Chapter 2440 - 2440: Tomb of the Ancestors of Past Generations

In the very center of the Cave, there was a pit stretching more than twenty meters. Beneath the pit lay a spacious underground burial chamber, and right in the middle of that chamber stood a coffin. At this moment, the tip of that long blade was stabbed straight into the coffin, looking extremely strange.

Fat Wang stood beside Ye Qing, curiously staring down into the pit. Ye Qing had just said this was the tomb of the Sword Saint Sect's successive forebears, but he was a bit skeptical. Since it was "successive forebears," why was there only one coffin? Where were the other forebears?

Ye Qing ignored Fat Wang. He carefully examined the terrain at the bottom of the pit, then directly jumped down from above. A drop of two or three meters was nothing to him.

The bottom of the pit was covered with Stone Tablets, each with gaps between them, looking just like man‑laid flooring. However, the Stone Tablets were clearly very thick; you could feel it the moment you stepped on them.

Fat Wang was still standing above. At first, this guy did not want to jump down. But the six Skeleton frames around them were slowly closing in, so he had no choice but to jump down after Ye Qing.

"Young Ye, did we come to the wrong place? There's only this one coffin—this definitely can't be the tomb of the Sword Saint Sect's successive forebears!" Fat Wang ran up to Ye Qing and said, "I'm telling you, we'd better pick another route. Who knows what's in this coffin—if another moving Skeleton frame pops out, the two of us will probably die here. You're keen on dying; Fat Lord here is not nearly that keen!"

"We didn't come to the wrong place. This here is exactly the tomb of the Sword Saint Sect's successive forebears!" Ye Qing replied firmly.

"Then why is there only one coffin?" Fat Wang glared and said.

Ye Qing looked at the coffin, drew in a deep breath, and said, "Because their so‑called 'successive forebears' might actually be just this one person!"

"What do you mean?" Fat Wang was stunned for a moment, but Ye Qing didn't answer. He slowly walked to the side of the coffin, circled it once, and said in a low voice, "The Sword Saint Sect's successive Sect Leaders were all incredibly powerful, because the Sword Saint Sect has a very formidable Skill: it can pass down power. They can pass their own strength into another person's body and forcibly help that person break through, raising his strength. This is also the main reason the Sword Saint Sect's overall power kept growing stronger and stronger."

Fat Wang said, "What the hell is the point of you telling me all this? I'm not a man of the Sword Saint Sect, and I don't know any Martial Arts. First tell me how we're getting out of here—don't waste time. Look, those six Skeleton frames will be jumping down any minute. The space down here is way tighter; if the two of us get trapped, there'll be nowhere to run!"

"Don't panic, listen to me finish!" Ye Qing waved his hand at Fat Wang, still circling the coffin, and said in a deep voice, "Eighth Master said, in the tomb of the Sword Saint Sect's successive forebears, the corpse of the Knife Saint is buried. Who is the Knife Saint? He's the founder of the Sword Saint Sect, and the most revered forebear of everyone in the Sword Saint Sect."

"Is there a problem with that?" Fat Wang asked in surprise; Ye Qing's words still left him completely confused.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this ever since we came in." Ye Qing said, "Since the Knife Saint is the most revered forebear of everyone in the Sword Saint Sect, and in a rigidly regulated Sect like the Sword Saint Sect, matters of burying forebears would be treated with extreme care. Take burial of forebears, for example: any successive forebear entombed with the Knife Saint must be a figure of critical importance to the Sword Saint Sect, right? At the very least, they'd have to be at the Sect Leader level, wouldn't they?"

"Uh…" Fat Wang scratched his head and said, "That's true; the ancients really did care about this stuff when burying the dead. For an Ancestral Tomb like this, everything is arranged by rank. Only people with similar status and identity can be buried together. For a Sect like the Sword Saint Sect, the ones qualified to be buried with the Knife Saint would probably be just those Sect Leaders!"

Ye Qing said, "But in reality, aside from the Knife Saint himself, the Sword Saint Sect's successive Sect Leaders probably haven't died yet!"

"Th‑this… what do you mean?" Fat Wang was instantly dumbfounded. He had to admit, Ye Qing's words really shocked him. The Sword Saint Sect's successive Sect Leaders, none of them dead yet? How was that possible?

"Didn't I just say it? The Sword Saint Sect's Secret Technique is extremely peculiar—it can pass a person's strength on to others, enhancing their power." Ye Qing said, "For a huge Sect like the Sword Saint Sect, to become Sect Leader, the first condition is that your strength must be sufficient. The Sect is full of experts; to become Sect Leader, you'd probably have to at least be a beyond peerless master to be qualified. In other words, the Sword Saint Sect's successive Sect Leaders are all definitely beyond peerless masters!"

"Th‑that's possible too!" Fat Wang nodded and replied.

