Chapter 42: I Want to Try

Creak...

The long-sealed coffin slowly opened. The figure in black, who had been standing upon it just a moment before, flashed gracefully to Lin Fan's side and whispered softly, "Be careful."

"Hm?"

Lin Fan raised his brow slightly. The voice of the person in black was crisp and melodious, bearing no resemblance to the gloomy chill of their attire.

However, the current situation afforded him no time to speculate on the identity of the mysterious companion.

With a resounding crash, the heavy coffin lid flew off, slamming heavily into the ceiling and embedding itself deeply into the stone. A skeletal hand slowly rested upon the edge of the coffin.

This sight made everyone's scalp tingle. Anyone could guess that the deceased within the coffin was undoubtedly that long-fallen master of the Divine Spirit realm.

Yet, who could have imagined that after all these years, he would actually rise as a corpse?

A master of the Divine Spirit realm was certainly not someone present could hope to resist.

"Playing God and conjuring ghosts!"

Zhao Wuyuan spat out lightly. A mere Divine Spirit realm expert could hardly be considered a supreme master in his eyes.

The Zhao family of the Xuanming Dynasty possessed immense power, and Divine Spirit realm experts were regarded merely as second-tier within the clan.

After all, the Zhao family boasted a supreme master of the Nirvana realm presiding over them.

"Many years have passed. I never expected my resting place would be found after all."

Accompanied by a sigh of sentiment, the corpse inside the coffin stood up.

It was a complete skeleton, its eye sockets glowing with an eerie green light like two ghostly lanterns.

In the center of its empty lower dantian hovered a star-like, radiant divine pearl.

When everyone's gaze fell upon that divine pearl, everyone—including Zhao Wuyuan—revealed expressions of greed.

Spiritual essence!

This was the spiritual essence formed from the evolution of the divine spirit after the fall of a Divine Spirit realm master.

Legend had it that swallowing the spiritual essence meant securing a direct ticket to the Divine Spirit realm; with diligent cultivation, one would have a great possibility of stepping into that exalted realm.

The Divine Spirit realm was a watershed in the path of martial arts.

Setting aside the existence of their unique divine spirits, the simple ability of flight was the dream of every martial artist.

Although the assessment grounds had gathered countless talented prodigies from the myriad nations, at most thirty percent of them would truly be able to step into the Divine Spirit realm.

And that thirty percent roughly constituted those who would successfully enter the Hundred Sects.

Even Zhao Wuyuan, hailing from the prestigious Zhao family, coveted this treasure, which was enough to show how precious the spiritual essence truly was.

Of course, everyone else knew very well that with the person in black and Zhao Wuyuan present, they probably had no chance of touching the spiritual essence.

Precisely because of this, they cast their hopes upon other treasures.

Anything capable of entering the main hall of a Divine Spirit realm master's tomb could not possibly be ordinary.

"How many years have passed? My tomb has finally been found.

Such a rare and lively gathering!"

The skeleton spoke. Its ghostly eyes swept across the crowd, sending an icy gust surging up from the soles of everyone's feet straight to their crowns. In an instant, cold sweat beaded heavily on their foreheads.

This Divine Spirit realm expert seemed even more terrifying than Zhong Cheng.

Was he truly just at the Divine Spirit realm?

Because he had condensed the Heaven and Earth Furnace within his body, the moment the chilly gust entered him, the fire-attribute spiritual energy inside Lin Fan drove it away, sparing him from breaking out in a sweat.

However, what astonished him was the terrifying power of the deceased.

He had witnessed the might of peak Divine Spirit realm experts before, but the pressure carried by this skeleton was unquestionably superior to anything Zhong Cheng could muster.

And Zhong Cheng was a peak Divine Spirit realm expert, only half a step away from entering the Cave Realm.

"We pay our respects to senior!"

The crowd bowed in unison, not daring to show the slightest disrespect. No one knew what intentions this suddenly "resurrected" expert might harbor.

