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“I set off for Mount Ye right after receiving Guan Yu’s blessing.”

“Mangnyang told me to get Divine Blood from here.”

Mount Ye is home to the ancient tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The ruins, known as the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, store the key material for creating the Ultimate Portrait Immortal: Divine Blood.

This Divine Blood was actually a foreign metal transformed through alchemy from mercury. A large quantity of it was stored inside the ruins, produced in the past through alchemical processes.

I recalled Mangnyang’s words: “Up until now, I couldn’t get Divine Blood due to lack of time and opportunity. But once I secure it, it will surely be of great help.”

“Divine Blood is crucial for the Portrait Immortal, but what good will it do right now?”

“No, Baek Woong. You must obtain the Divine Blood. It is essential for truly assaulting the Imperial Palace.”

I thought, what’s the importance of Divine Blood in this situation? But Mangnyang seemed to think differently. He wanted me to obtain the Divine Blood but also to learn the inner structure of the ruins of Mount Ye, even if I couldn’t get it immediately.

Having been to the ruins before, I easily found the secret passage and entered inside. However, I was slightly taken aback by the changing interior scenery.

“Hmm. They’ve done quite a bit of exploring, haven’t they?”

Back in my 23rd life, when Lord Zhuge Yulong explored Mount Ye to mine the Divine Blood, the tunnels were just big enough for humans to traverse, and the chambers weren’t that large.

But now, the interior I entered through the secret passage was impressive, with systematic architectural styles that rivaled the Longmen Grottoes. Hundreds of miners and warriors were busily at work in various places.

I used the Thunder God Lineage’s Wall-Crawling technique to quietly observe the scene below.

They were dressed in golden garments and had quite a bit of martial prowess.

“Are those the Golden Eagle Guard experts? I see Zhuo Wen and Heavenly Tiger.”

I briefly checked to see if they were mistreating or whipping the miners, but there were no signs of that. Instead, they seemed to get along well, and the work environment appeared decent. I could hear one of the Golden Eagle Guards chatting with a miner.

“Let’s go hang out next vacation!”

“Can I tell you the name of the girl I saw? Hehe.”

They were on friendly terms.

I found it puzzling. Wouldn’t the Divine Blood mining operation be a state secret? Could it really be that those inside could go on vacations? If they had been quietly mining Divine Blood in Mount Ye for the last five years, this cheerful atmosphere was hard to justify.

In a secret operation, the role of the Golden Eagle Guards would be to eliminate the miners to maintain confidentiality, so such a vibe wouldn’t exist.

The only possible conclusion was one.

“Absolute confidence.”

Chi You and the Eight Parts of the Divine were surely convinced that no human force could monitor or threaten them at all. That’s why they weren’t worried about security, even while handling such a massive secret like mining Divine Blood.

After all, 99.9% of humans didn’t even know what Divine Blood was or its significance, and those who did were probably all dead.

And that was true. Five years ago, the Sacred Altar Tree battle had resulted in an overwhelming victory for Chi You’s side. The central figure, Master of the White Lotus Sect, had died, and both the Wall Guard and Twelve Joules were now living in hiding. The unsuspecting True Heaven Alliance and Heretical Sect kept maintaining their martial world without having a clue, so they couldn’t interfere at all.

Logically, there shouldn’t be anyone in the world who understood about Divine Blood or the Portrait Immortal to the extent of controlling the miners at Mount Ye to prevent the complete creation of a Portrait Immortal. The ancient, tightly hidden secrets remained entirely undisclosed, which wasn’t excessive confidence.

Unless one were a Reborn Person like me, humanity had lost the power to fight against Chi You’s schemes.

That’s probably why Mangnyang sent me to Mount Ye at this moment. If the arrogance of the Eight Parts of the Divine wasn’t mitigated before I secured the Divine Blood, soon strong subordinates of either the Eight Parts or Chi You would show up here and establish proper vigilance.

“Perhaps they might be here already…”

I walked silently on the ceiling without letting my guard down, moving deeper inside. As the tunnels got deeper, they became darker, making it harder to sneak in with martial arts. It wasn’t that I couldn’t use Stealth Techniques, but it was annoying, so I turned to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman.

“Heavenly Mysterious Woman, please cast a powerful Stealth Technique.”

[Understood.]

Swish!

As the Corpse Dissolution Technique unfolded, I realized I could walk right next to the miners or Golden Eagle Guards without any of them sensing me. I playfully nudged a miner’s shoulder with my hand, but he seemed completely unaware. The Stealth Technique cast by the Heavenly Mysterious Woman was remarkably effective.

Thinking the Stealth was securely in place, I rushed deeper inside. After running about three kilometers through the tunnel, I discovered a temporary storage location for mined Divine Blood, where a brilliant light was softly glowing. The Divine Blood was stacked up to about three times a person’s height—there was quite a lot of it.

“Hmm…”

How much should I take? Ideally, I’d love to grab it all, but if an unusual energy wave were detected here, Chi You would immediately catch on to my objective. And if he figured out I was trying to hinder the completion of the Portrait Immortal, he’d surely devise a response, making things even more troublesome. Not to mention, there was a risk of innocent miners being annihilated.

