226: Chapter 226 Opening the Tomb Door: A Chill Rush In

The sound of the army of the dead's footsteps was no longer a distant rumble of thunder, but had transformed into tangible heavy hammers, striking Su Changge's heart one after another.

The muffled sound of metal striking rock converged into a torrent that shook the mountains; the rock layer beneath his feet pulsed in rhythm, and fine stone debris fell with a rustling sound.

A foul wind, mixed with a fishy sweetness and decay, rushed toward his face, drilling into his nasal cavity and making him nearly retch.

The clothes on his back had long been soaked through with cold sweat, clinging wetly to his skin and bringing waves of chill.

Lin Waner hid behind him, her slender fingernails digging deep into his arm, but that pain helped clear his chaotic thoughts.

He could hear her suppressed sobbing, pushed to the extreme; before this heaven-shaking military force, even weeping had become a luxury.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, and the instinct to survive drove him to consider any possibility.

Fight? That was a pipe dream. He was only at the Qi Refining First Layer and couldn't even defeat the lowest-ranking walking corpse in that army, let alone the hundreds of Golden Core officers, or those few Nascent Soul generals whose auras were enough to overturn mountains and rivers.

Flee? This area was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with ten-thousand-foot cliffs behind him; there was no way to the heavens and no door to enter the earth.

His gaze swept across the cold, rough rock wall beside him, and a thought pierced through the shroud of despair.

The thick rope at his waist was what he had used for exploration earlier; now, he gripped the rope tightly, exerted force with his feet, and used the momentum to swing toward the rock wall.

Hide in a mountain crevice! Even if it was just to linger on in a desperate struggle, as long as he could find a gap and block the entrance, he could delay for a moment!

His feet stepped onto a protruding rock at the base of the wall, and he steadied himself by placing one hand against the rock face. A bone-chilling cold instantly spread from his fingertips throughout his entire body; this rock wall was even colder than the black ice of deep winter.

At the very moment his fingertips touched the rock wall, an extremely faint fluctuation was transmitted to his senses through his fingertips. It was a wisp of blood Qi, extremely faint, yet it carried an aura originating from the same source as the heart of the realm, only it contained an extra trace of eternal, unmelting decay and deathly silence.

Su Changge's heart jolted; there was more to this rock wall than met the eye!

He subconsciously looked into his embrace; the incomplete heart of the realm obtained from the Empress's tomb was now emitting a pearly white halo several times brighter than before, as if it were resonating with some existence deep within the rock wall.

He no longer hesitated, took out the incomplete heart of the realm stone tablet, and tapped it gently against the rock wall.

Thump... Thump...

The echo was hollow and muffled, confirming his suspicion.

Behind the rock wall, it was empty!

Heaven does not cut off all paths!

Wild joy surged into his heart; he suppressed his excitement, pressed his hands against the cold stone wall, and groped inch by inch, searching for any possible mechanism. His fingertips slid over the coarse rock, stained with grayish-white stone powder, but he found nothing.

The footsteps behind him were getting closer and closer, and that chilling killing intent felt like thorns on his back. He could even clearly see that in the hollow eye sockets of the walking corpses in the front row, two points of scarlet ghost fire were locking onto him tightly.

"Fellow Daoist... they... they are coming!" Lin Waner's voice was already trembling, and the hand clutching his arm was shaking violently.

Su Changge gritted his teeth, and his search speed increased by a few notches.

The mechanism! Where exactly is the mechanism!

When his fingertips brushed over an inconspicuous protrusion on the lower left of the rock wall, his movements came to an abrupt halt.

The outline of that protrusion was exactly the same as the incomplete heart of the realm in his hand!

It was a groove!

He immediately turned the stone tablet in his hand over and compared it with the groove.

It fit perfectly!

His heart was beating violently, and the hand holding the heart of the realm was slightly unsteady. He aimed the stone tablet at the groove and pressed it in with force.

"Click."

With a soft sound, the heart of the realm embedded perfectly into it, flush with the stone wall.

The next instant, the entire mountain wall emitted a teeth-gritting sound of mechanical gears turning; the roar of grinding giant stones erupted from the inside out, and the ground beneath his feet shook violently. Su Changge hurriedly steadied himself against the rock wall, while Lin Waner was so frightened that she hugged his waist tightly.

In front of them, that indestructible stone wall was slowly opening to the sides, revealing a bottomless, pitch-black passage that breathed out cold Evil Qi.

In the shadows, the three Bloodline Clan princes saw this scene and were so excited they could hardly control themselves.

Prince Jimie clenched his fists tightly, his eyes full of fanaticism: "The King... the King has actually found the legendary Empress's tomb! Such a feat is unfathomable to gods and ghosts!"

"Silence!" Shadow Kill Prince pressed down on his shoulder; although his voice was low, his reverence was overflowing, "The King's action must be to personally enter the tomb, completely suppress that Remnant Soul of the Empress, and purge the source of disaster in this realm! We shall act as Protectors here; we must not step forward and disturb the King's sacred presence!"

Succubus Prince covered her mouth with both hands, her charming eyes shining astonishingly, gazing obsessively at that figure: "The King's posture while opening the ancient tomb... is too... too magnificent! I must give birth to Blood Descendants for the King!"

