts. These people have seen her combat prowess and will instantly overwhelmed her if necessary.
Shing….
Yun Che suddenly moved in front of her before drawing Yoru starling all who were present in the temple. "So, are we going to settle this here and now?"
Guo Qing immediately went white as he shouted "You… you can't fight all of us!!!!"
"Hmph, I know your strength the moment I saw you in the arena. All of you. So my question is this....What if I can?" Yun Che spoke with intimidation in his tone. He really wanted to kill these guys but eight of them are his ticket into the tomb and if he wanted to cause some ruckus. It'll be right after he obtained the legacy.
"You…" All of the present disciples, elders and sect masters immediately went on their guard but they were having second thoughts on fighting the monstrous swordsman themselves. They wanted to intimidate him into joining their ranks but seeing him being this stubborn. There's no way they could defeat him. Not after seeing his capabilities. If any of their champion falls, they will lose their opportunity to enter the tomb and those outside will join the fight and seize the opportunity to enter.
Seeing the situation was intense, Fang Luoyang suddenly jumped in the middle and shouted "Wait!!... Wait..!! Let's calm down everyone. Let them finish their disputes in the tomb and only one or two will emerge victorious. Whoever obtained the legacy later, we will settle it here and there?"
"Agreed, if we die here. All of us will lose the opportunity and those hidden sects out there will seize it. Its better we let them settle with each other. Besides, remember who the real enemy is…."
All the others immediately nodded before standing down and the other participants immediately nodded. However, Yun Che wasn't like the other MCs who simply nodded in this kind of situation. The moment he heard that phrase, he knew all of them allied with each other just to take both him and Li Yue down in the tomb. However, he played dumb and sheath his sword before entering the formation.
Li Yue was intense but she immediately followed and stood next to him in the formation as well. She was relieved when he stood in front of her and drawing his sword whether it was intentional or not.
However, the sect and clan masters had already set their sights on him and told their champions one thing. When the monstrous swordsman was finally defeated, they must do whatever it takes to snatch that black sword of his. If that sword was possessed by any one of them, they could instantly rise and joined the rank of the strongest. This is the first time an Emperor Rank sword is witnessed in the Empire. They just hope whatever the Xiao Clan elders were planning was enough to stop him while the others go for the kill.
All of the selectors nodded before entering the formation. Suddenly, the eyes of the statue suddenly glow and linings of lights suddenly formed underneath the eyes before slowly travelling from the cheek onto the body before flowing through the legs. With that, the linings of the formation suddenly glow as well indicated that the condition to activate it was met. In just a moment, the formation suddenly raised itself from the ground and in an instant, all ten of them were gone in a blink of an eye as if they weren't there from the very beginning.
However, Yun Che managed to send a message through his tenteikura to Retsu and the others indicating that all hell will break lose once he came out from the tomb, they will proceed with the plan. For the meantime, they just have to kick back and relax as they are going to have so much fun leveling up at the end.
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Yun Che suddenly reappeared somewhere quiet. From his vision, everywhere seems to be dark and the smell of damp contaminated the air. Even with all of that, he didn't actually feel he is in a cave. Even from his senses, everyone was gone. Li Yue and the others disappeared from the formation and probably placed somewhere in this god forsaken tomb.
"Where in the world am I?" Yun Che tried to touch his surroundings but as it wasn't a while until he felt his hand actually touch a flat surface. Something a normal tomb isn't made of. But the shocking thing was, its surface was kind of cold and slippery but it was hard as a stone. He suddenly thought
"Wait, stones aren't supposed to feel like this. Even those stones of bricks didn't actually feel like this. Where in the world am I?"
"Appreciate it if we had some lights in this tomb because it's really dark in here." Jasmine's voice suddenly rang in his ear before she started reappearing next to him. Knowing that everyone was gone, it is safe to assume that she could travel in the outside world once more.
"Sigh…. What do you expect? It's not like you can see actual flaming torches in a thousand-year-old tomb?" He spoke with his stoic Mihawk's voice.
"Wait, it can happen just like that?"
"I was making a sarcastic remark. Anyway, use your eagle vision. They should enable you see the darkness as clear as day."
