332: The core, the real Classic of Mountains and Seas

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

After about five or six minutes, the Tomb Chamber finally returned to tranquility, and the runes on the walls disappeared.

Yang Mi stepped forward cautiously, observed for a long while, and said, "These runes are no longer a threat."

"How do you know?" Ye Bai asked in return.

"These runes are very ancient. My grandfather saw records of them in ancient books. He said they are ancient Formation Runes passed down from the primordial era, possessing extremely eerie power, and must never be touched carelessly," Yang Mi said seriously.

"Your grandfather surely didn't tell you the method to crack these Formation Runes, did he?" Ye Bai said with a smile.

"Hmph, that's because Grandpa didn't like me learning Feng Shui and Mystic Arts, and I didn't want to waste my time either," Yang Mi said pridefully.

"Look, what is this!" Ye Bai suddenly pointed at the coffin in the center of the Tomb Chamber and shouted.

Meng Ziyi and Yang Mi hurried to the coffin. They saw a pitch-black key inside, its surface emitting a dark, somber glow.

"What is this thing?" Meng Ziyi asked in confusion.

"I think we should leave this godforsaken place first. I feel like I'm about to freeze solid," Ye Bai said, shivering.

"Right, right, right, I feel the same way," Yang Mi echoed.

"In that case, let's leave this place first," Meng Ziyi agreed with Ye Bai's suggestion.

The three of them left the Tomb Chamber and returned to the original tunnel.

After returning to the tunnel, Meng Ziyi suddenly stopped in her tracks. She stared blankly at the tunnel entrance ahead, her face pale and her body trembling slightly, as if she had encountered something extremely terrifying.

Ye Bai and Yang Mi followed Meng Ziyi's gaze and were instantly stunned as well.

A massive hole had actually appeared there. This hole led directly to the bottom of the Tomb, with a faint red light glowing inside, seemingly leading to another world.

"We should go back; this is too scary," Yang Mi said, trembling with fear.

Meng Ziyi hesitated for a few seconds. She swallowed hard, gathered her courage, and began walking toward the tunnel.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ye Bai shouted.

"I... I don't dare go back..." Meng Ziyi said.

"Miss Meng, you must be joking. Didn't you just say you didn't dare go back? Why do you dare to go now?"

Ye Bai raised an eyebrow.

"Uh..." Meng Ziyi scratched her head awkwardly.

Ye Bai rolled his eyes and said, "Do you want to give it a try? I feel that with your luck and blessings, you should have an extraordinary encounter."

"Well, I think it's quite safe here, no need to go back. Let's just keep moving forward," Meng Ziyi said with a forced smile.

Ye Bai shot a disdainful glance at Meng Ziyi and sneered contemptuously, "Coward."

"Who said I'm a coward? Who said I'm a coward? I'm not a coward at all!" Meng Ziyi cried out excitedly.

"If you're not a coward, then what are you?" Ye Bai mocked.

"I... I..." Meng Ziyi's face turned red, but she didn't know how to refute Ye Bai's words.

"Alright, stop arguing. Let's continue forward," Yang Mi said quickly. She tugged at Meng Ziyi's sleeve, signaling her not to argue anymore.

"Mm-hmm." Meng Ziyi nodded heavily, then stepped forward, with Yang Mi following closely behind.

Ye Bai gave a bitter smile and followed with heavy steps.

The tunnel was very long, becoming more spacious the further they went. Before long, the three of them finally passed through the tunnel and reached the deepest part, the very center of the Tomb.

"Eh? We've reached a Secret Chamber. Could this be the core of the Imperial Mausoleum?" Meng Ziyi shouted excitedly.

This was a Stone Chamber of about a hundred cubic meters, square in shape.

Exquisite Murals were carved all around the Stone Chamber, depicting various mysterious and strange creatures. The Stone Chamber was filled with dense Dragon Qi, which even gave Ye Bai an urge to worship.

The content described in these Murals coincided perfectly with the records of the Dragon Clan in the classic of mountains and seas.

"There are words on the Stone Platform in this Secret Chamber." Yang Mi noticed a Stone Platform placed right in the middle of the Stone Chamber, with an Ancient Parchment Scroll of moderate thickness resting on it.

Meng Ziyi stepped forward impatiently, picked up the Ancient Parchment Scroll, slowly unfurled it, and carefully read the script on it.

Ye Bai leaned in to look and found that the script was Chinese, but the handwriting was quite blurry. He identified it for a long time but still couldn't figure out what was written.

He simply stopped worrying about it and turned to search for a mechanism around the Stone Chamber, hoping to escape from here.

Nine Stone Pillars stood tall around the Stone Chamber, supporting the ceiling, and each Stone Pillar was carved with nine lifelike dragons.

Ye Bai walked around the Stone Pillars twice but still found no mechanism. He simply sat down on the floor next to a Stone Pillar to rest.

At that moment, Yang Mi looked up at the top of the Stone Chamber and said with shock in her eyes, "There's actually a Nine Dragons Arching a Bead here."

"Nine Dragons Arching a Bead?" Hearing this, Ye Bai couldn't help but look up. Sure enough, he saw nine smooth Beads hanging in the air at the top of the Stone Chamber, each one emitting a soft blue light.

Ye Bai walked over and looked up at these Beads.

"Holy crap! These aren't Beads at all; these are clearly human bones!" Ye Bai exclaimed.

He reached out to grab one of the bone Beads. When he held the Bead in his hand, a massive surge of power suddenly rushed toward him.

"Holy crap, such strong power!" Ye Bai was secretly astonished.

"Young man, has your physical body become so powerful that you possess such strength without even practicing cultivation?" A voice came from the Nine Dragons Arching a Bead.

Although the voice was low and raspy, it gave off an extremely dangerous feeling.

Ye Bai looked around alertly but didn't see any living creature. He suddenly turned his head toward the Ancient Parchment Scroll on the Stone Platform, only to see it glowing with a faint green light.

"Who are you?" Ye Bai asked with a frown.

"Who am I? Hahahaha, it seems I have also forgotten exactly who I am," the voice laughed wildly, its tone filled with the bitterness of ages.

Ye Bai grew even more alert. He slowly approached the ancient scroll, wanting to take it into his hand.

"Young man, your physical body is quite good, but you shouldn't touch anything here," the voice said abruptly.

Ye Bai instantly withdrew his hands and stepped back several paces.

This eerie and unpredictable voice definitely posed a super-powerful threat. Ye Bai had to treat it with caution, otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he died.

"How are you doing this?" Ye Bai asked, staring at the green fluorescence emerging from the ancient scroll.

"Me? Hehe, I don't know what's going on either. Anyway, I just woke up and became like this," the old voice said.

"Let's go," Ye Bai said.

"Wait."

"Is there anything else?" Ye Bai stopped and asked.

"Young man, help me take something away."

"Take something?" Ye Bai asked in confusion.