Chapter 177: Chapter 154: The Fall of the Heavenly Saint
Of course it's madness!
Let's not even mention the most important "Law Relic"; just the treasures on a Heavenly Saint Realm expert alone are probably worth more than the total secret hoard of a fifth-rank sect!
How could the relics and secret sites left by those Heavenly Saint Realm experts compare to the treasures in the Heavenly Saint Mausoleum!
Not to speak of Heavenly Saints, any cultivator always carries their most important treasures on them, and it's these most important treasures that are most likely to be found in their tombs after death!
Thinking of this, all the experts present, even those in the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, had fiery looks in their eyes.
But whether this phenomenon was really emanating from the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, no one dared to be certain.
"In my Heavenly Wind Kingdom, I've never heard of a fallen Heavenly Saint!"
"Even in the great battle with the ten demon sects of the Western Wasteland, the fallen Heavenly Saints were within other nations, and their bodies were taken away by the living Heavenly Saints long ago!"
"All the Heavenly Saints that appeared in my Heavenly Wind Kingdom later went to other territories. Even those whose lifespans were about to end went to the Polar Star Archipelago and Chaotic Sea of the Barbarian Wilderness to seek their last opportunity!"
"If this is really a Heavenly Saint ancient tomb, then which Heavenly Saint's resting place could it be?"
Countless strong warriors looked towards the three dark giant coffins.
At this moment, five little flame figures had already discovered the huge azure stone twist disc beside the three dark giant coffins.
One little flame figure went straight towards the huge twist disc and started to turn it.
The Spirit Sea Realm cultivator who had discovered the mysterious cave earlier had enveloped their entire body with the endless black aura from the giant twist disc, turning into smoke and triggering the heaven-shaking phenomenon of the cave.
This time, however, as the little flame figure turned the giant twist disc, it didn't turn into smoke. Instead, as it twisted, the twist disc began to make a "kacha kacha kacha" sound.
This sound made everyone's nerves tense!
Clearly, everyone realized that this huge twist disc was the method to open the giant coffin!
When the twist disc had made a full turn, an endless rumbling sound suddenly erupted throughout the cave. Amidst the endless rumbling, the colossal void light pillar that had shot out from the cave and rose hundreds of feet into the sky above Demon Burial Abyss suddenly retracted.
As all the light returned to the three giant coffins, the lids of these three huge dark coffins opened simultaneously, revealing three coffin mouths radiating endless light.
"The entrance to the ancient tomb!"
"It really is an ancient tomb!"
All the cultivators' breathing tightened.
Although they had never entered the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, they had explored other ancient tombs and had read many ancient texts about tombs.
The cultivators knew that an ancient tomb usually had multiple entrances.
Most of these entrances are Gates of Death. Anyone who enters them falls into the deadly traps set by the tomb owner.
You must not barge into the Gates of Death!
Only one entrance is the true Gate of Life, where the tomb owner truly rests and where the real treasures are located!
Although there may be numerous dangers inside the Gate of Life, according to the customs of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, any fallen cultivator would always leave a thread of chance for posterity, a rule that allows exploration of ancient tomb opportunities.
As long as one does not trigger the untouchable areas of the tomb owner, entering the ancient tomb still offers a great opportunity to find treasures and to survive.
Upon seeing infinite light emanating from the three giant coffins and revealing the entrance to the ancient tomb, everyone understood that one of these three entrances was the location of the Gate of Life leading into the ancient tomb.
Investigate!
Of course, they had to investigate which entrance was the Gate of Life and to what level the ancient tomb belonged!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Under the control of Daoist Chi Mei's Divine Sense, three of the five little flame figures flew into the three giant coffin entrances.
As they flew in, the three little flame figures vanished from sight.
A half-incense-stick of time later, amidst everyone's anxious waiting, the little flame figure that had flown into the entrance of the rightmost giant coffin suddenly came flying out, holding a white jade Spirit Plaque in its hand!
The moment the little flame figure flew out, Daoist Chi Mei, who was using his Divine Sense to control the little flame figure, also suddenly opened his eyes, disbelief evident in his gaze, "The rightmost one is the entrance to the ancient tomb!"
