The night was dark.
In the depths of the Genius Mansion, there were many pavilions and stone towers with mysterious runes flowing on both sides. Only the Heavenly Phoenix Gaze could find these hidden runes. Feng Feiyun carefully avoided these runes and arrived next to a dark house.
He followed the black-robed old man here and used the Verdant Wood Art to conceal his aura. It was as if he had turned into an ancient tree in order to deceive the old man's divine intent.
The old man circled around the mansion several times. He went to the study room, the secret chamber, and a few courtyards. However, it was as if he was looking at the flowers on horseback and quickly left. Finally, he came to this house and stayed inside for half an hour.
Feng Feiyun's figure flashed as he stepped on the air and silently landed on top of the house.
"Creak!"
The door of the low house opened and the black-robed old man walked out. Black gas surged around his body and he turned into a black ghost shadow. With a flash, he disappeared.
"What is this old man doing here?"
Feng Feiyun flew down from the roof and looked at the dark house. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open and entering.
A Heaven's Mandate cultivator wouldn't come to this shabby house for no reason. Perhaps there was some secret hidden here.
Feng Feiyun had followed him to several places, but this was the most suspicious place.
As soon as he opened the door, a blinding red light shot out from inside. A huge circular rune blasted towards Feng Feiyun. This was a second-level killing formation.
"Bang!"
Feng Feiyun quickly took out his saber and slashed at the eye of the formation, breaking it. He then quickly flashed back into the house and closed the door.
Feng Feiyun's heart was pounding while his back was drenched in sweat. Fortunately, he reacted fast enough. If the light from the formation flew out, the cultivators in the mansion would've noticed it and he would've fallen into a dead end.
This wasn't a big house with only a few old tables and chairs covered in dust. It was clear that no one had cleaned them for a long time.
"There's movement underground!"
If someone else came here and saw this scene, they would immediately turn around and leave. However, Feng Feiyun's spiritual sense was comparable to a third rank Treasure Seeking Master. It was more than ninety times stronger than an ordinary person, so he was able to sense a ripple coming from underground.
This trace of fluctuation was concealed by the formation, so it was very subtle. It was so subtle that it felt like there was an earthworm moving seven or eight meters underground.
Even a powerful cultivator would have overlooked this fluctuation. However, Feng Feiyun knew that the black-robed old man had been staying here for one hour. Thus, this slight fluctuation appeared somewhat unusual.
"Heavenly Phoenix Gaze!"
Feng Feiyun's pupils burned with two balls of fire. He looked into the ground and saw that under the dusty floor, there were countless iron chains as thick as an arm. They were stacked on top of each other and extended all the way into the ground. It was like hell, and it was quite shocking.
This was too unbelievable. How could there be so many iron chains under the Genius Mansion? Did they weave together to form a forbidden prison?
"The banquet has been going on for a long time, why hasn't Master appeared yet?" Suddenly, two footsteps came from outside the house.
The one speaking was an old voice. It was dry and harsh as if it came from the bones.
Why would someone come at this time?
"Not good!" Feng Feiyun exclaimed in his mind. He quickly dispersed his Heavenly Phoenix Gaze and took out his stone saber. If the two of them entered the house, then he would take the initiative to kill them and escape from the mansion.
"It's best if we don't mind Master's business … Hey, why are there footprints on the ground? Did someone go in?" The other person exclaimed.
"No one would dare to come here. Half a month ago, a grand achievement God Base came here and was killed by Manager Wu. His corpse was fed to the strange beasts."
Although they didn't believe that someone would dare to come to the Genius Mansion, they took out their treasures at the same time and slowly walked towards the house.
Feng Feiyun stood in the middle of the house with his nerves stretched taut like a bow, ready to take action at any moment.
He had to kill both of them with one slash.
Otherwise, if a Heaven's Mandate cultivator were to be alarmed, then he would be the one to be fed to the strange beasts.
"What are you two doing?" A third voice came from outside.
It was the voice of the black-robed old man.
"Manager Wu, there are new footprints on the ground. We suspect that someone broke into the house." The two of them stopped and turned around to bow to the old man.
"Don't make a fuss, I was the one who went in earlier."
The old man spoke with a dark tone: "The person inside is no small matter. If he escapes, no one will be able to bear the responsibility. It is best if you two don't come close to this house in the future."
"Yes, we understand." The two of them stood up and quickly left, not daring to linger.
Manager Wu was a Heaven's Mandate cultivator. Rumor has it that he had lived for more than 300 years. One glare from him was enough to make one's hair stand on end, so the two of them naturally stayed as far away from him as possible.
