In this vast desert, it's unclear where the end lies; this thing here clearly wants to lure people over.
"This place is strange, better not get too close. Let's check ahead first."
Xu Hei pondered for a moment, ignored the pyramid, and bypassed it, moving forward.
...
Just as Xu Hei was in seclusion, breaking through and advancing deeper.
Outside, a series of events were unfolding.
News of the opening of the Earth Path spread overnight across major sects and forces, with sects continuously sending people to explore and seek opportunities within the Earth Path.
However, those sent returned empty-handed, and the dangers inside were unimaginably absurd.
Rumors of ancient fierce demons, man-eating sand, terrifying spells, and more circulated, making it known as the most difficult path.
The very first obstacle, the sand, stumped countless people.
Even if someone managed to pass through with clever methods, their soul tablets would soon shatter, dying under unknown circumstances.
This only deepened people's fear.
As casualties increased among the various groups, the exploration of the Earth Path was put on hold.
Some enthusiasts compiled a list of the top ten most dangerous ancient relics.
"The latest top ten dangers of ancient relics, available for just five thousand spirit stones, fair to all, a purchase is a profit!"
Outside the relic, an elderly man with purple hair was selling the list, attracting a crowd, but upon hearing the price of five thousand spirit stones, many hesitated.
Such a price could bankrupt a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the scroll on the stall was snatched away. Han Te was about to lose his temper but froze upon seeing the newcomer.
The newcomer was a young man in a white robe, tall and handsome, with black hair like a waterfall, exuding an air of elegance and knowledge.
Behind him stood a middle-aged warrior in silver armor, wielding a long spear, emanating an indescribable aura of slaughter, as if forged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, having killed countless people.
Just one glance felt like entering a hellish realm.
"Such a murderous aura, he must have killed no less than a hundred thousand!"
"With such a terrifying expert as a protector, who is this young man in white?"
Han Te, having met countless people, made a rough judgment and was about to observe secretly when he felt a chilling killing intent, quickly lowering his head, not daring to look further.
The young man in white unfolded the scroll and read from top to bottom.
"Second on the danger list: Black Sand, located at the entrance of the Earth Path, black sand fills the sky, sweeping across thousands of miles, contact means death, no one has entered so far..."
"Third on the danger list: Historical Projection, located at the forefront of the relic, an ancient projection appearing randomly, containing great divine abilities, even a slight ripple can kill..."
"Fourth on the danger list: Blood Corpse, a puppet targeting Core Formation Stage cultivators, the higher the cultivation, the stronger the blood corpse attracted..."
"…"
The young man in white scanned the list, his gaze falling to the end.
"Ninth on the danger list: Demon Butcher, composed of countless corpse puppets, disguised as human cultivators, traveling with people, actually an ancient fierce creature, capable of driving Core Formation Stage cultivators insane."
"Tenth on the danger list: Illusionary Forest, randomly induces sleep, originally could rank in the top five, but the pattern was cracked, hence ranked last."
After reading the list, the young man in white smiled gently, "The ninth one is interesting, even corpse puppets can develop intelligence and disguise as humans."
Then he asked, "Why isn't the first on the danger list marked?"
Han Te replied truthfully, "To be honest, for the first on the danger list, no one has survived to describe what it is."
"But some speculate it's a demon infant with Elemental Infant stage cultivation, encountering it means certain death."
Han Te spoke convincingly.
The young man in white nodded slightly, took out a storage bag containing five thousand spirit stones, placed it on the stall, and then turned to leave.
"Thank you for your patronage, take care!"
Han Te accepted the storage bag, his heart racing. He even considered throwing the bag away, not wanting any involvement, but he kept it.
"That murderous aura, clearly from a great general of the Qin Kingdom, with such an expert as a protector, who could that young man be? Heavenly Puppet Sect? Impossible, right?"
Han Te fell into thought, sensing something big was about to happen.
...
At this moment, in the deep entrance tunnel.
Countless vengeful spirits hovered around, but with a surge of killing intent from Lei He, all the spirits retreated in fear.
Soon, they arrived at the circular plaza.
"The Demon Lord hasn't appeared, it seems the plan succeeded," the young man in white smiled.
Lei He replied indifferently, "The Demon Lord isn't omniscient. Every rule has loopholes. Find the loophole, and success is inevitable."
This man was Lei He, one of the top ten experts of the Qin Kingdom, a late Core Formation Stage cultivator.
And the young man in white was Bai Luo, the current top Chosen of the Heavenly Puppet Sect.
But through some method, he had changed his appearance and identity, even sealing his puppet techniques and altering his personality to become gentle and refined.
"The legacy of the third-generation ancestor must belong to me. It's my only chance to return to the headquarters!" Bai Luo's heart was resolute.
The Heavenly Puppet Sect had dispatched various experts to help them compete for the relic, but not everything could be entrusted to outsiders.