"Seeing you so calm pissed me off for some reason."
"You're not the first person to tell me that." Then, both of them activated their eagle vision and the sight that greets them enough to throw them in shock. They appeared in some kind of massive a hallway leading to a doorway in the distance. The hallway was full of massive towering pillars supporting the ceiling above as well as massively cracked floors. It was a majestic sight even for them. The surface he touched just now was actually one of the pillars itself but to think that the pillar could produce a cold sensation when he touches it. Moreover, when he looked above, he could see some kind of black rectangular stone marble was placed on the pillars.
"Remarkable, to think that so called Moon Empress is buried in this tomb and whoever built this tomb must really took an effort huh?"
"Yeah, this temple was built to buried her. Let's just pressed on." Yun Che was a little bit shocked once he saw how the hallway was built especially the material used to build them. It wasn't built on stone marbles or giant brick but the stones they used had light reflecting properties as they could actually see shines on the black rectangular stone marbles on the pillars. Moreover, he knew these pillar designs. He knew them clearly but maybe it was just coincidence. Without any solid evidence, he can't mention this anyone.
"No, it can't be, these designs. Could it be? The Moon Empress is…." Yun Che was having doubts before Jasmine's voice startled him. "Oi, Yun Che… Still admiring the hallway? Let's go…"
"Yes…. I am coming. Well, someone's excited." Whatever questions he had for now, he had no choice but to hold on for now The hallway itself was an obvious fact that they were teleported to somewhere more than just a tomb. Yun Che and Jasmine slowly walked with their eagle vision illuminating the hall and their haki detected any moving things and objects in the hall. However, Jasmine can't still walk while using Eagle Vision so Yun Che had to cast a kido before forming it into a small ball of light which follows them through the hall and illuminates their surroundings. Walking towards the massive doorway, they had to climb the stones that were made to look like stairs.
"Incredible…." Jasmine exclaimed. Once they arrived at the doorway, both of them once more greeted with a similar hallway but this time they saw a small altar in the next hallway. Complete with a small set of stairs leading to a pedestal in the on top of the altar. It had nothing on it and the doorway just simply leads to the next hallway without any trials or puzzles.
"Strange, why bother building an altar with a pedestal if they didn't place anything on it and just leave to the next area?" Yun Che spoke while examining the altar. Moreover, that altar even looks familiar. Something related to his original world. Now he started to wonder whether all of these things were actually coincidences.
"There's nothing here." Jasmine's voice sounded as she looked around the altar.
As he was pondering, a system notification suddenly pops in his mind. [Ding….. A Soul Imprint message is detected on the altar.]
"There always something. Whoever build this thing isn't that simple to leave it here without anything. Besides, the system detected Soul Imprint message here." As he spoke, he brought Jasmine to the altar and examine it. He shows Jasmine the altar and Jasmine immediately conducted a search on it but didn't find anything strange.
She asked him curiously. "So. what's a soul imprint message?"
Referring to his Shinigami knowledge, he spoke "Soul Imprint message is where a soul use some of its essence to left behind a recording message. It doesn't really do anything but just left behind some kind of message recorded by the owner of the soul. It must be triggered by touching the imprint left behind by the soul."
Then, he continued "Usually, soul imprints or soul messages aren't visible to the naked eye and normal cultivators can't see them. Only shinigamis and soul beings can actually see them, as well as someone possessed Eagle Vision. As for this altar however, only the ones who possessed extraordinary sights can activate it and I think I might know how. Use your eagle vision." Both of them activated their eagle vision and the system was right. On top of the altar was indeed a small symbol shaped like a crescent moon.
Jasmine widen her eyes. To think that she couldn't see this imprint in her naked eyes. "So this is the soul imprint?"
"Hnn, this soul imprint is bound on the altar and if my memory serves me right. The method to activated this altar is…." Yun Che raised his hand before hovers it above the symbol on the altar the suddenly….
Click…click click….
