"It really took some effort. I appreciate your hard work, everyone," Li Cheng said.

Huang Yan quickly waved his hand upon hearing this. "No trouble at all, no trouble at all. This time we relied entirely on Young Master Li. Without you, we probably couldn't even have stepped through the threshold of this main hall!"

"Indeed. With our cultivation levels alone, I'm afraid we would have had no chance at the treasures on the third floor," Zheng Huaming laughed.

Chi-

With the death of the Red-robed Corpse Ghost, the three stone doors at the entrance descended, and a wall in the main hall opened, revealing a hidden cave dwelling.

Everyone approached to take a look. Inside the cave dwelling sat the decayed body of a cultivator. He was undoubtedly the master of this tomb.

After searching the area, they roughly figured out this person's background.

He was originally a rogue cultivator at Qi Gathering Perfection. After years of bitter cultivation without a breakthrough, and with his lifespan nearing its end, he turned to evil methods, attempting to use a blood sacrifice to achieve the Condensed Origin realm.

Subsequently, he discovered this family settlement and began his scheme. He secretly made preparations underground, then used techniques to trigger an earth dragon's turn, feigning a natural disaster that buried all the cultivators and mortals here alive.

Fortunately, this person ultimately failed. Otherwise, if a Condensed Origin evil cultivator had truly emerged, the surrounding common folk would have suffered a great calamity.

After touring the several rooms in the cave dwelling, everyone found a few treasures left behind by the cultivator.

A Qi Gathering mid-stage Peiling Pill.

A Qi Gathering late-stage Five Elements Technique.

Two Qi Gathering mid-stage spiritual treasures: a bell and a copper ring.

And a Qi Gathering-level talisman inheritance, missing half its content.

The remaining items had all lost their efficacy due to the passage of time.

Li Cheng chose first, taking the pill and the Five Elements Technique.

Next were Huang Yan and Zheng Huaming. Each chose one Qi Gathering mid-stage spiritual treasure.

Finally, only the incomplete talisman inheritance remained. The two from the Li family had no interest in it.

Yang Lingrui, however, did not disdain it and placed it into his storage bag.

"The family lacks a primary craft inheritance. Since I encountered one today, I'll take it back for Elder Yu to study,"

Yang Lingrui thought to himself.

Just then, Li Cheng spoke up.

"Lingrui also contributed a lot on this trip. Now, he has only obtained a strange stone of unknown use and an incomplete craft inheritance. That really doesn't seem right."

Saying this, he took a wooden box from his robe and handed it to Yang Lingrui.

"Take this Yang-Returning Grass. At least bring something useful back to your family."

Upon hearing this, Yang Lingrui was overjoyed and quickly thanked him. "Since that's the case, Lingrui thanks Young Master Li on behalf of the Yang family."

Since the other party had put it that way, refusing now would seem pretentious. It was better to accept generously.

Seeing Yang Lingrui obtain the Yang-Returning Grass, both Huang Yan and Zheng Huaming showed envious expressions.

This spiritual plant bore fruit once every three years, and only one fruit at a time.

A mature Yang-Returning Fruit could ensure that a cultivator's cultivation foundation would not be damaged even if they failed to break through a realm.

They were both curious in their hearts about how the Yang family had connected with the Li family, such that Li Cheng would take such care of Yang Lingrui.

The group had originally planned to search all the side paths they hadn't taken on the return trip to see if they could gain anything more.

But unfortunately, it seemed that because the cave dwelling had been opened, the passages leading to the first floor were mostly buried by sand and stone, leaving only one path passable.

Li Cheng tried digging but found it too troublesome, so he gave up.

This would be left for Duan Yong of Fengling Town to slowly excavate later.

"Senior Brother!"

Seeing Yang Lingrui return safely, the stone in Zhao Qi's heart finally fell, and he hurried forward to greet him.

The miserable state of the two who had come out earlier was truly frightening. He had also heard that all the first-realm cultivators who went down had perished, so he had begun to worry about Yang Lingrui's safety.

"Senior Brother, are you injured?"

"I'm fine. How are you, Junior Brother?"

Zhao Qi glanced around slyly, then whispered, "Senior Brother, I found something. I'll tell you when we get back to the room."

Yang Lingrui understood and said no more.

This expedition to explore the ancient tomb ended. Of the thirty-seven cultivators who came, only eighteen remained.

The surviving cultivators all sighed incessantly. Before coming, they hadn't expected the casualties to be so severe.

"Those two from Baishi Town..."

As soon as Yang Lingrui spoke, he saw Zhao Qi purse his lips and shake his head at him.

"Sigh... Men die for wealth, birds die for food."

Yang Lingrui sighed softly, recalling what Yang Guanfeng had told him before.

He had described cultivators as gamblers fighting against heaven for their fate. Now it seemed that couldn't be more fitting.

That evening, Yang Lingrui and Zhao Qi returned to their room very early again.

"Junior Brother Zhao, what did you want to tell me?"

"Senior Brother, look at these."

Zhao Qi took two stacks of paper with writing from his sleeves.

"I found that some of the stone pillars on the first floor of the ancient tomb were hollow. I chiseled them open and found these loose pages inside. From the description, they seem to be related to talismans. I don't know if they're useful."

"I see. As expected of Junior Brother Zhao. Wait! You said they're related to talismans!"

Yang Lingrui quickly picked up the loose pages, then took out the incomplete talisman inheritance he had obtained on the third floor and began to compare them one by one.

"This... How can this be!"

The more he read the content on these papers, the faster his heart beat.

Because these scattered pages perfectly matched the missing parts of the incomplete inheritance!

In other words, combining the two would yield a complete talisman inheritance!

"Hiss-Ha-"

Yang Lingrui took a deep breath to calm his mind, then turned to Zhao Qi and said, "Junior Brother Zhao, you've made a great contribution this time!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qi scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Senior Brother, don't say that. I don't have much ability. I really didn't help much on this trip. If I really found a treasure, it was just good luck."

Seeing him like this, Yang Lingrui also smiled. "In the affairs of this world, how can everything be explained by luck alone? You just wait to go home and receive your reward."

Early the next morning, Yang Lingrui and Zhao Qi prepared to return.

Li Cheng still had some matters to discuss with Duan Yong, so he did not travel with them.

After the two left the town and walked for a while, they encountered Zheng Huaming from Liuyun Town. Since their paths overlapped for the first half of the journey, he suggested they return together.

"Ah... This trip has truly been rough. The cultivators who came with me are either dead or injured. After all that hard work, I didn't get a single bit of benefit," Zheng Huaming lamented.

Upon hearing this, Yang Lingrui also shook his head. "Indeed, as Senior says. Seeking Seclusion and Visiting Immortals sounds easy, but Fated Chances are not so easily found. One moment of carelessness and you might lose your life."

Zheng Huaming was very talkative, so the three of them didn't find the journey boring.

By the evening of the third day, everyone had left the territory of Fengling Town.

"Want a drink?"

Zheng Huaming took out a wine jar and asked.

Yang Lingrui and Zhao Qi didn't drink, so they politely declined.

"Lingrui, do you remember the spiritual treasure I obtained in the ancient tomb?"

"I remember. It was a small bell, right?"

"Correct. Being able to obtain a Qi Gathering mid-stage spiritual treasure, this trip was not in vain. However..."

Zheng Huaming suddenly changed his tone, looking at Yang Lingrui as he said softly, "If I could also obtain a Yang-Returning Grass, it would be even more perfect."