Chapter 365 - 363: Underground Secret

Li Qiye’s vow to annihilate the Tiger Roar Sect sent monstrous waves crashing through the East Hundred Cities.

"Annihilate the Tiger Roar Sect?" Upon hearing such a domineering declaration, countless people were dumbfounded. Someone couldn’t help but say with a serious tone, "The Tiger Roar Sect is a first-rate Great Sect with a solid and unshakable ancestral foundation. To destroy them, you’d need a Great Sage to take action at the very least—and that’s assuming the Tiger Roar Sect has no Elder Ancestors left!"

"Indeed. Li Qiye is ferocious, but vowing to annihilate the Tiger Roar Sect is just too wild." Many people began to speculate. Some believed it was impossible, while others thought Li Qiye must have reinforcements.

In the eyes of many, without reinforcements, it was simply impossible for Li Qiye to annihilate the Tiger Roar Sect by himself.

This view was widely held, and not without reason. For the Tiger Roar Sect to have stood strong until now, it naturally possessed Defying Heaven methods. Otherwise, it would have been annihilated long ago. Moreover, legends claimed the sect possessed four Evil Tombs—the graves of four legendary Divine Beasts.

Legend said the Primordial Ancestor of the Tiger Roar Sect had once used Divine Blood to refine these four Evil Tombs, forging them into the sect’s ancestral foundation and giving the sect control over them. It was rumored that these four Evil Tombs had once ground a Great Sage to dust and even imprisoned a Founding God.

"Such arrogant words. A newborn calf fears no tiger." Hearing Li Qiye’s boast, someone sneered, "If he dares to set foot in the Tiger Roar Sect, it will be a one-way trip. His death is certain."

"We’ll see what happens on the day of the full moon." Many others simply adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

In fact, after Li Qiye left, the Tiger Roar Sect did send people to pursue him. Unfortunately for them, they all failed to catch him and returned empty-handed.

However, what most people didn’t know was that Li Qiye hadn’t gone far from the Tiger Roar Sect. He had merely circled halfway around the sect’s Earth Vein before entering another location.

If the Tiger Roar Sect’s main Earth Vein was like a giant White Tiger, then its mountain gate was located at the tiger’s mouth! The sect’s entire mountain range stretched from south to north, with the mouth in the south and the tail in the north.

Although the sect’s main vein was as ferocious as a White Tiger, like a fierce beast descending a mountain, the land at the tiger’s mouth—the fortress of its Ancestral Land—was brimming with Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, making it a true treasure land. Thus, the Tiger Roar Sect had established numerous cultivation grounds across this landscape, filling it with a forest of Ancient Halls and towers!

However, the end of this great vein, the location of the tiger’s tail, was a desolate wasteland. The tail end of the Tiger Roar Sect’s Earth Vein, despite being just a "tail," was in fact a vast expanse stretching for a thousand li.

It was just that this vast land was a thousand-li Red Land where not a single blade of grass grew. It was utterly devoid of human life; even birds were a rare sight. It was like a veritable Land of Death.

The Heaven and Earth Essence Qi in this region was completely depleted, leaving it devoid of any life force. Thus, despite being part of the Tiger Roar Sect’s Earth Vein, it remained uninhabited, and the sect never established any branches there.

Li Qiye led Chen Baojiao and the others deep into this Red Land, venturing into the barren landscape.

"What are we doing here?" Even Chi Xiaodie couldn’t help but ask after they entered the Red Land. They were facing a great enemy and should have been planning their strategy, yet Li Qiye had dragged them to this godforsaken place.

"To find a coffin," Li Qiye said with a grin. "People are bound to die. How could we proceed without a coffin?"

Never mind Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao; even Chi Xiaodie didn’t believe a word he said. They were all incredibly curious, but since Li Qiye offered no explanation, they could only follow him.

"Over millions of years, seas turn into mulberry fields, but some things never change," Li Qiye remarked with a sigh as he stepped into this land. Eventually, he came to a stop above a vast, dried-up lakebed.

"Open—" After walking a full circle over the vast, dried-up lakebed, a Divine Light flared within Li Qiye’s Sea of Consciousness. A single Law shot forth, instantly plunging deep into the ground.

RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE— At that moment, the earth roared, and the vast, dried-up lakebed split apart, opening like a massive gateway.

Li Shuangyan and the others plummeted downwards, giving them a terrible fright. By the time they regained their senses, the lakebed above had already shut like a gate.

It was only then that Li Shuangyan and the others realized they were standing in a subterranean world. Before them was a landscape filled with innumerable crumbling walls and collapsed Ancient Divine Halls!

At that moment, Chi Xiaodie and the others finally understood. They were standing inside a vast, subterranean city. The city, however, had been destroyed. Judging from the endless ruins, this immense metropolis had been obliterated by the terrifying flames of war.