Bai Luo was the top Chosen of his generation, second only in talent to the already Golden Core Great Perfection Qin Xuanji, chosen as the best candidate.
Three years ago, he could have formed his core, but he deliberately suppressed it, waiting for today's grand plan.
Though still at the Foundation Establishment Stage, in terms of strength and various extraordinary means, he could contend with ordinary Core Formation Stage cultivators.
After glancing at the path of the Earth Path, the two entered without hesitation, moving in perfect harmony.
Meanwhile, the Zhou family also rushed in.
...
Deep within the Earth Path, in front of the black pyramid.
Xu Hei returned again, bouncing with determination.
Because since entering the Earth Path, he had gained nothing, his only spoils coming from killing, unrelated to the opportunities here.
Logically, every path should have great opportunities, Xu Hei couldn't return empty-handed.
Ahead was still the endless desert, repeating eternally, with the only thing present being this pyramid. Xu Hei had to give it a try.
"Let's see if there's any danger first."
Xu Hei released puppets, scattering them around, and summoned various magical treasures for protection, then cautiously approached.
Under the pyramid, there was a dark entrance. Xu Hei pondered briefly and sent a sand puppet inside first.
Once the sand puppet entered, it immediately lost contact with Xu Hei.
It was as if there was a thin membrane at the entrance, isolating it from the outside world.
Xu Hei sent in a scouting snake, with the same result.
"I'll have to try it myself."
Taking a deep breath, Xu Hei activated various magical treasures, and with a flash, dashed into the pyramid's entrance.
....172....
After entering the pyramid, Xu Hei felt as if he had stepped into a new realm.
Ahead lay a tranquil passageway, with a lamp burning by the wall, casting a dim light that had likely been flickering for countless millennia.
The passage was narrow, allowing only one person to pass through at a time. In front of him stood a stone tablet inscribed with some text.
"There's an inscription too!"
Xu Hei's spirits lifted as he focused on the ancient script, which was somewhat complex but decipherable to him.
"This treasure was acquired by me during my travels in the Western regions. Its internal mechanisms are hidden and contain endless transformations and mysteries beyond words."
"The Puppet Mechanism Technique, which combines the strengths of many schools, though contrary to my sect's philosophy, ultimately leads to the same path. I have summarized and incorporated it into our sect's inheritance."
"However, my heart was willing but my strength was insufficient. Though this item is excellent, it was abandoned by the sect. I have stored it here for future generations to explore. If they can grasp even a fraction, they can claim ownership of this treasure."
The stone tablet bore three passages, still clearly visible after countless years.
It wasn't a Divine Sense imprint but rather carved text, which endures the longest.
Clearly, the person who inscribed these words valued them greatly.
Xu Hei carefully pondered the meaning of these passages. It seemed that after the pyramid was discovered, the author greatly admired it but, due to conflicting philosophies, it was abandoned by the sect.
Thus, it was stored here for future generations to study. If they could uncover even a little, they could gain the pyramid's recognition.
Xu Hei breathed a sigh of relief. If it was merely a test, he could accept it, as long as it wasn't a trap.
However, to be safe, Xu Hei decided to be cautious, in case someone had been here before and altered the inscription to deceive him.
He took out a dragon scale and scratched the stone tablet, noting a clear difference between the new and old marks.
"This place should be opening for the first time, and I am the first to enter here. It's unlikely someone has beaten me to it," Xu Hei thought to himself.
After checking thoroughly for a long time and confirming everything, he stepped into the passage.
Behind the stone tablet, there was an additional piece of text—
"Remember, once you step in, there's no turning back. Regardless of your cultivation level, the difficulty is the same. Choose wisely!"
Xu Hei read this and felt reassured, entering without hesitation.
Suddenly.
Xu Hei sensed something, a slight vibration emanating from his Storage Bag.
He stepped back a little, took out the butcher, and had it open the Storage Bag, retrieving an item to hold in his palm.
It was that peculiar eyeball!
At the center of the eyeball, a flame burned, and at this moment, it brightened as if an invisible gaze was scrutinizing him.
The moment this sense of being watched appeared, Xu Hei quickly put the eyeball away.
"What's going on? Why do I feel like I'm being watched? Is this eyeball alive? Or can someone observe me through it?"
Xu Hei was shaken.
At this moment, the eyeball's abnormality ceased. Xu Hei thought for a moment and took it out again, applying countless seals to it.
"Should I destroy it to be done with it?"
Xu Hei hesitated. He had thought the eyeball was a treasure, not expecting such a hidden danger.
It's possible someone could locate it and come after him.
However, if someone indeed came looking, wouldn't that indicate the eyeball's significant value?
Xu Hei pondered briefly. Since he was already here, there was no reason to leave.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
He considered altering the inscription but realized he wasn't skilled at deception and didn't know what to write. So, he traced over the inscription, making the old marks new again.
