The Tomb of the Living Dead, also known as the Ancient Tomb Sect, was founded by Lin Chaoying, the former confidante of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen School.
The Tomb of the Living Dead was originally a stronghold built by Wang Chongyang to defend against the Jin army, where he stored provisions and weapons.
After Wang Chongyang's defeat against the Jin, he established the Quanzhen School on Zhongnan Mountain
and became a Taoist monk. Lin Chaoying also occupied the Tomb of the Living Dead and established the Ancient Tomb Sect.
Although the Ancient Tomb Sect's rules stated that it was a sworn enemy of the Quanzhen School, and even new members had to spit on Wang Chongyang, Lin Chaoying's choice of such a close location as the Tomb of the Living Dead to establish her sect clearly showed that she still harbored feelings for Wang Chongyang.
Early the next morning, Lin Qi went out to deliver a message as instructed by his master.
However, after leaving the Quanzhen School, Lin Qi did not head directly to the desert, but instead went to the Ancient Tomb Sect's territory in the back mountains.
Upon arriving here, Lin Qi became extremely cautious. This place was a forbidden area for Quanzhen Sect disciples; if he were discovered, there would be no way to explain it.
According to the plot Lin Qi knew, there should be a pool of water around the ancient tomb, leading directly to the secret passage inscribed with Chongyang's legacy.
The ancient tomb itself wasn't very large, and there weren't many pools outside. After searching for a long time, Lin Qi found three similar places.
There was no other way! He could only try them one by one.
Reluctantly, Lin Qi began his diving adventure. Luckily, he hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit in the world of One Piece, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to enter the water.
Perhaps it was good luck, or perhaps the system was secretly helping him, but Lin Qi made a discovery upon entering the first pool.
There was a flowing stream at the bottom of this pool, leading directly towards the ancient tomb.
Having discovered this, Lin Qi quickly returned to shore to gather his belongings and then dived back in.
The waterway beneath the pool was long and obscured, so Lin Qi wouldn't have dared to venture into it if it weren't for Yin Zhiping's internal energy cultivation, which allowed him to hold his breath briefly.
Even so, Lin Qi only managed to swim out of the waterway when he was almost at his limit; if the waterway had been any longer, he probably would have drowned.
"Heh! I'm really lucky, I guessed right on the first try."
Seeing the man-made tunnel in the distance, Lin Qi knew he had made the right choice.
He quickly took out the torch he had prepared and entered the tunnel to search for Wang Chongyang's inscription.
Not long after, Lin Qi found Wang Chongyang's inscription on the ceiling of one of the tunnels:
"Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, surpassing Quanzhen in skill. Chongyang's life was no less than anyone else's."
The sixteen characters were powerful and vigorous, deeply embedded in the stone, written in thick ink.
Beside these sixteen large characters were tiny characters, which were parts of the martial arts from the Nine Yin Manual.
Looking at these words, Lin Qi thought to himself, "Wang Chongyang is really something, insisting on competing with Lin Chaoying without even giving the woman a break. And the competition even uses martial arts from the Nine Yin Manual! Why not just inscribe the 'Innate Skill' here? That's a peerless martial art no less powerful than the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Manuals."
However, Lin Qi only complained; he didn't care about the details. He copied whatever Wang Chongyang inscribed, memorizing it all first.
"Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian," "Healing Pian," "Heart-Crushing Palm," "Great Subduing Demon Fist," "Spiral Nine Shadows," "Soul-Shifting Technique."
In no time, Lin Qi had copied down all the martial arts. The gains were considerable; not only were there internal energy cultivation methods, fist techniques, palm techniques, lightness skills, but even a secret technique like the "Soul-Shifting Technique."
"However," Lin Qi hesitated, stroking his chin, "Should I go see Xiaolongnu?"
At this time, Xiaolongnu should still be an infant, right? Moreover, her master's maid, Lin Chaoying's maid, should also be in the ancient tomb. If she discovered him, he'd probably be doomed.
After hesitating for a while, Lin Qi decided to take a look, a sneaky one, without alerting anyone.
He followed the secret passage to the coffin in the ancient tomb, carefully opened it, and cautiously peeked out.
But as soon as he poked his head out, he saw a cute little girl, about six or seven years old, staring blankly at him, oblivious to the book falling from her hands.
Her hair was disheveled, her face pale and delicate. She was soaking wet, with seaweed clinging to her body, and most importantly, she had crawled out of the coffin!
Lin Qi's typical water ghost appearance clearly terrified the little girl.
Just as Lin Qi and the little girl were staring at each other, footsteps suddenly came from outside the stone chamber.
Lin Qi made a face at the little girl, quickly pulled back, closed the mechanism, and ran back through the secret passage. Once
Lin Qi disappeared, the little girl in the stone chamber finally reacted and let out a startling scream.
"Ah!"
