Leo shook his head. “It’s not underground; there is an ancient tomb behind the nine ancestral graves of your family.”
“How is that possible!? I didn’t see anything,” Brice became even more confused.
“You can’t see it. Stay where you are and wait for me,” Leo instructed.
Leo continued to move forward, and as he approached the ancient tomb, he sensed that mysterious force reacting and continuously impacting his body.
Although Leo had his Spiritual Power protecting him, each step became increasingly difficult. He mustered about sixty to seventy percent of his Spiritual Power to barely withstand this mysterious force.
After passing through the line of nine graves, five statues over three meters tall appeared before Leo.
These five statues were: Redfiend, Glamourghast, Shadowlurker, Nightghoul, and Nightghoul!
Seeing these five statues, Leo became even more certain of his speculation.
Nine graves, five statues, precisely forming the number ninety-five.
The number ninety-five represented something that even ordinary people, not just geomancy masters, were aware of.
In ancient times, emperors were referred to as the “ninety-five lords,” so the number ninety-five was not something that just anyone could use.
Before even entering the tomb, there was already a geomancy formation of the ninety-five lords. Moreover, beneath the illusionary tomb, there was the suppression of a dragon vein, possibly even the main dragon vein. Leo couldn’t help but be shocked by this revelation.
The owner of the ancient tomb was likely an emperor from some dynasty in ancient times.
Of course, even if the illusionary tomb emerged, the tomb’s owner wouldn’t truly come back to life.
There were natural laws in place, and after a person’s death, if their three souls and seven spirits couldn’t enter the underworld, they would gradually dissipate.
Even if special methods were used to preserve the three souls and seven spirits, in the end, only the two souls and seven spirits could be preserved. Without entering the cycle of reincarnation, the soul of destiny would eventually dissipate.
The so-called wandering spirits and ghosts were merely energy forms formed by the two souls and seven spirits. Without the soul of destiny, even if they occupied someone else’s body, they were not truly human.
Geomancy masters helped people with the arrangements of tombs to ensure a smooth passage for the deceased and to bring blessings to future generations through the geomancy formations of the burial grounds.
However, some people were not content with a peaceful death. They desired longevity and resurrection, especially emperors and high-ranking officials from ancient times. Many of them had such aspirations and dedicated their efforts to exploration and research.
Among them, the most famous was the First Emperor.
The legend of the First Emperor dispatching his subordinate with three thousand boys and girls to seek the elixir of immortality was widely known.
It was precisely because of such demands that evil-minded geomancy masters found opportunities to exploit.
They claimed to be able to bring people back to life after death. By using various miraculous methods, they gained the favor of emperors and became involved in the construction and layout of imperial tombs, serving as the chief designers.
Little did they know, these evil geomancy masters had ulterior motives.
Emperors, as the ninety-five lords, possessed extraordinary destinies and auras.
After an emperor’s death, their aura wouldn’t dissipate quickly. Evil geomancy masters utilized special geomancy formations in the tombs to nurture the emperor’s body into something extremely dreadful.
It seemed that the geomancy master involved wasn’t genuinely trying to help the Hampton family. Their ultimate goal was most likely to use the ancestral graves of the Hampton family to nurture the tomb’s owner.
Leo was astonished by the geomancy master’s grasp of timing. The formation was set up over sixty years ago, and now, over sixty years later, this geomancy treasure trove was transitioning from prosperity to decline.
Three years ago, Brice’s mother passed away and was buried here. It coincided perfectly with the formation of the ninety-five lords through the five statues. The entire nurturing plan had reached a perfect conclusion.
This illusionary tomb had likely existed here for thousands of years. So far, there had been no record of a geomancy master living for a thousand years. Could it be that the geomancy master who helped the Hampton family relocate their ancestral graves was a descendant of the geomancy master who set up this illusionary tomb?
This kind of thing is truly terrifying when you think about it. “I hope it’s not the worst outcome.” Leo tightened his focus and continued forward.
After passing by five giant statues, a dark tomb entrance appeared before his eyes.
Leo used Divine Awareness to probe ahead and didn’t sense any danger, so he entered the tomb passage.
To Brice, it seemed as if Leo had suddenly disappeared into thin air.
The tomb passage was pitch black, but Leo took out a talisman from his body. After offering it, a small fireball appeared and floated in front of him, providing some illumination.
With the light from the fireball, Leo could roughly see the path ahead and the surroundings of the tomb passage.
Unlike previous ancient tombs he had ventured into, this illusionary tomb’s passage was not spacious, barely allowing one person to walk through.
According to logic, the tomb passage of an emperor would be wide and not so conservatively designed.
Since Leo didn’t know what dangers lay within this illusionary tomb, he cautiously used Divine Awareness to probe ahead while slowing his pace.
The top of the tomb passage had an arched shape, and the walls on the left and right were made of large square stones without any murals.
Ancient tombs emphasized symmetry, reflecting the ancient people’s understanding of the world, with heaven being round and earth being square.
Therefore, ancient tombs were generally not constructed in a complex manner, resulting in similar layouts. This made it relatively easy for experienced and skilled tomb raiders to enter the tombs, as if they were entering their own homes.
However, underground tombs usually couldn’t compare to illusionary tombs. Although illusionary tombs were only sparsely mentioned in geomancy classics, just hearing their name was enough to know that they harbored dangers.
If it was true that the main dragon vein was suppressed in this illusionary tomb, over such a long period of time, what kind of monstrous being could have been nurtured?
Where there is a dragon vein, there is a dragon cave. Whether it was geomancy or tomb raiders, they often spent three years searching for dragon veins and ten years marking dragon caves.
Once the dragon cave was accurately determined, it was equivalent to finding the ancient tomb.
Because when building a tomb on a dragon vein, the main burial chamber must be constructed on top of the dragon cave. Otherwise, not only would it not absorb the benefits of the dragon vein, but the powerful energy of the dragon vein could vent out, preventing the tomb owner from ever achieving transcendence.
Leo held a compass and walked in the tomb passage for about seven or eight minutes. The previously motionless pointer on the compass began to slowly rotate.
A corner appeared ahead of the tomb passage, and after turning the corner, there was still a seemingly endless tomb passage.
It felt as if one was walking on a pitch-black road that had no end.
Leo stopped in his tracks and muttered to himself, “Could it be an illusion or a maze?”
In order to prevent tomb raiders, the setting of traps and mazes within ancient tombs was quite common. Some unlucky tomb raiders either died on the traps or starved to death in the maze.