"I'm not deceiving you, but if you're suspicious, that's not my fault."
Xu Hei smirked inwardly and crawled into the dark tunnel.
...
At the entrance of the Earth Path.
Two teams had just entered when they were assaulted by a storm of black sand. Bai Luo remained unfazed, summoning an ancient bell and flicking it with his finger, sending out a ripple.
He had already investigated the situation inside before coming and knew that the sand was all puppets.
As a disciple of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, he had unique methods to counter puppets.
This wasn't a Spirit Body Thread but a wave of chaos that could cause puppets to become disoriented, especially effective against corpse puppets with some self-awareness.
Once the ripple spread, the black sand in the sky lost its sense of direction, scattering wildly, even attacking and devouring each other, halting the assault.
However, there were simply too many, and Bai Luo couldn't deal with them all at once.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two teams moved swiftly, bypassing the first wave of attacks. Lei He grabbed Bai Luo, burning the power of his Golden Core, and shot forward like a stream of light, racing ahead for a thousand miles.
Zhou Qingxuan took out an Earth Boat, which sailed over the desert, cutting through the endless dust and soaring into the sky.
Both teams were well-prepared, far beyond what Xu Hei and others could compare to on their first entry.
On the Earth Boat.
Zhou Wendie's pupils changed, one eye turning golden, with a flame burning fiercely within, her aura rising.
"I see him."
Zhou Wendie said coldly.
Pubfuture Ads
"Who?" Zhou Qingxuan asked.
"The butcher." Zhou Wendie's voice was icy, like a thousand-year frost. "He's not dead."
Zhou Qingxuan's body trembled, his face darkening. "So he's not dead. It seems the rumors are true. This person isn't a cultivator but a demon from the ruins."
To survive in such circumstances, what else could he be but a demon?
"Whatever he is, I must retrieve my belongings." Zhou Wendie remained cold, her eyes unlike those of a young girl.
...
Inside the pyramid.
Xu Hei continued down the passage, soon arriving in a stone chamber.
It was sealed on all sides, with no way out.
Inside the chamber, there was only a coffin, nothing else.
"A coffin?"
Xu Hei's eyes flickered. He had heard that some places within ruins contained coffins, often with corpse puppets and burial items inside.
Xu Hei first extended his Divine Sense, unsurprisingly finding it unable to probe.
He released the butcher puppet, which walked forward and tapped the coffin lid, eliciting no response.
"Meow!"
Suddenly, a sharp, eerie cat cry echoed through the empty stone chamber.
"Who?"
Xu Hei looked around but couldn't find the source of the sound.
The cat's cry was right by his ear. Xu Hei immediately scattered sand, sweeping it forward, and the sand wrapped around a cat-shaped outline, which lunged at him.
"Ever-changing Fish and Dragon!"
Xu Hei left behind an afterimage, flicking his tail to instantly send the cat flying, crashing into the distance.
The cat's form was revealed—a corpse puppet wrapped in white cloth, its bones shattered, lifeless, seemingly killed by Xu Hei's strike.
"This corpse puppet is quite weak. Could it be adjusted to my cultivation level?" Xu Hei wondered to himself.
...173....
Xu Hei cast the Spirit Body Thread, attempting to control the cat corpse, but unexpectedly discovered that his Spirit Body Thread would disintegrate upon contact.
"Impossible to control!" Xu Hei was astonished.
Every type of puppet he had encountered could be manipulated with the Spirit Body Thread, but this corpse puppet was an exception.
Xu Hei probed it with his Divine Sense and found a black sphere in the dantian position of the cat corpse, resembling a Golden Core.
"A Corpse Core?"
Xu Hei's heart skipped a beat.
The Corpse Core, containing Yin Sha Qi, was the core of the corpse puppet.
If a Corpse Core was cultivated, it meant the corpse puppet had developed intelligence, could cultivate on its own, and possessed at least the strength of the Core Formation Stage.
However, the strength of the corpse puppet before him was clearly suppressed, maintained at about the late Foundation Establishment stage.
"This must be the tomb owner's deliberate doing, suppressing it to match my level," Xu Hei thought to himself.
With this, the first challenge posed no pressure for Xu Hei, as his strength couldn't be measured by his apparent cultivation level.
Although the corpse puppet's strength was suppressed, controlling it was still a futile dream for Xu Hei.
Xu Hei manipulated the butcher to open the coffin lid, revealing a roll of white cloth inside, similar to what was on the cat corpse.
This was a Magical Treasure.
Xu Hei probed it with his Divine Sense but received no information, though he could sense a strong fluctuation of Spiritual Power.
"Let's test its effect."
With a thought, Xu Hei wrapped the butcher with the shroud, and the butcher immediately entered an invisible state.
"It can make one invisible, even undetectable by Divine Sense. How amazing!" Xu Hei marveled.
He controlled the butcher to move back and forth without making any sound. The invisibility effect was no less impressive than Hei Huang's Invisibility Talisman.
