“Kid, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Dongfang Zheng, being pulled away, wore a face full of fury.
Just now, if it weren’t for his concern about Li Tan possessing the jade token of Zuo Qingchun, he probably would have slapped Li Tan across the face twice without hesitation.
Li Tan, feigning mystery, retorted, “Senior, could it be that you think this junior is genuinely afraid of that old man?”
Dongfang Zheng hesitated, then shook his head.
Indeed, Li Tan was someone connected to Zuo Qingchun; how could he possibly fear a certain elder from the Broad Sword Sect?
It wouldn’t matter even if it were the sect’s Supreme Elder himself—Li Tan probably wouldn’t give him a second glance.
“Don’t beat around the bush. Have you thought of a plan?”
Li Tan nodded.
Dongfang Zheng became even more puzzled. “Something that can let us enter first tomorrow?”
Li Tan shook his head.
Dongfang Zheng’s face darkened again. “Then what’s the point!”
Li Tan chuckled. “Why must we enter tomorrow?
Why not go tonight?”
Dongfang Zheng shook his head again. “Impossible. Although the formation is already deteriorating, it’s not something one person can easily break through. Besides, even if we managed to break through by luck, the Broad Sword Sect and Ground Tiger Sect would definitely notice.”
“This is no concern of the senior. This junior has a way to break the seal without drawing attention.”
“It’s still no good. Tomorrow, when they find the seal broken, they’ll suspect us immediately. Then we’ll face trouble alone. Are you planning to…”—did he mean to threaten them with Zuo Qingchun’s jade token?
Li Tan immediately caught the implication and shook his head in denial. “How could I stoop to such unnecessary measures?”
“Then what exactly is your idea?
Stop keeping me in suspense. You’re driving me crazy.”
Dongfang Zheng complained.
Li Tan lowered his voice mysteriously. “Well, no one ever said we must completely break the seal to get inside.”
Dongfang Zheng’s first reaction was that it sounded absurd. Without breaking the seal, how could they come and go as they pleased? It sounded like nonsense, like his own grave.
But upon recalling Li Tan’s status, he felt that such a childish joke was unlikely from him.
Thus, he focused intently, waiting for the explanation.
Far to the south of Fan City, beyond an unknown distance, the desert gradually transitioned into forest, and at the foot of a barren mountain lay a desolate little village.
The village was quite dilapidated, overgrown with weeds and untended, yet signs of human activity were noticeable, indicating that people still lived there.
Yet for some unknown reason, this inhabited village gave off a strong sense of disharmony, as if something were amiss, though it was hard to pinpoint exactly what felt wrong.
A caravan stopped in this village, intending to exchange money for food and to rest briefly.
The leader of the caravan was a mercenary hired from the Free Cultivators’ League. He was an experienced man in his fifties, and this wasn’t his first visit to the village. But for some reason, this time he felt uneasy, sensing something wrong, even briefly considering abandoning this stop and heading to the next supply point.
However, the next supply point was too far away. For cultivators, it wouldn’t be a problem, but ordinary people might not survive the journey, so they had to stop here.
The old mercenary withdrew his gaze from the village, shook his head forcefully, and thought to himself that he was probably just being too sensitive. After all, he had visited this village hundreds of times; how could there be danger?
“Enter the village. Be careful not to disturb the villagers’ rest. I’ll handle contacting the village chief for supplies.”
The weary caravan slowly entered the village.
The old mercenary looked around. The villagers were doing their usual chores, heads bowed as usual. If there was anything different, it was that the village was unusually quiet, devoid of any human chatter.
He explained it to himself that it was probably nap time.
The old mercenary continued leading the group forward but soon noticed something strange.
This village was so poor that most of the young people had gone to Fan City to seek their fortunes, leaving mostly elderly and children behind.
Yet today, the old mercenary saw several young people, all wearing the same clothes.
It wasn’t any important festival, so why had so many young people returned?
And why were they wearing identical clothes? Could it be some kind of ritual?