While I was contemplating, an eerie sound broke through.

tingling!

Foreboding magical energy suddenly flared from somewhere nearby. Someone had used a Transmission Technique to appear close by. Receiving this information through the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s perception technique, I quickly asked her.

“Heavenly Mysterious Woman, who is coming?”

[The Eight Parts of the Divine, Mahuraga, has arrived.]

“Darn… Are they really trying to defend the Divine Blood? Do you think they’ve noticed I slipped in?”

[That’s unknown. But this could be an opportunity.]

“An opportunity?”

I was puzzled, but seeing the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s combative glint, I guessed what she was thinking. I quickly exclaimed.

“You— you’re not actually thinking of fighting, are you?”

[Of course. While they are immortal bodies with reincarnation abilities, I currently have a need. It’s possible to completely annihilate the Eight Parts of the Divine.]

“……!!”

[Mahuraga is weak in close combat and adept in sound techniques and sorcery. By applying the Corpse Dissolution Technique, I can easily subdue him.]

I was taken aback. Indeed, the current Heavenly Mysterious Woman would likely win even if Mahuraga revealed his true form, and considering the demand, it would be easy to handle him.

But instinctively, something felt off.

“This isn’t a good time to fight…”

I told the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, “No, that won’t do. It’s too early for a fight. Please cast a stronger Stealth Technique that even Mahuraga can’t figure out.”

[Understood. I will cast the strongest Stealth Technique using the Corpse Dissolution Technique.]

Whoosh!

Moments later, my body transformed to seem engulfed in a misty thicket. It wasn’t just a change in appearance; my aura felt almost non-existent. After waiting a moment, I saw Mahuraga approaching the storage place for Divine Blood.

Step, step.

Mahuraga took on a human form. When in his true form, he resembled a snake-human hybrid, but right now he had the figure of a smooth-skinned beauty from Tianzhu, with somewhat dark skin. Mahuraga seemed completely oblivious to my presence, petting the Divine Blood mass as he spoke.

“Liu Tianhu.”

“Yes!”

Beside her was the Golden Eagle Guard captain, Liu Tianhu. It was odd seeing Liu Tianhu’s face I had previous ties with, so I scowled slightly, but Mahuraga continued.

“There have been no intruders, right?”

“No, there wasn’t anyone at all. I received no reports of such activity.”

“Useless.”

“Huh?”

Bang!

Mahuraga curled his finger, and Liu Tianhu’s head exploded. I didn’t know what kind of sorcery he used, but it was incredibly lethal. In the blink of an eye, Mahuraga killed the peak expert Liu Tianhu and spoke with displeasure.

“I sensed a powerful being within the barrier I set at Mount Ye, and I rushed here, yet humans are still useless.”

Mahuraga placed a barrier around Mount Ye. Was it structured to respond only to beings above a certain level?

But thanks to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s Stealth Technique, it seemed my identity went unnoticed. Mahuraga muttered to himself.

“But to have a spellcaster capable of hiding within my barrier… Could it be that a high-level immortal from the Celestial Realm has come to this place? Yet, no matter how powerful they are, they wouldn’t be able to maintain their Stealth Technique even when I approached the barrier directly.”

Lost in thought, Mahuraga stared at the chunk of Divine Blood and then said, “How ominous. I need to move this to the Imperial Palace immediately.”

At that moment, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman urged me from within. [Attack. If not now, I won’t have another chance to finish Mahuraga. You can secure the Divine Blood at the same time.]

“……”

I hesitated. Was striking Mahuraga the right move?

If I let my guard down, I might lose the Divine Blood right under my nose, but I felt like this was a path leading into a trap. I wrestled with tremendous conflict in my heart but bit my lips, refusing to budge.

“Let’s stay true to my instincts.”

Whoosh!

Moments later, Mahuraga vanished with the Divine Blood chunk. I sighed as I confirmed he had left.

“He’s gone.”

[Baek Woong, aren’t you being overly indecisive?]

“I have no rebuttal for that. But earlier, I thought it would be a bad choice.”

[……]

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman fell silent. I sensed she was disappointed and went searching for another human nearby. As I looked around, I found a tall figure that appeared to be Tianhu, and I recognized his face.

“Gwak Tianhu.”

He was the Tianhu I met when I first joined the Golden Eagle Guard in my fifth life. His surname was Gwak, and I remembered him giving me a brief explanation before handing me over to Liu Tianhu.

I hadn’t expected to see a familiar face here, and as I stared at him in surprise, Gwak Tianhu yawned and mumbled.

“I wonder how long I have to keep working in this miserable place.”

Suddenly, I had a thought: this moment could be the opportunity. Mahuraga, unaware of an intruder, had taken the Divine Blood and left—a perfect time when their vigilance would be at its weakest. Plus, with my Stealth Technique active, it was the best environment to perform the Soul Exchange Technique.

Swish.

