Super Combat Soldier
Chapter 379 - 378

Chapter 379: 378

Using the Memory Restoration Skill, Ye Tianchen was able to restore the four paintings in the right chamber that had been destroyed, though it was only in his mind that he could see what they looked like before being ruined by sword marks, not actually restoring them on the stone wall.

Having restored the appearance of the paintings in the right chamber and combined that with what he had seen in the chamber on the left, Ye Tianchen understood that it was the story of a young girl, the love story of the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect, filled with joy and bitterness.

In the paintings in the left chamber, Ye Tianchen had seen a very beautiful young girl, pure and lovely, with high perception and superb swordsmanship. On one chance occasion, she rescued a swordsman who seemed severely injured at the edge of a waterfall cliff. After taking him to a cave, the girl took great care of him, visiting and bringing food daily. Affections grew over time, and just as they were about to elope, they were suddenly discovered by several formidable people who nearly killed the swordsman. Only the girl’s desperate pleading saved him, and her family let the man go.

After the man left, the girl pined for him day and night, losing all appetite. Every day, she would sit by the waterfall and space out, and memories of their happy times together made her cry. Her heart was completely given to the man, but they could not be together; her family forbade it. If it weren’t for her desperate pleas and her threatening to kill herself, the man would have been killed on the spot.

Watching the girl becoming increasingly emaciated, almost to the point of illness, the once lively and cute girl would have ended in sorrow without any laughter ever again. The girl’s mother, heartbroken, eventually helped her leave her family. Standing on a distant mountaintop looking back at her family’s location, she knelt and knocked her head on the ground three times, knowing that leaving meant disobeying her family’s rules, and she could never return or fulfill her filial duties to her parents again. For love, she went in search of him.

After a long search, she finally found the man in Zhongnan Mountain, where he had become a key disciple in his sect, likely to be the next Sect Leader. His previous encounter with the girl had been merely a training expedition.

The man also had deep feelings for the girl and wanted to be with her. However, as his sect was a Taoist sect, and he had been brought up by the sect from childhood with his master as if he was his own father—a very strict elder who held a horsetail whisk—when the elder learned of their affair, he just expressed his disappointment and told the man that if he insisted on being with the girl, he would disable all his martial arts and expel him from the sect forever.

Under such pressure, the man drew back. He could not disregard the sect’s nurturing nor the years of painstaking cultivation. He chose to part ways with the girl. At that moment, the girl was heartbroken and cried uncontrollably, distraught that she had fallen for such a heartless man, realizing that despite giving up everything—even her family—to be with him, he ultimately did not choose her.

Heartbroken and desolate, the girl thought about killing herself, but accidentally discovered what is now the Ancient Tomb Sect. A few years later, as the man became the Sect Leader of his sect, on a nearby peak, the Ancient Tomb Sect was founded, and she became its founder, living out her whole life there.

This was what Ye Tianchen deciphered from the paintings in both chambers. He understood the initial founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect, this extremely beautiful and adorable girl, who had a lifetime of sorrowful love experiences, gave her all only to be abandoned. In the end, she founded the Ancient Tomb Sect and lived a life in solitude, never meeting him again. She could only look at him from a distance at night, uncertain if this was somewhat comforting or just a small consolation.

"Everyone has their own helplessness, and not all lovers can be together, so everyone should cherish the people and things around them now, otherwise they might regret it for a lifetime!" Ye Tianchen couldn’t help but sigh as he spoke.

Having opened two stone chambers, Ye Tianchen had not yet discovered the Cultivation Method of the Jade Maiden Heart Scripture. Carrying Dongfang Meng on his back, he continued forward. Within the Ancient Tomb Sect, there were many stone chambers, perhaps too numerous to count, with one connected to another along a stone pathway where many chambers existed on both sides, and Ye Tianchen noticed that some chamber doors were open with nothing inside. Inside each chamber, there were other doors connecting to additional chambers, no wonder Zhang Yide said one could easily get lost and potentially never find their way out.

