After a short rest, Lin Chuan looked at the things Shi Dahu had collected.
There was a pile of items at least the size of an entire room. Lin Chuan stepped forward to check for anything valuable, but good grief—pots and pans, a nightstool, chests, bed frames, and all sorts of everyday household goods. Using his spiritual power to separate them bit by bit, he managed to find only three or four items with any spiritual aura at all.
"Uh... Dahu, why did you gather so much useless junk?" Lin Chuan asked, speechless as he looked at Shi Dahu.
"Boss, I figured we could take these things back to the uncles and aunties in my village. They can put them to use, heh-heh." Shi Dahu scratched his head and looked earnestly at Lin Chuan, still holding a comb in his hand.
"I know you want to bring things back for your village, Dahu, but our storage space is limited. So, I'll make an exception and let you take four items, alright?" Looking at Shi Dahu's expectant gaze, Lin Chuan's heart softened, and he agreed to let him keep four everyday items.
"That's great! Boss, wait here, let me pick." Excitedly, Shi Dahu began sorting through the pile of things Lin Chuan had wanted to discard. After pondering for a long time, he finally selected the largest items and brought them before Lin Chuan.
Seeing him holding a bed frame, a large wardrobe, a stove, and a vanity table, Lin Chuan felt a vein throbbing on his forehead and immediately gave him a flick on the head.
"Dahu, you really are a blockhead, aren't you? You just had to pick the biggest things—you really know how to live economically, don't you? Hmph, no way. I'll pick for you. This vanity table can stay, but as for the rest... swap them for this comb, oh... and this bracelet, and this washbasin."
Lin Chuan stepped up to personally select a few items for him and stored them away in his ring. Touching his chin as he looked at the items before him, he thought to himself with a chuckle, "I really am a good boss, heh-heh," before calling out to Shi Dahu to start looking for other exits.
Seeing Lin Chuan walk off, Shi Dahu could only make a bitter face and follow behind him in silence.
The two continued searching the secret chamber, yet after scouring every single room, they failed to find a way out. Lin Chuan tried walking back to where the bronze door was. Looking from the doorway, he noticed that every room they had searched had a ray of light shining directly toward the center of the chamber, forming an array just like the one before they entered the bronze door.
Lin Chuan ran over to the spot where the array appeared from the perspective of the bronze door, only to find the marks on the ground had vanished once more. After testing it back and forth, he realized this array seemed to be capable of stealth. He called Shi Dahu, who was still searching for a path, over to his side.
"Dahu, come over here and stand right where I am." Lin Chuan told him to stay put and went back to the bronze door to check. Sure enough, right where Shi Dahu was standing, the invisible array reappeared.
"Dahu, look down at your feet and see if there's an array there just like the one when we entered the bronze door," Lin Chuan shouted to Shi Dahu. Shi Dahu looked down and nodded at Lin Chuan.
"Dahu, drop your blood on it," Lin Chuan yelled.
Without hesitation, Shi Dahu squeezed out a drop of blood and let it fall onto the array. Then, a rumbling sound echoed out as the entire secret chamber shook, and a flight of stairs leading downward appeared beneath Shi Dahu's feet.
Lin Chuan ran over and peered down. Pitch black inside, it was swept by chilling, mournful wails that sounded like someone weeping—a thoroughly bizarre noise. Lin Chuan exchanged a glance with Shi Dahu, drew his AK, switched to his most powerful bullets, and slowly descended.
With a series of "snap, snap" sounds, the torches lining the walls on both sides burst into light one after another, casting an eerie green glow.
The two advanced in turns. Every now and then, a Yin soldier would pop out, only to be dealt with by a single shot from Lin Chuan. Two hours later, they arrived before an ancient, massive set of doors.
"Dahu, what on earth were your ancestors up to? Building a tomb with so many traps, seriously," Lin Chuan muttered, complaining to Shi Dahu before giving him a serious warning. "I have a feeling whatever's behind these doors is no small matter. If anything happens later, remember to save your own life first."
"Boss, I'll listen to whatever you say. If you tell me to run, I'll run; if you tell me to charge, I'll charge," Shi Dahu said earnestly.
"Good. With those words from you, your boss will definitely help you get your hands on the inheritance inside." With that, he motioned for Shi Dahu to open the heavy doors.
"Rumble..." The doors slowly swung open. Smelling the scent of the living, the Yin soldiers inside swarmed toward the entrance.
*Bang! Bang!*
*Bang! Bang!*
Gunfire rang out incessantly. Enhanced by their weapons, the Yin soldiers took direct hits that melted their bodies away. Lin Chuan tossed a gun to Shi Dahu, and the two of them pushed inward.
