70: Top-grade spirit stone mine! Stealing mine right under the nose of the Nascent Soul Corpse King!

“Whoosh—”

Gu Yang sat on a black-blood-stained bluestone, casually brushing off the dust—the corpse ash that had splattered onto him during the recent battle.

Looking around, the once picturesque Changsheng Village had now turned into ruins, with hundreds of shriveled corpses scattered among the broken walls and remnants.

The monsters that had barely survived by absorbing the Qi of the living had all now turned into hundreds of cold-glowing “Energy Balls” inside Gu Yang's Storage Pouch.

“I think this Penglai Immortal Mountain should really be renamed Penglai Corpse Mountain.”

Gu Yang muttered a complaint, then turned his gaze toward the ancient and gloomy ancestral hall behind the village.

According to the senses of his Five Elements Great Millstone, a tremendously vast and pure energy fluctuation, tinged with a trace of ancient Death Qi, was hidden beneath that ancestral hall.

The intensity of the fluctuation was like a lighthouse in the dark, constantly stimulating his appetite.

“There is definitely something good down there, and it's a top-tier feast.”

Gu Yang hoisted the heavenly demon meteor hammer onto his shoulder and strode into the ancestral hall.

In the center of the hall stood a Wordless Memorial Tablet, and the ground was covered in densely packed, blood-colored runes that squirmed like blood vessels, forming a great Seal Formation.

“A Seal? Break it!”

Gu Yang had no interest in studying the Formation; he believed more in the miracle of brute force.

He swung the 300,000-jin meteor hammer, his whole body surging with Qi and blood like a Dragon, aiming the most unpretentious “forced demolition” strike at the core of the Formation on the ground.

Boom!!!

The earth violently shook, and the entire ancestral hall instantly collapsed. The blood-colored runes let out a mournful cry before shattering into countless specks of light.

A deep hole opened up in the collapsed ground, and a thick, almost solid white Spiritual Mist immediately gushed out, enveloping Gu Yang entirely. The purity of this Spiritual Qi was incredible; it made his pores open wide, and taking a single breath felt like it could prolong life!

“This concentration of Spiritual Qi... it's Top-Grade Spirit Stone!”

Gu Yang's eyes instantly lit up like two searchlights. “I'm rich! This is definitely a Top-Grade Spirit Stone Mine!”

Without a second thought, Gu Yang jumped into the hole.

Below was a massive underground mausoleum, or rather, a luxurious underground palace built directly atop an entire Top-Grade Spirit Stone Mine vein.

Nine golden Dragon-coiled pillars supported the dome, and the surrounding walls were densely studded with fist-sized, crystal-clear Spirit Stones.

Every single Spirit Stone emitted a dazzling light, illuminating the entire underground palace as if it were daytime, shimmering gorgeously like an immortal realm.

These were all Top-Grade Spirit Stones! One piece could be exchanged for ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones on the market, and they were priceless and unavailable!

This was practically a mountain of gold! No, it was a mountain of Spirit Stones, ten thousand times more valuable than a gold mountain!

“Eat! I'm going to devour this entire place!”

Gu Yang looked at the walls covered in “rations,” his hands trembling with excitement.

But just as he was about to act, his movement suddenly froze, as if he had been struck by a body-fixing spell.

Because in the very center of the underground palace, a massive, transparent crystal coffin, carved from a single block of Ten Thousand Year Black Ice, floated in the air.

Inside the coffin lay a middle-aged man wearing a golden Nine-Dragon Robe and a flat crown, his face solemn and imposing. His hands were clasped over his chest, and his complexion was as ruddy as if he were alive, looking as though he had just fallen asleep and would wake up the next second.

However, emanating from him was a terrifying aura, vast as the abyss and the ocean, that made Gu Yang's Soul tremble.

That was not the Nascent Soul Stage.

That was the Soul Transformation Stage—a stage that surpassed the Nascent Soul, touched upon the Laws of heaven and earth, and possessed the power to overturn the world!

The Penglai Ancient Emperor!

An ancient sovereign who, for the sake of eternal life, had refined himself into a Corpse King!

[Warning! Warning! High-energy biological fluctuation of the Soul Transformation Stage detected!]

[Extremely dangerous! The target is in a shallow slumber. Any violent Spiritual Qi fluctuation may awaken them! Immediate evacuation recommended! Immediate evacuation!]

The System's piercing alarm echoed wildly in his mind.

Gu Yang swallowed, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Soul Transformation Stage?

He was currently just a Physical Body Nascent Soul (and had only recently achieved the Breakthrough). Although he was tough, facing a master of the Soul Transformation Stage, who wielded Law, would likely end with a single slap.

