Chapter 262: "The Sin of the Present Generation, the Merit of Future Generations!"

Chapter 262: "The Sin of the Present Generation, the Merit of Future Generations!"

Deep within the underground passage of the Mock Heaven Sect's mountain range in the small world.

Chen Qiu did not activate his movement technique but walked slowly at a normal pace. After all, this was an unknown realm, and it was better to be cautious. He didn't want to slip up in this corner.

He had complete control over every blade of grass and every tree in this small world.

One could say that even if a single medicinal herb withered in this small world, he could know about it if he wanted to. It was a form of absolute control, like a natal law treasure. However, he knew nothing about this underground passage.

It was as if...

A person who understood their body well but could never see their own anus. This passage was hidden deep in the corners, beyond his detection range.

Soon—

He finally reached a heavy iron door. This was the iron door that Bear Gao had mentioned. Without further delay, he examined the material of the iron door but found nothing special about it. It wasn't even a spirit treasure, just an ordinary iron door, albeit a bit thicker.

This reduced the possibility of a terrifying beast being hidden below. Such ordinary iron could only block Foundation Establishment cultivators. Once one's cultivation broke through to the Golden Core stage, it would be impossible to be stopped by such a door.

After walking for about a hundred zhang, Bear Gao, who had been following behind, suddenly spoke up, "Master, we only probed up to here last time and didn't continue forward."

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu nodded and continued forward. He could see Little Wolf's claw marks in the passage ahead, indicating that Little Wolf had ventured deeper. After walking for nearly a thousand breaths, the path suddenly opened up.

A wide square appeared at the end of the winding passage, and it was made entirely of green stones. The ground and the curved walls surrounding the square were also constructed from green stones.

In the center of the square stood a stone tablet, which originally had inscriptions, but now they were completely destroyed.

"This..."

Chen Qiu, standing in the green stone square, looked at the scene before him and was slightly startled. This scene was too familiar; he had seen it countless times!

The green stone square in the Heaven's Talent Preliminary Screening Realm was exactly like this!

He had originally planned to participate in Heaven's Talent Path, but before he could, he had already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. His cultivation was no longer allowed on Heaven's Talent Path. When the Profound Heaven Continent opened Heaven's Talent Path, he didn't go, and he didn't care who had won the top spot.

In the Great Xia Kingdom, deep beneath the Endless Ice Plains, there was also such an underground tunnel leading to three green stone squares. They were the remnants of the Mock Heaven Sect. He had thought that these remnants were imitations of Heaven's Talent Path used for testing.

In the lifetime of Sword One, he had lived there for a long time.

In the lifetime of the National Master, he had kept Little Wolf there.

In this lifetime as Chen Qiu, he had taken the opportunities of the previous eight lifetimes and had also stepped into the green stone square deep within the Endless Ice Plains. He had taken the information left by Sword One and the Little Wolf left by the National Master.

However, he never expected that there would be another green stone square here, almost identical to the previous ones, without any changes.

The only difference was that the stone tablets in the center of the previous green stone squares had inscriptions indicating which level they were, while this green stone square's stone tablet...

Chen Qiu's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he strode towards the stone tablet in the center of the green stone square. He squatted down and examined it carefully. Originally, there should have been inscriptions, but they had been destroyed by someone unknown. It wasn't Little Wolf, as the traces seemed to have been there for a very long time, at least tens of thousands of years.

He then scanned the surroundings of the green stone square.

There were no special signs.

Only the walls had several rows of words carved into them:

"Today, our sect is destined to perish."

"Heaven's wrath is upon us, but it is not the fault of war."

"I am the last Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect. Today marks the 8,760th year since the Mock Heaven Sect has been imprisoned here. The sect has been imprisoned here for far too long, and people have almost forgotten its name."

"In the Land of Heavenly Prison, there are restrictions that prevent the formation of Nascent Souls and the emergence of Nascent Soul-level power."

"After the efforts of several Sect Leaders of the Mock Heaven Sect, a method to break free from this prison has finally been found."

"Therefore..."

"The Mock Heaven Sect, with all its strength, has set up this False Heaven's Talent Path."

These were very familiar lines that he had seen many times in the Great Xia Kingdom, including on the walls of the green stone square deep beneath the Endless Ice Plains.

