Yesterday's oversight led me to mistakenly calculate Ye Qin's single spirit root points as twenty-five; I wrote that down casually without thinking much. I need to correct that: Ye Qin's single spirit root should be twenty points.

Once all the Foundation Establishment cultivators who ventured into the Imperial Tomb had departed, the underground sepulcher returned to darkness and silence. The passage connecting to the depths, open for only five days, was sealed once more by the surging magma tide, cut off from the outside world.

Yet, the Imperial Tomb was not entirely silent.

Currently, only a rather dazzling Golden Armored Guard, clutching a golden ceremonial sword, moved slowly through the ruins, its steps crunching over shattered stones and broken timber. Its eyes emitted a sharp crimson light, scanning every suspicious corner of the ruined city district.

Wherever it passed, the stone puppets and flying thunder kites within the tomb instinctively retreated, refusing to appear within a hundred zhang of it.

After circling nearly half the tomb, the Golden Armored Guard suddenly became frustrated.

It discovered that it was utterly incapable of locating Ye Qin. Even though it was a top-grade ninth-rank Armored Guard, imbued with a sliver of the Holy Emperor's divine consciousness, it was ultimately just a puppet. Many great divine abilities, which the Holy Emperor himself could wield, could not be executed through this puppet shell.

For example, the Heavenly Eye Technique required the expenditure of divine consciousness. If the Holy Emperor were to cast this spell using his own physical body, no location within a hundred li could escape his wide-ranging divine sense; even buried a hundred zhang deep, one would still be found.

However, the Golden Armored Guard puppet could not deploy spells that consumed vast amounts of divine consciousness. In reality, it was purely a close-combat puppet, possessing formidable physical fighting capabilities but extremely limited magical skill. Most spells were beyond its capacity to cast. Even probing the spiritual roots of other cultivators could only be accomplished at very close range.

Thus, after Ye Qin concealed himself, the Guard couldn't find him.

This gave the puppet a feeling of being humiliated by an ant. It had always been the most powerful entity within the Imperial Tomb, refusing to allow anything inside it to slip beyond its control.

"Even if I have to dig three chi deep, I will unearth you!" The Golden Armored Guard ascended to the highest point of the tomb, standing atop the central palace, its eyes blazing with fury as it let out a roar that shook the entire underground sepulcher.

The resonant howl echoed throughout the subterranean structure, carrying an unmistakable message of rage.

The thousands of stone puppets and flying thunder kites, which had quieted down, immediately sprang back into action. The stone puppets lined up eagerly, forming a dragon formation several li long. Flocks of flying thunder kites hovered and assembled over the southern battlements of the city.

There were no living beings in the tomb, but the stone puppets were inexhaustible, and the number of flying thunder kites was considerable.

The Golden Armored Guard waved its hand coldly.

Three to four hundred flying thunder kites took to the air, forming a dense, black line. They spat out clusters of terrifyingly potent dark lightning, carpeting the ruined city walls below, utterly obliterating all architectural debris and smashing it into dust.

Once the thunder kite swarm had leveled the ruins, the thousands of stone puppets began to claw at the rocky ground with their hands, excavating northward, one chi at a time, starting from the south face of the tomb ruins.

It intended to dig three chi deep.

This method was time-consuming, but the Golden Armored Guard had plenty of time.

After a large section of the tomb ruins had been turned upside down by the thunder kites and stone puppets, Ye Qin scrambled desperately from underground to avoid being vaporized by the dark lightning. Even though he was buried deep, having suppressed nearly all his aura, he could not escape the relentless bombardment of the thunder kites and the furious, inch-by-inch search by the stone puppets. Soon, the mud-covered Ye Qin was surrounded by the masses of kites and puppets, with nowhere left to flee.

"Hmph, this Imperial Tomb spans merely a few dozen li. Boy, even if you burrowed to the heavens or the earth, where could you possibly escape to?"

The Golden Armored Guard instantly knew the puppets had found Ye Qin. It appeared coldly a few dozen zhang away, a hint of mockery in its voice. The hundreds of flying thunder kites and thousands of stone puppets, having completed their search, dispersed, each returning to its designated post.

Ye Qin stood his ground, weakly lifting his head to glance at the Golden Armored Guard. He fled no further; his eyes were filled with despair. Even when whole, he couldn't withstand a single strike from the Golden Armored Guard’s sword, and injured as he was now, he stood no chance. The blow he sustained in the palace had caused astonishing damage, rapidly draining his stamina and spiritual power.

He had to admit, the Guard’s computational ability was astonishing. That one strike was precisely calibrated to prevent him from escaping the tomb by crossing the Earth Flame Barrier, forcing him to hide in the ruins to recover. It would take over a month to heal fully. Even after recovery, his body would suffer slight, irreversible damage; fine meridians in his abdomen were wounded by the sword energy, which would inevitably affect his cultivation progress. The Sword Control technique displayed by the Golden Armored Guard was too domineering; despite holding back, it still inflicted unrecoverable harm on Ye Qin's physique.

Ye Qin had previously gambled that the puppet was inept at tracking, which is why he buried himself underground to evade pursuit from the Golden Armored Guard and Ma Dongyan. However, he had not anticipated that the Golden Armored Guard would resort to this seemingly clumsy but highly effective method of digging him out, rendering his breath-concealing and stealth techniques completely useless.

Ye Qin remained barely clinging to life; even if he had the will to resist, he lacked the strength to employ any countermeasures.

The crimson light in the Golden Armored Guard's eyes swept roughly over Ye Qin's body, causing it to pause in surprise. "Five Spirit Roots?" He possessed a five-element spirit root! This kind of vessel was beneath its notice. What had this boy been so afraid of that he refused to let it probe him, choosing instead to flee?

