Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

The air in the passage was cool and dry, carrying a stale medicinal fragrance and the slightly astringent scent unique to stone.

Ye Chen walked ahead, his right palm against the wall, his fingertips gently tracing the patterns on the stone wall.

These patterns are not decorations, but unique directional patterns of Medicine King Valley, used to guide the younger generation in the valley to find their way and locate mechanisms in the dark passages.

He grew up in Medicine King Valley and was very familiar with these patterns. He could tell the meaning of each engraving with his eyes closed.

"There should be an air chamber after that bend," Ye Chen said in a low voice, unconsciously slowing his pace and scanning the corner ahead warily.

"The air chamber was built by the people of Medicine King Valley. It's usually used to confuse outsiders. Stay close to me and only walk where I've walked. Don't touch the walls on either side," Ye Chen reminded Ayiguli. He had forgotten that she was also a disciple of Medicine King Valley.

Aygul didn't say anything, but followed closely behind him, her footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.

In this completely unfamiliar underground passage, even with her skills, she dared not be careless in the slightest.

Her left hand rested lightly on the hilt of the knife, ready to deal with any unexpected situation, while her eyes constantly scanned her surroundings, memorizing every detail.

After turning that bend, a small stone chamber indeed appeared before us.

The stone chamber is circular, with a diameter of no more than three zhang (approximately 10 meters). The four walls are densely covered with seven identical stone doors, each with different symbols and characters, resembling some kind of ancient riddle.

A stone pillar stood in the center of the ground, with an extinguished bronze lamp on top.

Ye Chen did not rush in, but stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, looking around by the faint light of the fluorite.

His gaze lingered on each of the seven doors, finally settling on the one facing due north.

The markings on that door were clearly different from the other six. The other doors were marked with the six characters "Life, Death, Injury, Shock, Rest, Open," representing six different forks in the road. Each character was also covered with densely packed warning inscriptions.

Only the north-facing door is engraved with a pattern of a medicinal herb, a human-shaped herb with outstretched stems and leaves and clearly defined roots.

"This is the door." Ye Chen walked to the north gate, stretched out his right hand, and gently pressed his palm on the herbal pattern on the door panel, slowly injecting a trace of internal energy.

The patterns on the door panel seemed to come alive, shimmering with a faint light. The herbal pattern split in the middle, revealing a palm-sized circular groove. The shape and size of the groove were exactly the same as the jade pendant in his pocket.

Ye Chen took out the jade pendant and embedded it into the groove.

The moment the jade pendant was inserted into the slot, the entire stone door emitted a deep hum, and a pale golden light spilled out from the cracks in the door, illuminating the stone chamber as bright as day.

The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a passage wider than the way they had come from. Neatly arranged copper lamps hung on the walls on both sides of the passage, each filled with some kind of oil, and they lit up automatically the moment the stone gate opened.

"Only the jade pendant can open this door." Ye Chen took the jade pendant out of the groove, held it in his hand, and felt the warmth emanating from the jade.

Ye Chen turned to Ayiguli and said, "Once this door opens, it means we've entered the core area of ​​the ancient tomb. We might encounter real traps next, not the kind of deceptive air chambers, but rather deadly measures used by Medicine King Valley to prevent outsiders from entering. Are you sure you still want to come in with me?"

"You're asking me this now that we're all this way?" Aygul walked to his side, her tone still cold.

Ye Chen smiled, put the jade pendant away, and stepped into the passage first.

The two walked deeper into the brightly lit passage. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters), the passage would turn in a different direction, as if they were walking along some huge geometric shape.

Ye Chen silently counted the number of turns, and when he reached the seventh turn, he suddenly raised his hand to signal to stop.

"arrive."

Suddenly, everything became clear.

At the end of the passage was an enormous circular stone hall, about half the size of a football field, with a dome that hung high, at least ten feet above the ground.

The dome was inlaid with countless fluorites, and the cool, moonlight-like glow shone down, illuminating the entire stone palace as if it were daytime.

"I know why your martial uncle said in the message at the Dragon Suppression Pagoda that it is not to be entered lightly."

In the very center of the stone hall, there is a high platform made of black boulders, on which sits a translucent jade coffin.

The jade coffin was about seven feet long, and its entire surface was smooth and lustrous. Under the light of the fluorite, it shone with a warm yet eerie glow.

A human figure could be vaguely seen inside the coffin, but there was no trace of decay. Instead, it emitted a fresh fragrance that permeated the entire stone hall, bringing clarity to the mind.

"This is the tomb owner. Before he died, he sealed all his life's knowledge and the Heavenly Medicine Creation Technique here, waiting for a destined person to come."

Aygul remained silent, her gaze drawn to the three stone platforms beside the jade coffin.

The three stone platforms are arranged in a triangular shape, and each platform is topped with a simple and antique-looking bronze lamp.

None of the three bronze lamps were lit. Underneath the lamps were three small bronze plaques with inscriptions on them.

Ye Chen walked up to the high platform and bowed deeply three times to the jade coffin, performing the most solemn ancestral worship ceremony of Medicine King Valley.

Then he walked to the three stone platforms and examined the small bronze plaques one by one.

The first sign reads: "Heaven and earth create wonders, healers have benevolent hearts."

The second inscription reads: "When practicing this skill, one should keep the well-being of others in mind."

The third piece, however, was empty; it was completely smooth and had nothing engraved on it.

As Ye Chen was pondering, Ayiguli's voice suddenly came from behind him, clear and cold with a hint of strange vigilance: "Ye Chen, look at the lamp base of that lamp."

Ye Chen followed her gaze and saw three tiny characters engraved on the base of the leftmost bronze lamp.

Although the writing was blurry, it was still discernible under the light of the fluorite: the Sutra Repository.

The lamp base of the middle one is engraved with the name Jiang.

The one on the far right is engraved with the dragon's heart.

A smile appeared on Ye Chen's face; the mystery set up by his martial uncle was about to be solved.

The inscription on the lamp base corresponds to the location where the three rubbings are stored.

The copy from the Sutra Repository is in Medicine King Valley, the Jiang family's copy was stolen back then, and Long Xin's copy is here.

Three lamps, three rubbings—none can be missing.

"My uncle left the Dragon Heart copy here, which is equivalent to returning the last rubbing to our ancestor," Ye Chen said slowly, his voice filled with a sudden realization.

"So we must collect three rubbings." Aygul walked to his side, looking down at the three small bronze plaques and the blank third one.

"Jiang's share was stolen, but neither you nor I know who stole it. Fortunately, my adoptive father had a backup plan. He said that although Jiang's share was gone, he had made a copy back then and recorded it on a roll of sheepskin that he always carried with him. That roll of sheepskin is on me."

As she spoke, she took out a thin, translucent parchment scroll from her inner pocket and slowly unfurled it in front of Ye Chen.

The parchment scroll was covered with tiny, neat characters, clearly written in the handwriting of my uncle, Su Youdao.

Ye Chen stared at the rolled-up sheepskin, utterly shocked.

It turns out that Uncle Su Youdao had long anticipated that Jiang's share would be stolen, so he left a copy in advance.

Of the three rubbings, one is now in the Medicine King Valley Sutra Repository, one in the Dragon Heart Cave, and another is in the copy held by Ayiguli.

Collecting all three is no longer a distant dream, but something within reach.

Just as Ye Chen was about to take the parchment scroll, a very faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from the passage outside the stone hall.

It wasn't the sound of the wind, nor was it an echo.

The sound of footsteps grew closer and closer in the empty ancient cave.