Translator: CinderTL
After Xu Sanyan left, the woman turned and walked back into the cave, passing through a narrow, dimly lit passage until her surroundings suddenly brightened.
A vast hall appeared before her, its walls adorned with thousands of Eternal Flame Lamps, crafted from unknown materials that had kept them burning for a millennium.
The faint, flickering light cast an eerie glow over the hall.
Beneath the candlelight were chaotically arranged coffins. If one were to view them from above, it would become clear that despite their seemingly random placement, they were arranged according to a specific pattern—a chaotic order.
At the center of the hall stood a massive jade coffin, its surface intricately engraved with golden lines forming a complex design, resembling... a formation.
What was even more peculiar was that this coffin stood upright.
The woman, barefoot, stepped onto the ground and walked past the scattered coffins, coming to a halt before the jade coffin.
As the coffin lid slowly opened, a soft white light emanated from within, revealing two fist-sized Night Luminescence Pearls embedded in the top of the coffin, illuminating its interior.
Inside lay a withered corpse.
This corpse was none other than the Imperial Advisor from eight hundred years ago!
The woman's lips curled into a faint smile. "Returning from the dead...?"
"Hehe... Hahaha..."
"Utter nonsense!"
She threw her head back and laughed maniacally, two crystalline tears falling from the corners of her eyes and landing softly on the stone platform.
Eight hundred years ago, the Imperial Advisor's Life Borrowing Soul Return Technique had failed.
To live another life?
How could it be so easy!
There was no borrowing of life to return the soul,
nor was there any resurrection from death.
Only a girl trapped within the coffin, enduring eight hundred years of loneliness and despair in this dark, sunless tomb.
The formation had prolonged her life but also subjected her to endless torment.
No one knew how she had survived those eight hundred years.
Only a gradually withering corpse kept her company, along with a book.
This book, clutched in the Imperial Advisor's hand, contained detailed records of the Life Borrowing Soul Return Technique, as well as other matters of great importance to him.
She guessed that the Imperial Advisor had left this as a precaution, fearing he might lose his memories after resurrection.
After all, when it came to Mystical Arts involving the soul, no one could predict what unexpected outcomes might arise.
Back then, the Imperial Advisor had used his methods to place her in a state of suspended animation. The techniques of a Soul Refining Realm grandmaster were far beyond the comprehension of ordinary cultivators.
Everything that followed had proceeded as planned. The Imperial Advisor deceived Father Emperor, leveraging the resources of the entire Liang Kingdom to gather the materials needed for the Life Borrowing Soul Return Technique, collecting jade treasures, and searching for commoners whose fates aligned with hers to be buried alongside her.
The hundreds of coffins in the tomb were those of people whose fates matched hers.
The Coffin Guarding Village was indeed part of the formation.
But despite the Imperial Advisor's meticulous calculations, his efforts ultimately fell short. This technique was impossible to complete!
All because... the heavens would not allow it.
No one could bypass the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn!
After the Imperial Advisor's failure, he died completely, while she sank into a state of confusion. After an unknown number of years, her thoughts gradually cleared, and she realized... she could not escape.
The coffin lid seemed to be held shut by an unyielding force, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not open it.
She cried,
She struggled,
She despaired...
Fortunately, the Imperial Advisor's earlier preparations had taken effect. Strands of life force flowed into her body through the formation on the coffin, sustaining her life.
Thus, she was completely trapped here, spending her days in anxiety. With nothing else to do, she began to attempt cultivation.
Due to her solitary exploration without any guidance, coupled with the barren spiritual energy underground and the lack of rare treasures, her progress in cultivation was extremely slow.
But time was on her side.
As time passed, centuries flew by in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, one day, she discovered she could leave...
Pushing open the jade coffin lid, she saw the numerous coffins scattered around and realized she seemed to be able to control these zombies. A faint connection bound them together, so she commanded them to dig a passage out.
When she breathed fresh air again, the feeling of rebirth made her heart flutter.
She didn't know how many years she had spent underground, so she captured someone to interrogate carefully. Only then did she learn that eight hundred years had passed in the outside world...
Her Father Emperor, Queen Mother, Elder Brother, and all those familiar to her had long since passed away, turned into a handful of yellow earth.
For these eight hundred years, these loved ones had been her only hope to persevere. She had longed to see her parents again, but now that hope was shattered...
As for why she lingered here, it was because she hadn't found something yet. Only by obtaining that treasure could she completely break free from the constraints of the grand formation.
And the person she had captured was the old man from the village who had received Xu Sanyan.
...
Xu Sanyan controlled the Ferocious Demon to abduct the old man from the village. The old man looked helpless but not overly panicked, as he was already halfway into the grave and no longer placed much importance on life and death.
However, the old man sighed inwardly, wondering why they always targeted him. He was old and couldn't withstand too much tossing and turning.
"Young hero, did you call me here for something?" The old man smoothed his disheveled beard and hair.
Xu Sanyan smiled, "Today, I met that Princess."
A flash of surprise crossed the old man's face, but he quickly returned to normal. However, this momentary change in expression did not escape Xu Sanyan's notice.
"She said... she was the Imperial Advisor from eight hundred years ago," Xu Sanyan calmly revealed this secret, his eyes fixed intently on the old man's, waiting to see his reaction.
The old man showed the expected look of astonishment and exclaimed, "How is that possible?"
Xu Sanyan's eyes flickered slightly, and he directly asked, "Do you know what she's been searching for in the village every day?"
The old man was puzzled, "Young hero, what do you mean?"
Xu Sanyan sneered, "Don't tell me you don't know!"
"Uh... I truly don't understand what you mean," the old man shook his head.
Xu Sanyan's eyes gradually turned cold. He was certain the old man was hiding something from him. "It seems I'll have to use some means to get you to talk."
The old man looked distressed, "I really know nothing."
"Heh... Not knowing is fine. Let's see if your mouth is harder or my blade is sharper!"
The old man sighed deeply and slowly shook his head, "Alas... I'm just a country bumpkin, muddling through my days. What the young hero says, I truly don't understand."
"Really nothing to say?" Xu Sanyan pointed towards the village, and the Ferocious Demon's figure instantly vanished.
"From now on, with each breath, I'll kill one person. There are probably less than a thousand people in the village. You can take your time to think," Xu Sanyan said unhurriedly.
The old man's expression changed, his heart filled with anger and frustration. He was certain that Xu Sanyan knew nothing at all, at most just had some suspicions, yet he dared to threaten the lives of the villagers?
Treating human lives as worthless, how is this any different from a demon?
(End of the Chapter)
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