"Shedding Skin?!"

Upon hearing Shen Shu's words, Xu Qi'an was stunned for a moment, then thought of many details.

From the murals, it was clear that the owner of this tomb was the Taoist, but the yellow-robed corpse that came out of the bronze coffin was a subordinate.

Wearing a yellow robe... how could a subordinate dare to wear a yellow robe? This is very suspicious.

In addition, there were many burn marks on the corpse, consistent with the experience of being struck by lightning.

After Shen Shu revealed the identity of the corpse, all these details were explained.

Is this body the old body left behind by the Taoist's failed Tribulation Crossing? Then what about the Taoist himself? Did he succeed in Tribulation Crossing and enter the first-grade realm, or did he take over another body... Xu Qi'an's thoughts uncontrollably turned to the Taoist himself.

Then he thought of something wrong. Taoist Master Jin Lian said that during the second-grade Tribulation Crossing period, success would lead to becoming a young model, no, becoming a land immortal.

Failure would turn to ashes, but this Taoist was able to leave behind a body. Did he avoid the fate of turning to ashes through some method? Or did Taoist Master Jin Lian have a low position and limited knowledge, exaggerating the Heavenly Tribulation.

"Are you trying to extract information from my lord?" The ugly and grotesque face of the corpse showed a disdainful expression.

The language of the corpse was very similar to the current official language of the Great Feng, with subtle differences in pronunciation.

The human race has always occupied the Central Plains since ancient times, and although there have been historical gaps, the human race has always existed, and the language has not changed much.

This guy is very loyal to his predecessor... well, after all, he is the predecessor and the current one in terms of the physical body. Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

Shen Shu gently said, "In the Taoist sect, sword cultivation requires borrowing spiritual energy to cultivate. Even if you don't say it, this monk can guess the origin of that Taoist."

The Human Sect!

That Taoist came from the Human Sect... no wonder the content of the murals had such a strong sense of déjà vu. This can explain why the Taoist wanted to kill the emperor and usurp the throne... Ah, it's a pity that Luo Yuheng is not a man, otherwise... danger, Emperor Yuan Jing, danger!

Xu Qi'an thought somewhat regretfully.

The corpse fell silent for a moment, without refuting, "With your status, it is indeed not difficult to see."

Shen Shu nodded, "Don't you want to know the whereabouts of your lord? We can exchange information."

This time, the corpse did not hesitate, "Alright!"

The skill of negotiation is to seize what the other party wants. As long as there is a demand, there is room for negotiation... Xu Qi'an enriched his inner drama while listening to the conversation between the two big shots.

"What era did he live in?" Shen Shu asked.

"The Great Liang Dynasty."

"The Great Liang Dynasty... do you know?"

Shen Shu frowned, and the last sentence was a question to Xu Qi'an.

Then he answered his own question, and Xu Qi'an's voice came from his mouth, "Master, I am just a crude warrior, not a disciple of Confucianism. I haven't even read the history books of the Great Feng..."

I'm just a warrior, you can't make me bear the pressure that this system shouldn't have... Xu Qi'an humorously complained.

"From the looks of you, it seems that I have been asleep for too long," the corpse's throat uttered a hoarse and low voice, making people feel that his voice had rotted away.

During the Great Liang Dynasty, tens of thousands of years after the extinction of the gods and demons, the various countries were divided. The blood descendants of the gods and demons still ravaged the land of the Nine Provinces. However, it was already a declining trend and could not become a great power.

In addition to the human race, the power of the demon race is not to be underestimated. However, just as the human race is divided into heroes, the demon race is also based on tribes and groups. Although they are united, they are generally like a pile of loose sand. Only when they engage in a great war with the human race will the various demon tribes unite.

After the gods and demons, it was the struggle for hegemony between the human race and the demon race... How long did this period of history last? Why do I feel that the history of this world is so chaotic, with too many unverifiable past events?

Chu Yuanzhen, a top scholar like him, also does not recognize the clothing in the murals.

This world needs a Sima Qian... Xu Qi'an muttered to himself in his heart.

"How did the gods and demons perish?" Xu Qi'an forcefully took over the "account" and temporarily regained ownership.

The corpse shook its head.

Well, there are too many historical gaps, and a complete cultural system has not been formed. These things will probably never come to light, unless I go to the extreme abyss in the Southern Frontier to ask the God of Poison... Xu Qi'an continued to ask, "What level were the gods and demons?"

"Level?" the corpse asked in return.

