Chapter 226: Entering the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb

Chapter 226: Entering the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb

Seeing Xu Yan's gaze on him, Shen Haizhou quickly put on a smile and said, "That tortoise grandson Dai Jun actually dares to threaten you, my brother, with my family's Refining God ancestor. It's simply outrageous."

"How can I stand by and do nothing? I'll definitely teach him a lesson."

A twitch formed at the corner of Xu Yan's mouth, and he turned away to continue his contemplation of the Martial Way.

After this incident, all the Proud Sons of Heaven from the Black Cloud Swamp secretly paid attention to Xu Yan, the mysterious young man.

His strength was unquestionable and extremely powerful.

They speculated whether he was a Proud Son from a powerful Spiritual Sect or truly a lone cultivator.

There were indeed Proud Sons among lone cultivators.

However, Yu Province had never heard of such a young genius.

Could he be a lone cultivator genius from another province?

Usually, a lone cultivator of such genius would be recruited by a major power.

Except for a very small number of extremely proud lone cultivators, most would join a major power due to their talent, after all, it was better to rely on a big tree for shade.

Moreover, they would immediately rise above the rank of low-level warriors.

The Proud Sons present began to suspect if Xu Yan was of this category, recruited by a major power due to his outstanding talent.

However, he still had a proud bone in his body, which was why he didn't wear the insignia of his affiliated power even at this grand event.

Otherwise, no matter how proud a lone cultivator was, they would never dare to defy the might of a Refining God Heavenly Man from a first-rate clan.

Shen Haizhou sat on the ground, his face filled with gloom and conflict as he looked at Xu Yan on the boulder, occasionally revealing a pained expression.

This time, his losses were quite heavy!

His collection, accumulated over a long period, had just disappeared like that!

The storm ended with Shen Haizhou retreating and occupying Dai Jun's place. The Proud Sons from the other powers felt that Shen Haizhou had lost face, but it wasn't their face that was lost.

Moreover, Xu Yan was strong and suspected to be a top disciple of a leading spiritual sect, so without definite proof that he was a lone cultivator, the Proud Sons wouldn't take any extreme actions.

Dai Jun's face turned black as he gritted his teeth, secretly swearing that once the Dai family attached themselves to the Super Spiritual Sect, he would definitely reclaim this loss.

Then he suddenly thought of his sister. Why hadn't she come yet?

There were only three to five days left before entering the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb.

"Could it be that I have to give up entering the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb?"

Dai Jun was perplexed.

Three days later, the poisonous miasma above the Black Cloud Swamp had become very faint, and the black rock mountain in the center of the swamp was clearly visible.

Everyone's hearts trembled as they prepared to enter the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb to fight for the treasures within.

Xu Yan finished his contemplation of the Martial Way, his brows furrowed slightly. Shen Haizhou kept glancing at him, his face filled with conflict and pain.

He looked like he had suffered a huge loss.

"Are there precious treasures in his storage bag?"

Xu Yan's heart stirred with joy, and he immediately took out Shen Haizhou's storage bag.

When he opened it, he couldn't help but exclaim. Indeed, as the young master of a first-rate clan, there were probably over 100,000 spirit crystals, and there were also several stacks of spirit bills and the like.

There were several dozen fifth-grade spirit herbs, over a hundred sixth-grade spirit herbs, and even over a dozen fourth-grade spirit herbs. There were also quite a few bottles and cans, and two of the bottles contained the Gathering Spirit Pills that he had mentioned.

Seeing these bottles and cans, Xu Yan felt pained. How many spirit herbs must have been wasted to make them!

In addition, there was also a long sword, a set of armor, and their grades were extraordinary, seemingly surpassing the level of magical artifacts.

What particularly caught Xu Yan's attention was a purple wooden box inside, which seemed to contain something especially precious.

Xu Yan's spirits lifted. Was this what Shen Haizhou was so pained about?

He couldn't help but become curious.

He took out the purple box.

The purple wooden box was made from an unknown wood and had a faint fragrance. Carved on it were two bewitching, dancing women.

Xu Yan opened the wooden box a crack and was taken aback.

The first things that caught his eye were purple, pink, white, and translucent... women's intimate lingerie?

His expression gradually became strange as he opened the box and pushed aside the lingerie to reveal several small books and scrolls of paintings underneath.

He picked up one of the small books and opened it. Inside was a painting of a man and a woman stuck together, with some descriptive words on the side.

He put it down and picked up another, his expression becoming even stranger.

The small books were all illustrated erotic novels.

He picked up one of the scrolls and unfurled it. On the painting was a beauty without a single thread on, exquisite and captivating, with clear hair. There were several beauties in various poses in one painting.

