The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

As long as you are strong, every move you make can unleash tremendous power.

snoring~

snoring~

Maodou was snoring loudly beside him, while Jiang Ning lay on the lawn gazing at the night sky, his eyes sparkling like stars.

……

Zhongnan Mountain.

Also known as Taiyi Mountain, it is located in the middle section of the Qinling Mountains. Its terrain is rugged and its valleys are continuous. It is a famous Taoist mountain.

Since the demise of the Quanzhen School, no sect has settled in this famous Taoist mountain, but it has attracted many hermits to live here.

After traveling and stopping for five days, Jiang Ning finally arrived here, with Maodou leading the way.

At this moment, the clothes he was wearing were no longer the Huashan Sect's uniform, but rather clothes he had bought in Huayin County. They were light gray in color, and although they were cloth clothes, the workmanship was quite good.

Maodou carried luggage on his back, which included clothes, dry food, paper umbrellas, and other items.

Not far from Xi'an Prefecture, there was a small town at the foot of the mountain. Jiang Ning bought some dry food in the town as a supplement and then began to climb the mountain.

Although Zhongnan Mountain is also a famous mountain, its scenery is slightly inferior to that of Huashan Mountain.

After all, the scenery of Mount Hua is rare in the world, and it is a famous scenic tourist attraction and a national scenic area in modern times.

Chapter 29: The Tomb of the Living Dead

The roads in Zhongnan Mountain are rugged, and Jiang Ning found it a bit strenuous to climb, not as easy as Maodou behind him.

The townspeople say that many hermits live in Zhongnan Mountain. Every so often, some people come to Zhongnan Mountain to live in seclusion. Some are talented people who are not successful in their careers, while others are people who resigned from their official posts in anger after being thwarted in their official careers and came here to live in seclusion.

When climbing Zhongnan Mountain, Jiang Ning discovered many traces of human habitation and even saw some houses.

It seems there are quite a few people living in seclusion in these mountains.

The mountain was filled with the chirping of insects and the shadows of trees, with small animals darting through the woods from time to time.

The mountain path here was not much easier to climb than that of Mount Hua. The higher you went, the steeper it became. In the end, Jiang Ning had no choice but to stick his sword into the ground to use as leverage to climb upwards.

However, he climbed with some difficulty, while Maodou walked very easily on the rugged and steep mountain path. Its tall and strong body appeared very light, which made Jiang Ning take a sidelong look. He wondered what breed of donkey it was.

He rested overnight in a small town at the foot of the mountain before starting his climb. He began climbing in the morning and it's almost noon now.

Jiang Ning finally climbed Zhongnan Mountain and saw the towering buildings in the distance.

This is the site of the Quanzhen School of Taoism.

The Quanzhen School has been based here for hundreds of years, and its headquarters have long been abandoned, with the buildings in ruins and broken walls.

"Wanshou Chongyang Palace".

Jiang Ning walked into the ruins. Not far from his feet was a plaque covered in dust, with the words "Wanshou Chongyang Palace" written on it.

"Alas, where are those who came to gaze at the moon with me? The scenery is vaguely the same as last year. What a pity, what a pity."

At this time, a voice sounded from not far away.

Jiang Ning followed the sound and found a young man in a long robe with his hands behind his back, shaking his head and talking about the ruins in front of him.

The man was thin and frail, wearing a hat and headscarf, looking as if he would fall over with a gust of wind.

“Brother Ziyan, we traveled together to Zhongnan Mountain last year. Who would have thought that you would pass away this year? What am I to do?”

The man had tears in his eyes and a look of reminiscence on his face. When he saw Jiang Ning, he turned back to look at him, then shook his head and sighed for a while before leaving and heading down the mountain.

It turns out they came here to reminisce about someone by looking at the objects.

Jiang Ning searched the site carefully to see if there was any information, but found nothing.

This is normal, though. This site has been here for hundreds of years, and countless people have probably been here. If there were a manual for the Innate Skill here, it would have been taken long ago, and it wouldn't have been his turn. He was just trying his luck.

