At this moment, Lan Ling truly felt utterly exasperated.
His Majesty the Ghost King had actually gone through such trouble, even to select the person who sought him.
He had actually created a fake rift to the underworld that led straight to the tomb of the Ghost King.
Just how audacious and mad must a person be to truly enter the tomb of the Ghost King?
From the Sea of Misfortune, to the ruins of the Misfortune Demon Capital, then to the forged rift to the underworld, and finally to the tomb of the Ghost King.
Lan Ling, on the other hand, needed to first destroy his own body, then feign death to turn into a pseudo ghost, and finally risk utter annihilation to jump into this fake rift to the underworld.
Now, the stone door was right before him.
The Ghost King had said that his tomb lay inside, and anyone who dared to enter would surely die.
Without any hesitation, Lan Ling pushed open the door and walked straight inside.
Sure enough, there really was a tomb inside, a very ordinary and yet massive tomb.
Written on the tombstone was: Tomb of the Ghost King.
What on earth was inside this tomb?
A living Ghost King? The Ghost King Sword? The Ghost King Armour?
How could one open the tomb of the Ghost King, just by moving the tombstone away directly.
If this were grave robbing, Lan Ling would have to be exceedingly careful, careful not to trigger any traps.
However, this was the tomb of the Ghost King.
Lan Ling stepped forward, intending to violently pull the tombstone out.
However…
Just as his hand touched the tombstone.
“Rumble, rumble, rumble…” With a loud roar, the ground beside him cracked open, and a stone giant climbed out, a stone giant over ten metres tall.
A powerful surge of energy burst forth from its body.
This was the giant puppet left behind by the Ghost King. Its eyes flickered with green flames, staring grimly at Lan Ling.
“Stranger, I have three questions. If you answer them correctly, I will help you open the tomb of the Ghost King. If you get one wrong, I will send you away. If you get two wrong, I will kill you!” the stone giant said slowly.
Lan Ling said, “Please!”
“First question, have you ever killed anyone from the Ghost King Empire?” the stone giant asked.
Clearly, the questions it asked were subjective, with no right or wrong, and were not an intellectual quiz at all.
Lan Ling said, “I have.”
“Second question, who is the Ghost King? Where did he come from?”
This question was difficult, extremely difficult indeed.
Lan Ling remained silent for a very long time, then said, “He is a deserter. He came from hell.”
“Third question, is the Ghost King dead?”
This question was even more difficult!
Was the Ghost King actually dead or not?
Judging by how much trouble he had caused, he did not look like someone who would die at all.
As long as he did not wish to die himself, it might truly be very hard to kill him.
Lan Ling thought for a moment and said, “The Ghost King is already dead!”
After finishing his answer, Lan Ling stared at the stone giant.
The stone giant also stared at him, silently.
The moment that decided his fate had arrived.
Were these three questions considered answered correctly? Or rather, how many had he answered correctly?
“You answered all of them correctly,” the stone giant said slowly.
Then, it stepped forward, aimed at the tombstone, and struck with a fierce punch.
“Boom…” A tremendous sound rang out.
Instantly, that tombstone was smashed to pieces, revealing a dark tomb passage, about four to five metres long. At the end of the passage seemed to be a coffin, appearing like a coffin from a heavenly tomb.
Had Lan Ling simply guessed all three questions?
No, he had answered all three questions with his heart.
The first question was the simplest, merely testing his honesty. If he had killed people from the Ghost King Empire, then so be it, and if he had not, he had not, it did not matter.
The second question was the hardest, for who could possibly know who the Ghost King was, and where he came from?
Perhaps other than the higher levels of the Divine Dragon Temple, no one knew the answer to this question.
However, Lan Ling had a faint feeling, a faint inkling of the answer.
Perhaps it was this very answer, the Ghost King came from hell, and he was a deserter.
Why a deserter, and not a traitor?
Because the Ghost King loved to gaze up at the stars, and in the second half of his life, he had even devoted all his blood and effort to the cosmos and the starry sky.
Such a person could be a deserter, but it would be very difficult for him to be a traitor.
The third question, was the Ghost King dead?
It seemed like a fifty percent probability, but it was fraught with traps!
…
Entering the passage.
This was a pitch black tomb passage, wide enough for only one person to pass through. After walking four or five metres, at the end lay a coffin.
As Lan Ling approached, this coffin slowly lit up.
This was an energy crystal coffin, with a person lying inside.
Or rather, not a person, just a suit of armour.
Unlike what Lan Ling had imagined, this suit of armour was very ordinary, not dragon gold armour, not golden armour, but merely black iron armour. From head to toe, it was wrapped tightly.
The positions of the two eyes were completely hollow, with nothing there.
Both hands held a treasured sword.
Also unlike what he had imagined, this was merely a rust covered iron sword.
At this moment, Lan Ling truly could not help but wonder, was this really the tomb of the Ghost King?
The dignified Ghost King, who had established a powerful empire spanning tens of thousands of miles, was actually dressed in black iron armour with an old, broken iron sword?
However, this was clearly very consistent with the Ghost King’s character.
Lan Ling stepped forward and reached out to touch this coffin of the Ghost King.
“Whoosh…”
A green light flared up, and an undead spirit floated out.
A sinister and powerful energy instantly engulfed the entire tomb.
Lan Ling’s body was also instantly suppressed, completely unable to move.
Yet another puppet, previously a stone giant, and this time a malevolent undead spirit.
The light and shadow of this malevolent undead spirit twisted, trembled, and shivered, letting out bursts of shrill hisses.
