Deeper in the Genius Mansion were pagodas made from stone with balconies lining up the sides. Both sides of the path had mysterious runes floating along the way. Only the Heavenly Phoenix Gaze was able to detect these hidden formations. Feng Feiyun carefully dodged these patterns all the way until he reached a completely dark room.
He was tailing the old man in black from earlier. He used the Verdant Wood Art to hide his presence as if he had become an old tree. This was how he managed to hide from the old man’s divine intents.
The old man took several rounds through the mansions. He went to a study, a secret chamber, then several small courtyards as if he was on a stroll since he left each area very quickly. Eventually, he came to this small room and stayed inside for more than an hour.
Feng Feiyun’s figure flashed as he stepped on the air and silently descended into this small room.
“Creakk!” The door opened and the old man in black came out from inside with a surging black aura around his body. He turned into a black shadow and shook his body once to completely disappear without a trace.
“What did this old man come here to do?” Feng Feiyun jumped down from the roof and looked inside this pitch black room. After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to push open the door to enter.
A cultivator of the Heaven’s Mandate realm couldn’t have stayed inside this old and tiny room for no reason. Perhaps there was a secret hidden inside.
Feng Feiyun had been through several places and this was the most suspicious location.
A blinding crimson ray shot out the moment the door was opened. A large circular formation attacked Feng Feiyun; it was a second-level offensive formation.
“Pow!” Feng Feiyun quickly took out his saber and unleashed one slash at the eye of the formation to break it. He then quickly ducked into the house and closed the door.
He palpitated with shock while his back was soaked with sweat. Luckily, he reacted in time just now. If that ray made it outside, cultivators from the mansion would have been alarmed. If that were to happen, he would be at death’s door right now.
This was a small room with a few old desks and chairs ladened with dust. It was apparent that no one had cleaned this place for a long time.
“There’s some movement underground!” Others would leave right away after seeing the sight ahead. However, Feng Feiyun’s spiritual sense right now was comparable to a third-ranked treasure master.
This tiny fluctuation was hidden by the formation and was very subtle, the same kind of movement a little worm wiggling seven meters underground would make. Any other powerful cultivator would ignore it, but Feng Feiyun knew that the old man in black was here for an entire hour, so it became a bit unusual.
“Heavenly Phoenix Gaze!” Fiery sparks lit up from inside his pupils as he looked underground. He saw that under the ground covered in dust were countless chains as thick as arms. Layer after layer of chains made their way all the way down like spirits of hell. It was quite an impressive spectacle.
This was a bit unbelievable. Why were there so many iron chains below the Genius Mansion?
“The feast has started a while ago, so why hasn’t the master appeared yet?” Two different footsteps suddenly came from outside of the room and were approaching.
The speaker had a hoarse and unpleasant voice as if it came from some bones.
‘Why are there people coming now of all times?!’ Feng Feiyun was screaming in his mind while he quickly dispersed his gaze. He took out his stone saber and prepared himself. If these two stepped inside, then he would take the initiative to kill them then escape from the mansion.
Someone else loudly exclaimed: “It is best for us to not mind about the master’s business… Eh? Why are there footprints on the floor? Did someone go inside?”
“I don’t think anyone would dare to come here. Half a month ago, a grand achievement God Base infiltrated this place and was killed by Attendant Wu. His corpse was thrown out for the beasts to feast on.”
Although they didn’t believe someone had the courage to attempt this, they both took out their treasures and slowly entered the room.
Feng Feiyun’s nerves were tense as he stood inside the room like a bow ready to fire at any moment.
He must kill both of them with just one slash!
Otherwise, if a Heaven’s Mandate cultivator came, the one fed to the beasts would be him!
“What are you two doing?” A third voice came from outside. It was the old man in black from before.
“Attendant Wu, there are new footprints on the ground, so we think that someone might have gone inside.”
The two stopped and turned around to bow towards the old man.
“Oh, it was me from earlier.” The old man raised his voice: “The person inside is not to be messed with. No one can bear the responsibility of him escaping, so it is best for you two to not come close to this room from now on.”
“Yes, we understand.” The two stood up and quickly left without hesitation.
This Attendant Wu was a Heaven’s Mandate cultivator rumored to have lived for more than three hundred years. His gaze alone could creep someone out completely, so naturally, these two would try to get as far away from him as possible.