After touring the ruins of the Quanzhen Sect, Jiang Ning left and began searching the surrounding area within a ten-mile radius. He didn't know the location of the Tomb of the Living Dead, but he knew it wasn't far from the Quanzhen Sect.

Jiang Ning's first search site was the back of Zhongnan Mountain, but when he arrived, he found that there was nothing there at all. It was overgrown with weeds, and there wasn't even a tombstone, let alone a grave mound. There was only a pool of water and a patch of weeds.

"Isn't it here?"

Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

After looking at the pool of water in front of him, he turned and left to search carefully in other places.

Three days later.

Jiang Ning stood once again on the ruins of the Quanzhen Sect, frowning and remaining silent.

He searched every inch of the area for the past three days, but couldn't find the entrance to the ancient tomb. He did see a few burial mounds, but they all had names written on them. Judging from the epitaphs, they were all buried several decades ago. They were people who had been frustrated in their careers and had lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain. After they died, they were buried here.

Nothing else was found.

Jiang Ning looked at the ruins before him, his brows furrowed.

After a while.

As if he had thought of something, he turned and ran towards the back of the mountain.

Back mountain.

Jiang Ning stood before the pool of water, gazing at the calm surface in silence.

If there's anything he missed, it's this place.

Looking at the deep, bottomless pool, Jiang Ning instructed Maodou behind him, "Wait for me here."

Maodou blinked its big eyes but didn't respond. It stood obediently in place without moving.

Jiang Ning tied his sword to his waist, then jumped into the pool. The water splashed up with a loud thud, creating ripples on the surface, but soon returned to calm, as if nothing had happened. Only a donkey stood motionless at the edge of the pool.

After entering the pool, Jiang Ning kept swimming downstream. Fortunately, he knew how to swim and was quite good at it.

The pool was very deep, and he swam downstream for a while without seeing the bottom.

The further downstream he went, the more he felt a tightness in his chest, as if a heavy object was pressing down on him. Moreover, his vision was not very clear at the bottom of the pool, and the water pressure at the bottom forced him to squint, which made his vision even more blurry.

By the time Jiang Ning finally swam to the bottom, he already felt a pressure on his chest that made it hard to breathe.

Jiang Ning's gaze swept across the bottom of the pool, but because his vision was poor at the moment, he couldn't see very clearly. What he saw in front of him was almost the same, and he couldn't distinguish them at all.

After scanning the area for a while, Jiang Ning felt a tightness and pain in his chest. He had almost used up all the oxygen he had been holding in, and he had to swim up as soon as possible, or he would suffocate.

Jiang Ning scanned the bottom of the pool, but finding nothing unusual, he had no choice but to swim upwards.

As Jiang Ning was swimming upstream, he glanced down at the bottom of the pool, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over a spot before turning back. But the next second, he opened his eyes slightly and looked back at the spot he had just swept over.

His vision was blurry, but he could vaguely see a sharp corner peeking out from the seaweed in the area he had been scanning earlier.

It was a piece of granite.

Most of that granite was buried by the water plants at the bottom of the pool. If the water plants hadn't moved and exposed it just now, Jiang Ning definitely wouldn't have been able to see it.

Jiang Ning suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

Granite has many uses, but it is usually used to make tombstones. Since he saw granite at the bottom of the pool, that place is very likely the tombstone of the Tomb of the Living Dead.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning wanted to turn back and check that place, but he was running low on oxygen and had to go up immediately.

Jiang Ning memorized the location he had just seen, and then swam toward the surface of the water.

"call!"

After swimming to the surface, Jiang Ning breathed a sigh of relief, as the tightness in his chest had eased considerably.

Jiang Ning returned to the pool and sat down to recover his strength, while the donkey waited for him in the same spot.

Wiping the water off his face, Jiang Ning took out some food from his bag and ate it while recovering his strength, his mind still focused on the location he had just thought of.

After a moment, Jiang Ning jumped back into the pool. Once he had a direction, he quickly swam to the bottom. This time, he was prepared and held his breath for a long time.

Returning to the spot he had just seen, Jiang Ning unhesitatingly used his sword to clear away all the weeds, and a tombstone quickly appeared before him.

Tomb of the Living Dead.

The four characters on the tombstone came into view before Jiang Ning.