“I will ask you three questions. If you get one wrong, you will leave immediately with nothing. If you get two wrong, you will surely die, heh heh heh heh…” The malevolent undead spirit extended its sharp claws, caressing and scraping across Lan Ling’s neck.
Instantly, there came a wave of pain and icy cold.
Following the laughter of the malevolent undead spirit, a foul stench invaded the nostrils, nearly causing one to vomit.
“A pretty boy like you is entirely my favourite, heh heh heh heh…” This malevolent undead spirit stuck out a long tongue towards Lan Ling, and instantly this foul stench made one nearly faint.
It was truly strange, it was clearly just an undead phantom, yet Lan Ling could feel the disgust and smell the rot.
“First question!” the malevolent undead spirit asked. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lan Ling!”
“Second question,” the malevolent undead spirit said. “Having obtained the powerful energy of His Majesty the Ghost King, what do you plan to do?”
Lan Ling said, “Destroy the world, and destroy the Divine Dragon Temple.”
“Heh heh heh heh, I like you more and more,” the malevolent undead spirit said. “Third question, have you been to the underground Ancient City of Dark Night in the desert?”
Lan Ling fell silent for quite a while.
Why ask this question, this question was truly very strange.
The Ancient City of Dark Night in the desert?
Was it that underground city ruin in the desert west of Tianye City?
Indeed, it seemed it really was called the Ancient City of Dark Night, he had heard Nai’er mention it once.
Why did this malevolent undead spirit ask this question? Lan Ling already had a faint answer in his heart.
“I have,” Lan Ling said.
In the end, he still chose to give this answer.
Once again, there was a dead silence, once again, the moment of destiny.
Suddenly, this malevolent undead spirit gave a wicked smile and said, “Sorry, you answered two incorrectly, you must die!”
Lan Ling’s gaze turned cold and said, “Where exactly did I go wrong?”
The malevolent undead spirit said, “The second and third, you got both wrong.”
Lan Ling said curiously, “I want to destroy the world, I want to destroy the Divine Dragon Temple, is that wrong? I indeed went to the Ancient City of Dark Night beneath the desert, is that also wrong?”
The malevolent undead spirit said, “No one can destroy the Divine Dragon Temple, do not let ignorance breed fearlessness. Furthermore, you have never been to any underground Ancient City of Dark Night at all, and you do not bear that special mark upon you, so you must die.”
Lan Ling looked at it, sneered, and said, “Then I really say, damn you.”
“Heh heh…” The malevolent undead spirit sneered and said slowly, “Now, you can die in peace.”
Instantly, the malevolent undead spirit released an incomparably powerful energy, locking Lan Ling down completely, leaving him utterly unable to move.
“You truly are very delicious, I will enjoy you thoroughly,” the malevolent undead spirit sneered, and then it violently extended its long tongue, wrapping it around Lan Ling’s neck.
Lan Ling did not need to breathe, yet he unexpectedly felt a sense of suffocation.
Then, this malevolent undead spirit began to devour, devouring madly!
It wanted to completely drain Lan Ling’s soul and spirit, causing his soul to scatter and reduce him to ashes.
At this moment, no one would step out at the crucial juncture to call a halt, nor would this malevolent undead spirit stop midway or show mercy under its tongue.
Right at this moment, Lan Ling suddenly smiled coldly and said, “Lord Ghost King, I do not know your name, but I know… you are the deserter among the Thirteen Hell Knights, you coward, you betrayed the World-Destroying Demon Emperor!”
Instantly, a dead silence fell.
The tongue of this malevolent undead spirit was still wrapped tightly around Lan Ling, but it had stopped devouring, as if frozen completely in place.
Immediately following that…
A sigh emerged from within the coffin…
“Alas…”
Then, from the armour inside the coffin sat up a blurry figure of light, which flew out of the coffin and hovered around Lan Ling’s body.
As if smelling his scent, sensing his soul.
After leaving the coffin, this figure of light became fainter and fainter, barely showing any human outline.
Upon sensing Lan Ling’s soul.
This figure of light trembled violently, almost about to turn to ash in an instant.
It took quite a while before it condensed once more.
It seemed no words could describe its current excitement, thrill, and trembling.
It was merely a phantom of light, yet it was panting heavily.
For several minutes, it seemed unable to make any sound at all.
“My… my supreme Master, my eternal faith, my eternal ruler, my Sovereign… to think that I would meet you here.”
“Master, my name is Number Four… I… I am not a traitor, I was merely unwilling to accept fate, I merely wanted to try on my own…”
“This tomb of the Ghost King was prepared for my successor, because someone would eventually find my corpse in the Ancient City of Dark Night in the desert, obtain my bloodline, and become my successor. I thought it would be my successor who came, or perhaps my fellow Hell Knight brothers returning, but I never imagined… that it would actually be Master who came…”
“Forgive me, I am merely a phantom, unable to express joy, anger, sorrow, or delight.”
“Master, I have not given up the fight, I have already reincarnated. I will appear within the enemy ranks, and I hope that one day, you can awaken me…”
“Although not much energy remains in the armour and treasured sword within this coffin, for the present you, it should still be of immense use.”
“Master, I eagerly look forward to our reunion, your loyal servant, Number Four!”
Immediately afterwards, this figure of light dissipated.
The malevolent undead spirit entangled around Lan Ling also turned to ash.
“Crack…”
The energy crystal coffin opened on its own, revealing the armour and treasured sword inside.
Furthermore, the armour had already opened automatically, as if waiting for Lan Ling to put it on.
At the same time, an incomparably immense, profound, and ancient surge of energy rushed towards him.
By devouring it, Lan Ling would already have half the victory in the upcoming duel!