Hmm…. Am I stuck? There’s no exit, and the only thing in the room was the coffin and the treasure chest underneath it. Wait a minute. If there’s a room, that means there’s walls. And if there’s walls, then I can break them! “Unrelenting Path of Slaughter: Breaking Madness Hammer Strike!” And … it broke! Just like I thought. Mm? But there’s this weird film made of darkness that’s covering the hole I left behind…. It looks exactly the same as the thing that held in the water when I was breaking the Despair God’s Tomb. The boundary between the tomb and the outside world? With my brain that’s been powered by the giantest bone of knowledge ever, I know exactly what to do to get past this barrier. I’ll smash it. But since it isn’t exactly solid, I’ll have to add in the ghost-removing qi I have. “Unrelenting Path of Slaughter: Secret Breaking Madness Hammer Phoenix Rebirth Strike!”

The barrier broke, but there’s one huge problem: the name of my new technique is too long, and I can’t say it all in one swing without slowing my strike down. I’ll shorten it to … Flaming Hammer. It’s a good name, and people won’t know what to expect when I shout it out loud. Well, they’ll expect a flaming hammer, but they can see that. They won’t know it’s infused with the Unrelenting Path of Slaughter, Madness Strike, Breaking Blade, and the Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique! I’m a genius. Should I rename all my other techniques? Eh, I’ll have a hard time remembering them all if I do, so I won’t.

Alright, it’s time to exit the tomb and save Mrs. Feathers! I’ll step outside and—ack!? I just stepped and slipped on … bird poop!? The outside of the tomb is covered in wet bird poop, and there’s a bunch of vultures staring at me. It’s a good thing this wall was here to use as support, or I would’ve fallen face first into all of that. …Eh? There’s no defensive formation around the tomb? I’m touching the wall, but nothing’s happening to me…. Quick! Before the tomb realizes I’m touching it, I’ll carve out an engraving of focus … and absorb!

Whew. Everything’s so bright and clear all of a sudden. Is it thanks to the bone of focus? No, I think it’s cause the tomb disappeared; it stopped blocking the sun. And all the people inside the tomb fell to the ground. They were really high up for some reason. The earth-realm and sky-realm experts were fine, but the saints and below hit the ground pretty hard…. Is the barkeep alright? He’s wearing the armor, so he should be fine. The important thing is finding Mrs. Feathers! She’s … right there! Was she not inside the tomb? Ah, the tomb lied to me, saying people would die if they failed the second trial. Hmph. I got worried for nothing. I’ll teleport over to her. “Mrs. Feathers! What happened? You didn’t show up in the third trial!”

Mrs. Feathers cleared her throat. “I was afraid of facing my heart devil.”

Afraid? Her? “But … you could’ve just burned your heart devil to death, no? That’s what I did with the Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique you gave me.”

Mrs. Feathers gave me a strange look. A very, very strange look. It was almost as if she wanted to set me on fire. A moment later, she fixed her expression and cleared her throat again. “If it were that easy to get rid of a heart devil, it wouldn’t be a heart devil.”

…Why do I feel like something’s off? “You didn’t even try, so how do you know?”

“Oh, I tried,” Mrs. Feathers said. “Believe me, I tried.” Then she muttered, “All my flames did was strengthen it.”

It seems like Mrs. Feathers is deeply affected by her heart devil. I’ve bathed in Mrs. Feathers’ flames before to cultivate the Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique, and they’re really hot! Her heart devil must be super strong and scary. I hope I never meet it. Anyways, I got the inheritance from the tomb, I think. I mean, I’m pretty sure whatever’s inside of this ring is the inheritance, and now I have time to check! Too bad I didn’t find another Vera. I guess I’ll never know Durandal’s secrets now…. Unless…? “Hey, Mrs. Feathers, do you have a technique that lets me read someone’s mind?”

“No.”

Darn.

“Those kinds of techniques are only used by the less-righteous sects,” Mrs. Feathers said. “Like these three quasi-immortals were able to scour people’s memories. It’s how they designed the second portion of their tombs.”

“So … there’s a chance for me to learn a technique like that?”

Mrs. Feathers blinked. “Boss, a heavily frowned upon technique like Soul Scour would be perfect for someone like you. I’m surprised you don’t already know it.”

…What’s that supposed to mean?

“Never mind,” Mrs. Feathers said and shook her head. “Your soul has to be stronger than your victim’s, and you only learned a soul-strengthening technique a month ago. It makes sense why you haven’t learned one already, and it’s completely expected for someone with your personality to want a despicable soul-searching technique like that after becoming capable of using it.”

I’m being attacked, right? They might not be physically sharp, but words can still hurt people! I’m going to bite her.

“Don’t eat me, Boss! Didn’t I answer your question!?”

Ah, she did. And I wasn’t eating her! I was just biting her. There’s a difference. But now, I have a new goal! I’ll learn one of those soul-searching skills to figure out Durandal’s deepest and darkest secrets! Couldn’t I have just done that from the start instead of spending two months at the Despair God’s and Death God’s tombs? I, I guess I could’ve. But it wasn’t a complete waste of time! Well, maybe the Death God’s was, but that depends on what’s inside this ring.