Cultivators Are So Weak in This World-Chapter 118 - 110 Search Below

Zhang Rongfang looked up and saw a firework resembling a sky full of stars slowly burst and then gradually fade away over the east side of Tan Yang.

"Isn’t this... the distress signal from Dayang Temple?" He wasn’t very familiar with Dayang Temple.

He only knew that in the whole of Tan Yang, Dayang Temple was the top-ranked local force, with many experts who were mostly reserved, usually chanting and worshiping Buddha, rarely involved in disputes.

Now, however, he didn’t know what had happened.

’But whatever it is, it has nothing to do with me.’

Unbothered, Zhang Rongfang practiced all the moves from the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual, then familiarized himself with Eagle Claw Skill, Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill, and so on.

Finally, he washed up and went to sleep.

The intelligence from the Golden Wing Pavilion came quickly; by the next night, it was in Zhang Rongfang’s hands.

On it was an address, the location of the tomb from which the artifact fragment was unearthed.

’Chicken Neck Forest in Bigfoot Village, Tongxu County.’

Taking advantage of the new deputy team leader’s arrival, Zhang Rongfang immediately took a leave and headed straight for the address.

He was now extremely curious about this artifact.

This item could affect the status bar and cause it to react. Surely, there are deep secrets hidden behind it.

And also the Great Spirit.

In such a vast territory, managing such an extensive expanse should be quite inconvenient with the current level of ancient technology.

Even with carrier pigeons or similar communication methods, there is a limit to the distance they can cover.

But these secrets, perhaps in the future when he’s in a higher position, he can gradually understand.

The key now is, during the time he applies to transfer back to the Dao Palace, to quickly figure out the secret of the status bar.

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*

*

Tongxu County is one of the seven counties around Tan Yang.

Previously, due to uprising and chaos, the official roads were blocked and impassable.

Now that the rebel army has fled, the roads are open again. Zhang Rongfang found the county seat in just one day.

He did not stay long in the county; after inquiring about the specific address, he hired a local guide and headed straight for the destination.

In this era, without smartphone maps or GPS, the only thing one could rely on was a local guide.

After two days of searching.

Finally, near Bigfoot Village, in a desolate mountain area, Zhang Rongfang found the so-called Chicken Neck Forest.

The Chicken Neck Forest was named for its shape; from above, it resembled a long, thin chicken neck.

The forest was dense with shade, sunlight unable to penetrate directly.

There were numerous chaotic graveyards inside, with many deserted graves having been opened by tomb raiders.

"Young master, this is the Chicken Neck Forest you’re looking for. Previously, many people came here to dig, saying there were antiques, and took many things away.

Now, fewer people dig, and it’s become quiet. Probably everything has been excavated."

The guide was a dark-skinned farmer, quite bold.

After leading Zhang Rongfang to the edge of the forest, he also stopped.

"I won’t go in, young master. You’re skilled and brave; you can go in and see for yourself. But I must remind you, at night, there are wolves, so remember to come out before dark. I live in Bigfoot Village; if you need me, just ask for Zhao Baidou!"

"Thank you." Zhang Rongfang nodded and handed over the agreed upon five taels of silver coins.

Zhao Baidou was instantly filled with joy, counting the money after taking it.

"By the way, young master, occasionally people enter and leave this forest as well; they’re those tough-looking folks, ah... I don’t mean to imply anything about you! Just be extra careful."

"Understood." Zhang Rongfang replied, "You can go back now."

He picked up his bag filled with provisions and strode into the forest.

Most of the trees in Chicken Neck Forest were cypresses.

The layers of cypress branches and leaves were like a densely woven network, overlapping one another, blocking out the already dim sunlight.

Even before entering, Zhang Rongfang could smell a faint scent of cypress.

In the forest, mounds of graves rose and fell; some were intact, others were split open, with coffins broken into pieces, scattered about.

Most of the grave mounds lacked tombstones.

In the dark forest, fragmented light filtered down, falling on shrubs, grasses, and grave mounds, making the scene appear unusually chaotic.

Zhang Rongfang tightened his cloak, tapped his toes on the ground, and quickly traversed the grave mounds.

According to the intelligence obtained earlier, the place where the artifact was excavated was in the deepest part of Chicken Neck Forest, in the large pit of an ancient tomb.

Passing through the mounds, a large, sunken pit soon appeared in Zhang Rongfang’s view ahead.

"Stop!" Suddenly, a rough voice came from the side.

A short, stocky man about one meter seventy, holding an iron fork and wearing light leather armor, emerged from behind a large tree.

"This area is off-limits, move away." The man demanded harshly towards Zhang Rongfang.

"Off-limits?" Zhang Rongfang sized up the man, judging by his gear, he didn’t seem like a government official.

Officials often had a distinctive aura about them, a natural superiority from being an official, looking down on others.

In Great Spirit, the Spirit Court was the strongest, and no force or individual could defy its will.

So generally, officials developed this aura over time.

But this person lacked it.

Instead, from his attire, he appeared more like a bodyguard for a wealthy merchant.

Officials preferred wearing leather armor with iron plate layers for high defense.

They also particularly liked helmets and gloves.

