You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Without hesitation, he strode up the stone steps. Along the mountain path, one could occasionally see some collapsed stone beasts and broken inscriptions, adding to the desolate and dilapidated atmosphere.

Soon, he arrived at the mountainside area.

A vast platform has been created here, and countless cave dwellings have been built along the mountainside; at a glance, there are probably hundreds or even thousands of them. The cave entrances vary in size and have a simple style, clearly indicating that they were once the cultivation residences of the disciples.

"The cave... hopefully there will still be some leftovers."

Chen Yang thought to himself that he had been using spirit stones and pills frequently recently, which had indeed caused a lot of consumption, and he urgently needed to replenish them.

He randomly chose a cave that looked to be in a good location and whose entrance was relatively well-preserved, and went inside.

The cave was not large, containing only a stone bed, a stone table, and stone benches, and nothing else. Even the dust was not thick, as if it had been carefully cleaned.

He explored seven or eight more caves, and the situation was similar: either they were empty, or there were only one or two skeletons inside, with nothing of value around them, as if they had been suddenly attacked.

Some cave dwellings were in complete disarray, clearly having been violently ransacked, leaving nothing but broken stones and rotten wood.

"It seems that even if something changed back then, someone had already thoroughly looted this area for basic disciples."

Chen Yang shook his head slightly, somewhat disappointed.

Even if these cave dwellings originally contained some personal belongings or low-level resources, they have long been taken by those who came first.

He stopped wasting time on the lower-level disciples' cave dwellings and continued upwards. The higher he went, the fewer cave dwellings there were, but their size and style improved significantly, suggesting they were intended for higher-level disciples or stewards.

Just as he was approaching the mountaintop area, Chen Yang stopped in front of a cave dwelling in an excellent location, whose stone gate appeared exceptionally heavy.

The door to the cave was half-open, and through the crack, he could faintly smell a very faint, yet exceptionally clear, medicinal fragrance!
"There's something!"

Chen Yang's spirits lifted, and he carefully pushed open the stone door. The interior of the cave was much more spacious than the one below, with separate alchemy rooms, meditation rooms, and living quarters. The medicinal fragrance was emanating from the alchemy room.

He strode into the alchemy room, where he saw a bronze alchemy furnace, about half a person's height, standing in the center. The furnace was covered with ancient patterns, and although it was covered in dust, its extraordinary nature was still evident.

That refreshing medicinal fragrance emanated faintly from this alchemy furnace.

Chen Yang walked to the alchemy furnace, the lid of which was tightly closed.

He didn't rush to lift it. Instead, he first used his divine sense and Fiery Eyes to carefully examine it. After confirming that the furnace itself had no dangerous restrictions, he reached out and gripped the edge of the furnace lid, slowly applying force.

"Click..."

With a soft click, the stove lid was lifted.

A medicinal fragrance, ten times stronger than before, wafted over, instantly invigorating the senses. Chen Yang looked into the furnace and saw a thick layer of dregs at the bottom, long since devoid of any spiritual energy or medicinal properties, now resembling black ash.

Among these medicinal dregs lay dozens of pills, each the size of a longan, dark red in color yet faintly radiating a precious light! These pills were round and plump, and even after the passage of time, their surfaces remained smooth, showing no signs of weathering. The rich aroma emanated from them.

"What a wonderful elixir!"

Chen Yang's eyes lit up. These were definitely high-grade pills, and they were in excellent condition! He carefully took out the pills one by one, and after a rough count, there were as many as thirty-seven of them.

The pill was slightly warm to the touch, containing a pure yet gentle but powerful medicinal force. Although I didn't recognize its specific type, it was definitely a top-grade medicine for healing, replenishing spiritual energy, or assisting in cultivation.

He carefully stored the pills in a special jade bottle, then checked the inside of the alchemy furnace and the dregs to make sure nothing was missing. Only then did he leave the alchemy room, satisfied. Finding such a haul in such a ransacked place was an unexpected delight.

Leaving the cave, Chen Yang didn't linger and headed straight for the mountaintop. He passed through a relatively open martial arts training ground, around which were several exquisite pavilions, seemingly places for handling official business or storing miscellaneous items.

He entered the first attic, where many long, rectangular jade plaques were neatly stacked on wooden shelves. Each plaque was engraved with a different name and a simple number.

Chen Yang picked up a few pieces and examined them, guessing they were probably jade tokens identifying disciples or mission tokens. Unfortunately, aside from the decent material of the jade tokens themselves, there was no other valuable information or item.

