Frowning slightly, Li Tan’s gaze slowly shifted to his shoulder. The hand resting there had practically no flesh; the skin seemed glued to the bone, appearing extremely aged—it was clearly an old man’s hand.
In an instant, Li Tan hesitated slightly on whether to dodge immediately. In such a situation, the chances of danger were fifty-fifty whether he dodged or not.
Fortunately, there was something called spiritual awareness. Li Tan expanded his spiritual sense to probe behind him. However, suddenly, an aged voice rang in his ears.
“Young man, you’re much calmer than I expected.”
Someone followed him in?
No, absolutely no one had. Whoever could sneak in here without triggering his spiritual awareness must be someone whose cultivation level surpassed even a grandmaster—an unlikely presence here.
Unless it was someone from the Black Robe Organization. But no, if it were them, they would have attacked directly instead of greeting him. Then could it be someone who had been hiding in the tomb all along?
Still not right. Before his rebirth, there had been no such rumors.
Thus, only one possibility remained. Li Tan calmed his mind, turned around slowly, and said, “I’m very sorry for disturbing your rest, Senior.”
Standing—or rather floating—behind him was an elderly man in his seventies with disheveled hair. This form of existence was somewhat similar to Jiang Xin’s but entirely different. To describe it accurately, it belonged to a completely different level of being.
This was a Ling Ying, the spiritual embodiment of a cultivator who had reached a certain level of cultivation—often regarded as the second life of a cultivator. Only the most elite cultivators could achieve such a state. Even at his peak, Li Tan would have had to take such a being seriously. That the tomb’s owner was of such a level surprised and unsettled Li Tan, with the latter feeling more prominent.
The entity before him was merely a Ling Ying that had lost its physical form and had been worn down by the passage of countless years. Yet, for Li Tan, whose cultivation had only just reached the Xiantian level, it remained a formidable presence. Should this Ling Ying suddenly launch an attack, he might find himself hard-pressed to cope.
The old man’s Ling Ying looked Li Tan up and down with a satisfied expression. “You’re quite young, yet you’ve already reached the Xiantian level. May I ask who your master is?”
“I have only one master, but I’m afraid I can’t reveal his name. Please forgive me.”
Li Tan brought up his convenient “master” again.
The old man smiled and asked, “Did your master come here too?”
Li Tan shook his head. “My master has been traveling around and I haven’t seen him for a long time.”
The old man laughed even more. “There must be many people outside the tomb now. Are your fellow disciples among them?”
Li Tan shook his head again. “I don’t know anyone up there. The person who came down with me just met me recently. He should be rummaging around the main burial chamber now. Senior, won’t you go and stop him?”
“Hmph, I’ve memorized everything inside. It doesn’t matter if some things are taken away.”
“I see. Then why did Senior specifically come here to find me?”
“Well,” the old man’s face showed a sinister, unsettling smile. “That’s because you’re here! Haha, after waiting for so many years, finally a suitable person has come in! No master, no family—this body is specially prepared for me!”
In an instant, the old man revealed his true nature.
Li Tan wasn’t surprised. He had already guessed it when the old man asked the first question.
The Ling Ying was called the second life of a cultivator not only because it could preserve consciousness after death, but more importantly, because it could allow the original person to be reborn through the process of soul transference.
The biggest danger during soul transference was being interrupted. Li Tan had no master, his family was gone, and the other person in the main chamber, Dongfang Zheng, had too low a cultivation level to pose a threat. In other words, the process would be risk-free.
Li Tan stood still, calmly asking, “Soul transference has always been despised by cultivators in the Nine Provinces. Senior, you’ve lived a clean life—truly, are you willing to do such a thing?”
Seeming to think it wouldn’t hurt to waste a little time, the old man replied, “Haha, what nonsense! The Ling Ying’s ability to perform soul transference is a right granted by Heaven itself. Yet those narrow-minded fools oppose it, which is truly laughable. Besides, since ancient times, the strong survive while the weak perish—that’s an unchanging truth. It’s because you’re weak that you’re being taken over. If you were strong enough, would you be standing here talking to me?
