Chapter 36
ong Caiwei’s frosty sword effortlessly cut through the ghosts, clearing an entire circle around herself in the blink of an eye.
The two’s attack power was admittedly great, however, it was still incapable of deterring the rest of the departed souls. More and more ghosts hurled themselves towards the group. These ghosts have been imprisoned within the tomb for an untold number of years, and their thirst to once again taste flesh drove these spirits to lose their sense of reason.
A few of those lost souls even broke through Zhu Sha’s Warding Array, throwing themselves at Wu Xinjie.
Su Xing saw this out of the corner of his eye and turned his body. He swept the whisk and dispersed that bunch of spirits while sweeping peacefully past Wu Xinjie’s whole body.
But the number of ghosts in the surroundings was too high. Killing yet unable to efficiently kill, it had only been a few bouts but Gong Caiwei felt a bit sweaty, her breathing becoming heavy. Even so, she directed a fierce look at the surrounding flying weeping ghosts, baring her fangs, but her sword’s blue light was not as sharp as before. Gong Caiwei grit her teeth, smiling grimly.
From within the screams of the ghosts that filled the entire area, the sound of a lone ghostly wailing began to come through. The faint white light began to release more light, as if weaving its ghostly qi. Gong Caiwei turned her head and looked at Su Xing.
"Well, it looks like the ghosts haven’t got much left."
Gong Caiwei glanced and noticed Su Xing looked pristine, as if nothing had happened. Waving that whisk around as he pleased, the whisk’s magic power scattered over a wide area, handling the ghosts rather effectively, but it was obvious that this sort of artifact required significant power to support it. He was only Stardust Late Stage, so how could he maintain it for so long?
How could she have known that the man who contracted two Star Generals under him had also obtained the Deviance Star’s Star Energy. Though his cultivation looked ordinary, this was nevertheless absolutely the proud Star Energy of one body.
"Their numbers are truly too many. Should we fall back first, then make a plan?" Wu Xinjie suggested. Although the ghosts were easy to take care of, victory lay in greater numbers. If they had forced their way through, they would have wasted much energy..
Gong Caiwei would not admit defeat, extending her right hand, forming an Orchid Hand Seal. Along with her hand gesture, the icy, frosty blade halted in midair. Suddenly, it plunged towards the ground, piercing into the ground in front of Gong Caiwei with a "clang," and thereupon, the blue light rose once again. The tip of a cold blade emerged from the ground, and with the sword as the epicenter, the group became wrapped within a protective barrier.
The surrounding ghosts eyed the tasty bodies of flesh before them. They threw caution to the wind as they all together rushed swiftly forwards, but only a short moment later, the barrier that sat on the ground abruptly rose upward. At once, the blue light hovered, a mist hanging in the air. It seemed this blue light had a spiritual nature, and a rainbow light arced over the two’s heads, immediately obstructing the ghosts outside of it.
The ghostly weeping grew louder and louder while countless ghosts struck the barrier with everything they had.
Gong Caiwei’s expression became so cold that even Su Xing, who was to the side, could not help but take note of it.
"Star Ladle Great Essence, Sword Swiftly Rides the Wind! Go!!"
Gong Caiwei put two fingers together, and the sword planted in the ground gathered a s.h.i.+ning light along the blade. The blue spell along the blade flashed, followe
d by a rotation of the sword, and a great quant.i.ty of sword qi shot out from the sword. Like an unstoppable tidal wave, it flooded the main hall, leaving no corner untouched.
The ghosts within the main hall let out
The sword radiated a pure blue light, slowly dimming. Retrieving her blade, Gong Caiwei returned it to her Astral Bag.
"Lady Caiwei is amazing. Is this sword perhaps not an ordinary artifact?" Wu Xinjie clapped her hands in praise, her eyes s.h.i.+ning. "I do not know the name of this sword?"
"Tracing Snow!"1 Gong Caiwei faintly replied, appearing proud.
"Tracing Snow, indeed it suits Lady Gong Caiwei very well!" Su Xing said.2
Gong Caiwei said coolly: "And that whisk suits the young master."
Su Xing chuckled. "It seems we’ve wasted a lot of effort, but let’s see what’s inside this ancient tomb."
Gong Caiwei nodded and said: "This Gong wants to see what valuable requires so many ghosts."
Once the ancient grave’s spirits were cleansed, everyone could relax as they searched the ancient tomb.
This ancient tomb appeared to not have anything of worth that a Star Cultivator needed, but after searching almost the entire area, their gazes finally fell upon the sarcophagus atop the platform.
Legend has it that if a sarcophagus was buried underground for too long, or because of exposure to ghost qi, or even because of other reasons that gave rise to a changed corpse, but unavoidably, Wu Xinjie could jinx them again. Only after checking that there was nothing peculiar about the sarcophagus did they open it.