The space inside was immense—as large as several secret chambers combined—and the Yin soldiers were legion. Fortunately, Lin Chuan had plenty of ammunition; otherwise, the two of them might have been buried alive by this horde of monsters.
Fifteen minutes later, the final Yin soldier was blasted to death, and the two of them finally breathed a sigh of relief. Shi Dahu was still doing fine since he had immense strength, but Lin Chuan had it a bit rough. The recoil had left both his hands numb, and he had no choice but to lie down and rest.
Surveying the furnishings here, Lin Chuan deduced that this place should be an auxiliary tomb. Suspended in the air within an array were six bronze coffins. After resting for a moment, Lin Chuan cautiously walked toward the nearest hanging coffin. Observing the array patterns on its surface, he realized they were identical to the ones he had seen upstairs.
Lin Chuan called Shi Dahu over to break the array with his blood. As a drop of Shi Dahu's blood adhered to the pattern, the hanging coffin dropped with a loud thud. Lin Chuan used his spiritual power to pry the lid open. Lying inside was an ancient sword, radiating waves of chilling light that forced the approaching Lin Chuan to retreat. Then, the ancient sword flew out of the coffin and shot straight at Lin Chuan.
"What the hell? Why is it shooting right at me?!" Lin Chuan let out a yelp and immediately fled, but the ancient sword seemed to possess a consciousness of its own as it pursued him. Lin Chuan sprinted through the auxiliary tomb at full speed, while the sword teased him like a cat with a mouse, stopping just short of catching him every time so he could maintain a safe distance.
"This won't do. Why does this thing act like I owe it money? It's only chasing me! I've got to figure something out, or I'll die before my career even begins—and die to a sword, of all things!" Lin Chuan thought as he ran, failing to notice that the sword was simply toying with him.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He dashed beside a pillar and dodged out of the way; unable to stop in time, the sword drove straight into the pillar. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Chuan stepped forward and grabbed the hilt. A burst of icy light from the hilt froze his hand solid, and as he tried pressing a drop of blood onto the blade, a child's voice echoed in his mind: "Bad man, let go of me, wuwu..."
Lin Chuan quickly let go, his frozen hand slowly recovering as the Hanguang Sword spun rapidly around him. He attempted to communicate: "Hey... um, big brother, I didn't offend you, did I? Why did you keep chasing me like that?"
"Hmph! This great sword spirit just wanted to play with you. Why did you have to grab me?" The ancient sword hovered in front of Lin Chuan, pointing at him as an arrogant voice echoed in his head.
"What the hell, big brother? You chased me around for half the day and called it 'playing'? You had your fun, but you didn't even make a peep! Who knew whether you were going to kill me or not?" Lin Chuan gave the ancient sword a disdainful look, then cautiously backed away to keep a safe distance.
"Hmph! This great sword spirit is a spirit weapon. Killing you is a matter of seconds. If I hadn't been so bored staying in there, I would have killed you long ago." The ancient sword slowly closed in on Lin Chuan, its arrogant voice transmitting straight into his mind.
A clever idea popped into Lin Chuan's head. "Look, since you're so bored staying here, I have a way to take you outside. Plus, I even know where there are fun things to play with."
"Really? You're not allowed to lie to me, or I'll kill you." The ancient sword slowly straightened up, seemingly pondering earnestly.
"Of course not. But you have to acknowledge me as your boss, otherwise there's no way." Lin Chuan said craftily.
"Mm... fine. But you can't treat me the way the people in the past did. They sealed me away here and wouldn't let me out," the ancient sword said softly, sounding as if it had suffered some great grievance.
Overjoyed, Lin Chuan then feigned a helpless shrug and asked, "Uh... how are you going to come with me?"
"Well, this sword spirit knows a contract that can let me acknowledge you as my master. That way, I can reside in your Dantian." After some thought, the sword transmitted its voice into Lin Chuan's mind. Lin Chuan immediately initiated the contract with the ancient sword. Once the contract was complete, he found that his mind was linked to the sword. With a single thought, the Hanguang Sword appeared in his hand, and using it felt as natural and effortless as moving his own arm. However, he discovered one issue: he could apparently only use it as an incomparably sharp sword; he couldn't unleash its true power yet.
According to the sword spirit's introduction, this was a middle-grade spirit weapon named Hanguang, and it was even capable of growing. Weapons that could form a weapon spirit were exceedingly rare; even top-grade immortal weapons found it difficult to give birth to a spirit. Of course, unless cultivated artificially under specific environments during their time as spirit weapons, though the price to be paid was so immense that it was far less cost-effective than simply cultivating with resources.
