Shi Hao chased relentlessly, his frustration mounting. A mere medicinal herb had dared to snatch the mysterious rotten wooden chest from him and flee.
Did it know something? Was that why it had lured him into the cursed land, only to steal his fortune in the end?
“If you don’t leave that chest behind, I swear I’ll stew you alive when I catch you!” Shi Hao threatened from behind.
The Everlasting Tree moved with astonishing speed, darting through the earth like a streak of light piercing through mist, swift and unstoppable.
At the sound of the threat, the tree only accelerated, clearly frightened—yet also defiantly resisting Shi Hao’s warning.
Shi Hao struck, thunder runes flashing as bolts of lightning surged through the soil, aiming for the herb. But the plant was too fast, leaving behind afterimages as it shifted positions, evading every attack.
**”Boom!”**
Shi Hao clenched his fist and punched forward, blasting through the earth with dazzling force. The ground collapsed, triggering a violent earthquake.
At that moment, the mountains above shattered, rocks hurtling into the sky, piercing the clouds.
The Everlasting Herb fled even faster. Though lacking combat prowess, it was a master of escape, unmatched in subterranean movement and bypassing barriers.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Shi Hao gritted his teeth. The herb was too slippery, widening the gap between them. If not for locking onto its aura, he would have lost it already.
“Over there!” In the sky, the young elites of the Imperial Clan, the Gu Clan heir, and the Fearless Lion descended, spotting the collapsed terrain and billowing dust.
**”Swoosh!”**
Three beams of light, each as thick as a mountain, shot down, piercing the earth with deafening force.
The colossal beams plunged deep into the ground, forming terrifying black abysses!
Shi Hao frowned, narrowly avoiding the attack. This was disastrous—he was already chasing the herb, and now he had to contend with these three powerhouses.
Worse, the distraction had cost him the Everlasting Herb’s trail!
**”Scram!”**
Enraged, Shi Hao surged aboveground and unleashed several devastating punches skyward. The heavens shattered, cracks spreading in all directions.
The three experts dodged, unwilling to engage. Their priority was the immortal herb—they couldn’t afford to let it escape.
“Ripples of the Void!” The Gu Clan youth roared, activating a secret art. The air resonated, divine ripples spreading outward.
“There!” He pointed sharply in one direction.
The Gu Clan excelled in spatial laws, attuned to the fabric of reality. Through his innate senses, he had located the herb.
Shi Hao, clutching a leaf from the plant, had also sensed its location and immediately gave chase.
**”Boom!”**
Mid-pursuit, Shi Hao struck without hesitation, hurling a unique thunderbolt marked with the imprint of a lightning pool.
It nearly triggered a heavenly tribulation!
Though he lacked time to prepare a full-scale calamity, the attack still shocked the Fearless Lion, who glared at Shi Hao with murderous intent, resolved to eliminate him while he was far from Imperial Pass.
The chase and battle raged on until they separated again. Guided by the leaf, Shi Hao plunged underground, pursuing the “thief.”
Several times, he glimpsed the tree clutching the wooden chest, darting ahead with dazzling speed.
Truly, its agility was unmatched. Neither the three foreign elites nor Shi Hao could keep up. As an immortal herb, its earth-splitting technique was peerless—no creature could rival it, not even Shi Hao.
**”Boom!”**
Suddenly, the herb burst from the ground, soaring into the sky with breathtaking swiftness.
When Shi Hao followed, his bones crackled, his flesh regenerating in a radiant glow.
The three foreign experts experienced the same—their bodies restored as they left the cursed land’s influence.
“Has that female Burial Knight left?” Shi Hao glanced back toward the sacred ground, unconvinced by the “butterfly dream” theory.
But there was no sign of her.
In truth, upon discovering the three other skeletons in the cursed land, he had realized the phenomenon was tied to that ancient place, not some illusory transformation.
“Fang, prepare to die!”
Reborn in flesh, the Fearless Lion blazed like a golden sun, its mane cascading to the ground.
Its roar carried terrifying force—had it been stronger, it might have shaken the moon from the sky!
“Your hatred runs deep?” Shi Hao eyed it, then the vanishing herb.
“Pity time is short, or I’d exterminate your traitorous breed right now!” Shi Hao shot forward, resuming the chase.
“Killing you needs no reason!” The Fearless Lion snarled, slamming a massive golden paw down, blotting out the sky.
Its strength was unimaginable—this was the ancient monk technique, *Palm of the Monastic Realm*, meant to trap and refine Shi Hao.
“Forgot to mention—I slew three golden lions in the cursed land. You’re next when I’m free!” Shi Hao’s sword gleamed, unleashing a world-splitting strike that severed the palm’s grasp before he teleported away.
**”Boom!”**
The Gu Clan expert attacked, hurling a time spear that pierced the heavens toward Shi Hao’s back.
**”Clang!”**
Without turning, Shi Hao’s sword flared with indestructible scriptures, deflecting the spear.
“Mark my words—once I reclaim that chest, I’ll settle accounts with you all!” Shi Hao vanished into pursuit.
Suddenly, an eerie chill permeated the air. The land was desolate, the towering trees fossilized in stillness.
Shi Hao pressed on, spotting the herb again as it ventured deeper.
Now, the Everlasting Herb slowed, cursing exhaustedly. No matter where it fled, its pursuer always found it.
**”Swoosh!”**
It plunged underground once more, into the frigid silence.
Shi Hao followed without hesitation, but a creeping unease gripped him—the cold seeping into his bones, freezing his soul.
**”Thud!”**
The herb stumbled, nearly falling before darting away.
As Shi Hao passed the same spot, a pale hand shot from the darkness, grasping for his arm with bone-chilling cold.
A coffin, ancient and petrified, had cracked open, its occupant reaching for him.
Shi Hao’s hair stood on end. A Burial Knight!
He had stumbled into a branch of the Burial Grounds!
**”Roar!”**
Black mist billowed as the coffin shattered, releasing a terrifying creature that gave chase.
A Burial Knight, slumbering for eons, now awakened to hunt him!
Fortunately, though stronger, it couldn’t instantly lock down the area.
Shi Hao had no interest in fighting—he bolted, still tracking the herb.
“Surely there’s only one Burial Knight here?” he muttered. Entering a nest of them would be disastrous.
But these creatures preferred slumber. With caution, he might avoid further trouble.
The herb, panicked by the Burial Knight’s appearance, redoubled its flight. It had escaped the deepest Burial Grounds once—it wouldn’t be captured again.
It had already lost part of its trunk, fashioned into a coffin by a Burial King.
Suddenly, the underground grew even colder, the atmosphere sinister.
**”Ah—!”**
A scream—the herb’s—echoed ahead.
Shi Hao hesitated but pressed forward, unwilling to retreat.
The herb, trying to backtrack, collided with Shi Hao and veered away in panic.
To Shi Hao’s surprise, the terrain had changed—strange stone walls now blocked the herb’s path, forcing detours.
After an indeterminable time, the path suddenly opened.
The herb burst forward, shrieking again in alarm.
Shi Hao emerged into a vast, open space.
For a moment, he wondered if he’d returned to the surface—but no, this was still deep underground, an expansive ancient plaza.
No earth obstructed the view. It resembled… a marketplace.
Shadowy figures moved about, trading bizarre artifacts.
Shi Hao stared. What was this place?
A village market?
But this was the earth’s depths!
Then realization struck—chilling him to the core.
This was a Burial Grounds bazaar.
And he was surrounded by Burial Knights.
Some, devoid of deathly aura, moved like ordinary beings—Golden Burial Knights.
His blood ran cold.
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