"Alright then," Ye Yunfei said with a smile. Ye Yunfei also wanted to quickly improve his strength.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Da Di Daozhang waved his hand, and a flying ship appeared before him, rapidly enlarging. Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang walked into the ship. With a slight tremor, the ship shot away in an instant.
One day later, they arrived at the Northern Wildlands.
"Look, what does the terrain below resemble?" Da Di Daozhang brought Ye Yunfei to a desolate patch of land and pointed downwards as he spoke to Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei peered closely.
"Just a relatively low-lying hilly area, with the occasional one or two tall peaks. It doesn't seem particularly special," Ye Yunfei replied after surveying the area.
"It seems you truly haven't spent any time studying Geomancy," Da Di Daozhang said in a chastising tone. Ye Yunfei did not refute this. In the field of Geomancy, Ye Yunfei was indeed a novice. In his previous life as a Heavenly Emperor, Ye Yunfei had dabbled in all sorts of knowledge and skills in the world, including martial arts, alchemy, artifact forging, and Formations. But it was precisely in the aspect of Geomancy that Ye Yunfei considered it an unorthodox path and thus disdained to study it. Because as a Heavenly Emperor, Ye Yunfei's strength was far too great. No matter what unorthodox sorcery he encountered, a single punch was enough to shatter it! In this lifetime, Ye Yunfei was beginning to take a bit of an interest in Geomancy.
"Look, on the ground, aren't there nine raised mountain ridges? The nine ridges collectively encircle and protect a single tall peak in the center," Da Di Daozhang said, pointing at the land below.
"Indeed!" Ye Yunfei said, his spirits lifting upon closer inspection. Sure enough, in the central position among nine mountain ridges on the earth, there stood a tall peak. That peak was entirely purple in color, appearing bare with no plants or trees growing on it. It more resembled a giant tomb.
"It seems... this is a rather extraordinary topography..." Ye Yunfei said.
"This topography is the famed Nine Dragons Encircling the Pearl Formation. The nine ridges are nine dragon veins. That tall peak is equivalent to a precious pearl. This is an incredibly powerful major formation. That purple mountain in the middle is actually a tomb. It must have buried a mighty individual of terrifying strength. Ordinary people simply cannot withstand such a powerful configuration," Da Di Daozhang explained.
"A tomb? Are you trying to tell me there's a large quantity of Soul Stones inside this tomb?" Ye Yunfei said.
"Correct. A while ago, I happened to pass by this place and discovered this major formation. Using Geomancy to sense it, I detected the presence of a large quantity of Soul Stones within that purple mountain. I have already measured it in detail; the Nine Dragons Encircling the Pearl Formation here is a scaled-down version. In other words, it's not complete. If it were a genuine, complete formation, I would have turned tail and fled without hesitation. But even so, the power of the topography here should not be underestimated," Da Di Daozhang nodded and said.
"So, you thought of me and dragged me along to risk my neck, to help you excavate a tomb?" Ye Yunfei felt a bit speechless.
"Ahem... I thought you might be interested in the Soul Stones inside. It's also a good opportunity for me to impart some knowledge of Geomancy to you," Da Di Daozhang said with an embarrassed laugh.
"Since we're already here, let's go in and take a look," Ye Yunfei said after a moment's thought. Having once been a Heavenly Emperor, Ye Yunfei was also someone who feared neither heaven nor earth. Naturally, he wouldn't shrink back because of danger.
"Let's go, then," Da Di Daozhang said. His figure flashed as he landed on one of the ridges.
"We'll enter through this cave. Although the Nine Dragons Encircling the Pearl Formation is perilous, as long as one understands its structure, there's no need to fear," Da Di Daozhang found a cave on this ridge, gave a confident smile, and led Ye Yunfei inside.
The cave twisted and turned downwards first, delving over two thousand meters underground, then headed towards the central mountain peak.
*Boom...*
Midway through the walk, suddenly, massive rumbling sounds came from ahead, and rolling Yin Qi surged towards them. Then, one after another, lines of figures clad in black armor, holding black spears and riding black warhorses, charged out from the depths of the tunnel.
"Yin Soldiers!" Ye Yunfei's gaze narrowed.
"A major formation like this is bound to have Yin Soldiers guarding it. It's perfectly normal," Da Di Daozhang said lightly. Then, he stamped his foot on the ground.
*Boom...*
The earth shook. Yellow dragons surged out from the sides of the tunnel, pouncing towards those Yin Soldiers. Ye Yunfei knew these yellow dragons were called Earth Dragons, condensed from the essence of the earth's vital energy.
*Rumble rumble...*
A fierce battle erupted within the tunnel. Ye Yunfei noticed that the Earth Dragons summoned by Da Di Daozhang seemed to be the bane of those Yin Soldiers. In moments, they had annihilated the Yin Soldiers.
Subsequently, from deeper in the tunnel, all sorts of Ghost Creatures appeared continuously. Including ghost bats, ghost crows, ghost monkeys, and so on.
"Some of these Ghost Creatures are formed by condensed Yin Qi because the topography here is special, accumulating vast amounts of Yin Qi. Others are originally other living beings who lived here for years, becoming tainted by too much Yin Qi, thus turning into Ghost Creatures. These Ghost Creatures are not only powerful in combat but also incredibly poisonous. Ordinary martial artists, if struck by them, would suffer endless future consequences even if they didn't die," Da Di Daozhang explained.
