This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

The ancestral temple gradually returned to calm. Outside the library, everything seemed as if nothing had happened. The books that the men in black had scattered everywhere flew back to their shelves on their own, and even the damaged shelves began to recover.

It was as if time had been reversed, and everything had returned to how it was before their future. However, the difference was that everyone who had broken in had disappeared, including Ruoxue and Xiaoxingchen.

Xiao Xingchen was jolted awake by a suffocating gasp. He felt himself being violently dragged down through the mud, the dirt constantly rubbing against his face, his nostrils already filled with dust. But the force coming from his ankles didn't care about his life or death, continuing to pull him further down into the ground.

He wanted to scream, but his mouth was full of mud, making it impossible to utter a sound. The suffocation didn't let him off the hook just because he was a sword immortal. Only then did he realize that movies were all lies; even cultivators still needed to breathe, still needed oxygen.

His head grew heavier and heavier; the lack of oxygen left him completely powerless, let alone able to break free from the dragging force.

Surprisingly, even as he lay on the verge of death, he could feel the divine embryo growing increasingly excited and agitated beneath his heart. Although the embryo had lost its former power, it remained vibrant and energetic, like a child long separated from home, constantly revealing a look of hope.

This made him think that this divine embryo must have gone mad; its host was about to die, yet it was still cheering for the enemy.

He lost track of time in the dim light; the earth seemed to have no sense of the passage of time. Finally, his body relaxed, and a burst of bright light entered his nostrils, invigorating him.

But it only lasted a moment before her body was enveloped by something, and her legs were entangled together, until she was hanging upside down in the air.

The wind blew against his body, and the swaying finally brought him back to consciousness. However, his head was first deprived of oxygen, and then, being hung upside down, he felt all the blood in his body rush to his head, causing him to feel dizzy.

But his senses were still intact. He could feel on his face that he was in a damp environment, and he could even hear the sound of flowing water. Even though it was completely dark, he instinctively felt that something was moving in front of him.

Suddenly, bursts of candlelight illuminated the enclosed space, instantly brightening the cave. After the initial blinding light, he finally saw where he was.

He was hanging upside down from the cave ceiling, his body covered in thick white calluses, his feet bound by a thin spider silk. Around him were many other people hanging in the same way.

He saw the men in black, Ruoxue, and even many desiccated corpses. These corpses were dried out, and the spider silk wrapped around them hung haphazardly, a truly horrifying sight.

Dark, damp, and filthy water flowed slowly across the ground, and a foul stench permeated the air.

"This is where?"

Xiao Xingchen couldn't help but exclaim in shock. He remembered being dragged here from the ancestral temple, but how could there be such a place underground in the ancestral temple?

"Ruoxue, Ruoxue, wake up!"

He shouted, but all he got in return were echoes. This puzzled him greatly. He was fine, so why was Ruoxue unconscious? Ruoxue's strength was undeniable.

Seeing that his shout hadn't caused any danger, he began to save himself. His feet were bound, and his entire body was covered in white cocoons, rendering him completely immobile. Yet, the divine embryo was exceptionally excited. He had only thought about it for a moment, and before he could even act, sword energy shot out from his chest, severing the cocoons binding him.

With a thud, he fell to the ground, splashing up a cloud of dirty water.

"Holy crap, the sword energy has returned?"

Inside the ancestral temple, the divine embryo had lost all its power, but here it seemed to have fully recovered.

He didn't have time to consider that question; he made a hand gesture, and streams of sword energy erupted forth, instantly saving Ruoxue.

In the darkness, as sword energy surged forth, something seemed to be detected at the end of the cave. A statue suddenly opened its eyes, and the chains binding it began to rattle.

The clanging of the chains echoed, causing Xiao Xingchen to abruptly turn his head to look at the end.

But now, his main task is to awaken Ruoxue. He knows too little about the history of the Great Qian Dynasty, and only Ruoxue might know what the current situation is.

"Ruoxue, wake up, Ruoxue?"

After realizing that calling out was useless, he made a quick decision: he was only able to wake up because of the power of his divine embryo, so now, if he wanted Ruoxue to wake up,

The power of the divine embryo was released once more. This time, he pointed his index finger at Ruoxue's forehead, and as his finger fell, the power of the divine embryo directly invaded Ruoxue's head.

As the power of the divine embryo surged in, some color returned to Ruoxue's face, and her body gradually warmed up.

It worked! Overjoyed, he released the power of the Divine Embryo onto Ruoxue again, repeating this process. Strands of crimson blood appeared on Ruoxue's body, eventually evaporating with a hiss. It seemed the power of the Divine Embryo was a natural nemesis of these blood threads. Even Xiao Xingchen, who hadn't initially noticed these things, slowly took a step back, watching intently as the blood threads on Ruoxue's body slowly rose from her body and were then obliterated by the power of the Divine Embryo.

"This is truly eye-opening. This world is completely inexplicable by science. What the hell is all this?"

Xiao Xingchen's eyes widened, and he cursed again. No wonder all the transmigrators died tragically; it would be a miracle if they didn't die after encountering such a monstrous thing. And that baby hand that grabbed his ankle—just thinking about it made him tremble.

"Cough cough cough cough..."

Ruoxue's chest tightened; she finally reacted.

"Ruoxue, you're awake?"

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Ruoxue open her eyes. Whether they could get out of here depended entirely on Ruoxue's help; he had no confidence whatsoever.

"Where are we?"

Ruoxue reached out and sensed it, then her body was enveloped in a white light from the inside out. Seeing her power return, she finally regained her confidence.

She slowly stood up, looked around, and then swung her palm at the white cocoon on the cave ceiling.

With her sudden action, the white cocoons hanging in mid-air turned to dust, revealing what was inside.

"Hanging burial?"

After Ruoxue clearly saw the mummified corpse inside the white cocoon, she blurted out,

"What are you talking about? What is hanging burial?"

Xiao Xingchen hurriedly asked, and as Ruoxue made her move, countless mummified corpses were revealed, densely covering the entire cave.

Upon closer inspection, Xiao Xingchen was once again shocked to discover that these mummified corpses were not human bodies.