Chapter Twenty: Emerging from the Ancient Tomb

Su Fan wandered along the empty stone path within the ancient tomb. Reflecting on his experiences over the years, he found that though fraught with peril and close brushes with death, they were strangely fascinating. He realized he had gradually adapted to this life, as if bewitched—something irresistibly compelling him onward in cultivation.

He took out the scroll compass and his storage pouch, sighing inwardly at the vastness of the world of cultivation. In just a few days, he had witnessed sights that decades in Longstone Village could never have offered.

Su Fan sighed, “I wonder how Xiao Lin is faring in the Gate of Heavenly Origin. If I were to tell him what happened here, he would surely be utterly astounded. Unfortunately, as the Lord of the Underworld said, no one is allowed to speak of these matters.”

Thinking of this, Su Fan’s desire to improve his cultivation grew even stronger. With a wave, he produced the map and studied it carefully.

After a moment, his eyes shone with excitement. “This tomb of the Lord of the Underworld is truly immense,” he murmured.

Here, a spiritual vein had been merged into a single ore, transformed into a luminous moon in the sky. Countless demon beast cores adorned the heavens as stars. Yet, enchantments were set in the air—should one attempt to fly up and seize those treasures, the formations would destroy them.

The tomb itself was a monumental project. Springs brimming with spiritual energy had been diverted to form rivers, each hidden within intricate formations, inaccessible to ordinary folk. As for the monstrous figures Su Fan had encountered in the hall earlier, they were mortals who had built the palace, loyal to the Lord of the Underworld, willingly remaining behind as his guardians. To prevent any knowledge of this place from escaping, all exits had been sealed.

Those golden-armored warriors were soldiers who had served the Lord of the Underworld for many years. Loyal unto death, they refused to leave him, their very will binding them to stand eternal vigil.

The map revealed a place where those spiritual springs gathered into a lake. At its center stood a Spirit-Gathering Platform—meditating there would allow one to absorb the lake’s spiritual energy.

A smile touched Su Fan’s lips as he put away the map and sped toward the platform.

Moments later, with the aid of the map, he arrived swiftly at the Spirit-Gathering Platform. The so-called lake was not particularly large—no more than a third the size of an ordinary lake. In its center stood a small pavilion, containing only a stone platform.

Stepping lightly across the water, Su Fan entered the pavilion. The lake was riddled with formations—one misstep and he would have been injured by their power. But now, knowing the tomb’s secrets, he evaded the traps with ease.

Sitting cross-legged atop the stone platform, he began circulating his spiritual energy as the map directed. Gradually, he started absorbing the concentrated energy gathered by the Spirit-Gathering Platform—a spiritual energy several times denser than usual.

Streams of spiritual energy swirled around the platform, then flowed into Su Fan’s crown, where he calmly guided them through his body. Unaware of the passage of time, seven days slipped by.

Su Fan remained motionless, like a venerable monk in deep meditation. Suddenly, dazzling white light burst from his body. The spiritual energy surrounding the platform surged violently, then poured entirely into him.

As the light gradually faded and the last wisps of energy vanished, Su Fan slowly opened his eyes, a trace of joy in his gaze.

“This Spirit-Gathering Platform is truly wondrous. The spiritual energy it condenses is already pure, yet after being filtered by the jade pendant, it becomes even more refined. In just seven days, I’ve reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining. Yet my body feels saturated—as if it can absorb no more—and still there’s no sign of forming the foundation.”

Just as Su Fan sighed at this, a domineering spiritual message suddenly invaded his mind. “You’re a lucky brat, to have found such a blessed place. But compared to my cave-dwelling in my day, this is still lacking.”

Su Fan’s heart stirred; the voice belonged to Lan Yifeng, the one within the jade pendant, who had saved Su Fan by forcibly using teleportation, depleting his essence and falling into deep slumber—until now.

Su Fan sent his consciousness into the jade pendant, and suddenly, enlightenment dawned upon him. In a flash, his entire being entered the pendant’s inner space.

Lan Yifeng was shocked, hastening to Su Fan’s side. “Su Fan, quickly see if there’s a way to get me out!” he demanded.

Su Fan closed his eyes, searching that fleeting sense of understanding. After a moment, he opened them and gently shook his head. Lan Yifeng sighed and said nothing more, concealing his presence.

Su Fan kept silent. Though the jade pendant now belonged to him, its mysteries were far beyond his current abilities to unravel. With a long sigh, he withdrew his consciousness and left the pendant’s space.

Next, Su Fan examined Chen Yi’s storage pouch, only to find it sparsely filled: a few ancient tomes and a green dagger. The books were all about the study of formations, which deeply interested him, for he had witnessed firsthand their formidable power.

