Zhan Long

Chapter 426 The Soldiers of Chu Kingdom

“Sha sha…..”

I raised my sword, and took Matcha and Li Mu into the bushes. Us three heavy armor types rushed in between rows of ancient totem poles with Dragon Tongue words inscribed on the sides. Screams of agony came from all four directions. On top of that, the sound of a system notification travelled across the horizon, as if to warn us ——

“Ding!”

System Notification: You have entered the dangerous zone [Grave of the Warring States]!

Map Description: Grave of the Warring States, during the pre-ancient Warring States Period this was the burial site of four extremely talented heroes. Not only is this place inhabited with numerous souls of soldiers, but it is also filled with intelligent Spectres. Please be extremely careful. They have been suffering the agonizing flames of hell for over ten thousand years, and their hearts have been filled with vengeance. Once their seals have been released they will bring destruction to the human world.

……

“Where’s the entrance?” Matcha asked as she inquisitively blinked a few times.

I shook my head, “I still haven’t figured it out. Everyone come over here, and split up to look for the entrance….”

Wan Er lifted her Dragon’s Kiss dagger and passed by my shoulder. She gave me a sweet smile and didn’t say anything, but I could tell that her heart was filled with joy. After the battle with Ou Yang Chuan at Fortune Mountain Villa, the relationship between Wan Er and I was a step closer. Even though our hearts seemed to understand this emotion, neither of us was willing to break the status quo, as we are afraid that once it changes there will be no way of continuing the relationship.

After looking around, we counted that there was a total of 27 totem poles. In the middle of them all, there was an enormous statue of a Dragon Turtle. But, as if a mountain had moved, the Dragon Turtle’s head had vanished, and was replaced by the statue of a hero. This was to display the ferocity of an ancient general. In the hand of the general, was a sword that cut into the earth. On top of that, the blade had two Zhuang* words written on it. I couldn’t tell what they said.

*TL Note: A type of ancient calligraphy

“What kind of words are those? Does anyone recognize them?” I asked.

Wan Er shook her head, “I don’t…”

Matcha walked up and wiped the dust off of one of the characters. She furrowed her brow and said, “I think….. it means “Eh Lai”….”

“Eh Lai?” Li Mu was shocked. “Isn’t Eh Lai a famous general from the Shang Dynasty? Why would he be here? Based on historic texts, the Warring States period didn’t come until after the Zhou Dynasty. There’s at least several hundred years between the Shang Dynasty and the Warring States Period… There shouldn’t be any connection between the two, right?”

I shook my head, “No, there actually is a connection.”

Wan Er’s jaw dropped, “What connection?”

I thought about it for a second, then said, “I remember… that I read a history book before. In it, it was recorded that the Qin Dynasty’s royal family’s ancestor is Eh Lai from the Shang Dynasty. In other words, the famous general is the ancestor of Qin Mu Gong, Qin Xiao Gong, and Qin Shi Huang. The fact that Eh Lai’s statue is here is without question that he’s here to seal the four ghosts of the Four Noblemen. This Grave of the Warring States should have been created by the Qin dynasty, and so they used Eh Lai’s soul to seal this grave. Like this, it would easily explain why he was here.”

Dong Cheng Yue chuckled: “This I know… Cao Cao once called his powerful generals Dian Wei, “Ancient Eh Lai.” This proves that Eh Lai was indeed very powerful, right Brother Xiao Yao?”

I nodded and chuckled: “That’s about right, Everybody look closely around the Eh Lai idol. The entrance to the “Grave of the Warring States” should be close by.”

“Yeah!”

The group split off to search for the entrance, while I continuously stabbed the sedimentary ground with my sword. With the sound of “Keng, Keng, Keng”, it allowed me to confirm that the material this place was made of was stone. Then after stabbing for awhile, the Emperor’s Qin Sword suddenly sunk deep into the sediment. Was there a gap or a hole there? That’s weird, Ancient Chinese constructions were more bulky and sturdy than the flimsy and inferior material used currently. There’s no way that there should be a defect similar to that of modern constructions.

