'Imperial palace?'

Ye Qingyu was greatly surprised to hear that.

Both Yan Xingtian and Qin Wushuang wore looks of surprise as well.

Anything that had something to do with an Emperor was incredibly mysterious. White Deer Academy was the place that inaugurated their martial arts journey, and all three of them were extremely familiar with it. They never realized that an imperial palace laid beneath the academy; it came as an even greater surprise for Ye Qingyu and Yan Xingtian. Both of them came back to the academy after making great progress in martial arts, but neither of them so much as sensed its presence. This was a little strange. Logically speaking, if there was an imperial palace beneath the school, any amount of energy waves would not be able to escape their senses.

They went to take a look.

All three of them followed Lead Instructor Hon Kong and went to the Academy's ruins.

This district had already been quarantined by the elite troops of the empire.

"According to the plan drawn up by the army of the empire and the White Deer Academy's disciples, a huge academy block was supposed to be built here. After the foundations were opened and a hole of about ten meters deep was dug out, a stone door was suddenly discovered. A kilometer long tunnel was behind the door, followed by another stone door, but no one was able to open it because of some restrictive magic. Ancient words from the time where G.o.ds and demons roamed the world were carved on it," Hon Kong pointed to a deep pit of a few square meters wide and explained as they walked. "A script instructor from the academy translated it into the word 'Ye'. I tried to break through the restrictive barrier myself but realized that it was terribly powerful and had to be broken by someone who was at least as powerful as a Martial Emperor. Furthermore, it has to be one that is extremely well versed in formation magic..."

'Ye?'

Ye Qingyu's heart trembled.

He had a premonition that he could not explain.

The three of them walked into the mud pit in accordance to Hon Kong's briefing.

This was the place where the pond beside the parade square stood..." Qin Wushuang was shocked.

Both Ye Qingyu and Yan Xingtian nodded. He was right; the pond used to be right there. In the past, students would cool down by the pond after their training. It was filled with lotus flowers and carp, and it gave them lasting memories. They were great memories that every student of their generation shared, and none of them ever thought that such a place could exist under the beautiful pond.

Very soon, as they walked into the freshly dug up earth, they arrived at the stone door Hon Kong had told them about.

The door was made of simple, ordinary rocks and it sank into the soil in a slanted fas.h.i.+on. Its panel was also made with simple rock that somehow looked snow white even after being buried under that soil. It was exquisitely structured, about six meters high and two meters wide. A sloping stairway appeared as the panel was opened.

Elite soldiers and warriors of the empire were guarding the door; they revealed looks of admiration as they saw Ye Qingyu and the others walk over.

Ye Qingyu nodded at them before walking down the stairway under Hon Kong's guidance.

A wide pa.s.sageway stood behind the stone door.

The walls of the pa.s.sageway were made of the same exquisite material as the stone door. The white rocks looked similar to white jade marble and bore no carvings nor inscriptions. They gave off no energy signatures, as if the place was just an ordinary person's tomb. After walking down the stairway for about one kilometer, another stone door appeared in front of them.

It was almost entirely similar in structure to the previous stone door.

The only difference was that both doors were tightly shut, giving it the appearance of a huge white sheet of paper. A gigantic ancient word was carved on it; it looked as though it had been inscribed by weapons. Looking at it gave one the feeling that weapons were hurtling toward you, and it made one's soul tremble. Upon closer examination, it was noticeable that it did not give off any energy signature; as if it were just a plain looking ancient word on a simple stone door.

"It really means Ye!"

Ye Qingyu was well versed in the script from the FiendG.o.d Age. He could tell from a glance that the word was his family name.

How could this word appear here? What's behind the door?

Ye Qingyu looked at the other three. Aside from Hon Kong, Yan Xingtian and Qin Wushuang looked extremely shocked as well.

People with different levels of cultivation sensed the word's aura differently. Qin Wushuang was more taken aback by the presence of an imperial palace, while Yan Xingtian's surprise was evidently similar to Ye Qingyu's; he was shaken by the fleeting visual impact of the ancient word.

"This place has been marked as an imperial palace, because I've failed to break through it even with Emperor qi. I could sense that this ancient character would release restrictive energy when any form of power is applied to the door. I believe we didn't notice the presence of this palace because it remained dormant without any form of energy being applied to it. We couldn't have discovered its existence even with divine sense," Hon Kong said as he pointed at the "Ye" character.

That was his a.n.a.lysis.

Yan Xingtian took a few steps forward and lifted his hand slowly to press on the stone door. "Let me try," he said.

An immense sword energy surged out from the center of his palm, as if he wanted to pierce through the stone door.

