Yes, Tang Jie was the one who had hidden the final corner piece.
There was no missing piece in this third trial. It was all part of Tang Jie’s scheme.
The reason was simple. He needed to control the number of ghosts.
Too many ghosts dying would affect the ensuing exploration, but too few dying would prevent him from cleaning them up. Through this method, Tang Jie could control the number of ghosts to a level he was comfortable with and also maximize his profit—he both had the ear of the ghosts and could get his hands on valuable Primal Souls.
In the flood of spell arts, one ghost after another died.
Their souls didn’t dissipate, instead turning into black tendrils of smoke and gathering in Tang Jie’s hand.
These remnant souls wailed and twisted in Tang Jie’s hand, trying to escape. But Tang Jie had formed a cage of flames around them as he refined them.
This was the greatest taboo of the Nether Domain, ghost refining.
In the Nether Domain, anyone who dared to do this would become a public enemy. It was only in a special situation like this that the ghosts were willing to sit back and watch.
These were the Primal Souls that Tang Jie had gained from ghost refining, and they had numerous uses.
Once the ball of Primal Souls had gotten to the size of the small stamp he had hidden away, Tang Jie finally said, “Alright, it should be enough.”
He finished molding the Primal Souls into a rough approximation of the small stamp.
He walked over to the floating platform and began to compare and adjust the model, gently and carefully sculpting the Primal Soul stamp.
After he did this for a while, the Primal Soul model gradually became almost identical to the golden stamp, even sharing the same luster. But Tang Jie still seemed unsatisfied, taking it back and modifying it a few more times, seeking perfection down to the last detail like he was a master sculptor.
The ghosts were bored to the point of sleep, but they didn’t dare to rush him. But during this repetitive process, Tang Jie replaced the Primal Soul model with the real thing, which he immediately put into the floating platform. The platform began to glow and then moved up toward the stone door.
“It moved, it really moved!” the ghosts cheered. “The Primal Souls really did work!”
Tang Jie quietly chuckled to himself, I don’t know if the Primal Souls will work, but the original treasure that was supposed to be there definitely will.
The platform floated up and filled the spot exactly where the final step was meant to be.
The ghosts excitedly yelled, “Go!”
They all rushed up the stairs.
Tang Jie also casually made his way upward, and as he did, the ghosts all stepped back and opened the path. It was clear that Tang Jie’s actions had earned him the respect of the Ghost Kings.
Tang Jie had not only sold them off, he was also making them count the money.
It had to be understood that the internal battle just then had dealt the ghosts the greatest loss so far. The ghost soldiers and generals, as the weakest parties, had been sacrificed first, and nearly fifty Ghost Kings had died as well. Not too many Ghost Kings had died in the first three trials, but Tang Jie’s words had caused a third to be lost in a flash.
All that were left standing were the remaining hundred-some Ghost Kings, but despite these tragic losses, they were being utterly respectful to the main culprit.
Through the stone door was a spacious hall in which a large altar had been erected. The altar was made from extremely rare Azure Gold and carved with complex patterns that would have dizzied the ordinary person. Even the Ghost Kings could only stare for a few moments before looking away.
On the top of the altar was a coffin.
The coffin was made from ten-thousand-year-old Dragon Wood, and carved onto it were scenes of countless people bowing in worship. A majestic person had been carved onto the lid, exuding a life-like majesty even though it was simply a wood carving.
A canvas of silk woven with landscape images had been laid over the coffin. It had endured the passage of time, still protecting the person within the coffin.
The ghosts immediately started howling.
“We’re finally here!”
“We can finally see what’s going on with that soul that was never called to the Nether Domain.”
“I wonder what could be inside the coffin?”
“We’ll know once we open it.”
“Careful that some ghost doesn’t pop out and scare you to death.”
“Hah, we’re all ghosts here, so we can’t be scared by one.”
“That’s exactly it.”
Everyone had to say their piece.
These ghosts were acting like human grave robbers. Even though they existed in a different form, they had the same greedy nature.
Tang Jie looked at the coffin and then examined the surroundings.
There was nothing in the hall besides the altar, but some murals had been carved into the surrounding walls.
