Chapter 434 Southern Sky Gate
Along the way, Li Mu and Guo Yuqing came across any other living soul.
The scale of the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin was beyond imagination, which seemed to be another small world.
“What kind of opportunities could the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin hold?” Li Mu could not help but ask. He had not found the answer in the memory of Black Smoke. He just knew that it housed something that even the extraterrestrial factions were coveting.
Guo Yuqing said, “It is rumored that several hundred deities have rested in peace here. Their legacy, weapons, Cultivation Methods, and so on, are lying in this underground tomb. Once upon a time, a man walked out of the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin Come alive, and then he dominated a galaxy for a millennium and became the overlord of that galaxy…”
Li Mu was astonished. “What? Hold on!” He stared at his sworn brother with a baffled look and cried, “Several hundred deities resting here? There are more than one of them?”
“It’s not what you think.” Guo Yuqing said. “Some forbidden books in the Wolf Temple mentioned that a group of excellent generals from the ancient times fought to death here. So, it’s not one G.o.d’s tomb.”
Hearing that, Li Mu became conscious of the fact that the origin of the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin might be far more incredible than he had imagined.
They came to the root of the city walls. The towering city gate could easily allow giants to pa.s.s through.
Li Mu’s eyes landed on the three large characters hanging over the gate, and he could not tear his eyes away from it for a long time.
Those three words were—
“Southern Sky Gate”.
That came as a huge shock to Li Mu.
Because those three words were just too familiar for every Chinese.
In the myth of the Journey to the West, the Southern Sky Gate was the gateway to heaven. And in other Taoist legends, that gate was the entrance to the immortal realm. Therefore, the Southern Sky Gate had a quite special significance to the Chinese people on Earth.
But the city gate in the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin was also called Southern Sky Gate?
Was that a coincidence?
Or was there some kind of correlation?
Li Mu examined the gate carefully but failed to find anything notable.
It was just that the three words were carved right over the gate. The penmans.h.i.+p was bold and powerful. The characters sank deep into the stone wall. After staring at the words for quite a while, Li Mu felt a surge of sharp qi blow into his face, as though an ax or a broadsword had hacked at him. Hitten by a pang of searing pain in his muscles, Li Mu hastily wrenched his eyes away from the three words.
“What’s wrong?” Guo Yuqing asked as he looked at Li Mu.
Li Mu shook his head and said, “Nothing.”
The two then entered the city from the Southern Sky Gate.
The city was ruined. They saw collapsed pavilions, battered streets, destroyed statues, as well as a dry river and many fossilized ancient trees. A sensation of desolation brought by the ruthless flow of time overwhelmed them.
The two soon made some new discoveries.
In a half-collapsed attic, they found a long broadsword and a large spear that were well preserved. The blades bore no trace of rust and were still s.h.i.+ning brightly, exuding chilling air. The two weapons were styled quite unconventionally . There was no lettering on them, so it was impossible to know who they belonged to. Nevertheless, as the two weapons both contained Spiritual Qi, they were absolute masterpieces among Taoist instruments.
Li Mu picked up the long broadsword. The handle was wrapped in bright red silk, which had not decayed for at least a thousand years. The blade of the broadsword sported red blots, which looked like bloodstains. When Li Mu injected a small amount of natural qi into the blade, the tactical deployment in the broadsword was instantly activated. A tens-of-meters-long broadsword shadow burst out, which looked magnificent.
“Nice broadsword!” Li Mu exclaimed.
The grade of that broadsword was already above the Samsara Knife and the Broadsword Pellet.
Moreover, it appeared to belong to no one.
“It’s too easy, isn’t it? I just came in here and b.u.mped into such a precious weapon?”
Guo Yuqing was holding the spear, which was about two meters long, as thick as a duck egg. It was covered by spiral patterns. The decorative red ta.s.sel was draping from the sharp end, making it look like a prop used in theaters on Earth. Yet, as he flicked it, the deployment patterns inside the spear switched on, and a big dragon erupted out from the end of the spear, growling. Its terrifying power was definitely enough to harm a Sage.
And that was the mere effect produced by a simple flick.
Li Mu and Guo Yuqing exchanged a look. And both of them revealed joy on their faces.
Those were 100% treasures!
If others knew they had such magnificent weapons, even the Nine Superbs would envy them. Those two weapons could be regarded as the most valuable treasures in any Holy Clan. However, in the tomb, they just lay in a dilapidated attic like the trash on the roadside and could be easily found.
Li Mu and Guo Yuqing kept looking.
The two men started searching in the surrounding ruins of the collapsed buildings.
Soon, they had new gains.
Li Mu found a black s.h.i.+eld, a hauberk covering the upper body, and a protective mirror that remained intact. During the meantime, Guo Yuqing discovered a helmet, a pair of combat boots, and a pair of arm guards, all of which were the best of Taoist instruments.
Those were treasures that could enhance their strength right off.
The two put the equipment on without hesitation.
The two strongest pract.i.tioners who had overawed the world now dressed like… deserters.
“We may appear to be a little bit too unabashed.” Guo Yuqing started self-mocking.
Li Mu snickered, grinning from ear to ear. Then, he nodded and echoed, “Yeah, we are like two rabbits who just broke into a carrot garden. Treasures are everywhere. But why do I have a feeling that those things are all garbage that others had tossed away randomly.”
Guo Yuqing, who had long put aside his prestige as the master of the Wolf Temple, said, “I also feel that we are like scavengers…”
Li Mu said, “Well, I won’t complain if there are still thousands of pieces of garbage like that ahead.”
Guo Yuqing nodded. “Exactly!”
“Hahaha…”
Unabashed, the two laughed wildly again.
