"How does Your Majesty plan to respond?"

Shen Yuexuan frowned, finding the situation within the Qin Emperor's tomb increasingly perilous and bizarre.

If that First Qin Emperor were truly revived, the nearly twenty million corpse soldiers within the tomb would still heed his command. In that case, unless the supreme masters of the Cloud Realm joined forces, they would indeed possess the power to sweep across the world once more.

And Zong Shou, along with the others, also faced mortal danger.

"In my opinion, for the sake of safety, it is best to temporarily withdraw and observe the changes."

"No need for that!"

Zong Shou narrowed his eyes, a cold, utterly emotionless smile playing on his lips. "Even if we overestimate them, the Demon Sect and the two great alien races have at least six to eight Saint-rank experts allied. In Mr. Shen's view, what are the chances of these people taking my life?"

Shen Yuexuan remained silent in contemplation, but Yuan Wushang merely laughed, "I see less than one in ten!"

Both Zong Shou and Chuxue possessed the ability to contend with God-rank cultivators. The former held the Cosmic Script and the Phantom Heart Mirror. The Cosmic Script controlled time, the Phantom Heart Mirror countered Shadow Demons, and the Boundless Beginning and End Dharma Form was a divine technique deeply dreaded by the Night Demon race.

Chuxue wielded the Blood Moon Saber divine artifact, capable of clashing with Saint-ranks herself.

His own Jade Puppet was exceptionally powerful.

As for Shen Yuexuan, others might not know, but having spent several months in the Tianfang Realm, Yuan Wushang knew this was someone even Ye Xuan acknowledged. The opponents might be strong, but they absolutely could not prevent them from escaping if they wished to flee.

Reflecting on this, Yuan Wushang suddenly understood something uncanny—

If the Demon Sect and Daqian had turned on each other after making an alliance, they should have had a hundred percent certainty of slaughtering Zong Shou in the Qin Emperor's tomb.

Either Li Biexue had sufficient preparation and absolute confidence, or there was another scheme afoot, one relying on the assistance of others.

The former possibility was exceedingly slim. Li Biexue might be prepared, but did the others not have their own trump cards? Even Yuan Wushang himself was far more formidable than just his Jade Puppet suggested. The risk was immense—

That left only one possibility: something within this ancient tomb gave that Supreme Primordial Demon the absolute assurance that Zong Shou could never leave alive.

"Things that even you and I are aware of, Li Biexue cannot fail to understand," Zong Shou spoke while sorting through his thoughts. "So the scheme is easy to deduce. Within this Qin Emperor's tomb, those truly capable of trapping and killing us are none other than the Twelve Bronze Men, and the possibly resurrected Qin Emperor—"

Without the Qin Emperor, though the tomb held tens of millions of corpse soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Daqin Iron Cavalry, and millions of Heavenly Dipper Swordsmen, they were akin to scattered sand, difficult to form a real threat.

Zong Shou paused in his thoughts. He realized he had been getting stuck in a rut, trying to devise a countermeasure by following the opponent's moves.

Why bother analyzing their conspiracy? It was entirely unnecessary.

"I was thinking wrongly. This game board is unclear, and the path to solving it is unknown. So, let's be direct—let's eliminate the person playing the game first!"

This was true might breaking through complexity. He could not touch Li Biexue, but the Saintly Venerable needed proxies to control everything within the Qin Emperor's tomb.

"Eliminate the player?"

Yuan Wushang murmured, his eyes gradually lighting up. Whatever the Supreme Primordial Demon's plan, those powerful Demon Sect members Gong Xinran mentioned were the foundation of all the schemes.

"Then, Brother Yuan, do you think that with the combined strength of us few, we cannot accomplish it?"

"We certainly can!"

Yuan Wushang laughed, excitement coloring his tone. "Interesting! Truly interesting, Zong Shou, I was right about you! This is exhilarating."

"This approach is viable!"

Shen Yuexuan also opened his eyes. "Whatever the conspiracy, removing the person who laid the groundwork first is always the most prudent course."

His Sovereign was truly surprising. His methods for confronting enemies were decisive and sharp.

Zong Shou, however, frowned again. The countermeasure was set, but they first needed to locate those people.

Shen Yuexuan already understood his intent and said calmly, "To find their location, I happen to have a few methods—"

With a slight wave of his hand, forty-eight clockwork wooden birds scattered into the surrounding tomb passages. Their speed was comparable to the fastest spirit birds, swift as lightning, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Zong Shou saw at a glance that Shen Yuexuan's divine sense and the Thousand-Mile Sight spiritual technique were attached to all forty-eight mechanical hummingbirds. This spell, though low in grade, was extremely stable. Its spiritual energy fluctuation was minimal, allowing it to evade the lockdown of the Two Forms Dragon Gathering Formation with care.

Moreover, a very special powder was sprinkled on the hummingbirds.

The Tianfang World was one of the regions frequently traversed by Shadow Demons. Anyone with even a bit of strength possessed means to identify and guard against them. This powder was refined from a spiritual medicine called Mingfan Grass, which could react to the anomalous soul power of Shadow Demons, making it difficult for those below the Saint-rank 'Freely Moving Demon God'—those still in the Formless Realm—to evade detection.