Aqua colored lights suddenly formed on top of the altar before slowly flowing down and activated the mechanism underneath it. In an instant, the dark hallway was illuminated with aqua lights as if they had awakened someone sleeping underneath it. Both of them had to close their eyes awaiting the thing that was going to happen. When the rumbling was over, both of them opened their eyes and the hallway was shone with aqua lights illuminating the hallway triggering a majestic sight to behold. It was beautiful and every part of the dark hall was shone by the lights. Now, Yun Che had more questions in his head but one thing for sure. He had one single statement.
Seeing the majestic sight, Yun Che suddenly murmured "I was right."
"What are you right about?"
"It's nothing…"
"You're acting strange though."
"I know...Its just the altar, the hallway, the aqua lights….. Everything in here is just like in my previous world. Something familiar. Too familiar." Even if he used Mihawk's voice, Jasmine can sense his anxiety nor his excitement. As if something hidden in this tomb was much more than the secrets of the Moon Empress. However, she didn't get an single sentence from him. "Yun Che, I don't understand."
"I'll explain later….. Let's hear what the soul imprint has to say." As soon as he hovers his hand again, the altar shines itself again and this time. It projects the contents of the soul imprint clearly to them. Yun Che was quite shock as he saw a ghostly image of a veiled lady.
Beautiful as the morning sun. Coupled with her red and rosy cheeks, luscious lips and beautiful eyes. Although it was veiled, the beauty almost on par with Retsu or Mio and even Xia QingYue but her beauty doesn't actually match any characters in his mind. Her body was developed enough as it can make any men with low self-control fall under her charms. She was wearing some kind of white robe looked like an ancient Chinese robes wore by the ancient warriors of the past.
"This is....that woman from that statue?" Jasmine asked while trying to touch the ghostly image of the woman.
"Yes, she's the Moon Empress. Never expected that she was a beauty back then." Yun Che also tried to touch her but his hands simply phased through. As if they were holograms.
"Hmph, look at you fall on her charms." She spoke with a hint of jealousy.
"No, compared to you and Retsu. She still paled in comparison."
"Hmph, this princess is always was and always be a top beauty. Took you a while to realize that."
"Right...." As Mihawk, he was much more calmer and didn't shot any remarks at her.
As the ghostly image of the Moon Empress walked around the altar ignoring their existence before she spoke in an echoing voice. "Greeting successor, if you discovered the way to activate this altar then you must be the one I have been waiting for all this time. I have lived my life and even built the tomb that one day will be my final resting place in this world. For too long I have suffered in hardship in order to store the very thing that cause my suffering. It'll be worth it."
"Thing…? What thing?" Jasmine tried asking the soul imprint but she was ignored by the ghostly image of the Moon Empress.
"There's no use, she's a soul imprint. Its just a message she recorded. She won't answer anything. But I know one thing for sure that she built this tomb. She built the a tomb just like the temples back in my home world. But, the design? Where did she get it?"
"Yun Che, you started to make no sense."
Before Yun Che could explain, the ghostly image of the Moon Empress suddenly spoke with an echoing voice. "Three thousand years ago, I was a young, brash and naïve young woman back then. Thinking that I am stronger than anyone. We were ordinary mortals lived in seclusion. A wild and harmless people that secluded ourselves from the matters of the world. Where the world cultivates to success, the rest of us just lived in peace." At the same time she was talking, she projected the image of her village back then.
Yun Che widen his eyes a little as he heard her statement. "3000 years ago, doesn't that mean she knew we were coming when she recorded this? This is too much to be coincidence."
Then, she projected the situation where people came into her village. "However, all of that changes once a group of cultivators came to our village. They were attacked by the wild beasts in the forest and asked us to treat them. We did and showed our compassion to them but all we get in return was hardship. The group of cultivators enslaved us, taking control of the village and beat anyone into submission. We were ordinary mortals. We stand no chance against them. I remembered their strength back then only at the Elementary level but it was enough to differentiate us from them."
"They started to look for younger girls to satisfy their desires. The girls were used and thrown like garbage. My parents were worried and sent me away. Told me to run into the mountains. So I run….I run….. and I run….. I was powerless, I was ordinary and I was naive. I thought that the world revolves around me but I am weak to protect anyone. I am too weak… far too weak…"
She projected every moments of her younger life to them like a holographic movie. Jasmine was started to get uncomfortable but there's nothing she could do whether she care for it or not.
