An Eight Star dragon grave, furthermore, one that no one had explored before.
Xiao Chen felt excited. Now, he somewhat understood why this Yang Kai acted so mysterious and was so cautious in inviting so many people to form a large group of elites.
As of now, all the known dragon graves in the Dragon Grave Sea had been explored by others already. There was not a single exception. Furthermore, they had been explored multiple times. If one decided to join in and delve further, even if there were some gains, they would not be much.
Under such circ.u.mstances, one could easily imagine the value of an unexplored dragon grave.
The reason why Yang Kai sought out so many people was none other than the fact that it was an Eight Star dragon grave, something that was surpa.s.sed by only the Distant Sea Dragon Grave, a great forbidden land.
While this dragon grave’s value was very high, its risk was ridiculously high as well. Even with Yang Kai’s strength as a half-step Martial Emperor, he would not be able to deal with it and swallow all the gains alone.
As for knocking Xiao Chen out for a few days, that was probably a lie. If Xiao Chen did not agree, everyone here would probably attack and kill him in order to silence him.
This matter concerned their personal benefits. How could they leave anything to chance by showing mercy?
Xiao Chen thought for a while and finally came to an answer. He was rather interested in seeing what kind of treasure land an Eight Star dragon grave was.
“Great. Little Friend Xiao Chen is indeed highly principled. In that case, I will make this clear first. I hold rights to twenty percent of the treasures in the dragon grave. As for the rest, you all can distribute it according to your abilities. Of course, the scattered treasures go to whoever finds them first. There is no need to split them.”
Yang Kai put forward a fair way to distribute the treasures. After that, he continued, “Since we are all on the same team, we are all in the same boat. It does not matter what grudges you have with each other, as long as the team does not split apart. You are all not permitted to kill each other.
“This is especially so for killing each other for treasures. I will say the unpleasant words first. I will personally cripple whoever makes a move first. The danger of an Eight Star dragon grave is greater than any of you imagine. Do not sabotage the entire team for other matters.”
As a half-step Martial Emperor, Yang Kai’s words held a lot of threat. Of course, how the exact situation would be was not clear at the moment. All the cultivators here were unyielding people.
If they did not have the means to keep themselves safe, they would not dare to work with a half-step Martial Emperor.
Everyone expressed their stance on this, promising to do anything until this matter was over. Then, Yang Kai said, “Good. If you do not have anything that you need to prepare, we will depart immediately.”
The ten did not have much that they needed to prepare. After some discussion, they split up and prepared to leave, reconvening at the bottom of the sea outside Treasure Dragon Island.
After all, a group of ten was too eye-catching, which would result in a leak of information.
Xiao Chen, be careful. The burial items of an Eight Star dragon grave may be very plentiful, but the dangers involved are equally great. We do not know what kind of strange things we will run into.
Right as Xiao Chen prepared to leave, Ao Jiao reminded him. Every time he went adventuring, she would always worry about him.
Xiao Chen nodded and replied, I know. I still have the unused Solar Plume Feather that Little Yellow Feather gave me. It will allow me to escape safely.
It would be better if you do not need it.
Ao Jiao thought to herself silently, After opening up Sang Mu’s inheritance, my strength should increase significantly. At that time, I will be of much more help to Xiao Chen.
I hope that before that happens, Xiao Chen will be fine.
One hour later, everyone arrived at the meeting place on the sea bottom. Without saying a word, Yang Kai led the way forward.
Following Yang Kai, the group continued to go deeper along the seabed.
Ten kilometers, twenty kilometers… They reached over one hundred kilometers below the surface—the depths of the sea.
This place was so deep that it was shrouded in darkness. Occasionally, the group saw some strange glowing fish, colorful coral, and all sorts of mines.
The world at the bottom of the sea was not dull. There were plenty of gigantic trees, winding mountain ranges, and strong ferocious underwater beasts.
Clearly, Yang Kai was extremely familiar with this area and had scouted it many times.
Yang Kai led the group without hesitation through many towering underwater mountain ranges before coming to a stop.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
He set up a huge energy barrier, encasing everyone within it, and pushed out the seawater. Then, he pointed and said, “That is the dragon grave’s entrance. However, there is a formation sealing it. We can only open it using brute force.”
The group looked towards where Yang Kai pointed. Ten kilometers away were two mottled, ancient stone doors locking up a huge cave.
“Allow me!”
The dark-skinned Huge Elephant Race man took a step forward and walked out of the energy barrier. Then, he sprinted in the water, the immense energy making the seawater billow.
Yang Kai did not stop that Huge Elephant Race man. He had tested this stone door before. After more than a million years, the might of the formation had decreased significantly. It should not be difficult to break it open.
The Huge Elephant Race man punched a stone door. The entire mountain range started trembling.
Several rocks fell from above the stone doors, but the door did not show any obvious cracks.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The Huge Elephant Race man rained punches on the stone door, making it tremble as if it would break at any moment. However, it did not, standing resiliently.
Yang Kai frowned slightly. The resilience of these stone doors exceeded his expectations. Even after so long, it could still withstand such a beating.
Yang Kai looked at that middle-aged couple and said, “Go help him.”