"It's not just possible, it's absolutely certain. You've never met people from the Sword Saint Sect—when they talk about the Sect Leaders of past generations, they're incredibly proud, which shows that each Sect Leader is also the strongest person in the Sword Saint Sect." Ye Qing said, "And if every Sect Leader is a beyond peerless master, then as long as nothing unexpected happens, each Sect Leader should be able to live to three hundred years old. In reality, the Sword Saint Sect has always stayed hidden and basically has no enemies, so the Sect Leaders of past generations wouldn't run into accidents. They should all live to three hundred."

Fat Wang stared at Ye Qing, completely confused, and said, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Ye Qing smiled and said, "Since its founding, how many years has the Sword Saint Sect actually been around?"

"I heard it's about three hundred years." Fat Wang said.

"Right, about three hundred years." Ye Qing nodded and said, "And at the beginning, the Sect Leader of the Sword Saint Sect had to be the Knife Saint himself. I've read the history of the Sword Saint Sect—the Knife Saint himself died more than one hundred and seventy years ago. Before that, he was always the Sect Leader. Which means the appearance of the second Sect Leader of the Sword Saint Sect must also have been more than one hundred and seventy years ago. You've seen the masters from the Sword Saint Sect: those beyond peerless masters are all quite young. Take that Third Sect Master, for example—he's not even eighty yet, and he's already a beyond peerless master. That shows just how extraordinary the Sword Saint Sect's Martial Techniques are. Calculating it this way, when the Knife Saint abdicated, the Sect Leader he chose probably wasn't that old. In other words, even now, that second Sect Leader has probably only lived two to three hundred years, and his Lifespan still hasn't run dry!"

Fat Wang blanked out for a moment, then said, "This… this actually sounds pretty logical! But if the second Sect Leader isn't dead, then why would he step down and hand the position to the Third Sect Master?"

"That's internal business of the Sword Saint Sect. I'm only analyzing things based on the strength of the Sect Leaders." Ye Qing said, "Aside from the first generation Knife Saint himself, I'm guessing the Sect Leaders after him haven't died. Since these people are all still alive, that means no one in the Sword Saint Sect is qualified to be buried with the Knife Saint. So this so‑called ancestral tomb of the seniors actually has only the Knife Saint himself buried here. Or maybe in the future, when some Sect Leader dies, his corpse will be buried here, laid to rest alongside the Knife Saint. But that's for later. Right now, inside this tomb, there should be only the Knife Saint's coffin!"

"Really?" Fat Wang immediately looked toward the coffin in the middle and said, "So by your reasoning, this coffin is the Knife Saint's own coffin?"

As he spoke, Fat Wang's expression clearly turned excited. He rushed straight toward the coffin and stretched out his hand to grab it.

"Don't go over there!" Ye Qing hurriedly grabbed Fat Wang. This guy really did have guts. Ye Qing had just reasoned out that this should be the Knife Saint's coffin, and he still dared to mess with it—isn't that just asking to die?

"Why are you grabbing me?" Fat Wang said anxiously. "This is the Knife Saint's coffin—there's definitely a pile of grave goods inside. Just grabbing a bit and taking it out would make us rich!"

"I'm worried that once you grab something, you won't be able to walk out of here at all!" Ye Qing had just finished speaking when a sudden thump sounded behind them. Ye Qing and Fat Wang instantly turned around, only to see a Skeleton frame had already jumped down from above and was slowly walking toward them.

"I'll be damned!" Fat Wang cursed at once. You had to admit these six Skeleton frames were really persistent—they even jumped down to chase and kill them.

Seeing those six Skeleton frames, Ye Qing's brows also knitted tightly. To be honest, even though he'd reasoned that this coffin might be the Knife Saint's own, there were still too many things in this Cave that he couldn't figure out. For example, these six Skeleton frames, and the long blade on top of the coffin. Why would there be such a mechanism in that long blade? A suction power that pulls people in—pulling it upward triggers the six stone coffin to rise, pressing it downward reveals the Knife Saint's coffin. And most crucially, that long blade is thrust straight into the Knife Saint's coffin. Who on earth designed this?"

To be honest, looking at that long blade, he really suspected this might not be the Knife Saint's coffin. Because according to Old Wang Ba's account, everything here was designed by the Knife Saint himself. But how exactly did the Knife Saint design it, and why would he stick a long blade into his own coffin?"

While Ye Qing was pondering, those Skeleton frames had already slowly shuffled over and lunged toward him and Fat Wang. Ye Qing had just experienced how formidable these Skeleton frames were. Although they moved slowly, their strength was considerable, and their bones were extremely tough—Ye Qing simply couldn't harm them. So Ye Qing didn't keep tangling with them; instead, he grabbed Fat Wang and backed up a few steps, avoiding the six Skeleton frames.

Strangely enough, once Ye Qing and Fat Wang stepped aside, the six Skeleton frames didn't continue chasing them. After landing, the six Skeleton frames actually slowly surrounded the coffin and stretched out their bony hands to lift the lid of the coffin.

Ye Qing and Fat Wang's eyes went wide. The two of them hadn't dared to lift the coffin lid themselves, and now these six Skeleton frames were doing the job for them. What exactly was inside that coffin? Why would it attract these six Skeleton frames?"