Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The King of the East Sea's expression turned serious:

"The coffin contains the true body of the tomb guardian, not a puppet. In life, this person's cultivation was at the peak of the ninth level of the Grandmaster realm. After death, his body was refined by the power of the Celestials into the tomb guardian's form, still retaining some of his martial arts memories. If you intend to fight him head-on, be careful."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sword mark on the stone coffin lid suddenly lit up, and the entire coffin shook.

Cracks spread from both ends of the sword wound, and as the stone chips fell away, a corpse clad in ancient bronze armor stepped out of the coffin. The human form was emaciated, the flesh shrunken and clinging to the bone, the eyes sunken, but two golden flames burned in the eye sockets.

He held a rusty bronze longsword in his right hand, the rust on the blade slowly peeling away to reveal the cold, gleaming blade underneath.

Sword intent.

Pure sword intent, refined over a thousand years, emanated from this withered corpse.

Song Que's pupils suddenly contracted—as a fellow swordsman, he was all too familiar with this aura that had been refined over time. This withered corpse must have been a grandmaster who had attained enlightenment through the sword in ancient times, and after his death, he was refined by celestial beings, yet the sharpness of his sword techniques still remained.

The withered corpse raised its sword and slashed horizontally.

The sword strike wasn't fast, but Song Que and the other two simultaneously felt a sense of oppression that was "unavoidable".

Where the sword's edge passed, the air was sliced ​​into visible fragments, the airflow in the upper and lower halves becoming turbulent. Song Que blocked the first strike with his horizontal saber, his wrist jolting violently, and he staggered back two steps. Tie Zhongtang blocked the second sword from the side with a flagpole, the sword's energy carving a new gash into the flag.

Jue Wushen took a half step closer and punched the withered skeleton in the chest with his left fist. The withered skeleton deflected the force of the punch by tapping the hilt of his sword. He then reached out with his other hand, his withered fingers grabbing Jue Wushen's injured right arm.

Jue Wushen grunted and stepped back.

The four fought for more than twenty breaths. The skeleton's sword moves became faster and faster, each strike carrying the ancient and simple killing intent unique to the ancient times. But Song Que gradually saw through its rhythm—the sword moves were exquisite, but in the end they were just inanimate objects repeating themselves, without the adaptability and cunning of a living person.

"Suppress its sword!" Song Que shouted in a low voice.

Tie Zhongtang shook his banner, and the entire blood-red flag wrapped around the skeleton's right arm and longsword. The flag was wreathed in bloody light, and the skeleton's sword strikes instantly faltered.

Taking advantage of the opening, Song Que slashed into the chest cavity of the skeleton, his sword intent penetrating the golden crystal core remaining in the skeleton's body—three times larger and more than ten times harder than the crystal core of the previous puppet.

"clang!"

The blade struck the crystal core with a metallic clang. Song Que's tiger's mouth cracked slightly, his sword intent nearly collapsing, but with a second swing, he added an extra layer of sword intent, finally causing a crack to appear on the crystal core. Tie Zhongtang tightened his blood flag, locking the withered skeleton's arms in place, and Jue Wushen's left fist, poised for a powerful strike, slammed into the crack in the crystal core—

"broken."

The crystal core exploded, and the golden flames went out. The withered corpse stood frozen for a moment, its entire body cracking from the inside out, turning into a handful of ashes scattered all over the ground, leaving only the bronze longsword that fell to the ground with a "clang".

Song Que stared at the sword for three breaths without touching it.

A fleeting hint of disappointment flashed across the East Sea King's eyes as he walked to the crystal wall:

"This level requires the combined power of two Grandmasters of the Ninth Heaven." Song Que and Tie Zhongtang attacked again, their qi slamming into the center of the crystal wall, shattering it into a sky full of red light.

From this point onward, Song Que's breathing became noticeably deeper. Jue Wushen's breathing also became heavier.

The fourth layer of restriction is at the 700th level, where a fissure in the earth and fire runs across the stone steps, more than ten feet wide, with molten lava churning beneath.

On the other side of the rift stood twelve obsidian golems, more exquisite than the statues of the previous three levels. They were humanoid but had wings growing from their backs, with a wingspan of three zhang. Their bodies were as black as ink, and purple lightning burned in their eye sockets.

The King of the East Sea's expression finally turned serious: "Winged Puppets, Grandmaster Level Six. They can fly using the power of earth fire and are immune to most fire damage. Twelve of them combined are comparable to a half-step Celestial in terms of group attack suppression."

The twelve winged puppets simultaneously flapped their wings and soared into the air, purple lightning shooting from their eye sockets towards the ground, weaving into a massive electric net above the fiery fissures. The lightning ignited the magma, sending waves of fire soaring into the sky.