However, he suddenly felt the Yin Qi within the butcher intensifying, with Yin Qi continuously rising from the ground, rushing into the butcher's body, gathering at the center of the abdomen, seemingly about to condense into a point.
"Is it going to..."
Xu Hei's pupils contracted.But at that moment, the butcher's body suddenly moved uncontrollably, crawling into the coffin.
"Stop!"
Xu Hei's face changed drastically, exerting all his control, but the shroud's power was too strong, directly pulling the butcher into the coffin, even closing the lid automatically.
This sudden change left Xu Hei dumbfounded.
He hurriedly tried to move the lid, using dragon scales to pry it open, but no matter what, he couldn't budge it, as if it was locked.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
A door opened behind the stone wall, leading to the next challenge.
Xu Hei stood there, staring at the immovable coffin lid, feeling both angry and embarrassed.
"Boom!!"
He slammed his tail hard on the coffin, but it only made a faint sound, to no avail.
"Damn it! This Magical Treasure tricked me!" Xu Hei cursed.
He had only used the butcher to test the Magical Treasure, yet such a change occurred.
Fortunately, it was the butcher wrapped in it. If it had been his true self, Xu Hei couldn't imagine the consequences.
Now, he still had a faint connection with the butcher, but the coffin blocked him from controlling it further.
This made Xu Hei extremely frustrated; not only did he fail to obtain the treasure, but he also lost a puppet.
Xu Hei's gaze shifted to the cat corpse on the ground.
He hoisted the cat corpse onto his back and crawled toward the second challenge.
He couldn't abandon the butcher, but knowing nothing about this pyramid, he couldn't just stand there foolishly; he had to move forward.
After a while, Xu Hei crawled into a new passage, where another stone tablet stood ahead, with inscriptions that seemed to be from the same hand.
"The first challenge requires defeating the Cat King and placing it in the coffin to pass."
"I have modified the Cat King to suppress its strength to match the challenger's. If you pass, you will be rewarded with a Magical Treasure scroll, which can enhance corpse puppets or render one invisible, but it has strong side effects. Prolonged use will lead to corpse Qi erosion, gradually losing one's mind and becoming a true corpse."
"For the subsequent challenges, this treasure might come in handy."
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
After reading the inscription, Xu Hei realized that the Cat King didn't enter the coffin, but the butcher did, which also worked. This rule had a loophole.
Xu Hei could only shake his head and proceed to the second challenge, with the passage behind him automatically closing.
The stone chamber of the second challenge was empty, with the floor composed of nine large squares, each ten zhang wide.
Xu Hei hesitated for a moment, then threw the Cat King onto one of the squares, but nothing happened.
He climbed onto the first square himself.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, countless sharp wind blades whistled toward him, and Xu Hei immediately understood that this place was a killing formation, triggered by living beings.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The dragon scales on Xu Hei were slashed, emitting crisp collision sounds. Xu Hei's gaze turned cold, and he slammed a Mountain Embrace Seal onto the center of the square, but the blades only increased in number and power.
Xu Hei used the Ever-changing Fish and Dragon to dodge, but the blades continued to multiply. He took out a Magical Treasure to block them, but it was the same.
After various attempts, he finally discovered that only by enduring them with his body would the power gradually weaken.
"I understand now, this formation requires me to endure it head-on," Xu Hei thought to himself.
Xu Hei stopped dodging, using his dragon scales to block the falling blades. Each strike made his whole body tremble, but the power slowly diminished, and the frequency decreased.
After a stick of incense's time.
The blades in this place completely subsided.
Xu Hei endured a series of formation strikes, exhausted, but thanks to his dragon scale body, any other cultivator might not have lasted a few rounds.
The difficulty of this second challenge was several times greater than the first, clearly designed for those with a perfect Foundation Establishment.
Xu Hei looked ahead, seeing eight more squares. Did he have to step on each one?
After the wind blades ended, the formation's foundation was revealed, consisting of countless intersecting lines.
Xu Hei's eyes flashed, and he began to study it.
"Since I'm here, I should gain something. I've never studied formations before, so I'll use this one as my introduction."
Xu Hei considered himself to have decent comprehension. With time and effort, he might unravel this formation.
AI Analysis Of Tata Steel Share Price With 98.6% Accuracy
AI Analysis Of Wipro Share Price With 98.6% Accuracy
Although his talisman crafting and artifact refining left much to be desired.
...
Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, three days later.
Xu Hei suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a strange light.
The first formation was a wind-based killing formation, enhancing the Wind Blade Technique within the formation, triggered by a medium. The principle was simple, but execution was extremely complex.
Especially concerning the assessment, the formation's power constantly changed, which was the challenging part.
With a thought, Xu Hei uttered an incantation, instantly forming the formation's foundation, and infused it with a destructive wave, with earth-element Spiritual Qi frantically gathering and merging into the formation.
