Chapter 945: Imperial Mausoleum Map

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Outside the Imperial Mausoleum, Li Yao looked up at Xia Qingyuan as she descended from the sky. She had gotten here so quickly.

This was, after all, the land controlled by Emperor Xia, and so it was difficult not to attract his attention. He would never have thought that the moment the mausoleum appeared there would be such a strange phenomenon. Now it seemed that it would be very difficult to take control of these Imperial ruins.

While floating in the air, Li Yao said to Xia Qingyuan, “I trust you have been well since we last parted, Princess?”

Xia Qingyuan looked to Li Yao. She naturally recognized him. He was a prince from Emperor Li’s realm.

Emperor Li’s realm and Emperor Xia’s realm bordered each other. The Lower World that Emperor Li controlled was different than the Nine States, as there was only one faction: the Dali Dynasty. All the schools and families were under Emperor Li’s control, and all of them could be traced back to him as the progenitor.

In Cloud State, there was a holy land known as Li Palace. The people of this palace came from the Dali Dynasty. Their ancestors had committed a sin and been banished, and thus had come to the Nine States. Once one of their members had reached the Saint level, they had built the Li Palace in Cloud State.

The Dali Dynasty did not pursue this matter. After all, they had banished them, which was equivalent to breaking off their relationship with them.

“Li Yao, the Nine States are under the jurisdiction of Emperor Xia.” Xia Qingyuan glanced at Li Yao. Her tone was cold.

“The last time you brought people to the Dali Dynasty, we received you warmly and politely. I was the one who unearthed the Imperial Mausoleum. Do I not at least have the right to fight for it?” asked Li Yao with a smile. He looked at the beautiful face before him. If Xia Qingyuan would just wear women’s clothing, whole cities and nations would fall before her beauty.

However, it was rumored that Emperor Xia’s favorite daughter had never dressed as a woman. It was said that only if someone could defeat this proud princess, would she wear a long dress and appear before him, revealing her brilliance.

Xia Qingyuan ignored Li Yao, looking very indifferent. She looked at the solemn Imperial Mausoleum. As long as he was in Emperor Xia’s realm, no matter how much right he had to fight for the mausoleum, could Li Yao do it?

“Go and take a look,” Xia Qingyuan said to someone beside her. The Renhuang Ruins were in the Nine States. This meant that they had existed since before her father ruled these lands, and had at least a thousand years of history. Probably even Renhuang’s descendants did not know of the existence of this tomb.

“This Imperial Mausoleum was buried in the ground by a matrix. The matrix was opened, and the mausoleum appeared. Now it stretches a vast distance, and even though the mausoleum has appeared, the power of the matrix is still here. Light pierces through to the Nine Heavens. I’m afraid we can’t get in now, you’ll have to be patient,” said Li Yao.

Xia Qingyuan continued to ignore him as she stared at the silent mausoleum. It did indeed look like a golden city. The aura that came from it coalesced into a terrible flow of golden Qi that reached up to the Nine Heavens and caused the strange phenomenon that everyone in Zhongzhou City could see.

“Princess.” The Saint who had gone over to investigate returned quickly and bowed to Xia Qingyuan. “The Imperial Mausoleum has been sealed for many years, and an extremely perilous aura has formed there that won’t dissipate. Even a Saint would be torn apart upon entering it. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a while before we can enter.”

After hearing this report, Xia Qingyuan stepped towards the Imperial Mausoleum, with the others following close behind. She waved her hand and suddenly a brilliant ritual implement filled with divine power went shrieking out, piercing through the air towards the tomb.

The divine implement made it to the tomb, but then a stream of golden Qi flowed over it, and as everyone watched in horror it flowed through the ritual implement rather than wrapping around it. Afterward, the brilliant divine implement was shattered.

Everyone’s hearts trembled. The perilous aura must be so powerful if it could form a Qi flow that terrible. There must be something terrifying in the Imperial Mausoleum. Of course, there were also those whose hearts trembled at Xia Qingyuan’s plan. She had casually tossed a divine implement to its destruction, and she did not so much as frown. She truly was the descendant of Renhuang. It was just like a Saint throwing away a Sage level ritual implement. She did not mind at all.

But divine implements were so precious in the Nine States.

Many people wondered if, since this was Renhuang’s tomb, there might be an imperial implement within?

Everyone’s hearts beat faster when they thought of this, but when they saw Xia Qingyuan they once again looked dejected. Even if there was something like that, they would not be able to get it.

Only the most powerful figures in the Nine States had the right to take the most powerful divine implements. This was even more true for an imperial implement. If you didn’t have the strength or the background, how could you get it? That was a dead end.

The people of the Huang clan were extremely uneasy. As the current head of the clan, Huang Xi was conflicted. The Huang clan’s claim that they were descendants of the Sovereign Family was not self-proclaimed but had been passed down to them through the generations. But as time went by, that era grew further and further away until even they did not fully believe it. But now they had discovered that it was all true. They were descendants of Renhuang, which was absolutely a cause for pride. The blood of Renhuang flowed in their veins.