"Scatter—" Song Que shouted, and the three kings of the underworld rushed out in different directions. Song Que's sword intent slashed at the weak point of the electric grid, Tie Zhongtang's blood flag rolled up a wind wall to block the flames, and Jue Wushen's left fist repeatedly smashed back the approaching winged puppet.

The King of the East Sea finally revealed his true power.

He formed a hand seal, and a silver-white energy disc rose behind him. The disc spun and shot out countless silver threads, which precisely wrapped around the wing joints of the six winged puppets, dragging them to the ground.

Song Que delivered the finishing blow, his blade piercing straight into the crystal core of the falling puppet's chest cavity. Tie Zhongtang swept his banner across, slamming two winged puppets attempting a flanking attack into the ground fire.

It took nearly a hundred breaths to wipe out the twelve winged puppets, during which seven of the underworld's soldiers were killed.

Song Que's sword intent had been depleted by more than half, Tie Zhongtang's flag had three new cracks, and blood was seeping from the surface of Jue Wushen's left fist.

The King of the East Sea remained impeccably dressed, though a thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead. His silvery-white aura disc slowly retracted into his body, his gaze lingering briefly on each of the three—Song Que, Song Que, and Song Que.

"continue."

The fifth layer of restriction is located at level 800. This layer of restriction itself is not strong, but at its core dwells a real, living creature—a giant crimson-scaled python ten zhang long, its body coiled with dark red chains, the other ends of which are deeply embedded in the center of the restriction array. Each struggle of the python shakes the entire stone staircase, causing the earth to tremble.

"This is a demonic beast that was forcibly chained here by an ancient celestial being," said the King of the East Sea. "Its bloodline is close to that of a dragon, and its cultivation is at the initial stage of the ninth level of the Grandmaster realm. The chains restrict eighty percent of its power; otherwise, none of us would be a match for it."

The giant python sensed the presence of a living person, hissed like thunder, and coiled itself out.

Song Que met the first strike head-on, his blade leaving only a shallow white mark on the python's scales. The giant python turned its head, its crimson vertical pupils locking onto Song Que, and spewed out a scorching, foul-smelling venomous mist from its mouth.

Tie Zhongtang waved his flag to sweep away the poisonous mist, and Jue Wushen took advantage of the python's obstructed vision to strike the python's seven-inch spot with his left fist.

The giant python cried out in pain, its massive body thrashing violently, causing the chains to rattle and creak. The runes on the restrictive magic array flickered wildly, and a backlash force flowed from the chains into the python's body, causing it to hiss and curl up in agony.

"It's being tortured by its chains!" A glint of light flashed in Song Que's eyes. "Take advantage of its restraint—"

The three attacked simultaneously. Song Que's sword intent slashed towards the junction of the giant python's head and torso, Tie Zhongtang's blood flag rolled towards the giant python's vital point, and Jue Wushen's left fist, having accumulated the power of the indestructible golden body, slammed into the center of the giant python's spine.

The three forces combined, and the giant python finally let out a dying hiss, its massive body crashing heavily onto the stone steps, its scales falling off in a rustling sound.

His crimson vertical pupils slowly closed.

The King of the East Sea stepped forward, looked at the giant python's corpse, and sighed, "What a pity, this beast lived for at least two thousand years."

The sixth layer of restrictions is located at level 850, which is a mirror maze.

The King of the East Sea admitted that this formation was a tactic he secretly added, originally intended to prevent people from following him.

He stepped in to break the mirror formation for everyone in the underworld, but Shi Zhixuan was delayed for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn—this was also part of the East Sea King's plan, but he did not expect that the other party would break the formation in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

As the mirror array was broken, the last batch of guards emerged from the passage: nine silver humanoid figures, each the size of a human, entirely silver-white, wielding long spears, and ranging in cultivation from the seventh to the eighth level of the Grandmaster realm.

"Ultimately, we'll face a tough battle." Song Que gripped the hilt of his sword, turned to Tie Zhongtang, and said, "You protect Jue Wushen's flank."

The three kings charged forward once more. The silver terracotta warriors were far more powerful than the puppets of the previous levels. Their long spears were imbued with aura, which briefly suppressed Song Que's sword intent.

Tie Zhongtang's banner was pierced by the long spear of a human-shaped terracotta warrior, and the flagpole nearly broke. Jue Wushen's injury to his right arm was completely exposed, and he could only use his left fist to withstand the attack of two human-shaped terracotta warriors. The impact of his fist and the long spear made the entire passage vibrate.