Chapter 771: Entering the Tomb

In the transcendent world, individuals in their forties, or even sixties and seventies, are still considered mere youths with ordinary experience.

This is the reality.

Time can compensate for many acquired deficiencies.

While there's a limit to one's wisdom and talent, experience can be accumulated over time.

For example, if you were scammed by a phone call in your thirties due to a lack of intelligence, would you still fall for it if you encountered the same scam in your seventies?

No, you wouldn't.

Is it because your intelligence continues to grow as you age into your seventies, surpassing your peak intelligence in your thirties?

Of course not.

It's a blessing if you haven't developed dementia by then.

The reason you wouldn't be fooled is because your experience has grown. You've suffered more setbacks, lived longer, traveled more, and endured more of life's harsh lessons. The saying "the older, the wiser" generally applies.

The experience gained over time can compensate for a lack of intelligence.

This is a transcendent world; those powerful beings who have lived for hundreds or thousands of years and are still dim-witted only exist in stories.

If one lacks any potential, let alone outsmarting terrifying figures like Emperor Qi and Lord Youshan, who manipulated the entire populace of their eras with their heaven-defying schemes, then even individuals like Yuan Qinghua, with their seemingly innocent eyes and expressions of helpfulness and righteousness, would quickly teach them a lesson.

Naïve and innocent individuals wouldn't survive in this lawless transcendent world.

"Forget about aptitude; intelligence must be maxed out. Let alone outsmarting Emperor Qi, at least be able to outsmart normal people," Xu Zhi thought with a strange expression. "After all, besides intelligence, in this primitive era where physical constitutions are still unknown, so-called aptitude is completely undetectable. Is it about who has more severe cancer?"

That night, Elder Li's hospital room suddenly became chaotic.

Nurses urgently rushed him to the emergency room, their faces panicked as they walked. "He was fine during the day, and his condition was stable after chemotherapy. How could he suddenly take a turn for the worse?"

Elder Li was particularly talkative.

He had good relationships with the doctors and nurses, even sponsoring some patients he found agreeable. His unique personality made him a special presence on that floor.

In the emergency room, dazzling white lights shone on his face.

Li Li's consciousness gradually blurred, and the voices of the doctors and nurses became indistinct.

"His heart has stopped!"

"How could this happen so suddenly?"

A voice suddenly reached him.

He lay slumped on the hospital bed, his hazy eyes filled with exhaustion. "Is this my fate? Why did it come so suddenly?"

He suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably, overcome with fear. He had thought he could accept everything calmly, but as life truly began to ebb away, and an irresistible exhaustion slowly consumed his body, he couldn't help but become utterly terrified.

Death is a profound fear that all life finds difficult to suppress.

This fear is innate, permeating every fiber of one's being.

"Is this the fear embedded in the beings of this planet? Is it precisely because of the 'immortality gene' that they fear death far more than any other life in the universe, with even their genes radiating dread? If you were given a new life, what would you be willing to give in return?"

A deep male voice resounded.

"Everything."

Li Li answered instantly.

His vision blurred.

Suddenly, amidst the haze, a divine light descended, and he saw a young man whose face was indistinct.

The young man wore a black robe, and though it wasn't perfectly clear, Li Li could faintly make out mysterious laurel patterns and a familiar silhouette.

Am I hallucinating?

He had seen similar attire in the latest forum discussions; it seemed to be that of a Moon Diviner.

"I'm truly losing my grip," he mumbled dazedly to himself. "Dreams and reality are blurring together."

After all, according to analyses by online users, those laurel patterns were mysterious ancient markings from the moon, belonging to terrifying enemies who had destroyed Earth's ancient mythological civilizations!

How could an alien civilization suddenly appear on Earth?

"Do you wish to live? Do you wish to see greater vistas?" The figure's voice carried a hint of a smile.

"I want to live."

Li Li replied without hesitation.

"What are you willing to give?"

He paused. "Everything except my dignity. I don't want to die, and I want to live with dignity."

"Everything except your dignity."

"You should know what you'll face to preserve your dignity."

A radiant glow gradually descended, enveloping him. An endless burning sensation ignited within him, and excruciating pain began to surge.

He screamed loudly, the overwhelming pain contorting his face grotesquely.

"What about this price?"

The deep voice came again.

"Pain more terrifying than death? Am I the first? How many came before me? Did none of them endure it? Or will I face this endless agony no matter how I answer?" He clenched his jaw, the unbearable pain momentarily overwhelming him, yet he endured it, slowly, with great difficulty, forcing out his words.

