Could it be that the death of the Qiongqi triggered some kind of mechanism?

That single thought flickered through their minds. Fortunately, their cultivations were all high, so they quickly stabilized themselves and slowly floated down through the air. They were lucky to find that there wasn’t an endless abyss below; soon afterward, the group arrived on solid ground again.

They discovered that what lay below was another large room, and ahead of them was a gate. The gate was even more ancient and profound than the one above. Set in its center was a diagram that resembled a star atlas, containing certain special indentations.

The Fiend Emperor gave Zu An a look and said, “You still have not replied to my question.”

Zu An and the three women gathered together. He calmly replied, “I found out about the immortal medicine.”

The Fiend Emperor’s side could become hostile if he told them he had the Sun Slaying Bow now. Comparatively, information about the immortal medicine was far more suitable. It would make the Fiend Emperor feel some reservation about killing them.

“The immortal medicine!” the Fiend Emperor exclaimed, beginning to breathe rapidly. That was what he needed the most right now. He replied, “Not bad. You have the right to work with me now.”

A hint of bitterness flickered through the Golden Crow Crown Prince’s mind. If his father became immortal, wouldn’t he become a good-for-nothing crown prince for the rest of his life? Still, he didn’t dare to show any of that. He could only console himself, thinking that if he could become immortal too, that wouldn’t be too bad.

“Where is the immortal medicine?” the Fiend Emperor quickly asked.

Zu An chuckled and replied, “Do you think I would just tell you in this situation?”

“Reasonable,” the Fiend Emperor said, not feeling offended. He didn’t think Zu An was lying to him. If Zu An and the others didn’t really know, they definitely wouldn’t bring up something like that.

They would work together for the time being to pursue the higher power in this world. Once they left, it wouldn’t be too late to force the information surrounding the immortal medicine out of Zu An then. There were so many women around Zu An, it meant the Fiend Emperor would have many ways of making him squirm.

…

Meanwhile, Wu Liang had already walked up to the gate and began to study it. He caressed the runes on the surface while saying excitedly, “No wonder we couldn't find any way of getting in from above. It looks as if the gate above was just a fake. This is the real gate!”

The Fiend Emperor kneaded the spirit in his hand, making it deform. He asked, “This is where you said your father Emperor Yao was sealed?”

“Yes, yes! I can already sense his aura!” the spirit screamed in pain. It was filled with bitterness inside. Once my dad comes out, all of you are going to be crushed to bits!

On the other hand, Zu An was surprised. Wasn’t it supposed to be Yu the Great? Why was this Emperor Yao’s tomb? Could it be that we came to the wrong place this time?

But that shouldn’t be! Earlier, Shun said I had to face Yu the Great!

“Did you not say that once the seals on the Four Perils were undone, your father would reappear? Where is he?” the Fiend Emperor asked, giving the spirit in his hand a cold look, as if he would crush it into nothingness at any moment.

Based on his interrogation of Dan Zhu along the way, he had already learned that Emperor Yao was a proper emperor in the past. There would definitely be a lot of treasures buried with him. More importantly, he longed for the power of that ancient emperor. As long as he could see it for himself, he believed he had a chance to advance a step further.

“This tomb needs to be opened up first. Right, just put those gemstones into the gate over there and it’ll open up,” the spirit replied. Its entire ‘body’ shook, as if it were scared that it would die before it met its father. That would really be too great a loss then!

The Fiend Emperor raised his head and looked at the special holes. Their shape was a bit familiar. With a wave of his hand, several streaks of light flew out of his sleeves. They were none other than the gemstones he had collected along the way.

The four gemstones, colored red, green, blue, and yellow respectively, filled the holes in the gate. Rings of light flickered across the gate’s surface, and several glowing lines spread across its surface like electrical currents.

The group waited expectantly for the gate to open, but in the end, the light stopped moving. Then, the colors faded, leaving behind only ordinary patterns again.

“Why did this happen?” the Fiend Emperor exclaimed, his expression darkening. He looked at the spirit in his hand with an unkind expression.

