AGM 466 – Inheritances of Ancient Grand Xia
The cold intent that radiated out from the Vermilion Bird enveloped the entire grand hall. The bodies of everyone involuntarily titled, even their breathing got erratic. This pressure that emanated forth from the Vermilion Bird was simply too monstrous. Nobody could stand up to it.
“Who was the destroyer?” The Vermilion Bird icily inquired.
“The Nine Grand Clans of ancient Grand Xia were in cahoots with each other. They joined forces in betrayal.” Yun Mengyi replied.
“Impossible, the strength of the royal clan far exceeds the nine grand clans.” The Vermilion Bird coldly replied.
“Behind the nine grand clans, there was a shadowy hand orchestrating everything. I suspect the mastermind was none other than Grand Shang Empire. After the last Xia Emperor has fallen, they worked together with the nine grand clans, causing the destruction of Grand Xia.” Yun Mengyi replied again, her words causing the flames around the Vermilion Bird to blaze even brighter.
“My Grand Xia has fallen for over thousands of years while you, are the last remaining descendant of the royal clan of Grand Xia.” The Vermilion Bird shifted its gaze onto Yun Mengyi as it continued, “How had you survived? And why did you only choose to enter the royal tomb at this moment?”
“My ancestor is Xia Tianyu. She was humiliated by the heads of the nine grand clans back then but was luckily saved away by a mysterious man. Ever since then, Grand Xia has been occupied by our enemies up till the current era. I’ve never forgotten the teachings our my ancestors and right now, our enemies are climbing over our heads, wanting to annihilate us. Hence I’ve no choice but to open the royal tomb to acquire the seven slaughter puppets, which inadvertently alerted the current transcendent powers of Grand Xia of this location.”
Yun Mengyi respectfully stated. Her words caused those behind her to shudder uncontrollably. Especially those from the Shi Clan, their countenances all turned pale white. This place was the Royal Tomb of Grand Xia. They were outsiders. Not only that, they were descendants of the nine grand clans who turned traitor back then. In that case, were they not seeking their own deaths by entering here?
The Vermilion Bird went silent for a moment before asking again, “Who are these people?”
“The seven behind me are all my good friends. Right now, the current Grand Xia is in a period of turmoil. The descendants of the Venerate Heavens Sect prophesied that Grand Xia would come under one rule again in the future. And these seven, might very well be key characters in Grand Xia in the future. For the others, they arrived here because they knew one of the ultimate arts of Grand Xia. They are none other than the descendants of those traitors who betrayed our clan.”
Yun Mengyi’s words caused the rest of them to feel as though their bodies turned to ice. The eyes of the Vermilion Bird landed onto them, abruptly, columns of flames shot out from it, instantly incinerating them into ashes, amidst a cacophony of shrieks and screams, as they disappeared from this world forever.
“We would still need Ancestor to guard the Royal Tomb, please take it easy, in case of over exhaustion.” Yun Mengyi kowtowed once more.
“The amount of astral energy here is sufficient to sustain me. Sadly, I have no way to leave the Royal Tomb.” The Vermilion Bird stared at the eight people in front of it, “Since you brought all of them here, I shall open up the emperor gates for them. The rules will be the same as before, they will all be sent to different places based on their talents. However, whether would they be able to obtain any inheritances or not, it naturally depends on their own performance.”
“I understand.” Yun Mengyi nodded. “The ancient emperors of our Xia Clan have all left their inheritances behind in the Royal Tomb after their deaths. The Ancestor shall send you all to different places based on your talent. Depending on your destiny, different inheritances might appear.”
Yun Mengyi’s words were for those seven behind her. She was telling them that this was a chance they could acquire the inheritances of the past Xia Emperors. The higher the talent one has, the better their performances in the trials, the stronger the inheritances they acquire would be.