I placed my fingertip on the center of Gwak Tianhu’s forehead and recited the incantation for the Soul Exchange Technique. However, it seemed Gwak Tianhu didn’t even notice my fingertip was there. Once I sufficiently built up the Soul Exchange Technique, I cast it.

Whoosh!

At that moment, I could feel his essence pulling toward me. I was certain the Soul Exchange Technique had fully taken hold, and I realized that this success had raised my mastery of it by a rank. I could feel my skills honing further. I addressed Gwak Tianhu.

“Gwak Tianhu. You will halt your own reasoning and from now on thoroughly obey my words, revealing all you know.”

As I spoke, Gwak Tianhu’s eyes dimmed, and his body seemed to lose strength. He sat there, utterly dazed under the influence of the Soul Exchange Technique, and I began to question him.

“How many Golden Eagle Guards are there in the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, and what’s their composition?”

“… There are a total of 42… with 3 captains present… Newly trained Golden Eagle Guards are stationed on the outer periphery…”

“What about the Lord and the Vice Leader?”

“The Lord doesn’t leave the Imperial Palace… and both Vice Leaders only patrol every three months…”

“What do you know about Mahuraga and the Eight Parts of the Divine?”

“……? I don’t know anything like that…”

“The beautiful Tianzhu lady occasionally roams here, doesn’t she?”

“… Ah… she’s the new concubine of Your Majesty the Emperor… she’s quite taken with this place…”

Clearly, lower-ranking individuals like Tianhu were kept in the dark about the true identities or names of the Eight Parts of the Divine.

It seemed the Eight Parts of the Divine lived in the Imperial Palace while assuming fake identities. I continued my questioning.

“There should have been a Vermilion Bird who was the head of the Sacred Eagle Guards before. Have you heard anything about him?”

“… I don’t know… I know there’s a Vermilion Bird, but nobody knows his true identity… I have heard the Lord meets with the Vermilion Bird occasionally…”

“Right. Then do you know what role the metal being mined here serves?”

“… We don’t know… we just dig as told from above…”

“Okay… What’s the most unusual thing you’ve discovered in these ruins?”

As I posed the question, I felt a wave of absurdity wash over me. These guys were just dogs for the Imperial Palace and didn’t know any confidential information at all. Half convinced I was wasting my time, I awaited Gwak Tianhu’s response when unexpectedly, I heard something intriguing.

“At the very far left… deeper inside, there’s a unique spot that a miner foreman I’m friendly with told me about a year ago… it hasn’t been marked for excavation yet, but it’s probably an ancient ruin… when I went in, there was a massive door engraved with the characters for the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng…”

“……!!”

“There’s no lock on the door, but it’s incredibly heavy. It seems it cannot be opened with normal strength; we’d need heavy machinery or a siege breaker to smash it down…”

“Lead the way.”

“Yes…”

The Tomb of Wei Yongzheng? I realized I had received unexpected information. I followed Gwak Tianhu as he led the way and asked.

“Why didn’t you report your discovery of the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng?”

“… It’s an ancient ruin, and if it happens to hold world-class martial skills or treasures, I thought I would grab them first…”

“……”

Well, Gwak Tianhu was originally a martial artist, so I could see why he would think that way. I followed him in silence, traipsing through the darkness of the tunnel like I was navigating a maze. After a while, we arrived at the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng, and I could see the scene he had described.

Creek…

I tried to open the massive door of the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng, but it was indeed heavy. It felt hundreds of times heavier than an ordinary iron door. It was hard to believe there could be a metal with such a weight difference at the same volume.

“This metal isn’t from this world.”

If it weighed hundreds of times more than steel for the same volume, it had to be either alien metal or something forged with a unique process. Either way, it was certainly created with technology beyond what the current humanity could accept.

Thud!

I infused my arm with internal power and pushed hard. As my veins bulged with exertion, the incredibly heavy door began to slowly open. With my internal power bolstering my physical capacity, my strength defied common sense. After opening the door, I spoke to Gwak Tianhu.

“Forget everything we’ve discussed until now and return to your original position. You will forget my existence and everything about these ruins.”

“Yes…”

As Gwak Tianhu left, I stepped into the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng. The intricately crafted interior structure revealed itself, and I discovered a sculpture resembling a terracotta army made of copper. I noticed that this tomb’s sculpture was significantly different from the ones outside.

It was alive, almost breathing.

I found a staircase leading to the upper levels of the tomb and climbed it. Upon reaching the upper level, I came across a massive spherical structure embedded in the wall, with a human body seemingly stuck to the front.

At that moment, I was taken aback.

“It’s alive…?!”

The human figure embedded within the sphere had only its face and limbs protruding, releasing faint groans. It appeared to be suffering in some kind of indistinguishable pain.

I gulped and briefly released my Stealth, asking the Heavenly Mysterious Woman to cast a barrier around me. Then I shouted at the figure.

“Who are you?”

Gradually opening his faint eyes, he replied in a slow voice.

“Yue… Bu… Wei….”

 

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