The next morning, Pei Liang opened his shop on time.
Although business was slow, he always maintained a proper attitude.
The rain had completely stopped, the sky cleared, and a red sun slowly rose from the east.
By late morning, not a single customer had entered the small shop.
Instead, his next-door neighbor, Old Man Fang, walked in.
"Pei Kid, our business is so desolate, why are we still sticking to this broken shop?"
Pei Liang glanced at him, and said indifferently, "What else can you do besides blacksmithing?"
"I..." Old Man Fang was momentarily speechless, "No, what blacksmithing? I'm Artifact Refining, Artifact Refining!"
"Heh~~" Pei Liang sneered, ignoring him.
It sounded good to say Artifact Refining, but in reality, Old Man Fang was even worse than himself, just an unranked Artifact Refiner, barely able to forge Low Grade Magical Artifacts.
This area only had their two shops, and they were both at the lowest possible level.
The wealthy looked down on them, while those without money coveted the items in their shops, but unfortunately, they couldn't afford them.
His own Talisman shop sometimes attracted one or two low-level Cultivators because of its cheap prices, but Old Man Fang was almost reduced to forging farm tools for Mortals.
It wasn't an exaggeration to call him a blacksmith!
After a moment of silence, Pei Liang suddenly asked, "Old Fang, have you ever thought about trying your luck at the An Yi Ridge burial ground?"
Old Man Fang was greatly surprised, looking at him with an exaggerated expression, "I say, Pei Kid, I told you to go out more and interact with people, but you just wouldn't listen! Is your information too isolated?"
Pei Liang was stunned. He indeed disliked socializing and preferred to stay cooped up in his shop all day. Besides a few neighbors, he only went to the restaurant to buy wine and food. He didn't know anyone else, but being scorned and lectured like this still made him very unhappy.
"Don't talk about anything else, just say what you mean!"
Old Man Fang shook his head and explained, "That burial ground has long been picked clean. It's not a burial ground for Cultivators at all, just the resting place of a wealthy old man. The burial items are all common worldly goods. Now, only Mortals go there to search for treasures!"
Pei Liang was completely bewildered. How could he not know such news?
Perhaps he really was ignorant?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, "You good-for-nothing Wu Pan, you took advantage of my lack of knowledge and used worthless things to trick me!"
But cursing aside, this was good news for him.
'Since only a group of Mortals are searching for treasures, the danger level has greatly decreased, so I can go and investigate!'
Opportunity knocks but once; he couldn't wait any longer.
"It's time for me to take a risk!"
He kicked Old Man Fang out and quietly locked the door.
"It's still early, where are you going?"
Old Man Fang was utterly bewildered.
"To drink, of course!"
"Why do you just know how to eat and drink all day long?"
Old Man Fang sighed in exasperation, "You're so young, why are you even less ambitious than an old man like me? There's no future like this!"
"You're ambitious, but haven't you been in the same situation for most of your life?" Pei Liang sneered and left gracefully.
Only Old Man Fang was left in disarray in the wind!
Talking about a future with a low-level Cultivator is less productive than discussing ideals with the girls at Yi Hong Courtyard!
"Oh, Shopkeeper Pei, even earlier today?"
As soon as Pei Liang entered, the waiter greeted him warmly.
Although this fellow didn't spend much each time, he came every day, a punctual customer!
"The usual, two portions!" Pei Liang said with a resounding voice, speaking with great generosity.
"Alright, Shopkeeper Pei, please wait a moment, it'll be right out!"
About a stick of incense later, Pei Liang leisurely walked along the bluestone path, carrying his wine and meat.
The clamor of the street entered his ears, but he didn't spare it a glance.
When he reached the intersection leading back to his small shop, he didn't turn in, but instead continued straight along the main path, heading outwards.
He didn't know how long he walked, but he kept going until he left the Cultivator gathering area and arrived at a desolate wilderness.
As dusk approached, he began to pick up speed, like a galloping horse, rushing towards a single direction.
