Child of Destiny

...…

A day before the remaining people exploring the tomb got trapped inside one of the rooms.

"The information from the elders is somewhat inaccurate. This tomb doesn't just belong to the 'King of Knives' or the 'Blade King' or the 'King of Blades' – whatever his previous title is. There are multiple experts from the previous era who died in here," said Shiella as she discussed what she just discovered after two days of exploring the tomb.

"The professors only think that this tomb is a single tomb due to the specific tests and records that they have retrieved when exploring the outside. But they are unaware of what is inside because of the restrictions placed at the entrance."

"If we just base everything according to the clues that they have gathered from the entrance, then this place is without a doubt the tomb of that ancient expert."

She paused for a moment as she organized her discovery. "But it becomes clear that it is not the case when we entered the deeper parts of this 'tomb'."

"The true nature of this place is different from what they have discovered. This place is connected to multiple tombs of different cultivators of the past through an ancient grand formation."

She paused for another time to look at the engravings and murals drawn on the walls before continuing. "I am not sure who they are or how they have done it, but that is the 'truth' based on these ancient records."

"This 'tomb' is a massive place connecting multiple cultivator's tombs, which means that the place that we come from is not the only entrance out there. This also explains how those people from the underworld organizations come here ahead of us."

"They must have discovered this place earlier than us, which is why they are very familiar with it. This also explains how they have launched an ambush on us right after our arrival."

Hearing those words, Mariel nodded her head in agreement. "They must have heard the news from their spies that infiltrated the academy and other organizations within our continent before making the necessary preparations."

"Their initial goal is to weaken us and lessen our numbers. While the other is abducting some talented people to turn them into potential recruits."

"Unfortunately for them, the people that have been sent here respond quite quickly, which leads to their failure. Thus, they have no choice but to abandon the backup plan and try to finish us as soon as possible."

As they discussed, a young man with a sword hanging beside his waist entered the room where they were hiding.

The two ladies instantly went on alert when they sensed him, but they quickly lowered their guard when they realized who it was.

It was Elijah Knight from the 'Wings of Freedom'.

Seeing their agitated look, Elijah slightly shook his head before saying. "I have already sent the kids or the injured back. I also let the others from the elite clubs escort them out of the tomb to make sure that the traitors or spies will take advantage of the situation and finish them off."

Hearing that, the two nodded their heads before taking a seat.

"With that, the three of us are the only ones left along with those remaining elite students from the other clubs. But since we can't trust them yet, it is better if we continue exploring the place with the three of us," said Shiella after careful thinking.

They could not trust just anyone given their current situation, so it would be better to keep close to the people that they could put their trust on.

Shiella was very familiar with these two and she was sure that they would not betray her or each other.

Moreover, the three of them stood at the peak of their peers, so the was no need to question their abilities.

After discussing what they were going to do next, they went back to their previous topic.

"Whoever has created the Grand Formation to connect them must be a powerful individual," said Mariel after recalling the formation at the entrance of the tomb.

As someone who came from a Mentalist Clan that had a long history, she was very familiar with these kinds of things. Even if the runes and the methods used to build the arrays or formations were different given that the disciplines followed different paths, the nature and principles were still the same.

She was able to discern how powerful and good those formations were given her knowledge and experience. And from what she could tell, such Grand Formation could only be created by peak experts – at least someone who was a step away from reaching the Exalted Realm.

"I am not sure who has created such an amazing formation, but I do have an idea why and how they were connected to this place," she added as she observed the murals.

Shiella knew what she was trying to say, so she answered. "It is to either steal from those cultivator's tombs much easier or to go back to this place as this was their main hideout."

Given this clue, they could only think of someone who would dare to do such a thing in ancient times.

"The King of Thieves."

"The Tomb Raider."

The two ladies had said a name or title at the same time, but they were only talking about the same person.

"The King of Thieves – he earned quite a lot of titles during the ancient times and became a very famous individual in that era. He is not only strong but also quite skilled as well," commented Elijah as he heard their guess.

"Before he earned that title, he used to be called the 'Phantom'. He is one of the greatest assassins of that time."

"But he suddenly becomes addicted to robbing someone's tomb or ruins at some point, thus earning himself such a title."

"He is famed for defeating some prominent experts from powerful sects or families at that time before stealing their treasures, techniques, and cultivation arts, which further solidified his name."