Chapter 30: The Female Corpse

Jiang Ning's eyes lit up with joy; it was indeed right here.

Without hesitation, Jiang Ning immediately began searching for the entrance mechanism around the tombstone.

After a while.

Got nothing.

The oxygen supply in Jiangning is almost depleted again.

Jiang Ning frowned slightly and had no choice but to stop swimming and return to shore.

After resting for a while, Jiang Ning jumped back into the pool to continue exploring the tombstone. When his oxygen was almost depleted, he returned to shore, and then repeated this process.

Five days later.

Jiang Ning, who had been stranded here for five days, finally found the mechanism of the tombstone.

At the bottom of the pool, less than two meters from the tombstone, Jiang Ning found a ring four inches below the bottom.

A look of joy appeared on Jiang Ning's face.

However, he did not pull the ring immediately. Instead, he returned to the shore to catch his breath and regain his strength before swimming back down and pulling the ring.

The tombstone, which had been buried at the bottom of the pool for a long time without any movement, began to make a sound, then shook and moved to the side, revealing an opening.

After the cave entrance appeared, a whirlpool appeared above it. Jiang Ning knew that the pool water was flowing in, and without hesitation, he immediately swam into the cave entrance.

After entering the cave, Jiang Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was now standing in a spacious area, with the water from the pool above flowing into the cave.

Jiang Ning scanned the area. His night vision was quite good. Although it was dark all around, he still noticed a similar ring on a stone wall. He went forward and pulled it, and a rotating sound came from above, and the tombstone returned to its original position.

Only then did Jiang Ning take out a piece of cloth from his bosom. The cloth contained tinder, and although the bundle was soaked, the tinder inside was dry.

After lighting the tinderbox, Jiang Ning finally had time to look around. Although the area was spacious, it was surrounded by stone walls on three sides, with only one passage leading to an unknown destination.

Although this place is located at the bottom of the pool, there is oxygen available for Jiang Ning to breathe, so he won't suffocate. He just doesn't know where the ventilation shaft is.

Jiang Ning looked around with a smile, his eyes filled with excitement.

Although he hasn't found the Innate Skill yet, judging from the current situation, the Ancient Tomb Sect should be wiped out, which is a good thing for him.

After catching his breath, Jiang Ning walked along the passage.

The passage was not narrow, about three meters high and two meters wide. Jiang Ning walked into the passage for about ten minutes until a tomb door appeared in front of him.

The tomb entrance has two doors, like the doors of some large mansions.

Jiang Ning reached out and pressed his hand on the tomb door, then pushed hard, and it opened without any resistance.

A spacious tomb chamber appeared before Jiang Ning.

The tomb chamber was very simple, with nothing but seven tomb doors. In front of Jiang Ning was a stone tablet with the words "Quanzhen Sect and dogs are not allowed to enter" inscribed on it.

I belong to the Huashan School, not the Quanzhen School.

Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He pushed open one of the tomb doors and found it was also a passage, but he didn't know where it led. He then pushed open the other six tomb doors. Behind the remaining tomb doors, there were three passages, but there were also three tomb doors, but they were the kind that were sealed. Structurally, the tomb doors fell from above, and unless there was some kind of mechanism, they could not be opened at all.

Jiang Ning didn't see any mechanisms; the surroundings were flat. After taking a look, he went to the other four tomb doors with passageways to explore those four areas.

Jiang Ning randomly chose a passage and walked in. After walking for a minute, he reached the bottom, which was also a tomb chamber.

The tomb chamber contained a stone table, stone benches, and a wooden dressing table, but all of them were covered in dust.

After finding nothing there, Jiang Ning explored the other three tomb entrances.

At the end of the three tomb passages, there were two more tomb chambers. One of the chambers contained rice, vegetables, pots, pans, and other food and utensils, but all of the food was moldy and rotten. The other chamber contained nothing but a stone bed, which looked like a place for practicing martial arts.

Jiang Ning is now at the entrance of the third tomb door. In front of him is another tomb chamber, but compared to the previous three tomb chambers, which, although old, still had a hint of life, this tomb chamber only has a coffin in the center, and nothing else.

This is more like a cemetery.