No wonder the legends always said that the power of ancient Grand Xia far exceeds even the total might of all the transcendent powers. Even after the ancient kingdom has fallen, the nine grand clan couldn’t uncover the greatest secrets of Grand Xia at all. Because, this secret was only known to descendants of the Xia Clan. The greatest secrets of Grand Xia lies in the Royal Tomb.
The Royal Tomb, was the resting place for the ancient emperors. It was also the place that contain their inheritances.
Back then, every descendant of the Xia Clan, would have an opportunity to enter the Royal Tomb, paying their respects to the Ancestor as it opened up the emperor gates for them.
“Since you all were brought here by her, I believe that all of you wouldn’t leak this secret. However, I still need to leave behind a resistance imprint on your minds. In the future, if someone searched your souls, this resistance imprint will block that attack. But of course, if the soul-searcher has a cultivation base much higher compared to you, this resistance imprint shall self-destruct and wiped out your memories. Are all of you willing?”
The Vermilion Bird stared at the eight of them as it spoke.
The Royal Tomb of Grand Xia contains Grand Xia’s greatest secret. The only reason why this secret was still unleaked even when Grand Xia was destroyed was because back then, those who entered the Royal Tomb, were all the core members of Grand Xia. They would naturally not betray their own clans. And as for why nobody had learnt anything from them, it was probably because of the resistance imprint which the Vermilion Bird was currently speaking of.
In truth, this tactic was quite commonly used among many powerful forces.
“Able to block soul-search techniques? That sounds good.” Ouyang Kuangsheng directly replied. If things had truly came to that point, he wouldn’t be far from death.
The others all nodded their heads, signifying that they had no objections. An instant later, an ancient imprint blazing with golden flames shot out from the eyes of the Vermilion Bird. The light from this ancient imprint abruptly erupted, shooting into the minds of the eight present as they felt their sea of consciousness being protected by a screen of yellow golden light.
“It’s done. Stand before me one by one, allow me to sense the power of your perception.” The Vermilion Bird spoke. Yun Mengyi took the lead and walked to the front of the Vermilion Bird.
The talons of the Vermilion Bird were placed upon her head, as its eyes snapped shut. Streams of light floated in circles around Yun Mengyi as several of the purple pillars in the grand hall lighted up.
Inside the grand hall, there was a total of eighty-one stone pillars. Yun Mengyi lighted up a total of over forty pillars before the it finally stopped.
“Astral Soul.” The Vermilion Bird spoke again. The next moment, Yun Mengyi released her Astral Souls.
“Enough.” The Vermilion Bird took away its talon. After which, Ouyang Kuangsheng stepped out, the Vermilion Bird then did the same thing as what it done to Yun Mengyi.
Next, Fan Le, Chu Mang, Qin Zheng, Mu Feng, Bai Qing all underwent the inspection. Majority of them could light up over forty stone pillars. Bai Qing and Ouyang Kuangsheng were the better ones in comparison, after all, their first Astral Soul was condensed from the 4th Heavenly Layer.
Finally, Qin Wentian stepped out. The Vermilion Bird placed its talons into his head and instantly, Qin Wentian felt his perception being forcibly stretched out, covering the entire space. An instant later, the stone pillars lighted up one after another and very swiftly, over fifty stone pillars had already been lighted up.
However, it hadn’t came to an end yet. A moment later, over sixty, over seventy pillars all lighted up, causing the eyes of the Vermilion Bird to snap open in surprised as a terrifying glow flickered within.
It wasn’t at an end yet. When the final four pillars around the sacrificial platform lighted up, pure astonishment could be seen in the Vermilion Bird’s eyes. It stared at Qin Wentian with an expression as though it couldn’t believed what it just seen.
All the eighty-one stone pillars had all lighted up.
The entire Grand Hall was as though it had turned into a starry sky. The radiance from the eighty-one pillars were incomparably resplendent.
Not only the Vermilion Bird, even Yun Mengyi and the rest were obviously taken aback with shock as they stared at Qin Wentian.
