"This is bad. That terrifying old man — not only did he not leave, he followed us here."
"With his strength, he'll definitely be able to claim tremendous benefits from this Imperial Tomb. If he takes everything, wouldn't our trip here have been for nothing?"
At that moment, Chu Feng cursed inwardly. He didn't believe for a second that the old man in black would share any of the spoils he gained inside the Imperial Tomb. Even if he did hand over some so-called compensation, it certainly wouldn't be anything too precious.
After all, the two of them were merely passing acquaintances. The old man owed him nothing and had no obligation whatsoever to share any benefits with him.
But right now, Chu Feng couldn't say a word about it. All he could do was pretend he knew nothing and continue moving forward with the people of the Jiang Dynasty.
At first, everything went smoothly. They encountered many evil spirits along the way, but they killed them all one by one, cutting through everything in their path without opposition.
"Not right." But suddenly, the Demon Monkey King, who had been leading at the very front, halted his steps and said, "Something's off."
"What's wrong?" Hearing him say that, everyone tensed up and asked in confusion.
"This Imperial Tomb shouldn't only have guardians without any restrictions. But all we've encountered along the way are guardians — we haven't run into a single restriction or obstacle," the Demon Monkey King said.
"Senior Demon Monkey, are you saying someone was here before us and has already broken the restrictions here?" the Emperor asked.
"That's right, it's very possible," the Demon Monkey King said.
"That can't be right. If that were the case, there would at least be some signs of damage. But we haven't seen any traces of destruction along the way," the Emperor questioned.
"If that person was very powerful and mastered high-level Spirit World techniques, they could avoid detection by the guardians and break through all the restrictions without leaving any traces."
"Think about it carefully. Most of the guardians here are evil spirits. These things are inherently vicious — they'll even devour and refine their own kind, killing each other."
"Yet all the evil spirits we've encountered along the way, despite varying in strength, have each been staying obediently in their own territory, not devouring one another."
"That can only mean one thing — there were previously restrictions keeping them separated, forcing each spirit to stay in its designated area. Now those restrictions have been broken, but the spirits don't know that yet, so they're still staying put," the Demon Monkey King explained.
"This..."
At that moment, some people began to grow uneasy, because what the Demon Monkey King said made perfect sense. Given the nature of evil spirits, without special restrictions separating them, there was no way they would stay so obediently in their own areas — they would have been tearing each other apart long ago.
"Senior Demon Monkey King, you must be overthinking this. The master of this Imperial Tomb possessed unfathomable power. The methods he commanded may well be beyond our understanding."
"Perhaps he's already set up restrictions to separate the evil spirits, but those restrictions only bind the spirits and are imperceptible to us?" Just then, the Emperor said with a smile.
When the Emperor said this, everyone nodded in agreement, finding it reasonable. After all, they all suspected that the master of this Imperial Tomb was a Heaven-bestowed Divine Body from ten thousand years ago. Rumors about that figure were varied, but every one of them painted a picture of something beyond mortal comprehension — and the methods of a Martial Emperor were indeed something they could not hope to understand.
"Let's hope so." The Demon Monkey King couldn't be bothered to argue with everyone, so he curled his lips and said nothing more, simply continuing to lead the way forward.