Chapter 1862: Kong Shi's Corpse

Ignoring Yun Xiang, who was on the verge of collapse, Zheng Yang's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. He circled the stone tablet and looked at Wei Ruyan not far away.

She nodded, a look of certainty in her eyes.

Without further hesitation, Zheng Yang took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, and with a sudden point of his spear, struck.

Whoosh!

Ripples appeared in the air as the spear struck a pattern in the center of the stone tablet.

Crack!

The sound of the formation tearing rang out, followed by the stone tablet shaking. A huge crack appeared in the ground, revealing a narrow, downward-spiraling passage before them.

Inside the passage, there was no musty smell; instead, it gave off an ancient and eerie feeling, as if leading to the underworld.

"Let's go down and take a look!"

Zheng Yang, bold with skill, lifted his foot and walked downward.

Wei Ruyan followed closely behind.

Inside the passage, it was dark and damp, with the ancient saint power they had felt earlier spreading. The walls were carved with special runes, locking these energies firmly within. Unless one's cultivation reached the level of an ancient saint, standing on the ground above, one could not detect it at all.

"This should have been built in the era of Master Kong..."

Wei Ruyan spoke as she observed.

Although it looked intact and no different from new, the construction techniques and the types of runes on the walls clearly bore traces of the ancient era.

It must have been built in that era.

Walking downward while observing, they moved very quickly. After nearly half an hour, descending dozens of kilometers, a huge stone chamber appeared before them.

Zheng Yang held his long spear across his chest, on guard against any sudden changes, while flicking his fingers to embed several luminous pearls into the walls, illuminating the surroundings brightly.

It was an underground palace over forty meters in diameter, with a stone coffin carved from bluestone lying horizontally in the center, exuding an ancient aura.

"Just a stone coffin?"

Wei Ruyan was full of doubt.

A tunnel stretching dozens of kilometers downward, sealed with steles that suppressed all aura—just to lock away a single stone coffin?

That seemed rather strange!

Without further ado, Zheng Yang slowly approached. Just as he was about to use his long spear to break open the coffin, his hand suddenly trembled—a tremendous suction force emerged from within the coffin.

Hum!

The long spear came before the stone coffin, gently swayed, and then bowed down.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ruyan hurried to his side, her whole body radiating poisonous miasma, as if she would strike at the slightest sign of trouble.

"My spear is being disturbed by the spear intent. It seems there is a deeper true interpretation of the spear way inside the coffin!" Zheng Yang said.

Although his spear was not an ancient saint's supreme treasure, tempered by his own spear intent, it would not be much weaker when facing a true ancient saint's supreme treasure. Even so, it was still being drawn toward the coffin, clearly indicating that there was an even more powerful true interpretation inside, causing the spear in his hand to involuntarily submit, without even the ability to resist.

"Even more powerful than your spear technique?" Wei Ruyan could not believe it.

This senior apprentice brother of hers, inheriting from their master, had long reached the level of true interpretation in his understanding of the spear technique, considered second only to one in the current era. Yet even so, he could not withstand it. What was inside the coffin that possessed such formidable power?

"No matter what it is, we must open it and see to find out... Junior sister, in a moment, let us strike together and force it open!"

Zheng Yang said.

Wei Ruyan nodded in agreement. The two stood on the left and right sides of the stone coffin respectively.

They exchanged a glance, each giving the other a look. Zheng Yang and Wei Ruyan raised their brows simultaneously and each reached forward to grab.

Both were ancient sages of the highest level, and after more than a month of individual instruction from Zhang Xuan, their power had long since reached awe-inspiring heights. Even an ancient sage at the blood-rebirth level would find it difficult to contend with them, let alone a coffin.

Creak!

With a piercing screech, a crack appeared in the coffin, and a majestic aura shot straight into the sky, as if to shatter the underground cavern.

Zheng Yang reached out with his hand, sealing this aura to prevent any leakage, then slowly stepped forward.

The aura of an ancient sage could destroy heaven and earth; even a wisp of leakage would annihilate countless things. To them, this aura could be extinguished with a wave of the hand, but if it leaked into Tianxuan Royal City, the entire city could be directly destroyed.

Approaching, they both looked inside the stone coffin, seeing a corpse lying flat, motionless, as if asleep.

"It's the corpse of an ancient sage..."

Both of their eyebrows twitched simultaneously.

Only the corpse of an ancient sage could possess such power, remaining undecayed for ten thousand years, with features unchanged.

"This is..."

Zheng Yang carefully examined the corpse. After a moment, recalling something, his face turned pale, and he couldn't help but step back a few paces.

"What's wrong?"

Wei Ruyan asked, puzzled.

Having been together as fellow disciples for so long, she knew this guy well—always fearless and unrestrained. Why would he react like this upon seeing a corpse?

"He is... he is Ancient Sage Ran Qiu!"

Clenching his fists, Zheng Yang's body went rigid.

"Ancient Sage Ran Qiu? The number one combatant under Confucius, the founding patriarch of the War Master Hall?" Wei Ruyan was startled.

"Yes!"

Letting out a breath, Zheng Yang steadied his chaotic mind.

Ancient Sage Ran Qiu was one of the Ten Virtuous under Confucius, the most powerful ancient sage besides Confucius himself, and the founding patriarch of the War Master Hall...

When he had inherited the position of Hall Master and War Son, he had specifically knelt before a statue, which was identical to this corpse. Thus, he recognized it at a glance.

One of Confucius's most proud disciples, the second-greatest ancient sage in the world, had died here...

This was recorded in no book.

No wonder his spear had bowed directly before the coffin—Ran Qiu's weapon was a spear, and the Dragon Bone Divine Spear was forged by him.

Being able to forge such a powerful weapon, his understanding of spear techniques was unimaginable, definitely far deeper than Zheng Yang's.

"Junior Sister, I'll guard here. Go quickly and inform the teacher!"

Clenching his fists, Zheng Yang recovered and turned to instruct.

With such a powerful ancient sage corpse appearing here, given their knowledge and understanding, they were helpless. They had to find the teacher and let him decide.

"Mm!"

Wei Ruyan understood this reasoning as well. Her delicate figure flickered, and she flew straight outward.

Seeing her leave, Zheng Yang slowly circled the coffin, wanting to carefully pay respects to this predecessor who founded the War Master Hall. Suddenly, a sound of "click, click!" came from a mechanism, and then another passage slowly emerged from beneath the coffin.

Hesitating for a moment, Zheng Yang hurriedly descended into it. As soon as he entered, he heard another "creak!" and the light above him vanished.

The passage had closed in an instant.

Frowning, Zheng Yang took out a night pearl, illuminating the surroundings, and walked downward. After a few steps, another spacious hall appeared before him, with a coffin lying flat, exactly the same layout as before.

Gritting his teeth, he opened the coffin lid again, and a figure appeared before him.

Stepping forward to see the corpse's appearance clearly, Zheng Yang's scalp suddenly exploded. Involuntarily, he retreated more than ten steps, his back hitting the wall without calming down.

After who knows how long, a murmuring voice slowly emerged from his throat: "Con... Confucius?"