"Fellow Daoists, this truly is the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb; it is actually 'Heavenly Saint Linghua's' burial ground!"
"What?!" As Daoist Chi Mei uttered the four words "Heavenly Saint Linghua," many of the Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors who knew of Heavenly Saint Linghua's name revealed an incredulous look, and the two late-stage Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors from Cloud Sky Sect, Daoist Yunyang and Daoist Yun Fang, even cried out in shock.
Heavenly Saint Linghua was the very Heavenly Saint who, thousands of years ago, had cleaved open the "Demon Burial Abyss," a gorge hundreds of miles long, several miles wide, and unfathomably deep!
In that earth-shattering battle thousands of years ago, four Heavenly Saints from across the thirteen southern countries participated, with the ten demon sects of the Western Wasteland deploying three Heavenly Saints.
Among them, on the battlefield within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Heavenly Saint Linghua from "Cloud Sky Sect" and 'Heavenly Saint Moya' from the Defying Demon Sect fought a battle so fierce that it split open even the Demon Burial Abyss.
After the battle, everyone failed to find traces of these two great Heavenly Saints, and even the other Heavenly Saints could not detect their presence; everyone thought that these two had annihilated each other into ashes in their final cataclysmic clash.
It is well known that a battle at the Heavenly Saint level easily results in both parties being reduced to ash!
Because of that battle, "Cloud Sky Sect" and "Defying Demon Sect", which were fourth-rank sects at the time, both fell to the status of fifth-rank sects.
No one had expected that thousands of years later, in the "Demon Burial Abyss" cleaved open by the hands of these two great Heavenly Saints, the ancient tomb of Heavenly Saint Linghua would be discovered!
This of course shocked countless cultivators incredibly.
This of course made the two late-stage Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors from Heavenly Saint Linghua's sect, "Cloud Sky Sect", cry out in astonishment!
"Heavenly Saint Linghua, a supreme genius of my Heavenly Wind Kingdom years ago, a Heavenly Saint well-known for his good nature!"
"He actually didn't turn into ashes in the battle against 'Heavenly Saint Moya' that year; he lived on and even left behind an ancient tomb!"
"He must have been severely injured that year, and since there were other Heavenly Saints present on the battlefield, he couldn't show himself again, so he hid within the 'Demon Burial Abyss'!"
"Good heavens."
"This is a great opportunity for our Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Although Heavenly Saint Linghua eventually fell, he must have left a great opportunity for the younger generation of our country!"
"Our Heavenly Wind Kingdom hasn't produced a Heavenly Saint for a long time. Could this be an opportunity for our country?"
All the cultivators in the Rotating Pill Realm held their breath in anticipation.
When two of the small flame figures died in the Gate of Death, and the remaining three emerged from the Gate of Life carrying the white jade Spirit Plaque, Daoist Yunyang of the Cloud Sky Sect immediately fixed his gaze on this white jade Spirit Plaque.
Once Daoist Chi Mei recaptured the small flame figures and handed the white jade Spirit Plaque to Daoist Yunyang, who inspected it, he was greatly moved, "This Spirit Plaque, it truly belongs to the 'Heavenly Saint Linghua' from our sect!"
Another member of the Cloud Sky Sect, Daoist Yun Fang, also examined it and nodded in shock.
With both powerhouses from the Cloud Sky Sect confirming this item, it seemed that this really was the site of Heavenly Saint Linghua's ancient tomb!
"Quick, see if there are any rules for entering the tomb recorded on this Spirit Plaque!"
"Since the ancient tomb was left by Heavenly Saint Linghua, he must have left many treasures for the cultivators of our Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"
Hearing that it was truly the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, countless Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were overjoyed.
At that moment, Yunyang began to examine the Spirit Plaque with his Divine Sense, holding it against his forehead.
After a thorough investigation, he furrowed his brow and passed the Spirit Plaque to several other strong individuals.
Eventually, all six powerhouses in the sky had examined the Spirit Plaque, and all of them furrowed their brows.
