Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

As for those sects or families that are weak and lack resources, they are simply unable to bear the costs and risks of sealing away geniuses. They can only settle for second best by organizing the cultivation resources and techniques they have accumulated into a treasure trove, setting up a simple seal, and waiting for the seal to open on its own after ten thousand years, hoping that future generations can take advantage of this opportunity to rise up and become stronger.

Just like the treasure vault that suddenly appeared in the northwest region of the Great Qian Empire, it was a relic left behind by a third-rate sect ten thousand years ago; and the underground secret chamber deep in Wild Wolf Ridge was also laid out by the then-weak Xiao clan ten thousand years ago. Neither of these chose to seal away young geniuses, but left behind only a meager opportunity, entrusting the hopes of future generations.

Ten thousand years ago, the Xuan Gang Sect and the Xi Chuan Sword Pavilion were both top sects standing at the pinnacle of martial arts, with profound foundations and numerous powerful figures, which gave them the confidence to seal away geniuses. In contrast, the Situ family and the Su family were only medium-sized forces at that time, far inferior to the top sects, and naturally had no ability to seal away geniuses within their clans.

However, Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang were both young geniuses who were rare in the clan. They were concerned about the honor and disgrace of their clan. In order to help the clan rise again in ten thousand years, the two took the initiative to visit the top sect experts at that time and ask them to seal themselves with a secret method to survive the long ten thousand years.

It should be noted that very few young geniuses were willing to accept the seal ten thousand years ago—the seal meant sleeping for ten thousand years, missing all the world's splendor, and bearing the risk of the seal breaking and their souls being scattered. Unless one had a strong conviction, no one was willing to take this step.

shhhhh--

The brownish light continued to pour down like a torrential downpour, each beam containing a chilling, malevolent power. It struck the ground, sending up shards of stone and emitting a piercing whistling sound, showing no sign of stopping.

Su Mu stood in mid-air, carefully probing with his divine sense, and he already understood in his heart that the heavy iron door was not kicked away by human force, but was forcibly blown away by the force of the seal breaking suddenly erupting inside the cave.

The ancient powerhouse who set up this seal ten thousand years ago must have foreseen that when the seal was broken ten thousand years later, countless martial artists coveting the treasure would gather here. Therefore, he deliberately set up a mechanism so that the iron gate would fly out the moment the seal broke, using the immense force to create casualties, filter out those who were weak, and also give the remaining strong ones a warning.

The moment the iron gate flew open, the seal inside the cave was completely broken; and the bronze coffin, which was the core of the entire seal, automatically opened its lid, completely releasing the person sealed inside and granting them freedom.

Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang were both people who had experienced the seal and understood it deeply. They knew that if the seal had not encountered any accidents, the person inside the bronze coffin would have awakened long ago when the seal loosened, but had remained silent in the bronze coffin, waiting for the seal to be completely broken so that he could return to the world.

What alarmed the two even more was that a sealed area of ​​this scale could not possibly contain only the bronze coffin. There must be other dangerous traps hidden within that enormous cave. If they were to rashly enter, they would surely suffer a fatal attack, which would be a great loss.

Therefore, even though the two were incredibly strong and could withstand the attacks of the brown light without any pressure, and could even easily rush into the cave not far away, they remained still, their eyes fixed on the cave entrance, observing the movements inside with solemn expressions.

Moreover, even if there were no other dangers inside the cave, the zombie that had slowly risen from the bronze coffin was no easy opponent. The two had already scanned the zombie's body with their divine senses and clearly discovered that it was wearing an ancient storage ring on its finger—obviously, all the treasures and cultivation resources left behind by this ancient sect were stored in this ring.

To seize the treasure, you must kill this zombie; there is no other way.

However, no one can currently ascertain the strength of this zombie. Ten thousand years ago, it must have been an exceptionally talented young genius, with a cultivation level that was at least at the late Grandmaster stage, and possibly even at the early or mid-stage of the True Martial Realm.

More importantly, it was by no means a recent zombie—judging from the dense malevolent aura surrounding it and the stiffness of its body, it had been a zombie for quite some time. Among zombies, some grow weaker over time, while others absorb malevolent energy and become increasingly powerful; it remains to be seen which category it belongs to.

Because the situation was unclear, even though Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang were always arrogant, they dared not make any rash moves at this moment. They could only patiently wait outside the cave for the best opportunity to strike.

Inside the cave, the zombie slowly sat upright in the bronze coffin, its eyes empty and lifeless, its expression blank. The brownish malevolent aura surrounding it grew increasingly dense, almost solidifying. It slowly raised its stiff legs and, step by step, stepped out of the bronze coffin. The instant its feet touched the ground, a layer of eerie black flames suddenly emanated from its body—the flames were cold and piercing, completely different from the true fire of Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang, yet still falling within the category of true fire.

The fact that this zombie can ignite true fire is enough to show that its strength far surpasses that of ordinary martial artists!

Seeing this scene, Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang outside the cave both frowned, their expressions growing increasingly grave, inwardly realizing the predicament was unsettling. Any lingering contempt they had felt vanished, replaced by intense vigilance—they never expected this zombie to possess true fire, its combat power likely far exceeding their expectations.

The two men were even more wary and dared not venture into the cave rashly, but they could never give up on the treasure and turn away. They had been asleep for ten thousand years and all they sought was the opportunity and the treasure. Now that the treasure was right in front of them, how could they easily let it go?

Both of them are True Martial Realm experts who possess true fire, so they might not necessarily lose to this zombie.

After a moment's thought, Situ Chengjun immediately used his divine sense to transmit a message to Su Feiyang, his tone carrying a hint of probing, yet also a hint of certainty: "Brother, the current situation is perilous. This zombie is quite powerful. If either of us tries to kill it alone, we'll likely pay a heavy price. Why don't we join forces for now and take it down together? After it's defeated, we can each fight over its treasures based on our own abilities. What do you say?"

Su Feiyang had already made up his mind, and upon hearing this, he responded without hesitation, "Okay! We'll join forces to kill the enemy and each rely on our own abilities to seize the treasure. It's fair and reasonable."

The two reached a tacit agreement and simultaneously ignored the meteorite golem beside them—in their eyes, it was nothing more than an inanimate object; even if it possessed considerable combat power, it couldn't cause any trouble and was not worth their attention. They continued to withstand the overwhelming brown light, standing steadily at the bottom of the crevice, their eyes fixed on the cave entrance, quietly waiting for the zombie to rush out of the cave.

At this moment, Su Mu, in mid-air, sensed with his divine sense that the true essence shield of the silver puppet was on the verge of breaking. If it continued to withstand the attack, it would eventually be shattered and completely destroyed by the brown light. Rather than letting it be destroyed at the bottom of the crack, it would be better to let it rush into the cave to test the dangerous arrangements hidden inside and also to get a clear picture of the enemy's situation.

With a thought, Su Mu used his divine sense to drive the silver puppet toward the cave entrance.

Just as the silver puppet rushed into the cave, countless sharp beams of light suddenly shot out from the hidden compartments in the cave walls. They were dense and overwhelming, and the power of each beam of light far exceeded that of the brown light outside. They were enough to easily pierce through the body of the silver puppet!