AZI Volume 4 Chapter 21

"…!"

"…!"

As soon as the dynamite had gone off, everyone that is pressed against the tower shield feels as if they had just been hit by a small mountain—despite having shared the burden together as a group.

"Th-The ground…!"

"Shit!"

*Kakakakaka!!!!!* without waiting for them to recover from their state of shock, the ground beneath them gives way, as cracks spread from the center of the vicinity to their direction, and momentarily—

"Uh…!"

The sensation of free falling through the air is experienced by everyone, as they drop downwards.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* with a dumbfound look on his face, Wang Bei Mu watches, as pieces of this treasury's ceiling come crashing down from above.

(Th-This… This makes no sense! How could something that small contain so much power?! That was almost equal to a Foundation Establishment realm practitioner's fully loaded strike!)

Even now, Wang Bei Mu finds it difficult to believe that such a tiny object had been the cause of all this destruction.

Picking himself off the ground, Ye Chen asks—

"Ugh… Everyone alive?"

"Barely…"

"Surnamed Long, you…- What sort of dynamite are those?"

As everyone brushes off the pieces of rubble and dust that are pressed on top of them, eight figures rise to a stand inside of the billowing dust cloud.

"…"

Being the first to emerge from the dust cloud, Shao Tianming looks over to the tower shield in his hand—or rather, what remains of it.

"…"

Shaking his head at the sight of the badly deformed tower shield, Shao Tianming tosses it aside before turning his attention to the treasury.

"…"

Seeing the number of spoils there is to be had, Wang Yongning's eyes give off a sharp gleam.

"This is all…? How much would all this be worth at an auction?"

Towards Yu Ji's question, Li Xue replies—

"Let's just focus on finding the exit first."

"Agreed."

As Ye Chen agrees to this, Qing Yue stealthily stuffs a few items into her Summoning Pouch, while Wang Yongning remarks—

"Those caskets, I guess—the people who once lived here, they used this place as both a treasury, and an offering ground?"

Taking a step forward, Wang Yongning picks up a beautiful porcelain vase.

Emerging from the dust clouds with Tian Cheng beside him, Long Hua says—

"Shouldn't you be paying respects to your ancestor first, knock-off Immortal?"

"The hell are you…-?"

Looking in the direction that Long Hua is gesturing at, Wang Yongning sees the casket that contains Wang Bei Mu, to which, the latter replies—

"…Real funny. In any case, I don't recall having an ancestor in the outer domain."

As the group went about their own business, Wang Bei Mu begins to think about how he should deal with this situation, which has gone completely astray from what he had envisioned.

(Dammit! That bastard with the fishing rod, is he sane?! What kind of lunatic would think to use such a dangerous weapon inside such a small space?! No… That's not important right now; what's important is how…)

Weaving a story together in his head, Wang Bei Mu projects his voice outwards through his divine senses, and asks—

"Who are you people, and what intentions do you have for coming here to Myriad Tribe City?"

Simultaneously, everyone turns their head in the direction of Wang Bei Mu's casket.

"…"

Realizing that this place might just be haunted, Qing Yue quietly places the bronze cups—in her hands, down.

With a tone of uncertainty, Ye Chen asks—

"You're… Wang Bei Mu?"

"Indeed. I am the first government official of Myriad Tribe City, Wang Bei Mu."

"…Aren't you supposed to be dead? Are you speaking to us from the grave or something?"

Towards Li Xue's question, Wang Bei Mu replies—

"There's a reason as to why my casket is the bulkiest out of everyone else's."

"…A sort of cryostasis unit?"

Familiar with machineries of this sort due to her little sister, Yu Ji is quick to draw upon this conclusion.

"Correct."

Although Wang Bei Mu isn't clear on what a cryostasis unit is, he decided it's safe to go along with this explanation—seeing how naïve Yu Ji appears to be.

"Answer me this, young ones, how has this world's battle against the foreign invaders gone?"

Towards this question, Shao Tianming asks back—

"By foreign invaders, you mean the Immortals?"

"Correct."

Looking at Ye Chen and the others, Shao Tianming finds it somewhat difficult to speak due to the need to conceal a few details.

Being quick to notice this, Ye Chen throws Shao Tianming a taunting look, and asks—

"What's up with that look on your face, surnamed Shao? Feeling uncomfortable—to speak with us present, are you?"

"…"

"…"

As sparks fly between Ye Chen and Shao Tianming, Wang Yongning steps forward, and says—

"Enough, this is hardly the time for us to argue. To answer your question, the situation is dire enough for us—to have to plunder the graves of the ancients, to acquire technology that would allow us to combat the Immortals on better grounds."

Towards Wang Yongning's answer, Long Hua raises an eye, while thinking—

(Knock-off Immortal is quite good with that mouth of his. Making a plead with this other surnamed Wang that they are in desperate need of resources, so excuse us for grave robbing.)

Looking at Wang Bei Mu's casket, Long Hua can't help but frown. His instincts told him that something was very off about this entire situation.