The two of them rushed through the long corridor lined with clay figurines and arrived outside a massive stone gate. Facing the entrance were two dark red stone doors. The floor was paved with wide, long blue stone slabs, and both side walls were also covered with huge blue stone slabs. Unlike the floor, the walls were carved with strange, raised ancient patterns.
The two stone doors weren't completely shut; in the middle, a fist-sized gap was left. Under the shadow of the dark red stone doors, that gap looked especially eerie.
Shawn Young didn't rush in immediately, because he sensed a strange smell and sound.
"What a weird smell... Could it be a trap?" Jade Swann quickly stopped and looked around cautiously.
"Uh... the smell is definitely odd, and... there's some kind of noise inside. It sounds like something flowing, but not water—more like some heavy liquid..." Shawn Young listened carefully, then frowned and spoke.
"Yeah, it does sound like running water. So strange—why would there be that kind of sound in an underground cave? Could there be an underground river here?" Jade Swann murmured, puzzled.
At that moment, a faint white mist began to drift out, filling the air with an icy chill.
"Careful... that's probably the sound of Mystic Silverbane," Shawn Young said, his eyes catching the white mist as he quickly warned Jade Swann.
"Mystic Silverbane? What's that?" Jade Swann asked urgently.
"Mystic Silverbane is a rare, liquid metal that's extremely toxic and cold. It's very valuable and usually only used for yin-gathering talismans or to seal tombs, blocking out positive energy and letting yin energy grow. Only the coldest, most sinister places use Mystic Silverbane. If I'm right... this might be a soul-suppressing altar for imprisoning yin spirits!" Shawn Young explained.
"Huh? A soul-suppressing altar? Does that mean there's some powerful evil spirit sealed inside?" Jade Swann asked in surprise.
"Well... it could also be a trap set by the Nine Chrysanthemums Society," Shawn Young mused after thinking for a moment.
"Ah..." At that moment, Fiona Nangong's startled cry came from behind the two stone doors, sounding full of fear.
"Sister Fiona is in trouble..." Jade Swann gasped and, without hesitating, channeled her true energy, raised both palms, and sent a burst of lightning straight at the stone doors.
Bang! With a thunderous crash, Jade Swann blasted open the dark red stone doors. A strange sight immediately appeared before them.
Inside was a vast rectangular tomb chamber. On both sides stood three tall round pillars, their material unknown, carved with mysterious swirling cloud patterns. The pillars looked grand and imposing.
In the center and sides of the chamber were three strange pools, all connected like intersecting rivers. They were filled with slowly flowing, dazzling silvery-white liquid, shimmering with a metallic luster. Thick white mist drifted above, releasing waves of intense icy cold.
The icy air mingled to form a crystal-clear, transparent barrier. Shawn Young and Jade Swann cautiously approached, instantly feeling a terrifying chill rush at them. Even without touching the barrier, they shivered—the yin-cold energy seemed to penetrate to their bones, making their blood nearly freeze and their whole bodies stiff and suffocated.
Neither dared to advance recklessly. They stopped before the barrier, peering through the icy mist. Through the haze, they saw a terrifying sight at the far end of the rectangular chamber—a pyramid-shaped mountain of corpses!
The corpse mountain was built entirely from countless dead bodies—rigid, desiccated human corpses stacked like shale in layers. The base of the corpse tower was square, and judging by the volume, Shawn Young estimated there were thousands, maybe tens of thousands of bodies.
So many corpses packed tightly together, the whole mound gave off a ghastly greenish hue. It looked like the bodies were covered in greenish-blue blotches, sending chills down anyone's spine.
"Oh my god! How could there be so many dead bodies here... How did all these people die?" Jade Swann exclaimed in shock.
"These people were probably ancient Japanese samurai—and they were executed by the harshest punishments," Shawn Young replied.
"Executed samurai... Why would so many be killed in this place?" Jade Swann asked, her voice trembling.
"Maybe... they were buried as sacrifices! You know, people who die by extreme punishment generate powerful resentment. That kind of energy can be used by masters of yin and evil arts. The Nine Chrysanthemums Society is famous for corpse refinement..." Shawn Young explained.
"Sacrifices... To bury so many dead here—whoever did this was ruthless!" Jade Swann muttered.
"Yeah! Using so many corpses to generate resentment, plus the nourishment of Mystic Silverbane... This is a massive operation. It must be a hugely powerful, ultra-yin, ultra-evil formation! What on earth are the Nine Chrysanthemums Society hiding here?" Artifact Elder wondered aloud.