They depicted the life of a simple farmer couple, a man working the fields while the woman wove clothes, living a happy and content life. Later on, the man was called to the army, while the woman waited at home for him to come back, but her husband never returned… It was a classic love story, but it was rather unusual to find it in the grave of an emperor.
The end of the mural was located at the very back of the hall, on the center wall. There, a robed woman stood among the clouds, tearfully gazing up at the heavens.
Tang Jie felt a twinge from his mind when he saw the image.
But before he could do anything, the ghosts had already reached the coffin, one Ghost King starting to remove the lid.
Tang Jie shouted, “Be careful!”
But he was one step too slow. Boom! The lid flew off, slamming into the Ghost King. Despite only being a coffin lid, it slammed into the Ghost King like a mountain, instantly flattening it.
As the ghosts shrieked, a hand emerged from the coffin.
To be more precise, it was a skeletal hand, each bone glossy and smooth. It immediately grabbed the throat of a Ghost King, and with a light squeeze, it snapped its neck, and the Ghost King crumpled to the ground.
The remaining Ghost Kings were aghast and instantly fled, an ethereal ghost even turning into a gust of wind.
The bone hand grabbed at the air, and the gust of wind was pulled toward it and began to spin around in its palm. The wind turned back into a ghost, which let out a fearful shriek as it slowly dwindled to nothing.
As the ghosts reeled in shock, a majestic voice boomed, “Who dares to disturb Our slumber!?”
A crowned skeleton slowly sat up.
This skeleton wore a yellow dragon robe, a jade belt, and silk boots, all of them cultivator art relics, and all of them familiar to the ghosts present.
The Heartless Ghost King chuckled. “You must be Sovereign Yunhai, yes? As expected, you became a ghost yet refused to enter the Nether Domain, using some means to keep yourself here. Fan Yunhai, since we’re here, it’s time you came back with us!”
With a wave of his hand, two ghost emissaries came forward, gripping their Death God weapons as they moved toward Sovereign Yunhai.
If the Death God weapons so much as touched Sovereign Yunhai, he would be dragged to the Nether Domain and be subject to its rules.
But as the Death God Weapons were extended, the skeleton of Sovereign Yunhai raised its head and bellowed, “Audacious ghost, you dare!”
With a wave of its bony hand, the two ghost emissaries were sliced open, and they collapsed to the ground.
Ghost emissaries were extremely difficult to hit and track down, but Sovereign Yunhai had cut them down with a simple wave, not even giving them a chance to evade. But the Death God weapons were unharmed, so the Heartless Ghost King immediately pulled them back. So long as he still had them, he could create two more ghost emissaries, but alas, there were no subordinates around. Most of the ghosts here were Ghost Kings, and the pitiful number of soldiers left belonged to others, so the Heartless Ghost King didn’t have anyone that it could make ghost emissaries from.
Sovereign Yunhai laughed, and a fog billowed out of the coffin, carrying a bone-chilling cold toward the ghosts.
Ghosts were Yin creatures and normally didn’t fear cold, yet they couldn’t but tremble before this frosty fog. This chill affected both the body and the soul, so not even ghosts were immune to it.
Still, there were more than a hundred Ghost Kings here.
All of them immediately began to attack, unleashing a storm of ghost spell arts at Sovereign Yunhai.
So many Ghost Kings attacking in unison should have blasted the mausoleum to bits, but just as they attacked, there was a sharp whistle. Suddenly, the sinister ghost hand that could break steel became soft and limp, not even leaving behind an imprint on the coffin. The corrosive death energy became like a gentle breeze, the demonic flames that could burn away souls didn’t even singe Sovereign Yunhai, the skeleton flames became a simple light show, and the sorrowful wind that should have stripped away the will to fight only served to embolden Sovereign Yunhai.
The white bone hand swung through the air several times, tearing apart several ghosts.
The spell arts of the Ghost Kings might as well have been made of paper in front of Sovereign Yunhai’s claw.
No, it wasn’t because Sovereign Yunhai’s claws were too powerful. Rather, something in the hall was weakening all of their spell arts.