Unfurling another scroll revealed more beauties in different poses, each one with a stunning appearance, some coquettish, some cute, and some pure...

Xu Yan's expression was strange as he stopped looking and closed the box, turning to look at Shen Haizhou, who was in pain and extremely conflicted. He fell into deep thought.

What Shen Haizhou was pained about might not be the spirit crystals or spirit herbs, but the things in this box!

Seeing Xu Yan looking at him, Shen Haizhou quickly put on a smile, trying to make his chubby face look as honest as possible.

Xu Yan held up the wooden box and asked, "What are these things inside?"

Making a gesture as if he was about to throw it into the Black Cloud Swamp, Shen Haizhou immediately panicked and jumped up, saying, "Brother, wait, wait! These are my collection!"

Regardless of the danger, he hurried over to the boulder, rubbing his hands together with a flattering smile on his face, and said, "Brother, if you don't want it, just give it back to me. I spent a lot of time collecting these."

"It's important?"

Xu Yan raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, very important!"

Shen Haizhou quickly nodded.

"But this is your compensation to me, so it belongs to me now..."

Xu Yan said calmly.

"I'll buy it, I'll buy it!"

Shen Haizhou quickly spoke up.

Xu Yan smiled, "Then name your price. How much do you think it's worth?"

Shen Haizhou was in a dilemma. If he quoted a low price, it would be somewhat insulting to his collection, and the other party might also take it as an insult?

If he quoted a high price, it would be somewhat painful.

After thinking about it, he gritted his teeth and held up one finger.

"Deal, one million spirit crystals!"

Xu Yan readily agreed.

"No, I mean..."

Shen Haizhou was stunned.

I meant one hundred thousand spirit crystals! How can you just say one million spirit crystals?

Is this thing worth that much to you?

"What, didn't you say one million spirit crystals? If it's not worth that much, then what's the point of keeping it? Am I lacking in spirit crystals?"

Xu Yan frowned, displeased.

"It's worth it, it's worth it!"

Shen Haizhou gritted his teeth.

As the young master of the first-rate Shen family, one million spirit crystals was nothing.

Moreover, he had put in a lot of effort to collect these treasures.

If they were destroyed, he didn't know how much time it would take to collect them again.

Xu Yan patted the box and smiled, "Then give me the money."

"I don't have that many spirit crystals on me right now."

Shen Haizhou's face turned awkward.

"Then I'll throw it away."

Xu Yan made a move as if to throw the box into the Black Cloud Swamp.

"I have the money, I have the money, just wait a moment.

Dai Jun's chest cavity felt like it was about to explode as he clenched his teeth. "No! I won't lend it to you!"

With Shen Haizhou's character, how could he expect to be repaid?

Shen Haizhou scoffed coldly, "You, Dai Jun, dared to bring up my Shen family's Refining God Heavenly Man. This is a great disrespect. You, as the descendant of a second-rate family, have no qualifications to mention my first-rate Shen family's Refining God Heavenly Man.

"If you don't lend me the money, you will have to bear the consequences of disrespecting a Refining God Heavenly Man from a first-rate family!" Shen Haizhou threatened.

Dai Jun glared at Shen Haizhou, his eyes burning with anger. "Shen Haizhou, don't push your luck. When have I ever disrespected the Refining God Heavenly Man? It is you who are disgracing the aristocratic families with your behavior!"

"Stop blabbering. Either lend me the money or I'll go to the Zheng Kingdom's royalty and tell them that the Dai family has no respect for status, looks down on first-rate families, and is outrageously arrogant and rude. I'll also tell them that you intend to gather your followers to surround and attack me, Shen Haizhou..." Shen Haizhou threatened further.

"Fine! I'll lend it to you!" Dai Jun's face contorted with anger and reluctance as he finally relented.

That good-for-nothing Shen Haizhou had no shame! Dai Jun truly feared that Shen Haizhou would cause trouble and affect the marriage alliance between the Dai family and the Zheng Kingdom's royalty.

With a dark expression, Dai Jun took out all the spirit crystals and spirit bills he had on him and from his followers, barely managing to scrape together one million spirit crystals.

"Write me an IOU!" Dai Jun demanded coldly.

"You're disrespecting me, Shen Haizhou, the young master of a first-rate family. How could I be a person who breaks his promises? You're disrespecting me and the Shen family by questioning the credibility of a first-rate family. Who gave you the guts to do that?" Shen Haizhou jumped up, his face twisting with anger.

"F*ck you!" Dai Jun almost blew his top, wishing he could tear Shen Haizhou into eighteen pieces.