"He even became an expert that stood at the peak of his era," he continued as he also watched the murals on the walls. "Then these murals must be a way to tell people about his achievements."

Hearing that, Shiella could not help but sneer. "Hmph! What a narcissist."

"Telling the future generation about his legend when he is nothing but a thief and a robber? What a farce," she added before standing and walking to the entrance of the room.

She then raised her head and looked at the mural painted at the center of the ceiling. There was a giant golden tree situated at that spot with bronze-like leaves and a golden lake underneath.

"But I must admit that he sure possessed a very interesting treasure," she commented as she fixed her gaze on that golden tree.

"A trunk as tough as gold and autumn leaves that resembled the bronze. Then the golden lake formed from the immortal essence."

"If our suspicion is right, then this tree must be the legendary Millennium Tree of Immortality," she mumbled as she tried to recall what she knew about this treasure.

"Based on the ancient records from my family's ancient archives, this tree needed a thousand years before it could grow into a size of an average of three. Then it will need another thousand years to start producing the 'Immortal Essence'."

"Then it will take at least a century before it can produce a single drop of the essence," she paused for a moment as she stared intently at the mural before continuing. "Just how long will it take for such a lake to form?"

She then paused for a moment and lowered her head before mumbling. "If it is true that there is a Millenium Tree of Immortality somewhere here, and it has produced such a lake of Immortal Essence, then this news will not only shake the world but will trigger an international war as well."

"Its leaves can be brewed into a tea that will become a powerful elixir that can cleanse all the impurities from one's body. The trunk is a high-quality material to create an artifact as it is even better than most of the ores and metals during that time."

"As for the Immortal Essence that it produces, it is something that can be used to forge the heaven-defying physique such as the 'Perfect Physique' – an untainted physique that can get sick or get impurities."

"It can even evolve one's physique into another level that no one will be able to imagine."

"It is a true treasure for everyone, but it will be best for those body practitioners as they will be able to achieve the dream constitution that they can only get through continuously honing their bodies."

"Legend says that if someone achieves that physique, their body will be able to as though as treasures or as powerful as artifacts."

She paused for a moment as she thought of something before continuing. "But the greatest benefit that it can provide is for someone like me with some problem with our constitution or Internal Qi conflicts."

"It can fix all the deficiencies that an individual had so long as they have consumed the tea brewed from the leaves of this tree while bathing and cultivating on that golden lake."

"Though, it also requires a special cultivation method to achieve such results," she paused for a moment as she realized why those people wanted to stop them from exploring the place.

"No wonder those people from the underworld organizations don't want us to proceed further," she frowned a little as she thought of something before continuing. "But given the desperate measures that they are taking, it is safe to say that they have yet to reach that place-…"

"…-that is if it really exists," she added as she was also having doubts about the existence of the legendary tree.

"Heck! We can even assume that it is some trap that the King of Thieves has set up to lure more victims," commented Mariel as she was also leaning toward this possibility.

But Elijah thought otherwise because he had found something earlier in the other rooms when he was exploring separately when they first time entered this place.

He contemplated a little before taking out a bronze-like leaf from his dimension pouch before presenting it to them. "It may not be enough evidence, but I have gotten this from one of the rooms when exploring."

Seeing the leaf, the two ladies suddenly rushed toward him and snatched it from his hands. They use their respective means to observe the leaf before their eyes suddenly turn wide.

"I may not be an expert on this, but I can tell that this leaf is over a couple of thousands of years old," commented Mariel as she stared intently at the leaf.

Shiella did not say anything, but she agreed with Mariel given that her ocular skill was also picking up an ancient aura coming from the leaf.

"Even if it is just a piece that the King of Thieves has found, it is worth investigating. We also don't know if those people from the underworld organizations have collected the other leaves as they are the first ones to discover this place."

After saying that, she signaled to the two that it was now time to move.

"Whether the Millenium Tree of Immortality really exists or not will only be revealed once we reach the deepest level of this place," she said as she moved out.

Mariel and Elijah stared at her for a moment before exchanging glances with each other. They then shrugged their shoulders and stood up before following behind her.

They could feel that whatever was going to happen in this place would be bloody given the information that they had gathered. It would without a doubt cause a bloodbath once everyone encountered one another.

...…