There, the word "sin" was a mechanism. Pressing it would open the secret room behind the wall.

The same should apply here.

Little Wolf, as expected, had already entered. Chen Qiu saw a wolf claw mark on the word "sin."

After standing silently for a while, Chen Qiu stepped forward and pressed the word "sin." Soon, a rumbling sound came from behind the wall, and a narrow secret room slowly appeared. The room inside looked like a mess.

The ground was filled with empty porcelain bottles.

Chen Qiu picked up a porcelain bottle from the ground, examined it in his hand, and saw several lines of words written at the bottom of the bottle.

"Can significantly improve the cultivation of demonic beasts. One pill takes three months to refine. Otherwise, the body will surely explode."

"Extremely potent medicine, use with caution."

There were hundreds of porcelain bottles in total, but it was unknown how many pills they contained. However, they were all empty, indicating that Little Wolf had swallowed all the pills. It was a miracle that he hadn't exploded immediately, but his body must be on the verge of collapse.

Chen Qiu looked at the secret room before him with a complex expression. He had never imagined that there would be such a place beneath the small world, hidden with so many pills. If Bear Gao hadn't found this place, he might never have known about it.

At this moment, the secret room was completely empty, thoroughly ransacked by Little Wolf.

As he was about to leave the secret room, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

He walked straight back to the wall engraved with rows of characters and forcefully pressed the first character, "Zong."

The next moment—

A loud rumbling sound echoed from another wall in the green stone plaza, and a secret room slowly emerged once again. This time, the room was filled with spirit stones.

Countless spirit stones.

The room was packed with spirit stones, and protective measures were in place to prevent the spirit energy from leaking out. This served two purposes: to keep the existence of the spirit stones hidden from outsiders and to ensure their preservation for a longer period.

A hint of awe flashed through Chen Qiu's eyes.

He scanned the area with his divine perception and found that there were a whopping 500,000 intermediate-grade spirit stones here. For him, this was quite a sight, as he had seen his fair share of the world and knew that 500,000 spirit stones were not an insignificant number.

But the problem was!

His current status was even higher than that of the former Mock Heaven Sect, as he had become the strongest in the Second-Grade Continent and was about to venture into the Third-Grade Continent. In contrast, the Mock Heaven Sect had only held sway in the First-Grade Continent.

Moreover, they hadn't been able to dominate and were ultimately defeated by the joint efforts of several top powers in Zhongzhou.

That was in the First-Grade Continent.

The concentration of heavenly energy in the First-Grade Continent wasn't overly dense, so naturally, the production of spirit stones would be limited. To amass 500,000 spirit stones was no small feat, and even when he left the Profound Heaven Continent, he hadn't been able to gather that many spirit stones from the top powers.

"Old...Old Master."

Standing behind him, Bear Gao, equally awestruck, trembled as he spoke, "Why didn't they store these spirit stones in storage bracelets? That way, they could have been preserved for longer, and the spirit energy wouldn't have leaked out."

"I'm not sure."

Chen Qiu shook his head, as he, too, was curious about the reason.

In the third layer of the corridor beneath the Endless Ice Plains, there was also a line of characters on the wall, but only the character "Zui" was present, and pressing it had a response. The other characters showed no reaction when pressed.

He had acted on a whim to try it out and was surprised to find it worked.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Qiu didn't immediately collect all the spirit stones into his storage bracelet. Instead, he walked up to the wall and pressed the second character, "Men."

Another secret room slowly appeared on the vast green stone plaza.

This room also contained 500,000 spirit stones.

The third character revealed another room with 500,000 spirit stones! The fourth character unveiled a room filled with hundreds of porcelain bottles containing pills, identical to the one the little wolf had devoured.

The fifth character revealed a room with 500,000 spirit stones! The sixth character unveiled a room filled with hundreds of Primordial Soul-grade spirit treasures! The seventh character revealed a room with hundreds of Primordial Soul-grade formation disks! The eighth character unveiled a room with hundreds of Primordial Soul-grade talismans! The ninth character revealed a room with 500,000 spirit stones!

