Chapter Four Hundred Ninety-Three: Huo Longyuan
The Holy Kingdom’s royal tomb is a real hassle.
How can one even describe how significant this place is to the Holy Kingdom?
Let’s just say, even someone like Young Master Sang who isn’t from the Holy Kingdom would probably get a bunch of officials ready to throw a tantrum if he tried to pay his respects.
And don’t even get started on the fact that Young Master Sang wants to dig up their ancestors’ graves!
Things like this are hard to handle, even for Huo Ningxue, the Empress of the Holy Kingdom.
If she even dares to mention it in the court, it would turn into a never-ending bickering session.
After all, Young Master Sang can indeed deduce from the Holy Kingdom’s texts that the Earthly Treasure should be located in the royal tomb.
But deduction is just deduction.
Without any concrete evidence, people from the Holy Kingdom would never agree to let anyone dig up their royal tomb.
What if they dig it up and find nothing? The number of people ready to explode over it would be countless.
At the very least, Qin Xiuyuan would definitely be first on the list.
So now, Young Master Sang is rubbing his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
“What are we supposed to do…”
Huo Ningxue, looking a bit awkward, scratched her head and said softly, “Well… it seems I really can’t bring myself to say anything.”
“But I think we don’t need to complicate things so much.”
“Since no one will agree to digging up the royal tomb anyway, why don’t we just go ahead and do it secretly?”
Young Master Sang: “?”
Huo Ningxue, what a devoted daughter you are!
“Seriously.”
Huo Ningxue stated, “I really think this method could work! What do you think, Young Master Sang?”
“…Your Majesty thinking this is feasible is already frightening.”
But what’s even more frightening is that Young Master Sang realized he actually doesn’t have a better solution.
After all, no official from the Holy Kingdom would ever agree to let him dig up the royal tomb, so why not just go ahead and do it secretly?
“The Holy Kingdom royal tomb should have some protective formations, right? Sneaking in should be quite difficult, right?”
“Well, it is said that…” Huo Ningxue pondered with her head down, “but the majority of the formations in Tianlang City can be controlled by the Huo family bloodline.”
“For the one in the royal tomb, I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure if it can be manually canceled.”
“Uh, do you dare to try?” Young Master Sang asked cautiously, “Wouldn’t that trigger some alarm and make it known to the whole city?”
“…I can’t really guarantee that.”
The two exchanged glances, clearly both hesitant to bet on that possibility.
Since it came to this, they’d have to pull out the indomitable Nian Nian.
“All mighty Nian Nian, it’s your time to shine.”
“Actually, you don’t need to call me.” Nian Nian’s voice echoed in their ears, “Just go ahead and dig.”
“Really? With that, I feel more at ease.”
“Because the Holy Kingdom royal tomb has no formations at all.”
Young Master Sang: “?”
“Is that for real? That’s the tomb of the emperors from every generation of the Holy Kingdom, how could there be no security measures?”
“Of course, there are security measures.” Nian Nian pouted, “Just go see for yourself.”
“For you, it might even be good news.”
Young Master Sang eyed Nian Nian skeptically.
He doesn’t know what this little sly merchant is up to again.
However, since she said that, why not go have a look?
——
——
So, in the still of a half-silent night, after the Tianlang Wei have finished their patrol, Young Master Sang and Huo Ningxue sneaked over to the Holy Kingdom royal tomb located in the north of Tianlang City.
It was a clean and solemn tomb area, with a monotonous color scheme covering all its buildings. Except for the attire tomb of the First Holy Emperor at the front, a row of pristine jade stone tablets gradually arranged behind it.
Each jade tablet bears the birth and death dates of each emperor.
“With so many tombs, which one should we dig up?”
“Obviously, we should dig the First Holy Emperor’s!”
Under the dark night, Huo Ningxue tiptoed at the entrance of the tomb area, looking around cautiously.
Meanwhile, Young Master Sang picked up the tools and carefully opened a hole in front of the attire tomb of the First Holy Emperor.
Actually, the First Holy Emperor didn’t have a proper tomb.
Because he didn’t die; he ascended to another realm. What was in the tomb was just some of his clothing and items from his life.
Even so, those are still the things of the First Holy Emperor.
Whatever strange items are inside, Young Master Sang must be extra cautious.
Unexpectedly, even though Young Master Sang carefully probed while digging, he felt no abnormalities until he reached the path of the underground palace.
It was as if there were truly no formations or security measures at all.
How could that be? Was the First Holy Emperor really that trusting? Young Master Sang felt puzzled.
“Did you find anything?” A voice called out from afar, Huo Ningxue.
“I found the underground palace; I’m going down now!”
With that, Young Master Sang slipped into the path and moved deeper underground.
Not knowing how long he had been moving, long enough for Young Master Sang to wonder if the underground of Tianlang City was really this deep.
Finally, at the end of the path, he saw a massive door.
“So this is the First Holy Emperor’s tomb…” Young Master Sang turned to look around.
Sure enough, the previously long path was just a smokescreen.
The entire tomb palace was in a newly opened alternate space, like some kind of barrier.
Having witnessed the Scriptures Pavilion before, Young Master Sang knew that this kind of barrier was likely to be operated by the Huo family bloodline.
But as he turned around to call Huo Ningxue down, the door behind him suddenly opened.
In that instant, a chilling sensation ran down Young Master Sang’s spine.
He quickly turned around defensively, instinctively activating the Dream Jun Sword and his mask.
As the door slowly opened, it revealed a vast and empty hall.
The hall was bare except for a few stone pillars and, at the end, a towering dragon throne.
A man sat upon the dragon throne.
Leaning his head slightly, he watched Young Master Sang at the doorway with a cold and aloof gaze, dressed in a dark-colored dragon-patterned robe that was similar to Huo Ningxue’s but more imposing and fearsome.
Especially those eyes.
Golden pupils that sparkled only with a cold stare made Young Master Sang feel on edge.
“Oh?”
“Is this how little respect people have nowadays?”
“Do you forget to kneel upon seeing me…?” The man’s voice was deep and magnetic.
Young Master Sang did not move. He stood quietly, staring at the sharply contoured profile of the man on the throne, before finally asking slowly:
“…I’m surprised.”
“I thought the First Holy Emperor had no lingering thoughts after ascending.”
“Who would’ve thought, there remains a trace of his divine consciousness left in this tomb palace.”
The man’s lips slightly curled.
“Since you know my identity, why aren’t you kneeling?”
Young Master Sang remained motionless.
He didn’t want to move, for the aura radiating from this manifestation made him feel wary.
Until he understood the man’s true strength, Young Master Sang wouldn’t reveal any openings.
“Should I refer to you as Your Majesty?”
“No need. I have long departed this realm; the world should have its own ruler now.”
The man chuckled softly at Young Master Sang, whispering, “I am the First Holy Emperor, Huo Longyuan.”
“I still prefer the title my subjects once used for me… Your Majesty.”
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