Jiu Gu Shao seized the Centipede Elixir and immediately vanished into the bronze alchemy furnace. Safe inside, he could hear every sound happening outside as clearly as if it were beside him. He heard the Six-Winged Centipede pursue them, unable to breach the furnace, so it coiled tightly around the exterior, its tendrils raking violently against the copper wall.

The Six-Winged Centipede seemed to know that losing that red pill meant certain death, pouring all its sorrow, madness, and resentment onto the alchemy furnace, clawing and scraping the copper walls with countless legs in a frenzy. Though it could do nothing to the solid, lumpen bronze vessel, the dense, incessant noise coming from all directions sounded like countless small centipedes drilling directly into his brain, driving Jiu Gu Shao to clutch his head almost to the point of madness.

Jiu Gu Shao possessed extraordinary self-control, but the sequence of actions to snatch the pill had been executed flawlessly and with unimaginable speed; it was truly an all-or-nothing gamble, utilizing everything he had ever learned. Leaping up suddenly from his hibernation state to bolt forward had caused his chest to surge with churning blood. Now trapped within the bronze furnace, his mind was flooded by the sound of the Six-Winged Centipede’s innumerable feet moving, causing a splitting headache beyond endurance. His heart hammered wildly, and he found it impossible to calm himself.

Jiu Gu Shao’s mind was still lucid, and fearing he would die in a fit of frenzy, he tried to bite his tongue to refocus his spirit. However, he felt the numbness spreading gradually across his tongue. He knew the centipede venom in his mouth had taken effect. The exertion he had just expended had clearly pushed his body beyond its limits. The venom that had contaminated his tongue tip and teeth was likely close to invading his brain marrow.

He suddenly recalled the red pill clutched tightly in his hand. The centipede’s inner elixir was the essence of the mystical stones of Bottle Mountain; the Six-Winged Centipede not only faced death without it but was also rendered incapable of spitting venom. It was commonly heard that an inner elixir possessed the power to bring the dead back to life. No matter how dire the sickness, as long as a flicker of life remained, swallowing a hundred-year true elixir could absolutely keep one tethered to life and return them to the living world. He reasoned that if the Centipede Pearl could neutralize the centipede venom, this inner elixir might possess the same cleansing effect—like soup dissolving its original ingredients. However, the Centipede Pearl could not be brought near the mouth or nose, and he didn't know if the nature of the inner elixir—the red pill—was similar.

Jiu Gu Shao reasoned that death was inevitable anyway; why not swallow the pill and seek survival? If the lineage of the Mountain Shifting School was not meant to end here, perhaps there was a sliver of hope. He had never believed in gods or spirits, nor was he one to cling fearfully to life. But now, his own life carried great importance; he could not allow the tradition of the Mountain Shifting Branching Technique to die with him. He found himself silently praying: “Ancestors resting in the Double Black Mountains, you who venerate the one, all-knowing, all-powerful true God, if the sacred mountain of Zha-Ge-La truly possesses responsiveness, then preserve this life for me…”

In the span of that thought, he felt a slight numbness in his throat, knowing that if he didn't swallow the Centipede Elixir now, his throat would be paralyzed, and even if this golden pill were a panacea, it would be impossible to swallow. When fate presses this hard, how could he afford further hesitation? He raised his hand, tossed the red pill spat out by the Six-Winged Centipede into his mouth, tilted his head back, and swallowed it whole. He felt his internal organs being consumed by fire, and blood immediately streamed from his nostrils and mouth.

Jiu Gu Shao was not only extraordinarily brave but also hard as iron; even facing pain that felt like bone being scraped or tendons being pulled, he would not twitch an eyebrow. But now, the pain was so intense that he gritted his teeth, utterly unable to endure the agony that permeated his viscera and bone marrow. He could only punch the furnace wall repeatedly, seeking relief from the bone-gnawing, excruciating torment.

