Chapter 71: Tunneling Through Mountains

After the princess finished speaking, the only expression left on Fan Li’s face was one of utter dismay.

How was it that everyone knew there were treasures within the imperial mausoleum, yet he alone was oblivious? If the mausoleum weren’t situated within the borders of Great Chu, and he weren’t a powerful minister of Chu, would he even have the right to share in the spoils?

“This is the difference between ancestors,” he sighed.

“I heard that after the fall of Former Qin, the founder of Han entered the capital of Qin, established the three articles of law with the people, allowing Han’s army and Qin’s citizens to coexist peacefully. Thus, the founder inherited many of Qin’s legacies.”

“But when the Overlord entered Xianyang, he burned the palaces and slaughtered the Ying clan, causing such terror that the Qin people dared not submit.”

Fan Li, who inherited the original owner’s scholarly knowledge, naturally understood why the Han dynasty was so well acquainted with Former Qin. Beyond envy, jealousy, and resentment, he could only inwardly mock Xiang Ning’s forebears.

Unnoticed, the procession came to a halt.

Looking ahead, Fan Li saw a recently opened underground palace hidden deep within the mountains. The earth bore fresh marks of excavation, and he could even smell the scent of soil and vegetation.

At the entrance of the mausoleum lay eleven corpses—those of the tomb-raiding officers.

Cao Cao spoke, “Everyone, rest assured and enter. All the traps, mechanisms, and formations along the way have already been cleared by the tomb-raiders.”

He said this lightly, but the cost was the death of all one hundred tomb-raiding officers.

Fan Li nodded, turning to Fan Chun. “Lead a battalion yourself to guard the entrance. I’ll take the others down for a look.”

“That won’t do!” Fan Chun protested, anxiety evident.

“Second Brother, I must always be by your side. If anything happens—”

Fan Li waved him off. “If disaster truly strikes, I’m afraid even your cultivation at the Divine Transformation stage won’t save me.”

Though Fan Chun was a favored child of heaven, his martial talents rare in the world, he was still just at the Divine Transformation stage. Should true danger arise, even the Lord of Qingqiu could not protect him, nor could Fan Li rely on Fan Chun.

Besides, if it came to that, losing one Fan son was better than losing two.

Patting his brother’s shoulder, Fan Li said, “I can only entrust the mausoleum’s entrance to you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t dare descend.”

This reason was more than sufficient.

Fan Chun fell silent, reluctantly nodding. Even so, he selected the weakest battalion from the three thousand garrison troops to remain, giving all the elite soldiers to Fan Li.

“If anything happens to my second brother, none of you will return!” Fan Chun drew his sword and sternly addressed the troops.

Over two thousand soldiers knelt in unison, their voices thunderous.

“We pledge our lives!”

The soldiers’ shouts shook the heavens, their spirit unmatched.

Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan were moved by such a display. Each thought the same: if all the Chu army were of this caliber, perhaps none under heaven would dare oppose them.

Qin Imperial Mausoleum.

The force of over two thousand men slowly made their way down the tomb passage. Though called a passage, Fan Li was reminded of the air-raid shelters of his previous life.

The passage extended underground for miles; at first, Fan Li worried two thousand men would be cramped, but now he realized that even twenty thousand could ride horses within the mausoleum—so vast was its space.

The grandeur of Former Qin could be glimpsed from the scale of its last emperor’s tomb.

Along the way, the bodies of tomb-raiding officers appeared at intervals.

Cao Cao personally led the way at the front, and without his order to halt, the entire procession could proceed with confidence.

“Gentlemen, we’ve reached the true entrance to the imperial mausoleum,” Cao Cao announced.

Fan Li stepped forward to inspect.

“Duke Jin, this is the Dragon-Severing Stone,” Cao Cao explained.

Fan Li looked up at the massive stone, speechless.

The so-called Dragon-Severing Stone was the protective wall of imperial tombs and noble graves. Its fall signified the separation of the mausoleum from the mortal world.

But the stone before them, blocking the passage and halting the advance, could only be called a Dragon-Severing Mountain! It towered a hundred meters high, its thickness at least several dozen meters—otherwise it could not bear its own weight.

The last tomb-raider, Wang Hou, had likely perished here.

“The specifications of this Dragon-Severing Stone surpass those of any Han emperor’s tomb,” Cao Cao said, stroking the stone’s surface in awe.

Fan Li eyed him strangely. Cao Cao seemed to know far too much, though how he came by this knowledge was unclear.

“My tomb-raiding officers, though only at the Golden Core stage, are unmatched at tunneling and excavating, their effectiveness rivaling Nascent Soul cultivators.”

Cao Cao pointed out a recess in the stone wall—two meters deep, its origin unknown.

Yet, for such a colossal stone, this recess barely scratched the surface.

“Ordinary methods of tunneling are clearly useless here,” Cao Cao concluded, his gaze falling on Princess Changle.

Fan Li was surprised to discover that Liu Bei and Sun Quan also looked to her.

What was going on?

“Hehehe…” Princess Changle smiled, as if this were only natural. She turned, winked at Fan Li.

“When I was little, I was especially fond of playing hide and seek…”

Fan Li broke into a cold sweat.

Mischievous, yes—but hide and seek in a tomb? What kind of game was that? Who would hide in a grave?

Could it be that Cao Cao’s tomb-raiders were nothing compared to Princess Changle, the true expert at grave digging?

“You needn’t be surprised. I taught her the secret art; cultivating within tombs accelerates the condensation of spiritual energy,” Qingqiu unexpectedly explained.

She regarded Fan Li’s stunned expression, then shook her head. “I know your cultivation is slow, but you needn’t covet my secret art. It is a Qingqiu ancestral technique, usually only taught to women. Of course, if you have the courage to wield a blade and become a eunuch, I wouldn’t mind passing it on to you…”

“No, no, thank you. I appreciate the kind offer!” Fan Li quickly waved his hands.

What a joke! No matter how rare or precious the cultivation method, it wasn’t worth sacrificing his lineage.

But Qingqiu—cultivating in tombs?

Fan Li vaguely recalled something. In a novel he’d read in his previous life, the nine-tailed fox had cultivated in the Xuanyuan Cave, hadn’t it?

But looking at Qingqiu’s serene, indifferent face—so devoid of desire—it seemed she shared nothing with those seductive fox spirits who bewitched emperors.

“This small matter needn’t trouble my master, so I must bear it myself,” Princess Changle said cheerfully, stepping up to the Dragon-Severing Stone and placing her hand against its surface.

A gentle green light emanated from her right hand, instantly penetrating the stone.

Then, a wondrous sight unfolded!

No need for tunneling or drilling—the hundred-meter-high Dragon-Severing Stone collapsed and softened like a deflated balloon.

Within the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the stone barricading the end of the tomb passage had melted away, leaving only a two-meter-high layer on the ground.

Fan Li could not hide his astonishment.

Was this truly a fox spirit’s secret art?

No wonder the nine-tailed fox in the legends cultivated in the Xuanyuan Tomb. If she could excavate the Xuanyuan Tomb, what chance did the Qin Emperor’s mausoleum have against her?