With each character pressed, a secret room appeared, and without exception, they were filled with heavenly materials, treasures, or spirit stones. This wealth had been hidden deep beneath the mini-world, and if Chen Qiu had discovered it while still in the Great Xia Kingdom, the saying 'rich enough to rival a country' would have been more than just a joke.

He could have bought thousands of Great Xia Kingdoms with this wealth.

This was no laughing matter.

A single Primordial Soul-grade spirit treasure alone could buy the entire Great Xia Kingdom. After all, the Great Xia Kingdom was a place where Nascent Souls rarely appeared, and there weren't many high-quality items to be found. It was simply a place with a large population, mostly comprised of mortals.

In the cultivation world, cultivators at the Qi Cultivation stage were collectively referred to as mortals. Sometimes, even Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't considered noteworthy. Only upon reaching the Golden Core stage did one gain some respect.

Among the items here, whether it was talismans, formation disks, pills, or other treasures, the highest grade was Primordial Soul pinnacle. So far, he hadn't seen any Refining Void-grade items.

This aligned with the former circumstances of the Mock Heaven Sect. According to the records, the highest level they could access was these grades, and to find higher-grade items, one would have to venture into the Upper Continent. These items were impossible to find in the Lower Continent.

However,

Chen Qiu made a rough calculation and found that there were a total of 1.1 million spirit stones here, no more, no less. This was an incredibly terrifying number, not just for the First-Grade Continent but even for the Second-Grade and Third-Grade Continents.

The former Mock Heaven Sect was merely a dominant force in the First-Grade Continent. How could they have stored so many spirit stones? Especially considering that the sect had been disbanded?

He had a vague feeling that the former Mock Heaven Sect might be more complex than he had imagined. Just then, he pressed the last character on the wall, "..."—this ellipsis was the final character.

The three dots were connected, and the handwriting became increasingly sloppy towards the end, identical to the characters in the Endless Ice Plains. It was as if they had been carved from the same mold.

As the last character was pressed,

A deafening rumble reverberated from within the walls of the green stone plaza, and the entire plaza suddenly split in two, like a slumbering beast slowly opening its giant jaws.

The thick crack on the ground was awe-inspiring, instilling fear in those who witnessed it. Chen Qiu didn't make any unnecessary movements; instead, he took a step back and calmly awaited the upcoming changes.

After a few breaths,

The crack on the ground widened to several zhang, and the green stone plaza seemed to split like a divided copper coin. Chen Qiu stood in his original spot, gazing at the other half of the plaza, now several zhang away. He didn't speak but took a few steps forward and looked down at the crack.

He didn't release his divine perception, sensing that there might be a sleeping monster below and not wanting to disturb it.

Instead, he peered down with his naked eye.

But the darkness was too intense, and he couldn't see anything. His index finger trembled as he threw a ball of light down, and this time, he saw something below, but his eyes couldn't help but reveal a hint of intense shock.

Below is a larger granite plaza!

Nearly ten thousand people stood in perfect formation on the plaza, like statues, devoid of any extra expressions. They stood motionlessly, their bodies straight and the rows impeccably aligned.

Not a breath, not a sign of life.

These bodies had been dead for who knows how many years, but there was no hint of decay, and the air was devoid of any stench of death. They were like specimens preserved forever.

Each person wore a sect robe, and on their chests was a single embroidered character: "Mock"! These people were once a part of the millions of sword cultivators from the Mock Heaven Sect.

"How... how is this possible?"

Even Chen Qiu, who had experienced countless storms, couldn't help but be shocked at the sight before him. He had never imagined that the disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect were still alive, though their souls had long departed.

But they were indeed still here.

His divine perception instinctively swept out, and he realized that this granite plaza was much larger than the one above, with many potted plants. The purple flowers in the pots were unknown, but they showed no signs of withering. Using his 'Omniscient' purple attribute, he learned about the effects of these flowers.

They were also heavenly materials.

Known as "Corpse Flowers".

Their effect was singular: to preserve corpses for ten thousand years, often used as burial items for high-level cultivators who had reached the end of their natural lives. Lower-level cultivators couldn't afford them, and for those who didn't die naturally, their corpses didn't need to be preserved for ten thousand years to remain intact.

It was the abundance of these potted plants that kept the corpses of nearly ten thousand people intact, even after countless years.