Pus.h.i.+ng open the sarcophagus’ lid, inside was a skeleton dressed in magnificent attire.
Judging from the clothes, this person seemed to have held a very distinguished position. Also piled up in the sarcophagus were large quant.i.ties of precious metals and jewels, but apart from these, there was nothing else.
"And what’s with this, all of it is just a bunch of garbage. This is exactly why Xinjie dislikes ancient graves. The ghost qi is too heavy, and there aren’t any good funerary items. Those artifacts and astral treasures wouldn’t be buried anyways." Wu Xinjie said dejectedly. Glancing at the inscription upon the coffin lid, she twitched her mouth: "And this says something about a General Tianwei,3 how ridiculous."
"What? Did you say General Tianwei?"
Gong Caiwei suddenly asked, her expression was slightly startled.
"Aye, it is written thus right on top."
Wu Xinjie indicated.
Gong Caiwei took a glance and slowly restored her composure: "I did not expect this to be General Tianwei’s ancient grave!"
"Was his influence great?" Su Xing stared at the bones within the coffin, wrinkling his brow quizzically.
"General Tianwei was once one of Liangshan Continent’s more famous fierce generals. Although he wasn’t a Star Cultivator, his military career was outstanding. When the Great Liang Dynasty sent an expeditionary force to the Rippling Wave Kingdom, General Tianwei took twenty thousand troops and horses to defeat the Great Liang Dynasty’s army of a hundred thousand in a battle that rocked Liangshan."
Having been in Liangshan Continent for only so long, Su Xing was still a bit ignorant of this world’s affairs. Although Ling Yingmei and Wu Xinjie were Star Generals, they were barely acquainted with the history of Star Duels, and regarding specific details on Liangshan Continent, they were just as lost as Su Xing.
"And then?" Su Xing asked curiously.
"Then every major school of Star Cultivators appeared. Only then did the Great Liang Dynasty stop their expedition." Gong Caiwei said: "This isn’t the point, though. The problem is that legend says this General Tianwei and the Blooming Water Sword Sect had a considerable relations.h.i.+p. There’s a wearable artifact called the ‘Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor’.4 It is invincible, and the wearer need not fear water nor fire. Even those in proximity to this artifact would find Star Cultivators to be no challenge."
"Since this is General Tianwei’s tomb, the Golden Thread Armor should also have been buried alongside him since legend says that it was made into a funerary object after his death. Countless Star Cultivators have sought the general’s grave to obtain this artifact, the Golden Thread Armor, but n.o.body could ever find it." Gong Caiwei snorted, her tone carried a bit of ridicule. "I never thought it would be this tomb, but now I understand why they had such an exhausting mechanism."
As Gong Caiwei said this, the formerly depressed Wu Xinjie’s eyes sparkled, but although the main hall was very large, the items it could conceal were not very many, and even Lin Yingmei joined the search effort.
But after searching for a long time, never mind the Golden Thread Armor, not even a single golden thread could be seen.
"Could it be it wasn’t buried with him?" Gong Caiwei could not understand.
"The way I see it, this just isn’t the actual general at all." Su Xing suddenly spoke as leaned against the side of the sarcophagus.
"Impossible, this place here should be General Tianwei’s grave."
"And it could be, but this body is definitely not the actual general himself." Su Xing was sure of it.
Gong Caiwei walked over, "Why is that?"
"Going by what you said, General Tianwei should be an extremely powerful man, at least enough to be given the moniker of Tianwei."
Gong Caiwei nodded. "The legends say he was indeed brave and fierce with extraordinary strength."
"Then I’m right. Looking at the skeleton’s joints, they’ve become weak with age. The finger joints have snapped in several places. This is definitely in contrast to the extraordinary strength this Tianwei person supposedly has." Su Xing indicated to her.
The girls naturally did not comprehend modern forensics’ bone a.n.a.lysis.5 However, hearing Su Xing’s explanation, even they felt there was some logic behind it.
"Young Master’s observations are truly keen, even being able to a.n.a.lyze just a skeleton alone." Wu Xinjie admired.
"Forget it, seems like this was a decoy grave." Su Xing looked around the main hall, dejectedly stepping off the platform.
Gong Caiwei abruptly smiled. "Is this what young master Su Xing truly believes?"
"What does Lady Caiwei want to say?" Su Xing turned his head.
"This Gong believes the ancient grave mechanism was designed to be this complex and layered. This is definitely the general’s true burial site." Gong Caiwei was certain.
"You say that’s the actual general? But we haven’t found that Golden Thread Armor you spoke of." Su Xing showed just a bit of playfulness.
"That really isn’t the general’s true skeleton."
"Lady Caiwei’s meaning is?"
"This ancient grave is concealing another mechanism!!"
Gong Caiwei said something astonis.h.i.+ng.
Su Xing’s eyes flashed a peculiar light.