Chapter 53: The Secrets of the Ruins of the Nine Tombs
The darkness swallowed Han Feng as he descended the ancient staircase.
His footsteps echoed through the narrow passage.
One step.
Then another.
The sound seemed to travel far deeper than it should have.
Han Feng stopped.
He listened.
Nothing.
Only the faint dripping of water somewhere in the darkness.
He raised one hand.
A thin thread of Qi flowed from his fingertips.
It illuminated the corridor with a dim, pale glow.
The walls were covered with ancient carvings.
Some depicted warriors.
Others showed strange formations.
But several symbols caught Han Feng's attention.
They were unfamiliar.
And yet—
The moment his gaze rested upon them, the Celestial Diagram inside his consciousness pulsed faintly.
Han Feng immediately extinguished the light.
His expression became serious.
Again.
The same reaction he had experienced when he first crossed into the Western Region.
Something here resonated with the ancient system.
But unlike the previous pulse, this one was weaker.
Distant.
Almost as if the ruins were responding to his presence without fully awakening.
Han Feng activated the Art of the Celestial Veil.
His aura disappeared beneath layers of concealment.
Then he continued.
The deeper he went, the colder the air became.
The smell of wet earth mixed with something older.
Death.
Not the smell of a fresh corpse.
Something much older.
Something that had been buried for centuries.
Han Feng's footsteps slowed.
He could feel pressure pressing against his spiritual sea.
It was subtle.
Constant.
Almost like being watched.
He turned his head.
The corridor behind him was empty.
Yet the feeling remained.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
Interesting.
He did not retreat.
Instead, he continued forward.
The Underground Hall
After several minutes, the narrow corridor suddenly opened.
Han Feng stepped into a massive underground hall.
His gaze swept across the chamber.
Dozens of stone pillars rose toward the ceiling.
Ancient bones were scattered across the floor.
Some had completely turned to dust.
Others remained strangely intact.
At the center of the hall stood a large stone altar.
It was surrounded by nine statues.
Each statue depicted an ancient cultivator.
Their faces were expressionless.
Their weapons were different.
One held a sword.
Another carried a spear.
A third had a massive axe.
The remaining statues held weapons Han Feng could not immediately identify.
At the center of the altar was a circular depression.
Han Feng slowly approached.
Then stopped.
The bones around the altar were not random.
They had been arranged.
In a formation.
His eyes narrowed.
"Someone placed them here deliberately."
The moment he spoke—
Crack.
One of the statues moved.
Han Feng immediately retreated.
The statue's head turned.
Its stone eyes ignited with crimson light.
Then—
BOOM!
The statue attacked.
A stone blade descended toward Han Feng.
He moved sideways.
The blade struck the ground.
The floor shattered.
Han Feng's expression became serious.
Strong.
Another statue moved.
Then another.
Within seconds, all nine guardians had awakened.
Their crimson eyes locked onto him.
Han Feng's heart sank slightly.
Nine.
The pressure released by the statues was far greater than that of a single Rank 3 cultivator.
He could defeat one.
Perhaps two.
But nine simultaneously?
That would be dangerous.
Very dangerous.
The statues charged.
Han Feng immediately retreated.
He did not attack.
He observed.
The first guardian swung its sword.
The second attacked from the left.
The third blocked his escape route.
They were not fighting independently.
They were moving as a formation.
So that's the real trial.
Han Feng's eyes sharpened.
These statues were not simply powerful.
They were synchronized.
He dodged the first attack.
The second nearly struck his shoulder.
The third forced him backward.
Han Feng twisted in midair and landed on one of the stone pillars.
A spear passed beneath his feet.
He looked down.
The guardians had already adjusted their positions.
They are predicting movement.
Han Feng's expression became colder.
He had encountered formations before.
But this one was different.
The statues were acting as both individuals and formation nodes.
Destroying one would not necessarily weaken the formation.
It might even cause the others to compensate.
Han Feng took a deep breath.
Then I don't need to destroy them all.
He looked at the floor.
The bone formation around the altar.
The pillars.
The positions of the statues.
Everything was connected.
His eyes slowly lit up.
