Chapter 234: A Tomb Burying the Path of Cultivation (2/2)

The company of friends sank into silence with heavy hearts.

“Such is fate,” Wu Tulong spoke in a slightly muffled voice. “Dongfang Hao was destined to die here… the rest of us might not be too far behind.”

“Dongfang Hao’s sword intent was very strong. His will was certainly the greatest of all of us.” frowned Lu Yun. “He wouldn’t have been tricked by the certain death layout. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“That doesn’t change what actually happened. He died here, in the end,” Zi Chen murmured, then took another look at Dongfang Hao’s headless corpse.

Splurt—

Blood briefly sprayed from the neck stump before the corpse keeled over to the ground. A moment later, dust had returned to dust. Only Dongfang Hao’s sword remained. He carried no other treasures with him.

“The path of cultivation was broken before the ancient times. This is the only place where it can be reconnected.” Qing Han’s warning was a splash of cold reason. “Did you really think we’d get to the third chamber that easily?”

The others flinched at his declaration.

“All the dangers we’ve braved so far weren’t designed to protect this place. Whoever set them up wanted to stop us from ever finding the complete path to immortality,” Qing Han whispered hoarsely. “Senior brother Wu is right. We should be ready to face death head on. The path wouldn’t have broken on its own. Someone must have broken it on purpose. The fact that there’s traces here of the primeval path of cultivation… well, as we’ve seen already, it’s certainly accompanied by security of the highest degree.”

“Yeah, Qing Han’s right,” Lu Yun nodded in realization, “the setup here is exceptionally dangerous and forbidding to life. There’s even a mysterious force against immortals, making this tomb very different from all the other tombs. Even the Skandha Extinction Tomb wasn’t so absolute. What’s buried here… is very likely the broken path of cultivation!”

A tomb that buried the path of cultivation?

He could scarcely believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

“Based on customary layouts, the second layer is reserved for the tomb annex chamber….” What Lu Yun meant was obvious: the annex contained the tomb owner’s possessions in life. Through their analysis, it was possible to determine exactly who—or what—was buried here.

The remaining youths refocused, forcing themselves to shake off the despondency of Dongfang Hao’s death. Zi Chen took his fallen friend’s sword as the others began scanning the surroundings.

“A tomb for dao itself… that’s a little far-fetched, isn’t it?” A shiver traveled down Mo Qitian’s spine. He gulped, stuffing his unease into the darkest corners of his heart.

The Door of Demise’s third layer had been a layout of maze and mist. Once the group had left the maze, it was automatically broken. Transformed into an orb, it floated in the middle of the chamber.

The orb was surely a treasure beyond compare, but it was also supremely dangerous. A single wrong move would turn it back into the triple layout that had proved so lethal to Dongfang Hao.

“This place looks like a study,” Mo Qitian remarked in wonder. Row upon row of huge bookshelves lined the walls, neatly stocked with all manner of archaic texts. “The funerary objects buried here... are books?”

There was mass confusion at this. Books were scarce in the world of immortals, and had been since time immemorial. Immortals preferred to store and record knowledge with jade slips, instead. Paper tomes were a rare sight indeed.

Mo Qitian walked forward, reaching for a book with his fingers.

“Don’t!” Lu Yun tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

Rustle...

As soon as Mo Qitian’s fingers made contact, every book and shelf in the room disintegrated.