Chapter 24: The Strongest Imperial Weapon of All Time

The situation underground was extremely complex, with a vast number of passages existing that led to unknown destinations.

By the time Qin Sheng and Ye Fan descended thirty thousand meters underground, the environment had become bone-chillingly cold, and they had no idea where they were.

However, they had been marking their way all along, so returning the way they came would not be a problem.

"It's cleaner than if a dog had gnawed on it; nothing has been left behind," Ye Fan complained.

"Otherwise, why would not a single person come here?" Qin Sheng said.

"Eh? There's a door over there."

In a fissure ahead of them, a stone door was wedged inside, covered in the marks of antiquity.

"It was likely caught in the crossfire of the great war back then and fell into the depths of the earth," Qin Sheng speculated.

"But what kind of stone door could be preserved until today, completely intact?"

He struck it with a burst of divine power, but the stone door was indestructible, without even a single crack.

Qin Sheng was startled. With his current strength, he was fully capable of uprooting a mountain peak, yet he couldn't even damage a door?

Ye Fan looked down and said

"It's hollow beneath the stone door. It's pitch black; I don't know where it leads."

"Should we take this door with us? I think it might be a treasure."

Setting aside everything else, at least it was tough.

*Clap, clap!*

Ye Fan patted the stone door. In the next second, a sudden rumbling sound erupted, and the area where the two stood actually collapsed!

"Holy crap, Ye Zi, what did you do!"

Qin Sheng screamed, preparing to fly away, but the stone door suddenly opened, emitting a terrifying suction force that swallowed them both whole.

The stone door was clearly wedged in the fissure with a hollow space beneath it, but the sensation Qin Sheng and the other experienced upon being sucked through the door was entirely different.

They were not falling through the air, but were instead enveloped by a cold, turbulent liquid, being constantly washed and tumbled forward into an unknown region.

During this time, even with their immense divine power, the two were unable to resist; they could only drift with the current.

The liquid was so cold that even their primordial spirits seemed to be freezing.

After an unknown amount of time, the drifting finally stopped.

Coldness, trembling...

Qin Sheng stood up, rubbing his head. Ye Fan was right beside him, looking dazed.

"Where is this?"

Qin Sheng surveyed the surroundings. It was a hazy space filled with gray mist, making everything indistinct; even divine sense could not perceive anything.

Beneath their feet was thick soil, but its color was eerie—a blood red.

Ye Fan regained some clarity and said, "It seems like we fell into a river and were washed here?"

Qin Sheng spread his hands. "The problem is, there is no river here."

Indeed, they were surrounded entirely by soil; there was no trace of any river or lake.

Ye Fan swallowed hard, feeling uneasy.

"Immortal Qin, did we encounter something sinister?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Perhaps we've triggered some kind of fortuitous encounter."

"Look around and see if there's anything," Qin Sheng said. "Let's not separate so we don't run into danger."

"Mm-hmm." Ye Fan nodded quickly.

Even if he were beaten to death, he wouldn't leave Qin Sheng's side for a single step; that recent turn of events had been far too terrifying.

Ye Fan felt somewhat vexed. "I just gave it a light pat. Who knew something like this would happen?"

"Why am I so unlucky?"

Ye Fan felt like vomiting blood; ever since arriving in the Big Dipper, things hadn't gone smoothly for him.

Qin Sheng comforted him, "Maybe it was caused by my attack."

"Fair point. Immortal Qin, you must take full responsibility."

"Get lost!"

After a bit of banter, the tension in both their hearts eased slightly.

This land of gray mist was very quiet. The two walked for a long time without seeing anything.

"The surrounding mist is getting thicker," Ye Fan said worriedly.

"The place where we first landed should be the edge of this area. Now, we are likely heading toward the center."

Qin Sheng said, "We must explore this place. At the very least, we have to find a way out."

The mist became so dense that if Qin Sheng and Ye Fan hadn't been touching each other, they wouldn't have been able to sense each other's presence.

However, when they took another step, the view suddenly opened up.

The mist had completely vanished!

Appearing before them was a clean space about a hundred meters in diameter.