The Six-Winged Centipede clinging to the bronze alchemy furnace seemed to sense its inner elixir had been consumed. Although the furnace had many open gaps, it could not penetrate them, and it was helpless against the thick copper walls, left only in anxious frustration. He heard the sound of countless legs scratching the copper grow even more frantic, but the creature was already at its last gasp. Before long, the sound gradually weakened. Finally, the Six-Winged Centipede dropped from the furnace, its wings and antennae twitching a few times before falling still.

Silence instantly descended upon the elixir well. Inside the furnace, Jiu Gu Shao felt as if pierced by ten thousand needles, certain that death was his due. But after an unknown length of time, he felt the blood flow in his chest gradually smooth out. Waves of coolness penetrated his three major passes and coursed through every limb and bone. His spirit gradually settled. He opened his mouth and vomited several mouthfuls of black blood; the numbness in his mouth was gone, and his limbs moved normally. He muttered inwardly, "By sheer luck."

Hearing the deathly silence outside, Jiu Gu Shao pushed open the lid of the bronze alchemy furnace, braced one hand on the rim, and climbed out. The corpse of the Six-Winged Centipede lay withered by the furnace on the ground. Its entire body was shriveled; its originally glossy black carapace was wrinkled and yellowed, like a cicada’s discarded shell, as if it had aged millennia in an instant, suddenly dying of old age—likely due to the loss of its golden elixir.

At that moment, the rocky fissures along the edge of the well bottom suddenly erupted in chaos. Chen Xia Zi, the leader of the Xie Ling bandits, followed by a hundred or so followers carrying lanterns, rushed over. They had previously been near the Boundless Palace and, seeing Jiu Gu Shao and the Six-Winged Centipede buried by the collapsing structure, assumed the Mountain Shifting Taoist had no hope of surviving this time. They had rushed to pry up pillars and move bricks, intending to honor the brotherhood between Mountain Shifting and Xie Ling by recovering his complete body for proper burial.

However, the structure of the Boundless Hall was exceptionally peculiar: it had no main beams, relying entirely on interlocking wooden rafters supporting the pillars. Moving one part affected the whole structure. Though the Xie Ling bandits were numerous, they could not excavate the collapsed ruins in a short time. Some descended into the dry pool to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades and discovered a split rock fissure at the bottom of the pool. The Six-Winged Centipede had climbed up the stone bridge from there.

So, Chen Xia Zi led a group, driving flocks of chickens ahead of them, and squeezed through the fissure. To their astonishment, they saw Jiu Gu Shao standing next to a massive bronze alchemy furnace, and the vicious Six-Winged Centipede was already dead at his feet. Looking further at the mountain of ancient corpses piled up in the elixir well, every face was a picture of astonishment.

Hong Gu Niang was both shocked and delighted. She had anticipated a final parting between life and death and never expected to see him again. She immediately rushed forward, grabbing Jiu Gu Shao and examining him repeatedly. Jiu Gu Shao managed a wry smile: "Esteemed sirs, I am a man, not a ghost, but I can't withstand your scrutiny." He then recounted to the group everything that had happened since falling from the Boundless Palace into the elixir well.

The bandits listened, all marveling at the heaven-shaking methods of the Mountain Shifting Taoist. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, tomb robbers in the world have been broadly categorized as Fa Qiu, Mo Jin, Mountain Shifting, and Xie Ling. Mountain Shifters and Mo Jin Captains have historically been few in number, almost insignificant compared to the thousands of followers of the Constant Victory Mountain. But this was only in terms of influence; when measured by their tomb-raiding "skills," the Mountain Shifters were generally considered superior to Xie Ling. Some Xie Ling followers had previously disagreed, but now, having witnessed the Mountain Shifting Taoist Jiu Gu Shao seizing the elixir and destroying the Six-Winged Centipede, they were completely and utterly convinced.

Moreover, in this tomb raid of Bottle Mountain, although they utilized the principles of natural control and restraint within the Mountain Shifting Branching Technique, bringing thousands of roosters to deal with swarms of centipedes, ultimately, it was Jiu Gu Shao's genuine, hard-earned skill that eliminated the formidable enemy.

