Meanwhile, the Skycloud Sect’s disciples were having a tough time within the sword array. The nine statues were unbelievably powerful and all of them were at complete Yin-Yang stage. Under the cooperation of all nine statues, they could unleash the power close to the quasi-Heavenly Soul Realm.

They were just thankful that the statues weren’t alive and that the statues didn’t grasp the Overlord Sword. Otherwise, they would practically be invincible. But even so, everyone, except for Ouyang Hao, was injured. Some unfortunate ones were even killed by the statues.

They paid a great price before they managed to slay eight of the nine statues. There was only one statue left that was stopping them from entering the Skycloud Sect.

“You think you can stop us?” Ouyang Hao’s eyes were filled with excitement. After all, the stone statues were terrifying, which meant that the treasure should be extremely valuable. He had a feeling that it was a great opportunity that would allow him to gain a higher rank among the seven geniuses.

Ouyang Hao was sneering as he began to consider if he should refine the treasure on the spot. At that time, he might even be able to obtain the treasure that his senior brother and Chen Ziyu were fighting over. Then, he would be able to dominate all of Skymound City.

At that time, his fame would spread throughout the Thunder Prefecture. He might even have a shot at making it into the top twenty during the Draconic Banquet. This was the martial world. Opportunities were more important than talent and comprehension. If the opportunities were great enough, even a commoner could become an unrivalled genius.

“Quick, smash this statue quickly!” Ouyang Hao’s eyes flashed coldly at the last statue. The trial was clearly meant for him to complete alone and his failure would result in death, but why would he accept that? In the end, he decided to force his way through. But he never imagined that the nine statues were so terrifyingly powerful.

“Those ghosts from Sword Sect are a bunch of bastards to set this up despite the fact that all of them had died,” said Ouyang Hao with a sinister expression. There was no respect in his tone for the Sword Sect. Simultaneously, cracks finally appeared on the last statue under the ferocious attacks of several complete Yin-Yang stage elders.

“Die!” Ouyang Hao’s eyes flashed coldly as he charged like a crimson streak, stabbing his spear out. A crimson light radiated from the tip of his spear that destroyed the stone statue. Before the fragments from the stone statue could shoot out, a powerful aura radiated from Ouyang Hao as he destroyed all the stone fragments.

Looking at Ouyang Hao, the elders beside him were shocked and one elder even asked, “Martial Nephew Ouyang, you reached the seventh stage in the Skycloud Art?”

Skycloud Art was the cultivation technique of Skycloud Sect. Only core disciples could cultivate it and it was separated into nine stages, with three stages as a threshold. The color of origin energy was different for each threshold. The first three stages were white, the second three stages were purple, and the last three stages were crimson. Legend had it that there was also a tenth stage. At that stage, the origin energy would have three colors.

But it had been a long time since there was a genius who could reach the tenth stage. Although Ouyang Hao’s attack was swift, everyone had clearly seen the crimson flash on the tip of his spear, and it was a sign that he had reached the seventh stage in the Skycloud Art.

Seventh stage? Ouyang Hao sneered inwardly as he nodded his head, but he didn’t confirm or deny anything. Instead, he turned to look at the stone box enveloped in flames on the altar. Right now, his eyes were blazing with greed. In fact, everyone’s hearts were beating wildly as they were all curious of what was in the box.

“It should be a treasure comparable to a Heavenly Astral Pearl.”

“Nope. Just look at the altar and sword array. Does this place look like the burial grounds of an empyrean to you? Most of the Sword Sect’s empyreans died in battle.”

“It might be a seventh grade spiritual pellet!”

“Or a sword that transcended the ranks of cosmic artifacts! Or a heavenly graded sword sutra!”

“It should be a ten thousand years old herb in my eyes, refined in the flame for thousands of years.”

“Looks like Senior Brother Ouyang has encountered an opportunity this time.” All of the Skycloud Sect’s disciples were discussing what was in the stone box. The elders also had envy in their eyes. They might be elders, but Ouyang Hao was stronger than them. So there was no way they could obtain the treasure in the box.

Listening to the surrounding discussion, Ouyang Hao was satisfied and he pretended to be composed, “Let’s go.”

