Chapter 1: The Tomb of Bai Qi

  In the southwest direction of Huaxia State, at this moment, there are three troops stationed at the foot of an unnamed peak. Occasionally, a rumbling sound can be heard from the middle of the mountain.

  "Be careful, be more careful, don't damage the internal structure." A majestic old man was constantly conveying his orders to the staff around him.

  "Boom!" A loud explosion sounded.

  "Mr. Lin, the tomb door is open! It's open!" The blasting personnel rushed to the old man with excitement and reported the good news.

  Lin Zhengming, a professor of archaeology in Huaxia Country, is also one of the top scholars in the world. This time, he was ordered to come because according to various sources, this ancient tomb that was accidentally discovered by people seems to be the mausoleum of Bai Qi, the first of the four great generals of the Warring States period. The news immediately shocked the upper echelons, and after a series of orders were conveyed, Lin Zhengming was invited to come by the upper echelons.

  "What's the big deal, why so much fuss?" Lin Zhengming controlled his inner excitement and sternly reprimanded the staff in front of him. At the same time, he glanced sideways at the young man standing beside him with his eyes, as if to see how the young man would react. Unfortunately, what disappointed him was that the young man beside him didn't move a muscle, as if nothing had happened just now.

  "Is this kid really as great as Old Man Feng said?" Lin Zhengming thought back to the day before he came to take command, when Huaxia Country's mysterious group leader, Feng Jianjun, personally came to his home. Feng Jianjun told his old friend that due to the importance of opening Bai Qi's tomb, various forces had sent spies, and they had received reliable information that someone was going to harm Lin Zhengming, so in order to ensure his safety, the higher-ups decided to send excellent personnel to protect him.

  The next day, Leng Ao Tian was assigned to Lin Zhengming's side by the Feng Ming faction. The purpose was to ensure Lin Zhengming's safety and also because Leng Ao Tian had a special talent in other areas. When Lin Zhengming first saw Leng Ao Tian, he was shocked inwardly, as Leng Ao Tian looked too young, seemingly only 25 or 26 years old. It was just like his old friend said - this young man really did come from that death school? And on top of that, he had dual doctoral degrees.

  Hunter School, the name may seem ordinary, but the four words "Hunter School" have long been synonymous with death schools around the world. The meaning is not just a metaphor. Anyone who participates in the one-year training at Hunter School must sign a guarantee before entering, that is, a death guarantee. Because the mortality rate at Hunter School is quite high, it is a school later generations call a death school. However, if someone can walk out of Hunter School alive, they are definitely among the elite. This is just a more pleasant name; there's also an unpleasant one: devil. Coincidentally, that time, Leng Ao Tian graduated from this death school with perfect scores. Only six people graduated together, while hundreds of elites from around the world entered, and only six came out. You can imagine how cruel and ruthless the training was.

  Actually, when Lin Zhengming was gazing at Leng Ao Tian with a cold and proud expression, Leng Ao Tian had already sensed Lin Zhengming's intentions and revealed a faint smile on the corner of his mouth without saying a word.

  "Let's go! Go take a look at the situation." Lin Zhengming's face showed disappointment, he waved his hand and walked towards the tomb entrance in big strides.

  "Professor Lin, wait..." Just as Lin Zhengming was about to reach the entrance of the tomb, he was stopped by Leng Ao Tian behind him.

  "Leng comrade, what's wrong?" Lin Zhengming looked at Leng Ao Tian with a puzzled face.

  "There's danger inside." Leng Ao Tian's face was solemn as he stared at the entrance of the cave, because the entrance gave him a strong sense of danger. Based on his near-death experiences in Hunter School, this feeling would not be wrong. So he immediately stopped Lin Zhengming who wanted to enter the cave.

  "Danger?" Lin Zhengming was taken aback for a moment, and the next moment, Lin Zhengming's face showed a look of sudden realization. Earlier, he had been so focused on observing the young man's expression that he had committed the most basic taboo in the archaeological community - ancient tombs of high-ranking officials and generals would often be equipped with traps, how could he have forgotten?!