The old man also left and quietly made his way towards the palace. It seemed that the feast was now prepared.
“Whew!” Feng Feiyun finally breathed a sigh of relief after the outside went quiet. He put away his saber and looked down at the ground once more.
Just what was buried down here to frighten even Heaven’s Mandate cultivators?
“Break!” Feng Feiyun pointed his finger down at the ground. A ray from his entire body shot out, causing the array runes on the ground to recede like tides. The black chains on the ground also started to move while issuing clanking sounds.
A straight path into the depths of the ground appeared with a faint light coming out. There was a total of 270 thick chains as well as fiery sparks jumping in the air. These sparks could render cultivators into ashes, but they couldn’t stop Feng Feiyun’s advance.
A few more formations were shattered by Feng Feiyun and became green smoke.
“So it is that coffin!” Feng Feiyun went underground and found that there was was a coffin made from Black Tortoise Steel. It was ten feet long and four feet wide and was completely tied by the chains to resemble a steel cocoon.
Just what was inside that required a coffin made from this type of steel on top of being hidden so with this many layers of seals?
Feng Feiyun’s curiosity grew as he approached. Each of his steps caused the giant chains to gently shake, creating clanking sounds each time.
“Boom!” A shadow with a pair of green eyes flew out from behind the coffin. It issued a chilling screech.
Its speed was too fast. With a whooshing sound, it brushed by Feng Feiyun’s face and added three bloody lines to his neck.
Drops of golden blood dripped down from his neck, causing the shadow to scream excitedly.
“Just what is this damned thing?” Feng Feiyun’s eyes narrowed. There was a powerful poison invading him from the injury. Even the Immortal Phoenix Physique was having a hard time expelling this poison from his body. It could only stop the spreading temporarily.
“Kaka!” The shadow from the corner lunged forward once more just as fast as before. It was difficult to grasp its trajectory.
“Boom!” Feng Feiyun directly took out the phoenix bone. It was as hot as a scorching cauldron and emitted a crimson light. It struck the shadow dead on, creating sizzling sounds along with a continuous stream of green smoke.
The temperature of this bone was incredible; it immediately burnt the shadow, turning it into ashes after just two seconds.
“Whoosh!” He gently waved his palm and the bone flew back into his hand.
“What the hell was that?” Feng Feiyun touched his neck. His wounds were burning and wouldn’t close easily.
The speed of that shadow was too fast. From start to finish, he couldn’t see its true shape, he only felt that it was not human. He might not have been able to take care of it without the phoenix bone.
“It must be one of the three strange from the Yang World or three evils from the Yin World.” Feng Feiyun walked closer to where a pile of black ashes was on the ground. That thing was burnt to an unrecognizable crisp.
He lightly reached out to touch the coffin’s wall and tried to use the Platinum Metal Art to see if he could detect the contents inside.
The Platinum Metal Art was the fourth move from the Minor Change Arts. Once successfully learned, one would be able to find rare metals underground in addition to detecting precious essences inside these metals.
This was a very important art for treasure-seeking. Of course, it is the most difficult to learn as well.
Feng Feiyun had trained for more than a month and could only understand some of the basics.
“There is even an isolation array!” Feng Feiyun knew that his Platinum Metal Art was not good enough so he couldn’t detect what was inside.
He was hoping to not release a monster!
He initially didn’t want to open the coffin before learning what was inside. However, there was no other choice at this moment. He activated his Crimson Fire Art to break the nine formations outside of the coffin, then he mustered enough strength in his arms to thrust open the coffin lid that weighed hundreds of thousands of pounds. This was a very gradual process.
“Zzzzz!” The lid and the coffin rubbed against each other, issuing an ear-piercing noise.
“Boom!” A green smoke rushed out from the tiny opening; it was apparent that his smoke carried a powerful corrosive property. Feng Feiyun’s sleeves were turned into ashes immediately.
He took out the phoenix bone once more to counter this ferocious aura. Otherwise, the flesh on his arms would corrode into bones in just a moment.
“I… truly... hate...!” A weak voice came from the coffin like a ghost panting in hell. This voice felt a bit familiar to Feng Feiyun. More sounds of chains being dragged inside the coffin came, followed by a low voice: “I… hate…”