Chapter 159 : The False Tomb of the Eternal Life Emperor
Chapter 159: The False Tomb of the Eternal Life Emperor
Spirit-Link Jade?
Chen Ming immediately recalled the rankings of the World’s Number One Tower. Among the heavenly treasures, there was a list called the “Spirit Jade Ranking,” and this Spirit-Link Jade was one of the entries.
This Spirit-Link Jade allowed minds to communicate; as long as two people each carried a piece of it, they could communicate on a mental level.
It also had another function: it allowed two people to share the same bed and dream.
The first time Chen Ming saw this thing, he had even mocked it in his heart.
This thing was practically a breakup device. Any couple who obtained it would, without a doubt, break up in no time—perhaps even turn against each other.
Only those blinded by romantic fantasies would find this item beautiful. In truth, for couples, the Spirit-Link Jade was a disaster.
Unexpectedly, he now came face to face with this legendary spirit jade.
One must know, even the “Blood-Soaked Spirit Jade” that Senior Shang had given him, which contained a trace of Sword Intent, could not qualify for the Spirit Jade Ranking.
This spoke volumes about the value of the Spirit-Link Jade.
As Chen Ming pondered, he suddenly felt a chill between his brows, as if his consciousness had been pulled away by some force.
In the blink of an eye, everything around him turned pitch black.
“Where is this…”
He glanced around and found the scene strangely familiar. Looking up, he saw a starry sky.
It was a square courtyard, above which stretched the night sky.
“You lost.”
Suddenly, he heard a chillingly familiar voice that startled him. He turned around and saw Su Zhi Ning, dressed in white like freshly fallen snow, standing in the courtyard without him even noticing when she had appeared.
She had a sword embedded in her chest, knelt on one knee with her head bowed, blood pooling beneath her.
“You lost.”
The voice rang out again.
Chen Ming heard it clearly and cursed inwardly.
That voice was unmistakably his own.
“So this is Su Zhi Ning’s dream,”
Chen Ming speculated.
The Spirit-Link Jade allowed two people to share a dream. He must have entered Su Zhi Ning’s dream. No, to be precise, this should be her “Heart Demon.”
He could clearly feel Su Zhi Ning’s life force gradually ebbing away as she knelt there.
However, he didn’t act rashly. Instead, he began to think—how could he dispel her Heart Demon?
The same experience could feel very different to different people.
For him, losing to someone at most meant feeling regret over some lost experience points.
But for Su Zhi Ning, it was clearly not that simple.
He hadn’t even injured her at the time, but here, it was as if a longsword had pierced her heart. Such a blow was fatal.
The problem was, he had no idea what he needed to do to help her recover.
Before he came in, Mudan hadn’t given him any hints either.
“What now?”
Looking at Su Zhi Ning bleeding endlessly as she crouched there, Chen Ming was at a loss.
……
Inside the bridal chamber, Mudan stood before the bed, looking at the two seated on it with an expression neither sad nor joyful.
Suddenly, her expression shifted slightly. With a wave of her hand, the bed curtains dropped, enclosing the bed.
Moments later, the door silently opened.
A veiled woman walked in.
Mudan gave a slight bow and respectfully asked, “Why have you come personally?”
“Just to check on you.”
The veiled woman’s gaze swept over the bed and asked, “Who are those two?”
“Two people of no importance.”
“This is… sharing the same bed and dream?” the woman seemed to realize something and said with some surprise, “You actually let them use the Spirit-Link Jade? You should know that once it’s used for shared dreaming, both pieces of the Spirit-Link Jade will be destroyed.”
A trace of profound sorrow flickered in Mudan’s eyes, mixed with a wild joy—it was an extremely complex emotion.
She murmured, “Let it be destroyed.”
The veiled woman mused, “Seems like you’ve finally let that man go. Back when you chose to become the courtesan of Tianxiang Tower, I thought you’d gone mad… I didn’t expect it to actually work.”
Mudan did not continue this topic and instead asked, “Have you come because there’s news of that matter?”
The veiled woman said, “Indeed. The False Tomb of the Eternal Life Emperor… it is about to emerge.”
……
………………
Within the dream.
“You lost.”
“You lost.”
“You lost…”
“……”
The voice echoed continuously through the air, gradually becoming a demonic chant that gnawed at the mind.
For the first time, Chen Ming loathed his own voice—how irritating it was.
