At first, they had been worried, since he was the immortal ruler. But now, even though there were still all sorts of treasures inside the coffin, they still wanted to avoid touching his body to prevent offending him. Even though they knew that he was already dead, he still had his reputation of being an immortal. They couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. However, they had already looked everywhere else. It was just the immortal ruler’s remains left.
Zhao Han was a bit moved. After all, in his opinion, if there were any immortal opportunities or paths to eternal life in this tomb, they had the highest chance of being on the immortal ruler’s remains. Yet when he recalled how Jing Teng mentioned that the opportunity belonged to the one destined for it, he then felt as if he couldn’t force it.
Inheritances left by powerful ancestors often had some tests and trials behind them. Rather than a test of aptitude, one’s temperament was more important.
In the past, he had heard that there were some who had to kowtow a thousand times in front of a statue to express their sincerity, and only then would they be able to obtain an inheritance. There were others who had needed to first give the corpse of the ancestor a proper burial, and only then would they not be poisoned to death by a fake manual or something like that.
If he were the one leaving behind his inheritance, he would definitely set up many traps. At the very least, he wouldn’t let anyone disrespectful approach his corpse. That was why he didn’t dare to act immediately.
Jing Teng reached out her hand and reached into Immortal Ruler Baopu’s clothes. Zu An was shocked and hurriedly warned her to be careful of any traps. Jing Teng smiled when she sensed his concern, and gave him a smile to show that it was okay. She then said, “It’s fine; the immortal ruler recognizes me. He wouldn’t make things difficult for me if he knew I was the one doing this.”
Zu An thought, But he’s already dead, so he might not know that it’s you… Even so, Jing Teng was firm in her decision, so he couldn't really say anything else.
Zhao Han was a bit pleasantly surprised. He had been feeling frustrated that there was no way of touching the immortal ruler’s remains, and yet this woman happily volunteered for the role.
Under the others’ gazes, Jing Teng examined the remains. In the end, she said with a frown, “Hm… There doesn’t seem to be anything.”
Zhao Han couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. At the same time, he observed Jing Teng carefully to see if she was lying. Even though his divine will followed her movements and didn’t notice anything either, the immortal ruler could have some methods that were able to escape his detection.
Zu An sighed in relief and said, “If there’s nothing, then forget it. We’ll look in other places.”
Jing Teng shook her head and said, “This shouldn’t be. I clearly remembered that the immortal ruler left something behind here. Why can’t we find it?”
Zu An thought of something and asked, “Could it be that we have to satisfy some kind of condition for it to appear?”
Jing Teng was stunned and replied, “That could be the case.” Then, she thought about the immortal ruler’s nature to try to guess what kind of condition he would leave behind.
Zhao Han suggested quietly, “Could it be that we have to respectfully kowtow a few times?” When he saw their strange looks, his face heated up and he continued, “What I said is quite common. As a glorious immortal, of course he would hope for those of later generations to respect him. I’ve even heard that there were some who had to kowtow a thousand times before the inheritance appeared.”
Zu An said with a smile, “In that case, then how about giving it a try, your majesty?”
Zhao Han was speechless, thinking, What kind of joke is this? I am a glorious emperor, the most powerful being in the last hundred years, someone revered by countless people. How could I bow to another?
But in reality, if there were no one else here, perhaps he would just do it. After all, no one would know anyway. However, with these people here, how could he possibly be shameless enough to do that?
Zu An feigned nonchalance as he said, “Sigh, if we miss this chance, who knows when we’ll encounter another immortal opportunity? But thankfully, we’re still young and still have chances. Honglei, you don’t have to take it to heart either.”
Qiu Honglei knew that he was up to no good and forcibly endured her urge to laugh. She replied, “That’s right. Even if we can’t find anything, we can just look elsewhere. Either way, we have time.”
Zhao Han’s skin twitched. Every single word was jabbing at his sore spot! The others were indeed still too young and still had a ton of time, but his heaven and man deterioration was approaching. If he wasn’t mistaken, he only had a year or two left. He was already out of time.
Zu An supported Jing Teng and sat down to the side. Jing Teng’s face had been a bit pale for some time, and there was fine sweat covering her forehead. He was worried that something could be wrong with her and took her to one side to get some rest. He even took out some fresh water to give her.
Qiu Honglei was pretty unhappy. As the Devil Sect’s Saintess, when had she ever needed to constantly make a fuss over her lover like this? And if she did, wouldn’t that just make Ah Zu think that she was the super jealous type?
Actually, while feeling jealous the entire time, she was also starting to slowly remember something. In the past, she had learned charm skills in the sect, and then she had also learned many things from Brightmoon City’s Immortal Abode too. And yet now, she had forgotten to use all of them! It was probably because she cared too much about Ah Zu that her mind had become such a mess.
Even so, she had always been an extremely smart woman. She quickly gathered her thoughts and treated this as a proper battle. Not only could she not show the slightest bit of jealousy, she had to act really understanding. Only then would Ah Zu like her more, and even feel that he was letting her down.
Hmph, forget about Jing Teng, not even Chu Chuyan and the others added together are a match for me. Devil Sect Saintess isn’t just an empty title!
When she realized all that, a mysterious smile couldn't help but appear on her lips.
