Chapter 2554 - 554: Qi Men Formation

In the ancestral tomb, Yelu Ying and Ye Qing slowly walked inside, both faces now brimming with expressions of shock.

Actually, this shock began when Yelu Ying spilled fresh blood on the door of the ancestral tomb.

For a thousand years, the ancestors of the Yelu Family tried countless times without success to open the family's ancestral tomb. In fact, Yelu Ying didn't come with much hope this time, not believing she would open the tomb that hadn't been opened for a millennium.

However, unexpectedly, after she spilled her blood on the stone gate, the gate slowly opened. This situation shocked her and Ye Qing to the extreme; they hadn't had any hope, yet the stone gate opened. What on earth does this mean?

Ye Qing couldn't help but think of the recent events he encountered. He had been in the sealed chamber where Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away, the tomb of Ancestor Chen Tuan, visited Mount Wendao, entered the Demon Hideout Cave, explored Knife Saint Sect, ventured into the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, and reached many places previously unopened for thousands of years. It seemed that many places that had been inaccessible for millennia were now being found one after another. This series of events led Ye Qing to a significant question: the timing he had heard about before.

Just like what was written on the wooden plaque left by Brahmin, the timing wasn't right back then when he forcibly released the suppressed Four Burials Ghost God, which led to great disasters. Brahmin repeatedly emphasized that only when the Killing Wolf TriStar gathered could he take the Four Burials Ghost God away from Alagu Mountain. In essence, this is a timing issue, requiring the right timing to accomplish certain things.

Thus, does the opening of the Yelu Family Ancestral Tomb also hinge on timing? Those people could not open the tomb not because their methods were wrong, but rather because the time was not ripe. The main reason Yelu Ying could open the tomb was precisely because the timing had arrived!

But why did this timing happen right now? Why do so many events cluster in this era? Sealed chamber where Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away, Ancestor Chen Tuan's tomb, Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, Knife Saint Sect, Demon Hideout Cave, Yelu Family Ancestral Tomb, and even the imminent opening of Heaven Earth Man Three Gates—all gathered in this one era to be unveiled. Could this era really be, as many have prophesied, a chaotic era?

Ye Qing actually believed in the message left on the stele of the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master strongly, and thus he had been busy with this matter, trying to prevent Heaven Earth Man Three Gates from being opened. And now, encountering so many coincidences made Ye Qing even more convinced of Guiguzi's message, and further solidified his resolve to stop people from opening Heaven Earth Man Three Gates.

As he pondered, Ye Qing and Yelu Ying had already walked into the ancestral tomb. Yelu Family's ancestral tomb, also called the Imperial Mausoleum, was the burial place of Yelu Family's ancestors. Entering this mausoleum, Ye Qing could immediately feel that this tomb differed from others. Simply put, this ancestral tomb was constructed too lavishly.

The stone corridor outside the tomb already indicated luxury, but in fact, compared to the interior of this tomb, the outside facilities were not even comparable to civilian residences. The inside of this tomb was simply magnificent.

Entering the tomb, firstly there was a two-meter wide staircase that led down, heading toward the center of the tomb. On both sides of the staircase, every meter stood a white jade lamp post. Night Pearls embedded on the lamp posts emitted a faint glow in the darkness, illuminating the surroundings.

After walking a few steps, Ye Qing felt something was amiss with the staircase underfoot. Upon closer inspection, Fang Cai realized that the staircase was no ordinary object; it was wrapped in a layer of soft gold, the cost of which was unquestionably extravagant.

Descending the stairs, the duo arrived in a spacious cave. This cave appeared to resemble an plaza in front of an ancient hall, extremely vast, roughly the size of a football field.

In front of the cave were three tall circular entrances. The entrances were built with stones, resembling ancient city walls. Atop the walls stood numerous statues clad in armor, each imposing in appearance, standing atop the walls, instilling a sense of pressure.

Passing through these entrance walls, another spacious cave followed. At the end of this cave was a grand hall adorned with intricate carvings and jade. This grand hall was lavishly decorated, from a distance, resembling the hall where emperors of old would deliberate state affairs. It seemed this should be where the main tomb is located. In their day, Yelu Family ancestors constructed this underground palace, presumably still longing for the taste of being an emperor.