The Golden Armored Guard approached within one zhang of Ye Qin and scanned his body again with meticulous care.

"Metal twenty, Wood twenty, Water twenty, Fire twenty, Earth, twenty—! A cultivator with complete spirit roots, rarely seen in the Four Great Cultivation Worlds." The Golden Armored Guard’s emotionless armored face betrayed nothing, yet its voice grew increasingly peculiar. Upon confirming once more, its gaze became completely fixed, wavering slightly.

Such perfectly balanced five spirit roots were not what it initially desired. But paired with a suitable cultivation technique, this spiritual aptitude might not be considered poor after all. The Golden Armored Guard suddenly thought of something and began to perform calculations by flexing its fingers.

It was utilizing a profound spell from the Ziwei Astrology art, used to measure extremely subtle aspects of a cultivator’s fate, fortune, opportunities, and calamities. Of course, these aspects were ethereal and intangible; even Nascent Soul cultivators might not calculate them accurately. Fortunately, when a high-tier cultivator measures a low-tier one, the accuracy rate is usually higher. A Nascent Soul expert could discern something when assessing a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If it intended to occupy this physical shell, the inherent destiny of the body had to be taken into account to avoid conflict with its own fate.

After a full half an hour, the Golden Armored Guard finished calculating with the Ziwei Astrology art. It trembled slightly and retreated a single step, gazing at Ye Qin with shock. This fellow's fate and fortune seemed shrouded in a thin veil of gray mist, indistinct; it could not see clearly at all. Why was this? It had never encountered such a bizarre situation before.

Ye Qin stared curiously at the Golden Armored Guard, wondering what it had been spacing out about in front of him for so long. He had a bad feeling that it was connected to him, and he certainly wouldn't be getting off lightly.

The Golden Armored Guard remained stunned for quite a while before suddenly finding its inexplicable alarm amusing. No matter how strange the situation, the person before it was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator; what could he possibly do to it? Moreover, it was a puppet; this fact likely affected the accuracy of the spiritual art. If the Holy Emperor’s physical body had cast the spell personally, it would surely have achieved an accurate reading. It attributed the failure of the spiritual art entirely to this factor.

"How interesting. You have a touch of the peculiar, boy. This Holy Emperor still needs to take you back for a thorough examination!"

The Golden Armored Guard roughly lifted Ye Qin and strode rapidly toward the main hall of the Inner Palace. Its speed was incredible; in mere blinks, it traversed the passage within the hall and arrived at the central chamber.

Smack!

Ye Qin was thrown onto the ground before the altar, grimacing in pain. However, the physical agony was the least of his concerns now; being possessed by a Nascent Soul cultivator was what truly terrified him. Back when he was in the Qi Condensation stage, he had been nearly possessed by Nan Tianba of the Wu Family, who had invaded his Dantian. At that time, he was only in the second or third layer of Qi Condensation, and it took him immense effort to destroy Nan Tianba’s nascent soul, who was at the fourth layer. But facing a Nascent Soul cultivator two full stages higher was an insurmountable gap; he had no confidence in a direct confrontation. Brute force was absolutely out of the question.

"Boy, consider yourself lucky that this Holy Emperor has taken an interest in your shell. Other cultivators would gladly offer up their bodies for such an opportunity to coexist with this Holy Emperor." After tossing Ye Qin onto the ground, the Golden Armored Guard began rummaging through the Sumeru Ring on its right hand.

This Sumeru Ring contained vast numbers of storage bags. These were offerings presented to the Holy Emperor by the Foundation Establishment cultivators who had entered the Inner Palace. The contents were incredibly diverse, with an abundance of top-grade items—so many that even the Golden Armored Guard couldn't keep track.

After a while, the Golden Armored Guard pulled out a leaf-shaped talisman stone, only the size of a palm. The Golden Armored Guard casually tossed this talisman stone to Ye Qin.

"What is this?" Ye Qin caught the green leaf-shaped talisman stone, looking up at the Golden Armored Guard with confusion.

"Use this spirit treasure with healing effects, the 'Bay Leaf Talisman Stone,' to mend your injuries. Before I occupy your body, it is only proper to repair your physical vessel so it can withstand my possession. Do you imagine this Holy Emperor would carelessly ruin the body he intends to possess?" the Golden Armored Guard stated in a cold voice.

Ye Qin's face immediately filled with surprise and astonishment. He examined it closely; it was indeed a spirit treasure!

In the cultivation world, the difference between a Treasure () and an Implement (), separated by only one character, denotes entirely different categories with clear distinctions. Implements are items manufactured through human refinement. Mortal Implements, Spirit Implements, and Dharma Implements all fall under the category of Implements. Implements refined from various ores, even if damaged, can be reforged and repaired. Treasures are items naturally born from the heavens and earth. Mortal Treasures, Spirit Treasures, and Dharma Treasures all fall under the category of Treasures. Naturally formed treasures can also be processed and refined by cultivators, often possessing unique effects and power no less than Implements. Spirit Treasures and Dharma Treasures often hold immense power. All Treasures share one trait: once destroyed, they are utterly irreparable.

Because Implements are manufactured, they can be continuously forged, whereas Treasures are naturally formed, making each one rarer. Thus, their values are incomparable. The items Ye Qin had previously obtained were mostly Spirit Implements and Dharma Implements, with very few Spirit Treasures. The Undying Fire he acquired in the Spirit Mist City maze could barely qualify as a Spirit Treasure. He was quite surprised to find that this green leaf-shaped talisman stone given by the Golden Armored Guard was also a Spirit Treasure, and one specifically for healing.