The tomb of the Dragon Emperor is eerie and terrifying.

To prevent grave robbers and malicious individuals from causing damage, the tomb is filled with numerous traps that teach anyone who enters a profound lesson.

Chen Xu had seen movies about these traps before, but he didn't know how they were distributed without the original design plans.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

Countless black scarab beetles poured out like a tide from the black mist beneath Chen Xu's feet, crawling in all directions.

"Is there danger?" Sulaiman looked around warily.

"Don't worry," Chen Xu reassured his disciple. "I'm just using these scarabs to test for traps."

Ancient traps couldn't be endless; as long as one was willing to risk their life, they could eventually fill them all. He wasn't worried about whether this would cause the entire tomb to collapse or not.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang was no ordinary person; he was a powerful cultivator with boundless magical abilities. According to descriptions in movies, his powers were based on the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint theory - limitless magic power indeed!

How could such an individual fail to foresee what lay ahead? If he hadn't foreseen it, how could he have hidden himself inside a mummy or come into contact with water from an eternal spring?

The art of Chinese divination was vast and profound; compared to Western prophecy techniques, it was equally formidable. It must be that Emperor Qin Shi Huang foresaw everything and made those arrangements accordingly.

However, fate is mysterious; even divination can never predict everything. Therefore, Chen Xu didn't believe that Emperor Qin Shi Huang would set up enough traps capable of destroying the entire tomb just so that he could destroy himself too easily.

Don’t forget: constructing this tomb began during his lifetime!

Therefore, Chen Xu recklessly used scarab beetles to trigger the traps, setting off all of them before entering.

"I am flesh and blood, extremely fragile. I must have a vanguard."

Under Chen Xu's command, the scarab beetles piled up as high as he was - in terms of weight, they were about the same.

"Go ahead and clear out any traps in front of me."

Traps such as arrows, flying discs, pits, flames and broken stones erupted one after another under the scarabs' triggering until they had exhausted themselves. It could be said that there was now a smooth path throughout the entire tomb.

"I didn't expect it to take so long." Chen Xu's body shook slightly; his face turned pale.

Even with amplification from the Necromantic Black Scripture, summoning scarab beetles for this long had been somewhat difficult for him. The pile of dead beetle bodies on the ground directly proved how terrifying these traps were.

"Teacher, are you okay?" Sulaiman looked at his teacher worriedly.

"I'm fine," Chen Xu shook his head. "I just overused my magic power and need to rest for a bit."

Chen Xu sat cross-legged and entered into a half-asleep state between meditation and wakefulness.

What is meditation? Its essence is sleeping. When people sleep without distractions or worries on their minds it doesn't help cultivate oneself; therefore if one wants to meditate effectively then they should enter into a half-asleep state.

Expelling distracting thoughts and calming the mind is an effective way to rest and rejuvenate the spirit.

In ancient China, there were similar meditation techniques passed down through various practices. Among them, Chen Tuan's "Hibernating Dragon" technique was one of the most outstanding.

"Hibernation" refers to animals' winter sleep, while a "hibernating dragon" is a sleeping dragon that breathes out spiritual energy between breaths. Its strength naturally increases during this time, and upon waking up, it feels refreshed and invigorated. This is such a free-spirited cultivation technique.

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"Inwardly hibernate like a dragon in its lair; outwardly remain calm as if nothing has happened. Keep your abilities hidden deep within yourself; breathe deeply in silence. Rest high above the clouds with no one understanding you."

Chen Xu fell into a half-asleep state during his meditation practice where his mind became empty and peaceful while his spirit grew stronger with each inhale and exhale surrounded by white mist.

After some time had passed, Chen Xu woke up from his meditation practice feeling amazed at how universal Eastern and Western cultivation techniques are alike.

The essence of cultivation lies in both physical strength and mental fortitude - sacrificing oneself to absorb spiritual energy from nature or elements all come down to harnessing universal energies present throughout our universe. Cultivating inner peace follows suit by conquering personal demons that plague our minds.

Although different methods may be used for cultivating these skills along different paths towards enlightenment ultimately lead us back to the same source: The Great Dao itself.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"It's already been one day," said Sulaiman respectfully but with dry lips as he licked them unconsciously when speaking due to dehydration caused by not drinking water or eating rice for an entire day just so he could watch over Chen Xu without leaving him alone even once!

