Thespian Emperor
As the three of them walked out of the corridor, a vast white snowfield appeared before their eyes.
Regarding why a snowfield would appear inside the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path, Chen Ling's trio were also somewhat puzzled. But they didn't communicate at this time, because all three of them were wary of the same figure...
A heavy, dangerous, and extremely patient existence.
Even though he had been dragged all the way like a dead pig by Jian Changsheng, he didn't utter a single sound, nor did he put up the slightest resistance. That mummy just hung its head, acting like a true corpse.
If it were any of Chen Ling's trio, they probably would have violently retaliated the moment they were grabbed and dragged. But he deliberately did nothing, as if he intended to play the image of a "corpse" to the bitter end... This spirit of letting go of self-esteem, this tenacity and ruthlessness, was the key reason that made the three of them extremely wary.
At first, Chen Ling was also almost deceived by him, thinking he was a corpse. After all, he didn't have the slightest breath, and his body was covered in dust, seemingly having laid there for a long time before they arrived.
But under Sun Bumian's reminder, he carefully observed him again using [Secret Pupil]... Discovering that he was indeed alive, and his feigning death technique had a similar approach to Jin Fugui's!
But this was not the trial ground for the Heaven-Reaching Star Position, but the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path full of mystery and the unknown. Although Chen Ling had seen through his disguise, he didn't attack unscrupulously like he did in the underground palace. After all, the highest level of enemies in the underground palace was only Fifth-Tier, and right now Chen Ling couldn't judge exactly what level of expert the mummy in front of him was...
"... Lin Yan, we've already dragged him all the way... Are we still going to drag him?" Dragging the heavy mummy, Jian Changsheng had already walked in the snow for a long time, finally unable to help but speak up.
Chen Ling and Sun Bumian exchanged a glance, nodding slightly.
"Let's stop dragging, just here is fine... Dig a pit and bury him!"
Since you are so capable of enduring, I want to see, how long can you endure after being buried alive?
Under the joint efforts of Chen Ling's trio, a deep pit in the snow gradually took shape. During this process, they remained vigilant towards the mummy beside them the entire time, as if they had already prepared for him to violently rise up and hurt people...
But in fact, he was quite quiet.
Chen Ling hardened his heart, directly telling Jian Changsheng to throw the person into the deep pit, and then began to slowly submerge his figure bit by bit with snow and soil... The latter also remained motionless, maintaining the mummy posture with hands folded on his chest, calmly letting himself be completely buried alive.
A few minutes later,
Chen Ling forcefully stepped on the two-meter thick soil and snow, wearing an expression of seeing a ghost.
"What's the situation? Did we see wrong?" Sun Bumian muttered softly.
"We shouldn't have..." Chen Ling was baffled. "He should indeed be alive, but why didn't he resist?"
"Then do we still make a move?"
"... Forget it. He doesn't seem to intend to attack us, so there's no need to cause extra trouble."
After Chen Ling probed for a while, he confirmed that this person harbored no malice. In that case, whether he was feigning death or not, there was no need to draw swords against him... Strictly speaking, the person was lying there perfectly fine, yet Chen Ling insisted on dragging him over to bury him alive. It was already quite an impolite behavior.
But since things had come to this point, Chen Ling couldn't possibly dig him out again to say sorry. He could only take a final glance at this pit and leave it at that.
The three living King Yamas sighed with some regret, then turned and left.
At the same time,
Buried alive underground, Jiang Xiaohua felt the darkness, dampness, and deathly stillness around him, letting out a soft moan of comfort.
"Lying here is much more comfortable than at the entrance... And no one comes to disturb me either."
"In this world, there are still many good people after all."
[Fifteen Emperors cast disdainful gazes upon you]
...
"There are quite a few footprints here." Sun Bumian walked in the wind and snow, looking at the messy footprints stretching far into the distance, seemingly somewhat surprised. "There are probably sixty or seventy people... And the footprints are very new, they haven't been covered by the wind and snow yet. This means they are not far ahead."
"Where did so many people in the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path come from?" Jian Changsheng frowned.
"It's not strange, right? The Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path has been lost for so many years. With its emergence this time, a new [Emperor] will definitely be born... These people should be the candidates for the new [Emperor]."
"Then since we've also come in, does that mean we also count as candidates?" Jian Changsheng asked cautiously.
"How is that possible. Like I said, we all have Divine Pathways, it's impossible to become the [Emperor]..." Sun Bumian glanced at Jian Changsheng with a strange expression. "Why, a person from the Way of the Soldier God like you, wants to be an Emperor? Soldier Dao Emperor?"
"No, I was just thinking about it." Jian Changsheng paused for a moment. "But don't say it, Soldier Dao Emperor... actually sounds pretty good."
"... Childish."
"What about Lion-Dance Emperor?"
"This is good, We like it."
Jian Changsheng: ...
Jian Changsheng felt something in his heart. He casually pointed at Chen Ling and said:
"Then what about him? If he were an Emperor, what should it be... [Thespian Emperor]?"
Dong—!
The moment Jian Changsheng's voice fell, it was as if something deep inside the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path was touched. Some kind of will between heaven and earth instantly resonated with the [Imperial Fate] in Chen Ling's body!
Chen Ling's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
A gentle breeze swirled around Chen Ling. He looked down blankly at his hands, not knowing what had happened...
But invisibly, his temperament seemed to have undergone some changes. If originally Chen Ling's temperament was the yin and softness brought by the Twisted Divine Path, now deep inside his pupils, there was already an added trace of a unique domineering aura... This temperament merged with Chen Ling's own temperament. Making the already bright and dangerous Chen Ling in a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe feel even more like a stranger not to be approached.
Jian Changsheng was also stunned. He seemed to have also felt the anomaly in heaven and earth just now, his expression even more bewildered than Chen Ling's... He just pointed at Chen Ling and said a casual sentence, how did it really cause such a commotion?
Seeing this, wisps of faint light flickered in Sun Bumian's eyes. After pondering for a moment, he muttered to himself:
"Public Opinion Is a Powerful Force, Enrobed in Yellow... So that's how it is..."
"What do you mean 'So that's how it is'?"
Sun Bumian glanced at Chen Ling, whose temperament had subtly changed, and the bewildered-looking Jian Changsheng... He paused for a moment, and spoke again:
"It seems, I understand the rules of the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path."
...
On the other side.
The Hemp-Clad Youth reached out his hand, helping up the youth in the pool of blood who had been beaten into an extremely wretched state by Zhu Zhong. His voice was gentle like a spring breeze:
"How are you? Are you alright?"
"... I, I'm fine." The youth with a bruised and swollen face looked at the Hemp-Clad Youth, his eyes full of gratitude. The pain all over his body made his facial features contort involuntarily. Even for a moment just now, he really thought he was going to be beaten to death alive...
But now, thanks to the Hemp-Clad Youth, he survived.
"Thank you... really, thank you." The youth shed tears of gratitude. "My name is Han Dong, what about you?"
"My name is Li Fu." The Hemp-Clad Youth smiled slightly,
"The 'Fu' in 'subvert' (顛覆)."