He racked his brain but came up with no good ideas. Finally, he gritted his teeth and stepped toward the increasingly weakened Su Zhi Ning.
He couldn’t wait any longer!
He had to do something—anything was better than nothing.
“Miss Su.”
Chen Ming stood in front of her and called out.
She didn’t respond.
“Miss Su, it’s me.”
He called a few more times, but she still didn’t react at all.
She wasn’t… dead already, was she?
Chen Ming panicked. He stepped forward and held her face up, lifting her head. He saw that her eyes were tightly shut, her breath faint as gossamer, seemingly completely unconscious.
At that moment, he sensed the light dimming. Turning his head, he found that the courtyard walls had, at some unknown time, been swallowed by darkness.
The space was rapidly shrinking. It wouldn’t be long before it was entirely devoured by the dark.
By then, she would likely be gone.
And he probably would too.
Chen Ming grew anxious and shouted, “Miss Su, wake up, hey…”
He slapped her face, pinched her philtrum.
She still showed no reaction whatsoever.
In just that brief moment, the space had already halved in size.
“This won’t do!”
With a ruthless decision, Chen Ming suddenly reached out and grabbed the sword embedded in her chest, yanking it out forcefully.
Shhhhk—
A great spray of blood burst out, soaking him completely.
Su Zhi Ning’s body trembled violently. At last, she opened her eyes. Her face was still veiled, revealing only her eyes, which now looked dazed.
“Are you alright?”
Chen Ming’s heart leapt with joy. He threw the sword aside and asked, “Are you alright?”
He noticed that the darkness, which had been surging toward the center, suddenly halted and no longer closed in.
Su Zhi Ning’s gaze gradually focused, and at last, clarity emerged in her eyes. “You—”
Boom!
The entire space trembled and then began to collapse.
“What’s happening?”
Startled, Chen Ming instinctively embraced Su Zhi Ning tightly. In the blink of an eye, they were swallowed by darkness.
……
When light returned to his vision, Chen Ming saw a figure that was somewhat familiar yet strangely foreign.
“Is that me?”
He wasn’t quite sure. It resembled him, but something about it looked indecent. Those lustful eyes—textbook material for a film academy acting class.
The surroundings also felt familiar.
Chen Ming quickly recalled—this was the Six Doors Authority in Qingfeng City, inside Du Caiyue’s Yingyue Hall.
And he understood. This was the scene of his first meeting with Su Zhi Ning.
And the “him” standing before him was clearly how Su Zhi Ning remembered him.
Good heavens. So this was how she saw him at their first meeting.
Then, the scene changed.
Chen Ming recognized it instantly—outside the gates of the Sea-Calming King’s Mansion. He had just pushed the door open, turned around, and there again was that lustful, sleazy version of himself.
Scenes shifted rapidly.
Chen Ming found it rather novel, seeing himself from Su Zhi Ning’s perspective. His image changed every time.
Until that night, when he brought up the “Trolley Problem,” he finally stopped looking so lecherous. He looked normal.
Chen Ming thought, “So it was from that moment on that my image began to improve in her eyes.”
After that, his image kept evolving—sometimes slick, sometimes sinister, sometimes brimming with murderous intent…
Until the night Su Zhi Ning first lost to him, his image underwent a dramatic transformation. Sword Intent soared from his body. Just standing there, he exuded a grandmaster’s demeanor.
“From this point on, I became tall and imposing in her mind.”
Chen Ming secretly felt pleased.
At first, you couldn’t care less. Now, you can’t even reach me.
Eventually, the scene shifted again.
He recognized it as the moment of their second duel.
A storm of sword shadows filled the air, then all condensed into a giant sword that pierced everything. The world began to collapse.
Chen Ming watched this apocalyptic scene with some confusion. As a disciple of the Heaven's Path Alliance, how could she be so fragile?
“Forget it, not the time to dwell on that.”
He began pondering what to do next to restore this world.
Soon, everything faded, leaving only a small courtyard and Su Zhi Ning kneeling with a sword through her heart.
Everything returned to how it had started.
……
Inside the bridal chamber.
The veiled woman had already departed. Mudan stood by the bed, gazing at the two people lying on it. She noticed a faint crack had appeared on the Spirit-Link Jade between their brows.
Pain flashed through her eyes. She muttered, “Boy, you don’t have much time left.”
……
Within the dream.
Chen Ming walked toward Su Zhi Ning and, without a word, drew out the Mingfeng Sword from her chest. Blood splattered him again.