Oh, the current levels from ninth to first were concepts proposed by the Confucian saints and personally divided. The owner of this tomb was in an earlier era... Xu Qi'an suddenly realized and changed his question, "What strength did they possess?"

"Your question is too vague, I can't answer it. The strength of each god and demon is different, and cannot be generalized. The most powerful gods and demons are immortal and have the power to destroy the heavens and the earth."

So, can I understand that the most powerful gods and demons have strength beyond the levels? Xu Qi'an fell into contemplation and did not speak.

"In your era, how many powerful beings with the highest level of gods and demons existed?" Shen Shu took over the "account" smoothly.

"The God of Poison in the Southern Frontier," the corpse replied.

Upon hearing this, Shen Shu frowned, "What about the Taoist God?"

Xu Qi'an also realized that something was wrong. How could there be no existence beyond the levels? The fact that the corpse did not know about the Buddha means that in his era, the Buddha had not yet achieved enlightenment.

The God of Witchcraft was the same.

However, since there was a Taoist who usurped the throne, it must have been after the Taoist God, after all, the Taoist God was the founder of the Taoist sect.

The Taoist God is an existence beyond the levels.

"What Taoist God?" the corpse asked in a puzzled tone.He... Xu Qi'an was speechless for a moment, his mind in a state of confusion.

He didn't know about the Taoist God? How was that possible?

A cultivator who didn't even know about the Taoist God, how was that possible?

"You don't recognize the founding ancestor of the Daoist sect?" Xu Qi'an asked in a low voice.

"The Daoist sect?" The mummy thought for a moment and said, "I have never heard of it. It should be a force that appeared after the Great Liang Dynasty."

He had never heard of the Daoist sect, but the figure in the mural did exist... which meant that the concept of the Daoist sect might not have existed at that time?

But it was unreasonable that he had never heard of the Taoist God.

Xu Qi'an immediately thought of Wei Yuan's description of the martial system. It did not come into being overnight, but was developed by generations of martial artists, relying on their own wisdom and talent, constantly exploring and creating. After endless years, it finally formed the current martial system.

Was it possible that the Taoist God was not the founder of the Daoist sect, and there was a general system at that time that everyone was following? The Taoist God then became the culmination of this system, successfully surpassing the ranks and becoming a divine-level being.

And then the Daoist sect was established?

I remember reading in the archives about the three sects of the Daoist sect, which recorded that the birth date of the Taoist God was unknown and could not be verified... This fits the phenomenon of historical discontinuity.

Unfortunately, at that time there was no Confucianism, and no one would write books. It was difficult to verify the hypothesis about the Taoist God being the culmination of the system. Xu Qi'an thought regretfully, and heard Shen Shu say:

"Tell me about yourself."

"After the lord failed to cross the tribulation, his Yang spirit shed his old body. He enlightened the residual soul in the old body and collected the wandering souls in the world to complete the residual soul. So I was born.

"Later, he built this great tomb and entrusted me with the imperial seal that gathered the fortune of the Great Liang. He asked me to take good care of it, and one day he would come to take it back. But countless years passed, and he never returned until you entered the tomb."

The mummy looked at Xu Qi'an, with a hint of anger in his eyes. "The fortune on your body is exactly the same as that of the lord at that time, so I mistook you for him."

"Isn't every emperor endowed with fortune?" Xu Qi'an asked.

The mummy sneered, "If I knew, I wouldn't have made a mistake."

Shen Shu's voice came from Xu Qi'an's mouth, "The emperor bears the fortune, but the fortune does not belong to him, it belongs to the dynasty. Therefore, the emperor can be replaced.

"You are different. The fortune you bear has been refined and belongs only to you. That Daoist must be the same, so he mistook you for a Daoist."

Refined fortune... Xu Qi'an's heart sank.

After answering Xu Qi'an's questions, Shen Shu continued, "The orthodox lineage of the human race is the Great Feng Dynasty, which is probably more than ten thousand years away from your time.

"As for the whereabouts of your lord, I can tell you that after the Great Liang, there were beings with the pinnacle of divine and demonic status, such as the God of Poison, the God of Witchcraft, the Buddha, the Taoist God, and the sage of Confucianism.

"Among them, the sage of Confucianism perished, the Taoist God disappeared after merging with the Three Purities. As for the others, heh, they all had some problems."

This involves a point that I have always been unable to understand. How could the sage of Confucianism have only lived for 82 years? And what does it mean that the others all had some problems?

This sentence is terrifying when you think about it... Xu Qi'an felt that his brain was a bit overwhelmed, with too much, too diverse, and too high-end information to absorb.

