"Spare me..."

The strange shadow raised its hand, revealing a crimson bead in its palm.

The scholar flicked his sleeve, tossing the bead to Su Xuan. "Take this!"

Su Xuan reached for it, but to his surprise, the moment the bead touched his palm, it fused into his skin. A piercing pain shot through his eyes, and a single, bloody tear fell. His vision seemed to be covered by a layer of red mist! The strange shadow, meanwhile, dissolved into a cloud of black mist and scattered in all directions.

Forcing his eyes open, Su Xuan asked the scholar in a deep voice, "What in the world is going on? And how did you get here?"

The scholar ignored Su Xuan's pain and his question. Instead, he simply flashed a warm smile. "Everything at home is fine. Don't you worry."

With those words, the scholar vanished on the spot, leaving Su Xuan with endless questions.

"Su Xuan, are you alright?" Qi Li hurried over and supported his arm, observing his eyes closely.

At that moment, Su Xuan's eyes resembled those of the strange shadow, a red glow shimmering within them.

"I seem to be alright." Su Xuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes to compose himself. When he opened them again, everything was back to normal. The only difference was that his vision seemed to have improved, allowing him to see things with greater clarity and detail.

Seeing the color return to Su Xuan's face, Qi Li felt somewhat relieved and asked, "Was that spectral entity a member of your family?"

"Spectral entity?" Su Xuan blinked.

"Yes, he's a spectral entity!" Qi Li was surprised Su Xuan didn't know the scholar was in spectral form. "He's not just a soul, but a spectral entity that transcends it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to withstand such a formidable aura of righteousness."

"He lives in my house, but I have no idea about his origins," Su Xuan said, the mystery in his heart remaining unsolvable. "And I certainly didn't know he was so powerful."

Just as Qi Li was about to ask another question, a human-like roar echoed from deep within the corridor.

Her expression changed instantly. "That might be my father!"

"Let's go!"

Putting the issue with his eyes aside, Su Xuan rushed deeper into the tomb with Qi Li.

An extremely dense Spiritual Energy washed over them, dozens, even hundreds of times richer than the outside world. It felt as if one could swallow a mouthful of pure Spiritual Energy just by opening their mouth!

"This is incredible!" An expression of profound shock appeared on Qi Li's pretty face, but an ominous premonition also inexplicably surfaced in her heart.

After they dashed through the long corridor, a vast, square chamber came into view.

If this place really is a tomb, then the passage we just crossed must be the entrance tunnel, and this square space should be the antechamber!

Su Xuan and Qi Li stopped in their tracks.

Everything they saw—the floor, the ceiling, the burial urns, and all the walls—was constructed from Moon Profound Stone. The sight was exceedingly lavish and astonishing!

Qi Li knew the value of these Moon Profound Stones! If these were used to expand the sect, given time, the Floating Cloud Sect would shed its image as a minor sect and become a medium-sized one! But becoming a large sect was still out of reach. The Moon Profound Stones before them weren't enough.

"Huh?"

Su Xuan picked up an exquisitely made Moon Profound Stone urn. After circulating his cultivation technique to draw from it, he let out a sound of surprise.

The urn contains barely any spiritual charm! It could be absorbed in the blink of an eye!

Qi Li picked up a burial object to try, then another... and her hands began to tremble.

"How can this be?"

"It's as if all these have been used before!"

Disappointment was written all over her face.

These Moon Profound Stones, with hardly any spiritual charm left, are practically worthless, let alone useful for expanding the sect!

She glanced at Su Xuan, who simply shrugged, having no idea what was happening either.

Suddenly, a white mist began to diffuse from the surrounding walls, enveloping them. Two palm-sized points of fluorescent light flitted through the fog, a beautiful sight.

One of the glows gently landed on Su Xuan's shoulder, where it began to flap its wings.

Glancing sideways at his shoulder, Su Xuan whispered, "A butterfly?"

Qi Li looked closely. The luminous figure had a pair of beautiful wings and antennae; it was indeed a butterfly.

Seeing the other one flying toward her, Qi Li raised her hand, allowing the butterfly to land on her finger.

"Be careful!" Su Xuan shouted, flicking the butterfly off his shoulder.

Before Qi Li could react, the butterfly on her finger lunged forward and bit down!

At the same time, Su Xuan swiftly reached out and snatched the creature from her hand.

Qi Li took a step back and looked at her finger. Blood oozed from the bite, dotted with tiny specks of light. Is it poisonous? she worried.

"It's not poison." As if sensing her worry, Su Xuan opened his palm.

The butterfly he had caught crumbled into a pile of fine powder, which drifted to the ground like sand. As it did, an extremely dense surge of Spiritual Energy diffused into the air!

"It's made of condensed Spiritual Energy!" Qi Li exclaimed in surprise.

But a second later, her body trembled. She looked down at the hand the butterfly had just bitten. A fluorescent line was spreading rapidly up her arm along her veins. It was clear that in a few moments, it would reach her heart!

My veins are swelling in pain as if they're about to burst!

Seeing the situation was dire, Su Xuan acted decisively. He grabbed Qi Li's wrist and made a quick slash across her vein with his fingertip.

PUFF!

With a faint, muffled sound, specks of luminescence floated out of the incision and into the air. They were countless, minuscule butterflies!

RIP!

Su Xuan tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it around Qi Li's wound. Then, looking at the tiny butterflies, he said, "Luckily there were only two of them here. Otherwise, we would have been in real trouble."

"Indeed," Qi Li replied, still shaken.

But it was as if an unseen force was deliberately working against them. Before the words had even left her lips, a terrifying scene unfolded.

Countless butterflies suddenly emerged from the white mist, swarming toward them like a plague of locusts!

"We're finished..." Qi Li's face turned ashen.

In the past, she had idly wondered how she might die, but she had never imagined a death like this—being bitten to death by bizarre butterflies! And being killed by these things would obviously be excruciatingly painful! Like thousands of butterflies boring into your heart!

She suddenly calmed down and moved closer to Su Xuan. To face this deadly ordeal with him... perhaps it's a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune.

But just as she drew near, Su Xuan did something strange. He ripped off his shirt and roared, "Come on!"

"Come at me!"

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