Chapter 44: Danger

Huang Xue continued to tag along with Yang Chen’s group as they entered deeper into Grand Valley Tomb. While they met with Du Qianxi on one occasion, nothing happened as they exchanged a brief greeting before parting on their ways.

For the entire time, they looted various treasures and herbs while Huang Xue stood behind and watched.

Naturally, he was offered on several occasions to pick his share but he politely refused. It was not that Huang Xue did not like treasures, but rather the items here were of little value to him. None of them caught his eyes.

Instead, whenever Huang Xue discovered an item, he would either give it Yang Chen or Yin Liqin. Due to the Yin Liqin’s talent, Huang Xue had a good impression of her. He even conversed with her on a few occasions as they walked along the cavern paths.

As the group of twenty youths ventured deeper into the cave, they found that the number of cave entrances slowly increased. This was exactly as Yang Chen had told them.

And because each cave entrance had great opportunities, the group decided to split up and each head into a different opening. This way, it would be more efficient in looting the treasures.

After all, in the Grand Valley Tomb, wherever they went no one dared to fight over them for their treasures, much less even dare attack them. The power behind them was simply too powerful, and many suspected them to be carrying special imprints that would either protect them or help them expose whoever dared to kill them!

With the group being split up, Huang Xue was paired with only Yang Chen as the two chose an entrance.

As they conversed, the two soon arrived at an open space. This area was much smaller than the first cavern hall they entered, however, there was an eye catching mini altar situated at the far end of the place. A long black box rested upon it. Behind the altar stood yet another cave entrance.

Upon discovering the altar, Yang Chen’s eyes suddenly went wide as a frenzied look began to slowly manifest on his face. “Could that be…?”

Huang Xue looked towards the altar as he felt a strong energy coming from it. No, it should be said that he felt the sharp energy coming from the lengthy black box itself!

“This feeling...it is a sword?” He mused as he looked back at Yang Chen.

Feigning ignorance, he asked: “Brother Yang Chen, seeing your excited expression, just what exactly is that altar?”

Hearing Huang Xue’s question, Yang Chen returned back to reality as he wiped the longing look from his face. Although he was a bit unwilling to tell Huang Xue, after remembering how the latter had helped him on several occasions, he finally decided to tell him.

“It is like this brother Huang Xue. Do you see that black case?” Yang Chen pointed at the altar. Huang Xue gave slight nod.

“That case is said to contain a very powerful sword. Several years ago, the top elders of my clan discovered this long box, however they were powerlessly to take it away. After returning and refining a strong seal to deal with the ruthless sword intent in it, they wanted to take away the treasure. But it was then that we began to notice the structure-changing ability of the tomb. No mental transmission was possible and once one exits, they could not enter again until the following year.” Yang Chen explained.

“But the a few years after that, no matter how hard the elders tried, they could not relocate the altar again. It was as if it never existed at al! Because of that, each time when someone from our clan wants to enter the Grand Valley Tomb, that person would have to bring along the special seal in case they encounter the altar. And to think I would be able to do so, haha!”

Huang Xue nodded as he said: “Then congratulations to you, brother Yang Chen. With that seal, I’m sure only you would able to take this sword. As such, I will not fight over you for it.”

Hearing Huang Xue’s words, a faint breath of sigh escaped from Yang Chen, who tried to hide it. But how could Huang Xue not understand the personality of people like Yang Chen? Only by giving his promise would he be able to abate the other’s fears and bring himself closer to the latter.

“Then I will have to thank brother Huang Xue again!” Yang Chen cupped his hands towards Huang Xue, who only nodded in response.

Yang Chen then turned and headed towards the altar.

When he arrived, Yang Chen pulled out a jade talisman from his blue cosmic bag. A shocking aura spread out from the talisman when it appeared in Yang Chen’s hand. Various symbols were inscribed upon the talisman, but the most eye-catching was the character “Yang” (楊) at the center of it.

With a determined glint in his eyes, Yang Chen slapped the jade talisman unto the long black box. Immediately afterwards, he performed a series of hand incantations and pointed it towards the talisman.

“Grand Yang Seal, activate!” Yang Chen shouted with vigor as Earthly Qi energy swirled towards the box.