The next attack came.
Han Feng moved toward the center instead of retreating.
The guardians immediately surrounded him.
A sword descended.
Han Feng ducked.
A spear thrust toward his back.
He twisted.
The spear missed by a few inches.
An axe came from above.
Han Feng raised his arm.
Dark flames exploded from his body.
BOOM!
He was forced backward.
Pain spread through his arm.
Their strength is absurd.
His eyes flickered.
But the impact had given him what he wanted.
A crack had appeared in the floor.
Beneath it was a faint formation line.
Han Feng smiled.
"So that's where you are hiding."
He changed direction.
The guardians pursued.
Han Feng deliberately moved toward the western side of the hall.
One statue followed.
Then another.
The formation shifted.
Han Feng suddenly stopped.
The nine statues moved at once.
Exactly as he expected.
The formation line beneath the floor lit up.
Han Feng slammed his palm against the ground.
His Qi surged into the formation.
The ancient formation trembled.
For one instant, the connection between the guardians weakened.
Han Feng moved.
The Celestial Dark Flame wrapped around his right fist.
He struck the knee of the nearest statue.
CRACK!
The stone shattered.
The guardian fell.
The formation became unstable.
The remaining statues reacted immediately.
Han Feng retreated.
A sword swept past his chest.
He countered with a palm strike.
Dark flames spread across another guardian's shoulder.
The stone cracked.
But it did not break.
Han Feng frowned.
Too durable.
He could not fight them through brute force.
His Qi reserves were limited.
The longer this continued, the worse his situation would become.
He needed to end the trial quickly.
Han Feng looked toward the altar.
The bone formation.
The nine guardians.
The nine tombs above them.
A thought appeared in his mind.
What if the guardians aren't protecting the treasure?
His gaze shifted.
What if they're protecting the seal?
That possibility changed everything.
He stopped attacking.
Instead, he began moving between the guardians.
He deliberately avoided damaging the central altar.
The statues pursued him.
One.
Two.
Three.
Their movements became increasingly chaotic as Han Feng forced them to cross their own formation lines.
Then—
One guardian collided with another.
CRACK!
The formation flickered.
Han Feng's eyes flashed.
Now.
He released his Qi.
The Celestial Transmutation Gu activated.
The spiritual energy flowing through the ancient formation changed slightly.
Not enough to control it.
Just enough to disrupt the balance.
The guardians froze.
For a single breath.
Han Feng appeared before the damaged guardian.
His fist descended.
BOOM!
The statue shattered.
The formation collapsed.
The remaining guardians stopped moving.
Their crimson eyes faded.
One by one, they returned to silence.
Han Feng stood among the broken stone fragments.
His breathing was heavy.
His right arm trembled slightly.
He looked at the destroyed guardians.
"Nine Rank 3-equivalent guardians..."
He exhaled.
"That's more than enough."
He did not feel victorious.
He felt warned.
The ruins had not been testing his strength.
They had been testing whether he could understand them.
And that was much more dangerous.
The Chamber Beyond the Altar
The stone altar suddenly trembled.
Han Feng immediately turned.
A section of the wall behind it slowly moved.
Stone scraped against stone.
A hidden passage appeared.
Cold air flowed from within.
Han Feng waited.
Nothing happened.
He cautiously approached.
His spiritual perception entered the passage.
No obvious traps.
But something else was there.
A faint spiritual fluctuation.
Ancient.
Weak.
Yet strangely stable.
Han Feng entered.
The passage led downward.
After several dozen steps, it opened into a small chamber.
Unlike the main hall, this room was surprisingly well preserved.
Several shelves stood against the walls.
Ancient scrolls rested upon them.
Some had already decayed.
Others remained sealed inside protective containers.
Several jade bottles were arranged on another shelf.
Most were empty.
A few still contained traces of dried medicinal substances.
Han Feng's eyes moved across the room.
Then stopped.
At the center was a stone pedestal.
Above it floated a strange Gu.
It was surrounded by a thin golden mist.
The Gu itself was difficult to describe.
Its body appeared incomplete.
Part of its shell was transparent.
Golden lines moved across its surface before disappearing into its core.