He then entered the second attic.

The walls of this pavilion were inlaid with rows of jade slips. Chen Yang took one down, input a wisp of spiritual energy to activate it, and some text information immediately appeared on the jade slip, recording a sect mission, including the objective, location, reward, and so on.

He examined a few more, and the contents were largely the same, all being jade slips recording various sect missions.

"It seems this is where tasks are posted or managed."

Chen Yang was slightly disappointed; these mission records were of no use to him now.

He put the jade slip back in its original place and left the pavilion.

After failing to gain anything substantial from the two consecutive pavilions, Chen Yang had given up hope for the outer area.

He turned his gaze to the highest point of the mountain, where several magnificent palaces stood, with the main hall in the center and two side halls flanking it; that was the core hub of the entire mountain gate.

Without the slightest hesitation, he moved with lightning speed, leaping directly to the mountaintop and arriving before the tallest and most magnificent main hall. The hall's doors were long gone, and the interior was dark and gloomy.

Chen Yang stepped inside. The interior of the main hall was extremely spacious, with a high dome, thick beams and pillars, and the floor paved with huge bluestone slabs, but it was completely empty. There were no statues, incense tables, futons or other decorations, and it was eerily clean.

Only at the very depths, atop nine high steps, is a huge chair placed.

The chair was dark gold in color, with an ancient and heavy design. The armrests were made of two lifelike coiled dragons, and the back of the chair was decorated with intricate reliefs of stars and mountains. Although it was covered in dust, it still exuded an invisible majesty.

As Chen Yang approached, he scanned the entire enormous chair with his Fiery Eyes of Truth and was immediately struck by its power—this massive chair was actually carved from a single piece of extremely high-quality spirit jade marrow! Although most of the spiritual energy within had been lost over the long years, the remaining spiritual energy and the material itself were priceless treasures!

"Is this... the position of sect leader? Or some kind of elder's position?"

Curiosity piqued, Chen Yang climbed the nine steps and arrived before the jade dragon throne. He reached out and touched the cool armrests, feeling their delicate and warm texture, and a trace of almost imperceptible residual majesty.

"It's quite impressive."

Chen Yang smiled, then casually lifted his robe and sat down on the chair that had once represented the highest authority of this sect. His view immediately opened up, taking in the entire empty hall, and a sense of superiority arose spontaneously, though it was only a fleeting experience.

He relaxed, leaning back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously tracing the dragon head carving on the armrest. Just as his fingertips brushed against a tiny gap in the scales beneath the dragon's jaw—

"Crack!"

A very faint yet exceptionally clear mechanical sound came from inside the dragon throne beneath him!
Chen Yang's body tensed instantly, but before he could react, the entire dragon throne, along with the part of the ground he was sitting on, suddenly sank downwards and then quickly rotated ninety degrees!
Suddenly, everything went blurry and the light went out.

When the rotation stopped, Chen Yang found himself no longer in the main hall, but in front of the entrance to a narrow, downward-sloping secret passage that could only allow one person to pass at a time! A cool breeze carrying the earthy smell and a faint odor of decay was slowly blowing out from the dark depths of the secret passage.

"A secret room? A secret passage?!"

Chen Yang's heart raced slightly, but he was more pleased than surprised.

These secret passages hidden beneath the highest seats of power often signify something truly important!
He didn't immediately venture deeper, but first observed his surroundings. The entrance to the secret passage was carved out very neatly, with smooth stone walls, clearly not a hasty work.

He looked back and saw a solid stone wall behind him. The rotating mechanism of the dragon throne had been reset, and from the inside, it fit perfectly without any flaws.

"They come, the security."

Chen Yang steadied himself, activated his Fiery Eyes of Truth, and his eyes glowed with a faint golden-red light in the darkness. Then he took a step and carefully walked down the steep stone steps.

The secret passage initially descended straight down, but after walking for about twenty or thirty zhang (approximately 30-40 meters), a gentler path began to appear. The stone walls on both sides of the path were not bare, but rather covered with numerous murals.

Chen Yang slowed his pace, carefully observing the mural with the help of his pupil technique. The mural's content was very ancient, and its style was bold and powerful.

Some depict grand battlefields, where countless warriors clad in ancient armor and wielding strange weapons fight against grotesque monsters that are neither human nor beast, creating a brutal and tragic scene.