"Then one night, I was staring into the heavens praying that everything was to be saved and changed. That's when I saw it..... A single heavenly light fell from the heavens. Beautiful like the shooting stars at night and illuminated the area with golden lights as the gods are bestowing the area with their grace. However, the moment it fell into a height that time. The single light was separated into nine lights. The nine heavenly lights spread all over the direction of the world. Too far to be chased as it was too fast to be seen in naked eye and if people saw the lights, they could only see them as shooting stars. Then, it happened."
"One of nine heavenly lights fell into my direction. I was not on my guard at that time and it smashed directly on my area producing a sound loud enough to attract any attention. The heavenly light smashed into the earth producing a crater full of smoke and set the nearby forest on fire. Despite the feeling of despair bottling up inside me, I was curious. I was curious to see what kind of thing that was trying to kill me. So I venture into the crater and trying to discover what is the origin of the heavenly light. That's when I saw it. The rock in the middle of the crater was too hot to be touched so I tried poking it with a wooden stick. Suddenly, the rock crumbled into pieces revealing a golden light inside it. The light was so bright that it illuminates the entire crater and I saw golden light rays all over. It was majestic and beautiful. It was the sight I could never forget.
"However, that's when I saw it. I saw the very thing that was going to change my life. A mysterious golden orb….." Then, the message was cut and the ghostly image of the Moon Empress fade and the aqua lights around the hall faded. Darkness returned and illuminate the hall once more.
"A mysterious golden orb? I never heard of these things before. One heavenly light turned nine? What is the Moon Empress talking about?" Just as Jasmine wondered about these new things she learnt. Yun Che's mind was in a turmoil. It wasn't because of anything but everything. The temple, lights, hallway, Moon Empress and now this orb?
His outside look might look calm as he is but his mind only thought on one thing "What in the actual fuck?"
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On another side of the hall, more like a mirror image of the tomb's hall. Li Yue walked the dark hallway accompanied by only a torch in her hand. She was exploring the tomb as well ever since she was separated from the others during the teleportation but her mind was looking for someone particular. Right now, she was looking for Dracule Mihawk. The only man who didn't have any grudge as well as the desire to kill her and protected her back then. She doesn't know why she relied on him. Why did he help her? Is it because of mutual interest? For the sake of the treasure? He could let that Wu bastard kill her off instead off giving him a small piece of advice. He could've destroyed her easily if he wanted the treasure for himself but the only problem is…..
He's the only one who can keep her alive in this tomb.
"Why am I relying on him? I am inside the tomb and I could use my full strength with those elders. Then, why am I still looking for him?" Li Yue was walking the mirror image of the hallway Yun Che and Jasmine went through. She did discover the same altar but she wasn't able to activate the altar and there was nothing there. Seeing that there's no puzzle of trial and the doorway to the next hallway wasn't even closed. She just proceeded on to the next hallway without finding or learning the secrets of the altar as she didn't possess eagle vision to activated it and see the soul imprint. She merely thought whatever was on that altar was already taken by someone who passed or arrived before her. So she left the place without learning anything about the altar.
Once she arrived at the third hallway, she discovered a small arena like structure with four sets of stairs going onto it. She also noticed that the doorway she just arrived was one of the four hallways and she arrived at the second door. As she arrived at the arena, one of the towering light on each of the corner was suddenly turned on. It means she's the first person who arrived in the arena zone. She continued down the path until she climbed the stairs and arrived on the arena itself. She also noticed that all four doorways leading to the four flight of stairs leading and connected to the central arena. It means whatever is happening here might result of fighting between any of them and she prayed that she didn't meet Mihawk on this arena.
Suddenly, aqua lights suddenly illuminating the entire arena zone before showing another door high above her. Just now she used a torch just to illuminate some lights in the hallway she went through and now everything was revealed to her. She admitted that the sight was really majestic. When she tried to activated her profound floating technique, her movement was restricted as if she fell under some kind of spell.
"What in the world happened here?"