For now, Lin Chuan couldn't use the Hanguang Sword to unleash its full strength; in his hands, it simply counted as a sharp sword, seeing as he hadn't learned any sword techniques yet.
"Alright, I'll call you Xiaohan from now on. Just call me boss." Lin Chuan put the Hanguang Sword away, letting it recuperate in his Dantian as he prepared to open the second hanging coffin.
"Boss, who were you talking to just now?" Seeing Lin Chuan running around with a sword and talking to himself, Shi Dahu scratched his head in confusion.
"Nothing, just had a hallucination. Alright, let's open another one and see," Lin Chuan brushed him off, then motioned for him to open the next hanging coffin.
The two slowly approached the second hanging coffin. Lin Chuan took out his weapon to stay on guard while Shi Dahu applied a drop of blood.
*Hum.* The array was lifted. With a heavy thud, the hanging coffin dropped to the ground. Lin Chuan motioned for Shi Dahu to step back a bit, then used his spiritual power to push the bronze coffin open.
*Rumble...* Once the bronze coffin was opened, he saw no movement and cautiously stepped forward to check.
"Roar!" A golden-armored Yin soldier leaped out and slammed straight into Lin Chuan, sending him flying. Then, speaking with human speech, it snarled, "Hmph! Tomb raiders, die!" and gave chase.
"Run!" Lin Chuan yelled, running in circles around the auxiliary tomb with the golden-armored Yin soldier hot on his heels. He ran for all he was worth, channeling his spiritual power to boost his speed, while shooting back with his Desert Eagle. The bullets seemed to have no effect on the golden-armored Yin soldier, and after a short while, as if angered, the soldier accelerated the pursuit. The distance he had originally managed to maintain through his speed advantage instantly shrank.
"Screw it! Dahu, let's counterattack!" Lin Chuan shouted, drawing the Hanguang Sword to step up and fight. Seeing him stop, the golden-armored Yin soldier stopped as well, drawing its sword, while Shi Dahu came up beside Lin Chuan. The moment Shi Dahu appeared by his side, the golden-armored Yin soldier seemed to sense something, pausing for a split second before charging forward to slash at Lin Chuan with its sword. Lin Chuan hurriedly dodged and countered with a slash of his own. *Clang!* His attack was easily deflected. Shi Dahu followed up by bringing his axe down in a heavy chop, but the Yin soldier didn't even bother dodging—though the golden armor was so tough it only left a tiny mark.
The Yin soldier continued its assault on Lin Chuan. *Clang! Clang!* The sound of sword ringing was relentless. It was a good thing this thing was a corpse; otherwise, a half-baked cultivator like Lin Chuan would have died more than once already.
An awkward scene unfolded across the battlefield: Lin Chuan was at the front fending off the golden-armored Yin soldier's attacks, while Shi Dahu hacked away from behind with his large axe. *Clang, clang, ding, dong!* The sound of weapons and armor colliding echoed through the auxiliary tomb.
Lin Chuan's stamina was dwindling, but this golden-armored Yin soldier seemed completely tireless. It was a good thing Lin Chuan was picking up a few moves through combat; otherwise, he would have been in an even more passive position.
At that moment, the sword spirit drifted out from his Dantian. Seeing Lin Chuan struggling, it plunged directly into the Hanguang Sword. *Clang!* A sharp sword-cry rang out, and a sword technique suddenly flashed into Lin Chuan's mind: the Draw-Sword Technique. Controlling the Hanguang Sword, the sword spirit guided Lin Chuan to execute it. At that moment, Lin Chuan felt as though he had achieved a sudden enlightenment, swiftly following the sword spirit's trajectory to swing the blade. The golden-armored Yin soldier was gradually forced back by the sudden, fierce onslaught.
A flash of insight struck Lin Chuan. He poured his spiritual energy into the blade, building up power along the sword spirit's path. "Dahu, get out of there! Get behind me!" Lin Chuan roared, and then unleashed the Draw-Sword Technique.
*Clang!* A piercing sword-cry tore through the air, and a two-zhang-long streak of sword light shot from before him, flying straight toward the golden-armored Yin soldier. *Boom!* With a thunderous crash, the golden-armored Yin soldier was cleaved right down the middle.
Lin Chuan collapsed onto one knee, panting heavily as he felt completely hollowed out.
"Boss, are you alright?" Shi Dahu cried out, stepping forward in a rush to steady him.
"I'm fine... cough, cough... won't die. Let me recover." Supported by Shi Dahu, Lin Chuan crossed his legs and pulled out spirit stones to replenish his energy.
