On the Imperial Dragon Throne Behind the Silver Hellgate

Not far away, as the Ox-Head Warden collapsed.

A series of muffled booms echoed from within the towering Great Bronze Sarcophagus.

Evan Lin turned to look.

The chains wrapped around the sarcophagus kept trembling, as if some immense force inside was pushing against the lid.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The tightly sealed Silver Hellgate nearby began to part at its seams.

The ghost-faced men who had been devouring corpse-worms turned their twisted faces toward the gate. Instantly, they forgot about the worms, dropped to their knees, and began kowtowing in terror.

Evan Lin stood his ground, frowning slightly. He flicked his fingers through the air, tracing out a Soul-Suppressing Talisman, and sent it flying toward the Silver Hellgate.

The talisman shimmered with a ghostly light, landed on the Silver Hellgate, and then vanished without a trace.

The Silver Hellgate kept opening wider and wider.

As the gate opened, an incredibly dense blood-reek poured out from within.

That blood-reek seemed almost solid, condensing in midair into countless ghostly faces. These faces drifted through the hall, and any ghost-faced man they touched let out a wail, collapsed, and within seconds was drained of all essence and flesh.

The Three Maiden Spirits gazed at the Silver Hellgate, a flicker of confusion flashing across their faces. That place seemed to harbor infinite, irresistible power.

Evan Lin remained motionless, watching calmly. Whenever the blood-faces drifted near him, the Three Maiden Spirits swallowed them whole.

The blood-reek faces seemed to sense the danger here and deliberately avoided Evan's side.

Before long, the sound of bronze bells rang out.

Heavy footsteps followed, echoing through the hall.

Deeper within the Silver Hellgate, a line of skeletal Daoist priests in tattered robes appeared. Each held a bundle of bells in their left hand, gently shaking them, and a peachwood sword in their right.

They marched in perfect unison toward the altar before the Great Bronze Sarcophagus.

Behind them came a group of skeletal monks in ragged kasaya robes, their bald skulls glistening, clutching broken prayer beads. They swayed and muttered soundlessly as they followed the Daoist priests toward the sarcophagus.

Evan Lin stood to the side, watching the scene unfold before him.

Neither the monks nor the Daoist priests paid Evan the slightest attention.

Once they reached the altar, each one prostrated themselves, bowing deeply in ritual worship.

A skeletal monk in a dark yellow kasaya strode up the altar steps, holding a stick of ancient incense that looked like it had been left there for countless years. He lit it, then placed it into the incense burner atop the altar.

He lifted his head and gazed up at the massive Great Bronze Sarcophagus, chanting in a low, solemn voice.

Evan sensed something and looked up toward the dome above.

There, sprawled across the ceiling, was a massive blood-red spider.

The spider was at least three meters long, and on its back was a single enormous ghostly eye, wide open and staring.

That ghost eye blinked slowly, surveying everything below with a cold, menacing gaze.

Noticing Evan's gaze, the spider shifted its eye to glare at him, brimming with warning and vigilance.

Moonlight streamed down from above, falling like a veil.

When the moonlight finally bathed the entire Great Bronze Sarcophagus, the pounding from within grew even fiercer.

Something inside kept slamming against the coffin lid, making the massive bronze chains rattle and twist with each blow.

A surge of terrifying baleful qi erupted from the Great Bronze Sarcophagus, chilling the air with its murderous intent.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From within the Silver Hellgate, hulking figures began to emerge.

They were Ox-Head and Horse-Face Wardens.

Towering and powerfully built, every Ox-Head and Horse-Face Warden was covered in scars.

They strode up to the Great Bronze Sarcophagus and, one after another, hefted it up with brute strength.

Then, they carried it toward the Silver Hellgate.

For once, excitement flickered in the gaze of the Blood-Eye Spider on the dome.

"Beyond that gate lies the Reincarnation Nexus."

Evan Lin narrowed his eyes, stepped forward, and walked toward the Silver Hellgate.

The blood-red spider saw Evan trying to enter and its eyes flashed with a deadly cold light. It scuttled along the rock wall, shrieking, and spat out a massive crimson web, aiming to kill Evan on the spot.

Without even turning his head, Evan casually swung his four-foot sword. The blade sliced clean through the spider, cutting it in two. Its body crashed to the ground, motionless.

Following the Ox-Head and Horse-Face Wardens through the Silver Hellgate, Evan entered a vast chamber dominated by a blood pool.

The blood in the pool had turned pitch-black, and from its depths, giant beast bones surfaced from time to time.

Some bones looked like those of apes and strange birds. Every beast was over five meters tall, their thick skeletons drifting in the blood over countless years. Twisted joints showed just how agonizing their deaths must have been.

The Ox-Head and Horse-Face Wardens carried the Great Bronze Sarcophagus to the edge of the blood pool, unchained it, and threw open the lid. Instantly, a chorus of ghostly howls rang out.

Inside the sarcophagus were all kinds of shriveled corpses, clawing desperately at the edges to escape the blood pool, but the wardens hurled them in one after another.

Every time a corpse hit the blood pool, bubbles surged up from the surface.

The corpses struggled for a moment, then were completely dissolved by the black blood.

"How rare, how rare... Someone actually made it in here."

A cold, indifferent voice sounded from nearby.

Evan turned and saw, at the far side of the blood pool, a high stone platform with an Imperial Dragon Throne. On it sat a dried-out, skeletal man.

His flesh was so desiccated he looked ready to snap in half, nothing but skin and bone. Draped in an Imperial Dragon Robe, he lowered his hollow gaze to Evan, surprise and doubt flickering in his eyes.

"Is this Road of the Dead over Thornridge Mountain your handiwork?" Evan asked, looking up with fearless eyes.

"I merely refined it a little."

The man on the throne spoke in a hoarse, weary voice: "Thousands of years... Endless darkness... At last, a living soul."

"Tell me, what dynasty rules the outside world now?"

"No matter the dynasty, yours has long since passed."

"Let me ask you—have you seen this item before?"

Evan took out the withered spiritual herb, holding it up for the man on the throne to see.

The spiritual imprint on the withered herb was the key to Evan's journey here. Deep in the darkness, the image of a giant beast roaring upward, filled with ancient, murderous intent, had piqued Evan's interest.

"So that's it..." The man glanced at the withered herb in Evan's hand, shook his head, and sighed. "Last time, two tomb raiders came and took it away. Who would have thought it would end up back here?"