Some murals depict solemn sacrificial scenes, with many people prostrating themselves on the ground, kneeling and worshipping the tall altar and the blurred light and shadow in the sky. The murals stretch on and on, seemingly telling a story or legend from a distant era, but they lack textual explanations and are difficult to understand.

Chen Yang did not linger. Although these murals were ancient and mysterious, they were not his current target.

He continued onward, and along the way, at the corners or in the recesses of the passageway, he saw several more corpses that had long since weathered into skeletons. Judging from the shape of the bones and the remaining cloth nearby, they should also be cultivators, but they seemed to be much older than those in the caves outside.

He didn't touch the skeletons, but cautiously walked around them.

Finally, after descending the winding path for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the steep stone steps came to an end, revealing a relatively open entrance to an underground space.

Chen Yang stood at the entrance, his sharp eyes scanning forward.

Before us lies a naturally formed space, yet clearly man-made, roughly the size of half a basketball court. Many stalactites of varying sizes hang from the ceiling, dripping water droplets that pool on the ground.

The stone walls of the space show obvious signs of carving and polishing, and some places still have grooves for placing lamps, but now they are empty.

And on the surrounding stone walls of this space, there are six dark openings! Six doors, quietly distributed in different locations.

Chen Yang stood at the entrance, his golden-red eyes scanning the entire space, focusing on the six doorways. Sure enough, each door was shrouded in layers of complex and dangerous arrays and restrictions, their energy fluctuations obscure and cold, clearly not benevolent.

Some of these restrictions were filled with an aura of destruction, while others carried a power to bewitch the mind, and still others faintly emitted fluctuations of spatial distortion, clearly leading to different and certainly not friendly places.

"Six doors, six unknown paths, all of which are traps and mechanisms... Is this place a treasure trove or a death trap?"

Chen Yang muttered to himself.

He tried to use his eagle eyes to see further behind these doors, but the restrictions were not only powerful, but also seemed to be mixed with some kind of shielding substance. He could only see a short distance near the door, and beyond that, there was only a blurry energy turbulence.

He didn't rashly attempt to crack any of the doors. Firstly, the situation behind those six doors was unknown and extremely risky; secondly, his main purpose on this trip was to explore and gather resources, and there was no need to gamble on a path that was clearly a test or punishment.

Shifting his attention from the six openings, Chen Yang began to carefully examine the central area of ​​the underground space. He quickly noticed something unusual.

Surrounded by puddles and stalactites, the center of the space is not flat but slightly raised, forming a circular stone platform about three feet high. Traces of human construction can still be faintly seen on the edge of the platform.

Chen Yang took a few steps closer, and the light of his sharp eyes illuminated the stone platform—it was no ordinary stone platform, but clearly a small altar with an extremely ancient and even barbaric style!

The altar was a dark, blackish-red color, as if it had been stained with blood countless times.

It is divided into three layers, with the bottom layer being the largest, the middle layer slightly smaller, and the top layer being a circular platform with a diameter of about one meter. The stones that make up the altar are rough and uneven, without any exquisite carvings, only some deep and shallow, seemingly random marks left by chopping, exuding a primitive and bloody atmosphere.

Chen Yang walked around the altar, his sharp gaze sweeping over every inch. On the steps of the first and second levels of the altar, he saw large patches of dried, blackened stains that had almost blended into the stone—bloodstains, and in enormous quantities, far more than could have been left by one or two people.

What's even more chilling is that on the third level of the altar, at the edge of that circular platform, seven or eight dried and yellowed human skulls are neatly arranged! The empty eye sockets of the skulls silently face the dripping stalactites above, as if performing an eternal, silent sacrifice.

"Human sacrifice..."

Chen Yang frowned, feeling an instinctive aversion to this ancient and cruel ritual. But now that he had discovered it, he had to go and see for himself.

He stepped onto the first step, his shoes making a soft rustling sound as they crunched on the dried blood. A faint, metallic scent seemed to fill the air.

He climbed step by step until he reached the top of the altar.

On the circular platform at the top, besides the several grotesque skulls, there stood a bronze cauldron, about half a person's height, with three legs and two handles. The cauldron was covered in green patina, but its design was ancient and simple, exuding a sense of desolation. But the most striking feature was a sword stuck in the very center of the bronze cauldron!

About two-thirds of the sword was submerged in the cauldron, with only the hilt and a section of the guard visible. The hilt appeared to be made of some dark gold metal, wrapped with decaying black threads. The guard had a simple design, yet exuded an indescribable sense of sharpness. (End of Chapter)