The old mercenary halted the group and rode his horse toward a young man sitting under an eave, politely greeting him, “Excuse me.”
But he received no response—the young man didn’t even lift his head.
“Are you from this village?”
Still no reaction.
“Hey, say something.”
Still nothing.
The old mercenary frowned, his unease rapidly taking root. He stared at the young man for several seconds before dismounting and cautiously approaching him, extending his hand carefully.
At that moment, the young man under the eave stirred, slowly lifting his head. The old mercenary’s gaze lowered slightly, and his blood instantly froze.
There was a fist-sized hole in the young man’s throat, filled with countless disgusting maggots wriggling around.
He recognized it immediately—the clothes the young man wore were the uniform of the Sky Wolf Sect.
After revealing his grand plan, Li Tan completely ignored the curious and nearly dying of discomfort Dongfang Zheng, quite unscrupulously beginning to meditate instead. He didn’t open his eyes until dusk, announcing that it was time to begin.
Acting during the day was definitely unrealistic; the lake was full of people, and even the slightest carelessness would be noticed. Therefore, they could only sneak in at night.
Now, as sunlight became increasingly scarce and temperatures dropped, fewer people remained at the lake. Li Tan and Dongfang Zheng waited beside a large rock. Three hours later, several old men dedicated to breaking the seal emerged from underground, each wearing a gloomy expression, clearly indicating little progress. Dongfang Zheng was delighted at this, because the higher the difficulty in breaking the seal, the better the treasures inside the tomb usually were. However, thinking about Li Tan, who had kept him hanging all day, he felt a bit resentful.
Half an hour after the old men left, Li Tan finally announced that the time had come, leading Dongfang Zheng into the water.
Perhaps because of the seal, only ordinary fish inhabited the lake, with no dangerous beasts present.
Li Tan withdrew his spiritual awareness and swam skillfully to the edge of the seal, grasping some water plants to steady himself.
Dongfang Zheng made a few muffled sounds, probably asking what he should do now.
Li Tan responded with a few muffled sounds and shaking his head.
Dongfang Zheng was immediately confused—was he supposed to wait around doing nothing?
Indeed, that was exactly the case.
Li Tan rolled up his sleeves, assuming a heroic stance, and placed his palm on the transparent wall formed by the seal, his eyes flashing with brilliant golden light.
Behind Li Tan, Dongfang Zheng couldn’t see anything. However, after an afternoon of patience, he had become more composed and didn’t seem anxious. He decided to carefully observe how Li Tan would break the seal.
After all, Li Tan was the one who proposed using the grand cosmic forces in formations. It wouldn’t be surprising if he had learned some mysterious techniques from his master that allowed him to enter the sealed area without damaging the formation or drawing attention.
Li Tan used both his spiritual awareness and true energy, focusing intently on the transparent wall.
Ten seconds later, he withdrew his hand.
Dongfang Zheng’s heart lifted—he believed the critical moment was about to arrive.
Then Li Tan simply swam straight in.
Dongfang Zheng was stunned, his expression extremely rich. He extended his hand forward to probe, and indeed, the seal was still there, but a gap had opened at the spot in front of him.
This result wasn’t entirely unexpected for Dongfang Zheng. It wasn’t strange that one could enter without breaking the seal entirely. However, he hadn’t anticipated that Li Tan had opened the seal in just ten seconds—a speed that was simply astounding.
But underwater, he couldn’t speak, and the person ahead couldn’t see his expressions, so he could only obediently follow.
Li Tan continued swimming forward, deliberately avoiding certain areas. Dongfang Zheng knew these areas would trigger the seal’s defensive mechanisms, so he carefully followed, avoiding them too. Soon, Li Tan discovered a large hole at the lake bottom, swam through it, and quickly reached the outside of the tomb chamber.
The entire process took less than fifteen minutes, and they hadn’t even needed the water-repelling pills they had prepared in advance.
However, the tomb chamber’s air had not circulated for years, so the toxin-removing Barrier Breaking Pill was still very necessary.
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