"This thing couldn't be fake as well, could it?" Qi Qingshan looked at the coffin and took a deep breath.

Su Xuan had just told him about everything he had encountered on the way here, making Qi Qingshan worry that this coffin might also be fake. According to the customs of the world atop the mountain, important people were often buried with their most cherished possessions. If the coffin were fake, there would be nothing valuable inside.

"It should be real." Su Xuan fixed his gaze on the coffin for a moment, then walked over slowly.

He didn't sense any danger from the coffin. Instead, he saw a golden gleam—the kind of light given off by pearls and jewels. Ever since his eyes had mutated, he could see things he had never been able to see before.

"Open it?" Qi Qingshan also walked over to the coffin, seeking Su Xuan's opinion. He could no longer treat Su Xuan as just another visitor from the world below.

"I'll do it myself. You should step back," Su Xuan said, considering Qi Qingshan's frail condition.

"Alright!" Touched by Su Xuan's concern, Qi Qingshan took two steps back, his eyes glued to the coffin.

Su Xuan placed his hands on the coffin lid and pushed hard.

CREAK!

The un-nailed lid flew open.

A burst of white mist rose from within. Su Xuan took a step back, his eyes fixed on the coffin's interior.

Lying inside was a person who hadn't decayed, still so intact she seemed alive—a beautiful young girl! Her skin was like jade, emanating a captivating glow.

But as the white mist rose, her skin rapidly withered and desiccated, turning into a pile of white bones in an instant. This only confirmed the saying: a painted beauty is but a skeleton, her fair skin just an illusion; all things are empty.

*Hiss!*

Qi Qingshan, however, inhaled sharply.

"I recognize her! I recognize her!" he said, his voice trembling. "She is Deng Zhu's daughter, Deng Shishi!"

Looking at the extremely shocked Qi Qingshan, Su Xuan asked in confusion, "Who is Deng Zhu? And who is Deng Shishi?"

"More than four hundred years ago, Deng Zhu was a famous merchant in the world atop the mountain, immensely wealthy and prominent for a time!" Qi Qingshan said. "His daughter, Deng Shishi, was a renowned beauty who enchanted countless promising young men. Unfortunately, she was fated to a short life and died before reaching the age of twenty!"

"Who would have thought... who would have thought!" For some reason, Qi Qingshan began to pace back and forth, murmuring, "To think she was buried here. She had over a dozen fake tombs! Her father, Deng Zhu, was terrified that the men who adored her in life would disturb her in death!"

Qi Qingshan's words made Su Xuan recall something chilling. "Then who are those mummies outside? Why were they buried with her?"

"They might be..." Qi Qingshan thought for a moment before speaking gravely, "They are likely the young men who slandered Deng Shishi when she was alive. Unable to win her affection, they inevitably spread rumors to ruin her reputation. It's said that Deng Cheng was a ruthless man—how else could he have amassed such a fortune? He probably killed them all and turned them into mummies to guard his daughter's tomb!"

"If the Deng family was so wealthy..." Su Xuan wondered aloud, "why would they allow this tomb to fall into ruin?"

"It's a shame," Qi Qingshan said with regret. "The Deng family later offended someone they couldn't afford to, and they vanished overnight from the world atop the mountain."

"Who did they offend?" Su Xuan asked. "Someone richer than Deng Cheng?"

"He can't be measured in money," Qi Qingshan said solemnly. "He is Ancestor Meng, the master of the world atop the mountain!"

"Ancestor Meng..." Su Xuan heard the name once again. Qi Li had mentioned it to him before, saying that Ancestor Meng had an extremely formidable daughter.

"Su Xuan, quickly, see if there's anything good in the coffin!" Qi Qingshan suddenly said with excitement, his eyes shining. "The Qi Family is gone. If there's any treasure in there, it's ownerless. Finders keepers!"

"Alright!"

Su Xuan focused on the coffin again. Indeed, there was something inside. The skeleton's hands were crossed, clutching a shimmering golden object!

"A sachet?" Qi Qingshan sounded disappointed. It was just an inexpensive sachet. Women atop the mountain didn't use perfume; they preferred to wear sachets. Besides, the sachet was tiny, hardly large enough to hold anything valuable.

"I wonder if Li'er would like this," Qi Qingshan muttered, moving closer to the coffin and reaching for the sachet. Even though we've found a few things here, it's not enough to make the sect rich. I thought this place was an ore vein, but it turned out to be a tomb. A tomb filled with fakes and disappointments at that.

BANG!

The moment his fingers touched the sachet, a violent burst of energy erupted in the air. The force threw the already weak man backward, and he fell heavily to the ground.

"What happened?" Su Xuan walked over and pulled Qi Qingshan to his feet.

"An item bound to its owner!" Qi Qingshan's face was filled with confusion as he muttered to himself, "The person is dead, so how can it still have an owner?"

In the world atop the mountain, there was a technique to bind valuable items to an owner. Once bound, no one else could use them. When his hand touched the sachet, he felt an extremely powerful repulsive force. What could it be, if not a bound item? And a very profound form of binding at that!

"Su Xuan, that sachet must have held some extraordinary value for Deng Shishi," Qi Qingshan explained. "She bound it to herself with a technique I've never seen before. Normally, when an owner dies, the binding on an item is released. But not this sachet!"

"Let me try."

Driven by curiosity, Su Xuan slowly extended his hand toward the sachet.

The instant his hand touched it, he felt a powerful repulsive force, like opposing magnets pushing his hand away. He couldn't help but channel his internal energy, strengthening the force in his hand.

In response, the repulsive force grew even stronger!

But he didn't back down. He forcibly gripped the sachet and pulled it out of the coffin.

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

The sachet refused to submit. Its repulsive force vibrated the air, emitting a sharp hum. It was only thanks to Su Xuan's immense willpower that he held on; otherwise, the repulsive force would have made him let go long ago.

"Su Xuan, throw it away!" Qi Qingshan shouted with worry when he saw this. "If you keep this up, your soul will be damaged!"

"Right."

Beads of sweat had formed on Su Xuan's forehead, and he was also considering giving up. It wasn't worth getting hurt over a woman's trinket. Still, he was reluctant to give up. The sachet had already consumed nearly half of his cultivation energy, yet it still bucked like a stubborn wild horse, refusing to be held. How outrageous!

Just then, a series of system notifications suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Ding! Detected that the Host is acquiring a treasure of Heaven and Earth!"

"Ding! System Phase Three is beginning to activate!"

"Ding! Remove the ownership status?"

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