The An Yi Ridge burial ground was ten li outside Yunluo Immortal Market.
By the time Pei Liang arrived, it was completely dark.
Through the night, he saw that the cemetery had been dug up beyond recognition.
There were pits and holes everywhere, and rotten coffin boards were scattered all over the place.
He didn't pay attention to these, walking through each pit, seemingly aimlessly, stopping and moving on!
As he passed a larger pit, the star stone within him finally flickered.
Pei Liang remained calm, cautiously observing his surroundings.
The night was silent, with no one and nothing around.
Without any further hesitation, he jumped into the pit. The pit wasn't deep, only about half a head taller than him, but it was very spacious inside.
It was about seven or eight meters long and wide, with a half-open coffin in the middle. Around it were some crossbow arrows and mechanism-like items, but they were all broken, clearly showing signs of having been searched.
Following the sensation, he fixed his gaze on the coffin.
After a moment of hesitation,
He placed the beef he was holding on the edge of the pit and opened his wine flask, sprinkling some around.
He muttered to himself, "Unintentional disturbance, please do not blame me!"
Cultivators inherently didn't fear ghosts or spirits, but he felt that this should be considered a form of respect, right?
Then, he leaped inside.
With a faint ripple of magical patterns, there was another world within.
It seemed to be a tomb within a tomb.
There was an even more exquisite coffin.
Perhaps there were more precious items here, but they had also been plundered.
The star stone's sensation was also on this coffin.
He used his old trick, jumping in, but there was no reaction.
"The formation isn't inside the coffin, but the star stone's sensation is at this very spot?"
After pondering for a while, Pei Liang jumped out again.
Then, with a sudden kick, he sent the coffin flying open.
The sensation's location hadn't changed; it was still at the coffin's original spot, but not on the coffin itself.
Pei Liang crouched down, carefully examining the ground.
"There's no trace of Qi fluctuation, it doesn't look like there's a Restriction?"
Just as he was hesitating, a small vortex suddenly appeared on the smooth ground.
Immediately after, the vortex grew larger, and a huge suction force came from within. Pei Liang didn't have time to react before he was sucked in!
"Bang!"
Pei Liang fell heavily to the ground.
Ignoring the pain, he quickly got up, first affixing a Body Protection Talisman to himself, then grabbing a handful of Talismans, cautiously surveying his surroundings.
Pitch black, filled with mystery and fear!
After a moment of stunned, he took out a fist-sized luminous pearl from his Storage Pouch. The faint light gradually dispelled the darkness, and the surrounding scene slowly became visible!
A stone chamber ten feet square, with a skeletal white bone sitting cross-legged in the center.
In front of the white bone was a meditation mat, and behind it was a long, narrow table.
A row of items was placed on the table, looking incredibly tempting!
Pei Liang didn't move. He cast a spell that circled the white bone, and after confirming that the white bone had no life force, he stroked his chin and began to ponder.
Openly displayed treasures?
White bone?
And a meditation mat in front of the white bone?
This setup looked like a standard test, didn't it?
"Should I kneel and kowtow or bury the white bone?"
Pei Liang's heart stirred. Who cares, he'd kowtow first, then bury it!
So, he knelt on the meditation mat and loudly proclaimed, "Junior has inadvertently entered this Immortal Cave, disturbing Senior. I ask Senior not to be offended!"
After speaking, he kowtowed three times with loud thuds!
The Immortal Cave remained silent, with no movement whatsoever.
Pei Liang frowned slightly, then kowtowed again and recited, "Senior's spirit roams the heavens, and Junior cannot bear to see your remains unburied. I shall inter Senior's bones to set my heart at ease. As for the treasures Senior left behind, Junior will surely make them flourish! And not diminish Senior's prestige!"
After he finished speaking, he was about to step forward and move the white bone.
"Alright, take the treasures, there's no need to bury this old bone!"
A ethereal voice suddenly rang out.