  Leng Ao Tian ignored Lin Zhengming's self-reproachful expression, and instead took an iron shovel from a nearby staff member. Under the puzzled gaze of the staff, Leng Ao Tian shook his hand, and the iron shovel darted into the ancient tomb like a sharp sword.

  A burst of dense arrow feathers sounded, and countless arrows shot out from all sides, pinning the iron shovel firmly to the ground.

  Sweat!! The staff in front of the ancient tomb gate saw this scene, and each of them broke out in a cold sweat on their backs. Especially Lin Zhengming, who was filled with self-blame, turned pale for a moment. If it wasn't for Leng Ao Tian stopping him earlier, he would have become an old "hedgehog" by now.

  "Leng comrade, how did you know this?" Lin Zhengming asked this time, with a tone of respect in his voice. After all, the other party had saved him once and he couldn't always be arrogant.

  Leng Ao Tian's mouth curled up into a faint smile as he said, "Don't forget, Lin Lao, I still have a degree."

  Yes! After being reminded by Leng Ao Tian, Lin Zhengming suddenly remembered that Leng Ao Tian actually holds a Ph.D. in architecture! It's no wonder he has knowledge of ancient tomb structures and the like, truly worthy of being a top graduate from Hunter School, what a terrifying kid!

  Leng Ao Tian carefully observed the situation inside the ancient tomb's entrance for dozens of breaths, then said with a solemn expression: "Lin Lao, I'm not talented, how about letting me lead the way instead?"

  If an ordinary person had said that, Lin Zhengming would not have even bothered to respond. Who are you? To say such a thing in front of the top expert in the field of archaeology is like wielding a big axe in front of Lu Ban - but this sentence just happened to come out of Leng Aotian's mouth, and with what had just transpired earlier, Lin Zhengming naturally wouldn't dare to refute it.

  "Be careful, Comrade Cold."

  Leng Ao Tian nodded slightly and stepped forward, carefully entering the ancient tomb. He was followed by several excellent soldiers, then Lin Zhengming and some scholars from the archaeological community, and finally a few more soldiers who trailed behind to provide protection.

  Half an hour later, Lin Zhengming and those archaeologists were all pale-faced. It was only then that Lin Zhengming understood why his old friend had insisted on sending this young man to protect him. In just a short half-hour, they had encountered four or five traps. If it weren't for the protection of this young man, he and the others would probably have ended up drinking tea in the underworld by now.

  "He's arrived." The cold and proud Tian stopped in his tracks, his eyes flashing with a hint of sharpness as he gazed at the two heavy stone doors in front of him, his expression deep in thought.

  Stone gate? It must be the main tomb behind this, and whether it is Bai Qi's tomb or not will be known once these two stone gates in front are opened. After going through all that has happened before, not only the old men of the archaeological community but also the soldiers who have been protecting them have become obedient to Leng Ao Tian. Seeing Leng Ao Tian standing still on the spot, none of these people dared to utter a word, as if they were afraid of affecting his train of thought.

  "Take a step back ten meters." Leng Ao Tian finally spoke up, but as soon as he did, his tone was one that didn't allow for refusal.

  Lin Zhengming, who was originally the commander-in-chief, now seemed like a small soldier. After Leng Ao Tian finished speaking, he habitually retreated ten meters first, and the others didn't need to be told. The commander-in-chief had already retreated, so they wouldn't stay in place foolishly.

  Leng Ao Tian had just used his Ph.D. knowledge in architecture to roughly locate the mechanism of the stone gate, which was why he asked the people behind him to retreat. He was afraid that if the stone gate opened and triggered a mechanism, even if he could protect himself from great danger, he couldn't guarantee the safety of those behind him. At least on this journey so far, they had already lost three excellent soldiers.

  Leng Ao Tian observed the two sides of the stone gate, then squatted down to examine it again. After that, he walked over to the left stone block and searched around before finding a relatively protruding spot in an inconspicuous seam on the stone block.

  "All of you, be alert. I'm going to open the stone gate now. Get ready for defense." Leng Ao Tian ordered those dozen excellent soldiers.