His power was already on par with a Martial Emperor of the current era; it could be considered as having reached the pinnacle of the martial way; n.o.body could withstand the might of a Martial Emperor.

Very soon, however, Yan Xingtian's expression changed.

As he gradually increased the amount of power he released, the stone door began to react. The previously dormant "Ye" character suddenly glowed, and each stroke of the inscription seemed to have come alive. An immense power that seemed to originate from nature and s.p.a.ce itself ignited, generating a huge force which rebounded against him. Yan Xingtian exclaimed softly as his body was knocked backward by dozens of steps before he managed to stop.

The huge inscription reverted back to its dormant form again and did not give out any further energy waves.

Yan Xingtian was completely shocked.

Even though he was not injured, he could feel at that instant an immense, unfathomable amount of energy being emitted from the stone wall, and it was even greater than that of Emperor qi. He felt that it was extremely shocking to be unable to deduce how powerful the energy wave was, at his current level of cultivation.

Hon Kong looked undisturbed.

This was because he had experienced the same thing before.

Ye Qingyu took a deep breath.

He took one step forward and extended his arm, pressing his palm against the stone door.

The "Ye" word carved on the stone door began to glow as he activated his Emperor qi slightly, just like Yan Xingtian did earlier on. An immense wave of energy surged out and knocked Ye Qingyu's palm away. The huge difference was that even though both of them were at Emperor level, Yan Xingtian was knocked back by dozens of steps when Ye Qingyu merely had his palm knocked away from the door.

Yan Xingtian and Hon Kong immediately noticed this.

At the same time, Ye Qingyu caught hold of another piece of information.

He instantly deduced that it was impossible to open the stone door with brute force alone, and that he had to find the right method to do so. This was because the ancient carving bore an extremely profound meaning; the greatest Dao was often contained within the simplest things, and the greatest magical mysteries were hidden in that character.

"No way, even you can't open it?" Hon Kong asked in surprise.

"Even I can't do everything on my own... however, I think I have discovered a way," Ye Qingyu said with a smile.

Ye Qingyu placed his palm against the stone door again, but this time, he did not apply any force on it. He merely traced it against the grooves of the inscription repeatedly, as if he was about to make a copy of it. He did this again and again at varying speeds. Soon, everyone lost count of the number of times he traced his palm over the word.

At first, Yan Xingtian and Hon Kong felt that his actions were strange, but gradually they realized that the huge "Ye" character was transforming. It began to smooth out, and eventually all traces of the inscription seemed to have been erased by Ye Qingyu. Gradually, it was wiped off from the stone door, disappearing completely after fifteen minutes.

Ye Qingyu pushed the door again.

The stone door gradually opened.

It was opened!

A breeze of cold air blew out from within, bringing with it a faint earthy smell.

There was an eerie feeling that emanated from behind the door, as if a million-year-old tomb was hidden within.

Ye Qingyu pushed the door open and walked in.

Hon Kong, Yan Xingtian and Qin Wushuang looked at each other in surprise and eventually followed suit.

There was another pa.s.sageway behind that stone door, but various kinds of murals were carved on the walls of the kilometer-long tunnel. Shrines were placed within crooks of the walls, and the steps beneath their feet were made of rare, top quality white jade that could be made into Sacred or Emperor weapons. The contents of the murals varied, and from the first one closest to the entrance, they seemed to be depicting the glory of a family in its prime.

A Ye Family stone table was placed at regular intervals along the pa.s.sageway.

The word was entirely similar to that on the stone door, obviously the work of the same person.

The four entered a large hall after pa.s.sing through the tunnel.

It looked extravagant and was littered with all sorts of exotic treasures that would cause even martial Saints to be envious. Divine-level origin crystals were piled up in small heaps, and various sacred armors inscribed with formations and weapons could be seen, even though some of them had lost their yuuan qi signatures. Some of them still gave off powerful auras that surprised Ye Qingyu and company; basically, all of them were at least Quasi-emperor level weapons.

The great hall itself was constructed from various divine gold and sacred materials. Engravings of gold, pillars of divine jade... treasures like these were scattered all over the floor, giving the place a shockingly dreamy aura.

There was another pa.s.sageway after the first great hall.

After this grand looking tunnel, there was yet another great hall.

They felt as though they had entered an underground palace.

Ye Qingyu's expression changed suddenly as he entered the second great hall.

This was because he sensed that the bronze military medal his father left to him was beginning to warm up, as if it were reacting to something... this made him realize that the "Ye" character carved on the stone door and tablets really had something to do with his own family.

Could this be my ancestral tomb?

The thought appeared in Ye Qingyu's mind.

What sort of secret is hidden here?