“Retreat?”

Gu Yang glanced at the walls full of glittering Top-Grade Spirit Stones; his feet felt rooted to the spot, refusing to move.

This was like a beggar who had starved for three days seeing a Manchu Han Imperial Feast—even though a tiger was sitting right next to it, the temptation was simply too great.

“Man dies for wealth, and birds die for food. How can I enter a treasure mountain and return empty-handed?”

“Since I can't forcibly demolish it, then... I'll steal it!”

Gu Yang held his breath, fully activating the Primordial Indestructible Golden Body, suppressing all the fluctuations of his Qi and blood to the absolute minimum.

Child of the Earth—Earth Evasion Stealth!

His body slowly sank into the ground, leaving only a pair of shifty eyes and his two hands exposed.

He was like a human groundhog, cautiously approaching the mine wall bit by bit from underground, trying his best not to make any sound.

He dared not use the meteor hammer, afraid the noise would be too loud and wake up that venerable figure.

Gu Yang extended a finger, comparable to a Magic Treasure, and gently, tenderly pried at the edge of a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, as if caressing a lover's skin.

Pop.

With an extremely faint crisp sound, the Spirit Stone was dislodged.

Gu Yang quickly shoved it into his mouth, not daring to chew for fear of making a crunching sound, and swallowed it whole.

[Devouring Top-Grade Spirit Stone... energy points +10000!]

A massive and pure burst of energy exploded in his stomach, making Gu Yang feel so good he nearly groaned aloud.

“It smells wonderful! This one piece is worth ten thousand outside! I feel like I'm about to take off!”

Having tasted the sweetness, Gu Yang's courage gradually grew.

While wriggling underground like a worm, he frantically pried off Spirit Stones.

One, two, ten... the Spirit Stones on the wall decreased at a visible rate, leaving behind hole after hole.

He was like a greedy boring insect, slowly eroding the Foundation of this mine vein right under the nose of the Soul Transformation Corpse King.

The energy points were rapidly increasing, and under the nourishment of the Top-Grade Spirit Stones, Gu Yang's Physical Body became tougher and tougher; even the surface of his skin began to show a faint crystalline luster.

Before he knew it, he had dug his way to the center of the underground palace, directly beneath the floating crystal coffin.

When he poked his head out of the dirt, he saw the bottom of the crystal coffin.

There was a small jade pedestal, on which rested a stone the size of a washbasin, radiating a kaleidoscopic, dreamlike halo.

All the surrounding Top-Grade Spirit Stones were derived under the influence of this stone's aura.

Spirit Marrow!

The Mother of Spirit Stones! The value of this single piece was equivalent to the entire mine vein! Moreover, the energy it contained could probably push Gu Yang up another entire level!

“Gulp.”

Gu Yang's greed instantly overcame his reason.

“Fortune favors the bold! As long as I take this piece of Spirit Marrow, I'll run immediately, and even if he wakes up, he won't catch me!”

“I'll just take it gently... if I'm fast, he shouldn't wake up, right?”

Gu Yang extended his hands from the dirt and held the Spirit Marrow, as if cradling a peerless treasure.

Then, he yanked it out!

Swoosh!

With the Spirit Marrow secured, Gu Yang turned around, ready to use Earth Evasion to escape.

However.

Having lost the support of the Spirit Marrow, the crystal coffin, which had been perfectly balanced and suspended, instantly lost its center of gravity.

Crack!

A corner of the crystal coffin heavily struck the stone pedestal, making a crisp, pleasant sound that, to Gu Yang, was like the tolling of a death knell.

In this silent tomb, the sound was like a clap of thunder.

Gu Yang froze, maintaining the posture of being half-buried in the dirt with his hands cradling the Spirit Marrow, and mechanically looked back.

Inside the crystal coffin, the solemn Ancient Emperor... his long eyelashes trembled slightly.

And then.

He abruptly opened his eyes!

They were eyes without pupils, only endless seas of blood churning within, filled with the violence and killing intent of having his slumber disturbed.

Two beams of red light, as solid as physical objects, shot through the crystal coffin, landing directly on Gu Yang and locking him in place.

A Corpse Qi so terrifying that it froze space and solidified time instantly erupted, sweeping through the entire underground palace!

A hoarse, ancient voice, filled with endless morning grumpiness and rage, boomed in Gu Yang's mind, shaking him so violently that blood streamed from his seven orifices:

“Who... touched... My... pillow?”

Gu Yang, holding the Spirit Marrow, looked at the pair of red eyes and felt the pressure that was nearly crushing him. He managed to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than crying:

“Um... Your Majesty, if I said I was room service, here to change your pillowcase, would you believe me?”