Along the way, Ye Tianchen passed by many stone chambers, and whether they were open or not, Ye Tianchen went into each to check. He did not overlook any chamber because the location of the Cultivation Method for the Jade Maiden Heart Scripture was unknown to him; missing just one chamber could potentially cost Dongfang Meng’s life. Having come this far, he had to explore each one thoroughly.

However, after checking another dozen or so chambers, Ye Tianchen had not found anything peculiar. They were all empty, even the stone walls contained no paintings. Each time Ye Tianchen entered a chamber, he was very cautious, guarding against any possible hidden mechanisms or traps, and would meticulously check for any secret compartments. The Cultivation Method of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was certainly not easy to obtain, which Ye Tianchen understood, so if it were in a hidden compartment, that would be a normal occurrence, warranting a thorough check of every spot.

Gradually, Ye Tianchen, while carrying Dongfang Meng, reached the end of the stone pathway and faced a huge stone door. He furrowed his brows and touched the door with his hand, slightly exerting force to find that the stone door was as solid as a mountain, barely budging at all, indicating that opening it would be extremely difficult.

"No, this stone door has no guards and no places to push or pull. It must be a mechanism!" Ye Tianchen said to himself, looking at the Big Stone Gate because this door wasn’t the usual kind that swings open from the sides; it was a massive rock that had been brought down. To lift this huge rock and gain entry through this gate, there must be a mechanism to activate, else one might have to forcefully shatter it. However, Ye Tianchen did not want to do so, as everything in the Ancient Tomb Sect belonged to Dongfang Meng. It would be wrong to destroy it rashly, and it could potentially be dangerous. Since the designer made it this way, there must be a method to open it, else how could anyone ever leave from inside?

Setting Dongfang Meng down next to him, Ye Tianchen started examining each stone around them. These stones were polished very smooth, fitted seamlessly into the stone walls, appearing as a single giant slab of stone. He touched and even tapped on them to see if he could find a stone that was out of the ordinary, which might activate the giant stone gate.

Unfortunately, after a long search, Ye Tianchen found nothing, causing him to frown. He wondered if he was mistaken about how to open the giant stone gate, pondering if it required activation from the inside rather than the outside. If so, someone on the outside would need someone on the inside to open it. Given that only Dongfang Meng remained from the Ancient Tomb Sect, it was impossible for someone else to be inside. What to do?

Ye Tianchen paused, scanning the environment around the stone gate. Above the chamber’s passageway were Luminous Pearls, providing a constant light, so everywhere inside the Ancient Tomb Sect was bright, not shrouded in a sinister darkness. Of course, there were some darker corners, as it was impossible for every chamber to be illuminated by radiant Luminous Pearls — otherwise, the Ancient Tomb Sect might be the wealthiest sect in the world. It’s more that many places were simply lit by the light from other chambers, preventing a pitch-black environment.

Just then, Ye Tianchen suddenly realized something. He noticed that along the upper part of the chamber passage, there was a Luminous Pearl every two stones, but for the third pearl, there was only a one-stone gap, an odd discrepancy. From his observations since entering, the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect, a woman with a fine taste for life, would never allow such an imperfection. There must be a trick to it.

With that thought, Ye Tianchen leapt up, his feet landing on a Luminous Pearl and then on the fifth stepping stone, but still no reaction. He frowned, then a smile appeared on his lips, and with a few backward flips, he reached the side of the Big Stone Gate. Starting from the first stone, he somersaulted forward, striking down at every stone he passed. When he struck the fifth stone on the ground, there was a clicking sound, and the Big Stone Gate slowly began to rise.

But before Ye Tianchen could crack a smug smile, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh — countless arrows shot towards them from the direction they came, each with fierce, uncompromising momentum. Ye Tianchen had anticipated this. Clenching his fists, he unleashed a powerful punch filled with True Power toward the oncoming arrows... (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please feel free to recommend or vote monthly at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)