Before her question was answered. A phrase was suddenly formed in the air and she could understood them easily. "Four warriors but the path shall be opened to one champion. May the odds be ever in your favor."
If she couldn't use her floating technique, then how else she's going to reach that doorway above her. But, seeing four doorways, arena and only one doorway above means only one thing indicating that only one thing can happen in this place. It heavies her heart that she knew only one can proceed into the next zone. It means the way to get to the next hallway is for her to defeat all three opponents blocking her path.
"Well, well, is it nice? Fairy Li Yue was gracing us with her presence. We were waiting for you, Fairy Li Yue." A male's voice suddenly sounded from the distance.
Li Yue turned her head and suddenly two of the light towers in the corner suddenly lit itself up. She turned her head towards the doorways and saw two elders fully armored with weapons drawn from before slowly approaching her. She knew them as Guo Qing and Shao Shun. The two idiots provoking the others to get rid of them. She immediately keep her guard up as she glares at them intently. One of them suddenly spoke "It seems that you discovered what we discovered first. You know? We just knew that in order to pass this test, we must use the others as a stepping stone to success but we decided to battle for ourselves once we destroyed both you and that monstrous swordsman."
"You seem confident in taking him down. It seems the matter about him slicing the heavens isn't enough to spook you."
Guo Qing raised his sword and pointed it towards her. "I am sorry Fairy Li Yue but business is business. We can't let you or that swordsman rise to the heavens in a single motion. We decided to retreat back to our hallway and dissolves the lights in this hall to lower your guard."
Shao Shun also did the same as him. "So until our fourth opponent arrived, we will play with you instead."
"Don't bother about playing allies with the fourth, I am sure he will agree with us.
"You…" Li Yue was disgusted with them. She never thought these bastards have that sort of intention towards them. She also drew her sword before facing them in battle.
"Hahaha, do you really think you can defeat the two of us? We've seen how you fight in the arena. You can't hope to defeat any of us if that's your standing."
Li Yue kept quiet before she suddenly released all her aura. She had enough. There's no use in hiding her abilities anymore. Suddenly, the arena was slowly went frozen as it slowly releasing cold aura that affects the both of them at the same time.
Guo Qing and Shao Shun shouted at the same time "You…you're a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard?!?"
"Damn, I am sure she's an elder. She's also a half step Throne like us. No wonder she hid herself and her identity from the world. I am sure her sect doesn't know about her involvement."
Guo Qing pulled a sinister smile as he spoke "Then, if she died no one will know. Right?"
"Then, I heard rumors that Asgard disciples are really beautiful. Let's pull that mask off and see for ourselves.
"Indeed, elder Guo Qing. I wanted to taste for myself how these Asgard disciples really taste like. It's been a while since I spend some time with women." Shao Shun immediately licked his lips while looking at her alluring body.
Li Yue was getting uncomfortable immediately released her killing intent. She was bend on killing these guys and not even a simple forgiveness would cut out for it. So, before the third opponent arrived, she will do whatever it takes to kill these bastards.
Seeing her went aggressive, both of the middle age men suddenly spoke "Sorry, Fairy Li Yue. The Xiao Sect given us something to surprise both you and that swordsman." The two elders immediately pull something out of their robe before showing it to Li Yue. It was a yellow piece of paper with strange markings on them but when they placed in on the ground, the arena was slowly transforming into a giant formation and immediately trapped Li Yue within it.
Li Yue was already preparing for attack suddenly feel her ice powers were slowly dissolving and her ice immediately melts. Moreover, she even felt her profound strength continued to drop significantly. She was too upset and angry before but now, only the feeling of helplessness invaded her body. She could only shout...."WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!"
"We're really sorry Fairy Li Yue, we had to destroy you. It doesn't mean we could thoroughly enjoyed your alluring body. This is the Xiao Sect Profound Suppressing Formation. It could stop and the flow of profound strength for some time and all of us were given the charms to suppressed it. It only works on us. But not on you. So any last words?" Guo Qing and Shao Shun suddenly approached her.
Li Yue was in a bind, she never expected the toll will be too much for today. Without her techniques and strength, she's just a normal mortal. Is this how her path will end?