185 Leaving the Tomb

The days ticked by one after another as Bai Tianyi absorbed the soul energy of the dead Moon Prince.

When he was done, the soul energy would recover some of Bai Tianyi's strength.

Soul energy and spiritual energy were like the heaven-and-earth essence and Qi.

Soul energy was the raw form, while spiritual energy was the refined version.

This was a process that took time. Although Bai Tianyi could absorb quite a lot of soul energy at once, he still had to slowly refine it afterwards.

While Bai Tianyi did this, Xue Wei waited patiently by his side like a guardian.

Although Bai Tianyi was strong, he was currently fully focused on digesting the soul energy and was defenseless.

Xue Wei was not worried about Wang Xiaoyun and Hei Gou. The grave had been left alone for a long time. For someone to suddenly come across it would be very unlikely as they had closed it after themselves. But that did not mean he did not miss them.

Now that he had finally found Wang Xiaoyun again, just being by her side was enough to make him feel happy.

He also missed Hei Gou. The two of them had traveled together for a long time. Although he was narcissistic and outspoken, he lifted the mood and made things feel much more easy and fun.

He had already spent months inside the tomb to clear the trials. He had also been in the heart of the tomb for an extended period of time, and now he was waiting for Bai Tianyi to finish absorbing the soul energy before he could reunite with the others.

Bai Tianyi was refining the energy as fast as he could. The more energy, the stronger he would become. And he, who had once been an expert who stood at the very apex, was eager to regain his former strength and status.

"I wonder why Tianyi hasn't shared any of his techniques with us," Xue Wei suddenly muttered when he looked at the legacy left behind by the Moon Prince.

The Moon Prince was not as strong as Bai Tianyi had been at his peak, so it was obvious that the latter should have much stronger abilities to share with them.

Xue Wei was excited at the thought of this. He was almost tempted to forcibly wake up Bai Tianyi so he could ask him. As if he had sensed Xue Wei's excitement, Bai Tianyi opened his eyes.

"Done?" Xue Wei asked curiously. He was curious to see how much Bai Tianyi's strength had risen, but to his disappointment, the sword spirit seemed more or less the same as before.

"I have stored all of the Moon Prince's soul energy within myself," Bai Tianyi said, his face twitching. He could guess what Xue Wei was thinking, and he wanted to whack him on the head. Raising his strength took time!

"It takes time for me to refine it all. Just like you constantly refine the heaven-and-earth essence, it is the same for me with soul energy. I am quite sure that the amount I've acquired this time alone will be enough to make me a Heavenly Warrior ranked expert."

"That's not bad from one single dead guy," Xue Wei said with astonishment. Bai Tianyi sighed. "He used to have so much more soul energy," he said with a little disappointment, "but he has been using it as a source of power for the age-restricting formation for so long that more than ninety percent of his soul energy has already been used up."

"If he had not done this, then I would have been able to go all the way to the Heavenly Knight rank."

Xue Wei was shocked when he heard this. "So if we find a few graves like these, we can upgrade you extremely fast, right?" he asked breathlessly. Bai Tianyi shot him a disdainful glance.

"Why are you so stupid?" he retorted with spite. "Graves like these are hard to come across; there are only a handful of supreme experts in the entire world, and they are spread across the many continents."

"Do you think that it is easy to encounter the tombs of deceased supreme experts?"

"The only reason we got this one was because of the formations. It was simply impossible for it to be found by someone with no knowledge of formations. The others have different tests, but most of them are about pure strength, and they have long since been unearthed."

Xue Wei suddenly understood what Bai Tianyi meant. It was true that they had come across a legacy and a grave this time, but they would not necessarily be this lucky in the future.

"I guess I was too short-sighted," Xue Wei shook his head and sighed.

"What about you, then?" he asked after remembering his earlier train of thought.

"What about me?" Bai Tianyi frowned as he wondered what Xue Wei was talking about now.

"You were a supreme expert too. Do you not have a legacy you can pass on to me?"

"I do have some skills," Bai Tianyi said after thinking for some time, but then he shook his head. "However, they are all made for a higher level. The earliest I can teach you would be when you are an Earth Knight. At that point, you might be able to handle a few of my skills, but it will be hard."

Xue Wei was at first slightly disappointed, but after thinking it through, he understood that it was not that terrible. It was only a matter of time before he would become an Earth Knight, as long as he did not die early.

