Chaotic World Book
Chapter 171 - 167: Whether Human or Ghost, All are Showing Off

Chapter 171: Chapter 167: Whether Human or Ghost, All are Showing Off

If it’s a temporary team, no one dares to take the lead in such a situation, for even without the need to be wary of a stab in the back, taking the lead is the riskiest role.

Wanzhuang’s rounded figure disappeared in front of Zhao Changhe, having already crawled through the "dog hole."

The next moment, a fierce wind arose from both sides, and two sharp swords stabbed towards her.

Tang Wanju slightly moved to the side, reached out lightly, and the two swords brushed past her nose tip, clashing against each other, making a "ding" sound.

Zhao Changhe quickly crawled out; the Dragon Sparrow was too big to be drawn in time, so he kicked out toward the right immediately but heard a "thump" as it felt like kicking into clay.

Were they clay figures?

Whether they were clay figures or not, Zhao Changhe felt very weak after his kick. The clay figure did not react to his kick, and he almost didn’t stay on his feet, staggering. It felt like a tremendous oppressive force was bearing down on him, making it hard to breathe, and all his strength was subconsciously used to counteract this. Sharp sword intent brushed chillingly against his skin, making his hairs stand on end.

Sword Domain oppression?

He looked closely but found only darkness, barely making out a human silhouette.

The external passage was dark before as well, but since everyone had cultivated to their current state, their night vision was quite usable, hardly hindering their ability to see things normally; the expressions of the elderly from the Lu Family were clear, and Tang Wanju’s full moon shone clearly and roundly in front of him.

But separated by this one gate, they suddenly found themselves under some peculiar constraint, even their night vision seemed restricted, revealing only vague silhouettes.

But breathing was not affected; there was air in here, though he was unsure how the ventilation was accomplished.

As this thought passed through his mind, Tang Wanju had already drawn her sword from its sheath, and with two swift slashes to the left and right, she severed the arms of their opponents. The sound of the clay attached to the iron swords hitting the ground was quite distinct.

With their arms severed, the two clay figures stopped moving.

"It really is clay figures," whispered Tang Wanju. "A wisp of sword intent embedded within them, ready to fight when encountering an enemy, already adept with swordsmanship... The cultivation of the Sword Emperor while he was alive was indeed godlike."

Zhao Changhe frowned; the strength of the opponents was one thing, but what was painful was not being able to exert his own power, especially in such darkness where nothing could be seen, rendering him unable to analyze or judge the situation. The endless darkness only brought endless unease.

"Do we have any light sources?"

Sisi had somehow already crawled in by then and replied, "Don’t light any; this isn’t common tomb-raiding knowledge. Whether or not we can light a fire, we shouldn’t. Don’t even use luminous pearls; any light might cause abnormal changes."

Zhao Changhe closed his mouth.

"This place is the Sword Domain, which restricts the Five Senses and suppresses Inner Breath essentially serving as a warning: since you can’t see anything, you naturally don’t dare to proceed forward," whispered Tang Wanju quietly.

Zhao Changhe blinked, "Can’t see anything?"

Tang Wanju said, "Can you see anything? I can only make out a very blurry outline of you."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

The perception from behind his eyes was a bit absurd; he had thought it only amplified the Five Senses, but from this perspective, it seemed it could even ignore these kinds of ’Domain’ effects. His level of vision, ranking third on the Earth List, was nearly as bad as his own.

It seemed likely that Sisi couldn’t see anything either.

Zhao Changhe reached back and took hold of Sisi’s hand.

Feeling his "taking advantage," Sisi was startled and then remained silent, not pulling her hand away.

In actuality, she had other secret techniques, not only allowing her to see but even clearer than others. Yet, she knew the meaning behind Zhao Changhe holding her hand, which made her feel extremely complicated.

Still, she intentionally asked, "Since we can’t see anything, how are we supposed to move forward?"