Furrowed brows?
Could there be some difficulty with the rules for entering the tomb inscribed on this Spirit Plaque?
Seeing the six powerhouses all with furrowed brows, everyone became curious.
Finally, Fairy Jia Luo spoke up, "Just like other Heavenly Saints, Heavenly Saint Linghua's tomb only opens for certain individuals."
Fairy Jia Luo's words made the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses anxious, "Jia Luo, what exactly does the Spirit Plaque say about the rules for entering the tomb?"
All ancient tombs have rules for entry, which are the sole demands of the tomb's master. To enter the tomb, one must of course follow these rules.
It seems that Heavenly Saint Linghua's rules for tomb entry determine the selection of those who may enter?
Fairy Jia Luo slowly said, "The Spirit Plaque left by Heavenly Saint Linghua states clearly that only people in the Spirit Sea Realm may enter his ancient tomb!"
Upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo's words, all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses realized why the six earlier powerhouses had all furrowed their brows.
The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, not to mention its appeal to those in the True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm, of course held a great attraction for Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses as well.
To think the tomb's rules prohibit those in the Rotating Pill Realm from entering, preventing them from personally searching for its treasures—this naturally caused the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to frown!
While the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses frowned, the disciples in the True Qi Realm showed expressions of disappointment, as it was obvious the tomb was now irrelevant to them.
However, the Spirit Sea Realm disciples, upon hearing the rule, showed excited expressions.
Although these Spirit Sea Realm disciples knew that, even if only they could enter the ancient tomb, most of the treasures found would likely end up in the hands of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, just being able to enter the tomb meant they had a chance at obtaining benefits!
Such an opportunity falling into their laps was naturally cause for excitement!
If the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses could enter the tomb, then they wouldn't even dare dream of receiving any benefits!
In the end, the six powerhouses holding the tomb's Spirit Plaque began to coordinate arrangements for entering the ancient tomb.
Even if they couldn't enter the tomb themselves, they still needed to control the entrance to the tomb, deciding who could enter was obviously within their power to dictate.
Ultimately, the six powerhouses agreed that the Spirit Sea Realm individuals eligible to enter the tomb would be selected from the various major sects.
The three major fifth-grade sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom—the Cloud Sky Sect, the Moon Concealing Sect, and the Flame Sect—would each have thirty spots.
The Taixuan Sect, among the ten major sixth-grade sects, would each be able to choose ten disciples to enter the tomb.
As for the forty-three seventh-grade sects, each sect was only allotted three spots.
The seventh-grade and lower sects, the eighth-grade sects, didn't even possess the qualifications to enter the tomb!
Daoist Wine Sword, an independent cultivator, like the fifth-grade sects, was also permitted to allow thirty Spirit Sea Realm independent cultivators to enter the tomb.
In the end, the number of people who could enter the tomb was set at three hundred forty-nine.
The agreed-upon distribution of treasures was that any treasure found by a sect disciple allowed that sect's Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to take half for their own distribution, with the other half left to the disciple who found it. Independent cultivators who found treasures would, of course, need to share with Daoist Wine Sword.
As for who would obtain the most important "Law Relic," they would have the opportunity to study the "Law Relic" together with the six major powerhouses!
The Law Relic, of course, was not something the six powerhouses would allow to fall into the hands of others!
The six major powerhouses continued making arrangements to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.
But what no one knew was that, including the Spirit Sea Realm disciple who had touched the huge twist disc and turned into smoke the day before, over the past few thousand years, a total of one hundred people had inadvertently entered this cave, and all had turned to smoke upon touching the huge twist disc.
It was the death of these one hundred individuals that had triggered the astonishing phenomena of the ancient tomb's unveiling.
If these facts were known, all powerhouses familiar with the name of Heavenly Saint Linghua would hesitate.
For Heavenly Saint Linghua was known for his great kindness within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. How could his tomb have possibly caused the death of a hundred people just to open?!
Was this ancient tomb truly a great opportunity for the Heavenly Wind Kingdom?
Or was it, perhaps, a hidden catastrophe waiting to unfold!