You wouldn’t even care whether I intended to perform soul transference or not—you’d kill me immediately! Hmph, it’s perfectly fair.”
“I see. Then I guess Senior wasn’t poisoned at all.”
“Exactly. How could I die such a pitiful death?”
“Feeling that your time was near, Senior hastily built this mausoleum, hoping to find an opportunity for rebirth through soul transference. You feared encountering strong cultivators in Zhongzhou, so you chose a place far away from it. But you didn’t expect it to be too remote—hundreds or even thousands of years passed without anyone entering. Indeed, Senior, you were just afraid of death, weren’t you?”
Ordinary mortals often cared greatly about their reputation. Li Tan’s words “afraid of death” almost tore the old man’s face off, and his eyes immediately filled with killing intent.
Ignoring the old man’s mood, Li Tan mocked, “Old man, aren’t you just afraid of death? Why pretend to be the only one awake in a world of drunkards? Why deceive yourself?
And saying that soul transference is a right granted by Heaven—according to that logic, shouldn’t the young race have been extinct ten thousand years ago?”
The old man was momentarily speechless, his face turning from green to purple. Finally, in anger, he gritted his teeth and spat out four words: “Silver-tongued!”
Li Tan replied, “Self-justifying.”
“I won’t waste words with you. Hmph! Since you think the weak have the right to survive, then try to survive my soul transference!”
With a loud shout, the old man’s body turned into a haze of blue mist, rushing fiercely toward Li Tan.
Li Tan, however, smiled coldly. His pitch-black eyes lit up with pure golden light. In the next moment, an almost tangible surge of spiritual power gushed out like a tide, instantly enveloping the blue mist from all directions.
“This… this is spiritual power! Impossible! Impossible! You’re only at the Xiantian level—how can you have spiritual power!”
“Old man, didn’t you say the weak are destined to be killed by the strong?
Then I’ll fulfill your wish.”
Li Tan extended his hand, making a grasping motion. His spiritual power began to compress inward, causing the old man to emit an extremely piercing scream.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Who are you? Who exactly are you! Are you a cultivator who has already completed soul transference?
I was wrong, I failed to recognize your greatness. Please spare me!”
Fear instantly overwhelmed him, and he desperately begged for mercy.
But Li Tan remained unmoved, silently watching as the old man’s presence gradually faded.
“I’ve given you many chances already. You just didn’t know how to cherish them. Besides, you were already extremely weak. Even without my intervention, you wouldn’t have much time left anyway.”
The screams grew weaker and weaker, finally disappearing along with the blue mist.
Li Tan turned his head toward the main burial chamber and muttered softly, “Through all these walls, Dongfang Zheng probably didn’t hear anything, right?”
To confirm this, he quickly collected the remaining pills and headed toward the main chamber.
Not far into the corridor, a faint cry suddenly came from inside. When he pushed open the door, the volume instantly increased three to four times.
It seemed the tomb had good sound insulation. Dongfang Zheng hadn’t noticed what had happened just now.
“Great! Great! Great! This trip was definitely worth it!”
Dongfang Zheng excitedly shouted while holding an ancient book.
Li Tan didn’t even need to look to guess what was in his hand. Pretending to be unaware, he asked with a smile, “What did Senior discover?”
“Come, come, look what I found.”
Dongfang Zheng happily beckoned.
Li Tan walked over, glanced at the title of the book, and feigned surprise. “It’s actually a manual on formations! A great treasure! Elder Dongfang, this trip was indeed fruitful for you!”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Without caring about the coffin nearby, Dongfang Zheng sat down on the spot and eagerly started flipping through the pages.
As expected, he completely forgot why he had come here.
Sighing lightly, Li Tan reminded him, “This isn’t the place to read. Collect whatever might be useful, and let’s leave first.”
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