The spiritual sense connection had been severed?

Not only this person, but several others present instantly halted their steps. Most were dark-skinned, with a pair of wings behind them. Their expressions at this moment were exceedingly grim. A few others were formless and intangible, like drifting specters, only visible as faint, untraceable silhouettes.

"What happened here?"

"We can no longer sense him. This contradicts your promises—"

"Why be surprised? That Zong Shou is not a dead man. On the contrary, he is the most peerless individual in the Cloud Realm for millennia. Having experienced countless battles in his life, how could he lack this level of alertness? If we were tailing him, he should have noticed our presence long ago,"

The person being questioned remained completely calm, paying no mind to the gazes fixed upon him.

"Furthermore, Zong Shou’s subordinates include a master of numerology like Kong Rui. How could they not possess countermeasures against such nefarious methods?"

"But if we cannot locate him, how can we surround and kill him?"

"This tomb palace is riddled with pathways and densely packed with restrictive mechanisms. Searching blindly is utterly futile and risks death."

The one clad in long, deep-red robes chuckled, "Do I not know this? But there is no need to worry. Since Zong Shou has entered the Qin Emperor's Tomb, he will not be leaving anytime soon. Moreover, the curse planted personally by the Holy Venerable is not something ordinary magic can suppress. Everyone, please remain calm—"

"Speaking of which, I have always been curious. What exactly is the intention of your Holy Venerable this time?"

One person said coldly, "Don't tell me it’s merely to take Zong Shou's life?"

"Why not? Our dozens of great demonic sects have been annihilated. To call the enmity deep as the sea would be an understatement."

The red-robed man laughed darkly, "My junior brother Han here has an even deeper grudge with Zong Shou—a bitter enmity born from a stolen wife. This Sovereign of the Great Qian is hated down to the bone. Since the Holy Venerable values and favors my junior brother, taking action personally to restore his reputation is not surprising—"

The junior brother Han let out a cold snort, clearly displeased beyond measure. Malice glittered in his eyes, his jaw clenched tight, muscles taut.

But the red-robed man’s tone immediately shifted, "Naturally, it is also why the rest of you need not fear repercussions from the Lu Family."

"Fear the Lu Family? And use us as your blades?"

A cold laugh echoed again, laced with bone-chilling frost, "I always feel that what your Holy Venerable plots is not this simple. Since we have joined forces, we should know each other's true foundations. This concealment is hardly the way of allies?"

"Allies?"

The eyes of the red-robed man were full of mocking scorn. "The problem is that your two clans have no other choice! Immeasurable Light, Endless Darkness—this must be the will of Heaven demanding your two clans' demise. If you miss this opportunity, there will never be another chance. Must you truly wait until he grows strong enough to tread upon the Saint Tier? Even if his Great Qian Immortal Dynasty falls, as long as the Lu Family’s Sky-Burning Sacred Court remains, his path ahead is broad, and achieving the state of a supreme Holy Venerable is only a matter of time. Thus, the three of us are not allies. We are merely cooperating temporarily, each taking what we need."

"As for the true objective of my Holy Venerable, it is no harm to inform you. Zong Shou’s life belongs to all of you; our Demonic Sect only requires one item from him."

"To be valued by the Holy Venerable, it must be a top-tier spiritual treasure, exceedingly crucial?"

"Does that concern you?"

A profound silence fell over the tomb passage. After a long interval, one person finally spoke again.

"Speaking of the vengeance for a stolen wife, is your Saintess truly reliable? I have heard of the Nine Secrets Primordial Demon Seven Emotions Great Art of your Cloud Realm human race. However, a woman swayed by emotion is always unreasonable. If Zong Shou shows even slight vigilance, this entire endeavor will likely end in failure—"

"You need not worry about that matter!"

The red-robed man gave a cruel smile upon hearing this. "She knows nothing about this, nor does she know that her time is short! Before her fragrance fades and her jade vanishes, perhaps she can still give Zong Shou a massive surprise."

Zong Shou, naturally, remained completely oblivious to the discussions taking place tens of miles away. After sprinkling the powder of the Mo Yu Huang, he felt his heart and spirit settle considerably.

He wondered if this was mere psychological comfort or if he had genuinely escaped some danger.

"That strand of intent seems to have dispersed—but who exactly is plotting against me?"

Zong Shou subconsciously thought of Gong Yuan. He had to admit that being deep within the Qin Emperor's Tomb right now was the most vulnerable time for an assassination.

His Kingly Martial Arts could not be used, and the supreme Holy Venerables with whom he had dealings could not intervene.

It was as if his combat power had been dragged completely down from the Saint Realm.

Yet, he vaguely felt something was amiss; the sensation just now had felt far more perilous.

Although Gong Yuan's transformation between substance and illusion, along with the Heavenly Escape Child-Mother Swords, were formidable, they could not compare to the vague divine sense he had just felt, which imparted a greater sense of crisis.

His expression grew solemn, and he glanced at the void. Zong Shou commanded the Azure Fire Black Tortoise to accelerate its escape light, continuing their rapid flight forward.

Knowing that hundreds of thousands of Great Qin Iron Cavalry patrolled these tomb passages, the group became significantly more cautious.

Shen Yuexuan released several mechanical birds that flew into the surrounding tunnels, monitoring everything from every direction, striving to avoid any contact with the black-armored cavalry.