Shen Haizhou returned with a smug smile on his face, having retrieved his collection from Xu Yan.

As for the one million spirit crystals?

It wasn't his money, so he didn't feel any heartache at all.

As for repaying the debt, he simply pushed it to the back of his mind. Without any evidence, who would dare accuse the young master of a first-rate family of not repaying his debts?

That was a quick way to lose their life!

The poisonous miasma above the Black Cloud Swamp dissipated, revealing the black rock mountain at its center. It stood tall, its massive black body resembling ink that had been poured and solidified.

"Go!" The proud sons of heaven instructed their scouts to venture toward the Black Rock Mountain.

When all the scouts had safely reached the mountain without incident, the proud sons took to the skies and flew toward it.

Xu Yan took a step forward, neither rushing ahead nor lagging behind.

The Black Rock Mountain was as black as ink, with a protruding boulder at its waist.

"Open the tomb's entrance," one of the proud sons ordered.

The scouts drew their weapons, their auras bursting forth as they attacked the protruding black boulder.

A loud rumble shook the air, and dust and debris flew everywhere.

Several pieces of rubble shot toward two of the scouts, who quickly defended themselves.

Initially, they didn't pay much attention to the rubble, as its force was limited, and they could easily ward it off.

However, with a hissing sound, the rubble corroded their defenses in an instant and shot toward them. Startled, they tried to dodge, but it was too late.

"Boom!" Their bodies erupted with power, forming a defensive shield.

Hiss! But the rubble was like red-hot iron, melting through their defenses and piercing their bodies.

"Ah!" The scouts cried out in pain as they fell to the ground.

"Help me!" They cried, their bodies turning black where the rubble had struck them, and the blackness quickly spread.

What was even more terrifying was that as they fell to the ground, their clothes began to corrode with a hissing sound, exposing their skin.

As soon as their bare skin touched the black rock, their entire backs turned black and the corruption continued to spread.

In just a few breaths, the two scouts turned into charred black figures, their lives hanging by a thread as they lay unable to utter a word.

"Be careful not to touch anything. This Black Rock Mountain is filled with deadly poison," one of the proud sons warned, a chill running down his spine.

The scouts proceeded with caution, wary of the flying debris.

One wrong move could lead to the same fate as the two unfortunate scouts.

Debris flew everywhere, and black dust filled the air.

With a thunderous rumble, the boulder disappeared, revealing a circular entrance.

The meter-high circular opening resembled a giant snake's lair, and the proud sons were thrilled, believing that this was indeed the Qing Tian Jiao Tomb.

"Go in!" The scouts stepped forward, hovering above the ground to avoid touching the mountain's walls. One by one, they entered the cave, with the proud sons following closely behind.

"Brother, after you," Shen Haizhou said with a smile.

"You first," Xu Yan replied calmly, showing no urgency.

"Alright, alright," Shen Haizhou said, stepping into the cave.

As they ventured deeper, the cave grew darker, and even the scouts with their enhanced vision could only rely on their senses to navigate.

One of the scouts at the front took out a night pearl, and a faint light illuminated the darkness.

As they continued forward, the scout holding the night pearl suddenly collapsed, causing the one behind him to panic.

In the faint light of the night pearl, they saw that the fallen scout had turned black and was lifeless, having unknowingly been affected by the deadly poison.

"Don't use the night pearl, it triggers the poison!" the third scout warned in a low voice.

He was terrified as he saw tendrils of black mist drawn to the light of the night pearl, seeping into the fallen scout's body.

"Keep moving forward!" one of the proud sons ordered from the back.

The scouts continued their journey, leaving the lifeless body of their companion behind.

The cave was pitch-black, and no one dared to use a night pearl for fear of the poison. They relied solely on their enhanced vision and keen senses to feel their way forward.

Xu Yan brought up the rear, having already taken a detoxification pill and holding an anti-poison pill in his mouth. He silently assessed the situation and concluded that these poisons, though potent, could still be countered by the pills he had.

Reassured, he continued forward.

At the foot of the Black Rock Mountain, a snake with a jade-like body that was about a meter long and had a small bump on its head slithered toward the mountain and the cave entrance.

Its eyes glinted with a cold light.

The snake hissed softly as it whispered to itself, "This belongs to me, and no one can covet it. I am the descendant of the Qing Tian Jiao, and I have the blood of the Jiao in my veins.

"Once I obtain the Jiao dragon body inside, my bloodline will be further purified, and I will be able to break through to the fifth stage!"

The crystal-like snake made its way toward the cave entrance, and as it entered the darkness, its once lustrous body gradually turned black, blending seamlessly into the shadows.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end