After a moment of thought, Chen Qiu spoke in a deep voice, "Let's go down and take a look."

As his words fell, he jumped straight down.

Only Bear Gao remained at the edge, his legs trembling. His expression was worse than crying as he looked at the motionless corpses below. He had always been a coward.

If he jumped down and the statue-like corpses suddenly turned to look at him, or if someone suddenly patted his shoulder, he would surely die of fright.

In his heart, he didn't want to go down for a million dollars.

But...

Since the master had given the order, he had no choice but to obey! He wasn't afraid of death; he was just afraid of these eerie things. If a powerful cultivator wanted to kill him, he wouldn't flinch, as he couldn't lose face for the master. But if a group of female ghosts surrounded him with malicious intent, he might consider taking his own life.

These were two different matters!

"Yes, master!"

Although this was what he was thinking, he unconsciously said 'yes' and then, gritting his teeth, followed Chen Qiu down.

".

Chen Qiu stood on the plaza, several times larger than the one above, his face calm as he examined a corpse. He gently touched the skin, feeling a slight lack of softness, and guessed that the body had been preserved with wax before death.

He then poked the corpse's eye.

He lifted the eyelid to take a look, but decided against it.

His divine perception sensed that none of the corpses had any external injuries, not even a scratch. This was an absurd situation. Even in a mortal town, if you gathered ten thousand people, it would be impossible for not a single one to be without injury.

At the very least, there would be scratches from daily life.

Pain and injury were a constant presence in life, and their absence was a rarity.

In other words—

These ten thousand people were likely selected, a group of ten thousand inner sect disciples with no injuries, who were then forced to swallow poison and stand quietly in their designated spots, waiting for death.

Yes, these people had died from poison.

He sensed clear signs of scorching and blackening in their throats, indicating the ingestion of potent poison.

He could roughly guess the scene from ten thousand, twenty thousand, or even thirty thousand years ago.

At that time, the Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect had selected nearly ten thousand uninjured inner sect disciples. After swallowing the poison pills, they jumped into a wax pool, coating their bodies, and then walked to their designated spots in the plaza, standing silently, waiting for death.

The atmosphere was solemn, filled with a sense of disdain for death.

He leaned towards the idea that this had happened thirty thousand years ago, as it was only then that the Mock Heaven Sect faced a significant crisis, requiring them to preserve their living strength. But how could they preserve their strength through suicide?

".

Chen Qiu, expressionless, turned his head to the side, deep in thought. He suddenly understood why the upper plaza was filled with so many spirit stones and heavenly materials. These items were prepared for these people.

When this group of people resurrects.

These spirit stones, spirit treasures, talismans, formation disks, and other heavenly materials will enable them to rapidly recover to their peak cultivation, or even surpass it.

But the question remained: could these people truly resurrect after tens of thousands of years without any signs of revival? And on what basis? The ground was spotless, not a speck of dust.

He crouched down, gently caressing the granite floor, sensing the constant operation of a formation—the Dustless Formation, a formation that didn't consume much spirit qi. Even if it had been running for tens of thousands of years, it wouldn't have exhausted much spirit qi.

The spirit qi was not supplied by spirit stones but directly absorbed from the heavens and earth, sufficient even in the depths of the earth where spirit qi was scarce.

Aside from this.

There was no grand formation that could bring these people, dead for tens of thousands of years, back to life.

"Soldiers?" Chen Qiu stood up and looked around at the group of former Mock Heaven Sect disciples, their heights varying, and frowned slightly. He had long known that the Mock Heaven Sect was a sect composed entirely of pure transmigrators.

However, their calmness in the face of death, their upright postures, and the disciplined formation gave him a familiar feeling.

In that case, he could understand why the Mock Heaven Sect had always been known for its aggression. After all, discovering a new continent and not attempting to conquer it would be a waste.

But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the possibility.

These people were not soldiers. Although they stood straight and in formation, they lacked a certain quality, that iron-blooded aura, and instead, there was a hint of eeriness.

"Damn it." Chen Qiu suddenly patted his head and muttered, "This former Mock Heaven Sect looks like a villain."

Yes, a villain.

