Chapter 787: The End of the Emperor’s Tomb

’Isn’t this an illusion? A Life Soul Spring this vast?’

Ye Tianling was skeptical, but he was seeing this scene through Yanyan’s body, and it was no different from what Wan Jimie and Que De had seen.

So, it probably wasn’t fake.

"I’ll go take a look."

Que De stared at the vast Celestial Pool, unable to restrain himself any longer. An intense look of desire filled his eyes.

His beady, rat-like eyes were practically glowing.

SWOOSH—

As he spoke, he couldn’t wait any longer. He manifested his Gold-devouring Rat true form and instantly plunged into the Celestial Pool.

At that moment, a look of joyful surprise appeared on his face as he frantically absorbed the Energy from the Divine Spring.

He immediately reaped immense benefits, and his Life Force indeed increased by a great deal.

Wan Jimie was also tempted, but he didn’t rush forward. Instead, he looked at Ye Tianling and said, "This is a Life Soul Spring, and one this massive! Hurry up and absorb it, Tianling. You and Que De absorb it first, I’ll stand guard."

As he spoke, Que De suddenly sucked in a severed finger.

Not only did he not think anything of it, but he acted as if he’d seen a Divine Level Elixir and immediately stuffed it into his mouth for a bite.

CRUNCH—

An incredibly hard force directly shattered his sharp teeth, and a mouthful of blood immediately poured out.

The moment the blood appeared, it stained the Celestial Pool, instantly transforming it into a sea of blood.

BOOM—

Que De’s hair stood on end. He shot into the sky, dragging up a group of female corpses with hair like waterfalls of blood.

Every single corpse had a gruesome appearance, their bloodlines withered, yet their eyes were wide open, staring intently at Que De.

"Ah—"

Que De shrieked. Ye Tianling gathered the Purple Flame Lotus, flew over, and shone it upon Que De.

WHOOSH—

The horrific scene around Que De’s body instantly disappeared.

The Purple Flame was like a rising cloud of mist. With a display of Purple Qi from the East, it instantly shattered the sea of blood. The blood sea, no longer raging like a violent ocean, reverted to a clear Celestial Pool.

"Wh-what’s going on?"

Wan Jimie’s voice trembled.

Meanwhile, Que De was clutching his mouth and vomiting violently. What he had absorbed wasn’t any Life Soul Spring, but corpse water!

It was the putrid water from Divine Corpses that had rotted away due to some terrifying Law.

"The True Void, I suppose... You think you’re enjoying the most delicious feast in all of Heaven and Earth, but in reality, you might as well be in a latrine pit..."

Ye Tianling glanced at the Celestial Pool.

In reality, it was just ordinary Heaven and Earth Spiritual Liquid, but in Que De’s eyes, it was corpse water.

Que De had fallen victim to the True Void Dao, yet was completely unaware of it.

Wan Jimie had clearly been affected as well, but because he hadn’t participated, his experience wasn’t as profound.

When the Purple Flame Lotus shone, the Celestial Pool returned to normal, and Wan Jimie was no longer affected.

"BLECH—"

Hearing this, Que De’s perception of the corpse water shifted to that of a ten-thousand-year-old latrine pit, and he vomited so hard he nearly coughed up his own gallbladder.

"Brother Tianling, that was low! BLECH— You saw something was wrong but didn’t say anything! BLECH—"

Que De’s eyes rolled back in his head; he looked like he wanted to skin Ye Tianling alive.

This was just too infuriating.

"Did you even stop to think about what kind of place this is? You think you can just touch anything you find here?"

Ye Tianling’s retort left Que De completely speechless.

"Besides, do you think I’m omnipotent? This is an Emperor’s Burial Land. It wasn’t easy for me to pull you out of the True Void. And it’s not like I saw through the situation right away, either. Do you think I was trying to set you up?"

Ye Tianling didn’t pull any punches.

’This Que De... he sees a treasure and forgets his friends, rushing to snatch the ’prize’ without a word. Serves him right for getting burned, doesn’t it?’

Que De returned to his human form, his dark face turning even darker. The expression on it was truly a sight to behold.