The middle-aged couple executed their sword art, and the swords on their backs came out of their sheaths with a chiming sound. It looked like two deep-sea dragons instantly rushed out and swam ten kilometers to crash into the stone doors.
“Bang!” The stone doors shattered. After that, the two swords returned to their sheaths.
This gorgeous move attracted a lot of attention from the group. The dark-skinned man was the most depressed. After spending so much effort on those punches, the stone doors fell to those two swords.
“Let’s go in. After we enter, make sure to not separate from each other,” Yang Kai said before leading the way. The group entered one after another.
Xiao Chen entered last. Since he kept feeling that the atmosphere here was somewhat strange, his fingers moved as he used his Dragon Seeking Art to check on the geomancy of this place.
In the end, he was surprised to find that this place was not an opposing dragon.
There was a saying, “Favorable leads to prosperity, opposing leads to death.” Opposing Dragon Veins were the best place for burying the dead.
Xiao Chen continued his calculations and was shocked when he discovered that this was not a favorable Dragon Vein, either. Instead, this was a place where both favorable and opposing crossed.
An idea flashed in his mind. Just as Xiao Chen was about to explore this thought, he discovered that Yang Kai was looking over.
So, Xiao Chen stopped his calculations and followed.
Not wanting to rouse the other party’s suspicions, Xiao Chen sped up, entering the dragon grave’s entrance at the tail of the group.
The instant the group entered the pitch-black hole, they were immediately surprised to discover that despite the stone doors being broken, the seawater did not flow in.
As the group walked farther in, the s.p.a.ce widened, and buildings started to appear.
The architecture of the buildings was unique—very boorish and simple, giving the impression of strength.
It looked very plain compared to the gorgeous style of modern buildings. However, it also allowed one to get an impression of the Distant Ancient Era.
Most of the Remnants were very rundown. Many buildings had collapsed and fallen to a side. It was very difficult for one to picture it in its complete form, which was truly unfortunate.
The others were not interested in the buildings of the Dragon Race’s era. They had already seen them before in other dragon graves.
The farther in the group went, the more the group felt that something was wrong. This dragon grave was too peaceful. The only sound in this place was their reverberating footsteps. The strange atmosphere and the quiet environment made their hair stand on end.
At the bottom of the sea, more than one hundred kilometers underwater, the place was dark and cold. As the group walked through the unexplored dragon grave, everyone felt very uneasy.
Xiao Chen looked around, thinking that this place did not look like a dragon grave. It looked more like the outskirts of a Distant Ancient Era city. How could a dragon grave be built in a city?
He felt suspicious in his heart. Moreover, his strong Spiritual Sense captured some indistinct black Qi in the air, permeating from the ground. There was very little of it, but it was very sinister.
Not only Xiao Chen felt it. The human-Demon mixed-blood Dugu Ao was extremely sensitive to this Demonic Qi as well. After he felt it, he frowned and mentioned his discovery.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with this place, but there is Demonic Qi permeating into this place from the ground.”
After hearing what Dugu Ao said, the fatso in the group piped up, “This place is indeed very strange. It is ridiculously large. However, there is none of the natural treasures that are normally found in dragon graves. Instead, this place is filled with buildings and is even oozing out Demonic Qi. Is this place a dragon grave or not?”
The others felt the same as well. Aside from the old man with the straw rain cape, they all looked to the leader of the group, the half-step Martial Emperor Yang Kai.
Yang Kai replied indifferently, “I used a special Secret Treasure to check; it should not be wrong. There is definitely a peak Dragon Race expert buried here.”
Xiao Chen had heard of Secret Treasures that could test for dragon graves. This was a Secret Treasure unique to Dragon Grave Sea. It could scan the bottom of the sea within a range of one kilometer and give it a Star Rating based on the strength of the aura of the grave’s master.
Such a Secret Treasure was extremely rare. However, it was extremely accurate. Since Yang Kai said that, then the rating should not be wrong.
So, the group did not dwell on this problem after arriving at the Remnant and walking around in the various pa.s.sageways.
Soon, they came to a winding corridor. When the group looked down the corridor, they saw sculptures of Dragon Race cultivators flanking the pa.s.sage. These statues wore ancient Battle Armor and held halberds in their hands as they stood upright.
When Dugu Ao saw these Dragon Race statues, he said while relaxing his frown, “Indeed, it’s not wrong. These are the Dragon Race’s grave guards. They only appear in a dragon grave. There is quite a lot of them; that is going to be a little problematic.”
The others were more knowledgeable about this topic and recognized the grave guards of the Dragon Race, which verified that this was indeed a dragon grave. So, they also revealed smiles on their faces.
However, the group did not act rashly. The grave guards of the Dragon Race were all equal to Small Perfection quasi-Emperors. Furthermore, there were almost two hundred grave guards in sight.
Who knew whether there were more around the corner?
If the ten got surrounded by so many grave guards, even if they could free themselves, severe injuries would be unavoidable.
“Charge through.”
The dark-skinned Huge Elephant Race man appeared fearless. Without waiting for the rest to discuss their options, he rushed forward.
When Yang Kai saw the situation, he wanted to say something. However, after some quick thought, he could not be bothered to and just charged after him.
There were no tricks to dealing with these grave guards. Although the dark-skinned man was rather rash, there was indeed no better method. Directly charging through was the most straightforward approach.