Solely based on the other's terrifying might, none of them dared to harbor any presumptuous thoughts.

"Little girl, thank you for your blood!"

The skeleton paid no heed to the greetings of the crowd. Its glowing eyes fixed upon the person in black beside Lin Fan, and it spoke softly.

A little girl?

The crowd was startled. Even Lin Fan beside her froze, seemingly caught off guard to discover that the person in black was actually a woman.

"Look again, and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Seeming to perceive Lin Fan's questioning and scrutinizing gaze, the person in black glared fiercely and rebuked in a low voice.

Hearing this, Lin Fan hurriedly withdrew his gaze. He was certainly no match for the black-clad woman before him and could not afford to offend her...

"Senior has set up the Blood Spirit Rebirth technique here, surely to leave some instruction for us later generations, right? Please, senior, speak your mind."

The Blood Spirit Rebirth technique?

A trace of bewilderment flashed across Lin Fan's eyes. Having grown up in a small and remote place, he had genuinely never heard of such a secret art.

Gu Ningyun, who had somehow walked up beside Lin Fan at an unknown moment, took it upon herself to explain: "It's a secret art that uses blood as a sacrifice to briefly revive the lingering consciousness of the deceased. Such a secret art is rarely understood in the Southern Wilderness. This senior's origins must be quite extraordinary."

Oh?

Lin Fan raised his brow slightly. Extraordinary origins—that was a good thing!

The more extraordinary the background, the better the legacy the other party would leave behind.

Naturally, he was not the only one thinking this way.

Hearing the words of the black-clad woman, the others also revealed expressions of joy, and their gazes toward the floating light clusters above grew even more fervent.

"I know you all want the things I've left behind. However, to obtain them, you must pay a price. Are you prepared?"

A price?

Gu Ningyun and the others frowned slightly, wondering what kind of price the deceased was demanding.

"It's very simple. If you want to obtain my legacy, you must offer up your lives. An exchange of goods of equal value!"

This...

Hearing this, the crowd froze. Exchanging lives for treasures?

What use would a supreme treasure be if one's life was lost?

As they hesitated and pondered, a miserable scream pierced the air. Zhao Wuyuan wielded a sharp blade, thrusting it straight through the neck of a peak Divine Core martial artist. The latter's vitality was instantly annihilated by the violent spiritual energy, dying miserably on the spot.

"Is this enough?"

Zhao Wuyuan's expression was stern. Completely ignoring the hateful glares of the dead man's companions, he stared straight at the skeleton and asked in a deep voice.

"You little fellow, truly ruthless. However, I do not want the lives of others. I want your own."

You...

Zhao Wuyuan's expression tightened, a fierce glint flashing across his eyes. Had it not been for the skeleton's overwhelming strength, he would have already resorted to force.

"If you won't trade, that's fine too. Enter through this door, and you may leave my tomb."

As the voice of the deceased faded, a stone door suddenly materialized within the grand hall.

If you won't trade, then get lost!

It was a remarkably blunt ultimatum.

Zhao Wuyuan's face turned ashen. Ever since he broke into the tomb, he felt he had already lost face on multiple occasions.

Now, to be toyed with by a skeleton dead for who knows how long only fueled his burning rage.

He glared fiercely at the person in black and Lin Fan, as if etching their figures firmly into his memory, and said, "I'll be waiting for you outside!"

With that, he turned and walked toward the stone door without looking back, pulled it open, and left the tomb.

Trading his life for treasures was something he could never do.

Following Zhao Wuyuan's precedent, the others also successively left the tomb.

As for those who stayed behind, they still harbored a sliver of hope, praying that the deceased was merely joking with them.

That included the black-clad woman.

"Lin Fan, what should we do?"

Lin Fan hadn't left, and Gu Ningyun's group found it inappropriate to depart just like that. But exchanging their own lives for treasures—how was that any different from murder?

"I want to try!"