Chapter Twenty-One: The Moonlight Treasure Box

“Brother Tang, what are you doing? Did you find what I said that funny?” Ding Pengfei asked in confusion.

“No, no, it’s my mistake! Go on, please!” Tang Yi replied, and with a wave of his hand, the spilled juice on the floor vanished. The little robot chimed in, “Hurry up and tell us, where is the Tomb of the Living Dead? Let’s go right now, I can’t wait another second!”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. Even my grandfather didn’t know the exact location, let alone me,” Ding Pengfei said.

The little robot protested, “Then you’re not saying anything at all! What a waste of my feelings, hmph!” It then resumed energetically practicing its movements with its little arms and legs.

“But I remember my grandfather once said that the Tomb of the Living Dead was from the Mars War era. Two groups were fighting to the death for reasons unknown, and they ended up being transported to a small planet. This planet was extremely cold, and everyone froze to death. Their corpses were perfectly preserved by the ice,” Ding Pengfei explained.

“The Mars War? That was tens of thousands of years ago! How did your grandfather know about it?” Lu Zhengyang asked.

“My grandfather said that, when he was young, he traveled everywhere and stumbled upon that planet by accident. At that time, the planet’s temperature had risen enough for him to tolerate. He even revived one of the bodies, but it was futile—the body lived, but the soul had long since dissipated. Oh, I remember now: the planet is said to be one of Saturn’s moons. It’s blue and white, extremely cold,” Ding Pengfei suddenly recalled.

“A moon of Saturn? We’re already approaching Jupiter’s orbit. Why didn’t you say so earlier? That’s a waste of my energy. Jett, return to Saturn’s orbit immediately and search for that small moon,” Tang Yi instructed the ship.

“Received. Returning at once. Target: blue and white asteroid, extremely low temperature. Searching relevant data... beep... beep beep... Three asteroids match the criteria. Awaiting captain’s selection,” Jett announced over the broadcast.

“Uh, three? Then let’s check them one by one. Head to the closest one first,” Tang Yi ordered.

...

“We can’t be that unlucky, can we? It’s the last one!” Tang Yi said with a wry smile.

Jett’s mechanical voice sounded again, “Captain, according to probability theory, when choosing one out of three, the chance of picking the wrong one twice in a row is one in nine. This is quite a rare occurrence. Congratulations, Captain—”

“Stop. Is that something to congratulate? Keep moving, spare me the nonsense!” Tang Yi snapped.

The ship sped toward the third candidate moon. In just a few dozen minutes, they reached orbit around the tiny planet.

“Report: Detected one hundred and eight human corpses in a valley on this planet. All are in a state of deep freeze, and their physiological functions can be reactivated. Report complete!” Jett announced after scanning the entire planet.

“This planet is really small—probably two or three times the size of the Moon,” Tang Yi remarked, watching the screen.

“Captain, the exact data: this planet’s volume is 2.78 times that of the Moon, its mass is 6.3 times greater, gravity is 1.1 times Earth’s. Atmospheric composition is similar to Earth’s, but temperature is minus two hundred degrees Celsius. Humans cannot survive here unaided. Report complete,” Jett replied.

“Heh, minus two hundred degrees? That’s nothing. Shaojie, does everyone here have a second-generation ring now?” Tang Yi asked Hua Shaojie.

“Captain, I’ve checked—everyone has one and we’re ready to go,” Hua Shaojie confirmed after inspecting each person’s ring.

“Good, everyone get ready. Activate the protection array. Jett, beam us to the valley,” Tang Yi commanded, rising to his feet.

A flash of light swept through the entertainment hall, and everyone vanished. At the same time, a white beam appeared in a valley on the small moon’s surface. When the light faded, more than a dozen glowing spheres materialized in the valley, each containing one of their group—Tang Yi and his companions had arrived.

“My god, this is a real-life ice sculpture exhibit! Spectacular!” someone exclaimed.

“The scenery here is breathtaking, if only it weren’t so cold.”

“It wouldn’t look like this if it weren’t for the cold.”

“Exactly! Say, if we developed this place into a tourist attraction, we’d make a fortune!”

“Hah, who’d come to a place like this? Only those above the Astral Projection stage could survive here, otherwise you wouldn’t last a minute!”

“Hey, aren’t you only at late Spirit Tranquility stage? How are you surviving?”

“Who am I? More importantly, who are we? Am I right, Brother Tang?”

“Flatterer!”

...

The group marveled at the valley’s icy wonders, voices overlapping in excitement.

“Ruoxue, what are you—?” Tang Yi suddenly noticed Hua Ruoxue sitting cross-legged, cultivating.

“Fellow Daoist Tang, don’t disturb her. She’s having an epiphany and may be about to break through. We should protect her,” Zhang Sanfeng advised, stopping Tang Yi from approaching. The others immediately formed a protective circle around Hua Ruoxue.

Hua Ruoxue quietly circulated her Water Moon Divine Art. After forty-nine cycles, a blue water-like glow rippled around her. Minutes later, the light faded, and she opened her eyes, looking more energetic than ever.

“Ruoxue, you broke through at just the right moment—and leapt three levels! You’re at mid Spirit Tranquility now. Impressive…” Tang Yi praised, having checked her cultivation. In truth, her progress was closely linked to her technique and the unique environment here. To be honest, with her current aptitude, she was only average—though Tang Yi had given her a Foundation Pill, unless she consumed some rare celestial-grade elixir, her constitution would remain merely passable.

...

“Wow, so many people—or rather, so many ice sculptures!” Bai Dongfang exclaimed. The group continued exploring the valley.

“Hey, Lei Zhenzi, come out and pick one that catches your eye,” Tang Yi said, releasing Lei Zhenzi from his box.

Lei Zhenzi emerged and gasped—an entire battlefield encased in ice, one hundred and eight figures, each in a different pose: attacking, defending, some mid-spell.

“Wow, this one’s cool! And this one’s even cooler! This guy looks so unique. Oh, this one has such presence. Whoa! This one...” Lei Zhenzi flitted about, changing expressions excitedly.

“Huh? What’s this? Moon...light...Treasure...Box...! Damn—” Tang Yi had stumbled upon a mysterious object.