Chapter 505 - 3: A Century Later, I Became the Tomb Instance Boss

Sword Casting Manor.

The mud and shells overhead were cleared away by Ning Zheng.

Above was a stretch of blue seawater, with fish darting in and out, a mesmerizing scene like a magnificent underwater painting.

Atop the manor, Embers Jiucai Rong looked up, "The background map changed?"

Before he could feel surprised, a group of little blacksmiths appeared at the gate, laughing and shouting.

"I’m back again, the sky background changed again."

"A day apart feels like a hundred years!"

"In the ocean!!!"

"Cool, the map’s changed, wonder what neighbors we’ll have."

"Hoping for a troublesome neighbor like the Crow King, to give us a boss fight."

"Hehehe, ocean, ocean, ocean, heeheehee, seawater, giant shells, crabs... can we finally beachcomber like those viral streamers."

"Getting more interesting! The Mountain and Sea Secret Realm, activate!"

"Wait, didn’t log in for one day, how come the manor feels unrecognizable."

"How did they change the floors we painstakingly built, the street lamps, the gate? Though it does look better."

Soon, after logging in and mingling with these Embers blacksmiths, they were all shocked.

"What, a hundred years have passed?"

"Holy crap!"

"The game’s timeline is that crazy?"

"What’s it like outside?"

"Cool!"

A bunch of them bragged, gesturing wildly, happily putting on quite the show.

Some even started acting out a play.

Enacting yesterday’s battle, one playing Xin Xichen, another as the Ape God.

"Xin Xichen," dressed in white scholar’s robes, hands behind his back, kept twisting his mouth, showing a pained expression:

"Jiu Shui Saint? Hold steady, wait till my return."

"Human God? Hold steady, wait till my return."

...

The people beside were completely silent.

These guys start crazy, looking more elegant by the second.

Still haven’t gotten over your acting fever?

"You guys are really sneaky, why do you look down on my adoptive father, he’s the second greatest in human history, what does ’the second one’ mean!! Quick explain."

"But adoptive father’s just not doing well anymore."

"Haven’t even connected with outside yet, don’t know how adoptive father is, a hundred years later."

"Doesn’t look great, not sure who’ll ascend, become our new parent in a century!"

Saying Xin Xichen is strong, he indeed is, with real achievements, single-handedly defeated his house’s saint.

But saying he’s not strong, seems like all current achievements are lacking.

Constantly targeted.

In past era, lost to Jiu Shui Saint.

Recently, was tricked by an unknown mastermind, released everything in the Imperial Mausoleum, lost again... but they exploited your ghostly weakness, that’s not a fault in combat.

Now that Ape God descended, they secretly manipulated humans, this isn’t a fault in combat either.

Reasons for three losses, all explainable.

Not a combat power issue.

But your record is indeed garbage.

Little blacksmiths’ evaluation: Terrible at everything, number one at internal strife.

"I say, Xin Dynasty’s saint losing to outrage is normal."

"What outrage?"

"According to rumors, Human God’s real name is Outrage."

"What? Did I miss some intel?"

"Heard it’s deduced by spec master, Night Mad Cultivator."

"Holy crap! What principle, mind sharing?"

Night Mad Cultivator: "Because Human God is Green Hat King, his deeds make the whole Nine-State outraged."

"!!!"

"!!!"

"Great deduction, your reasoning gets more unreliable, repeatedly messing up designer’s deep meanings!"

...

Ning Zheng stepped forward, observing the chattering crowd in the square.

Jiucai Rong quickly said, "Dear old steward, you’re here, wuwu, our Manor Master, wuwu!"

All the blacksmiths sobbed wildly, crying uncontrollably with tears streaming down their faces.

"Stop crying, it’s been a hundred years, and you’ve cried the manor into an ocean," Ning Zheng began assigning tasks: "Today, the long-sealed manor starts to return to order, adjust back to the environment, and explore the ocean."

"For now, don’t rush to contact the Sword Fairy, Ximen City..."

"After a hundred years of seclusion, we don’t know what’s happened outside. What if they’ve been attacked and it’s already a trap for us? Be cautious with everything."

"Yes!!" Jiucai Rong immediately said.

The manor master is gone, and the next one can’t be the old steward.

After all, if another one goes, there will be no more NPCs, and the manor would collapse.

This time they need to learn from past mistakes, being careful and cautious over and over, those old sly ones in the Nine-State are too devious, plotting maliciously.

They don’t want to fall for tricks.