“Little sister Jing, I have some nourishing medicines from my sect that might be of use to you,” she said, taking out a pill and handing it over. “Don’t worry, it isn’t poisonous.”
When she saw the sincerity in Qiu Honglei’s eyes, Jing Teng was a bit surprised at the attitude shift. She felt a bit guilty as well. Just what was I doing before, getting all petty over nothing?
“Thank you, Miss Qiu. But pills aren’t too useful for my current condition,” she replied. After a pause, she asked in embarrassment, “If Miss Qiu really wishes to help me, can you release a bit of the light from earlier? That light makes me feel really comfortable.”
Qiu Honglei was stunned. I was helping you so kindly, and yet you’re really treating me as a lightbulb?!
In that instant, she almost completely lost her composure. However, she quickly realized that this woman was really skilled too and that she had almost fallen for it. Hmph, look at this girl acting all pure and innocent, and yet she’s a master green tea bitch.
When she thought of that, she smiled sweetly and said, “No problem. As long as it can help little sister.”
After saying that, she used her skill. She was a light element cultivator with exceptional talent, so warm light quickly surrounded them.
An intoxicated smile appeared on Jing Teng’s face as she bathed in the light. She said, “Thank you, Miss Qiu.”
Qiu Honglei forced a smile. This damn green tea bitch, she can’t even call me big sister once. I even made sure to call her little sister a few times. Did she really not notice, or is she doing this on purpose?
When she saw how Jing Teng and Zu An were chatting with each other, and yet she could only hold a big ball of light to illuminate their smiles, Qiu Honglei felt that she really was being wronged.
“What senseless jealousy,” Zhao Han muttered as he walked over. He had already experienced so much that he immediately recognized the strange situation between the three of them. He just felt that it was all pointless.
Once they grow a bit older, they’ll know just how childish they are. What love? What affection? It’s all just smoke and clouds. Only unmatched power is the most important.
A resolute look appeared on his face when he thought of that. Then, he knelt down and kowtowed to the coffin.
Boom boom boom!
Zu An and the others had just been chatting at first. When they heard that, they jumped in fright and thought that there was an earthquake. However, When they turned around, they saw that Zhao Han was piously kowtowing to Immortal Ruler Baopu.
Zu An and Qiu Honglei were speechless. Even Jing Teng was speechless.
Qiu Honglei looked at Zu An with a smile. It was all this guy who had misled Zhao Han.
Zu An had a strange look too. He had only said that nonchalantly, but who would have thought that this guy would really do it? Unfortunately, there was no video recording in this world; otherwise, if he had taken a video and released it to the Great Zhou Dynasty, it would definitely create a huge scandal.
Mi Li remarked mockingly, “He really did go insane from his desire for immortality. The most powerful being of an era is actually willing to kowtow like this.”
Zu An thought of something and took the chance to ask, “Master empress, you’re very experienced and knowledgeable. Do you know what’s really going on with this Immortal Ruler Baopu? If he ascended, why is there a corpse here?”
“What’s so strange about that? Immortals are just people who are stronger, that’s it. It’s just their lives that are much longer than normal cultivators, allowing them to live for thousands to tens of thousands of years. In the eyes of normal cultivators, they might be immortal, but immortals themselves know that isn’t true,” Mi Li replied.
“So is this really Immortal Ruler Baopu’s corpse after he died?” Zu An asked, shocked. At first, they had all just suspected that this was only the immortal ruler’s mortal body, and that his soul had ascended and didn’t need it anymore. After all, none of them really knew what ascension was about and could only guess.
“It doesn’t seem like it. This corpse doesn’t have the tremendous power an immortal’s corpse would leave behind. If a real immortal body were here, the blood in your body would have exploded out of its vessels before you could even come this close,” Mi Li said skeptically. “But this corpse does seem to hide a bit of power. That might very well be the hidden power Jing Teng spoke of.”
“So that was what happened,” Zu An said with a nod. He suddenly thought of something. “Wait, I remember that in the past, you mentioned that even someone as powerful as the first emperor Qin Shihuang, Ying Zheng, wasn’t able to ascend to immortality. Then why do you know so much about immortals?”
“I… I just deduced those things; am I not allowed to?” Mi Li said, suddenly a bit flustered. “Did you forget that I was the administrator of the Great Qin Dynasty’s library? I understand knowledge from all different realms, so it wasn’t too difficult for me to reach that conclusion.”
Zu An thought to himself that it made sense and didn’t question her. He was about to ask her if she knew how to bring out the hidden power Immortal Ruler Baopu left behind.
Suddenly, a sinister laugh filled the room, and a voice said, “Hahaha, I was wondering what you all were doing, but you were just kowtowing here. You are a strong individual yourself, but aren’t your knees too weak? Isn’t it a bit too late to start praying to your deities and buddhas for help?”
The whole group shivered. They turned around and saw a black mist wrapped around countless skulls entering through the door. It quickly surrounded the entire room. Who else could it be but the Ghost King?
At the same time, there were six grotesquely-shaped monsters with him, all giving off powerful auras similar to that of Hidden Dragon and Phoenix Chick. They had to be the remaining six great ghost generals.
1. Lightbulb is slang for unwanted third guest.