  "Yes." A dozen soldiers quickly surrounded the old man, each with a shield in front of them. This was still according to Qian Leng's orders before entering, telling them not to bring anything, just bring a shield and they would be fine. At first, these soldiers didn't understand, but now they deeply understood what the young man at the entrance had said.

  "Hmm..." Coldly arrogant Tian took a deep breath and then stretched out his palm to press against the protruding stone block.

  A loud rumbling noise started, and the two ancient stone gates slowly moved inward, a dazzling light burst out.

  "Hiss, hiss, hiss..." Countless arrow feathers shot out from the stone gate, fortunately, Leng Ao Tian had reminded them in advance, all of these arrow feathers were blocked by shields cast from refined steel. A few unlucky soldiers were hit, but it was only a flesh wound, no life-threatening danger.

  At this moment, everything in the main tomb was presented to everyone. Leng Ao Tian took a glance and was stunned on the spot. The magnificent, majestic, solemn and murderous atmosphere gave Leng Ao Tian his first impression of the ancient tomb. As he looked around, he saw a large chamber with an area larger than a football field, with rows of skulls neatly arranged on both sides, which seemed to have been soldiers when they were alive.

  In the center of the main tomb, a golden coffin was placed, and on top of the ancient tomb, dozens of pearls that emitted soft light were inlaid. This should be the legendary night pearl. There were also many burial objects around, but what surprised people most was that behind the gold coffin, the space was filled with skulls. At a glance, they were densely packed, making it impossible to count how many there were. These skulls brought a chill to the ancient tomb.

  "It's indeed worthy of being the tomb of Baekje's God of War, White Horse." Lin Zhengming let out a sigh of emotion after a long while, unsure if he was marveling at the grandeur of the ancient tomb or the dense array of skulls behind White Horse's coffin.

  After scanning the surroundings with a cold and proud expression, he felt that there was no place in this main tomb that posed a threat to him, and only then did he speak up: "Alright, it's safe inside now."

  Actually, Lin Zhengming and these archaeological scholars had been unable to hold back for a long time. If it weren't for safety concerns, they would have rushed in the moment the ancient tomb was opened. Now that Leng Ao Tian had spoken, Lin Zhengming led several elderly men into the main tomb quickly.

  "Danger." Leng Ao Tian suddenly felt this feeling in his mind, and when he looked around, he saw Lin Zhengming and several other old men from the archaeological community ordering a few soldiers to open the golden coffin. As the golden coffin slowly opened, the sense of danger grew stronger, and Leng Ao Tian flashed to the front of the golden coffin, shouting: "Stop, don't open it!"

  Unfortunately, Leng Ao Tian's cry was too late. After his voice fell, the lid of the golden coffin was removed by the soldiers. What is this?

  Only in the golden coffin lay a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a suit of golden armor, and although his eyes were closed, his face gave off an aura of majesty. What was most astonishing was that this corpse seemed to be like one who had just died, without even a hint of decay. Considering how many years it has been since the Warring States period, how could this corpse still remain so intact? It's really eerie.

  "What is it that gives me a sense of threat?" Cold and proud, Lin Zhengming ignored the exclamations of several old men, his eyes scanning the coffin, his intuition would not deceive him, now he had to find out what was giving him a sense of danger.

  "What's this bead?" An old man suddenly let out an exclamation, and Leng Ao Tian followed the direction of the old man's stretched-out hand. He saw a blood-red bead lying on top of the corpse's helmet, about the size of a glass bead.

  "Don't move." Leng Ao Tian felt that the dangerous aura just now came from this blood red bead, seeing the old man's hand about to touch the bead, in a state of emergency, he could only stretch out his hand and slap away the old man's palm.

  Is it fate or coincidence? The old man's hand, which was slapped away by Cold Arrogance, touched the coffin and somehow triggered a mechanism. The golden coffin shook slightly, and the blood-red bead that had been on the deceased's helmet suddenly flew into Cold Arrogance's hand, flashing in before disappearing without a trace.

  "Terrible." Leng Ao Tian thought to himself as he saw the grave, but before he could even finish his thoughts, a tearing sensation spread through his mind, and everything went black as his body fell to the ground.