Ning Zheng thus patrolled the manor, checking on the hard work of the Embers blacksmiths over the past century.

...

The tides surged, and the sun shone over the azure sea, causing layers of white waves to crash against the shore.

On the coast, a few Sea Race members’ Dharma Aspects gathered, discussing how to conquer the newly discovered Secret Realm.

"Here is our target, an ancient Sea Race tomb never unearthed before. According to the intelligence they sent back, it’s a small, long-sealed tomb, not very large, about the size of a mountain."

At this time, an indigenous person from a nearby Sea Race city said:

"My lord, this place might be dangerous. Many migrating Sea Race members have disappeared here in the past ten years, including many Great Cultivators of the Three Elements Realm. Occasionally, people passing by hear singing, very eerie."

In other words.

Could this be a Two-Phase Realm-level, or even higher, tomb?

Sea Race culture is very ancient, and the number of tombs, big and small, is no less than humans’.

Nowadays, most of the lower-level Sea Race members are Human-Race half-demon hybrids.

They possess high intelligence, are semi-humanoid, and even reproduce more than humans, producing hundreds of fish eggs in one go.

However, though they are more numerous than humans, they lack potential and growth, usually spending their entire lives in the Five-Body Realm, with a few leaders having a chance to break into the Four Viscera Realm, and that’s it.

To the High Tier Sea Race, they look down on such Sea Race members.

"My lord," said a Two-Phase Realm cultivator living nearby, "why don’t we go to the Nursery area to explore? I heard they’ve recently discovered another ancient forbidden zone’s tomb worth exploring."

"No, it’s just a Dharma Aspect, we can give it a try," the leading Sea Race member said, "Let’s hear the intelligence."

"According to speculation, it’s a fishing Secret Realm, seemingly with a Ghost maintaining its pre-death logic, fishing every day."

"The entrance we found was being fished up by a Female Ghost!"

"That Female Ghost is a Merfolk-Dragon Hybrid, possibly the consort or princess chamber of an Ancient Dragon King!!"

The Two-Phase Realm cultivator’s eyes flashed with Essence: "It’s indeed a Little Dragon Palace!"

The Dragon Race loves collecting Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

"Let’s go and sneak in."

...

Ning Zheng was on the mountain directing the blacksmiths when suddenly the defense shield transmitted a message.

Someone was invading.

Ning Zheng was taken aback, and he went straight down the mountain.

He was quite anxious until he entered the house and saw at the wellhead two chattering girls, constantly slapping a large-mouthed Fishman Dharma Aspect!

Slap! Slap!

Beating him black and blue.

Sun Moon Su Yuniang’s combat power is invincible at the same tier, with Seven Celestial Spirit Roots forming a Seven-Color Spiritual Root, how can it be simple?

In the Three Elements Realm Great Perfection, she can fight across realms against some ordinary lower, middle, and upper Spiritual Root Two-Phase Realm cultivators.

Celestial Spirit Roots might not be her opponent, as crossing realms to battle some born-to-be-same-tier invincible prodigies is difficult, but there are too few Celestial Spirit Root cultivators; it’s not something ordinary people can encounter.

Furthermore, a Dharma Aspect is much weaker than the body, so that Dharma Aspect cultivator was beaten to tears.

Ning Zheng watched speechlessly:

The adventurous cultivators of the Two-Phase Realm are the main force exploring the major Secret Realms in the Nine-State, just like this?

Unexpectedly, his place also became a tomb scenario, and the Two-Phase Realm had to submit too.

"Hahaha! I’ve caught the bait," Embers Su Yuniang laughed triumphantly, "Come on, fish, come on, fish."

Ning Jiaojiao was overjoyed, clapping her hands and cheering: "Brother, we’re sure to have a big fish to eat tonight."

Ning Zheng looked at the Dharma Aspect cultivator, his face filled with: Endurance!

In his perspective, this Secret Realm is quite special, immediately requiring them to abide by the fishing rules, being hooked by the fierce Ghosts in the tomb and flailing like fish.

He wanted to study the rules within to steal their stuff.

"Luck is on my side, I originally wanted to contact the outside to gather intelligence... unexpectedly it delivered itself." Ning Zheng laughed too.

Watching them fish without intervening, he walked back to his room to eat, ready to let these two torment the opponent first.

Unexpectedly, after a hundred years, he was already dead, transforming into a terrifyingly fierce Ghost King, becoming the dungeon boss in the blacksmith players’ words, and upon awakening, encountered a mess of adventurers barging in to steal.