Along the way, the number of Ghost Creatures encountered was shockingly high. At the very least, there were hundreds of thousands!
"Just which mighty figure is buried here? The scale is truly grand!" Even Da Di Daozhang sighed with feeling.
"The Tianxuan Continent certainly has no master of this level. It seems it must be a powerful outsider," Ye Yunfei said.
"Correct. Among the myriad great powers in the world, many prefer, after death, to find a remote Small World to bury themselves. This avoids disturbance from the mundane world. Because the burial places of powerful beings usually harbor many opportunities. Once known to the world, swarms of people would flock there, bringing no peace," Da Di Daozhang said.
"But you found it in the end," Ye Yunfei said.
"Heh, in my lifetime, I've excavated quite a few tombs. It's my specialty," Da Di Daozhang said with a proud smile. Ye Yunfei felt somewhat speechless.
Finally, they arrived before a stone door.
"Ahead lies the area beneath the tall peak. Ahead is the range of the 'pearl' itself, the most perilous location. Ye Yunfei, your strength is formidable. Protect me a bit," Da Di Daozhang said. Then, he stomped his foot, summoning an Earth Dragon that crashed into the stone door ahead, shattering it open.
Immediately, surging Yin Qi, like a tsunami, blasted out from where the stone door had been. Da Di Daozhang waved his hand. A yellow carpenter's square flew out, releasing a towering yellow radiance that instantly scattered the torrent of Yin Qi ahead.
"Let's go in!" Da Di Daozhang took the lead, rushing inside the stone door. Ye Yunfei followed closely.
Inside the stone door was a massive underground palace of immense scale!
"I sense it! At the central location of this underground palace, there is a large quantity of Soul Stones!" Da Di Daozhang said.
*Rumble rumble...*
Suddenly, tremendous rumbling sounds came from ahead. Then, they saw a squad of soldiers in full armor, wielding various weapons, charge over at them. Roughly a dozen or so.
"Puppets!" Da Di Daozhang cried out. These soldiers weren't Yin Soldiers; they were artificially crafted puppets.
"Kill!" the puppets roared in unison, reaching Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang.
"These puppets, the weakest among them are at the First Level of the Grotto-Heaven Realm! Fighting isn't my strong suit! Ye Yunfei, it's up to you!" Da Di Daozhang yelled.
Ye Yunfei took a step forward and threw a punch with his right fist, striking forward.
*Rumble rumble...*
Ye Yunfei's right fist continuously enlarged, like a stone millstone, crushing forward. Wherever it went, puppets were sent flying away.
To Ye Yunfei's surprise, these puppets' bodies were frighteningly hard. After being struck, they didn't shatter or break apart but remained completely intact! After being blasted away, these puppets climbed back to their feet and pounced on Ye Yunfei once more!
"These puppets are made of Starfall Iron!" Da Di Daozhang also recognized the extraordinariness of these puppets after observing them for a moment.
"Correct. It is indeed Starfall Iron," Ye Yunfei nodded. Having long since discerned it, Ye Yunfei was an expert at artifact forging, so he naturally recognized these puppets were cast from Starfall Iron.
"Starfall Iron is excellent stuff!" Da Di Daozhang stared at the puppets, his eyes gleaming.
"Let's see if we can subdue these puppets." Ye Yunfei also had his eyes on these puppets. Immediately, he released his Soul Power, sensing towards the puppets. Generally, a control point existed on a puppet's body. On this control point was a Soul Power imprint. The puppet's master would control the puppet through this imprint. Soon, Ye Yunfei found a Soul Power imprint inside the head of one puppet.
Ye Yunfei attempted to erase this imprint. However, he quickly discovered the structure of this Soul Power imprint was extremely complex. With his current level of Soul Power, erasing it would be very difficult. Of course, if he used that remaining trace of his Heavenly Emperor soul power, it would certainly be possible. But that trace of his Heavenly Emperor Remnant Soul within his Soul Sea was growing weaker and weaker. Ye Yunfei would not use it lightly.
"We'll fight our way in!" Ye Yunfei roared, his fists continuously swinging, clearing a path ahead as he instantly blasted away the dozen-plus puppets once more.
Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang ran towards the central area of the underground palace.
Along the way, increasingly more puppets continuously appeared. The strongest among these puppets were at the Tenth Level of the Grotto-Heaven Realm! Ye Yunfei unleashed his might, defeating these puppets one by one.
"Ye Yunfei, it's fortunate you're here. If I had barged in here alone, I'd probably be long dead," Da Di Daozhang said repeatedly.
Finally.
The two of them reached the central area of the underground palace. Here was a high platform with stairs on all four sides, reaching hundreds of meters high. On the high platform lay a stone coffin. All around it, guarding the platform, were nine towering generals, holding gleaming broadswords.
"Who goes there! You dare disturb our master's peace! Retreat immediately, or die!"
The nine generals roared in unison, shaking the entire underground palace.
"It seems we're in for a tough battle!" Looking at the nine generals, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but wear a grave expression.