After many twists and turns, the group finally arrived at the underground palace and beheld the enormous, golden-bronze coffin gleaming before them.
Bright bronze coffin!
All the cultivators present gazed intently, and the breaths of Mr. Hui’s group grew rapid. Even Mo Hua’s eyes brightened.
Needless to say, merely this gigantic third-grade bright bronze coffin was worth a considerable amount of Spirit Stones.
"Indeed, it is a grand burial!" Mr. Hui’s eyes were filled with excitement.
Yet, at the same time, a grey-blue flicker appeared in his eyes, as if an evil thought was gradually burgeoning like a maggot.
And no one noticed.
Except for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua’s brows furrowed slightly.
This implies that the trigger, growth, and expansion of evil thoughts require human "desires"?
Once a person harbors desire and greed arises, the evil thoughts seize the opportunity to infiltrate and proliferate?
The bright bronze coffin had ignited Mr. Hui’s desires. Correspondingly, Mr. Hui’s Taoist Heart began to falter, developing cracks, and was invaded by external evil.
Mo Hua silently noted this point.
Having found the coffin, the group no longer hesitated, proceeding along the nearby stone path towards the bright bronze coffin in the distant large pit.
Generally speaking, the deeper into a tomb one goes, the more danger there is; the ultimate reach is particularly perilous.
Therefore, along the way, everyone became increasingly cautious, barely daring to breathe.
Unexpectedly, the depths of the underground palace turned out to be unusually quiet, with no traps or corpse monster lurking.
Thus, smoothly, the group reached the edge of the pit.
The gigantic bright bronze coffin was now right before their eyes.
Gazing upon the magnificent, dazzling coffin.
Not just Mr. Hui, even Mo Hua felt a surge of heat within.
He was eager to know just what was concealed within this grand and luxurious bronze coffin, and how much treasure it held...
Among the crowd, the black-robed elder spoke:
"Mr. Hui, please open the coffin."
"No rush, let me take a look first." Mr. Hui replied.
Sharpening the axe does not delay the work of chopping firewood; caution is critical at the final moment.
Mr. Hui circled the pit over halfway, examining the coffin from various angles and positions. However, the more he looked, the more grave his expression became, turning ultimately exceedingly somber.
"The bronze is ancient, outwardly bright, with dark red and yellow; the coffin seams are damp, exterior patterns distorted...this indicates excessive Yin energy, seeping outward, and even leading to blood rust..."
"There might be a significant entity inside this coffin..."
"A significant entity?" Mo Hua was taken aback.
"Evil objects like corpse monsters or ghostly spirits..." Mr. Hui said.
Stone glanced around, frowning: "No wonder, the depths of the underground palace show no traps or killing formations; the most dangerous element, it turns out, is this coffin itself."
"What now?" Stone asked.
"What else can we do? We can’t just make a retreat." Rat interjected, "It’s long been said, wealth is found amidst danger. Mr. Hui, please open the coffin."
"Hmm." Mr. Hui nodded.
Having been in this line of work for many years, he was an experienced grave robber, having faced numerous tumultuous situations.
At this point, even if there was something astonishing inside the coffin, he wouldn’t be satisfied without at least taking a look.
Moreover, judging by the guests’ words, this coffin held significant intrigue.
"The task of opening the coffin is in your hands, Mr. Hui." The black-robed elder rasped.
"Naturally," Mr. Hui nodded, "this is our specialty, but since the coffin is so large, we’re short-handed and could use some assistance from you esteemed guests."
The black-robed elder nodded.
Then Mr. Hui prepared to open the coffin.
Before opening the coffin, he retrieved from his storage bag a two-foot-tall, pitch-black statue of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and placed it on the ground.
The face of the Ksitigarbha statue was strangely gloomy.
On its left and right sides were the words: "Life and death are destined; wealth and honor are from heaven."
Mr. Hui took out three sticks of incense, placed them before the statue, held a cup of yellow wine, and kowtowed, saying:
"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, bless us, open the coffin, gain wealth, and avoid all taboos."
After speaking, he poured the yellow wine onto the ground.
Seeing the Ksitigarbha statue, Mo Hua’s pupils trembled slightly, but before he could take a closer look, Mr. Hui had already finished the ritual and put the statue away.
Once done, he officially started opening the coffin.
But when it came to opening the coffin, Mo Hua couldn’t be of much help.
This bronze coffin was a third-grade item, with all its formations and mechanisms being third-grade, beyond the current capabilities of a Foundation Building Cultivator and a second-grade Formation Master like him.
While a second-grade Earth Formation, even if unfamiliar, could be learned and improvised.
But third-grade formations, involving more profound formation principles, were genuinely beyond his current learning capacity.
Thus, while everyone was bustling about, Mo Hua could only find a step on the corridor at the edge of the pit, sitting and watching from afar as Mr. Hui and his group opened the coffin.
Mr. Hui took out a third-grade Array Plate, placing it at the four corners of the bronze coffin.
The Array Plate appeared to be a family heirloom, its formations beyond Mo Hua’s current comprehension, though he suspected it was used for suppressing evil and binding zombies.
Additionally, there was a yellow talisman.
This yellow talisman wasn’t a paper talisman but a Jade Talisman made of yellow jade, with Mr. Hui securing it on the bronze coffin.
There was Chicken Blood Wine poured around it.
This chicken blood, from an unknown breed of Spirit Beast, full of vigorous Blood Qi, appeared to cleanse Yin and suppress evil around the bronze coffin.
Moreover, there were chalk lines, Spiritual Rice Water...
Indeed, many assorted items were involved, the procedures quite complex.