It was the earth-element spell, Falling Stars.
"Success!" Xu Hei thought to himself.
After his modifications, the formation's power greatly increased, incorporating Xu Hei's own knowledge, transforming it from an assessment formation into a true killing formation.
Being able to modify the formation indicated that Xu Hei's understanding of it had reached a deep level.
"Continue!"
Xu Hei crawled into the second square.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Countless earth spikes emerged from the ground, stabbing toward Xu Hei.
...
No one knew how much time passed.
Outside the pyramid, three figures arrived at the location: Lei He, exuding a murderous aura; the elegant gentleman Bai Luo; and the cold-eyed Zhou Wendie.
As for Zhou Qingxuan, he was nowhere to be found.
The three appeared in poor condition, their faces pale, their auras weaker than before, and Lei He's cultivation was unstable, showing signs of decline due to excessive Golden Core burning.
It had taken them a week to reach this place, indicating the numerous life-and-death crises they had encountered.
Bai Luo looked at the pyramid before them, his eyes brightening, and said, "According to the sect's ancient records, this tower was obtained by the third-generation ancestor during his travels in the Western regions. I never expected it to be hidden in this Earth Path!"
"Oh?" Lei He frowned and asked, "Is there any danger here?"
He was only responsible for Bai Luo's safety, nothing else concerned him.
"The danger is determined by the intruder's cultivation level. For me, the danger here is negligible."
Bai Luo's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes radiating strong confidence.
He had suppressed his cultivation for so long, still at the Foundation Establishment level, waiting for moments like this.
.....174...
Bai Luo had done his homework thoroughly before entering the ruins, going through the sect's history and ancient texts to learn everything about the third-generation ancestor.
Despite many details being lost—such as why the third-generation ancestor left the sect, why he came to Wu Mountain, and what he left behind—these remain mysteries.
However, there are relatively detailed records about this tower.
"Heaven is helping me; I will definitely conquer this tower!"
Without hesitation, Bai Luo stood up and entered the tower.
Zhou Wendie, however, was stopped by a single glance from Lei He.
She said nothing, simply sitting cross-legged at the entrance.
Upon entering the tunnel, Bai Luo immediately saw a stone tablet and the inscription on it.
"Heh, just as the ancient texts described."
Bai Luo's eyes gleamed with excitement as he was about to step into the first challenge, but suddenly he paused.
The inscription on the stone tablet seemed strange, as if it had been newly carved!
He quickly went out and called Lei He to observe it together. Lei He shared the same opinion: the inscription was newly inscribed.
"How could this be?" Bai Luo's face darkened.
There was only one explanation: someone had entered the pyramid before them.
The inscription might be fake, altered by later generations to deceive people!
He was certain that the stone tablet was left by the third-generation ancestor, but if a few words were altered, the meaning would be completely different.
Bai Luo's face turned ashen as he stared at the stone tablet, his eyes bloodshot, studying it carefully.
In fact, Xu Hei hadn't changed a single word of the inscription; he had merely copied it.
This directly led to Bai Luo not daring to proceed until he restored the true inscription!
At this moment, Xu Hei was already standing on the fifth square.
He spent three days analyzing the first formation, only two days on the second.
The next two took just one day each.
In the six arts of cultivation, Xu Hei learned rapidly, often succeeding on his first attempt, showcasing his terrifying comprehension.
Similarly, after passing each formation, Xu Hei would "improve" it, integrating his knowledge.
If the previous formations were fraught with danger, now they were filled with lethal traps.
"This formation is a water-based vortex formation, capable of trapping a person and draining their Spiritual Qi until it's completely depleted."
Xu Hei sat motionless on the ground.
He didn't break the formation but pondered its principles, trying to understand it from the designer's perspective.
Xu Hei discovered that the mechanisms within the pyramid, though seemingly complex and ever-changing, were essentially formations.
For example, the walls that blocked Divine Sense and the coffin in the first challenge were all due to formations.
In other words, if his formation skills were strong enough, he wouldn't need to go through the challenges. He could take the pyramid directly and retrieve the butcher as well.
This time, Xu Hei took only half a day to comprehend it.
"I understand now. This formation tests the depth of one's True Qi. As long as you keep taking pills and let your True Qi be drained ten times, you can pass," Xu Hei thought.
But he didn't plan to do that; he wanted to break the rules here.
Why should everything be according to the opponent's design?
Xu Hei took out a large number of Spirit Stones, casting formation patterns across the ground, forming an inverse spiral formation in an instant.
As Xu Hei deployed his formation, the speed of Spiritual Qi extraction gradually slowed.
An hour later, it vanished completely.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
"Phew!" Xu Hei exhaled deeply.
This was the first time he had broken a formation using his own formation skills instead of following the opponent's rules!
Although it cost him ten thousand Spirit Stones, it was worth it.