Soon, a pile of spirit stones was absorbed clean. *Boom!* Lin Chuan broke through to Foundation Establishment Layer 2. He let out a long sigh, reflecting on the battle just now. He realized that his combat instincts seemed to have improved. If the old Lin Chuan at Foundation Establishment Layer 1 had average combat power at best, then now, at Foundation Establishment Layer 2, he was confident he could battle someone at Foundation Establishment Layer 4. If he used that move from earlier paired with the Hanguang Sword, theoretically he could reach Peak Golden Core Layer 1 in terms of output—though he could only manage a single strike before his spiritual energy was completely drained. Thus, this could only be used as a trump card.
Lin Chuan stood up and looked toward the third hanging coffin. Recalling how the golden-armored Yin soldier had only attacked him, he guessed it had something to do with bloodline, so he decided to let Shi Dahu give it a try.
"Dahu, open the next hanging coffin."
Lin Chuan called out to Shi Dahu. The two approached the third hanging coffin. With a drop of blood, the coffin dropped, and Shi Dahu stepped up to push the lid away. *Boom!*
"Dahu, is there anything inside?" Lin Chuan asked from afar.
"Boss, there's a book in here, hey." Shi Dahu retrieved a book from inside and motioned for Lin Chuan to come over.
Lin Chuan took the book. On the cover were written a few large characters: *Basics of Array Formations*. Lin Chuan kept the book, then called for Shi Dahu to continue toward the fourth hanging coffin.
"Dahu, I'll take this one. I refuse to believe my luck is this bad."
Lin Chuan motioned for Shi Dahu to drop his blood while he stepped forward and shoved the coffin lid open. *Boom!*
"Dahu, run!"
Lin Chuan leaped back violently, drawing the Hanguang Sword. *Roar!* Another golden-armored Yin soldier jumped out. He shouted, "Draw-Sword Technique!" and built up his power. *Clang!* A sword-cry rang out, followed by a loud *boom* as the golden-armored Yin soldier crashed to the ground.
This time, Lin Chuan only panted slightly before sitting down to absorb spirit stones and recover.
"My luck is truly rock-bottom. Looks like I can't rely on gambling with my luck anymore—people actually die from that."
After recovering, Lin Chuan muttered a complaint, then continued toward the fifth hanging coffin, motioning for Shi Dahu to handle it himself.
Sure enough, when Shi Dahu opened it on his own, nothing happened. Soon, all the hanging coffins were opened. Their harvest included a middle-grade spirit weapon cauldron, a lower-grade spirit weapon armor, and a middle-grade spirit weapon axe. Shi Dahu handed his original lower-grade spirit weapon axe to Lin Chuan and equipped the new middle-grade spirit weapon axe himself.
Lin Chuan found a spot to study the array formations. Sitting cross-legged in an open area, he opened *Basics of Array Formations* and began to carefully comprehend its contents.
Shi Dahu, meanwhile, was sent by Lin Chuan to look for the exit to the next area. After all, this honest blockhead's luck was exceptionally good; ever since they entered this place, his luck had consistently outpaced Lin Chuan's.
As time passed, several hours later, Lin Chuan found the breakthrough. It turned out that weapon crafting required an understanding of arrays in order to apply enchantments; otherwise, the energy would become unbalanced and fail to enhance the weapon's power. He also learned from *Basics of Array Formations* about the various types of arrays: restriction arrays, which, as the name implied, trapped enemies; killing arrays, which killed enemies; illusion arrays, used to confuse or trap enemies, with even more powerful ones capable of wearing down an enemy's soul; and finally, support arrays, used to amplify weapons or oneself.
Lin Chuan seemed to grasp some of it, then began re-engraving support arrays onto his gun. He carved an array to reduce recoil, followed by one to increase hardness. After finishing, he tested them out and found them somewhat useful.
Next, he carved arrays onto his bullets, though he didn't dare use anything too powerful for fear of them exploding. Cautiously, he carved an array to increase potency, which roughly doubled the amplification. Lin Chuan fired a test shot; the power roughly reached the level of Peak Golden Core Layer 1, but the consumption of spirit stones was simply too high.
From the moment he obtained that ring, it had contained around one million low-grade spirit stones, but after several days of use, over 100,000 had already been consumed. Manufacturing a single one of these bullets required 20,000 low-grade spirit stones, so Lin Chuan could only afford to make 30 of them to save his life. The remaining spirit stones had to be kept for recovering his own spiritual power.
With that done, he planned to restore his condition to its peak before searching for the exit.