Chapter 371
Echoes of footsteps reverberated through the long corridor.
Along this lengthy passage, there were murals, and their content was even more complete than those seen above. Perhaps it could be said that these were the sequels to the murals above.
The subsequent scenes depicted the primal beings transformed into totems by the power of all living things, leading to the tribes of humanity waging war against one another, until only two of the largest remained.
One tribe was adorned in red, while the other was clad in black.
Behind each faction stood towering figures, the celestial beings descending from the Nine Heavens.
The celestial beings behind the black tribe numbered five, led by the Nine-Colored Yuan Phoenix woman, with the remaining three including the Dream God.
The white tribe had four figures behind them, their identities shrouded in mystery.
In the end, the black tribe emerged victorious, absorbing the white tribe.
The two tribes merged, and the woman transformed from the Nine-Colored Yuan Phoenix became a colossal divine bird, sheltering the heavens and the earth beneath her wings.
Another towering figure donned a crown and ascended to the throne.
A kingdom was born.
“Is it true that the Mandate of Heaven descended as a mysterious bird to give rise to the Shang Dynasty?”
Li Mo mused, feeling a sense of familiarity with the phrase.
“So the founding emperor of Shang was actually one of the celestial beings from the Nine Heavens?”
“Perhaps,” Tian Miao replied, uncertain about events so far in the past.
“But we should move faster.”
The three continued down the corridor.
The murals behind them seemed to chronicle the succession of Shang emperors, with the timeline drawing closer to the day this underground palace was completed.
In addition to the paintings, some characters began to appear on the walls of the corridor.
“This script must be ancient,” Tian Miao remarked, furrowing her brow as she studied it for a moment before shaking her head.
Li Mo didn’t need to say much; he didn’t recognize a single character, as they were certainly not Chinese characters.
“This is a diary,” Ying Bing suddenly said.
“A diary? Who writes that stuff?”
Li Mo was curious about what this diary, written thousands of years ago, might contain.
Ying Bing gazed at the characters on the wall and began to read softly:
“Today marks the fourteenth year of my overseeing the construction of Yunmeng Palace, and the eighty-second year since I became the leader of the God Summoning Sect.”
“When I first started building Yunmeng Palace, I thought it would be enough to follow the steps methodically, but during the process, I realized I could use the Nine Deaths Chessboard to strategize. That was a deadlock devised by the ancestral god of Yunmeng against the heavens.”
“Even if the ancestral god of Yunmeng truly awakens, they won’t be able to unravel it.”
“I increasingly feel the changes within myself. Every morning, I wake up feeling more and more unfamiliar.”
“This chessboard is truly difficult to set up; one misstep could lead to total failure.”
“If I were still a celestial being, wouldn’t it be easy to wave my hand?”
The handwriting then devolved into frantic scrawls, as if the writer was overwhelmed and panicked by the sudden emergence of such thoughts.
“He’s the leader, right? What does he mean by ‘when I was a celestial being’?”
Li Mo was equally puzzled.
The subsequent writing became heavy and restrained.
“I am Qin Yuzhi, the leader of the God Summoning Sect, and I am constructing the Yunmeng underground palace.”
“I must hurry, or He will awaken from within me, turning dreams into reality.”
“At that time, my existence will merely be a dream of His.”
“Am I still myself? I can’t tell; I truly can’t tell.”
The mural ended there, and the corridor was nearly at its end.
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“From the information in the text, it seems the reason for constructing this underground palace was that the leader, Qin Yuzhi, discovered another presence awakening within her?”
“This situation seems to have begun when she dreamed of becoming another person?”
“So she built this Yunmeng Palace to bury that presence.”
“Things are getting interesting,” Tian Miao said, her cheeks flushing as she quickly analyzed the situation.
She seemed to harbor a great interest in the unknown.
“Another presence awakening within her?”
Ying Bing bit her lip, recalling her past life.
She often dreamed of scenes she had never witnessed before, and at the time, she hadn’t thought much of it, merely considering them distractions from her cultivation.
It was during this process that her resolve to pursue the Dao grew stronger, as if a voice within her was constantly urging her, telling her:
“Without becoming a celestial being, without ascending to the heavens, everything is but fleeting.”