"What is this place?" Seeing ruins stretching as far as the eye could see, Chi Xiaodie and the others were deeply shaken.

Li Qiye swept his gaze across the underground world. "Tiger Emperor City," he said. "A once ancient and powerful existence."

"Tiger Emperor City? Wh-what kind of lineage is that?" Li Shuangyan and the others were stunned, trading blank looks. They had never heard of such a heritage.

It was no surprise they hadn’t heard of it. Over millions of years, countless Great Teaching Territories had crumbled, and countless lineages had been reduced to dust in the long river of Time.

Li Qiye led Li Shuangyan and the others through the ruins, finally stopping inside a fractured, deep valley. Before them lay a large lake. While it was much, much smaller than the lakebed on the surface, this one shimmered with a brilliant, rippling light!

As they stood before the lake, Li Shuangyan and the others were utterly stunned. The lake wasn’t just shimmering with light—it was practically overflowing with swirling Immortal Qi.

This was no lake of water; it was a lake of Essence of Heaven and Earth, condensed from Heaven and Earth Essence Qi! An entire lake of it! How could they not be shocked? A whole lake of Essence of Heaven and Earth was enough to nourish the Earth Vein of a Great Teaching Territory, enough to lay an unshakable foundation for ages to come!

"What is this?!" Seeing an entire lake of Essence of Heaven and Earth, Chi Xiaodie and the others were thunderstruck. If they were to practice their Cultivation in a place like this, one year of absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi would be worth more than a hundred years of absorbing it in the outside world.

CLANK, CLANK, CLANK... However, Li Qiye didn’t answer their question. At some point, he had already started pulling a thick iron chain out from beneath the lake. With a loud rattling, he began to haul on it.

"That’s the legendary Flying Phoenix Treasure Iron!" Seeing the chain flash with Divine Light, Chi Xiaodie and the others were stunned, and Li Shuangyan immediately recognized the material.

She couldn’t help but gasp. Forging such a precious Treasure Iron into a mere chain... what an incredible luxury.

While Chi Xiaodie and the others were still dazed, Li Qiye had already pulled a massive Ancient Coffin from the lake. The giant coffin was also forged from Flying Phoenix Treasure Iron. Even more frightening, it was bound by layer upon layer of seals. These seals were so powerful it felt as if a True God was personally suppressing the coffin, a thought that sent a chill down their spines.

What in the world was inside this Ancient Coffin to warrant being suppressed by such powerful seals, layered one on top of another? It was as if the intent was to completely refine the object within.

"Open for me—" Just then, Li Qiye formed a Treasure Seal with his hands and uttered a True Word. A Law surfaced from the depths of his Sea of Consciousness. In an instant, the Law shot out like a treasured key and plunged into the Ancient Coffin.

CLICK! A sound like a lock turning echoed out. At that moment, the seals binding the Ancient Coffin seemed to come to life. One by one, they rotated like Divine Locks, unlocking layer by layer.

GRIND—GRIND—GRIND— The heavy sound of the lid sliding open filled the air. As Chen Baojiao and the others watched, the Ancient Coffin opened. When they saw what was inside, they all froze in astonishment.

Inside the Ancient Coffin lay a stone. To be more precise, the irregularly shaped stone resembled a flattened Stone Pillar. Its entire surface was a mesh of intersecting patterns that looked as if they were weaving together to form a Dao Chapter Order. The stone appeared perfectly natural, without a single flaw.

"Millions of years of Refinement have finally purged its demonic nature, allowing it to return to its true essence." Li Qiye gently stroked the stone, remarking with a sigh, "If the Tiger Roar Sect weren’t so ignorant and reckless, I wouldn’t be severing their roots today!"

"What is it?" Seeing the stone, Chi Xiaodie and the others were completely baffled. An invincible seal, one that felt like it had been placed by a True God, was used just to suppress a single rock. It was utterly unbelievable.

"The Earth Vein Root," Li Qiye said with a smile. "The current grandeur of the Tiger Roar Sect’s White Tiger Earth Vein is purely a Creation of this very root."

"The Earth Vein Root?" Li Shuangyan and the others found it hard to believe. But upon closer inspection, the stone was clearly extraordinary. It was perfectly formed, as if born from heaven and earth itself, without the slightest flaw. It wasn’t a gemstone, but in the eyes of an expert, it was more precious than any gem.

"This place was once a land of great Creation," Li Qiye said with a sigh. "During the Ancient Nether Era, this land gave birth to five beings—one master and four servants. These five were blessed by Creation and went on to achieve an invincible hegemony, establishing the Tiger Emperor City. They were a colossus that dominated the East Hundred Cities for an age. Unfortunately, they threw away their future, willingly Entering the Demon Path to aid a tyrant, and pledged their allegiance to the Ancient Netherworld."

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