In truth, locating the Saint-ranks was easy. In this ancient tomb, with so many Saint-rank experts gathered, there was only one such concentration of power. They could deduce clues from the extent of damage to various mechanisms and prohibitions, and the dark aura of the Night Demon race's martial and spiritual techniques.

The reason the five of them did not pursue personally, using the clockwork hummingbirds instead, was merely to avoid alerting those powerful individuals.

About forty-five minutes later, Shen Yuexuan, who had been sensing intently, finally opened his eyes, clearly having found something.

"It should be here, within the northern passage. Ten li away; we cannot get any closer."

Simultaneously, several threads of divine sense were cast out. In Zong Shou's mind, several scenes appeared: the Mingfan Grass powder glimmering faintly, while the thirty thousand corpse soldiers garrisoned in that passage showed no abnormality. However, all the mechanisms and prohibitions in that area had been swept clean.

After a brief examination, Zong Shou knew Shen Yuexuan’s words had merit. Correlating this with Chong Xuan’s map confirmed that the northern direction led to a ventilation shaft connected to the main burial chamber. It offered another route into the central chamber, but was more concealed and offered an elevated vantage point overlooking everything within the legendary Small World.

The wooden hummingbirds indeed could not approach further, or the risk of discovery would become too high. This counter-assault relied entirely on surprise; if the opponents were alerted beforehand, it would be disastrous.

Yuan Wushang then raised the second challenge: "Now that we know where they are, how do we get there?"

The Scent-Stealing Gu had locked onto Zong Shou's vital aura. Although the sensation was extremely vague, if any of them approached, this Gu worm would surely sense it.

Zong Shou gave a cold sneer. In any other part of the Qin Emperor's tomb, he might have been helpless. But precisely because the Two Forms Dragon Gathering Formation prohibitions in this particular direction had been completely cleared, it offered him an opportunity. Perhaps today Heaven aids me?

Inside his spiritual void, nearly two hundred Dao Seed Stars manifested, scattering in all directions. A portion gathered around him, enclosing the group, while another portion appeared exactly at the location of Shen Yuexuan's wooden hummingbird, stopping about five li ahead.

Previously, Zong Shou's Instantaneous Void Dragon Pellet could only transport himself. However, since the number of these stars increased to one hundred and eighty-seven, the Divine Ability of Instantaneous Void Teleportation had increased dramatically and could now affect others. But this required many Dao Seed Stars to be concentrated together, and the distance of the teleportation could not be too great.

Naturally, a mere five li was no issue. That distance was enough to prevent the enemy from reacting.

Zong Shou's gaze flickered across Su Xiaoxiao, noting her strange expression masked by forced composure. He let out a cold smile, simultaneously activating seventy-two Dragon Pellets around him. A powerful, strange force instantly dragged the five people present into the spatio-temporal layer.

When they reappeared, the scene before them had changed to a different tomb chamber. Below them lay thirty thousand intact terracotta warriors; now, sensing the presence of living beings, countless fissures began to appear on their surfaces.

"Is that Instantaneous Void Teleportation?"

Yuan Wushang instantly grasped his predicament and, using magic power to restrain his voice, laughed wildly. "I almost forgot about this divine technique that the Sovereign personally created! Those pieces of trash ahead truly won't survive easily."

Knowing time was short, the Jade Puppet rushed forward, covering several li per breath, and suddenly unleashed a punch! At the same time, countless spiritual talismans flew from Yuan Wushang's hand—exactly the charms he had crafted earlier in the day.

Zong Shou's speed in advancing was no less impressive. The one hundred and ninety Ten Absolutes Dao Protecting Dragon Tooth Swords whirled out from his sleeve, instantly forming a Ten Absolutes Dao Protecting Extinction Sword Array that swept forward. Simultaneously, one hand moved towards the back of Su Xiaoxiao's head, malice concealed within. If the demon girl dared to resist, this single finger could transform into a thunderous strike at any moment.

In the past, he couldn't bring himself to strike because he couldn't find a sufficient reason to convince himself. But now, when the lives of the other four depended on it, his sword would show no mercy. Even for a woman who could stir his affections, he would hold nothing back. In his previous life, traversing the world with a single sword, where was there room for romantic dalliance?

Of the four people present, who was less important than the inscrutable and treacherous Su Xiaoxiao?

Yet, to his slight surprise, Su Xiaoxiao showed no intent to resist, allowing Zong Shou's finger to connect. She immediately slumped unconscious and fell downwards.

Zong Shou paused for a moment, then swept her up with his magic power, holding her close to his side. With the potential hidden danger neutralized, his speed increased further, and a trace of immortal power within his body was ignited. The Phantom Heart Mirror floated behind him, and the sword body emitted boundless light, illuminating the tomb passage.

This time, he struck with all his might, unleashing his strongest sword attack! As this sword manifested, Zong Shou gradually suppressed all extraneous thoughts, achieving a state of supreme focus. His gaze was fixed ahead; nearly a breath had passed since the teleportation, and those ahead should have noticed by now. He wondered what expressions would cross the faces of those Saint-rank Venerables.

Five li ahead, Han Qing was completely unaware of the approaching killing intent, staring blankly ahead. Their group had only just arrived. Upon reaching this spot, they were immediately awestruck by the magnificent scene before them.