Chapter 23: I am a Member of the Demon Sect

"Great Immortal, please spare my life..."

Seeing the female ghost kneel on the spot, Lin Yun was also stunned.

Are ghosts this cowardly?

"I'm not a great immortal, just a mortal, are you sure you don't want to fight?"

"You really like to joke."

The female ghost cowered and said, "Great Immortal, I am just a minor ghost, always trapped in the tomb, have never gone out to harm anyone, I'm a good ghost. Seeing your righteous aura, one can tell you are a reasonable person, how about sparing my life?"

"But I am from the Demon Sect."

Female ghost: "..."

That was reckless.

Lin Yun found the female ghost was frightened and couldn't help but find it funny, saying, "Give me a reason not to kill you."

"I can show you the way, this tomb is full of traps, one careless step can lead to death."

Lin Yun shook his head, in this unknown place, he would rather explore on his own. If he trusted the female ghost and she deliberately led him to a place with traps, wouldn't he be outwitted by her?

"I can be of service to you and have some combat ability as well."

Lin Yun still shook his head, this reason was still not sufficient.

Seeing this, the female ghost knew she had no way out, and finally said mournfully, "Well... I can also warm your bed."

Lin Yun: "..."

Do female ghosts these days have such a strong will to survive?

Seeing how pitiful she looked, Lin Yun finally nodded and said, "I don't really want you to warm my bed, but I'm quite curious, can you as a ghost really make a bed warmer?"

The female ghost shyly said, "If I move around, naturally it will warm up."

I suspect you are being suggestive.

Lin Yun coughed twice and said, "First, tell me your name, your background, and what this place is."

"This place is the Dragon Tomb established by King Pingxi. I am a servant girl from King Pingxi's Royal Mansion, named Qiuping. The prince slayed a Demon Dragon, and this place is its tomb. Although the True Dragon has perished, its residual soul has not. In order to suppress the Dragon Soul, the prince set up the Four Symbols Demon-Sealing Formation.

To settle the True Dragon's grievances, I was buried here with it, and the spirits that died at the hands of the great immortal just now were also those who were buried here."

"King Pingxi? Never heard of him."

Lin Yun indeed knew about the Great Zhou Court, but the current Great Zhou Court, although nominally the ruler of the world, actually had very limited control, naturally, they didn't bestow princely titles outside their direct domain.

"How is that possible..."

Qiuping was obviously shocked, but then she came to a realization.

"I have been asleep in this tomb for many years, only recently waking up. It seems that many years have passed outside. If even dynasties change, what's to say of a royal mansion."

Lin Yun became somewhat interested, so he asked, "In what year did you die?"

"In the year 967 of the Taihao Calendar, how long has it been since then?"

Lin Yun: "..."

The Taihao Calendar, what era was that?

Lin Yun knew too little about this world's history, and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

"Cough, cough, it's been almost seven thousand years, I guess."

Lin Yun randomly made up a time, if he said he didn't know, wouldn't it seem like he was uneducated?

If that were the case, he would only have to silence the ghost.

So this wasn't deceiving a ghost, this was a lie filled with kindness.

"Seven thousand years... no wonder the royal mansion is gone."

Qiuping looked somewhat disconsolate and then asked again, "What about the King of Zhennan, the Sea-King, the Northern Spear King, do these royal houses still have descendants?"

"Of course, their whole family is gone,"

"Empress Ji's Clan should still be around, right?"

"The current Emperor is surnamed Zhao, which doesn't really count as part of Empress Ji's lineage."

Qiuping had already started to doubt the very existence of ghosts, so much so that Lin Yun felt somewhat uncomfortable watching her. He consoled her, "You don't have to be too sad; after all, you were just a maid buried along with her master. It's unnecessary for you to worry about such matters."

Qiuping: "..."

Although what Lin Yun said made sense, couldn't it just make her feel even more upset?

"Since you are a buried servant, and you say you are familiar with this place, do you know how to leave this tomb?"

After getting a grasp on the background story, Lin Yun began to inquire about how to leave.

For Lin Yun, this might be a great place to level up, but it was still too dangerous; grinding levels by hanging around at the bottom of a lake was safer and more comfortable.

"The Dragon Tomb is easy to enter but impossible to leave. It's also a confining formation designed to trap the True Dragon's remnant soul and prevent it from causing trouble outside. To leave, one must go to the burial chamber, eliminate the remnant soul, and thus the formation will break apart by itself."

"You want me to destroy something that even your Prince couldn't destroy back in the day? Are you trying to trick me into a death sentence?"

Lin Yun conjured a fireball, frightening Qiuping into hurriedly explaining, "Great Immortal, please don't misunderstand. Inside this trap formation, the Dragon Soul has been weakening continuously, and your Divine Fire can harm spirits. Surely, the Dragon Soul is no longer a match for you."

"Are you certain?"

Lin Yun eyed Qiuping, who then hesitated somewhat.

"I... can't be sure."

Lin Yun: "..."

This ghost girl, she might be a bit naive.

"Fine then, you guide me there. If I can't kill the Dragon Soul, I should have no problems killing you."

Qiuping: "..."

She suddenly lost her confidence.

But she had no choice and had to submit to Lin Yun. The fireball he had pulled out completely dissuaded her from resisting, as her keen intuition told her that even the slightest touch of that fire would burn her ghostly form to nothing.

"Then, Great Immortal, please follow me."

Qiuping led Lin Yun to a mechanism, and the stone door at the end of the passage slowly opened.

It was a grand hall, with a huge phoenix sculpture in the center. The phoenix was engulfed in flames, which made the statue seem alive.

The hall was brightly illuminated because of the flames on it.

"This is the Vermilion Bird Hall. The Vermilion Bird Flame never extinguishes because there's a Fire Elemental Immortal Spirit Stone inside its belly. The Immortal Spirit Stone contains abundant Spiritual Power, enough to keep burning for tens of thousands of years."

Qiuping acted like a tour guide, explaining to Lin Yun about the Vermilion Bird Hall. The hall was also adorned with murals that narrated the achievements of their predecessors.

She had just approached the murals, ready to narrate the stories to Lin Yun, when she suddenly heard him ask, "Destroying this statue wouldn't have much of an impact, would it?"

"Of course, the Four Symbols Demon-Sealing Formation is already in place, the statue is merely a token of respect to the Sacred Beast, and has no other function."

Qiuping was curious why Lin Yun would suddenly ask that. Then she heard the sound of shattering stone. Turning her head, she saw the Vermilion Bird Flame had been extinguished, and Lin Yun was pulling a fiery-red stone from the phoenix's belly.

"So this is an Immortal Spirit Stone? Indeed, its Spiritual Power is abundant; it's quite beautiful."

With the Immortal Spirit Stone in hand, Lin Yun felt much more relaxed. Although he still had plenty of Spiritual Liquid inside him, not being able to replenish Spiritual Energy here made him feel insecure.

It's like going out without bringing a power bank—quite unsettling.

Qiuping: "..."

"What's wrong? You said there wouldn't be an impact on the Formation, didn't you?"

"Uh, nothing, as long as you're happy."

Qiuping forced a smile.

Perhaps, that's just how people from the Demon Sect are...