There was a very ancient legend circulating among tomb raiding practitioners: long ago, a predecessor in the trade found a ruined coffin in a desolate mountain temple. The coffin was severely decayed and empty of a body, but it was filled with exquisite jade and gold artifacts. Naturally, the robber did not leave empty-handed and swept everything clean. Just as he was about to depart, a sudden chilling wind blew in, and a Flying Jiangshi entered, carrying a woman. Seeing the zombie, the robber knew that encountering it at night would surely cost him his life. In a moment of quick thinking, he dove into the coffin, using the embroidered lining to secure the lid. No matter how fiercely the zombie raged and clawed at the coffin outside, he held the lid fast from within. When dawn broke and the rooster crowed, the zombie lunged onto the coffin lid and became motionless, its claws deeply embedded in the wood, utterly unable to pull away. The robber quickly set a fire and burned the creature along with the lid to ash.

This legend was widely known among tomb raiding craftsmen. The circumstances of Jiu Gu Shao seizing the elixir this time bore a striking resemblance to this tale—a true demonstration of the ancient spirit of the tomb raiders. Thus, the followers whispered among themselves, praising him endlessly; he was truly a man of divine valor.

Chen An Zi also praised him: "Without the Dragon-Seizing Hand, the Dragon Head Pearl could not have been taken. This old centipede has finally been eliminated by my brother's ingenious plan; it truly makes us applaud with joy..." Then he sighed again. This was his third entry into Bottle Mountain, and several more of his brothers had died. Old Yang Ren and Hua Ling, those two Mountain Shifting Taoists, were also lost in the chaos. The ancient tomb of Bottle Mountain seemed to be an extremely inauspicious place, having already claimed over a hundred lives. The temporary mourning hall at the Old Bear Ridge Benevolent Home could no longer accommodate so many memorial tablets. A shadow of gloom settled over Jiu Gu Shao's brow. Having narrowly escaped death, how could he boast of valor? He was now the sole remaining practitioner of the Mountain Shifting lineage, utterly alone. This setback was too great, and the true subterranean palace of the Bottle Mountain tomb had yet to be found. It seemed the elixir palace and well did not house the nobility of the Yuan Dynasty; it was still a void tomb. Both the Mountain Shifters and the Xie Ling, being driven by ambition and the desire to prove themselves, were unwilling to accept such heavy losses in vain. They were determined to harden their hearts and would not easily let the matter rest, vowing to plunder the entire Bottle Mountain tomb, even if it meant cracking the mountain apart. Both Chen Xia Zi and Jiu Gu Shao possessed profound tomb-raiding experience, yet they repeatedly failed to locate the true position of the Bottle Mountain tomb’s main hall. It seemed conventional geomantic principles for imperial mausoleums could not apply here; they lamented their inability to discern the cardinal directions for precise entry. After a brief consultation, they agreed that the elixir well held many strange anomalies. An immortal palace for alchemy should be a blessed haven, yet the well was choked with piles of corpses and coffins. Beneath that "Immortal Palace of Reflected Mortal Dust and Illusory Realms" lay a secret chamber for refining Yin Elixirs using zombies. No wonder the mountain's Yin energy was so heavy. This method of burning Yin Elixirs involved excavating ancient corpses buried in auspicious ley lines and boiling and simmering them in cauldrons to refine the earth-vein dragon energy within the zombie bodies into the form of corpse oil and corpse wax. This practice was scorned by the orthodox sects and invariably regarded as "demonic art," with almost no one daring to openly refine Yin Elixirs. They wondered which emperor, driven mad by the desire for eternal life, had ordered such a practice in the Bottle Mountain Immortal Palace's elixir well, or if the alchemists did so to fulfill imperial demands. If the emperor was unaware of this secret and had continuously consumed Yin Elixirs refined from corpse oil and wax, upon learning the truth in his imperial tomb after death, he might even rise as a corpse himself and vomit profusely. The walls of the elixir well, pressured by the slope of Bottle Mountain and centuries of earthquakes, had split into numerous fissures. In addition to the passage leading to the dry pool beneath the Boundless Palace, the other end should also connect via a mountain fissure to the rear hall—the area that Chen Xia