Chapter 78: The Gravekeeper

Cheng Zhi sat cross-legged, his arms hanging limply, eyes closed. Fatty rubbed his chin nearby, thinking his own posture was less dignified than Cheng Zhi’s; next time he communicated with a spirit stone or tried to sense something, he should imitate Cheng Zhi’s gestures—it looked much more impressive.

Whether it was because Cheng Zhi had already interacted with the spirit stones before, or because he’d just communicated with them, the tree roots began to stir. The thick root stretching toward the cave’s ceiling split open, and a green stone egg was squeezed out.

As Cheng Zhi raised his hand, the stone egg cracked open instantly, and a pine-cone-shaped spirit stone, about the size of a chicken egg, leapt from within and landed in his palm.

Zhou Yi could sense the spiritual energy in the stone chamber surging toward Cheng Zhi.

After a long while, all was calm again. Cheng Zhi opened his eyes and dropped to one knee before Zhou Yi.

“Sir, I can’t absorb any more—the energy inside the spirit stone is terrifyingly abundant.”

Zhou Yi nodded. “Let’s leave first. The most important thing is that they accept you. Come, let’s go!”

Following the markings, Zhou Yi entered the passage once more, returning directly to the stone chamber beside the mercury pool. It was much quieter here. Zhou Yi reached toward the pool.

Come with me!

The moment the thought arose, the mercury pool began to boil. Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes.

Settle down!

Instantly, the mercury in the pool stilled, not a ripple in sight. Fatty and Cheng Zhi stared, dumbfounded, unsure what Zhou Yi was doing. A sky-blue spirit stone flew straight into Zhou Yi’s palm.

The two exchanged a glance, falling silent. It seemed the boss was even more impressive—those other two chambers had been lively, but required negotiation; this one practically threw itself into his arms.

It was as if the spirit stone said, “You finally came, I’ve missed you terribly!”

Zhou Yi pocketed the spirit stone. He had no intention of absorbing its power here; it was far too dangerous and the unknown still lay ahead. He strode toward the passage marked for exit.

Before he emerged, he felt the temperature rise. Zhou Yi relaxed somewhat; he must have returned to the magma chamber, the place he’d worried most about being unable to revisit.

Upon entering, Zhou Yi looked toward the center of the magma pool, closed his eyes, and tried to summon as he had before. A lively little creature leapt out, breaking open its stone shell mid-flight, landing straight into Zhou Yi’s arms.

He glanced around the stone chamber. With no other exits, they would have to turn back. Fatty wanted to go ahead, but Zhou Yi stopped him.

“I’ll go first. Follow me!”

Zhou Yi dove in first, walking and sensing as he went. No one really knew how these chambers operated; he’d entered and exited this way before, allowing him to shift locations. He needed to sense the direction of water to feel safe.

Sure enough, as Zhou Yi probed, he sensed a water pool not far away, along with that familiar call.

He quickened his pace; reaching the chamber with the water pool meant they could hurry and leave this place.

No matter what, the place always pressed down on them. Besides, all five spirit stones had been taken—collapse was inevitable. Even if nothing had changed yet, it would soon decay.

With these thoughts, Zhou Yi didn’t stop, already emerging from the passage.

The water in the pool was boiling, seemingly affected by the other stone chambers, abnormally excited. Zhou Yi raised his hand, spreading his palm toward the pool.

With the experience from the mercury pool, Zhou Yi summoned directly. Yet this water spirit stone was perhaps the most powerful of all the chambers.

The entire pool trembled, as if a cauldron had come to a boil. The fierce ghost-like stone statue swayed and began to crack.

Fatty instinctively retreated, grabbing Cheng Zhi’s arm.

The flashlight dropped from his hand, got kicked, the panel shielding the light broke off, and the whole device rolled, illuminating the stone chamber.

The statue was terrifying, its fine hairs intricately carved, seeming almost alive. It shuddered and then fractured, revealing a deep-blue stone inside.

Cheng Zhi gasped; the spirit stone was shaped just like the fierce ghost. The outer stone was like a layer of mud plastered on—now it cracked away, exposing its true form.

The ghost’s original ferocity faded, replaced with an almost primate-like innocence, as it flew straight into Zhou Yi’s palm. Just as Zhou Yi was about to grasp it, a dreadful aura flashed by, aiming directly at his back.

Zhou Yi had no time to think. Fatty and Cheng Zhi were behind him. Zhou Yi squeezed his eyes shut; he could have fled alone, but those two would be doomed. They were now bound to him.

If either was lost, it would do Zhou Yi no good.

So he gambled everything, closing his eyes and shouting in his heart, “Shield!”

Grabbing the water spirit stone, he crouched down. All happened in a flash.

The powerful force struck the shield Zhou Yi had prepared. In fact, Zhou Yi’s “shield” was merely his spiritual energy wrapping around the three of them—a quick imitation of Sofia’s energy barrier.

But such a blow severely damaged Zhou Yi.

With a bang, all three were flung into the water pool.

The water spirit stone in Zhou Yi’s hand glowed blue, enclosing them and dissipating the force, but Zhou Yi still spat blood from the impact.

Surfacing, Zhou Yi looked toward the direction of the attack.

A man knelt on one knee, holding a staff adorned with many skulls.

His attire resembled that of an ancient general; a long black cloak, metallic plates on his abdomen, chest, and elbows, hair tied up with a single hairpin thrust in the crown.

This appearance puzzled Zhou Yi. Was he a native of this world?

Or perhaps a member of the Hunter tribe?

Whatever the case, Zhou Yi could not remain in the water; his abilities were limited there, especially those two—they’d just received their spirit stones, hadn’t absorbed or activated any power.

Zhou Yi gripped the pool’s edge, hauled himself out, and fixed his gaze on the man opposite.

“Who are you?” Fatty and Cheng Zhi had already reached the pool’s edge, struggling to climb out.

The man across the pool raised the staff horizontally, tilting his head at Zhou Yi.

“You trespass in the Five Elements Tomb, steal the spirit stones, and dare ask who I am? Scoundrels! You shall die for your insolence!”

Zhou Yi was startled. This manner of speech was strange—could he truly be a native?

The man leaped, flying across the pool to land before Zhou Yi.

He glanced at the two by the pool—they were scrambling behind Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi raised his hand.

“Stop! We know nothing of this so-called Five Elements Tomb. This is Territory Seventy-Two—we haven’t been here for ten years, and today we’ve merely come to reclaim what’s ours. And you—what are you supposed to be?”

The man’s staff swung, but he paused upon hearing Zhou Yi, looking confused.

“What is Seventy-Two? Why have I never heard of it?”

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes. If he guessed right, this was the tomb’s guardian—a true native, ignorant of the Hunter tribe and the Base Time City.

He must have been nourished by the spirit stones to live so long, never interacting with the outside world, and so remained simple-minded.

“Hmph, just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it’s not real. How many years have you been here? The surrounding hundred miles are barren—when was there any sign of people?”

The guardian paused, thrusting his staff to the ground.

“The land of the Five Elements Tomb was built in the desert. Do not try to alarm me. Today you shall not leave. Return the spirit stones and I’ll grant you a whole corpse. Otherwise, I’ll behead you to sacrifice to the Five Elements Tomb.”

Zhou Yi saw this was trouble.

The man was stubborn—reasoning was useless. He’d just praised his simplicity, but he was clearly hard-headed!

Raising his hand, Zhou Yi displayed the water spirit stone, holding it high.

“If you take one more step forward, I’ll crush the spirit stone. If you kill us, you will never repair the Five Elements Tomb’s workings!”