At this time, fluctuations of spiritual energy began to emanate throughout the entire tomb palace, clearly indicating that many others had already entered the main tomb of the Qin Emperor.

They were either fighting against the tomb's mechanisms and restrictions or engaging the Great Qin Iron Cavalry, which had already become inanimate objects. Several of these intruders were positioned extremely close, separated by only a few passages.

Zong Shou followed the map and soon arrived before a stone door. Without attempting to decipher it, he simply hurled several pre-forged formation plates far out, sticking them tightly against the stone surface.

As the darkness, seemingly capable of devouring everything, suddenly expanded and then vanished, the passage and the stone door before them looked as if they had been violently bitten—a large portion of their substance had simply disappeared into thin air.

The thick stone door was now reduced to a thin shell.

This was the benefit of the 'Endless Darkness' divine ability: it forcefully broke through spiritual array seals with virtually no fear of backlash, and it was silent, stirring almost no spiritual energy, thus failing to alert others.

It was only a pity that it consumed a significant amount of Immortal Stones; each formation plate was equivalent to a low-grade Immortal Artifact. Zong Shou had not crafted many before his journey.

He now had only two formation plates left in his possession, reserved for other uses.

However, at this point, he no longer needed to act. The Jade Puppet thrust out a powerful punch, smashing the already fragile stone door to pieces.

What unfolded before them was an impossibly vast tomb chamber.

It stretched eighty thousand zhang from north to south, and over thirty-eight thousand zhang from east to west. Countless lifelike terracotta figures stood neatly arrayed within this chamber.

At a glance, there were at least 1.12 million figures, comprising exactly one hundred and twenty ten-thousand-man formations.

War chariots, war beasts, weaponry, and armor were all present. Even as terracotta figures, they possessed an aura capable of swallowing the world.

"It is the Qin Emperor's Terracotta Army—"

Legend held that after his death, the Qin Emperor ordered the crafting of tens of millions of burial soldiers to guard his mausoleum.

A flicker of surprise crossed Zong Shou’s eyes, and he immediately directed his gaze toward a separate compartment located on the northern side of the chamber.

With a million-strong army, there naturally needed to be sufficient supplies to sustain a large force in battle.

The slightly smaller chamber was where the burial goods were stored.

It contained enough provisions to sustain a million troops for several years of campaigning.

Zong Shou was about to fly into the compartment when he saw Su Xiaoxiao staring with a deathly pale face at the million-strong terracotta army.

"Such powerful resentment! Almost all these burial figures are bodies of fierce corpses! They are about to awaken—"

Zong Shou was startled and took a careful look. He indeed saw powder constantly falling from the surface of the terracotta soldiers. Moreover, the outer shells of some were already showing fine cracks, as if something inside was constantly struggling.

"Can your Primordial Demon Seven Emotions Art control them?"

"I cannot. The number is simply too great!"

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head, then suddenly gritted her teeth, "At most, I can suppress them for one quarter of an hour—"

She then added with a coy smile, "But if Cultivator Shou agrees to an intimate rendezvous with this humble servant, and allows me free rein to act, then even for a full hour, Xiaoxiao will strive to accomplish it. I have learned many arts of the bedchamber, but I haven't had the chance to use them yet!"

Yuan Wushang let out a dry cough. Su Xiaoxiao's demeanor at that moment was like that of an immortal maiden, yet the words she spoke were truly difficult to endure, yet they made one’s heart race uncontrollably.

Even he couldn't help but indulge in wild thoughts. This Zong Shou was truly blessed.

Chu Xue's face turned bright red, and she muttered, "Truly a demoness!"

Zong Shou ignored the exchange and increased his speed, bursting into the northern storage chamber.

Then, the divine light in his eyes flared brilliantly, filled with infinite joy.

It was a veritable mountain range of Immortal Stones, piled up here. A cursory glance showed no less than one hundred thousand stones, and their grade was not low.

Spirit Stones were difficult to store; even in spiritual lands, their grade would decline after ten thousand years. Immortal Stones suffered no such affliction; the longer they existed, the denser the spiritual energy they accumulated.

Compared to the pile before him, the spoils he had seized from the Demonic Sect some days prior were nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

Only the treasures acquired from the Jiudu Immortal Court could compare to this haul.

"If I were to use this alone, it would be enough to accelerate the Cosmic Book by over a thousand years. No, even twelve hundred years would suffice!"

However, if his cultivation ascended to the Divine Realm, this duration would be reduced tenfold.

"The Ancient Primordial Qin—how incredibly wealthy were they?"

Zong Shou found it incredible, then looked at the other items.

Beside the stones were stacks of well-preserved weaponry and armor.

Zong Shou casually summoned a sword, a suit of armor, and a crossbow, testing them in his hands, his face brightening further with delight.

Even after ten millennia, the swords remained sharp and the armor solid. Due to the skill of the artifact masters, they might even surpass contemporary pieces. Only the bowstrings of the crossbows had lost some elasticity, but that was a minor issue, easily remedied by replacement.

And in this chamber, there were a total of 1.3 million sets of armor, 800,000 long swords, 640,000 halberds, and 400,000 crossbows. Moreover, one-quarter of these were the standard issue equipment for the Heavenly Gang Swordsmen and Heavenly Gang Crossbowmen.