"I don't know anything!"
Miao He tilted her head up with an innocent look. The silver hair that usually covered her eyes slipped aside, revealing the red one—but in the dimness, no one noticed that crimson pupil.
"Cut the cutesy act with me. I'll give you one more chance to pick your words," Xu Mu said, arms folded. "Are you that sure there won't be danger afterward?"
"Sigh… you did save my life."
Miao He had been torn about whether to tell Xu Mu. After all, this treasure belonged to the Jiuli Clan; deep down, she didn't want outsiders to have it. But thinking it through—without Xu Mu, she might be dead. And he was right: who knew what dangers lay ahead?
Miao He took a deep breath and continued, "The stele says 'Jiuli Tianyuan Year,' which should correspond to the Tang dynasty."
Hearing that, Xu Mu was secretly shocked. It seemed the Jiuli Clan truly had continued from the Yan-Huang era to the present.
"According to the record, there was internal strife within the Jiuli back then—both sides fought to the death. The one buried here was a Commander who fell in that conflict."
As she spoke, Miao He pointed to the top of the spacious chamber. "The entrance is up there."
Xu Mu looked up, stepped into Cloud Step, and rose to the ceiling. He reached out and felt along the top—sure enough, traces of a formation.
"Come down. Even if you know the exit is above, you can't open—"
Before she finished, Miao He stared in disbelief. Light blossomed overhead, and a black opening appeared.
"Impossible! Y-You're Jiuli?" She couldn't believe it. This formation came from her clan and was never taught outside—so how could Xu Mu unravel it?
Xu Mu dropped to the floor. "Let's move."
He slipped an arm around Dai Xingluo and Meng Wanyue at the waist; with two quick steps, he entered the formation.
[Favorability +10]×2
Chen Xuan sprang up after him. Four butterflies flitted from Miao He's body, clutching her collar and slowly lifting her to the top before she, too, passed through the opening.
As soon as they arrived, Miao He strode up to Xu Mu. "Talk. How did you know?"
"I dabble in formations."
Xu Mu had noticed something: his "Beginner Formation Master" title was like a conceptual perk. As long as a formation was beginner level, the solution would automatically surface in his mind—no matter the style or the setter. It felt like grade-school arithmetic: add/subtract/multiply/divide. A hundred-number chain could be tedious for a child, but to Xu Mu it calculated instantly, like a machine.
Miao He held his gaze. Just who on earth was this man? It felt like he knew everything.
"Brother, look!"
Dai Xingluo pointed ahead.
Xu Mu peered into the distance. A huge square stone dais rose before them, with stone pillars over ten meters tall at the four corners. Chains extended from each pillar to a black, cube-shaped coffin suspended in midair at the center.
"This is a Jiuli tradition—sky burial," Miao He explained. "Birds are one of the Jiuli totems, so the dead aren't interred in the ground."
"Why is the coffin a cube?" Chen Xuan asked.
"The Jiuli are all fierce warriors. Even in death, they don't lie down."
With that, Miao He leapt up and landed atop the coffin.
Just then, a silver-haired man clad in black battle armor descended from afar. Gripping a greatsword, he thrust at Miao He's head.
"Careful!"
Xu Mu surged forward with Cloud Step and flicked out an Illusionary Sword.
Bang!
The silver-haired man swatted the phantom blade apart with a single strike.
Taking the chance, Miao He jumped down from the coffin, shaken—thank goodness Xu Mu had followed.
Chen Xuan vaulted up with his hatchet.
"Firewood Chop—First Form: Split the Mountain!"
Rumble!
Golden arcs burst from his blade.
The silver-haired man tightened his grip on the greatsword as black aura welled over it.
Swish! He slashed at Chen Xuan.
Boom!
Their blows collided, a storm erupting right beside the coffin. The suspended coffin swayed wildly, then crashed onto the dais.
Crack!
Riding Cloud Step, Xu Mu flashed behind the silver-haired man and cleaved down, lopping off his head.
"Nice synergy, Brother Mu!" Chen Xuan grinned—then froze. The silver-haired man's attack hadn't stopped; he turned and slashed at Xu Mu again.
"He was dead to begin with—being driven by a gu inside him," Miao He said, spreading her arms. "Leave the rest to me."
A dozen butterflies flew from her, darting through the stump of the severed neck into the body. The silver-haired man convulsed, then dropped and writhed on the ground.
"What a powerful gu," Miao He muttered, eyes wide. She pressed her palms together, circulating her energy. Two blood-red butterflies shot from her body, turned into light, and dove into the corpse. Within seconds, the silver-haired man went still.
Miao He bowed toward the coffin, then stepped up and opened it.
A wave of stench swept out. When it dissipated, they peered inside: a skeleton sat in a chair, one hand propping its jaw. Beside it stood a weapons rack—sabers, swords, daggers, all present. On the other side, a stone table held a wine jar, and beneath it lay several metal plates.
Xu Mu and Chen Xuan approached first. The moment they set foot inside the coffin, the skeleton's thumb ring flashed—sending a ray of red light at Chen Xuan. The ring shattered with a snap.
"Careful!"
Xu Mu stepped in front of Chen Xuan and chopped down with his black longsword—
but the red light passed straight through the blade and pierced into Xu Mu's brow.
"Brother Mu! You okay?" Chen Xuan pulled him back, worried.
Xu Mu frowned slightly. Not only was he fine—he felt a new technique planted in his mind. A bit embarrassed, he glanced at Chen Xuan. By rights, this chance should have been the protagonist's. He'd blocked the beam… and the fortune fell to him instead.
"Manager Xu!" Meng Wanyue hurried over, face full of concern.
"I'm fine. No idea what that was just now," Xu Mu said, shaking his head. Then, "There's less loot here than I expected."
"I told you—he died during internal war. That was a time of need. Burying treasures with him would've been asking for defeat," Miao He said as she stepped in, first taking the wine jar. She checked the metal plates beneath—then gasped, eyes wide. "Three Profound-Grade techniques! There are treasures after all!"
The others nodded silently. Profound-Grade arts could be cultivated as long as one could read them—likely copies. As for Earth-Grade and above, the owner probably meant to leave them for his descendants and didn't bring them into the tomb.
Xu Mu smiled at their reactions. Profound-Grade was nice, but it didn't catch his eye.
"Whoa?" Miao He popped open the wine jar and cried out.