Chapter 163: Chapter 163: The Supreme Among Emperors
The valley was eerily quiet, with only the sound of footsteps filling the air.
Soon, they moved about three miles further ahead.
Up front, the powerful figures from major forces stopped again.
Ji Chen looked into the distance and noticed a figure under a massive boulder.
This was another being who had been dead for unknown years.
Yet, its body hadn’t decayed, but sat there like a mummy.
The dried corpse wore a tattered gray Dao robe, resembling an ancient sage sitting in eternal meditation.
Everyone wore a grave look on their face, not daring to approach.
Because it was too eerie.
How could a person, dead for so many years, not have decayed? It was unfathomable, and a chill ran through their hearts.
"Don’t mind it, keep moving forward."
An elder from the Di Race spoke at the front of the group.
"Swish!"
Suddenly, as everyone stepped forward, intending to delve deeper into the valley, the mummy beside the boulder moved.
It stood up swiftly, the scene was terrifying, causing everyone’s hair to stand on end.
Everyone’s expression changed, startled, their bodies instinctively retreating.
"Could it be a corpse puppet?" An elder from the Human Race frowned and said.
"So what if it is? What is there to fear from someone who’s been dead for thousands of years?" A powerful figure from the Dragon Race snorted disdainfully.
As he spoke, the Dragon Race figure walked straight towards the corpse puppet, drawing a golden halberd and stabbing fiercely.
Though not a Holy Weapon, it was a Dao Artifact. Even with suppressed cultivation in the valley, the natural strength of the Dragon Race made this halberd strike formidable beyond ordinary Cultivators’ reach.
"Buzz!"
However, just as he struck, the corpse puppet’s hollow eyes focused intently on him.
Facing the Dragon Race’s attack, the corpse puppet gently raised its hand.
"Crunch!"
In the blink of an eye, the golden halberd shattered, as if striking unyielding Divine Iron, breaking into two and falling to the ground as scrap.
"What?"
Such a scene stunned everyone present.
Whether from the Ancient Race or Human Race, all Cultivators wore expressions of immense surprise.
To catch a Dragon Race’s attack barehanded and shatter a Dao Artifact, what kind of unimaginable strength did this require?
This mummy, dead for who knows how long, why did it possess such terrifying power?
"Swish!"
As everyone marveled, the corpse puppet moved, disappearing in an instant, reappearing before the Dragon Race figure.
"Swoosh!"
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the corpse puppet’s five fingers clenched into a sword-like thrust, piercing the Dragon Race figure’s chest.
"Puff!"
Blood splattered. The Dragon Race figure barely reacted, blood spewing from his mouth, staring incredulously at his impaled chest by the dried corpse puppet’s arm.
"Bang!"
Ultimately, his vitality ended, and he collapsed backward, dead.
Such a scene immediately cast fear over everyone present.
The Dragon Race, one of the most physically powerful among the Ancient Races, supposedly even ordinary Holy Weapons could hardly destroy their flesh.
Yet now, this corpse puppet pierced through a Dragon Race figure effortlessly, what unfathomable strength did this corpse possess?
"Dead for ten thousand years and still undecayed, must have been a Great Saint Level powerhouse in life!" an elder expert exclaimed, his expression turning gravely concerned.
"Great Saint!"
Hearing this, everyone felt their scalp tingle.
At this level, across the ages, there were very few, just one step shy of the Emperor Realm.
Legend has it, a Great Saint’s body transcends the mortal world, only Emperor’s Weapons could harm them.
Yet now, even such a terrifying existence has become a guardian of the Emperor’s Tomb, refined into a corpse puppet; unimaginable who the Ancient Emperor buried here might be.
Throughout history, there were top tier Great Saints daring to challenge Ancient Emperors.
Though they hadn’t taken that final step to become an emperor, not due to lack of talent, but because each era’s Spiritual Qi only allowed one to become an emperor, obviously someone else took that step before them.
Historically, any Great Saint never submitted to anyone, some became renowned even alongside Ancient Emperors.
No one had ever heard of an Ancient Emperor whose death led to a Great Saint willingly becoming a corpse puppet to guard their tomb.
But the fact now stood before them.
A Great Saint Level corpse puppet appeared here, guarding the Emperor’s Tomb, indicating the Ancient Emperor buried here surely had an extraordinary origin beyond anyone’s imagination.
"Could it be a Great Emperor lies buried here?" someone asked in fear, their voice trembling.
A Great Emperor differs from ordinary Ancient Emperors.
If a Great Saint is the king of the Saint Realm, then a Great Emperor is the supreme lord of emperors, invincible across worlds.
In history, among the Human Race and Ancient Races, there were not more than ten Great Emperor-level figures altogether!
It’s said only a Great Emperor could have a Great Saint willing to follow them, something average Emperor Realm figures couldn’t achieve.
"Something’s off, this corpse puppet bears numerous scars, clearly involved in a great battle before death, possibly not willingly a corpse puppet, maybe forced and eventually refined to guard the tomb."
"To subdue a Great Saint and refine them into a corpse puppet, the perpetrator must at least be of Ancient Emperor realm."
"Could the bloodstains we’ve seen along the way be related?" someone speculated.
An Ancient Race elder frowned, "The situation is likely more complex than imagined. Top-tier Great Saints, though on par with Ancient Emperors, only had self-preservation abilities, not the power to decisively defeat one, contrary to what people say."
"What about the Emperor’s Blood we saw en route... how do we explain that?" confusion spread among the crowd.