Witnessing all this construction, Yelu Ying was the most astonished. Her exposure to tombs was limited, thus she hadn't encountered grand sights like these. She couldn't fathom that an ancient tomb could be constructed like this. Building a palace inside a mountain's belly was simply beyond anything she had imagined.

Walking in this cave, Ye Qing merely felt fortunate that he hadn't brought Fat Wang along this time. If he had brought that guy, based on Fat Wang's character, the loot in this cave would probably have been plundered clean.

Entering the grand hall with Yelu Ying, the moment they stepped inside, their surroundings turned dark, and the environment abruptly changed. Originally, they were in a luxurious underground imperial mausoleum, but upon entering this hall, the surroundings suddenly turned harsh. Around them were rugged rocks, and everywhere there were abysses. They didn't dare take a step, lest they fall into a bottomless chasm!

"This... this..." Yelu Ying exclaimed in shock, "How could this be?"

"Don't worry, this is the blinding method of Qimen Dunjia!" Ye Qing grabbed Yelu Ying's arm, pulling her to his side, and said seriously, "Don't look around, follow me."

Although Yelu Ying was a family head, she was still a girl, and in such a scene, had already lost her composure. Hearing Ye Qing's words, she breathed a sigh of relief, didn't dare ask much, and promptly followed Ye Qing onward.

Ye Qing, well-versed in Taoist formations, immediately recognized the formation as the scenery changed. However, as he led Yelu Ying step by step out of the formation, something strange occurred—the scenery around them did not change at all!

"What's going on?" Ye Qing murmured in surprise. Having practiced this formation many times, he was confident in the method. As long as he left the formation eye, they should return to normalcy. But now, what exactly was going on? Why hadn't the surroundings changed even though he had exited? Could he have gone wrong?

"Ye, what's wrong?" Yelu Ying worriedly asked.

"It's nothing, don't worry!" Ye Qing reassured Yelu Ying, not daring to move hastily. He carefully recalled his previous steps. He hadn't been wrong; he walked exactly according to the method of breaking the formation. Why was it like this?

After a moment of silence, Ye Qing suddenly asked, "By the way, you mentioned that your Yelu Family Ancestral Tomb was constructed under the supervision of Ancestor Chen Tuan?"

"Yes!" Yelu Ying immediately nodded, "Even the location of the tomb was chosen by Ancestor Chen Tuan. Ancestor Chen Tuan stayed here until the tomb was completed before leaving!"

"Ancestor Chen Tuan?" Ye Qing fell silent again. Since it was supervised by Ancestor Chen Tuan, if he wanted to use any formation, it had to be Taoist Formation. Ye Qing was deeply familiar with Taoist formations; he hadn't gone wrong on that formation earlier. But why hadn't the surroundings changed? What exactly went awry?

Unable to discern the problem after exhaustive consideration, Ye Qing dared not act recklessly. He knew he had walked on safe spots in this formation. Any careless step on other spots could lead to total disaster. So, standing there, he dared not move randomly.

Standing nervously beside Ye Qing, Yelu Ying was entirely ignorant about formations and had no idea what to do, so she worriedly waited.

Eventually, after about an hour and a half, neither Ye Qing nor Yelu Ying dared move a muscle. Suddenly, in their wait, the surroundings changed again—water began appearing around them. Beyond their position, water engulfed everything quickly. They could hear the rushing and roaring sound of river water. They were like standing on a rock amidst a turbulent river, where any slip could immediately drag them into the rushing waters.

"What... what is this? Where's this water coming from?" Yelu Ying exclaimed again.

Ye Qing didn't speak, but his expression changed. He had spotted that the formation around them had changed. The earlier formation had now transformed into another formation. Although they had exited that great formation, they were trapped inside this new one.

"So, that's it!" Ye Qing muttered to himself, finally understanding. The formations were linked formations. Though he exited that formation, he remained inside this one, hence the surroundings didn't change drastically. However, what this water was, Ye Qing couldn't help but bewilder.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Qing slowly inched one step to the side. However, he dared not move swiftly, cautiously placing his foot down, for underneath was turbulent river water. If he slipped, being swept away by this water could be perilous, with cliffs surrounding them!