Similarly, Xu Hei improved the water-based vortex formation, adding a layer of Heavenly Thunder formation on top, which not only drained True Qi but also infused it with thunder.
Xu Hei pressed on without stopping.
...
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the first challenge.
Bai Luo and Lei He meticulously reviewed every detail, comparing it with ancient texts, and after a day and night of study, they finally restored the inscription.
It was identical to the original!
"What a brilliant trick; I can't even tell what was altered!" Bai Luo's face was stiff.
If it were just alterations, it would be fine, but he seriously suspected that the opponent had erased crucial information.
Without finding that information, rushing in would lead to a dead end.
In desperation, Lei He took out a mirror of historical reflection.
This mirror could replay historical projections, a sophisticated technique of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, inherited from ancient times, and one of their trump cards for this journey.
Under the mirror's reflection, the events on the stone tablet played out in reverse, replaying before their eyes.
They saw a scale scraping across the stone tablet, copying all the inscriptions.
After watching the replay, Lei He fell into silence.
"Just... this?"
Bai Luo was stunned for a few seconds, then his gentle face twisted rapidly, his chest heaving, almost exploding with rage.
"Ah!! Despicable scoundrel!"
Bai Luo roared to the sky, his handsome face turning maniacal, "I don't care who you are, this time, I will tear you to pieces!"
He had been played, and it was the first time he had been played like this.
The opponent hadn't changed anything, relying solely on his own imagination.
If there had been changes, it would have been easier to find flaws by reasoning through inconsistencies, but the opponent hadn't changed a thing, which was the cruelest.
For the first time, Bai Luo felt how troublesome this predecessor was.
"Since the content is correct, I need not worry. Based on my cultivation, I alone am enough to pass."
Before long, Bai Luo regained his confidence, returning to his calm and composed demeanor.
Lei He didn't enter, standing guard at the entrance to prevent any disturbances.
Bai Luo walked into the stone chamber of the first challenge.
Upon entering, he saw a coffin, the place where Xu Hei had once been.
However, the Cat King corpse puppet had become the butcher corpse puppet.
Of course, Bai Luo knew nothing of this.
"The first challenge should be a corpse puppet, though I'm not sure what kind of corpse puppet it is. As long as its cultivation hasn't reached Qi Condensation, it won't be my match..."
Bai Luo saw the coffin and, after a brief analysis, understood the general process.
However, just as the thought crossed his mind, he found all his protective Magical Treasures shattering.
"Whoosh!"
Bai Luo immediately retreated to the farthest point, taking out a handful of revealing dust and scattering it into the air, turning the area into a hazy dust field.
Within the dust, a vague humanoid silhouette could be seen approaching him.
"Invisibility? That's a first."
Bai Luo's expression remained unchanged as he took out an ancient mirror, flicking his finger to send a wave of chaos spreading out. This move was naturally effective against puppets, especially corpse puppets that had developed intelligence.
"Ugh..."
The silhouette began to tremble, and after being hit by the wave of chaos, it sprouted numerous arms and legs, then started to split, with countless smaller silhouettes emerging from its body.
It was as if this wasn't a single corpse puppet but a conglomeration of many.
"This..." Bai Luo was dumbfounded.
....175...
Bai Luo watched as the figure of the corpse puppet in front of him continuously split apart, countless smaller corpse puppets emerging from the "mother" body.
Two, three... five... ten...
Bai Luo felt a buzzing in his mind, his scalp tingling.
What was even more terrifying was that all these corpse puppets had reached the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage, nearing the False Core, just like him.
"What kind of monster is this?"
Bai Luo's face turned pale, his breath caught.
Suddenly, he thought of the ninth-ranked evil entity on the danger list, the Butcher. The description of the Butcher seemed eerily similar to the monster before him.
The many corpse puppets turned their gaze and charged at Bai Luo with bared fangs and claws.
These newly born corpse puppets had no shrouds, revealing their true forms, with copper skin and iron bones, bodies like black iron. Each punch and claw emitted a thunderous roar, and corpse Qi permeated the air. A single hit would leave him severely injured, if not dead.
"Chaos!"
Bai Luo unleashed another wave of chaos, causing the corpse puppets to lose their sense of direction and move erratically.
But the mother body seemed stimulated, its entire mass of tumors trembling violently, and more corpse puppets emerged from within it. The number exceeded twenty, and the stone chamber was filled with a thick corpse Qi.
This made Bai Luo's heart sink. He quickly put away the ancient mirror, not daring to use it recklessly again.
As the corpse Qi spread, Bai Luo's skin turned green, with blue and purple spots appearing—signs of corpse poison.
"Damn it! This is trouble. The chaos wave can't be used; it's clearly countering me!"
Bai Luo swallowed an antidote pill and erected a light shield to block the corpse Qi, only to see the mother body's arm suddenly expand by several dozen meters, reaching for him.
"Entangle!!"