The place gave off a strong villainous vibe, an eerie atmosphere. A proper, upright sect wouldn't create such things.

"Sir..."

Bear Gao, who had been following closely behind, spoke with a trembling voice, "What about those spirit stones? Should we take them with us?"

By now, he had also realized the purpose of those spirit stones; they were obviously meant for these people after their resurrection.

"Of course."

Chen Qiu nodded slightly, "Heaven bestows, and to not take it is to invite retribution. With it right in front of us, how could we possibly let it go?"

"But what if they wake up and come after us?"

"What then?"

Leaning on the Heavenly Umbrella, Chen Qiu stood on the granite plaza and scanned the surroundings, speaking softly, "Then we'll have to put them back to sleep. There's no one I can't beat, and no one I won't dare to rob."

"If I'm in a good mood, I'll leave the bodies."

"If I'm not, I'll take the bodies and burn them as firewood."

It had to be said that these spirit stones arrived at the perfect time. He was currently in dire need of spirit stones, trapped in the Mystic Heaven State by the State Continent Constraint, unable to venture out and seize spirit stones. Just as he was worrying about where to obtain them, these spirit stones came right to his doorstep.

1.1 million intermediate spirit stones were enough for him to use for a long time.

The former Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect must have accumulated a substantial amount of spirit stones.

However, Chen Qiu searched among the corpses in the granite plaza, but he couldn't find a single leader. They were all disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect, standing together without a single elder or sect leader. There was no one leading them.

That meant there were only two possibilities: one, a more righteous scenario where the upper echelon of the Mock Heaven Sect had preserved the younger generation here and left to face death alone.

The other, a more conspiratorial possibility, was that the higher-ups of the Mock Heaven Sect had deceived these people, luring them to their deaths. They had promised to share life and death, but the leaders of the Mock Heaven Sect had all escaped.

Wait a moment...

He found a wooden chair.

All the disciples, with expressionless faces, were looking in the same direction. At the front of this army-like formation was a chair, and they had all been gazing at it before their deaths.

And beneath the chair, there was also the presence of wax.

This meant that someone had once sat here, consumed the poison pill, and jumped into the wax pool. But now, the chair was empty, implying that this granite plaza had once had a leader, but that leader had already resurrected and departed.

"Phew," Chen Qiu sighed, sitting in the chair and leaning on the armrest, looking down at the countless former disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect. From his perspective, he could clearly see the eyes of each disciple, all fixed on him.

It was a bit eerie.

"Sir," Bear Gao, standing by his side, spoke subconsciously, "This chair seems to suit you very well."

". . ."

Chen Qiu's lips twitched as he turned to Bear Gao, "Don't say such scary things next time."

But it had to be said, the chair was indeed very comfortable, and it suited him perfectly.

However, he was certain that whoever had escaped was not him.

And the one who once sat in this chair...

Most likely, it was the first Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect.

That fixed the timeline; this was 30,000 years ago. When the Mock Heaven Sect faced a crisis, the Sect Leader selected nearly ten thousand loyal inner disciples without any injuries and, together with them, consumed the poison pill, facing death calmly while awaiting their future resurrection.

But something went wrong.

Not a single disciple of the Mock Heaven Sect resurrected, but instead, the first Sect Leader came back to life. Where was he now? In the Great Xia Kingdom or the Profound Heaven Continent? Since he had resurrected, why didn't he come to find them when he heard the name "Mock Heaven Sect" being praised?

And why didn't he take the abundant wealth stored above? Wasn't that wealth meant for the resurrected disciples?

Chen Qiu leaned back in the chair, lost in thought.

Bear Gao, standing by the chair like a bodyguard, suddenly felt a flash of fear in his eyes. He wanted to speak up, but his body wouldn't move, and he couldn't even make a sound.

Then, the nearly ten thousand disciples, who had been standing in formation with expressionless faces, suddenly opened their eyes and looked at Chen Qiu, who was sitting in the chair, deep in thought.

They slowly knelt on one knee.

The next moment—

A hoarse and unified voice echoed loudly in the silent and eerie underground palace!

"Disciples pay our respects to the Sect Leader!"

"Our sins are in the present, but our merits are everlasting!"

PS: Please point out any mistakes, and I'll correct them later.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end