If anyone else caught sight of that, it would be hard for him to believe that the master of Wolf Temple and the current top one expert in the world were laughing so savagely.
“Country b.u.mpkins.” A voice came from the side.
Well, speaking of the devil…
Li Mu and Guo Yuqing looked over their shoulder.
Five strange faces emerged and quickly approached them from the west.
Those five people were all cladding in black uniforms made of special materials. Faint golden Taoist patterns were swirling on their clothes, as though golden dragons were hidden there. Those were obviously rare magic robes. The party was by no means pract.i.tioners from the Divine Land but experts from outer s.p.a.ce.
“Never knew two little mice have sneaked in.” A man in the black uniform sneered, eyeing Li Mu and Guo Yuqing with a sinister look, which thoroughly displayed his role as a predator.
The other four people also started to close in from different directions.
“Take off those precious armored babies and throw them over.” Another chunky man in black snarled coldly.
“What are you doing?” Li Mu swiftly winked at Guo Yuqing and then put on a panicked look.
Another hawk-nosed man in black curled his lip and yelled, “This is not a place where you idiots can come. Leave everything you’ve found, and then kill yourself.”
“Who are you?” Li Mu asked in the “panicked” tone.
The lanky man in lead jeered, “We are the G.o.ds, we are the dominators… You two humble bugs would not understand even if I explain it all. If you don’t want to die too painfully, you do it with your own hands.”
“Why should I do that? The treasures here belong to anyone who is lucky to find them. Anyone can enter this tomb.” Hoping to fish the information about their ident.i.ty, Li Mu plowed on, “Who on earth are you guys? Why are you being so overbearing? Is there any rational reason for this?”
“The treasures belong to anyone who is lucky? Haha!” The chunky man in black laughed wildly. Then, he advanced on Li Mu and shouted, “Bullsh*t! The treasures belong to the strong! We are G.o.ds. How could G.o.ds reason with you little ants?”
Then, he launched a punch.
The power inside that stout man was extremely terrifying. His boxing skills were brilliant, too. As his punch shot forward, the air a few meters ahead of it visibly caved in.
That was indeed the power only those in the extraterrestrial factions had.
“Pitiful. Why do you have to do this…” Li Mu also punched out to resist that stout man’s strike and said, “What’s wrong with reasoning?”
The other four men in black all gave a cruel smile when they saw Li Mu’s reaction. “Junior Fellow Apprentice Ning’s Golden Body of Origin has reached the top level of the third tier. He is already in the top five among the disciples in the same school. How can the nameless ant fight against him?”
Kaboom!
The airflow went violent.
Blood splattered. Bones splintered.
They saw what they had expected.
However, the four men in black immediately paled as though they had seen a ghost, and the smiles on their faces froze. That was because the one who was beaten up by that punch was not the nameless ant they believed Li Mu was, but their Junior Fellow Apprentice Ning who had completed the third tier of the Golden Body of Origin.
“Junior Fellow Apprentice Ning… Da*n it! This kid is a bada.s.s! Go fight him together!” The hawk-nosed man in black looked rather livid. He patted on his waist, and a jet of sword light cuts directly towards Li Mu.
The other three men in black also drew out their weapons. Viewing Li Mu as a huge threat, they all flung themselves at Li Mu.
Guo Yuqing shook his head in silence.
Bang! Clang! Bang! Clang!
Four m.u.f.fled thuds sounded.
Li Mu knocked down the four men in black with every punch he launched. He did not employ any splendid style or Cultivation Method but just his brutal force.
It was like watching a father beat his sons.
The four men in black were all dumbfounded.
“What happened?”
“He is just a country b.u.mpkin. How come he is… so powerful?”
Their sense of superiority was shattered in a trice.
Li Mu did not say a word. After flinging all the black-robed men to the ground, he gave them a shower of his fierce punches. In the endless thuds, his fists landed on their bodies like a storm. The four extraterrestrial pract.i.tioners who had recovered from the shock were directly beaten to a pulp, their face swollen, their mouth squashed…
“Wait… Wait, stop…” The hawk-nosed man was completely disoriented.
“Who am I?”
“Where am I?”
“Why is he beating me?”
“I’ve tried reasoning with you guys. But you didn’t listen to me, and still attempted to boast your powers.” Li Mu gave them another round of punches, preventing the natural qi of four men in black from circulating normally. Thus, every time they stumbled to their feet, Li Mu’s punches knocked them down again.
When had the four prestigious extraterrestrial pract.i.tioners ever seen such a combating style?
It was not a fight between well-trained experts but a cat-fight on the street. In the end, the four pract.i.tioners’ faces were swollen to the size of pig heads. Their natural qi were all smashed. Numerous bones had been broken. And they could not even struggle to their feet.
“Don’t… Don’t hit us!” The hawk-nosed man screamed hysterically.
“Stop, stop… Stop punching!” The lanky man begged. His face was covered in blood and he raised his arms in surrender.
They all had a nervous breakdown. The country b.u.mpkin was too nasty. He picked to beat their faces and turned them into pig heads that even their mothers would not recognize. As pract.i.tioners in the universe, when had they ever been beaten like that?
“Let’s reason, reason this out.” Tears and snot ran down the face of the hawk-nosed man at the same time. He did not intend to cry, but his face was too broken to control his tears.
“Reason what?” Li Mu said disparagingly. “Who wants to reason with you?”
The four pract.i.tioners in black were speechless.
“It’s you who proposed to reason this out at the beginning!”
Li Mu snapped, “As I can beat all of you up, my fists are bigger and tougher than yours. So, why do I still need to reason with you? I’m not stupid, anyway.”