As he spoke, the five elders each threw out a palm to take the stone box. When the five palms landed on the altar, an explosion echoed out and generated a terrifying soundwave. Under the soundwave, the stone box remained on the altar, but it began to expand.

“This…” The scene shocked everyone as the stone box now looked like a stone pillar.

“Continue,” barked Ouyang Hao.

As the elders attacked the altar, the stone box grew by a few more inches. Under the constant attack from the Skycloud Sect’s disciples, a terrifying chill suddenly exploded out from the altar as the stone box now looked like an ancient coffin.

“A coffin?”

“What’s going on…” Everyone had doubts in their eyes, including Ouyang Hao.

“D-don’t tell me the coffin contains a corpse that transcended the level of an empyrean?” The voices of Skycloud Sect’s elders began to tremble.

Transcended the level of an empyrean? Empyreans were legends in the Ancient Southern Domain. They were deity-like figures, so surpassing the Empyrean Realm was unimaginable. Then again, it didn’t sound far-fetched because many empyreans died in the war. It meant that the position of an empyrean might not be as high as they imagined.

So it made no sense for an empyrean’s corpse to be so well-protected. If that was the case, then this opportunity was a little too terrifying as it could shake the entire Ancient Southern Domain. Even if the corpse in the coffin wasn’t an existence that transcended the Empyrean Realm, it must be an extraordinary empyrean.

After all, empyreans were also categorized into different levels. So for someone to receive such a high treatment, they must have held a high position in the Sword Sect.

“We’ll know after taking a look.” Ouyang Hao’s eyes flickered. Clearly, he couldn’t hold back anymore. After all, he spent too much time here and sacrificed dozens of disciples.

Ouyang Hao suddenly unleashed his origin energy, which instantly enveloped his body and made his aura seem even more unfathomable.

When he landed on the edge of the altar, he could see the coffin trembling. One could sense how immense the aura was coming from it. As the flames charged over at him, Ouyang Hao sent his palm out to extinguish the flames, “Scatter!”

“Ouyang, we should be more respectful to seniors.”

“That’s right. We have to be cautious,” said the other elders after they saw how disrespectful Ouyang Hao was.

“Haha, what can someone who is already dead do to me?” Ouyang Hao was prideful as one of the seven geniuses. He opened the coffin with a carefree attitude. When the coffin lid landed on the ground, it caused a loud noise that made everyone anxious.

“It’s a young man…”

“I heard that upon reaching a high realm, you can transform back into youth. Even after you die, your corpse won’t rot after ten thousand years.”

“The corpse feels alive. How terrifying.”

“Senior Brother Ouyang, this is a huge opportunity for you.” Everyone could only see half of the corpse’s face, but that alone left them shocked. After all, the corpse still looked alive. There was a high possibility that this might be the corpse of a powerhouse.

“Why does this corpse look familiar?” Some disciples also voiced their doubt, but they soon thook their heads.

Compared to everyone’s shock, Ouyang Hao felt a chill down his spine for some reason. After all, this corpse was unbelievably young and it looks like a slumbering young man instead of a corpse. But he couldn’t take a step back with all these people watching him.

In the end, Ouyang Hao mustered his courage as he stretched his hand out and gently patted the corpse’s cheek. When he saw that there was no reaction from the corpse, he sneered, “A corpse pretending to be dead? Who the hell do you think you’re scaring?”

But right at this moment, the corpse suddenly opened his eyes, shooting out two cold gleams from it's pupils. This scared Ouyang Hao badly as his face turned pale, “S-s-senior…”

But before he could even finish, Lin Yun raised his hand and gave a slap on Ouyang Hao’s cheek. The slap was deafening and left everyone dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Hao was sent flying as he threw up blood and half of his cheek became swollen. When he landed on the ground, he kneeled and kowtowed, “I deserve to be killed for disturbing Senior's sleep. Please forgive me.”

The moment Ouyang Hao started begging, everyone from the Skycloud Sect also got on their knees begging for forgiveness.

Sitting up in the coffin, Lin Yun’s lips started twitching. It was at this moment he realized that his joke went a little too far.