Tang Wanju explained, "Our purpose here isn’t tomb raiding or seeking the Sword Emperor’s inheritance. Primarily, it’s to inspect where the strange vibrations came from to prevent an incident; secondly, it’s to determine the state of this tomb and attempt to reseal it underground. All actions should prioritize preventing any incidents and ensuring Gusu’s safety; hence, there’s no need to go further."

Sisi questioned, "But if you don’t go further, how will you determine the source of the vibrations?"

"The major difference between activating the body’s secret treasures and the Mystical Gate Realm is that the Mystical Gate only cultivates the body, both internally and externally, still within the realm of the human form. The so-called secret treasures, on the other hand, involve bridging the Heaven and Earth, cultivating in alignment with the cosmos. Spiritual Sense, to a large extent, can replace the Five Senses, and I have already fully activated the three major secret treasures."

Sisi opened her mouth then closed it again.

Why do I always forget? This one truly has the right to call themselves ’this seat’, not some minor sect or frail sickling blown over by the breeze. In the entire world, including the alien clans of the Divine Continent, only twelve people surpass her!

Tang Wanju continued, "The vibrations here are merely caused by a row of clay figures jumping and hopping in the far distance..."

Zhao Changhe: "?"

"I detect no killing intent; it’s neither a tomb chamber undergoing transformation nor the Sword Emperor awakening," Tang Wanju’s tone relaxed, "The evil Qi in this chamber is not even as strong as in the outer passage. The Sword Emperor’s slumber remains stable; we should not disturb it and simply leave."

Zhao Changhe asked, "Should we investigate how to reseal this place?"

Tang Wanju’s tone became even more relaxed, "I feel that the space here still has a sense of chaos; later we will see if Wu Weiyang and the others have discovered anything at the surrounding nodes, and try to use this chaos to conceal the space again. If we can restore it to a state where no one can find it, then this matter will be settled."

Sisi wondered aloud, "But why are the clay figures jumping and hopping around? Shouldn’t we clarify this? We haven’t even entered the main tomb yet; the guardians here are only secondary and shouldn’t be too powerful."

Tang Wanju gave her a meaningful look, "Indeed, they are not very strong; the two clay figures just now were about the seventh or eighth layer of the Mystical Gate’s strength, but they already surpass you all significantly. If the large group ahead jumping around are all of this strength or even higher, fighting would surely lead to chaos. Our powers are still being suppressed by the Sword Domain, making them ineffective, so why deliberately provoke further disturbance?"

Zhao Changhe also felt it was distasteful to have entered only to inexplicably leave again... But the primary mission was indeed to investigate the situation, ensure the tomb remained undisturbed, and keep Gusu safe. As the team leader, Tang Wanju vehemently adhered to the mission, refraining from any reckless actions, which was the most rational decision; he had nothing to say and prepared to retreat through the small opening.

But just then, the ground trembled violently. The sound of "thud, thud, thud, thud" footsteps approached—it was the group of saber-armed figurines, who had been hopping around locally, charging at them as though their disco had been interrupted.

"Retreat quickly!" Zhao Changhe signaled to Sisi behind him, "You go first!"

Sisi was about to crawl back but suddenly froze, "That, that old man is blocking the tunnel! We can’t get out!"

Zhao Changhe also frowned. The narrow entrance meant he could hardly maneuver, especially under the suppression of the Sword Domain. Only Tang Wanju could break through quickly, but with this blockade, the figurines were already upon them!

The atmosphere, which had been quite calm, suddenly became extremely perilous!

"Clang!" The Spring Water Sword emerged, enveloping the approaching figurines in its sword light. Tang Wanju’s voice remained calm, "There’s no need to pretend... I had already informed Wu Weiyang when I entered to move the corpse outside, fearing it would change. There are no bodies outside anymore; instead, you intentionally blocked the tunnel to prevent us from leaving..."

Zhao Changhe: "?"

Suddenly, Sisi’s figure flickered, bypassing the front line of figurines and rushing inward.

Tang Wanju sighed. She was entangled by these figurines and couldn’t stop Sisi for the moment.