I dug out the sediment furiously and rapidly as if I were possessed. Very quickly a 3 cm slot appeared in my vision. I forced the Emperor’s Qin sword into the slot. A “Pu Che” rang out as the sword fit into the slot. I pulled the sword out, and instantly a big piece of stone on the ground slowly moved and rumbled out of the way. There was a blood red glow that shined from a small opening that previously had not been there. Found it!

“Everybody, come over. The entrance has appeared!

I used my strength to the move the big piece of stone further away from the opening. An almost 50 cm wide hole appeared. There were stone steps in the hole that led downwards. I can’t believe this was the entrance to the Grave of Warring States. The Tiger Talisman in my bag buzzed to warn us that danger was close by.

I clapped and said “I’ll go first, you guys wait for my report!”

“Okay. Be careful boss!” Matcha replied with a grin.

I jumped down into the hole. A “Pa” rang out as I landed on top of the steps. I held up my Emperor’s Qin Sword to light up the area. The space around me was brightly lit up. The stone walls around me were littered with ancient Chinese letters. As I wasn’t an archaeologist, I have no interest in these type of things. I’m more interested in the what treasure the Four Noblemen left for us to discover.

Up ahead, there was enchanted horizontal red boundary marker. It was a barrier that blocked the way. Somehow we would need to get past that line to continue on with our quest.

I used the blade of my sword to experiment on it. I lifted the blade towards the marker, and tried to poke through it. But only a “Keng” sound came of it as it couldn’t break through the barrier. It was like stabbing into steel. I swung a punch into the barrier, but all that happened was my fist shook with a stinging pain. The Tiger Talisman in my bag started to shine a lot brighter. I dug it out of my bag and pushed it towards the boundary marker. Immediately the barrier parted aside like a wave by the Talisman and we had access to the passageway once again. So that’s why Luo Lei had given me the Talisman. The Tiger Talisman was actually the entry ticket. Without the Tiger Talisman, there was no way a person could enter the “Grave of the Warring States”. This was a major advantage to us as this meant that we wouldn’t have to worry about someone stealing the treasure while we were battling the BOSS.

“Everybody come in!” I said into the group chat.

Very quickly Li Mu, Lin Wan Er, Wolf, and the rest of the group entered into the hole and onto the steps. I just held up the Tiger Talisman and smiled. “Hurry up and enter, I helped open the way for you guys!”

“Great work!…” Lin Wan Er shallowly laughed back. She held the Dragon’s Kiss Dagger as she jumped down. She got swallowed up in the darkness as she went down.

Li Mu, Wolf, Matcha and the others followed suit. One by one they went past the area where the borderline marker had been. I was the last one to pass by it. In my hand was the Emperor’s Qin Sword that I was still holding up. Unfriendly and blistering winds were blowing against us as powerful growls rang in our ears. The system notification appeared: You have entered the danger zone a floor below the Grave of the Warring States [The Grave of the Silent Emperor]. Please be extra careful, death is at every corner!

……

Looking ahead, rows of statues and ancient lanterns were everywhere. This was a vast and mighty underground tomb. The whole area appeared as a spiral formation on the map. There was only one path that went towards the middle. That was probably where the area’s Boss, and the entrance to the next floor were. But that also means we will have to kill quite a lot of smaller monsters. That’s okay though, an SSS ranked main quest’s monsters will give out tons of experience which is very beneficial. The monsters here give about 2 or 3 times more experience than those of the same level that were outside of this quest. This is a great chance to level up as well as well as the perfect chance for me to reclaim the number one rank in Ba Huang City.

“Hou Hou…..”

Twenty yards ahead, a shadow at the bottom of one of the Ancient lanterns became distorted. A old and withered Undead Soldier rose up from the shadow. It held a short sword and the armor it was wearing was super rusty. Only a glimpse of it was needed to tell that it couldn’t be worn again. The armor was from the Warring States period. The craftsmanship of the armor was a bit awkward, and above the top of its head was a line of words which I had already read.