Yet this man had only a leather armor worth something, everything else was worn and old.

On his lower back, one could faintly see various items like a compass, grappling hook, and a filtering mask.

Clearly, this was a tomb raider.

"Who are you? Is this tomb pit yours?" Zhang Rongfang frowned.

"Neither mine nor yours." The man chuckled twice. "But we claimed this place first. So..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhang Rongfang ignoring him, continuing towards the tomb pit.

"Huh!? You can’t understand what I’m saying, can you?"

He picked up the iron fork and thrust it towards Zhang Rongfang’s thigh.

Unexpectedly, when the fork was only halfway, Zhang Rongfang’s right hand shot out, and with lightning speed, he struck the man’s chest squarely with his palm.

Bam!!

The man felt a sharp pain in his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed on the spot, unconscious.

Zhang Rongfang withdrew his hand, calmly stepped over the man, and walked towards the burial pit.

Suddenly, he paused, took out a black cloth from his pocket, and tied it on his face.

Then he continued forward.

Not far ahead, a tall and thin man walked out from the edge of the burial pit, holding something like a long clamp.

The man saw him and looked slightly surprised.

"Isn’t it supposed to be Huang Chong guarding today? Who are you!?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Rongfang charged forward abruptly, brushing past him in a flash.

Thud!

The man’s body was like it had been hit by a truck, flying sideways and crashing into a tree trunk with a crack, a sound of bones breaking.

He didn’t even groan before passing out.

As for whether he was dead or not, no one cared. Just a few tomb robbers.

Zhang Rongfang withdrew his hand, calmly came to the edge of the burial pit, and looked down.

The entire burial pit was over twenty meters wide, with several entrance holes already dug out on the surface.

Immediately, he followed an opened entrance and walked down.

The tomb was not large, consisting of only three stone chambers and two stone halls.

In the stone hall, there were several stone statues of varying sizes.

The ground was littered with scattered debris, much of it a chaotic mess of fragments.

Zhang Rongfang circled around quickly and found a spot against the wall in a stone hall.

There were traces of a statue having been placed there.

Searching the ground around this spot, he soon found two bronze-colored parts mixed with stones, dust, and dirt, fallen to the floor.

There were three parts in total, which, when pieced together, formed a complete statue head.

"Done, I didn’t expect it to be this smooth."

He carefully identified the statue head, which, along with the broken gold beads, perfectly matched the missing part from before.

The statue head hadn’t been taken away because a large black clay block had hardened on its surface, covering most of it.

Making it nearly unrecognizable.

Zhang Rongfang had been searching for a long time before he noticed the clue.

The gold bead fragments had even fallen into a gap in the stone slabs on the floor.

After taking out the three fragments, Zhang Rongfang carefully searched the surroundings again, confirming there were no omissions, before heading out.

Halfway there, his gaze swept over and he noticed what seemed to be an inscription on the inner wall of the stone hall.

"What’s this?"

He stopped and leaned closer for a detailed look.

The inscription’s script had slight differences from the current Spiritual Text, seemingly of an ancient style.

Many parts were seemingly destroyed, leaving no beginning or end.

The remaining visible parts, from top to bottom, read:

’Three lights dew, destined to break limits.’

’Yin and yang exchange, night dragon swallows sky.’

’Eight directions worship, four seas converging town.’

’Great way unifies, nine energies converge.’

This seemed to be a remnant of a god worship text.

However....

A new prompt appeared on the attribute panel.

’Intuition warning: There seems to be a special compartment beneath this inscription. Perhaps it should....’

Zhang Rongfang already felt something was off. With the attribute panel making it more explicit, he immediately understood that the location of this inscription had subtle differences from the rest of the walls.

Without delay, he picked up a rock and began striking the inscription.

Soon, the wall cracked, and a pale yellow cloth slipped out from within.

Zhang Rongfang didn’t reach out to pick it up but used his boot to gently lift the yellow cloth.

The cloth was covered in densely written small characters.

The script seemed to be in another special language, completely unfamiliar to Zhang Rongfang.

He gingerly unfolded it with his toe, ready to take a closer look.

"Who would’ve thought staying here would yield such a harvest?"

Suddenly, a female voice echoed from the entrance of the tomb.

Zhang Rongfang looked up and in that direction.

A black-haired woman in dark green armor stood at the entrance, holding a short sword, looking at him with delight.

"I thought staying guard would be a tedious chore, but it turns out to be a pleasant surprise! Truly a heaven-sent boon."

The woman playfully twirled the short sword in her hand, her gaze fixing on Zhang Rongfang.

"To discover such a hidden setup, you must be a residue of the secret sect! Unfortunately.... meeting me, your luck has run out..."

Swish!

Before she finished speaking, she charged forward, her boots pounding the ground three times.

The short sword cut a brilliant arc through the air, thrusting towards Zhang Rongfang’s chest.

Boom!!

The short sword went flying, and the woman’s body flew like a tattered sack, crashing into the stone wall and rolling to the ground, unconscious.

Zhang Rongfang expressionlessly retracted his leg, picked up the yellow cloth through his sleeve, approached, and lifted the woman with one hand, leaving the tomb.