"Uh... So what do we do now? Sister Fiona must be trapped inside—we have to rescue her." Jade Swann frowned, staring at the pyramid of corpses ahead.
"We need to break through this barrier. But ordinary spells won't work on a Mystic Silverbane barrier, and it's also extremely cold and poisonous. This poison is different—if it gets into your body, it'll cause terrifying corrosion. We'll have to come up with another plan..." Shawn Young said.
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"What plan?" Jade Swann asked anxiously.
"If the Nine Chrysanthemums Society used Mystic Silverbane and all this corpse resentment to make a barrier, their goal must be serious. Our only choice is to trigger the formation inside and break the barrier from within," Shawn Young said.
"Huh? Activate the formation? Why do that?" Jade Swann asked, puzzled.
"This place is an ancient tomb, so there's definitely a formation maintaining everything. The Mystic Silverbane barrier is just part of it. If we find the trigger mechanism, we might be able to get inside!" Shawn Young explained.
"Oh, I see! Then let's look for it together." Jade Swann nodded and started searching the area.
Shawn Young carefully examined the rectangular tomb's surroundings. Aside from the corridor of figurines, there were only the six towering pillars; everything else was seamless, smooth blue stone walls.
"So strange. Where could the mechanism be hidden?" Jade Swann muttered.
"Don't rush. With only those six pillars around, I'd bet the mechanism is hidden inside one of them," Shawn Young said, eyeing the pillars.
"Okay... I'll go check them out." Jade Swann agreed and walked over to inspect the six strange, giant pillars one by one.
Seeing this, Shawn Young followed and started searching carefully as well.
Soon, Shawn Young was the first to notice something odd. He found that although the carvings and relief runes on the other four pillars were all different, the differences were minor. But the third pillar on each side stood out as especially unique.
Those two pillars had similar carvings and runes, but each was adorned with a fierce, twisting dragon winding around the pillar. The dragon was vividly sculpted, its long body coiling upward toward the top, floating on layers of clouds that created a grand and mysterious aura.
Shawn Young quickly realized that the dragon's head extended all the way to the top of the pillar, its mouth open as if lifting something.
"Hmm? Could this be a hint that something's up there..." Shawn Young suddenly had an idea. He channeled his energy, leaped up, and landed squarely atop the several-meter-high pillar.
As soon as he landed, Shawn Young saw a white chrysanthemum-shaped seal at the center of the pillar's top, about the size of a palm. The seal was engraved with a strange, mysterious symbol, shimmering with metallic luster.
"Hmm... this must be the Nine Chrysanthemums Society's emblem! Why is it here? Could the other pillars have it too?" Shawn Young immediately recognized the seal and was surprised.
Shawn Young thought for a moment, then leapt to the tops of the other pillars to check carefully, but didn't find the same special white chrysanthemum emblem.
"Oh... looks like the mechanism is over there." Shawn Young nodded, jumped back, and pressed his right hand against the white chrysanthemum-shaped seal, intending to study its secret.
Whoosh... Suddenly, a strange force pulled at the Laogong point in his palm, and his internal energy uncontrollably flowed from his hand straight into the white chrysanthemum-shaped seal!
Startled, Shawn Young instinctively tried to pull his hand away, but the white chrysanthemum-shaped seal kept absorbing his energy, almost as if it were glued to him. He couldn't break free at all.
"Uh... What's happening to you?" Jade Swann asked in confusion when she saw Shawn Young's reaction.
But Shawn Young couldn't answer her, because he realized his internal energy was pouring out at an alarming rate—even opening his mouth felt like he'd lose even more energy!
After about half a minute, the white chrysanthemum-shaped seal seemed to have absorbed enough energy and burst forth with a dazzling golden light, growing even brighter.
Then, with a 'crack,' Shawn Young felt a jolt in his right palm as the white chrysanthemum-shaped seal shifted to the side, revealing a round pit beneath.
At the bottom of the pit was a semicircular red metal ring. Shawn Young realized it was a switch, grabbed the ring, and yanked it upward. With a loud 'clank,' a long metal chain was pulled out. As he did, the massive pillar rotated and slowly toppled over, shaking the entire tomb chamber.
(Untranslatable filler, likely a website artifact—skipping as it's not relevant to the story.)