Translator: CinderTL
The stone path was shrouded in dense mist, as if layered with veils.
Gou Jun and his four companions proceeded cautiously.
Leading the way was Gou Jun's peak-stage Fourth-Rank Corpse Puppet. The five followed closely behind, maintaining a distance of no more than ten feet from each other.
Their journey along this mountain path was far from smooth. Demon beasts of bizarre forms frequently emerged from the mist to ambush them. Fortunately, they worked together, weathering the attacks with only minor scares and safely traversing the two-hundred-mile stone path.
At the end of the path lay the summit of Divine Blood Peak. The peak had been artificially flattened to accommodate a palace spanning ten miles.
As the five stepped onto the plaza before the palace, their expressions brightened slightly upon seeing the three characters "Demon Spirit Hall" on the palace's plaque. Their hopes of obtaining the Fallen Immortal Blood or related information now rested on this hall.
Gou Jun raised his hand and unleashed a surge of Corpse Qi, which crashed against the Demon Spirit Hall's main gate.
Just a few yards from the gate, a transparent barrier suddenly materialized.
Boom!
The Corpse Qi slammed against the barrier with a deafening roar.
The barrier remained unyielding, while the Corpse Qi dissipated on its own.
"Fellow Daoists," Gou Jun said, "take this time to meditate and recover. Once our Spiritual Power is restored, we'll attempt to break the Demon Spirit Hall's restrictions together."
"There's no need to break the restrictions," Lan Chen said. "I know how to enter the Demon Spirit Hall."
The other four turned their heads slightly, their eyes widening in surprise as they stared at Lan Chen.
"By using the Bronze Key Coffin, we can enter this hall," she explained.
With everyone watching, Lan Chen couldn't slip away and enter the Demon Spirit Hall secretly. That's why she had revealed the secret so openly.
"Really?" Gou Jun asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.
"Xue Mei told me," Lan Chen replied. "Whether it's true or not, we'll know soon enough."
"Xue Mei?" Gou Jun's expression was one of shock and confusion. "Why would she tell you something so important?"
"I don't know," Lan Chen said, shaking her head. She then flicked a jade slip into the air. "Xue Mei gave me this in secret."
The other four took turns examining the jade slip with their Divine Senses.
Inside, there was only one sentence:
"There's nothing in the Corpse King Hall you're hoping for. Don't waste time here. Go to the Demon Spirit Hall at the summit. You can bypass the hall's restrictions with the Bronze Key Coffin."
"How did Xue Mei know such a secret? Is she really just Tai He's Human Furnace?" Gou Jun asked, puzzled.
"Xue Mei's origins don't matter. What matters is whether what she said is true," Yang Yu replied.
He took out the Bronze Key Coffin, leaped inside, and slowly floated toward the Demon Spirit Hall.
The Bronze Key Coffin passed through the barrier without resistance.
Seeing this, Lan Chen, Gou Jun, Mi Hai, and Mo Yexue didn't hesitate. They each produced their own Bronze Key Coffins and gathered before the Great Hall's entrance.
With a wave of Yang Yu's hand, the tightly sealed doors slowly creaked open.
The first thing that greeted their eyes was a vast hall, nearly a mile wide.
Stone chairs and meditation cushions were scattered throughout the hall. Clearly, during the Divine Blood Gate's heyday, this hall had served as a gathering place. Many cultivators would have gathered here daily.
Along the sides and rear of the hall were numerous secret chambers, most of which were protected by restrictions that blocked the five cultivators' Divine Sense.
"Fellow cultivators, let's each rely on our own abilities from here on," Gou Jun said.
The five cultivators, who had briefly cooperated, immediately scattered, each heading in a different direction.
Gou Jun flashed forward, darting toward the numerous secret chambers behind the Great Hall.
Yang Yu and Lan Chen followed closely behind.
Mo Yexue and Mi Hai, on the other hand, went to the side halls on either side of the Great Hall.
After about half an hour, the five cultivators reconvened in the Great Hall, their faces grim.
The restrictions on the secret chambers weren't particularly strong. Under their combined assault, they had all been breached.
Yet, not only had they failed to find any treasures, they hadn't even discovered a single jade slip or Ancient Text.
The entire Demon Spirit Hall was eerily empty, devoid of anything of value.
"How could the Demon Spirit Hall be completely empty of treasures?" Gou Jun demanded coldly, his expression dark.
"Perhaps..." Lan Chen's gaze swept across the Great Hall, her tone uncertain. "Perhaps we haven't entered the true Demon Spirit Hall. This Great Hall before us seems more like a temporary residence for cultivators, lacking any of the characteristics of a core cultivation site."
"Fellow Daoist Lan Chen, are you saying there's a hidden door here?" Yang Yu mused.
"That's what I believe. Fellow Daoists, let's split up and search. In my opinion, the hidden door should be somewhere within this hall," Lan Chen said.
The five cultivators dispersed, meticulously searching the hall.
However, the hall contained nothing but stone chairs, stone meditation cushions, walls, and the floor. They dismantled the stone chairs and cushions, and blasted more than a dozen holes in the floor, yet found nothing.
"Fellow cultivators, something seems amiss with the roof," Mi Hai said, gazing upward.
He flicked his finger, sending a beam of Spiritual Power toward the roof.
Just before the Spiritual Power struck, a transparent barrier materialized.
The barrier rippled like water, swallowing the Spiritual Power without a trace.
"A teleportation barrier!"
Mi Hai's eyes lit up, and he shot skyward without hesitation.
The others quickly reacted, soaring into the air as well.
Passing through the barrier, the five cultivators felt the world around them shift. In an instant, they found themselves in an underground cavern.
Above them, the transparent barrier shimmered.
The ripples in the barrier clearly indicated that passing through it would return them to the Great Hall.
As soon as the five landed, they began to survey their surroundings.
First, they noticed the unusually dense Spiritual Qi, so thick that it suppressed their Divine Sense, limiting their perception to a few miles around them.
To the left and right of the cavern, ten-yard-wide corridors stretched out.
Almost simultaneously, the five dashed toward the right corridor.
This was because the entrance to the right corridor bore four large characters: Fallen Immortal Blood Cave.
After ten miles of rapid travel along the corridor, it abruptly ended at a massive vertical shaft.
The shaft plunged deep into the earth, its depths unknown.
Without hesitation, the five descended into the abyss.
After descending several hundred miles, they encountered a rushing underground river.
Along the riverbank's stone walls, numerous caves dotted the landscape.
These caves had smooth, rounded walls, as if constantly worn down by something over the years.
The caves were incredibly deep, their destinations unknown.
With their Divine Sense limited, the five couldn't find any useful clues. They could only follow the underground river, searching slowly.
Shortly after the five cultivators entered the Fallen Immortal Blood Cave, the teleportation barrier within the cave rippled once more. The figures of Song Wen and Xue Mei materialized above the cave.
Song Wen surveyed the two corridors and asked, "Fellow Daoist Xue Mei, which direction should we take?"
"I've never been to the Demon Spirit Hall before. I've only heard rumors that the Soul Destroying Demon Pill can be found there."
Xue Mei pointed to the corridor on the right. "This corridor still has traces of residual Spiritual Power. Gou Jun and the others must have entered it. Since we're no match for them, let's take the other corridor."
Hearing this, Song Wen turned to the corridor on the left.
At the entrance, three large characters were carved: Demon Origin Cave.
(End of the Chapter)
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