Profound Thunder Zhenren suffered a setback earlier and dared not enter rashly; he continued to observe the vicinity.
The Shen Family spiritual plaques in the ancestral shrine offered little to see, and her attention was finally drawn to the bones, noticing they were much larger than those of an ordinary person.
"Hey, why are there giant bones here? Judging by the size, they must be about ten feet tall."
Yun Lingshu estimated based on the bone size, muttering with her chin in her hand, "Giants only appeared in ancient times; even the largest humans today, like those of the Barbarian Race, wouldn’t be this big."
She approached to inspect more closely, realizing the bones had aged significantly, yet the material remained diamond-like and terrifyingly hard.
Glancing at the entrance, she thought, "Could they have been excavated from inside? It seems the Shen Family harbors some secrets."
"Everyone else, check the surroundings thoroughly and find the tunnel’s exit as soon as possible."
As her subordinates went to find the exit, Yun Lingshu continued to examine the bones, sensing they might conceal some opportunity.
A quarter of an hour later, the group hadn’t found the tunnel exit when a flash of sword light appeared halfway up the mountain.
The ground was pierced and exploded with a roar, as soil flew everywhere and Profound Thunder Zhenren emerged, looking utterly disheveled.
He spit out dirt-laden saliva, cursing as he arrived at the mountain, "That scoundrel Shen Wang! Better not get caught by me, or I’ll bury him underground and torment him to death!"
Buried underground, he had spent considerable effort digging himself out — when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
Observing his subordinates searching every inch of the mountain disorderly, he guessed they were looking for the tunnel’s exit and returned to the courtyard in a few steps.
Seeing Yun Lingshu studying a pile of bones with a tunnel entrance beside them, he burst with anger, "They didn’t even discover this scoundrel had dug two tunnels."
"The man has already fled far; come over and look at these bones first."
Yun Lingshu said unhurriedly, since Shen Wang wasn’t her enemy.
Profound Thunder Zhenren frowned, examining them closely, "These bones are somewhat large; are they from a Demon Beast?"
"No, human — or at least humanoid bones." Yun Lingshu shook her head, "Very hard; during life, they could surely rival Magical Artifacts or even Treasures."
Profound Thunder Zhenren walked over to squeeze one, "Indeed hard, but they’re all dead; what’s there to see?"
"These should be bones of ancient giants. They were once very powerful, but suddenly vanished later, perhaps due to some secret."
Yun Lingshu looked up, "It’s rumored the Shen Family are descendants of the Demon-Suppressing Family, likely related to these giants, or else such bones wouldn’t be found beneath their ancestral shrine."
"There’s definitively some secret; their Grave Mountain is quite unclean, and I couldn’t clean out the things inside myself."
Profound Thunder Zhenren frowned, "Could his array have derived from this secret?"
Yun Lingshu shook her head, flipping her hand to reveal a broken black array flag, "This item is quite new, bearing the Lingxi Sect’s mark."
Profound Thunder Zhenren looked at the stream patterns on it, pondering, "Likely bought at the Lingxi Sect Market, but the fact he could afford so much money is also a problem."
"The man fled with his family; it won’t be easy to catch him quickly. Should we visit the Grave Mountain you mentioned? Maybe we’ll really find some opportunity."
"That place is ominous; visiting it won’t yield results quickly; we should go later."
Profound Thunder Zhenren showed a cautious expression, "Quickly find their traces and track the people down; otherwise, if they hide away for long, finding them will be problematic."
"Alright, I’ve already instructed them to find the exit earlier; they should discover some traces soon."
Yun Lingshu grew more intrigued; how could a small family’s graveyard provoke such a look from Profound Thunder Zhenren?
A loud noise came from outside.
Profound Thunder Zhenren’s face fell, "Another Detonator Talisman; I should have warned them."
They were about to head out when a surge of scorching air emerged from the entrance within the shrine.
Yun Lingshu halted, saying, "Seems the other side of the discovered exit is right here; I estimate they used this more concealed passage when leaving."
Just then, someone rushed over, sweat-drenched and anxious, "Elder Xuanting, Miss Ling Shu, we found an exit at the base of the side mountain, but... but Zhigang was blown up by a Detonator Talisman."
The Detonator Talisman is one of the most devastating talismans, originally used for opening mountains, but when detonated at close range, even Foundation Establishment Cultivators find survival difficult.
"Damn it! Another Foundation Establishment from my Yun Family died!"
Profound Thunder Zhenren seethed with rage; Foundation Establishment Level stood as the backbone of the Yun Family, and losing one holds significant impact; he must surely provide an explanation later.
"This person is truly ruthless and cunning; no wonder you want to remove him so badly."
Yun Lingshu showed caution for the first time, "This person is also a Talisman Master, a real nuisance."
"Just a coward, hiding in dark corners, neglecting even his ancestral spirits — truly contemptible!"
Profound Thunder Zhenren sneered, "Now get back and continue the search; confirm the traces they left for me and use them for tracking later."
The person rushed back to continue, being much more careful this time.
Profound Thunder Zhenren had nowhere to vent his anger, directing his gaze at the spiritual plaques, "Since he ignores these plaques, I’ll smash them for him!"
As he spoke, lightning sparked around him, and he raised a hand to strike.
Yun Lingshu remained silent, but upon seeing the Thunder Palm Power rebuffed before touching the plaques, her pupils constricted, "Not good!"
Amid the vibrations, a circle of golden light released inside the shrine; it had no attack power but enveloped them nonetheless.
"It’s a Trapping Array!"
Yun Lingshu’s alert dispersed somewhat; she only knew how to use the Array-Breaking Shuttle and wasn’t skilled with arrays, having failed to notice the hidden trap array earlier.
Profound Thunder Zhenren turned livid with rage, his trembling hand now quivering.
"Damn it, played again — argh!"
He shouted in fury; the arrays here were hidden-triggered.
If he hadn’t attacked the plaques, it wouldn’t have activated.
Shen Wang clearly anticipated he would vent his anger on these plaques and purposely set him up.
"Another Top-grade Array — though small in scope, its confinement capacity is quite strong; fortunately, I have the Array-Breaking Shuttle and will be out soon."
Yun Lingshu activated the Array-Breaking Shuttle again, starting to disrupt the array at the exit.
As they broke the array, another loud noise erupted outside — this time, no report followed, and thankfully, no lives were lost.
The shrine’s trapping array was something Shen Wang hastily modified from the original defense array, so its power was indeed minimal; Yun Lingshu opened a gap with the Array-Breaking Shuttle within a stick of incense’s time.
Profound Thunder Zhenren’s face remained dark, "This scoundrel doesn’t want me to destroy the shrine; well, I insist on destroying it."
He issued a palm strike, blocked by the remaining array; just as he intended to continue, rain suddenly began to fall outside.
With summer upon them, the rain quickly intensified, and Yun Lingshu noticed, advising, "Profound Thunder Zhenren, best not vent on these inanimate objects; the rain will wash away traces on the ground, and if we don’t track soon, we’ll be searching across vast crowds or deep forests for people."
Profound Thunder Zhenren gritted his teeth at the darkening sky, "Why! Even the heavens help that scoundrel!"