Pubfuture Ads
Bai Luo released a willow branch, which grew in the wind, wrapping around the arm. But from the Butcher's hand, a serrated weapon emerged, spinning with a mechanical roar, slicing through all the willow branches.
Bai Luo then summoned a copper bell, which was also slashed open by the weapon, the blade heading straight for his face.
With no choice, Bai Luo used a teleportation talisman to instantly dodge the attack.
...
In the second chamber.
Xu Hei had reached the last three grids of the Nine Palaces Formation. These three formations were clearly different from the previous six, more than ten times as complex.
Just a glance made Xu Hei feel dizzy.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Xu Hei felt a faint sensation from the first chamber.
"Is the Butcher stirring?"
Xu Hei frowned. He had always maintained a connection with the Butcher, and although it was blocked by distance and divine sense, the feeling was unmistakable.
This led Xu Hei to suspect that someone had entered the first chamber, disturbing the Butcher.
"Looks like I need to speed up."
Xu Hei took a deep breath, swallowed an Awakening Pill, and focused all his efforts on studying the next formation.
As soon as Xu Hei entered, flames erupted from the ground, raising the temperature and distorting the space. The fire released toxic gas, trying to invade his body.
"A fire poison formation, containing two elements, cleverly combined. No wonder the complexity skyrockets," Xu Hei mused.
...
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.
In the first chamber, about twenty corpse puppets wandered aimlessly in the empty stone room, while the Butcher's mother body stood still, the dozen or so eyes on its head looking blank.
Corpse Qi from the heavens and earth gathered, flowing into the Butcher's body, where a corpse pill seemed to be forming in its dantian.
Two stiff corpse puppets lay on the ground, having lost their spiritual power.
As for Bai Luo, he was nowhere to be found.
At this moment, an ancient painting was affixed to the ceiling of the stone chamber, depicting a courtyard.
Inside the painting was a space filled with mist, lush green trees, and a quaint courtyard, like a paradise. Bai Luo sat cross-legged within, performing breathing exercises to recover from his injuries.
It took him a full day to completely expel the corpse Qi from his body, and the corpse spots disappeared.
"Thankfully, I had the paradise painting from my Grandmaster, or I wouldn't have survived. The difficulty of this first chamber isn't meant for someone like me; it requires Core Formation Stage cultivation to pass!"
Bai Luo's expression was grim. Although he could unleash all his abilities to fight against the Core Formation Stage, this was only the first chamber. If he used all his trump cards, what would he do for the later stages?
Facing more troublesome dangers without those magical treasures might leave him without even a chance to escape.
Therefore, he decided to act cautiously.
Using the special space of the paradise painting, he would slowly wear down the corpse puppets, engaging in a war of attrition, taking out one or two at a time before retreating.
Eventually, he would be able to eliminate all the corpse puppets here.
Fortunately, these corpse puppets had not developed intelligence and acted only on instinct, unable to recognize the paradise painting, allowing him to use this tactic.
"Is this Butcher really left by the third-generation ancestor? Why do I feel something is off?"
The more Bai Luo thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Initially confident, he now had a sense of foreboding.
Fortunately, he was well-prepared. As long as nothing unexpected happened, there shouldn't be any major issues.
...
Xu Hei took three days to break the fire poison formation and another two days to dismantle the ice thunder killing formation.
The final Five Elements Killing Formation was extremely tricky. The moment Xu Hei triggered it, he nearly lost his life.
Luckily, he managed to hide inside the Black Dragon Pagoda just in time, barely surviving.
From within the Black Dragon Pagoda, he observed the outside, where winds howled, thunder roared, earth fire surged, the ground froze, and sandstorms raged. The five elements converged, forming a cycle that seemed eternal.
Xu Hei fell into deep thought.
"The five elements rotate endlessly. I need to create a breach to disrupt the cycle," Xu Hei pondered.
Ultimately, it took five days to fully analyze this formation.
Xu Hei set up a force-dissipating formation, creating a gap in the five elements, stopping their cycle, and gradually weakening them until they dissipated.
The door to the next chamber opened at this moment.
Xu Hei let out a long breath, mentally exhausted.
"This formation is too dangerous. To enhance it with my abilities would require at least fifty thousand spirit stones and might still fail, taking a minimum of three days. During that time, the opponent could enter at any moment..."
After silently calculating, Xu Hei shook his head.
"Better not, but..."
Xu Hei's eyes gleamed.
He took out spirit stones, constructing bridges of spiritual Qi, embedding them into the formation base, linking this formation with the other eight, creating eight connections.
Triggering the Five Elements Killing Formation would activate the other eight formations simultaneously, reactivating the previously solved formations.
With all nine formations activated, even a Great Golden Immortal would meet their end!
Xu Hei smirked coldly. This design was more reasonable and challenging; the tomb owner's previous design was too simple.
It was merely a test, giving people a chance to learn formations, which was quite dull. Now, it was a life-and-death trial at every step.