"Well, be happy about what you have already," Bai Tianyi said. Xue Wei snickered. "It was a good result after all!"

"Well then let us get out of here. It's so depressing not to see the sunlight and hear the birds sing after a few months!" Xue Wei sighed while glancing at the ceiling of the tomb.

He had pocketed every single eternal fire crystal in the tomb, and he had taken everything of value.

The storage ring on his finger was brimming with treasures, and Xue Wei truly felt he had benefited greatly.

The duo walked towards the only door into the inheritance room and opened it. However, rather than bring them back to the trial rooms, it had brought them directly back to the front room where Wang Xiaoyun was waiting for them.

Looking around, Xue Wei was a little surprised. There were no signs of Hei Gou; only Wang Xiaoyun was waiting for them.

When she saw the door opening, she jumped to her feet. At the sight of Xue Wei, a sweet smile fluttered across her lips, and her eye shone brightly.

"Welcome back!" she said happily, "I have waited for months for you to return. I missed you so much!" Her voice was almost singsong and chirpy.

Xue Wei smiled warmly, but at the same time, there was a bit of worry in his eyes. "I missed you too," he said before embracing her.

"But where is Gou?" he asked. Wang Xiaoyun's face instantly turned hard and hostile within Xue Wei's embrace, but since her face was pressed against his chest, it was unnoticeable.

"He is outside," she said after a bit of hesitation. "We did not know how long the trials would take you, so he has gone to check whether or not the groups of Primordial Beasts have decided to leave the formation."

"I see," Xue Wei felt relieved. Although he did not want to doubt Wang Xiaoyun, he knew of her hatred for beasts. It was possible for her to have acted against him when no one was there to stop her, especially since he could guess that she had been forced to relive the death of her family.

"Let us leave this place and find Gou. After that, we have to rush back to the Black Iron Fortress and hand over the Seven Star Nightflower," Xue Wei said as he buried his head in Wang Xiaoyun's hair and felt at peace.

"We could also keep the Seven Star Nightflower for ourselves and head towards the center of the continent," Wang Xiaoyun said. Xue Wei shook his head.

"I promised I would do what I could to get the Seven Star Nightflower for him. If I had not been able to find the flower, then we could have proceeded, but now that I have found it, I have to hand it back. A man keeps his promises."

"It could be dangerous," Wang Xiaoyun reminded him. But Xue Wei was adamant in his stance.

"I have a few things I am suspicious about," he suddenly said with a bit of a frown on his face.

"These Primordial Beasts were all sent here because of someone they called Elder Wan."

"The Primordial Beasts were looking for the Seven Star Nightflower."

"The Primordial Beasts had been warned about how there would be someone interfering with their mission."

"Wan Qiang did everything he could to make the younger geniuses of the Skyward Empire kill each other."

"There are so many things that do not add up. Is Wan Qiang the Elder Wan that the beasts were talking about? But if he was, why is it that he is known as the most outstanding expert in the Skyward Empire? If he truly wished to cause chaos, he could just kill everyone."

Bai Tianyi and Wang Xiaoyun were quiet when they heard this. "You said that Primordial Beasts have been hiding from you in the past?" she asked. Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders.

"I do not know if the Primordial Beasts have been avoiding me, to be honest, since I have not been close to any of the beasts, but I do know that Fierce Beasts hide from me."

"Could it be that you have a bloodline similar to what I, a Wayfarer, have? And that the beasts can sense it?" Wang Xiaoyun asked curiously. Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know," he admitted, curious as to what Wang Xiaoyun had to say.

"I am thinking, maybe Wan Qiang is a Primordial Beast, and he noticed you, and then he sent you to the Seven Star Nightflower to have the Primordial Beasts kill you?"

"I don't think so," Xue Wei sighed. "When we left the city, Wan Qiang saved us more than once, and he has been very friendly and kind towards me."

"If he truly wished to see me dead, then all he had to do was sit still and watch me die to the hounds chasing me."

"Also, I do not think that Primordial Beasts can sense anything strange from me," he explained.

"Hei Gou feels nothing from me, and you saw yourself how the other Primordial Beasts felt nothing either. They all see me as a very ordinary human."

The two discussed as they made their way out of the tomb, but Bai Tianyi was silent the entire way. A knowing smile played on his lips, and his eyes glistened with amusement.