In the very center of the space was a small mound of earth.

Looking up, there was no mist above; there was only an incredibly profound darkness. As for the ground, the soil was still blood-red, so red it looked as if it were about to drip blood.

"That mound... why does it look a bit like a..." Ye Fan whispered his observation.

"A grave?"

Qin Sheng's expression turned solemn as he walked toward the mound.

The color of the mound was different from the ground; it was composed of an accumulation of unknown black soil.

As they drew closer, Qin Sheng and Ye Fan discovered that there was actually something on top of the mound.

This object was embedded in the black soil, with only its surface exposed.

Upon seeing this object, Qin Sheng's heart shook violently.

It was a black lid, bearing an imprint of a ghost face.

The ghost face imprint looked both as if it were crying and as if it were laughing—somewhat playful, yet somewhat sorrowful, bearing traces of tears while also carrying the light of the sun. One look at it would be unforgettable for eternity.

This characteristic was too distinct; Qin Sheng recognized it at a glance.

"What is it?" Ye Fan asked.

An Imperial Weapon hides its aura; it showed no sign of power, appearing like an ordinary lid.

Ye Fan thought the thing looked very common, like a lid for a clay jar in his home when he was a child.

"It is highly likely an invincible divine object from legend... the Heaven-Swallowing... Immortal Jar."

Qin Sheng's expression was grave. "It is the same category of object as the Demon Emperor's weapon we saw in the Demon Emperor's Tomb."

Ye Fan was shocked. "That powerful?"

Ye Fan had personally experienced the Demon Emperor's Tomb; he vividly remembered the frenzy of the various sacred lands and great families in the Eastern Barrens over the Demon Emperor's weapon.

That was a colossal treasure, a foundation-level treasure even for sacred lands and great families.

"It is even more powerful than that," Qin Sheng said seriously.

Although both the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar and the Azure Emperor's weapon were refined from the bodies of two Great Emperors, the difference between them was immense.

The Azure Emperor's weapon used the original body shed by the Azure Emperor after his transformation.

The Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar was refined during the second life of the Ruthless One, using her primordial spirit as the fire and her shed mortal remains—the body of the Deficient Chaos Body—as the clay, supplemented by the endless divine materials of the Eastern Barrens legend, to forge this Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon.

Within it resided the primordial spirit laws and soul left behind from the Ruthless One's transformation; divinity and demonicity coexisted within it.

"Legend has it that as long as one has sufficient divine power and refines and activates the complete Heaven-Swallowing Immortal Jar to a certain extent, that invincible Great Emperor who forged this Imperial Weapon will reappear in the mortal realm and sweep through the Six Paths of Reincarnation."

As he spoke, Qin Sheng glanced at Ye Fan.

This legend was true. Looking across the entire ancient history, the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar was the most unique and strongest of all Imperial Weapons; it could almost be regarded as a sleeping Great Emperor.

But the problem was that not just anyone could trigger the move "The Ruthless One Reappears." Even an unconventional Dao-attainer could not force it to happen.

Within the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Lid, there was "divinity"—the primordial soul of the Ruthless One from her one life. If she did not wish to act, it wouldn't matter who came.

Only in the hands of the right person could the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar potentially fully awaken and manifest the immortal majesty of the Empress.

Ye Fan was deeply shaken; he hadn't expected this seemingly ordinary lid to be so terrifying.

"The last Great Emperor of the Demon Race was able to unify the demon tribes of the Eastern Barrens. If we can obtain this Imperial Weapon and unleash its strongest attack, wouldn't we also be able to stand proud among the heroes of the Eastern Barrens?"

Qin Sheng: "..."

*You're talking about triggering the "Reappearance of the Empress," and your goal is just to "stand proud among the heroes of the Eastern Barrens"?*

*What grand ambitions...*

*Azure Emperor, you really are a menace!*

Qin Sheng did not answer Ye Fan's question for the moment; instead, he stared at the tomb, contemplating something.

Who is buried in here?

Should I make Ye Fan kneel and kowtow right now?

(End of Chapter)