Ye Tianling ignored Que De. Lost in thought, he moved, flying onto the Purple Flame Lotus and heading toward the Celestial Pool.

Above the Celestial Pool, Ye Tianling slapped his hand down toward the water.

BOOM—

He instinctively executed a Cultivation Technique.

Jade Water Sky Connecting Swordsmanship!

Using his hand as a sword, he parted the water’s surface with a single strike.

The Spiritual Liquid in the Celestial Pool split in two, revealing a path.

The scene within the Celestial Pool was revealed: rows of desiccated skeletons.

Nearly all the skeletons belonged to those who had died of exhaustion.

’Space-Time Tracing Method!’

Ye Tianling tried to operate this Cultivation Technique with Yanyan’s body, hoping to glimpse a scene from the past.

It was as if a change from the True Void Celestial Forbidden Technique was manifesting. In the distance, a ray of light shot forth, like the peerless Emperor’s Qi Dragon Swallowing Heaven Divine Technique, swallowing Heaven and Earth like a whale.

It was a single breath.

One inhale.

And this entire stretch of Heaven and Earth was completely depleted.

Ye Tianling came back to his senses. He hadn’t sensed anything amiss.

It seemed that it wasn’t just him who wanted to understand the truth of what happened here; Yanyan, the original owner of this body, wanted to know as well.

Ye Tianling sighed and flew back on the Purple Flame Lotus.

He knew now that these lives had belonged to a colossal power, but they had all died from a single act of Devouring.

A single Devouring from the powerful Emperor’s Qi Dragon Swallowing Heaven Divine Technique.

In one breath, it had sucked countless lives to death.

Wan Jimie and Que De hadn’t seen anything, but they had a vague sense that something terrible had occurred.

After flying back, Ye Tianling didn’t look at the Celestial Pool but instead walked toward the other side.

"This place is a land of death. Let’s go check out the other direction."

Ye Tianling said, and neither Wan Jimie nor Que De objected, simply following him once more.

On the other side of the Celestial Pool was a rugged, pitted path, seemingly wide enough for only one person to pass, flanked on both sides by steep cliffs.

There was no fixed end in sight.

The trio of Ye Tianling, Wan Jimie, and Que De pressed forward. With the Purple Flame Lotus hovering over their heads, they still didn’t encounter any danger along the way.

But the journey was not a peaceful one.

Cold winds howled from both sides from time to time, and within the clouds and mist, it seemed all sorts of terrifying creatures existed. They were merely deterred by the Purple Flame Lotus and hadn’t shown themselves.

Eventually, Ye Tianling traversed the endless, rugged path and arrived at a corner of this world.

There, an ancient fortress resembling a stone grotto stood.

Ancient and timeless.

The ancient fortress was a full one hundred meters tall and one hundred meters wide.

A structure of this size was not particularly prominent in this world.

But above the ancient fortress, an Ancient Tower existed in silence.

That tower, Ye Tianling felt, was extremely similar to the Space-Time Soul-locking Tower.

However, there was no connection whatsoever between the Space-Time Soul-locking Tower and this one, not the slightest point of resonance.

Ye Tianling even tried to activate the Space-Time Soul-locking Tower, but there was no reaction.

Above the ancient fortress, the Ancient Tower was about thirty meters tall. It flickered in and out of view, impossible to spot without careful observation.

"The secret of this world, or perhaps the method to control the core of this Purgatory Purple Mountain, should be inside this ancient fortress."

Que De spoke up again.

This time, it wasn’t just him; even Wan Jimie thought the same.

But should they open the gate of that ancient fortress?

After opening it, would they find life or death?

If they didn’t open it, how could they retreat?

The two of them couldn’t decide.

They didn’t want to give up, but given their strength, if it weren’t for the protection of the Purple Flame Lotus, they would have died countless times already and would never have made it this far.

"Let’s take a look."

Ye Tianling also knew this place was fraught with danger, but based on his confidence in the Purple Flame Lotus, he walked over anyway.

Que De and Wan Jimie followed, not daring to leave his side.