A group of people walked into a passage filled with secret patterns. Many night-shining pearls illuminated the passage, allowing even ordinary people to clearly see the纹路 (wénlù - patterns) of the secret patterns. However, few could understand them.
This was only possible for cultivators proficient in formations and secret patterns.
Among those present, only three were proficient in secret patterns and formations: Qing Luan, the three-eyed crow, and Yang Feilong!
"These secret patterns are profound! If I can comprehend them, my mastery of formations might advance to another level!" Yang Feilong muttered to himself. "It's a pity that comprehending them is not something that can be achieved in a short time."
"Let's go!" Qing Luan said.
"Do we need to close the great door?" At this moment, the three-eyed crow spoke.
"If we close it, how will we get out later? Moreover, I tried earlier and couldn't close it. This great door can only be closed from the outside," Qing Luan replied calmly.
"Uh." Yang Feilong blinked. If he wasn't mistaken, she didn't seem to have tried to close the door just now.
Could it be that Qing Luan's speed was too fast, and he missed it while observing the secret patterns?
Of course, it was possible!
According to the three-eyed crow, when Qing Luan was in the Nascent Soul realm, her speed was unrivaled among Nascent Soul cultivators. Now that she had broken through to the Primordial Spirit realm, even if she wasn't invincible in the Primordial Spirit realm, she was likely one of the top-tier demons in terms of speed.
Her figure moved, and in the time it took to attempt to close the great door and return to her original position, it was likely instantaneous. Due to her extreme speed, it would seem as if she hadn't moved at all. Of course, it was also possible that she had tried it before.
Qing Luan was skilled in formations and was presumably also proficient in secret patterns.
King Huo Yan's tomb was vast, with densely inscribed secret patterns.
As they advanced, the sound of mechanisms turning suddenly rang out.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Instantly, various secret patterns lit up, and streams of cold light enveloped the group.
"Ying Ge!" Qing Luan's voice echoed. "Unleash your wind blades!"
Following her command, Ying Ge acted. With his hands extended, streams of wind blades flew out, sweeping away all the incoming cold light.
"Continue forward!" Qing Luan commanded again.
The group continued to advance. After an unknown period, a great door appeared before them.
This great door had nine buttons.
Qing Luan looked at Yang Feilong and Tang Ya and said, "You should know how to open this great door! Don't play any tricks, or I won't hesitate to kill you!"
Both Yang Feilong and Tang Ya indeed knew how to open this great door. The nine buttons had inscriptions on them, and there were also explanations for how to open it around them. They were not demon script. Yang Feilong and Tang Ya exchanged glances and finally understood why non-humans couldn't open it.
No, ordinary humans couldn't open it either, unless they understood the language of Dragon Country, and this was not the modern language of Dragon Country, but its traditional form.
It was clear that King Huo Yan's mother was from Dragon Country, and from its ancient era.
If the wrong button was pressed, it would activate secret pattern attacks!
Now Yang Feilong understood why those people were looking for humans, and strong cultivators at that. Because even humans would face some trials, and while this trial wasn't particularly powerful, it wasn't something just anyone could withstand.
If they were not human, pressing the wrong button would lead to endless peril!
And this was only shortly after they had begun. It was no wonder the Spiritual Ape Lord was heavily injured!
The nine buttons were inscribed with the opening sequence in traditional characters, from one to nine.
Pressing the wrong sequence, or missing a button, would trigger a terrifying attack!
The interval between pressing the buttons could not exceed one second, or it would also trigger an attack!
This task was not difficult for Yang Feilong and Tang Ya!
Hoo hoo~~~
Yang Feilong stepped forward and pressed the buttons in order.
Instantly, with a series of clicks, the great door opened again.
Qing Luan had initially held her breath, but upon seeing the great door open safely, her face lit up with joy. Indeed, bringing humans to lead the way was the right choice, otherwise, she would have never been able to enter beyond this great door.
She knew that the Spiritual Ape was heavily injured here, and this was merely an outer trial of King Huo Yan's tomb.
Things would be less predictable from here on. She had the Golden Core realm cultivators lead the way while she stayed close to Yang Feilong and Tang Ya. If any danger arose, she could protect them. After all, she had no experience beyond this point. Who knew if the sudden attacks would claim their lives.
Although King Huo Yan's tomb was relatively friendly to humans, he would not allow people with very weak cultivation to obtain his treasures. There would certainly be trials!
After passing through this great door, they entered a spacious hall.
In the center of the hall was an altar, and on the altar was something that looked like a glass dome. However, it was likely not made of ordinary material, otherwise, after so many years, a glass dome would have long since decayed!
Beneath the dome was a three-foot-long box, its material indeterminable!
"Such a long box, it looks like something like a saber or sword is placed inside!" Qing Luan's eyes became fervent. The next moment, she pointed to the altar in front of the dome and asked Yang Feilong, "What does that mean?"
Yang Feilong had noticed the inscriptions earlier. He slowly replied, "According to the inscriptions here, this is King Huo Yan's saber!"
"King Huo Yan's saber? It should be at least an ultimate spirit artifact!" Qing Luan's eyes were burning. In her human form, she could also wield spirit artifacts. An ultimate spirit artifact saber, let alone for her, even the Spiritual Ape did not possess one, and even some Void Refining realm demon kings or emperors might not have one!
With an ultimate spirit artifact, she could fight even against a Spiritual Ape in its peak state!
Qing Luan suppressed her excitement and asked again, "Are there any dangers or trials?"
This was also why she hadn't impulsively tried to break the dome to retrieve the saber earlier. What if there was a powerful danger? Wouldn't she be courting death!
After all, opening the previous great door had cost the Spiritual Ape half its life. This trial, related to King Huo Yan's saber, was clearly not simple!
"From ascending the altar to opening the dome and retrieving the saber, you will face a sword rain trial! The stronger the cultivation, the stronger the sword rain. Of course, the sword rain has a minimum and maximum limit. The minimum limit is that anyone below the Golden Core realm will surely die, while those in the Integration realm will be unharmed," Yang Feilong said. "And..."
"This is utter nonsense," Qing Luan interrupted Yang Feilong before he could finish. She pointed to a subordinate in the Golden Core realm and said, "Go and try!"
Upon hearing this, the demon's figure flashed, and he directly flew towards the altar in the center of the hall.
However, as soon as he approached the altar, the sword rain descended. Streams of brilliant cold light pierced through the demon.
"Ah!" The demon let out a shrill scream and died moments later before the altar. With a thud, his body fell heavily to the ground, shaking the earth.
Silence fell upon everyone present.