[Fragmented memories in the demon shell gradually revive…]

[…]

[The Ancient Mausoleum is the resting place of many ancestral demons. Only those forebears who possessed brilliant glory and battle merits, at least at the demon lord level, are qualified to be buried here…]

[You know this so-called Abyss Child must be a fake. How could the one bearing the mission of resurrecting the Abyss and restoring the glory of the demon race be a lowest-rank goat-horn demon?]

[With the Ancient Mausoleum serving as your dueling ground, you do not wish for this damned goat-horn demon to disturb the ancestors, especially those resting in the deep levels of the mausoleum who have slept here for endless ages.]

[The ancestors resting in the deep levels were all once demon gods, heroes who slew countless enemies in the God Wars of ages past.]

[How could they be disturbed because of the ridiculous demand of some impostor Abyss Child?]

[You resolve that the moment you step into the mausoleum, you will defeat the goat-horn demon and absolutely not allow it to enter the deeper levels…]

[…]

[The fragmented memories abruptly end here…]

Lin Xun’s eyes lit up.

“Demon god level ancestral demons… if I can get my hands on a demon god shell…”

According to the Pain Demon’s memories, everyone buried here was a powerful demon forebear who had taken part in the God Wars. No one knew how many ages their corpses had been interred here.

After so many countless years, the chances that an ancestral demon shell remained intact and still met the conditions for Possession were not high.

But as long as there was even the slightest possibility, it was worth a try for Lin Xun.

Even if he could not find an ancestral demon shell suitable for Possession, stealing some burial goods to take back would not be bad. The grave goods of demon gods surely would not be anything ordinary.

Of course, that was assuming the demon race actually had the custom of burying grave goods.

“There is a whole crowd of demons still waiting outside the mausoleum. If I want to explore it, I have to finish quickly. Dragging this out too long will probably arouse their suspicion.”

[…]

[You are currently in the first burial chamber on the first level of the Ancient Mausoleum.]

[The chamber is not large. Ancient, mottled murals cover the four walls. You quickly sweep your gaze over them and see that the scenes they depict match the history carved on the stone stele, only in a more detailed and vivid manner.]

[You hurry through the chamber toward the next one. Fortunately, you killed the Abyss Pain Demon in a single exchange, so you still have ample time left for exploration.]

[Once you enter the second burial chamber, you discover that this seems to be where the ancestral demons are actually buried.]

[However, the burial methods of the demons are somewhat different from what you imagined…]

[You see stacks of black clay urns arranged neatly throughout the chamber. Most of the urns are only about the size of an ordinary bucket, with only a few reaching half a person’s height.]

[You quickly step forward to inspect them carefully. On the surfaces of over a hundred urns are carved demon-script characters, recording the great deeds these ancestral demons accomplished in life.]

[An ominous feeling rises in your heart. Demons have powerful bodies, and most high-ranking demons are massive in size. These small urns could never hold a complete demon corpse.]

[You hastily pick one urn at random and open it…]

[Inside is a substance like black sand and gravel. Aside from the urn being filled with this black grit, there is nothing else inside.]

[You proceed to open several urns in succession, even opening the tallest urns that reach half a person’s height.]

[You even turn some of the urns completely upside down and empty them out, but apart from the sand-like powder, you find nothing of value at all.]

[Staring at the vaguely familiar black grit in front of you, the demon shell’s memories stir slightly…]

[You recognize this sand-like powder. The ancestral demons who died in the God Wars often could not preserve complete corpses. Only a very small number of bodies recovered from the battlefield remained intact.]

[The demon horn is the hardest part of a demon’s body and is difficult for spell power to destroy. In the God Wars, the ancestral demons would often perish, yet their horns remained…]

[This led to a unique burial custom of the demon race. They soften the remaining horns of the ancestors with fire, then smash and grind them into fragments and powder, burying horn in place of body…]

[The black sand-like powder you see is all originally demon horns.]

[Furthermore, the demon race does not care about burial goods. There is an overwhelming chance that there are no grave goods in the mausoleum at all.]

[Thus, aside from the countless urns in the chamber, you do not find any other special items…]

Lin Xun’s mouth twitched.

He had the feeling of entering what he thought was a treasure mountain in high spirits, only to discover that what lay before him was not a mountain of treasure but a mountain of dung.

“What am I going to do with all this ash? Strictly speaking, it is not even bone ash. I can only call it horn ash…”

The ‘horn ash’ of the ancestral demons could not be stored in the Inventory, which clearly meant it was useless.

[You know that the longer you linger in the mausoleum, the greater the chance that an accident will occur…]

[Seeing that the mausoleum has no value to explore, will you continue deeper, or turn back now?]

Unwilling to give up, Lin Xun selected the option to continue deeper.

After passing through several burial chambers, he reached the end of this level of the mausoleum, yet along the way he found nothing but urns, urns, and more urns. He gained nothing at all.

[…]

[At the end of the burial chambers is a stone stairway leading to the level below, with two enormous demon statues flanking the steps…]

[Do you wish to enter the second level of the Ancient Mausoleum?]

Lin Xun did not hesitate and immediately pressed ‘Yes.’

After discovering that there were no good things in these burial chambers, he pushed ahead as fast as he could.

He still held on to a sliver of hope that the deepest part of the mausoleum might conceal some precious treasure.

[You are just about to step toward the second level of the mausoleum when the demon statues on both sides of the stone steps suddenly shed dust and ash. Their cold stone surfaces transform into boiling-hot flesh.]

[They seem to sense your approach and change from dead stone statues into true demons.]

[Only now do you notice the statues’ forms clearly. They are ferocious demons with black wings on their backs and savage faces, gripping long-shafted halberd-spears, standing silently in place…]

[When you first entered the mausoleum, you saw the same kind of colossal statue at the entrance.]

[However, at that time it was the demon shaman who opened the mausoleum gate for you, so the two guardian statues were not triggered into becoming living creatures…]

[In the blink of an eye, the two tall, ferocious demons step down from their stone platforms. They cross their halberd-spears to your left and right, blocking your path forward!]

[You have discovered Abyss Statue Demons.]

[The demon on the left speaks solemnly. It says that as a later-generation descendant come to pay respects, you must correctly answer three questions in order to be qualified to proceed to the lower level of the mausoleum and worship the ancestors.]

[The demon on the right continues, stating that if you get one answer wrong, you will lose the qualification to worship the ancestors on the lower level. If you get two wrong, they will immediately drive you out of the mausoleum and you will never again set foot within.]

[If you get all three questions wrong, you will pay with your life for disturbing their sleep.]

[Apostle, will you answer the questions of the Statue Demons in order to gain the right to enter the lower level?]

Lin Xun had previously harbored doubts about whether any precious items were hidden in the deep levels of the mausoleum, but now that such a test had appeared, the probability that treasures lay below increased greatly.