My descent was extremely quick. In a split second, there was no longer any sound or light in my ears. The light that filled my surroundings had now become a small light dot above my head.
My heart was filled with annoyance. I had been too careless. I only remembered that Lu Zhenyang's chest had been pierced by me and that he had become a cripple. I had forgotten that my Veins of the Heavens were also sealed. What was even more unexpected was that Lu Zhenyang had a weapon with him.
From the numbness that I felt, it was possible that he had used an electric baton or a high-voltage stun gun. This wouldn't be a problem when my body was full of shaman energy. However, in that situation, it was obvious that I wouldn't be able to withstand it with just my physical strength.
I had never suffered a loss when I faced Lu Zhenyang before his cultivation was crippled. I didn't expect that Lu Zhenyang, who was already a cripple, would be able to make me suffer a great loss.
This cave was located in the sacrificial hall. It didn't matter if there were any dangers down there. Just the height of the cave was enough to threaten me since my Veins of the Heavens were sealed.
However, the reality was out of my expectations. Just as I realized the danger in my mind, I suddenly stepped on the ground. The tremendous falling force caused my body to crouch down. My chin fiercely knocked against my bent knee and my teeth instantly broke my lower lip. A fishy and salty taste instantly filled my mouth.
However, that was the extent of my injury. I immediately put away the regret in my heart. I didn't stand up and just moved my body. After confirming that there weren't any other injuries, I focused all of my attention on my surroundings. Since it was pitch black in here, I couldn't see anything. I held my breath and concentrated on paying attention to the slightest sound.
Lu Zhenyang had spent a lot of effort and had even prepared a weapon in advance. He had used bait and surprise attacks to lure me into this underground cave. He must have been certain that he could kill me before he did so. I didn't believe that there were no other dangers at the bottom of this cave.
However, after a full minute, not to mention danger, there was no sound. I slowly got up and took out the flashlight. I carefully touched my back a few times. When I touched a cold stone wall, I took half a step back and leaned my back against it. Then, I turned on the flashlight.
The flashlight was a powerful flashlight that Zhang Kanwen and I had bought before entering the royal tomb. The moment I turned it on, the bright light filled the entire narrow cave. It was completely different from what I had expected. In this narrow cave, besides me, there was nothing else. It was just a cylindrical cave.
I didn't dare to lower my guard. I carefully looked around and found some complicated patterns on the stone walls and the floor. When I got closer to take a closer look, I found that they were carved inscriptions.
These patterns looked quite regular, but they were only small and fragmented patterns and could not describe their appearance.
Moreover, there was a faint black mist slowly rising from the indentations in the patterns. It was obvious that the black mist at the entrance of the cave came from that.
In this place, it was impossible to completely hold one's breath and not breathe in the black mist. Luckily, I had already breathed in a lot of the black mist since I had been tricked by Lu Zhenyang to the entrance of the cave. However, I didn't feel anything strange. It seemed that the black mist wasn't too harmful.
I stood up. Since there wasn't any danger here, I prepared to leave.
Even though the people from the Metaphysics Association were eyeing me, it was impossible to shake them off by hiding here. Moreover, I couldn't get out of the Yinshang Royal Tomb by myself. Even if I shook them off, it would be meaningless.
I raised my head and looked up. From the light above, the bottom of the cave was about twenty meters from the ground. This distance was just right. With my current four-star body, I could barely resist it. If I went any deeper, I was afraid that I would have been injured.
If I wanted to climb up, it wouldn't be a difficult matter. Although the walls of the cave were very smooth and there weren't any footholds for me to climb, the cave was narrow and only a meter wide. As long as I used my arms and knees to support myself, I would be able to climb up bit by bit and I would be able to get out.
With my physical strength, climbing this distance of twenty meters was not a difficult task.
