The tomb of the Old Man of the Fire of the Snake is located in the heart of the Chiling Peak mountain range.
The plants and trees here seem to have been artificially modified, and the surrounding spiritual energy is all converging towards the center of the area.
In the center, there was an extremely powerful array flowing.
The formation was incredibly ingenious, capable of drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for its own replenishment; even Danqing praised it highly.
After discussing it with Danqing, Qin Xin wanted to see if they could enter the tomb ahead of time, but unfortunately, the old man Si Huo had an extremely high level of understanding of formations.
Within the protective array surrounding the tomb, the Old Man of the Fire also set up some additional features.
If a martial artist with a cultivation level above the Earth Profound Realm forcibly breaks through the formation, the entire formation will collapse instantly, and everything inside the tomb will be reduced to ashes.
Although Qin Xin also wanted to enter the tomb ahead of time, he realized that if he destroyed it, his trip to the Crimson Ridge Mountain Range would have been in vain. So he could only wait for the formation to activate automatically.
After surveying the surroundings, Qin Xin sensed the convergence of many martial artists' auras through his spiritual sense.
Curious, he went to investigate and discovered a stone staircase about a hundred feet high, at the end of which was an altar the size of a small hill.
"This must be the entrance to the tomb."
After sensing the array patterns on the altar, Danqing spoke with great certainty.
Qin Xin also learned from Danqing that it was because of the existence of this altar that the tomb of the Old Man of Si Huo would open its passage every once in a while.
However, this also left Qin Xin with some doubts.
Because this old man's actions seemed to be intentional, based on the spiritual power emanating from the altar, it could only guarantee entry to martial artists at or below the Void Core Realm. If their strength was higher, they would be rejected by the altar.
"Could there be a conspiracy involved?" Qin Xin had some doubts, but he couldn't produce any substantial evidence.
Before arriving at the tomb, Qin Xin had inquired about its contents. In any case, every year some martial artists who entered the tomb were left inside and never came out again.
Of course, many martial artists also obtain a lot of good things after entering this place.
As Qin Xin pondered, his spiritual sense swept across the crowd around the altar and spotted several familiar figures.
"Xuantian Sword Sect!"
Looking at the long swords embedded in the chests of those men, Qin Xin murmured to himself.
Qin Xin had clashed with these people quite a bit in the Eastern Wilderness before, including Hu Zhe and Xia Qi, but he had never seen the person who led them.
This person's aura was extremely concealed; Qin Xin was unable to detect his true cultivation level using his spiritual sense. Furthermore, the person's right arm was completely wrapped in bandages, which seemed somewhat eerie.
"These people actually dared to come to the territory of the Tianxuan Sect, they've got some nerve!"
After learning about the conflict between the Tianxuan Sect and the Xuantian Sword Sect, Qin Xin also noted that clashes frequently occurred between the two major sects. Although they maintained a facade of harmony, they often resorted to underhanded tactics behind the scenes.
If the disciples of the Tianxuan Sect discover that these people from the Xuantian Sword Sect have entered the territory of the Tianxuan Sect, they will naturally not be spared easily.
However, when Qin Xin turned his gaze to the rear, he realized what had given these three men the courage.
At this moment, Gongsun Li was standing below the altar. It seemed that because of his excessive strength, standing on the altar would have some impact, so he chose to stand to the side.
Behind these three Xuantian Sword Sect disciples were a group of Murong clan members from Chiling City.
"Huh? Why are they here too?" Just as Qin Xin was wondering, he noticed several figures.
Qin Xin was very familiar with these people; they were Wen Lan from the Spirit Beast Sect, as well as Xia Yue and Shui Qingxi, who had joined the Spirit Beast Sect from the Eastern Wilderness Academy.
Since the Xuan Tian Sword Sect was present, and Qin Xin had considerable grudges against Hu Zhe and Xia Qi, he did not step forward to acknowledge them, not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble before entering the tomb.
Just as Qin Xin was hiding among the group of independent cultivators, he also sensed the conversation between them through his spiritual sense.
"It seems the Tianxuan Sect is indeed too cowardly. Not a single person came to open the tomb of the Old Man of Si Huo this time." Hu Zhe mocked the Tianxuan Sect when he saw that no one came.
Hearing such remarks, the surrounding families were somewhat dissatisfied, but they were powerless to refute them. As the influence of Tianxuan Sect has been declining year by year, these families, located deep within Tianxuan Sect's territory, are often harassed by families from other sects' territories, and they also harbor some resentment towards Tianxuan Sect.
Otherwise, now that the tombs of Earth Profound Realm experts within the territory of the Heavenly Profound Sect have been opened, the Profound Heaven Sword Sect and the Spirit Beast Sect, despite receiving invitations from some families, have come without the permission of the Heavenly Profound Sect and will be expelled without a doubt.
Wen Lan looked at Hu Zhe with obvious disgust, but she didn't say anything.
However, Shui Qingxi, who was outspoken by nature, did not tolerate the people of the Xuantian Sword Sect. She said disdainfully, "If the Tianxuan Sect were to send someone, I'm afraid even the people of your Xuantian Sword Sect wouldn't dare to show up here."
"You!" Seeing that Shui Qingxi was so disrespectful, pointing at her, Hu Zhe immediately prepared to take action.
The members of the Spirit Beast Sect immediately went on high alert, and the situation on the field changed somewhat.
"Hu Zhe, be a gentleman to the ladies!" The Xuan Tian Sword Sect disciple standing in front of Hu Zhe and the others, who had been silent until now, spoke up slowly after seeing the tense atmosphere.
The man waved the arm that was helping with the bandages, and all the Xuan Tian Sword Sect disciples around him stopped circulating their internal energy, seemingly terrified of him.
"Miss Wen, please forgive my junior brothers. They are just like that. Once we enter the tomb, I hope the Spirit Beast Sect and my Xuantian Sword Sect can look after each other." The man smiled, but his eyes were sharp as he kept staring at the Spirit Beast Sect disciple behind Wen Lan, scrutinizing him with an indescribable look in his eyes.
"Hmph!" Wen Lan seemed to be somewhat wary of the man's strength. After a light snort, she led the disciples of the Spirit Beast Sect to the other side, followed by the Li and Zhou clans of Chiling City.
Before the altar of this mausoleum, there are now four distinct factions: the Xuantian Sword Sect has joined forces with the Murong Clan, the strongest in Chiling City; the Li and Zhou Clans of Chiling City have joined forces with the Spirit Beast Sect; other families within the territory of the Tianxuan Sect have also joined forces; and then there is the faction of rogue cultivators, including Qin Xin. However, rogue cultivators lack cohesion and are not competitive compared to these sects and families.
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