Setting the books aside, he picked up the green dagger. It was dark green, extremely sharp. If it could go toe-to-toe with his Mountain Soul Fan, it must be a fine mortal-grade artifact. Yet the dagger still bore Chen Yi’s spiritual imprint, and Chen Yi’s cultivation far surpassed Su Fan’s—he was unable to erase the mark.

Though unwilling, Su Fan stared at the dagger for a long while before finally giving up.

Suddenly, he recalled that moment within the pendant, when he had nearly been dragged to the Ghost Domain by the Ghost King, yet managed to wound him grievously. He sent his consciousness to probe the pendant’s inner world for any changes.

After a careful search, Su Fan could only smile wryly—nothing had changed; it was still a blank void. Just as he prepared to withdraw his consciousness, he discovered a dimly glowing object that had not been there before.

Using the Spirit-Guiding Technique, he drew the glowing object before him to examine it. No matter how he scrutinized it, however, he could not discern its nature.

“That’s a remnant of a soul,” came a languid voice from afar. “You really are ignorant, boy.”

Startled, Su Fan asked, “What is a soul remnant?”

Lan Yifeng materialized, a smug look on his face. “When a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul stage, the nascent soul undergoes a transformation and becomes the primordial spirit. This is a fragment of a primordial spirit.”

Fixing his gaze on the broken remnant, Lan Yifeng’s attention was intense, as if he were studying it carefully. After a while, he spat out two words: “Ghost spirit.” Then he burst out laughing.

Su Fan hurriedly asked, “Senior, what exactly is a ghost spirit?”

Lan Yifeng replied impatiently, “There’s no point explaining—it’s beyond your comprehension. All you need to know is that it will help you advance your cultivation. Every day, enter the pendant’s space and inject a strand of your consciousness into this soul remnant.”

Su Fan agreed and fell silent. He trusted that Lan Yifeng would not harm him. Though he still did not know Lan Yifeng’s true identity, he was sure this man was extraordinary—and had saved his life more than once. For those reasons alone, Su Fan could trust him, and was determined to search the world for a way to release Lan Yifeng.

Though their conversations were often terse, Su Fan had long since regarded Lan Yifeng as a senior. Bowing respectfully, he said, “Thank you for your guidance, Senior.”

Lan Yifeng responded absently, already absorbed once more in the study of the soul remnant.

With a sigh, Su Fan left the pendant’s space. Spiritual energy still fluctuated around the Spirit-Gathering Platform, resembling the state it had been in when he first entered. Sitting cross-legged, Su Fan examined the map again, but after a long while, he shook his head. There was nowhere else in the tomb that could further his cultivation.

He produced the compass, activating it according to the method imparted by the Lord of the Underworld’s spiritual message, preparing to depart. Standing, he bowed to the distant statue of the Lord of the Underworld, formed a hand seal, and in a flash, a streak of white light—Su Fan vanished from the Spirit-Gathering Platform, leaving only an afterimage where he had stood.

Deep within a dense forest, a burly, bearded man was on the verge of attacking a blue-robed youth. Brandishing a longsword, the man bellowed, “Ling Yuan, you claim to know the entrance to the Lord of the Underworld’s tomb. We’ve been wandering in these woods for over a month, found nothing, and I’ve lost a fortune in treasures. Today I’ll kill you to vent my anger!”

The blue-robed youth looked utterly desperate, dropping to his knees and pleading, “Please, Brother Tiger Peng, spare me! I made a mistake. Give me one more month—I swear I’ll find the tomb entrance. Please, just let me live!”

At these words, Tiger Peng’s face grew even more menacing. He raised his sword to strike down Ling Yuan.

Panicked, Ling Yuan whipped out a stack of talisman papers to block the blow, then seized the moment to flee.

Tiger Peng roared, “How many times have you given me the same excuse? Do you even remember?”

Trembling, Ling Yuan replied, “Brother Tiger Peng, if you kill me now, you’ll never get out of this forest. Without my guidance, you’ll be trapped here for life.”

This only infuriated Tiger Peng further, but he reluctantly sheathed his sword.

As they stood at an impasse, suddenly a beam of white light landed a hundred paces behind Tiger Peng. As the glow faded, Ling Yuan, already trembling, stiffened in terror, his pupils filled with utter dread.

“Su Fan,” he whispered the name.

The figure materializing from the white light was indeed Su Fan. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he instantly grasped the situation. If this had happened before entering the Lord of the Underworld’s tomb and all that had transpired, he would have killed Tiger Peng to avenge old grievances. But now, Su Fan felt such a deed beneath him. In his eyes, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could be slain as easily as squashing an ant.