"What happened? Mochou, what's wrong?" At this moment, a beautiful woman in palace attire walked in, carrying a baby in her arms. From her words, it was revealed that the adorable little girl in the stone chamber was none other than the future ruthless Red Serpent Fairy, Li Mochou.
"Master! There's a ghost in the coffin, in that coffin!" Li Mochou ran to the beautiful woman's side, hugging her leg and pointing at the coffin Lin Qi had just climbed out of, crying out that she had been terrified.
"What ghost? Mochou, there are only us, master and disciple, in this ancient tomb. Where would a ghost come from? Did you just fall asleep?" The beautiful woman walked to the coffin but found nothing, assuming that Li Mochou had fallen asleep and was having a nightmare.
"Huh? There was clearly a water ghost here just now, all wet. How did it disappear? Ah! It must be a ghost, otherwise how could it suddenly disappear?" Li Mochou looked terrified, even more convinced that there was a ghost in the coffin.
"Alright! Mochou. What ghosts are there? And what are we, the Ancient Tomb Sect, afraid of? Don't overthink it. Just keep an eye on your junior sister. I'm going to practice my skills." The beautiful woman said, handing the baby in her arms to Li Mochou before leaving.
Li Mochou, holding Xiaolongnu, stayed in the stone chamber, staring at Lin Qi's coffin. Thinking about the scene of Lin Qi climbing out, she became increasingly frightened. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she grabbed Xiaolongnu and ran out quickly.
Meanwhile, Lin Qi, the culprit, ran out of the secret passage and swam away along the pool.
"That was close! That was close! What bad luck! I was discovered as soon as I poked my head out." Lin Qi lay panting on the grass, fuming.
But he didn't know that from then on, Li Mochou never entered that stone chamber again.
Moreover, due to her childhood experience of "encountering a ghost," Li Mochou became somewhat weak and timid, living a quiet life in the Ancient Tomb. The title of Red Serpent Fairy completely disappeared from the martial arts world.
"Sigh! I won't be able to see Little Dragon Girl. I'd better go find the Sword Tomb and then hurry to the desert. If something unexpected happens later, I'll be ruined if I can't complete the system quest."
After thinking it through, Lin Qi quickly descended Zhongnan Mountain, bought a fast horse, and headed straight for Xiangyang City.
Great Song Dynasty, Xiangyang City.
Xiangyang City was first built during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty and was used as a military fortress. During the Song Dynasty, the earthen city wall was replaced with a brick wall, making it a crucial military stronghold.
Guo Jing defended it for over thirty years, but ultimately failed to protect the Song Dynasty; the city fell and his family perished.
Ultimately, dynastic changes were not something that martial arts figures could control. Those like Murong Fu, who attempted to use their martial arts influence to usurp the throne, were simply delusional.
After traveling for nearly half a month, Lin Qi finally arrived in Xiangyang City from Zhongnan Mountain.
This arduous journey made Lin Qi acutely aware of the inconvenience of travel in ancient times.
No wonder there are so many dialects in later generations of China! People living in one place for a long time naturally develop different languages.
To keep moving, Lin Qi rarely rested, traveling almost non-stop, so he didn't have much time to study the martial arts techniques he had obtained from the ancient tomb's secret passage.
He could only select the most important "Yi Jin Duan Gu" (Muscle/
Tendon Changing and Bone Strengthening Chapter) to begin practicing, glancing at the others but not practicing them. However, the *Nine Yin Manual* truly lived up to its reputation as a peerless divine skill, especially the "Yi Jin Duan Gu" chapter, which not only enhanced one's internal strength but also improved one's aptitude, sharing a similar effect with the Shaolin Temple's "Yi Jin Jing" (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic).
Lin Qi had only practiced for a few days when he felt significant changes within himself. Not only had his internal strength increased considerably, but his internal energy circulation also felt much smoother, and his meridians were noticeably strengthened.
With this fragment of the *Nine Yin Manual*, Lin Qi believed he would soon become a top-tier martial arts master.
Upon arriving in Xiangyang City, Lin Qi didn't immediately rush to find the Sword Tomb. The original novel contained some descriptions of the Sword Tomb, but they were unclear. With only this limited information, it would be difficult for Lin Qi to find the Sword Tomb on his own. Therefore, Lin Qi decided to first find an inn in Xiangyang City to stay in and then slowly inquire about information.
Entering Xiangyang City, the streets were bustling with people, a scene of prosperity. At this time, Xiangyang City had not yet been threatened by the Mongol army, and the people were still living in peace and prosperity.
After strolling around Xiangyang City for a while, Lin Qi found a decent-looking restaurant and went inside.
The restaurant was doing good business, so Lin Qi found an empty table in a corner, called a waiter, and ordered a few dishes.
Just as Lin Qi was waiting for the food, a conversation between two people at the next table caught his attention.
(End of Chapter)