The Old Priest had long since knelt piously on the ground, kowtowing heavily in the direction of the opening tomb gate, completely unaware of the blood seeping from his forehead, muttering: "The King's Divine Might, forever protects our clan!"

Su Changge stood before the tomb gate; the cold Evil Qi surging from the passage was bone-chilling, blowing on his face like knife cuts. The airflow carried a rich, musty odor and a trace of faint blood scent, making him unable to help but shiver.

Hell, this place is a hundred times colder than an ice cellar in the mortal world!

Yet, his face remained calm and composed; he lifted his head slightly and gazed indifferently into the depths of the tomb passage. That imperceptible shiver, in the eyes of Lin Waner behind him and The Three Princes in the distance, became a profound act of sensing the Dao Rhyme within the tomb.

"Fellow Daoist, this place is so cold." Lin Waner's teeth chattered.

Su Changge nodded slightly, his tone as calm as water: "In an emperor's tomb, where Dragon Qi and Evil Qi converge, bitter cold is the norm."

His inner monologue was roaring: Norm my ass! If it keeps blowing like this, I'm going to freeze into an ice sculpture!

Glancing out of the corner of his eye behind him, that blood-colored Empress Phantom figure had already led the army of walking corpses to within less than thirty zhang.

Can't wait any longer!

He bent down calmly, picked up a fist-sized piece of gravel from his feet, and flicked his finger.

The stone cut through the air, disappeared into the pitch-black tomb passage, bounced a few times on the ground, made a crisp "tap-tap" sound, rolled into the deep darkness, and then fell silent.

There were no signs of any Restriction being triggered.

Su Changge felt slightly relieved.

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, assumed a composed posture, and stepped into this legendary Empress's tomb. Lin Waner did not dare to hesitate in the slightest and followed closely behind.

Just as their figures disappeared, the two heavy stone doors began to close slowly.

Su Changge looked back; just before the gap in the door completely vanished, his line of sight happened to meet that blood-colored figure outside. The Empress Phantom stood silently in place, and those eyes burning with scarlet ghost fire pierced through distance, pierced through darkness, and were branded straight into the depths of his pupils.

She saw me!

This thought made another layer of cold sweat instantly break out on Su Changge's back.

"Boom!"

The stone door closed completely, cutting off the heaven-shaking footsteps and the nauseating corpse stench from the outside world.

The tomb passage fell into a deathly silence and darkness where one could not see their own fingers; only the heart of the realm that Su Changge took from his embrace emitted a faint pearly white halo, barely illuminating the few feet around him.

He leaned his back against the cold tomb wall, his legs weak, almost collapsing to the ground, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air.

Finally... finally survived!

Lin Waner was the same, leaning against him, her face pale without a trace of blood.

"Fellow Daoist, what... what should we do next?"

Su Changge waved his hand, forcing himself to remain calm, his voice still steady: "No rush, let's first investigate the situation here."

His inner monologue was: How would I know what to do! Take it one step at a time; if I can live one more day, then so be it!

Outside the tomb gate, The Three Princes looked at the closed stone wall with solemn expressions.

"The King has entered; should we follow to protect the King?" Prince Jimie was somewhat unable to restrain himself.

Shadow Kill Prince shook his head with a firm gaze: "The King's methods are heaven-defying; if we go in, we will only become a burden. Guarding the entrance here and isolating the King from all external disturbances is our duty!"

"Shadow Kill is right." Succubus Prince leaned against the rock wall, her gaze never leaving the tomb gate for a moment, "I will stay here and wait for the King to return triumphantly, so that I am the first thing he sees."

The Old Priest sat cross-legged and began to chant ancient Blood Descendants scriptures; that low and distant voice echoed in the cave, filled with piety and prayer.

Inside the tomb passage, Su Changge held up the heart of the realm, acting as a temporary torch, and led Lin Waner along the only passage deeper inside.

The floor of the tomb passage was paved with huge bluestones and was exceptionally smooth. On the walls on both sides, densely packed, complicated patterns were carved, seemingly some kind of ancient formation diagram, and faint, long-dried dark red bloodstains could be seen in the gaps.

After walking only ten-odd zhang, Su Changge's footsteps stopped.

He keenly sensed that a very slight tremor was coming from the bluestone floor beneath his feet; the vibration originated from the depths of the tomb passage, as if something heavy was awakening and moving.

His heartbeat skipped a beat, and the hand holding the heart of the realm tightened unconsciously.

In this tomb, could there be living things, or rather... other walking corpses?

He held his breath and listened intently.

Apart from the clearly audible breathing and heartbeats of himself and Lin Waner, the tomb passage was dead silent, and the vibration had also disappeared without a trace.

An illusion?

He suppressed the unease in his heart and continued forward.

After walking for about another fifty meters, the narrow tomb passage suddenly opened up, and a subterranean space, vast beyond imagination, appeared before them.

Su Changge held the heart of the realm high, the pearly white halo spreading forward with effort, dispelling the darkness before his eyes.

When the light illuminated the outline of the entire space, his pupils contracted to the extreme.

This was no tomb chamber; this was clearly a magnificent palace buried deep underground!