When Fan Li heard what the princess said, all that was left on his face was an expression of agony. Why did everyone else know there were good things in the imperial tomb, yet he himself knew nothing?
If the imperial tomb wasn't within Great Chu's borders, as a Chu official, would he not even have the qualifications to get a share?
"This is the difference due to my ancestors! It's said that after Former Qin was overthrown, Han Zu entered the Qin's capital city and made Three Chapters with the commoners, enabling the Han army to coexist peacefully with Former Qin's citizens. Han Zu thus inherited many of Former Qin's legacies."
"Yet when Overlord Xiang Yu entered Xianyang, he burnt the palaces and slaughtered the Ying clan, leaving the Qin people terrified and afraid to surrender to him."
Fan Li, inheriting all his original host's extensive knowledge, naturally understood why Great Han was so informed about Former Qin.
Other than feeling envious, jealous and hateful, all he could do was internally mock his elder sister Xiang Ning's ancestors.
As he was thinking, the group silently came to a stop.Fan Li looked around and saw a partially opened mausoleum in a hidden part of the mountains.
Enormous amounts of soil showed traces of recent digging, and Fan Li could even smell the scent of earth and plants. In front of the mausoleum's entrance even lay eleven corpses of Cao Cao's scouts!
Yet Cao Cao said, "Everyone can rest assured to go inside. All the traps, killing arrays and spell formations along the path here have already been cleared by my scouts." His words were spoken lightly, but the price for it was the deaths of all hundred scouts!
Fan Li nodded and told Fan Chun, "Personally lead a battalion to stand guard at the entrance here while I'll take the others to go down and take a look."
"How can that be?!" Fan Chun was somewhat anxious. Second brother, I must always be by your side to protect you. What if something unexpected happens..."
Fan Li waved his hand to interrupt him, "If something really happens, I'm afraid you won't be able save me even with your Divine Transformation cultivation base."
Although Fan Chun was a genius rarely seen in history in the path of martial dao, after all, he was only at the Divine Transformation realm.
If a real danger occurred, even Sage Ruler Qing Qiu couldn't protect herself. How could Fan Li expect Fan Chun to safeguard him?
Furthermore, when truly faced with such dangerous circumstances, losing one Fan clansman was always better than losing two.
Fan Li patted his brother on the shoulder. "The vigilance above ground here, I can only entrust to you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't dare go down." His reasoning was sufficient.
Indeed, Fan Chun had no rebuttal and could only reluctantly nod despite feeling extremely unwilling. Even so, he still chose the weakest battalion from his three thousand elite guards to remain on standby while handing over the rest to Fan Li.
"If any of my second brother's hair is missing when you return, then none of you should bother coming back!" Fan Chun shouted harshly after drawing his longsword.
Over two thousand officers and soldiers simultaneously knelt on the ground. "We pledge our lives!!!" The roars of the officers and soldiers were earth shaking and overwhelming.
Seeing this display, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were all inevitably moved. The same thought arose in their minds - if all of Great Chu's armies were this powerful, then who in the world would dare oppose them?
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The over two thousand strong expedition gradually explored down the tomb path. Calling it a tomb path, Fan Li instead thought of the bomb shelters he stayed at in his past life.
The tomb path extended underground for at least several kilometers. Fan Li was worried at first that over two thousand people would be too crowded, but now discovered that even if twenty thousand horsemen galloped around inside the Qin Tomb, there would still be ample space.
The slain scouts' bodies continuously appeared along their way. Since Cao Cao personally took the lead ahead of the team yet didn't order a halt, the entire squad could advance with peace of mind.
"Everyone, we've arrived at the tomb's true entrance." Hearing Cao Cao say this, Fan Li promptly walked forward to inspect.
"Lord Jin, this is the Severed Dragon Rock." Cao Cao explained.
