Above the stone door, dense ancient seal script characters were inscribed. Although Zhou Yan was proficient in inscriptions, he did not recognize these ancient characters or know what they said.
"Husband, I don't recognize these characters either," Diao Chan said, her brows furrowed.
Ye Xun, standing beside them, spoke, "These are ancient seal characters, recording a piece of history. This history should be the funeral of royalty in the ancient era."
"Oh?"
Zhou Yan was somewhat surprised.
"There were legends in ancient times that ancient emperors' abilities originated from evil lands, places where malevolent spirits were buried. This ancient Great Emperor must have slain a certain evil god and obtained its malevolent power, thus becoming an unparalleled expert."
"So that's how it is." Zhou Yan suddenly understood.
He found this explanation quite agreeable, as indeed, many evil gods had appeared in ancient times. Some of these evil gods were ancestors of the human race, while others were powerful beings from different races.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, Ye Xun exclaimed in surprise and looked towards the side of the stone door.
"Husband, this seems to be a stone door," Diao Chan noticed Ye Xun's movement and followed his gaze.
The stone door was tightly shut, covered in the mottled marks of time, as if it had been there for a long, long time.
"Could this be a passage?"
Zhou Yan's eyes flickered, "Let's go in and take a look."
"En."
Diao Chan followed Zhou Yan. The two pushed the stone door open, and what greeted them was a deep, dark cave.
The cave was pitch black, illuminated only by some luminous pearls.
At the end of the cave, a skeleton sat cross-legged. Beside it, a broken sword was plunged into the ground, its tip pointing towards the sky, as if trying to pierce through the void and penetrate the universe.
"The remains of this expert look very formidable..."
Zhou Yan's heart pounded faster, and he felt a surge of excitement.
This expert's strength was immense, no less than the Ghost Immortal they had encountered earlier.
"This expert might be a true Marquis-level expert, or even, very possibly, a Great Sage realm existence."
Zhou Yan mused inwardly. The expert's body was coiled, like a dragon or serpent entwined, displaying the magnificent posture he must have had in life.
Zhou Yan approached and observed the expert's remains. He immediately felt a vast and boundless pressure washing over him.
Though this expert's flesh had perished, his remaining bones still emanated a terrifying aura, like an abyss or the sea.
However, Zhou Yan was not affected by the pressure; he channeled his full strength to resist.
*Crack!*
Abruptly, the skeleton opened its eyes, emitting two terrifying beams of light that seemed capable of destroying all things.
"Retreat!"
Zhou Yan's low shout was followed by him quickly pulling Diao Chan back.
"Roar..."
At the same time, the surrounding corpse soldiers let out hoarse roars.
"Husband, this body seems to have come alive?" Diao Chan exclaimed in surprise.
"En." Zhou Yan was silent for a moment before saying, "These remains are sacrifices for those evil spirit priests."
"Sacrifices?" Diao Chan's pretty face flushed with anger, "Those evil spirit priests are insane, using living people as sacrifices!"
"No! These corpse soldiers don't seem to be ordinary soldier corpses."
Zhou Yan carefully observed the corpse soldiers. He found that although they were in the form of soldiers, they had no aura, like puppets, merely walking dead.
This situation had only one explanation: these corpse soldiers were controlled by evil spirits!
And in this case, there was more than one evil spirit priest.
"Husband, should we leave quickly!" Diao Chan's beautiful face showed panic. She knew that encountering these evil spirit priests meant their chances of leaving safely were slim.
"Don't worry, I'm here." Zhou Yan patted Diao Chan's jade arm, then stepped forward, walking towards the massive skeleton.
"Heh heh, another human has intruded into my domain. This is truly rare. Over the years, everyone who has entered this place has become my food, heh heh..."
As a sinister chuckle echoed, the skeleton's eyes suddenly opened, and streaks of dark light surged out, causing hearts to palpitate, as if a demon king had awakened, striking fear into all.
"Hmph!"
Zhou Yan snorted coldly, extended his palm, and threw a punch into the air. With a boom, he completely shattered the skeleton's eyes.
"Aooo..."
The expert's remains, suffering a heavy blow, let out a piercing scream. Blood trickled from its mouth, and its eyes were filled with resentment.
"You court death!"
The skeleton roared and violently swung its right hand. Instantly, a powerful gust of wind swept through the entire tomb.
*Rumble!*
The surrounding walls, unable to withstand the impact, instantly exploded, sending debris flying everywhere.
"Such a terrifying attack!"
Zhou Yan's pupils contracted.
"Husband, listen, it sounds like something..."
Just then, Diao Chan suddenly heard a strange sound.
Zhou Yan also felt it. The sound seemed to be coming from the soles of their feet.
"This is..."
Abruptly, Zhou Yan's gaze swept across the ground, and his eyes widened.
He saw that beneath his feet were long white bones, each at least ten feet long. By rough estimation, there were over five thousand of them.
Among these bones were also corpses. These corpses were of the elderly, women, and children.
Furthermore, their clothes were remarkably well-preserved.
"Husband, were they all captured by those evil spirit priests?" Diao Chan exclaimed.
"Indeed."
Zhou Yan nodded and said, "It seems the strength of this evil spirit priest is quite terrifying, to be able to refine such a powerful puppet army. They are likely among the elite of evil spirit priests."
"Evil spirit priests are truly cruel," Diao Chan gritted her teeth and said hatefully, "However, I will never let them get away with it."
"Wife, let's leave quickly. I suspect this expert might be the emperor among evil spirit priests, with strength comparable to a Half-Saint!"
Zhou Yan's expression was grave. "These evil spirit priests are best at manipulating people's hearts and driving them to madness. Let's leave quickly to avoid being entangled by them."
"En." Diao Chan nodded. However, just as she was about to turn and leave, her gaze fell upon a jade pendant.
"Husband, there's something there," Diao Chan pointed at the jade pendant.
The jade pendant was emerald green, exquisitely carved, crystal clear, and emitted a faint cyan luster. It was clearly a priceless treasure.
This was a treasure!
Zhou Yan stared at the jade pendant, his eyes flashing. With a thought, several strands of purple-gold light enveloped the jade pendant. Then, the pendant turned into a streak of light and flew into his hand.
"This jade pendant should be the personal item of that expert. Regardless, it's still some kind of gain."