When they saw that the tomb’s Qi flow was enough to destroy a divine implement, their hearts surged. How powerful their ancestors must have been! But now they were like outsiders. They could only watch it all from the sidelines, not daring to speak up. This was the ruins of their ancestors, and it belonged to them. They were afraid that others would look at them as idiots who didn’t even know how to die properly.

Ye Futian looked at Huang Xi beside him. He could understand what he was feeling right now. This must be hard for him to bear.

“On the day that the Huang clan appears, use my blood to dye the Imperial Mausoleum Map.” As Huang Xi thought of his past memories, there was suddenly something like a flash of lightning in his mind, and an ancient voice appeared in the depths of his memories. This voice was just like their identity as descendants of Renhuang, it had been passed down from generation to generation.

“On the day that the Huang clan appears, on the day that the Huang clan appears…” This sentence repeated over and over again in Huang Xi’s mind as he stared at the Imperial Mausoleum before him. His heart trembled slightly. Before, he had not known what these words meant. Now he thought he understood.

He looked back at the Huang clan disciples, then at Huang Jiuge, and then finally at Ye Futian. He hesitated. He had pledged his life to Ye Futian and had fought hard for the palace, but when the inheritance of his ancestors was involved, he still struggled inwardly.

“Palace Lord,” he said suddenly. Ye Futian looked at him questioningly.

“I think that the Huang clan ancestors left something behind. I wish to return to the palace, then we can look over it together,” said Huang Xi.

Ye Futian looked at the Imperial Mausoleum. Had its appearance made him think of something?

“Fine,” he said. “Let’s return to the palace.” Upon saying this, he turned around. Everyone looked at him with some disappointment, but they still followed him back to the Holy Zhi Palace.

Once they returned, Ye Futian ordered everyone to withdraw from a hall in Holy Sage Pavilion. There were only three people there: him, Huang Xi, and Huang Jiuge. Huang Xi had a secret to tell him, so he naturally did not want a lot of people around.

“Uncle, does this have to do with the Imperial Mausoleum?” asked Ye Futian.

“Mm.” Huang Xi nodded. “My family has passed down a clue from generation to generation. But probably because our family has declined, many things have been gradually forgotten as time passed, and we have even stopped believing some of them. I was even prepared to tell Jiuge to not mention the fact that we are descendants of Renhuang to our descendants. I thought that this was purely imaginary.”

“Then you must have thought of something?” asked Ye Futian.

Huang Xi nodded. He waved his hand and suddenly a map scroll floated in front of him. “This is a mountain and river map, called the Imperial Map. It’s a powerful ritual implement. It can be used for combat, but now it looks like that’s not all.” Huang Xi reached out and using his Spiritual Qi as a knife he cut his finger, letting the blood flow. He put his finger on the map, letting the blood stain it. But there seemed to be no change.

Huang Xi frowned. The blood from his finger flowed directly onto the map, completely staining it. His Spiritual Qi continued to infiltrate it, and suddenly the map gradually began to change.

A blood-colored light shone from it, growing brighter and brighter. The blood-red color turned to gold and soon covered the entire hall. The projection of a huge map appeared.

Their hearts all beat faster as they beheld this huge map.

“The Imperial Mausoleum Map.” Ye Futian’s heart trembled. It looked like the Huang clan ancestors had passed down not only the meaningless title of “descendants of Renhuang.”

The Imperial Mausoleum Map shone brilliantly, becoming clearer and clearer in their eyes. Then it turned into a stream of light that entered into their foreheads, and the map appeared in their minds. The map was lifelike in their minds, with even some important information presented.

Obviously, the Huang clan ancestors had waited for the day when their descendants could personally claim their inheritance. It was still not clear what had happened all those years ago, and why they could not directly pass their inheritance down. Perhaps at the time, they had encountered a crisis and thus did not dare to do so.

Soon the brilliant map darkened and floated back to Huang Xi’s hand.

Ye Futian looked at him. He was moved.

“Uncle, if you were to present this to Xia Qingyuan, it would be enough to make her allow Jiuge to go with her to the Upper Worlds to cultivate. At the very least, you wouldn’t have to follow me into a crisis,” he said with a sigh.

“I don’t know Xia Qingyuan, but I do know you. With Xia Qingyuan and that strange cultivator there, it will be difficult to take the food from the tiger’s mouth,” said Huang Xi.

“The Holy Zhi Palace is the number one holy land in the Nine States, but we still don’t have the power to challenge Xia Qingyuan. This turbulence in the Upper and Lower Worlds will attract many tyrants. We can hide as much as possible, and reap the benefits of the confusion. We should not mention this to anyone,” said Ye Futian. Huang Xi understood.

As Ye Futian expected, over the next few days, all the cultivators waited for the perilous aura to dissipate, and cultivators from all the holy lands arrived after having heard the news. This time, almost all the holy lands were represented, including their Saints.

All of the powerful characters from across the Nine States met in Zhongzhou City. This many cultivators had never before appeared at once in the Barren State. Countless powerful figures were gathered outside the Imperial Mausoleum.

And not only that, but people from the Upper Worlds had arrived as well. They had come from the Upper Worlds for the Imperial Mausoleum!