“This… This makes no sense! This is the way to open the gate!” the spirit exclaimed in alarm; even his voice was starting to shake.

Wu Liang suddenly said, “I know! There’s still something missing. There’s a keyhole at the very center, so we’re probably missing that key.”

“Key?” the Fiend Emperor repeated with a frown. They hadn’t found any keys along the way. He unwittingly glanced at Zu An’s group. However, Zu An shrugged, as if to say that they hadn’t encountered anything resembling a key either.

The Fiend Emperor’s expression became unpleasant. He walked up to the gate, intending to rely on his earth immortal strength to open it through brute force. There weren’t many tomb gates that could endure his full-strength attack.

However, after he sent his fists flying several times, a flicker of radiance appeared across the gate. He could clearly sense his power being dispersed in different directions to some unknown place. Even if he tried several more times, it wouldn’t be able to blast open the gate.

His eyes narrowed. He looked at the keyhole at the center. A moment later, he turned toward the Golden Crow Crown Prince and asked, “Son, do you remember that in the Imperial Palace’s treasury, there seemed to be a key that was shaped quite similarly to this keyhole?”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince quickly went over to take a look, replying, “That is indeed the case. That key seems to have always been in the treasury. I played around with it when I was little, but I did not notice anything special about it at all. I did not know why it was kept in the treasury either.”

The treasury of the Imperial Palace contained the accumulated wealth of successive generations of Fiend Emperors. Why would an ordinary key have the right to be stored there?

The Fiend Emperor said seriously, “That key was there ever since I was little as well. No one knew of its origins, but there was a rumor that it came from the ancient past of our Golden Crow race. Not even successive generations of Fiend Emperors could figure out its use. They only knew that it could not be damaged by water or fire. Not even our Golden Crow Sacred Fire could damage it in the slightest.”

The others were shocked. The key was something that not even the Golden Crow Sacred Fire could damage? Just its material alone proved how extraordinary it was!

“I did not expect it to be used here,” the Fiend Emperor said. He felt happy that he had unraveled an ancient secret of the Golden Crow race, but he was also filled with deep vexation.

Yun Jianyue couldn't help but remark, “It’s fine and all to talk about it, but did you even bring it with you?”

The Fiend Emperor and Golden Crow Crown Prince hung their heads dispiritedly. Even though they didn’t reply, their expressions explained everything.

They really were frustrated! The final treasure was so close, and yet they were missing a key. They even had the key too; it was just that they hadn’t brought it with them!

Who knew how long it would take before a dungeon like this would open up again? In all the years the Imperial Tomb had existed for, it was the first time. If they missed this chance, they wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to enter again. Both of them wanted to vomit blood when they realized that.

Suddenly, however, Zu An exclaimed, “Hm? This shape seems a bit familiar to me, though.”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince had been annoyed to begin with. When he heard that, he sneered and retorted, “Something in my royal family’s treasury is familiar to you? Even if you want to brag, you should use your brain a bit!”

Zu An thought, Is your royal family treasury all that? I’m even familiar with your damn bed! However, he didn’t feel like arguing with the crown prince. Instead, he carefully examined the shape of the keyhole.

“Stop putting on an act already. If even someone like you can figure something out, I will eat these damn rocks!” the Golden Crow Crown Prince remarked.

He secretly felt delighted. He realized that if his father couldn't obtain anything more from this dungeon, the old man, who was near his deathbed, would pass on all of his cultivation and the throne to him! That was why he had to stop Zu An with everything he had, even though he didn’t believe that the other man could really come up with anything valuable.

To his surprise, however, Zu An suddenly fished out a strangely shaped key and called out, “You guys, take a look. Is it this one?”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince’s smile immediately froze on his face.

The Fiend Emperor didn’t treat it with much importance at first. After all, why would a key from his own treasury be with someone else?

However, when he saw the item, he was shocked and overjoyed. He asked, “Where did you get that from?”

He was also a bit alarmed. Was it that easy for this guy to enter and leave the palace? I didn’t even know he took this key from the treasury. Did he steal anything more precious?