Upon hearing this news, Chen Xu was surprised and remembered a legend about Peng Zu who lived for 800 years. When he was born, there were auspicious signs of red light in the sky. At that time, Chen Tuan happened to be sleeping... when he woke up from his nap and asked around about Peng Zu's whereabouts only to find out that he had been dead for over two hundred years already! Chen Tuan sighed: "I knew this child couldn't survive."

"You've been watching over me for a day?" Chen Xu asked again.

"Yes," Sulaiman replied.

"Silly boy." Moved by Sulaiman's dedication despite being just a child, Chen Xu said softly: "Don't do this next time."

"But it's dangerous here," argued Sulaiman. "As your disciple, I must protect you from harm at all costs!"

"Sulaiman..." Before showing any softness towards him yet still feeling touched by his loyalty as an apprentice even though they have only known each other briefly so far - suddenly hardened his heart with these words: "From now on, I will give you hellish training. Be prepared."

Sulaiman turned pale upon hearing those words since he didn't know what kind of training awaited him but the name alone made him feel scared like an icy wind blowing through his soul making him shiver uncontrollably.

"Follow me," beckoned Chen Xu as they set off together to find Qin Shi Huang's resting place within the tomb where his sacred beetle roamed freely throughout its chambers knowing everything inside out.

After walking for about ten minutes or so, they arrived at a coffin surrounded by hundreds of terracotta warriors guarding it fiercely with their imposing presence.

Chen Xu knew that these people were once living soldiers who had been cursed into becoming mummies after death according to ancient Chinese burial customs which included burying concubines and palace maids alongside emperors.

"These are mummies, right?" Sulaiman asked with wide eyes as he sensed a similar aura emanating from these terracotta warriors like the ones he felt around the mummies earlier.

"It's not a mummy, it's a terracotta warrior," corrected Chen Xu. "A mummy is a body that has been preserved through special means after being killed and then moves with the call of the high priest."

"These terracotta warriors were once living people, elite soldiers in their lifetime, but they became like this because of magic."

"If we consider their life form, they are similar to vampires."

Vampires are cursed by God and neither live nor die; Terracotta warriors are transformed by witches and neither live nor die.

Both are essentially cursed by magic, but the difference is that the curse on vampires comes from God while the curse on Terracotta warriors comes from witches. The gap in strength between those who cast curses results in Terracotta warriors being weaker than vampires.

Vampires! Suleiman shuddered fiercely. In the eyes of most Westerners, there is a negative perception towards vampires due to influence from Catholicism (some words cannot be used here so I'm using this instead). As Egypt was also under British colonial rule at that time, it naturally fell under Catholic influence which made them fearful of vampires.

"Don't be afraid," Chen Xu said angrily. "We're priests, not ordinary people. Even fear demons can't invade our minds."

His voice carried magical power and infused into Suleiman's soul shaking his heart.

In an instant, Suleiman's fear dissipated. His previous knowledge had caused him to experience cognitive barriers or what we call knowledge obstacles.

Knowledge obstacles refer to inherent impressions formed by one’s cognition about the world which sometimes may be incorrect or untrue. These barriers hinder one’s accumulation of knowledge and understanding of the world around us; generally speaking -the more you know- ,the more these barriers exist.

Only when breaking through these obstacles can erroneous perceptions be discarded for truth.

However just like original sin demons -knowledge obstacles are the same, they arise and disappear with our souls.

"You just fell into the fear of original sin. It seems that your soul is not yet mature," Chen Xu also sighed. Others often say that teaching disciples can be learned through practice, he now feels this way too.

Every time a disciple overcomes their original sin demon, he feels his own soul has progressed further because while teaching his disciples, he is also sorting out his own knowledge and honing his spirit.

"Don't apologize, just work hard," Chen Xu's attitude softened. "Remember, original sin arises and disappears with your soul; it invades you at all times."

Western original sins and Eastern demons are the same thing -they are garbage derived from our souls- internal demons.

"Yes teacher." Suleiman's gaze became firm again.

Through each experience, his soul becomes more steadfast even though it hasn't transformed yet but it isn't far off either.

"Very good." Chen Xu nodded in satisfaction.

"Let's leave here now; I've probably found Qin Shihuang's body." A faint red glow covered everything around him as he felt that unique aura.

"Now what we need to do is get the fountain of youth water from those guys' hands and awaken Qin Shihuang."