The black-robed old man also quietly left, hurrying towards the direction of the hall in the front courtyard. The banquet should have been prepared again.
"Whoosh!"
It wasn't until the outside became quiet that Feng Feiyun let out a long sigh. He put away his stone saber and looked down at the ground once more.
Just what was buried underground that even a Heaven's Mandate cultivator was so afraid of it?
"Break!"
Feng Feiyun pointed at the ground and a black ray shot down. The formation patterns on the ground receded like a receding tide. The black chains buried underground also began to move, issuing a deep sound of metal rubbing against each other.
A perfectly straight door that led seven to eight meters underground opened, and a dim light shone out from within. There were more than 270 chains that were as thick as an arm, and there were also balls of flames dancing in the air around them.
Although these flames could burn the flesh of cultivators, they were nothing to Feng Feiyun. They simply couldn't stop him from diving down.
A few more formations were broken by Feng Feiyun and turned into strands of smoke.
"There really is a coffin here!"
Feng Feiyun went underground and saw a coffin made from Black Tortoise Steel. It was ten meters long and four meters wide. It was very thick and was locked by more than 270 chains, making it look like a huge iron cocoon.
Just what was it that required a Black Tortoise Steel Coffin to be stored? Moreover, it was hidden so well with so many layers of seals?
Feng Feiyun became more and more curious as he walked towards the coffin. With each step, the thick chains would gently move, issuing clanking sounds.
"Boom!"
All of a sudden, a black shadow flew out from behind the coffin. Its eyes were green and it let out a hair-raising scream.
Its speed was extremely fast. With a swoosh, it flew past Feng Feiyun and left three bloody marks on his neck.
Drops of golden blood dripped down from Feng Feiyun's neck, causing the black shadow to scream in excitement.
"What the hell is this?"
Feng Feiyun's eyes narrowed. The poison on his neck had invaded his body. Even with the Immortal Phoenix Physique, it was difficult to force the poison out of his body and could only stop it temporarily.
"Ga, ga!"
That black shadow flew out from the corner again. It was still so fast that its trajectory was unfathomable.
"Boom!"
Feng Feiyun directly took out the phoenix bone. It was as hot as a furnace and emitted a scarlet light. When it collided with the black shadow's body, it immediately issued a sizzling sound and emitted a continuous stream of green smoke.
The phoenix bone's temperature was so high that it directly ignited the black shadow, turning it into ashes in two breaths.
"Whoosh!"
With a wave of his hand, the phoenix bone flew back into Feng Feiyun's hand.
"What the hell is this thing?" Feng Feiyun touched his neck. The wound was burning in pain and was very difficult to heal.
The black shadow was too fast. From start to finish, Feng Feiyun couldn't see its appearance. He only felt that it was not human. Without the phoenix bone, Feng Feiyun might not have been able to take care of it.
"Could it be the Yang World's Three Strange and Yin World's Three Evils?"
Feng Feiyun walked over and only a pile of black dust remained on the ground. That thing had been burned into nothingness.
He stood in front of the Black Tortoise Coffin and gently touched its wall. He wanted to use the Platinum Metal Art to find out what was inside.
The Platinum Metal Art was the fourth technique of the Minor Change Art. Once successfully cultivated, not only would one be able to find the rare metals buried underground, but they would also be able to find the treasures inside.
This was the most important technique in the treasure-seeking art, and of course, it was also the most difficult to learn.
Feng Feiyun had been training for more than a month, but he only knew a few things.
"There is actually an isolation formation!"
Feng Feiyun knew that his Platinum Metal Art was not brilliant enough, so he couldn't find out what was inside the Black Tortoise Coffin.
He hoped that it wouldn't release a monster!
Before finding out what was inside, Feng Feiyun didn't want to directly open the coffin, but he had no other choice now.
He used the Crimson Fire Art to break the nine formations around the coffin. Then, he exerted all his strength to push the lid that weighed several hundred thousand pounds. His movements were very slow.
Buzz!
The lid and the coffin rubbed against each other, creating an ear-piercing noise.
"Rumble!"
The lid opened a little bit as a green light rushed out with a powerful corrosive aura. In the blink of an eye, both of Feng Feiyun's sleeves were corroded into ashes.
The phoenix bone was summoned again to stop this aura. Otherwise, the flesh on Feng Feiyun's arm would have been completely corroded and turned into white bones.
"I … hate … so … much!"
A weak voice came out from the coffin like a ghost gasping for breath from hell. This voice was somewhat familiar to Feng Feiyun. Then, the sound of chains being dragged came from the coffin, followed by a muffled voice: "I … hate … so … much …"