The General’s Tomb was located several hundred li outside the imperial city. Ye Chu crossed several mountains before he finally saw a barren stone mountain, completely devoid of any grass or vegetation. Only a massive stone stele stood there, but the stele bore no inscriptions at all.
There were already people moving about on the stone mountain. Ye Chu was not surprised by this. Back in his day, the great general had possessed overwhelming might and inspired admiration in countless people. Even after several centuries, many still came to pay their respects. Of course, there were also those who had their eyes on treasures inside the general’s tomb. They wandered around the stone mountain, hoping for a chance to obtain something valuable from it.
The stone mountain was vast. At a glance it appeared extremely desolate and quiet, bearing the marks of time, scarred and pitted everywhere.
Ye Chu walked up onto the stone mountain. Occasionally someone glanced at him, but they all assumed he was there to pay homage to the great general as well.
No one expected that Ye Chu would directly cross the stone mountain, walk straight up to the massive stone stele, and head towards a cave behind it.
The general’s tomb originally had no such cave entrance. Later, because so many people coveted the treasures inside, someone took action and blasted open part of the stone mountain, creating a passage leading into it.
Ye Chu had been here once before. He walked into the passage with familiarity. This scene surprised quite a few of those paying respects to the general. They soon sneered. “Another reckless fool trying to steal treasures.”
Ye Chu paid no attention to their mockery. Once inside, he found the tomb constructed entirely from multicoloured jade stones. Though buried underground, they still emitted dazzling radiance, lighting the entire tomb as bright as day.
Ye Chu looked at these multicoloured jade stones and thought to himself that in the entire empire, only the emperor and he himself could afford such extravagant displays.
As Ye Chu ventured deeper, he could feel waves of yin energy rolling through the air. The temperature had dropped by at least half compared to the outside. The overwhelming yin chill made even Ye Chu feel cold. This was only the entrance to the general’s tomb. He thought that ordinary people without cultivation would be unable to withstand this yin cold at all.
Ye Chu took out the notebook Bai Bao had given him, flipped through it to recall what he had learned these past days. Although he had not fully mastered everything Bai Bao left behind, he had grasped most of it.
Ye Chu slowly advanced deeper. Occasionally he saw others walking in the outer areas as well. He thought to himself that there really were plenty of bold people in this world. Despite so many perishing in the general’s tomb, the allure of its treasures still drew wave after wave of people.
Those who dared enter the general’s tomb were never weak. The minimum was Innate Realm strength. People like Ye Chu and Pang Shao back then, who had rushed in with strength below the Innate Realm, were extremely rare.
Occasionally someone who encountered Ye Chu would look at him a few more times because of how young he was. Some even warned him. “Young man! This is one of the empire’s forbidden zones. Stealing treasures requires real strength. If you do not want to throw your life away for nothing, leave quickly. This is not a place for you to play around.”
Ye Chu smiled at the person and said nothing, continuing to walk deeper. The further in he went, the more brilliant the multicoloured jade stones became. They illuminated the tomb, their lustre flowing with terrifying power contained within.
Back then, Ye Chu and Pang Shao and the others had tried to chip off a few pieces of these jade stones, but no matter what methods they used, they could not damage them at all. Only later did they learn that these jade stones had been reinforced with great techniques. Ordinary means could not harm them in the slightest.
“Ye Chu!” Just as Ye Chu was about to continue deeper into the tomb, a voice suddenly rang out behind him. Ye Chu turned his head and saw Ye Yuande and Ye Yuanwang less than a hundred metres away. This startled him. He had not expected them to arrive so quickly.
“You lot came quite fast!” Ye Chu said, looking at Ye Yuanwang. Behind Ye Yuanwang was a group of people, and judging by appearances, their strength was far from low.
“I thought you would bring the saintess along. I never expected you to really have the guts to come in,” Ye Yuanwang said, staring at Ye Chu. “It seems you are not entirely useless trash. At least your courage is passable.”
Ye Yuanwang fixed his gaze on Ye Chu, looking at him as if he were a turtle trapped in a jar.
Ye Chu swept his eyes over the people behind him, then burst into loud laughter. “If my courage were small, how could I have dared to make a move on Ji Die? But today, if you lot want to kill me, it will still depend on your abilities.”
After saying that, Ye Chu suddenly turned and ran deeper into the tomb, trying to shake them off.
“If I let you escape today, that would truly become a joke,” Ye Yuanwang snorted. He chased after him with swift movements, suddenly striking out to grab at Ye Chu.
Ye Chu’s heart jumped. He twisted his body sharply to dodge. But the force of the qi still grazed his face, causing a stinging pain. The qi struck the jade stone, causing ripples of light to appear on its surface.
“You cannot escape!” Ye Yuanwang stared at Ye Chu, his eyes cold and sharp.
The atmosphere in this section of the tomb grew extremely tense. Ye Chu tightened his body. He knew the gap between himself and his opponent. If he got caught by him, death was certain. How powerful was a Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator?
Ye Yuanwang stood there, exuding immense pressure. The majesty of the Primordial Spirit Realm surged outwards. Passing cultivators who saw him could not help but change colour and retreat in fear, not daring to get too close to Ye Yuanwang.
Their gazes fell on Ye Chu, filled with sympathy for the boy. What kind of bad luck had this young man run into to provoke a Primordial Spirit Realm figure? For someone at the Primordial Spirit Realm, shattering rocks and splitting metal was child’s play. How could this skinny boy withstand him?
“Die!” Ye Yuanwang shouted. He kicked a piece of碎 stone beneath his foot. The stone flew towards Ye Chu with a whistling sound. Ye Chu retreated frantically. The stone smashed into the jade wall, producing clanging sounds.
But dodging this attack did not save Ye Chu from danger. Ye Yuanwang personally struck out with a palm. The sound thundered, making ears buzz. The terror of the Primordial Spirit Realm was laid bare.
“Today you cannot escape this calamity. Letting you live three extra days was already a great favour, done for the sake of the saintess,” Ye Yuanwang sneered. His palm arrived instantly in front of Ye Chu. Ye Chu retreated wildly, but soon his back pressed against the jade wall. There was nowhere left to go.
Seeing this, Ye Yuande could not help but sneer, thinking how Ye Chu could possibly escape now.
Amid Ye Yuande’s disdain, Ye Chu slammed a fierce palm against the jade stone. Using the rebound force, he darted to the side. Even so, he still could not completely avoid Ye Yuanwang’s strike.
As a Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator, Ye Yuanwang was simply too fast. Although Ye Chu managed to protect his vital areas, his arm was struck squarely by the palm. Ye Chu clearly heard the sound of his joint dislocating. The intense pain made cold sweat pour from his forehead.
But Ye Chu had no time to care about the pain. His figure flashed and shot towards a turn in the tomb passage. He had already noticed a faint trace of killing aura there.
“Do you think you can escape?” Ye Yuanwang saw Ye Chu still trying to flee and sneered, preparing to pursue. But the moment he stepped in, his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly retreated. “Killing aura!”
“The pain of today, I will repay you twofold in the future,” Ye Chu’s voice rang out, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present.
Ye Yuanwang looked grimly at the direction Ye Chu had fled, disdain in his eyes. He thought to himself that Ye Chu probably did not know there was killing aura in there. Whether he could survive until tomorrow was still uncertain.
Of course, Ye Yuande stared blankly at Ye Yuanwang as he watched Ye Chu escape. He found Ye Chu’s actions utterly unbelievable. With such meagre strength, he had actually escaped from his big brother’s hands? He should have been no more than an ant before his big brother.