Below the white imperial palace stretched a long staircase; anyone wanting to enter the palace first had to climb up. Every ten steps there stood a pair of stone figures, as if silent palace guards; though lifeless, they gave off a stern and dignified air.
"Brother Fan, you think these stone things can move?" Zhang Xiaohou suddenly asked.
Mo Fan had noticed those stone figures as well and nodded, "Very likely. They don't look like decoration at all."
"Decoration or not, the sooner we get away from them the better."
Zhou Haoyu walked at the very front of the group — with a slight lift of his head he could already see the front gate of the tomb-palace. After climbing the stairs, they were greeted by a sinister-looking bronze mirror bearing an evil eye.
At that moment, Fang Gu stepped forward and, after briefly explaining the origins of Weiju Village, took out an antique hand-sized bronze mirror. It looked somewhat similar to the sinister mirror at the gate. Fang Gu lifted his little bronze mirror and reflected it into the gate mirror.
"Wong——"
Suddenly, the four-sided white gate slowly opened.
At the same time, strange noises came from the stairway below — the stone figures that had been motionless began to stir one after another — and their target was clearly Zhou Haoyu's group invading the tomb-palace!
"Damn, those stone figures do move!"
Mo Fan was startled; if they were surrounded on the steps, there would be almost no hope of escape.
"Fang Gu, lead the way," Zhou Haoyu urged him.
Zhou Haoyu understood very clearly — Fang Gu was familiar with everything here and even knew the correct bridge on the Nine-Death-One-Life path.
So long as they stayed close to him, they could avoid most problems.
Fang Gu felt an inexplicable panic in his heart, as if he was being watched by some great horror, but he suppressed the feeling. As long as he found the Ancient King's tomb, he could inherit all of the Ancient King's legacy. Then he would command the undead army of a million as the next Ancient King!
Led by Fang Gu, they passed through the gate into a long corridor. Beyond the corridor lay an impossibly large fore-palace.
This fore-palace was built from snow-white jade stones, and the floor was smooth enough to reflect one's own image.
The hall was enormous, yet seemingly empty.
Guided by Little Mud Fish's sensing, Mo Fan found the Eternal Demon Lotus. Only by destroying this Eternal Demon Lotus would the Nine-Death-One-Life Bridge path appear — otherwise, even wandering this tomb-palace for a year, one would still never find the bridge to the altar.
But the Eternal Demon Lotus was an energy body — it couldn't be destroyed by force, only absorbed by a suitable vessel.
Zhou Haoyu had intended to use the Candle Dragon Vessel to devour it, but Mo Fan acted quicker — grabbing the Eternal Demon Lotus and retreating to a corner to absorb it himself.
After some time, Mo Fan successfully reached High-Rank in Fire — the breakthrough went smoothly.
Having lost his Demon Element, his cultivation had been even higher and he could have attempted High-Tier long ago — but without his Galaxy Vein he had been forced to wait.
"Congratulations on breaking through to High-Tier, Brother Fan!" Zhang Xiaohou said excitedly.
Though not as monstrous as Zhou Haoyu, breaking through to High-Tier at this age was still extremely rare.
Mo Fan rubbed his nose in slight pride, but the moment he glanced over at Zhou Haoyu, all arrogance vanished.
"Breaking through is great, but if we want to celebrate, shouldn't we wait until we're out of here?" Zhou Haoyu said blandly.
Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou immediately sobered — if they couldn't make it out alive, what use was breaking through? They would simply become another corpse or worse, another soldier in the undead army.
Once Mo Fan finished absorbing the Eternal Demon Lotus, the road to the Nine-Death-One-Life Bridge appeared.
Led by Fang Gu, they came upon a place filled with statues, all of them carved of white translucent jade, their surfaces like a woman's flawless skin.
Each statue looked incredibly life-like, like the legendary fairy statues Duan Yu had seen — beautiful, alluring, and completely nude. Most importantly — astonishingly realistic.
Even Zhou Haoyu couldn't help stealing a few more glances; Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou were directly discussing their "ratings."
Only Su Xiaoluo wished they would hurry up and leave.
Zhou Haoyu walked at the front and finally saw a narrow jade platform. On both sides lay pitch-black nothingness — endless abyss.
"Whuuuhhh——"
Dark winds wailed along the cliffs beside the jade stone walkway; one misstep and even they would be swept into the abyss.
Using his Spiritual sense, Zhou Haoyu detected ten different bridges ahead, each leading toward the opposite side.
"There are several bridges up ahead, likely leading to the tomb," Zhou Haoyu said.
"If it's a bridge… then this must be the Nine-Death-One-Life Bridge," Fang Gu said heavily.
"Nine-Death-One-Life…" Mo Fan frowned—the name alone made its meaning clear.
Nine deaths and one life… which meant only one of the bridges was the safe one.
Choose incorrectly, and the result would be catastrophic.
If they all chose the same bridge, the chance of finding the safe one was only one out of ten.
If they each chose their own bridge, that was still only fifty percent odds.
Mo Fan preferred that they stay together—live or die as one. But that also meant the possibility of all of them dying.
Zhou Haoyu, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm. As long as he kept a close eye on Fang Gu, finding the correct bridge would be a non-issue.
Seeing Zhou Haoyu silent for so long, Mo Fan finally spoke:
"Zhou Haoyu, you decide. At this point, you're the only one I can trust."
Zhou Haoyu was briefly surprised—he hadn't expected Mo Fan to hand over a life-and-death choice like this.
But Mo Fan understood Zhou Haoyu's strength—if Zhou chose a death bridge, he might still be able to fight his way through. Besides, Zhou had already saved his life twice before; even if he died here, Mo Fan would have no complaints.
"Fang Gu—what about you?" Zhou asked calmly.
"If you choose to go together, then I… I won't go with you. That gives me a one-in-five chance at picking the right one," Fang Gu said with a pained expression—as though torn by the decision—but in truth, he was desperate to push Zhou Haoyu away.
Only without Zhou Haoyu could he safely walk the true bridge. The Ancient King's legacy was meant for one man alone—and that man would be him, Fang Gu!
"In that case… you pick first," Zhou Haoyu replied.
The look on Fang Gu's face froze instantly.
"I… I haven't decided yet," Fang Gu said stiffly, trying not to show his panic. "I still need time to think."
"Oh really? You seemed to know everything so clearly before… don't tell me you also know exactly which one the real bridge is?"
Zhou Haoyu gave him a half-smile that wasn't a smile.
Mo Fan immediately turned his gaze onto Fang Gu.
This bastard… could he have been hiding the truth from them on purpose?