“It’s so hard!”
The rock beneath his feet had suddenly turned extraordinarily hard.
No matter how Li Xiuman cast his Earth Magic, he couldn't break through the stone below.
“Did I hit it?”
Li Xiuman wasn't disappointed at all. Instead, he pressed his skull excitedly against the rock layer.
After all, how could the legendary tomb of the Crystal Hero be just an ordinary grave?
It would be stranger if he could just dig into it easily.
The fact that it was keeping him out proved that this was indeed the authentic tomb of the Crystal Hero.
“Could this be the Crystal Hero’s coffin lid?”
“As expected of a hero who left behind a grand epic! Even his coffin lid is made of such fine materials.”
Li Xiuman rubbed his hands together excitedly as he stared at the object beneath his feet that resembled a coffin lid.
He’s far too generous, preparing such a high-quality coffin lid for me.
It’s going to be really hard for me not to carry this home.
Li Xiuman began digging along the surface of the coffin lid using Earth Magic.
However, the more he dug, the stranger it felt.
This coffin lid seemed a bit too large.
At first, Li Xiuman simply marveled at how special the Crystal Hero was, using a coffin lid unlike anyone else's.
But as he continued digging, Li Xiuman realized something was off.
This didn't seem to be a coffin lid.
It was more like the burial chamber itself.
“A whole burial chamber? What a refined man.”
“The entire chamber is forged from such hard, precious materials.”
“I’ve hit the jackpot this time.”
Li Xiuman made up his mind: he was going to haul away the entire burial chamber.
Lately, the Goddess of Luck had really been smiling down on him.
Praise the Goddess of Luck!
Li Xiuman only stopped when he finally excavated an opening along the side of the burial chamber.
He slipped inside through the hole.
The burial chamber wasn't particularly spacious, and there were no unusual funerary goods lying around.
This disappointed Li Xiuman a bit.
In the very center of the chamber rested a stone sarcophagus.
He took out the Water Spirit Droplet to verify.
The droplet pointed straight toward the sarcophagus.
Without a doubt.
He had found it—the Crystal Hero’s sarcophagus!
Li Xiuman approached the sarcophagus, placed his hands against the lid, and exerted all his strength.
The stone sarcophagus didn't budge an inch.
“Hmm?”
Li Xiuman began putting every ounce of his power into it.
He reverted to his original form, pressing his massive body heavily against the stone sarcophagus. The claws on his feet scraped sparks against the stone floor, while his upper claws dug fiercely into the lid.
Yet the sarcophagus still didn't move in the slightest.
“Number Zero!”
Li Xiuman summoned Number Zero.
The two of them took positions on opposite sides, one pulling while the other pushed.
“Dragonification!”
His bones thickened once more as his frame expanded another notch. His skull and facial bones shifted, gradually elongating into a ferocious shape.
It seemed even more complete than his previous transformations.
This made Li Xiuman wonder if, by continuously leveling up the Dragonification skill, he might actually turn into a bone dragon one day.
No, now isn't the time to think about things so far in the future.
He was thoroughly baffled right now.
It was as if the Crystal Hero had welded this coffin lid shut.
Bastard, was he that afraid of coming back as a corpse?!
“Number Zero, stop.”
Li Xiuman stood down and signaled Number Zero to stop as well.
Number Zero tilted its head, looking at Li Xiuman as if waiting for its master's next command.
Crack, crack.
With a series of noises, the bones across his body compressed like modeling clay, shifting back into a humanoid form.
His Dragonification state was deactivated at the same time.
“Something's not right.”
Li Xiuman walked in a circle around the sarcophagus, eagerly searching for something that looked like a switch or mechanism.
Is the Crystal Hero trying to play some kind of flirtatious game with grave robbers?
“Wait, there seems to be a gap here.”
Li Xiuman discovered a tiny crevice on the coffin lid.
“Hmm...!”
Li Xiuman leaned close, trying to peer inside through the gap.
Back when he was human, Li Xiuman would never have been so daring.
But now he was a skeleton. Looking at a coffin lid was no different to him than looking at a baby stroller.
“Can't see anything.”
Li Xiuman rubbed his hands together, entirely unable to find a way inside.
Left with no other choice, he raised his wand and began blasting the stone sarcophagus with magic.
However, when it came to anti-tomb-robbing measures, the Crystal Hero was deadly serious.
No matter how heavily Li Xiuman bombarded it, the stone sarcophagus remained completely undamaged.
“Could this require some kind of key to open?”
In the end, Li Xiuman pinned his hopes back on the gap in the coffin lid.
He carefully inspected the dimensions of the slot.
It looked as though a sword was meant to be inserted into it.
“Crystal Orchid...”
He drew Crystal Orchid, but then hesitated.
He couldn't bring himself to let Second Princess pry open a coffin lid.
So...
Rib Sword, it's all up to you!
Without a shred of hesitation, Li Xiuman drew his Rib Sword and thrust it straight into the gap on the lid.
However, it barely went in a short distance before coming to a complete halt.
No matter how Li Xiuman altered the blade, it had zero effect.
“Damn it!”
Li Xiuman pulled out the Rib Sword and struck the coffin lid hard to vent his frustration.
He was completely at a loss.
His ideal new bones were right inside, but he could only stare at them helplessly, itching with desire.
“Calm down.”
Li Xiuman began examining it more meticulously.
Hoping to spot some detail he had overlooked.
“Hmm...”
“The material of this stone sarcophagus...”
Li Xiuman ran his hand over the sarcophagus, feeling its texture.
He had assumed that a flashy guy like the Crystal Hero would use a crystal coffin for himself.
After all, he was the Crystal Hero.
Yet the Crystal Hero had indeed used a stone sarcophagus.
Looking closely at this sarcophagus...
It seemed somewhat familiar.
Thinking carefully, it suddenly struck him—this stone was made of the exact same material as the stone holding the sword in Dawn Square!
He took another look at the size of the slot.
At a glance, it looked roughly the same size as the blade of that sword in the stone!
“Could that sword be the Crystal Hero's coffin opener?!”
Li Xiuman looked back at the gap.
Perhaps it was psychological, but Li Xiuman felt like he saw a row of small characters next to the gap:
Cut along the dotted line.
“It's all connected! Everything makes sense now!”
Li Xiuman felt that his goal was practically within reach.
All he had to do now was go out, pull out the Sword of Heroic Resolve, come back down, and insert it inside.
Then he could pluck off the bones inside and swap them onto himself!
As for the possibility of being unable to pull out the sword?
How could that be? Such a thought wasn't even in Li Xiuman's considerations.
Only a hero with a truly pure heart could draw it.
That practically has my name written on it.
“Let's go, Number Zero.”
“We're going to pull out that sword!”
Li Xiuman left the burial chamber with Number Zero.
He sealed the entrance to the chamber on his way out.
This was something he had traveled thousands of miles across mountains and seas to find—he couldn't let anyone else discover it.
Having just robbed the White Feather Merchant Association, he couldn't dig straight up or backtrack along his original path.
He had to dig diagonally.
Raising his wand, Li Xiuman excavated a diagonal tunnel upward, leading straight to the surface.
Upon reaching the ground, Li Xiuman headed straight for Dawn Square.
There was no time to lose!
Rate on N.U.
