Under the greyish light from the black torches, the stony door glimmered with a black sheen as the various patterns subtly protruding from its surface became evident to them.

The patterns were all crisp and sharp, and not a single curve could be seen.

Lines joined together to form shapes that looked both intriguing and menacing to one’s eyes, as if telling them what lay on its other side wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

Yi Chen was about to take a step forward to figure out how to open the door. However, before he could do so, the door started shaking as a cloud of dust fell from its solidified edges.

DROOOOM!

The double door began turning inwards as a gap appeared between the tightly shut doors.

The moment this happened, a red light emerged through the gap, making both Yi Chen and Gao Zhen narrow their eyes to get a clear view.

"This..." Gao Zhen muttered while lifting her hand over her eyes and trying to look at the source through the gaps of her fingers, only to fail.

However, the intensity didn’t last for long. As the gap widened and the door opened more and more, the intensity finally lessened, and the two of them were able to get a clear view of what was present on the other side of the door.

The first thing that caught their attention was neither the tall jade pillars, the obsidian flooring, nor the rectangular sarcophagus resting on a platform at the end of the room.

What caught their eye was the wall at the end of the room, standing tall just behind the sarcophagus. It was entirely composed of ice and fully transparent.

However, it wasn’t the fact that this wall was made of ice that attracted their attention. It was the red orb embedded inside it, the source of the intense red light they had seen earlier.

Its red light had cascaded across the entire room, mixing with the grey light emitted by the black torches that rested on the side walls.

"The tomb’s core..." Gao Zhen’s eyes widened with disbelief at the scene.

’The tomb’s core?... Does that mean this is going to be the last trial?’ Yi Chen thought with a frown and asked Gao Zhen a second later.

"Madam Gao...about the trial-"

Before he could even continue further, Gao Zhen’s eyes, which were glimmering with excitement, locked onto him and cut him off.

"There won’t be any more trials, Young Master Chen," she said with a smile and exclaimed, "It’s done! We’ve cleared the tomb!"

"...We have?" Yi Chen couldn’t help but ask with a frown.

"Yes! That sarcophagus on the platform would contain all the treasured artefacts or special inheritances left by the tomb owner. As for the tomb’s core..."

When Gao Zhen mentioned the core, her eyes radiated with brilliance.

"...with that in my hand, the title of the heir would be as good as mine," she smiled with delight, imagining a future that she once thought had crumbled.

However, unlike the excitement in Gao Zhen’s eyes, the frown on Yi Chen’s face persisted.

He was still finding it difficult to believe that the tomb was cleared, and now the only task left for them was to reap the rewards.

Particularly because he had yet to hear the grating voice which had acted as his guide back then. He had imagined that when the tomb was cleared, he would finally get to see who that voice belonged to.

As if to prove him right, the very next moment, a voice echoed in the entire room.

Just like before, it carried the same domineering presence and grating tone that made one clench their jaw and lower one’s gaze. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

You’ve arrived a little sooner than I anticipated...

"This?!" Gao Zhen’s eyes widened at the voice, and her head immediately turned towards the direction from which the voice came.

The sarcophagus. The voice was coming from inside it.

Suddenly remembering something, her head snapped in Yi Chen’s direction and asked, "Is this the one you-"

At her question, Yi Chen immediately nodded, his heart racing with panic.

To him, hearing this voice was a good sign.

However, when standing before a powerful being, it was natural to panic. It was the same with him.

The inheritance is more or less prepared, so it doesn’t matter now...

Say...do you wish to possess strength you’ve never dreamt of? To step upon all those who called you weak? To protect those whom you couldn’t? To reach the peak of cultivation? Answer me!

The moment that voice resonated in their ears, both Yi Chen and Gao Zhen couldn’t help but tremble as a hint of fear rose in their hearts at the voice’s intensity.

Locking onto Yi Chen’s eyes, Gao Zhen slowly nodded her head while her lips silently formed the words, ’Say Yes.’

The moment Yi Chen had decided to enter the tomb with her, she had given him her word that she wasn’t interested in any inheritance and only wanted to clear the tomb.

She felt the same even now. However, unlike earlier, she wanted Yi Chen to get this inheritance even more.

It wasn’t just because of the bond that they had developed in these years, but because of the fact that in the Frozen Ice Realm, while she was able to acquire a powerful Qi Absorption Art like the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts, Yi Chen didn’t.

Therefore, from the bottom of her heart, she wanted him to get stronger.

Reading her lips, Yi Chen nodded with a subtle smile and finally responded to the voice.

"Yes, I wish to get stronger!" he answered loudly. His words reached the other end of the room and echoed all around.

Good...

If you’d denied, then there would have been no point to all this, and I would have erased your existence right here and now.

*Snort*

Hearing the snort which resounded like a thunderclap, Yi Chen shook for a second as the voice’s words repeated in his mind, evoking a sense of dread.

’Erased me...’

As harmless as the words sounded, the more dread they induced within him.

Now, approach the tomb’s cover and push it open. My remnant soul, which preserves all my knowledge and a portion of my power, is resting within.

The moment you push the cover open, I will enter your consciousness and, using the last bits of it, transfer all my remaining power and knowledge to you.

In return, all I ask is this one favour...