Su Zhi Ning woke up once more. When clarity returned to her eyes, her lips moved as if to speak.
Chen Ming noticed signs of the space beginning to collapse again. He quickly said, “Time is short, listen to me. So what if you lost twice? It’s nothing. I’ll be waiting for you to defeat me…”
Before he finished, the world collapsed again, plunging everything into darkness.
Damn it.
He cursed silently. After a while, vision returned.
And again, he saw that sleazy, lustful version of himself.
“Am I really just going to stand here, helplessly watching?”
Chen Ming racked his brain, tried every method, but still couldn’t act. All he could do was watch their interactions from Su Zhi Ning’s point of view, his image shifting each time.
Until her second defeat, when the world collapsed once more.
……
When the third cycle began, Chen Ming could feel himself becoming far more ethereal.
The Spirit-Link Jade likely wouldn’t last much longer.
“There must be a way!”
He racked his brain desperately.
This was Su Zhi Ning’s dreamscape.
He was probably just a wisp of thought; it was entirely impossible to influence her dream. The problem was that she only regained consciousness for less than two seconds…
Was he to just watch this dream world collapse?
He knew that if things continued this way, it was only a matter of time before the dream completely disintegrated.
“Mudan girl really went too far. What’s the point of sending me into the dream? If she had brought in a Second Grade expert, maybe they could use Sword Intent to affect this dream…”
Sword Intent?
Chen Ming suddenly recalled the “Sword Jade” that Senior Shang had given him. His heart stirred. If he could draw out the Sword Intent within the Sword Jade, perhaps…
Ever since he had obtained that Sword Jade, he had been comprehending the Sword Intent within it every night. Even after fully mastering the 《Vermilion Bird Sword Technique》, he hadn’t stopped.
His reasoning was simple—if he could grasp Sword Intent in advance, how much experience value could that save?
However, due to limitations in cultivation, he was still far from actually mastering Sword Intent. At the very least, he would need to reach Third Grade.
“Come on!”
Chen Ming began to simulate the mood of that Sword Intent in his mind.
The closer his state of mind aligned with the Sword Intent, the more he could comprehend from it.
Gradually, he seemed to sense that Sword Intent.
“Success!”
……
Inside the bridal chamber.
Mudan saw that three cracks had already formed on the Spirit-Link Jade and furrowed her brows deeply. With some disappointment, she thought, “Looks like it won’t work…”
Just then, she suddenly sensed something and fixed her gaze on Chen Ming’s chest.
She felt a terrifying Sword Intent emanating from it.
Her eyes narrowed. “Sword Intent of a Divine Repository Realm expert?”
This brat… actually had a Divine Repository Realm figure backing him.
“Hmm?”
Mudan abruptly looked toward Su Zhi Ning and clearly sensed her aura weakening.
“So that’s it… using Sword Intent to sever her Heart Demon…”
……
Inside the dream.
The scene once again returned to their second duel.
When that massive sword appeared, Chen Ming finally sensed that Sword Intent again and shouted, “Break for me!”
Instantly, that giant sword faltered, and from its tip, it began to crack, fragmenting bit by bit, until it dissolved into nothingness.
Within the dream, the atmosphere of despair and killing intent vanished, transforming into a lingering tenderness and touching affection.
This was the lingering power left behind by that Sword Intent.
Chen Ming waited for a while. Seeing that the dream hadn’t collapsed and Su Zhi Ning stood there stunned but unharmed, he was overjoyed. “Looks like it worked.”
At that moment, he felt something shatter, and his entire body, like a soap bubble, vanished.
Su Zhi Ning, still standing there, finally reacted. She raised her hand and touched her face. Looking at her fingers, she saw blood.
It was from being cut across the air by the Sword Intent Chen Ming had unleashed moments ago.
She closed her eyes. That ambient aura of unspeakable longing and reluctance to part seemed to envelop her.
From the corner of her eye, a single tear fell.
……
Chen Ming opened his eyes and saw the shattered Spirit-Link Jade.
He realized he had returned to reality. Across from him, Su Zhi Ning had calmed down. The blood traces beneath her skin had vanished, her aura extremely weak but peaceful.
It looked like she was alright.
Turning his head, he saw the bridal chamber was empty. That Mudan girl was nowhere to be found.
If not now, then when?
Chen Ming quickly got out of bed and tiptoed out of the room.