The jade talisman began to glow with splendent light. At the same time, the black box seemed to have sensed something, whereas it suddenly erupted with powerful aura. However, as if imbued with some sort of calming effect, the talisman continued to suppress the energy from the black box until the latter slowly calmed down.

In return, the jade talisman grew brighter. After a few moments, the light from the talisman died down, along with the previous savage aura from the box..The talisman also seemed to have been stuck completely on the black box.

An uncontrollable grin appeared on Yang Chen’s face which was covered in sweat. It had taken a large amount of his Qi energy to activate his family’s seal. As of now, he was greatly weakened both physically and Qi energy-wise. But with the success of sealing the black box, Yang Chen could not help but feel proud of himself.

If he returned to his clan with this black box, his position within the Yang Chen would most definitely skyrocket! Perhaps, he would even be able to compete against his second and eldest brother at that point!

Thinking there, Yang Chen grew excited as he reached out to retrieve the long black case.

However, just as he was about to grab the case, a sudden piercing feeling caused him to stop.

A sense of coldness began to spread across his abdomen area. Slowly, Yang Chen looked down.

A look of disbelief was plastered over his face as he stared at the sharp metal object that was protruding from the messy red blot at lower area of his clothe.

It was only now that Yang Chen could a presence behind him.

Upon reaching the Jie Hai realm, practitioners would gain the ability to wield the power of Qi. There are many applications to this power, such as using it to sense other’s presence through the flow of Qi between the Heaven and Earth, or obviously, to attack and defend using this special energy. Advanced cultivators may even send out Qi attacks or materialise it into certain forms; but that is only possible either in the late stages of Jie Hai or if the cultivator is specially talented.

But even the ability to sense other’s Qi did not help Yang Chen discover this hidden enemy, much less this sudden attack. In fact, it was as if this person never existed until Yang Chen the coldness of a sharp metal pierce him. In normal cases, Yang Chen would be able to sense those within a diameter of five feet, given that they are not much stronger than him.

Before Yang Chen’s mind could wrap around this situation, a furious shout came from behind him:

“YOU DARE?!”

An enormous pressure suddenly bore down upon Yang Chen. He could faintly feel the tip of the sword, which he has somewhat ascertain by now, slightly tremble due to the aura.

The culprit seemed to have sensed a deadly danger heading their way, so they quickly pulled out the sword from Yang Chen’s back. The person’s hand swiftly struck out, snatching away the blue cosmic bag under Yang Chen’s belt. Then, without hesitation, cloaked figure delivered a merciless kick towards Yang Chen, sending him flying off the altar.

The kick had been imbued with a large amount of his Qi energy, causing it to possess a devastating offensive power.

When the strike landed on the powerless Yang Chen, who could not even summon his Qi barrier, it had instantly shattered several of his meridians and bones. The latter was now bound onto the road of death.

By now the culprit’s vaguy appearance was quickly revealed. With a slim, muscular physique and wearing a straw hat, a black cloth masking over his lower face and a black outfit that hid his entire being, the culprit’s eyes shone like bright stars despite the pressure he was receiving.

And that person...was Luo Ke!

With a swift grasping movement, he retrieved the black box and it into his brown cosmic bag, along with Yang Chen’s blue pouch.

While this took some time to describe, it all happened quickly. But even then, right after the Luo Ke obtained the black wooden box, a blast of red Qi energy had already fallen upon him.

As the vicious energy came into contact with his back, Luo Ke could feel a sense of crisis screaming loudly inside his head. If he were to take this attack head on like this he would...undoubtedly die!

At this moment, while Luo Ke tried to summon all the Qi energy inside to defend against this Qi attack, the mirror inside his cosmic bag suddenly shone with a green glow. An invisible aura spread out and instantly seemed to cut down the red energy’s offensive ability, causing the color to greatly dim even as it sent Luo Ke flying off the altar.

And naturally, the one who had attacked was Huang Xue!

However, even as Huang Xue was heading towards the fallen Luo Ke with murder in his eyes, all of a sudden, he suddenly paused. The swirling killing intent around him came to a halt as well.