"It doesn't matter. Countless years ago, I endured even more brutal pain and transformed because of it."

The deity fell silent.

Xu Zhi had no idea what pain could be more brutal than this. It seemed this middle-aged man who had a rough past certainly had a story to tell.

He felt as if he had endured an eternity, tormented in a purgatory of pain.

Finally, a white light flashed, and the deity vanished.

"I survived."

Xu Zhi easily disposed of and replaced the body at the hospital.

The real challenge was implanting the fundamental bloodline of the Zerg, a soul-wrenching pain that few could endure, but he had managed to bear it.

Xu Zhi felt his judgment was sound; it was indeed a success on the first try. Possessing such willpower was no small feat; it seemed this individual had already endured enough of life's harsh lessons.

When he reappeared, a tearing pain enveloped his entire body.

Li Li found himself in a dark corridor, surrounded by exquisite stone murals.

In the distance, luminous pearls were embedded, creating a magnificent display.

This was a lavish tomb, its murals depicting the life of its owner.

"Where am I? Was that not a dream? Am I really still alive?" He looked down at his aged hands, still clad in a white hospital gown, his hair thin.

He was still his old self, neither younger nor older.

"But I feel like my cancer symptoms have lessened, and my body feels much more comfortable." He took a deep breath and began to examine the murals on the wall.

The moment he saw them, he was utterly shocked.

He had seen screenshots and descriptions; these depicted the life of Ji Shang of the Great Shang Dynasty. This was Ji Shang's tomb.

He gasped.

He was completely stunned.

Everything was actually real!

The vast universe, the endless heavens beyond Earth.

Physical Buddhas, Chemical Daos!

Ancient enemies who once destroyed Earth's Chinese pantheon!

As he recalled these memories, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Could the deity he had just seen be the legendary being this world called... Moon God Ji?

His hands trembled violently, and he cried out, "And what exactly is that mysterious entity thinking? Why would it bring me..."

He felt as if he was witnessing a hidden hand manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

The Ancient Beyond-Gods were trying to save themselves, fighting with their backs against the wall, having laid out various plans before their slumber. But how could their opponents just stand by?

They had even come to Earth. What was their objective?

"Don't think about it, don't think about it..." he muttered repeatedly, trying to suppress his frantic thoughts.

"The air here is fresh, and the oxygen content is very high. Ji Shang must have installed an air storage system for his tomb—what an immense undertaking... There are no obvious traces of radiation here, and it hasn't been looted..."

If he were outside, he would surely die.

An oxygen concentration of 8% is even thinner than at the summit of Mount Everest; it's impossible for humans to live in such conditions.

Not to mention the radiated land outside.

"As an ordinary Earthling, there's no way I could live in such a harsh planetary environment, especially since I'm dying of cancer... But earlier, it was mentioned this was an 'immortal planet.' What does that mean? Is there some great secret?"

He continuously tried to organize his thoughts. His only path to survival now was cultivation, but how was he supposed to cultivate?

He took deep breaths and moved around the tomb. After spending most of the morning, his aged body barely managed to pry open three stone doors. "My physical strength has indeed improved. Even a healthy adult would probably struggle..."

A terrifying chill rapidly assailed him, making him shiver uncontrollably, as if he had instantly stepped into Antarctica.

What he saw was an army of terracotta warriors, frozen within massive layers of ice.

"Frozen? Are these all living people? Buried alive?" Goosebumps erupted all over his body.

As a modern person, seeing thousands of ice sculptures of bodies was shocking. These were living people, elite soldiers and generals, all buried alive? This was a scene straight out of a true feudal era!

"If there are living people, trees, and courtyards, there should be frozen food! I can't eat these frozen terracotta warrior bodies!" He took a deep breath. "As a complete burial, there should be frozen food, fine wine, and delicacies entombed. This is an era of spiritual energy resurgence and calamity, so the food wouldn't be contaminated. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to eat any of the existing food outside!"

"I need to search for it." He spent half a day searching elsewhere without success, eventually arriving at the main tomb. He trembled as he gripped the clearly opulent main door. This was the tomb of Ji Shang, a legendary first emperor of Zhongzhou, comparable to Earth's Qin Shi Huang.

Was he still alive?

This wasn't an ordinary world; it was a transcendent one. Heaven knew what contingency plans such a monstrous figure might have left behind.