Zi’s forces had set ablaze. Furthermore, besides this one furnace, the elixir well should contain at least an alchemy room, a fire chamber, a medicine pavilion, and a facility for refining corpse oil. Now, the well had been occupied by the Six-Winged Centipede for many years; drawn to the elixirs, it often thrashed and rubbed against the bottom, thoroughly scrambling the mounds of corpses and coffins. To find any other hidden chambers in the well walls or floor, they first had to clear away all these ancient remains. Thus, Chen Xia Zi issued orders: one contingent of bandits was to carry out the bodies of their fallen comrades outside Bottle Mountain, while another contingent continued to salvage valuables from the Immortal Palace. Outside the mountain, Old Luo Wai awaited with his group for backup. Chen Xia Zi himself, along with Jiu Gu Shao, personally supervised a large contingent of engineers in sorting through and excavating the corpses and coffins in the elixir well. Jiu Gu Shao felt an inexpressible sorrow seeing the bodies of his junior apprentice-brother and sister being carried out of the mountain. Although they called each other fellow apprentices, Hua Ling and Old Yang Ren were both brought up by him, shared the same lineage, and had lived side-by-side with him; their bond was akin to blood and flesh. But no matter how great his personal ability, his courage and wisdom had their limits. Now, seeing his juniors slain in the desolate mountains, he was powerless to save them. Though he had avenged them with his own hands, he remained deeply grieved, especially concerned that the Mountain Shifting Branching Technique would be lost forever. However, with the major objective unresolved, he forced himself to focus, directing the bandits in clearing the piled corpses and coffins. The bandits, fearing that zombies might suddenly reanimate in the well, assigned several dozen men armed with white waxwood poles to guard the perimeter, ready to jab and subdue any reanimated corpse that lunged out. The vast majority of the ancient corpses excavated from the well had been pulled from vital ley lines, so many of them were remarkably well-preserved zombies. This so-called zombie did not necessarily mean a monstrous creature that came back to life; any body that died without decomposing and remained rigid, unable to bend, could be called a jiangshi. Additionally, those whose bodies exhibited strange phenomena after death—for instance, hundred-year-old corpses whose hair and nails continued to grow, resulting in curled nails, and whose flesh remained soft as if alive, with joints still capable of bending—would also be classified as jiangshi. If analyzed closely, they should fall under the category of xingshi (walking corpses). Two hundred-plus engineers and Xie Ling bandits, their faces masked with black gauze and hands gloved, endured the overwhelming stench under Chen Xia Zi’s command, steeling themselves as they rummaged through the piles of the dead. First, they smashed open every coffin, scraping gold brocade and jade artifacts from the inner panels. Then, using hooks and shovels, they hooked the corpses by the mouth and dragged them out one by one. They were bound with ropes, and then knives were used to cut open mouths and eviscerate bodies to search for pearls and jade. The funerary objects buried within had two categories: external and internal, with those hidden inside the body often being more valuable. The Xie Ling method of tomb raiding naturally differed from the Mo Jin Captains. Mo Jin meant "touching," involving a quick sweep over the body with their hands. Xie Ling, however, meant "dismantling." Even if a corpse had gold teeth embedded in its mouth, they would either smash them out with a hammer or clamp them with pliers, ensuring they were removed one way or another. If ancient corpses contained pearls or jade in their mouths, it was bad luck falling into the hands of the Xie Ling bandits. If the body was stiff and the mouth couldn't be pried open, they would use an axe to split the jawbone. Ancient burial customs varied: some hoped for liberation through bodily dissolution after death, but between the Spring and Autumn period and the Qin-Han eras, maintaining a lifelike appearance was often favored. The methods for preserving the physical form were also diverse—the wealthy had means for jade caskets or jade suits; the poor had cruder methods. Some involved plugging the body's orifices with cool jade, others using 'Youth-Retaining Pearls' or 'Youth-Retaining Powders,' and still others injecting arsenic or mercury into the corpse. Poor burials might, at the very least, include an old coin as a 'mouth-filling coin.'