“You finally came.”
A voice floated in from the void, and Ying Bing froze.
Li Mo felt goosebumps rise on his neck.
Another presence awakening within her—
The information in the text was overwhelming.
The existence of the tomb guardian was to protect the great tomb, and the fact that they had targeted the Ying family indicated that the black year beast believed that only by leaving no trace of the Ying family could this grand tomb, known as Yunmeng Palace, be safe.
Now that the great tomb had been opened, it was indeed because of Bing Tuozi.
But the text had abruptly ended at a critical moment!
“One day, when the knife is in hand…”
“What are you talking about?” Tian Miao snapped back to reality.
“Nothing.”
Li Mo silently tucked away his inner thoughts, holding Bing Tuozi’s small hand, feeling a bit calmer.
Huh?
Why was Bing Tuozi’s hand so cold?
He turned back.
But he found Ying Bing’s face as pale as snow, her eyelashes trembling slightly, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.
Sensing the turmoil in her heart, Li Mo tightened his grip on her small hand and gently asked, “Bing Tuozi, what’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Up ahead, someone is calling me,” Ying Bing murmured, her eyes downcast. “The voice is getting louder.”
“!”
Li Mo leaned back slightly, cold sweat breaking out on his back; he hadn’t heard anyone speaking.
Moreover, they were clearly the first to reach the bottom of the underground palace—how could there be anyone ahead?
“Should we head back?”
Li Mo’s expression turned serious.
They actually had a way out at any time; if worse came to worst, they could enter the small world. No matter how strange the existence was, could it really chase them into his small world?
The problem was that emerging from the small world would still place them back in their original position.
What needed to be faced would ultimately have to be faced.
The Nimbus Cloud could only take him away alone; the Buddhist beads given to Bing Tuozi were products of the Seventh Realm’s Master Xuan, and they might not retain their original powers here.
“I’m afraid it’s too late.”
Tian Miao shook her head, taking a deep breath. “The thunder behind us is getting closer; I don’t mind.”
That thunder was from the Seventh Realm’s Master Xuan, who was rapidly approaching!
“Then let’s keep going forward!”
Li Mo made a decisive call.
He took Bing Tuozi’s small hand and called out to Tian Miao, and the three hurried onward.
Ahead, the space opened up.
It was vast, with luminous pearls embedded in the stone walls, their soft glow illuminating the expansive area and clearly outlining the contours of the main tomb.
A red copper pillar, large enough for five people to embrace, rose from the ground, supporting the heavens. There was one pillar on each side, adorned with various totems.
Its design was somewhat reminiscent of what they had seen in the Blood Phoenix Secret Realm, but it was even more magnificent.
In the center of the main tomb stood a palace entirely made of glass, crystal clear and radiating a dreamlike glow, its enchanting light washing over the walls like the auroras of the sky.
Yunmeng Palace.
This was the true Yunmeng Palace.
Surrounding it lay a dozen dried-up bodies, which seemed to have once contained immense power. Even now, devoid of any breath, they still appeared vividly alive.
They must have been the high-ranking members of the Summoning Demon Sect back then?
Through the open palace doors, one could see a glass coffin inside, the enchanting light emanating from it.
The reflection of the divine city in the sky seemed to be the projection of this crystal palace?
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Tian Miao took the lead.
“Bing Tuozi,”
Li Mo looked at her pale face with concern.
He had already used the Divine Eye of Destiny to look, but what worried him more was that Bing Tuozi’s recent experiences had become a blur.
They had to go in and find out.
“I’m fine,”
Ying Bing tried to force a smile, but it came off as strained.
“I’m a Celestial Being of the Highest Order.”
“If that voice calls you, you better be fine; otherwise, my Divine Hammer, the Little Overlord, isn’t just for show.”
Li Mo gave a thumbs up, his face clearly saying ‘trustworthy.’
Ying Bing stared at him with a somewhat dazed expression, her gaze reminiscent of the little Bing Tuozi in her dreams.
Alright, she indeed recalled what had happened in her dreams.
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