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

The silence in front of the bronze gate of the imperial mausoleum lasted for half a day.

The Heavenly Demon Sect retreated, the Four Extremes Sword Sect retreated, and the old lady of the Chu family quietly disappeared into the depths of the dense forest after kneeling for a moment.

Everything returned to its sealed and suppressed state—the deep, abyss-like aura still seeped out from the cracks in the door, but it no longer spread; it remained stagnant within three miles of the imperial mausoleum, like a half-open eye coldly surveying all living beings.

Everyone thought there would be a period of silence after the first wave of probing.

No one expected that just three hours later, two figures would arrive from the direction of the capital.

The head of the Nangong family is Nangong Lie, and the head of the Ximen family is Ximen Kuang.

Both were at the peak of the ninth level of the Grandmaster realm, their purple-gold python robes and black armor fluttering in the wind. They had no attendants behind them, only two elders from their respective clans—eight from each clan, a total of sixteen people, all of whom were at least at the ninth level of the Heavenly Realm.

Nangong Lie stopped a hundred paces from the bronze gate, looking up at the incomplete seal script on it. His face, over fifty years old, was taut as iron, with an old scar running from his brow bone to the bridge of his nose, making him look like a ferocious beast ready to pounce at any moment.

"Brother Ximen, you go left, I'll go right."

Ximen Kuang was a middle-aged man with graying temples but a robust build. His hands were three inches wider than normal, and the veins on the back of his hands were as bulging as tree roots. He grinned, but there was no elegance in his smile, only fierceness.

"Three blows. If I can't open this door with three blows, then it's your turn."

Before he finished speaking, Ximen Kuang had already closed in on the bronze gate, standing about ten feet away. He gathered power in his right palm for three breaths, a vortex of dark golden energy condensing in its center. With a roar, he slammed his iron palm into the center of the bronze gate—

"boom!"

The entire burial mound of the imperial mausoleum trembled from the outside in.

The remaining ancient seal script on the bronze door flashed brightly for a moment, and an even more oppressive aura seeped from the cracks, forcing Ximen Kuang back three steps. His feet dug two half-foot-deep furrows in the ground, his chest heaving with blood and qi, yet he laughed instead:

"That's tough enough. Second strike!"

The second palm strike was nearly twice as heavy as the first. The dark gold energy transformed into a solid palm print, which was imprinted on the bronze door, causing the door surface to dent by an inch. After the brightness of the seal script reached its peak, two more ancient seal script characters collapsed and fell off.

Ximen Kuang retreated a hundred paces away, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but he wiped it away carelessly, turning to Nangong Lie and saying, "Only one last level left. You go."

Nangong Lie didn't waste any words. He drew his sword—a narrow and long purple-gold curved blade, its blade as thin as a cicada's wing yet as heavy as a mountain. He concentrated all his sword intent at the tip of the blade, took ten steps back to gather his strength, and then unleashed a slash.

A purple-gold blade of light slashed through the sky, precisely cutting into the center of the last complete seal script on the bronze door.

"clang--"

The sound of metal clashing against stone reverberated for miles around. The sound was extremely sharp, like an ancient bronze bell being smashed open with an iron hammer. The last seal script on the bronze door split open from the middle, and after the entire doorway trembled for a few breaths, it collapsed inward with a deafening roar.

The door opened.

The moment the bronze gate of the imperial mausoleum collapsed, the oppressive aura that had been sealed for centuries was completely unleashed, pouring out in all directions like a flood bursting its banks.

Within a radius of a hundred miles, all cultivators felt that deep, abyss-like aura for the second time—more than three times more intense than the first. Millions of people in the capital city simultaneously felt a tightness in their chests; those with low cultivation levels immediately crouched on the ground, their faces ashen.

The sky over the entire imperial city suddenly darkened, as if even the sun had been dimmed by this overwhelming force.

A torrent of powerful energy, carrying centuries of ash and dust, surged from the depths of the imperial tomb, condensing above it into a towering column of smoke that could be seen from thousands of miles away.

Nangong Lie and Ximen Kuang rushed into the bronze gate the instant it collapsed, followed closely by the other fourteen elders. However, they stopped abruptly after only three breaths.

Inside the gate was a vast, empty tomb chamber with a dome over ten zhang high and smooth, mirror-like walls. There were no coffins or burial objects. Only a halberd stood in the very center of the chamber.

The halberd was entirely black, as if it were cast from some kind of extremely heavy black gold. The shaft was engraved with fine silver patterns, which were not decorations, but variations of some kind of ancient runes.

The halberd was two feet long, its blade gleaming coldly, with a dark gold blood groove along its back. The entire halberd was devoid of any decorative carvings, its simplicity reaching its extreme, yet the oppressive aura emanating from that simplicity caused the sixteen men who rushed in to take a step back in unison.

Nangong Lie's hand on the knife trembled slightly, not out of fear, but because his knife was intended to be a warning.

"The weapon that Lu the Demon God has used for a hundred years..."

Ximen Kuang muttered to himself, his iron fist clenching and unclenching. "He left his weapons in the tomb, but he's disappeared?"

This is a conclusion that sends chills down everyone's spine.

But at this moment, no one had the mind to wonder where Lu Moshen had gone.

Because the collapse of the bronze gate of the imperial mausoleum was so dramatic, all the forces within a radius of hundreds of miles that were waiting to act were converging on this place.

The Blood Shadow Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect returned, this time bringing not only four elders but also a pitch-black coffin—the coffin contained the remains of the previous leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, whose cultivation at the peak of the half-step Celestial Realm had been sealed by a secret technique and was now activated as a war terracotta warrior.

The sect leader of the Four Extremes Sword Sect arrived with seven sword guards, their swords flashing like rainbows.

The Chu family patriarch appeared silently on the side of the tomb chamber, followed by two gray-robed old women. Although the gray-robed monks of Wanfo Temple did not personally come, they sent three of their chief disciples, all of whom were at the half-step Celestial Realm.

Further away, the forces of the Imperial Guards, the Suspended Mirror Platform, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Garrison Command were also rapidly approaching.

"Rob--"

It's unclear who shouted first, but the balance in the tomb was instantly shattered.

Ximen Kuang's iron palm first grabbed at the black halberd, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the shaft, a bright sword light slashed from the side, forcing him to withdraw his hand. The Four Extremes Sword Sect Master's sword was as fast as thunder, its blade aimed straight at Ximen Kuang's wrist.

Nangong Lie drew his purple-gold scimitar at the same time, and the sword intent surged upwards like a waterfall, scattering the sword light.

The black coffin of the Heavenly Demon Sect cracked open with a "crack," and a withered hand emerged from the emaciated remains. Between the clenched and flexed fingers, a chilling power forced Ximen Kuang and Nangong Lie back three steps simultaneously.

The black halberd in the center of the tomb chamber remained untouched, yet it began to vibrate on its own amidst the chaos of battle. The dark gold grooves on the halberd's blade emitted a faint glow, responding as if alive to the intense fluctuations of the surrounding qi.

At the same time, a furious roar came from outside the tomb.

The howl rose from the depths of the imperial city, carrying an overwhelming pressure that swept towards the imperial mausoleum. Everyone felt a chill run down their spine at the same time as the howl – a Celestial Being. A Celestial Being in their initial stage, in a pure, undisguised, and enraged state.

Qin Muzhi has arrived.