Zhao Changhe’s expression turned incredibly grim. His Qinggong was useless to stop Sisi!

These figurines were actually following Sisi’s commands... which meant even the previous hopping that lured them inside and the "vibrations" were all Sisi’s doing!

Tang Wanju calmly stated, "An extremely clever Miao Region Gu Technique... She had secretly entered last night, using some unknown vents to bring Gu to control the figurines, waiting for this moment."

In the midst of this conversation, from far ahead came the sound of "rumbling" machinery activating, as if thunder rolled up from beneath the ground: "Who dares... tamper with His Majesty’s Sword Seal..."

These were the real Sword Emperor’s trusted aides! Revived beings with intelligence and speech, no longer just Sword Qi or figurines!

"Swish!" Sisi fled frantically back, a terrifyingly unmatched sword light chasing her, arriving in a blink.

Mid-air, Sisi lightly touched down on a figurine, twisting her body to dodge.

The sword light pursued her closely but paused briefly upon reaching her, revealing an ancient figure, intently observing the Dragon Sparrow on Zhao Changhe’s back.

The Dragon Sparrow radiated intense battle intent.

"Swish!" The sword light surged again, this time targeting Zhao Changhe, as the Sword Guard deemed everyone present to be in collusion, focusing on eliminating the disgusting foe first.

Zhao Changhe: "Damn..."

Sisi took the opportunity to twist back and return in the direction of the Sword Guard’s emergence.

The Dragon Sparrow’s reaction was part of her plan; she wanted to engage Zhao Changhe and Tang Wanju with the Sword Guard while she seized the chance to retrieve something!

Zhao Changhe’s expression darkened significantly.

But Tang Wanju noticed something more interesting...

When Sisi lured the Sword Guard over, the figurine sword array, previously entangling her, ceased attacking her and instead, all turned to assail the Sword Guard.

She had planned everything, yet she worried that the Sword Guard might actually harm Zhao Changhe.

Should she blame Zhao Changhe for his foolish loyalty in blindly trusting the Demoness, or could it be said his loyalty was actually useful?

"Clang!" The Spring Water Sword launched, targeting the Sword Guard’s nape.

Of course, Tang Wanju had to rescue Zhao Changhe, with no time to bother with the little demoness.

And looking at Zhao Changhe now directly facing the sword light attack; the Dragon Sparrow assumed an extremely bizarre posture, entirely incongruent with his usual saber technique.

The Sword Guard’s attack weakened suddenly, seemingly hesitant: "The Sword Emperor’s... introductory Swordsmanship? Who are you?"

Tang Wanju realized the significance of the stance.

It was the simple Sword Move used by the Sword Shadow when Zhao Changhe had chopped the Evil Sword!

He had actually learned it!

"Clang!" Seizing the moment the Sword Guard was stunned, Tang Wanju’s Sword Qi decisively struck the nape of his neck, emitting a sound of clashing metal. Zhao Changhe’s deception could only last for a moment; it was impossible to make the Sword Guard recognize a master through this, so taking decisive action during the confusion was the correct solution.

Struck at the nape, which seemed ineffective, the Sword Guard swayed slightly, already invaded by the Spring Water Sword Energy, significantly weakened.

Almost simultaneously, Zhao Changhe’s moves abruptly reverted to saber techniques, launching a mountain-shattering, furious slash directly at the Sword Guard’s forehead.

Tang Wanju was astounded to find that despite being suppressed by the Sword Domain, purportedly weakening him, this fierce strike from Zhao Changhe even surpassed his performance when he had split the Evil Sword!

Could it imply that Zhao Changhe had concealed his condition, also guarding against Sisi’s scheme? Only, he hadn’t expected Sisi not actually intending to harm him...

Nevertheless, even Tang Wanju, vastly more experienced and stronger than Zhao Changhe and barely mitigating the Sword Domain’s suppression, couldn’t fathom how Zhao Changhe was seemingly unaffected by it.