I am just a mortal, why do you all worship me as a saint?

Chapter 32: I've seen too much of this kind of charlatanism; it's boring.

The night is deep.

Gu Heng quietly moved through the dense forest, heading deeper into a dark mountainside.

After walking for a while, he stopped.

Deep in the dense forest, there is a huge cave, surrounded by thick fog, with a faint glimmer of light seeping out from inside.

"Hmm? No wonder I felt something was off about this place..."

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow, thinking that this lonely mountain nestled in the dense forest, with a mysterious cave in the middle of the mountain... Could this be the so-called "opportunity"? He had heard many stories about down-and-out rogue cultivators jumping off cliffs to commit suicide, only to find their own opportunity at the bottom of the cliff and then soaring to the sky. There were endless stories like this, but as a mere mortal, he had no way of verifying whether they were true or not.

but……

How could he have run into this?

Could it be that the reason I couldn't become a cultivator was because my "opportunity" hadn't arrived yet, but now it has?

Xiao Xi snuggled up to him and stood there, her tail held high, her two round little eyes staring at the giant cave.

There's something strange about this place.

Because Su Jinxi could clearly sense that outside the cave, there was an extremely solid sword intent, like an insurmountable high wall. Anyone who dared to go over would be cut to pieces!

With her cultivation at the tenth level of the Tribulation Transcending stage, facing that invisible yet tangible wall of sword intent, she felt as insignificant as a thin veil. If she dared to touch it lightly, she would surely die! Moreover, she discovered that the sword intent seemed to be slightly damaged, causing a trace of spiritual energy to leak out from the mountain cave. This trace of spiritual energy was not enough to affect the heavens and earth, but it was enough to affect the concentration of spiritual energy within a hundred steps around the mountain cave!

No wonder, that black-scaled earth python was only a fourth-grade demon beast, but its strength was equivalent to that of other sixth-grade demon beasts.

That guy must live near this mountain cave; being close to the water gives him an advantage.

However, Su Jinxi was unable to overcome the obstruction of that sword intent and could only retreat to find Gu Heng.

Because the power displayed on this wall of sword intent far exceeded Su Jinxi's comprehension. She was a great demon who had lived for thousands of years, yet now there was a power here that even she had never seen before?

That must have been left over from a very long time ago...

It's even possible that this was left behind by some ultimate being from the ancient Primordial Era! Gu Heng squatted down and patted Xiao Xi, "I'm going in to explore. You stay here obediently and don't run around anywhere, understand?"

"Meow……"

Xiaoxi called out somewhat reluctantly.

But she understood what she meant, so she just lay there, pawing at her face, seemingly not planning to move.

"Meow~"

Her voice was soft and sweet.

Gu Heng was satisfied, then placed her on the rock and turned to step into the cave.

Su Jinxi watched as Gu Heng approached the cave step by step, getting closer and closer to the invisible barrier formed by the sword intent...

"Um!?"

He just went in like that.

In Su Jinxi's eyes, Gu Heng possessed a more mysterious and powerful hazy golden light, which caused the wall of sword intent to quickly retreat, creating a hole about the same size as him. Subsequently, Gu Heng walked into the cave unharmed.

"...Is this even possible?"

Su Jinxi's cat-like eyes widened.

He was even powerful enough to make that sword intent circle around him!?

It seems that my assessment of his strength was quite inaccurate.

Gu Heng walked step by step into the depths of the cave, and after descending a very long flight of stairs, he reached the bottom.

"There's actually a palace hidden in these mountains?"

He was currently in this solitary mountain, where a large section of the mountain seemed to have been hollowed out. He was now standing inside a palace in the mountains, and before him stood a dilapidated and ancient hall!

This hall appears to be thousands of years old, but even so, it cannot conceal its magnificence and solemnity.

The palace is filled with ruins and moss, a testament to its once glorious past.

At the entrance of this main hall stood a black stone tablet about half a person's height. The inscriptions on it had been worn away by time and were almost gone, but Gu Heng could still read a few words.

"...The Emperor's Tomb?"

"May our Lord rest in peace, awaiting the day to come..."

He leaned closer to examine it carefully before he could barely make out the writing.

Gu Heng immediately frowned.

The tomb of some emperor? But the first line of text has been worn away, so it's probably unclear who the tomb belongs to now.

These words appear to have been carved by a loyal minister of the emperor.

Gu Heng pondered, looking up at the main gate of the hall. The bronze doors were already corroded and rusted, and only a chilling wind emanated from within. He took a deep breath, preparing to go in and investigate, when suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He sensed an unusual fluctuation behind him.

Gu Heng's eyes narrowed, and he immediately turned around—

"Whoosh..."

The wind howls and cranes cry!

A blurry, pale ghostly figure suddenly appeared in the ancient tomb, its empty eye sockets burning with eerie blue flames, and it lunged menacingly at Gu Heng!

"What the hell!"

Gu Heng was terrified. When he saw the ghostly figure rushing towards him, he quickly dodged to the side. The ghostly figure missed its target and stopped in mid-air.

"This guy... he actually managed to dodge our attacks?"

Ghost Shadow was also somewhat surprised, because he thought that this guy had unintentionally trespassed into his master's tomb and had no aura, so he was just a mortal.

Anyone who dares to trespass here will die. Before his death, he was merely an insignificant hair beneath the feet of that esteemed lord, but now he is the sole guardian of this tomb. His cultivation at the Mahayana stage may have diminished considerably in life, but dealing with a mere mortal should be more than enough for him!

Then, the ghostly figure lunged out again!

"No matter who you are, I will never let you disturb my lord's peace!"

He thought to himself that he would tear that foolish mortal to pieces!

"Get lost, who are you trying to scare!"

After the initial shock, Gu Heng was no longer afraid, because this guy didn't seem to pose any threat at all. He was just a shadowy figure pretending to be a ghost. He had seen a theatrical troupe perform such tricks before when he was in Qingmu City. With the help of props made by some cultivators, they could conjure up a movable human figure out of thin air from white smoke. It looked very strange, but actually... it was very fake.

It's just a way to fool those naive and unsophisticated people.

Although he hadn't seen much of the world, you can forget about trying to scare him with this kind of thing.

So, Gu Heng threw a punch!

This mortal dares to rebel.

The ghostly figure grinned maliciously to himself, already envisioning the gratifying sight of his claws tearing apart this mortal's chest. But before that, he wanted to shatter the man's outstretched fist first—

"Oh!"

Gu Heng's fist pierced through the white, ghostly mist, and with a flick of his arm, he completely slapped away the charlatan.

"Hmph, I've seen the world."

He blew on his knuckles, but for some reason, his knuckles felt cool.

"……Why?"

"Could it be that this guy is not an ordinary person..."

This was the last vestige of consciousness the ghost had before it vanished.