Han Feng approached slowly.
The Celestial Diagram pulsed.
The ancient Gu responded.
Once.
Han Feng stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
This reaction was different from the Resonance-Anchor Gu.
The Anchor had reacted with stability and balance.
This Gu felt fragmented.
Incomplete.
Like something that had once belonged to a larger system.
Han Feng did not touch it.
Instead, he observed.
The Gu's spiritual fluctuations rose and fell in an irregular rhythm.
It hasn't finished forming.
He immediately understood.
This was not a mature Gu.
It was closer to a dormant or damaged state.
Perhaps its original body had been destroyed.
Perhaps its refinement had been interrupted.
Or perhaps—
Han Feng looked at the nine tombs above.
It was deliberately left here.
He examined the pedestal.
Ancient inscriptions covered its surface.
Most were too damaged to read.
But three words remained clear.
Balance.
Resonance.
Completion.
Han Feng's expression changed.
Those words were too familiar.
He had seen the same concepts repeatedly since discovering the Celestial Diagram.
Yet he still did not understand their true relationship.
He did not touch the Gu.
Not yet.
An incomplete ancient Gu was more likely to be a trap than a treasure.
Instead, he carefully examined the scrolls.
One contained diagrams of spiritual circulation.
Another described the arrangement of the Nine Tombs.
A third was almost completely destroyed.
Han Feng carefully placed several intact scrolls into his storage pouch.
He also took two sealed jade bottles.
Nothing more.
He did not become greedy.
The chamber itself felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too preserved.
Then he noticed something.
A thin line of black stone extended from beneath the pedestal.
It disappeared into the wall.
Han Feng followed it with his eyes.
His expression slowly darkened.
The line looked remarkably similar to the resonance channels connected to the ancient systems he had encountered before.
These ruins are part of something larger.
The thought had barely formed when—
The Gu above the pedestal suddenly pulsed.
Golden light filled the room.
Han Feng immediately stepped backward.
The entire chamber shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
Low.
Ancient.
And unmistakably conscious.
"Who dares disturb the resting place of the Nine?"
Han Feng's body became completely still.
His spiritual perception spread outward.
Nothing.
No physical figure.
The voice came from everywhere.
The walls.
The floor.
The formation.
Perhaps even the Gu itself.
Han Feng's expression became cold.
"You're still alive?"
Silence.
Then the voice answered.
"Alive?"
A faint laugh echoed through the chamber.
"No."
The golden Gu pulsed again.
"I am what remains."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
The voice continued.
"Three hundred and eighty-seven years."
A pause.
"That is how long I have waited."
Han Feng's hand slowly moved toward his storage pouch.
The black stone he had taken from the bandits began to tremble.
The voice suddenly became sharper.
"Where did you obtain that resonance?"
Han Feng's expression changed.
So.
The mysterious presence knew about the black stone.
He did not answer.
Instead, he asked:
"What are the Nine Tombs?"
Silence filled the chamber.
Then—
"The tombs are not graves."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
"They are locks."
The golden Gu pulsed.
"Nine locks."
A faint vibration traveled through the underground structure.
"Nine remnants."
"And one thing that must never awaken."
Han Feng remained silent.
The words reminded him of the warning he had once encountered beneath the Ruins of Eternal Night.
Do not awaken what you cannot put back to sleep.
The connection was too strong to ignore.
The ancient voice continued.
"And now..."
The golden mist surrounding the incomplete Gu began to rotate.
"...someone carrying the resonance has arrived."
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
The voice suddenly became silent.
Then a final sentence echoed through the chamber.
"Tell me, outsider."
"Are you here to open the tombs..."
A pause.
"...or to become their next prisoner?"
The entire chamber went dark.
Han Feng stood motionless.
The golden Gu disappeared into the darkness.
And somewhere beneath the Nine Tombs—
Something knocked once against stone.
BOOM.
Han Feng slowly raised his head.
For the first time since entering the ruins, he felt something he rarely allowed himself to feel.
Uncertainty.
Whatever was buried beneath the Nine Tombs was not a treasure.
It was a secret.
And that secret had just noticed him.