Forcing himself to analyze it made his head ache.

"Is your lord among them? You can think about it yourself. If not, then he has either perished or is still accumulating power. If he is, why hasn't he come back to find you? Heh, even I don't know."

The mummy stared at him and asked, "Is your lord not among them?"

Shen Shu shook his head, and then said, "I'll give you two choices. One, I will destroy you now. Two, you stay in the tomb and continue to wait, but this time, you cannot sleep again, and you will endure loneliness and solitude without end."

"I... I choose to continue waiting. This is my mission," the mummy said softly.

"It is also the purpose of my existence."

What a good little mummy... Xu Qi'an was somewhat moved, and then heard Shen Shu say, "Within ten years, he will return your fortune to you."

"Okay," the mummy nodded.

...whatareyoudoing? Xu Qi'an's face suddenly froze.

At this moment, he heard strange footsteps, the sound of the footsteps landing with different weights, as if the person coming was a cripple.

"Someone is coming," Shen Shu frowned and said in a deep voice, "I need to continue sleeping, otherwise I won't be able to control my desire to devour.

"Don't worry about me, the more fortune you absorb, the better it is for me."

The voice gradually became inaudible and disappeared.

The light and heavy footsteps approached, and the main tomb entrance, which had long since turned into ruins, slowly revealed a disheveled head, cautiously peering inside.

A quick look at "pawread.com" will leave you more fulfilled.

"What are you looking at!" Xu Qi'an shouted.

She was startled, her head shrinking back quickly. After a few seconds, her head peeked out again, very cautiously.

This time, Xu Qi'an was right in front of her.

Zhong Li was so scared that she sat down on the ground.

Xu Qi'an knew that she didn't dare to use her aura-reading technique, so he deliberately frightened her, saying in a sinister tone, "I happen to be hungry, and the little girl has tender skin and flesh, hehehe..."

Zhong Li shuddered and crawled back with one leg, like a frightened little rabbit.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Xu Qi'an frowned and asked in a normal tone.

Zhong Li looked up, her eyes hidden in her hair, staring at him for a moment. "You, you're not dead, you haven't been possessed..."

There was a hint of excitement in her tone."I have great fortune protecting me; I can't die," Xu Qi'an stared at her legs. "Why did you come back?"

"I came back for you," Zhong Li said, then lowered her head in distress, "I broke my leg on the way here because of a stone."

.........What else can I say? This is just basic fortune-teller behavior!

After a few seconds of silence, Xu Qi'an said, "Alright, then let's go back together."

Zhong Li breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have avoided a scolding.

Thus, she limped along behind Xu Qi'an, making their way back together. Her leg was twisted, and fresh crimson blood seeped through her trouser leg.

In her efforts to keep up with Xu Qi'an, she had to hop along, which only worsened her injury.

Suddenly, Xu Qi'an stopped and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Mhm..." she replied softly.

"This is the price of being brainless," Xu Qi'an cursed, then turned back and squatted down, "I'll carry you out."

Zhong Li shuffled over, opening her arms to embrace him, but Xu Qi'an suddenly stood up, and his head "bang" hit her chin, causing her to cry out in pain and fall backward.

This is the end... Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

He picked up his pitiful fifth junior sister horizontally, and while walking out, he guiltily explained, "I was thinking, if I carried you on my back, a stone might fall and smash your head."

Zhong Li's tongue was injured, making her speech unclear, "It's not your fault..."

Xu Qi'an nodded, "That's why I suddenly stood up, planning to hold you."

Zhong Li: "It's just my bad luck..."

Xu Qi'an chuckled, "You really are unlucky."

Zhong Li buried her face in shame in the crook of his arm.

"I've dealt with the corpses in the tomb. I dared to stay because I had a backup plan. I have my ways, but you don't, don't you realize how unlucky you are?"

Xu Qi'an brought the conversation back, admonishing her, "Next time something like this happens, just worry about escaping yourself. Don't end up dying before me if I don't."

"I... I was worried about you," she said.

"Get lost, you're not my wife, why worry unnecessarily," Xu Qi'an spat.

I'm the one who's going to be a prince consort.

..........

PS: While writing, I suddenly thought of a bug: the language barrier.

So I did some research and found out that the official language during the Tang and Song dynasties was the Shaanxi dialect. Throughout the dynasties, the official language might change with the capital, but language has always been there. And the changes aren't too drastic unless the people of a certain region die out, only then would their language disappear.

So I cleverly fixed this bug.

Also, this chapter is all about the essentials, written with deep thought, so typing it out was very slow.