[Chu Kingdom Soldier] (Phantom Tier Monster)

Level：90

Attack：2700-3400

Defense：2700

Health：90000

Skills：[Ressurection] [Heroic Cleave] [Brave Force]

Description: Early Warring States Period Ancient Chu Kingdom’s soldier. These fearless and heroic warriors followed their leader into battle. After tens of thousands of years of slumber, its spirit is consumed by violence and hatred. Once any person enters the grave, they will shred him or her.

……

“Hou!”

That loud roar confirmed the description. The Chu Kingdom Soldier carried it’s short sword and charged at us. It’s mouth was wide open, showing us it’s rotting teeth as well as its frail body.

“3400 attack, be careful it’s pretty strong….” Dong Cheng Yue said smiling along with her glittering beautiful eyes.

Dancing Forest held her long Bow “This can’t be right, Guild Master is only Lv 81. How come he can find out information of something that is nine levels ahead of him. This is illogical

Lin Wan Er laughed and said “That’s easy, 4th advancement players have some extra hidden skills. This is one of them: the ability to scan information about things that aren’t ten levels higher than yourself.

“Okay that’s why…. Guys, let’s slaughter them!”

Li Mu had already jumped into the battle swing his sword at the enemy. “Pa Pa” as he hit the Chu Kingdom Soldier twice as the monster’s body shook. After all, his enemy was a Lv 90 Phantom Tier monster, he didn’t want to be overconfident. Two damage numbers flew up. This reality proved that the decision to bring Li Mu was a smart one ——

“3128！”

“3217！”

Wolf gaped, “Damn, Brother Li Mu’s attack is so powerful!”

Li Mu smirked “it has to be, a Superior Emperor Tier long sword’s attack power isn’t fake……”

Just when he finished talking, the Chu Kingdom Soldier’s activated it skill [Heroic Cleave] with it’s short sword and it hit Li Mu’s shoulder. “Keng” as the sound rang out and sparks flew. A very large damage number flew up with it.

“1828！”

“Holy crap…..” Li Mu backed away continuously with stern eyes. “that attack is so strong….”

Wan Er narrowed her beautiful eyes, “The monster has a basic attack strength of 3400. In addition to the level advantage and Phantom Tier bonus, it’s attack strength is at least more than ten thousand. How can you defend against that……”

I burst into laughter, and I bellowed as I used [Dragon’s Whistle of Thunder and Lightning] giving everyone a 40% stat boost to attack and defense. As the [City War Bell] on my arm flashed, I gave everyone another 10% attack and defense bonus. I raised my Emperor Qin’s Sword, and leapt high up as [Wind Blade] drew a beautiful line in the air. It struck the forehead of a soldier of Chu forcefully, causing a huge damage number to fly up——

“6528!”

My Cold Iron sword and Emperor Qin’s Sword slashed four successive times, and the damage numbers all added together totaled more than 5000 points. Seeing this, Li Mu’s eyes widened while his mouth became slightly agape, “Guild Master, can your attack strength be any more shameless……”

I raised my arm forcefully and blocked the monster’s fierce slash. Immediately, a damage number flew up——

“471！”

Li Mu’ eyes became blank as he asked, “What kind of defense is this? So shameless……”

Wolf shook his head and said with a smile, “Brother Xiao Yao has 4220 points of base defense. In addition to the 50% bonus added by [Dragon’s Whistle of Thunder and Lightning] and the [City War Bell], he has the Fourth Advancement Skill, [Dou Qi Wall] which increases his defense by 120%. The now overall defense of more than ten thousand makes it impossible for him to get hurt.

Li My placed his hand on his forehead and smiled, “Yup. Fortunately, it’s someone on our side. Otherwise, it’s too terrifying to have an opponent like this……”

Wan Er pouted her lips and said, “It’s not like you never killed one before……”

Li Mu burst out in laughter, “Cang Tong, please don’t hold grudges. Although we killed each other before, Xiao Yao and I are still good friends……”

Dong Cheng Yue sighed sadly, “Is another good man gay again? My brother Xiao Yao. Noo……”

Darling Duck quickly retorted, “Enough, you all. Be more serious when you are killing monsters……”

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