Looking up at the boulder before his eyes, Fan Li inwardly felt speechless. The so-called Severed Dragon Rock was the protective barrier at imperial tombs and eminent monks' graves. Its descent signified the separation of the world of Yin and Yang at the tomb.
Yet the Severed Dragon Rock blocking their path now and preventing further advance of the expedition could almost be called a Severed Dragon Mountain! Nearly a hundred meters high and at least several dozen meters thick to support its weight!
The final scout, Wang Gong, had likely halted right here.
"The specifications of this Severed Dragon Rock surpass those of my Great Han's past emperors' tombs." Cao Cao stroked the rock face, unable to help sighing emotionally.
Fan Li gazed at Cao Cao with a strange expression. This fellow's understanding was also too extensive, yet it remained unclear how he came about such knowledge.
"Although my scouts were only at the Golden Core realm, they specialized at drilling through mountains and achieved effects comparable to cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm."
Under Cao Cao's guidance, everyone looked towards an indentation on the Severed Dragon Rock's surface. The indentation was two meters deep, carved open using unknown tools. But that depth was merely equivalent to stripping off the giant Severed Dragon Rock's outer skin.
"Ordinary techniques for drilling are obviously unsuitable against this Severed Dragon Rock." After Cao Cao finished speaking, his gaze landed on Princess Chang Le.
To his surprise, Fan Li discovered that Liu Bei and Sun Quan were also staring at Chang Le.
"Hehehe..." Princess Chang Le laughed with an expression that seemed to say 'of course'. She turned around and winked towards Fan Li. "When I was little, I loved playing hide and seek..."
Fan Li instantly broke out into a cold sweat. He believed her naughtiness, but what was this hide and seek? Did normal people like hiding in graves?
Could it be that Cao Cao's scouts weren't worth mentioning and Princess Chang Le was actually an expert grave robber?
"There's no need for astonishment. I was the one who taught her secret arts for cultivating inside tombs, able to speed up strengthening spiritual qi." To everyone's surprise, it was instead Qing Qiu who stepped forward and explained.
Seeing Fan Li's bewildered expression, she shook her head again, "I know your cultivation progresses slowly, but there's no need to covet my secret technique. This is an ancestral daoist art inherited in my lineage, usually only females can learn it. Of course, if you have the courage to voluntarily castrate yourself, I don't mind imparting it to you too..."
"No need, no need. Thank you for your kind intention, but I cannot accept this gift," Fan Li repeatedly shook his hand.
What kind of joke was this? No matter how precious or rare, there was no cultivation technique worthy of him sacrificing his manhood!
However... Qing Qiu's arts of tomb cultivation?
Fan Li vaguely recalled something. In a novel he read in his past life, the nine-tailed fox's cultivation seemed to have originated in Xuanyuan Tomb? But judging from Qing Qiu's unconcerned, indifferent appearance lacking charm or allure, she probably wasn't related at all to those bewitching, kingdom-toppling nine-tailed foxes, right?
"Since I cannot trouble the Sage Ruler over such trivial matters, it falls to me to put in some effort," Princess Chang Le smiled radiantly as she placed her palm on the Severed Dragon Rock's surface.
Everyone witnessed a gentle green glow instantly emanate from her right hand as it sank into the rock's interior. Then, an inconceivable sight occurred before their eyes. There was utterly no need for any mountain drilling at all!
Despite towering over a hundred meters, the colossal Severed Dragon Rock appeared to deflate like a popped balloon, softly caving in and sinking.
In merely the time an incense stick takes to burn, the Severed Dragon Rock obstructing the end of the tomb path had become just a two meter tall "surface layer" of earth.
Fan Li was unable to restrain the astonishment Is this still the secret technique of a fox spirit?
No wonder in the novels of Sealing Gods, the nine-tailed fox originally practiced in the Xuanyuan Tomb. If they can excavate even the Xuanyuan Tomb, let alone the mere tomb of the Emperor at the end of the Qin Dynasty?!