After thinking about it, I turned off the flashlight and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and prepared to climb up in one go. However, when I closed my eyes, I suddenly felt something strange. It wasn't that there was any danger in the surroundings, but that after I closed my eyes, I could see the black mist again.
This was very abnormal. I had turned off the flashlight, and the surroundings were pitch-black. Let alone the dark energy that had merged with the darkness, even if it was a piece of white paper, I wouldn't be able to see it. Moreover, I had closed my eyes, so how could I see the dark energy?
However, I did 'see' it. Perhaps' see 'wasn't the right word to describe it, but I felt as if I had seen it.
What was even more strange was that after I opened my eyes, that feeling disappeared. I couldn't see the black mist anymore.
What's going on?
I tried a few more times, but the feeling didn't disappear. Instead, it became more obvious.
I slowly figured out some things in my heart.
It was common for cultivators to be able to see something when I closed my eyes but couldn't see it when I opened my eyes. This was because during cultivation, no matter if it was Dao Qi or Shaman Qi, the human eye couldn't see them. They could only feel them. However, when I closed my eyes and meditated to absorb them, I could clearly see them in my mind.
From what I could see, when I absorbed the True Dragon Vein, the True Dragon Qi, or Dao Qi, was like some golden smoke floating in the air. It entered my body as I breathed.
When I didn't have the True Dragon Vein, I could sense some greyish-white thin Dao Qi in the air when I meditated and cultivated.
On the other hand, the Shaman Qi looked different. It was dark green in color.
Based on these experiences, this black aura was clearly a type of energy, similar to Shaman Qi and Dao Qi. However, this thick black color was very unfamiliar to me. It was obvious that I had never seen this kind of energy before.
I hesitated.
It was obvious that I could absorb the black mist. With my Heavenly Vein being sealed, if the density of the black mist was high enough, it might be helpful to me after I absorbed it. It might even be possible for me to break through the seal of the Heavenly Vein.
After all, sealing the Heavenly Vein only blocked the connection between the energy inside and outside of the Heavenly Vein so that I couldn't use the energy in my body. With the addition of external energy, even the seal that the Celestial Master had set up couldn't completely stop the internal and external attack.
However, I didn't know anything about the black mist. I couldn't predict what would happen after I absorbed it.
In fact, there was a compatibility between the human body and various kinds of energy. For example, in the cultivation of metaphysics, some people had talent, and some did not. The condition to determine whether one had talent or not was the compatibility between the body and the Qi of the Way.
If the compatibility was high enough, one would be able to absorb enough Dao Qi. Hence, one was considered talented.
If the compatibility wasn't high enough, forcefully absorbing the Dao Qi would only result in one's body collapsing and death.
If my Heavenly Vein wasn't sealed, I could use my Shaman Qi to suppress the black mist and send it out of my body if I couldn't get a compatibility with it. It wouldn't cause any harm to my body.
However, I couldn't use the Shaman Qi in my Heavenly Vein. After absorbing the black mist, I couldn't feel the compatibility. If the compatibility wasn't high enough, the black mist would start to destroy my body. I wouldn't be able to use my Shaman Qi to suppress it. By then, my life might be in danger.
While I was hesitating, I closed my eyes again and sensed the black smoke floating in the air. I reached out and gently grabbed a few wisps of it. I felt the black smoke twirling and pulsating in my palm as though it was a living spirit.
Suddenly, I thought of the mural that I had seen on the stone path. I thought of the person who looked exactly like me in the mural. I also thought of the Jing Ghost in the cave in the orchard in Shenzhen, as well as the strange way the Jing Ghost had touched my face.
Although I hadn't thought much about it, I knew that the Yinshang Royal Mausoleum was related to me.
It was just like the door at the end of the stone path. Zhang Kanwen, who had temporarily reached the Celestial Master's realm, couldn't push it open no matter how hard he tried. However, I had opened the door with a gentle touch. It seemed that my luck had always been good here.
Since that was the case, it might not be a bad choice to gamble on my luck.