Was Di Tian’s talent truly so terrifying?
They already knew how monstrous Qin Wentian’s talent was. But now that there was this Di Tian. This was the man handpicked by Qin Wentian, to think that he was so terrifying as well.
Even now, nobody had ever thought that Di TIan was actually none other than Qin Wentian himself.
Because they had personally witnessed the primordial great roc wielding the sword, destroying the Chen Ancestor before slipping into unconsciousness. They had never heard of things like the Great Nirvana Art before. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to imagine things like having two true-bodies.
“Your Astral Soul.” The Vermilion Bird spoke as it stared at Qin Wentian.
Qin Wentian remained silent. He could disguise his features but if he released his Astral Souls, wasn’t it basically telling others straight out that he’s Qin Wentian?
Upon seeing Qin Wentian’s reaction, the eyes of the Vermilion Bird glimmered. After that a screen of light manifested and enveloped the two of them within.
“I will keep the secret for you, but I must take a look at your Astral Soul before I know which emperor gate would be suitable for you. In any case, later on when you enter an ancient emperor gate, i would still know when you release your astral souls to augment your strength during combat.” The Vermilion Bird didn’t hide anything as it stated.
Qin Wentian hesitated for a moment. This Vermilion Bird was the guardian of the Royal Tomb. Considering its status and power, it wouldn’t go so far to lie to a member of the junior generations.
Nodding his head, Qin Wentian released his four Astral Souls; the first three were from the 5th Heavenly Layer while the last one was from the 6th Heavenly Layer.
“Enough.” The Vermilion Bird nodded its head. Qin Wentian retracted his Astral Souls as the screen of light vanished.
The body of the Vermilion Bird landed on the ancient coffin. It’s talons pressed down and instantly, on the walls of this Grand Hall, a door abruptly appeared as it slided open. Over there, an incomparably gargantuan statue could be seen.
That statue was a statue of an august, awe-inspiring middle-aged man. He had a thunder god sabre in his hands and was clad in an armor made of lightning. On his shoulders, there were a lightning serpent coiling around it while a crown of incomparable luster sat on his head.
“He’s known as the Tyrant Emperor of our Xia Clan. In the history of Royal Xia, the power of this man could ranked within the top five. When he was alive, he swept across the entire Grand Xia region unrivalled. Back then when there was a great war between Grand Shang and Grand Xia, Grand Shang assassinated the princess of Grand Xia. Under a fit of rage, the Tyrant Emperor barged into Grand Shang and killed the Emperor of Grand Shang as well as five marquis before he was forced to retreat. With a single breath, he made it all the way back to Grand Xia. After that, he chose to enter the Royal Tomb and died here in the end. After that battle, both the foundation of Grand Xia and Grand Shang was badly weaken.”
The voice of the Vermilion Bird was extremely solemn as it revealed to them ancient history. After which, it turned its gaze onto Ouyang Kuangsheng and Chu Mang, “Thunder God’s Slash was the ultimate art created by the Tyrant Emperor. The two of you are suitable to enter the Tyrant Emperor Gate.
“Many thanks senior.” Ouyang Kuangsheng bowed.
“Right.” Chu Mang similarly dipped into a bow of respect. After which, he entered together with Ouyang Kuangsheng in the gate as the gate slammed shut.
The sharp talons of the Vermilion Bird pressed down on the ancient coffin again. Following which, another statue of an ancient emperor appeared. This ancient emperor had an extremely strange appearance, he looked like he was just out of his teens, and exuded an immensely fearsome aura.
“This statue depicts yet another ancient emperor of Grand Xia. The Blood Emperor, he was the same as the Tyrant Emperor, and dominated the world with no equals. From the time he was born till the previous Emperor abdicated his throne to him, it only took him a hundred years to be equal to the previous Emperor. The Bloodcurse Imprint was the ultimate art created by him. You, are suitable to enter his gate.” The Vermilion Bird pointed to Mu Feng as it stated.