"They should be coming soon; I need to leave."
Xu Hei sensed the Butcher's condition, glanced at the dark exit, hoisted the cat corpse, and with a flash, dashed inside.
....176...
After Xu Hei left, the back door closed shortly after.
At this moment, inside the first stone chamber.
Bai Luo was panting heavily, his True Qi exhausted, sitting on the ground with a pale face, unable to muster the strength to stand. He looked utterly drained.
In his hand, he held a golden leaf, exuding an immense pressure. This was a decree left by the Elemental Infant ancestor of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, containing a trace of the profound meaning that only those at the Elemental Infant stage could comprehend. It was one of his strongest trump cards.
It was with this item that he managed to suppress the butcher and seal him in the coffin.
Originally, he intended to use force to eliminate the butcher, but that thing was simply unkillable. It could regrow a severed arm, with endless limbs, wounds healing frantically, and it could devour other corpse puppets to enhance its power, with the corpse Qi growing thicker.
Forced into a corner, he had no choice but to switch to sealing, thus using this trump card.
Bai Luo put away the golden leaf, his face flushed, and spat out another mouthful of blood, his breath weak.
"This was supposed to be my last resort, and now I've used one up. What a huge loss this trip turned out to be!"
Bai Luo began to deeply question whether the inheritance of this pyramid was worth it.
He came to this ancient relic with a goal in mind, not just for the opportunity in this Earth Path, but for the greatest opportunity at the end.
However, having passed the first challenge, there was no turning back now!
He took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and walked into the passage leading to the next challenge.
There was a stone tablet here, with inscriptions carved on it.
Bai Luo glanced at the inscriptions.
"Defeat the Cat King and place it in the coffin to pass..."
"Cat King?"
Pubfuture Ads
Bai Luo was stunned for a moment, then carefully read the inscription again.
In an instant, he froze.
Put the Cat King in the coffin?
That wasn't a Cat King at all; it was clearly the butcher!
Though young, Bai Luo was not a fool. He immediately understood that the thing wasn't an original corpse puppet of this place but was deliberately swapped by someone!
Bai Luo clenched his fists, his delicate features twisted in extreme anger.
So, the difficulty of his first challenge wasn't supposed to be this high; it was only because of the trap set by the person before him that it became so difficult!
It forced him to use the paradise painting, and in the end, to seal the butcher, he even used the golden leaf decree.
"Argh!!! I will never forgive you in this life!!"
Bai Luo roared to the sky in anger, almost spitting out another mouthful of blood.
He had already suspected that the butcher was added later, but he was unwilling to believe that the other party had such capability. Yet the facts were right in front of him, leaving him no choice but to believe!
Bai Luo sat cross-legged on the ground for a long time before slowly calming his inner rage. He took several pills to stabilize his True Qi and adjusted his mindset to its best.
This trial was not only a test of strength but also of character.
The Heavenly Puppet Sect had specifically trained him for this relic, preparing him for various situations, including harsh environments and tormenting opponents.
This had honed Bai Luo's mindset far beyond that of ordinary cultivators. Although not yet at the level of some sect elders, among his peers, he was exceptional.
An hour later, when Bai Luo opened his eyes again, he had regained his calm demeanor.
"A small setback like this won't defeat me."
"Those who achieve great things don't mind such minor troubles."
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
Bai Luo exhaled and, with firm steps, walked into the second stone chamber.
Inside the stone chamber was a formation test, a nine-square grid.
Nine formations, first completing the outer eight, then stepping into the center.
Bai Luo only needed a glance at the environment to understand the test's content, and he inwardly sneered.
However, he suddenly became alert. Since the person before liked to set traps, could there be traps left here as well?
Bai Luo squinted his eyes.
He decisively pressed a finger to his forehead, extracting a wisp of divine sense and cultivation, condensing it beside him.
This time, he spared no expense in cultivation, spending a day to create an external incarnation identical to himself, with the same aura.
"Go!"
Bai Luo pointed forward, and the external incarnation stepped onto the first square.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
A fierce wind blade appeared, a wind-based killing formation, attacking the external incarnation.
Bai Luo hadn't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw a massive meteor appear above both his and the incarnation's heads, falling down—a large-scale group spell, Falling Stars.
"Not good!"
Bai Luo's face changed dramatically, hurriedly raising a light shield. His incarnation was instantly crushed, and all the attacks came roaring towards him.
...
In the passage, Xu Hei stood before a stone tablet, reading the inscription.
The second challenge is the nine-square grid formation I created in my youth, consisting of the most basic nine killing formations. Simply break them one by one to pass."
"There are three methods to break it: first, follow the formation rules and meet the requirements to break it. Second, break it with brute force. Third, analyze the formation structure and break it with another formation."
"Among them, the third method is the best. Those who pass using this method can comprehend the mysteries of the nine formations and benefit for life. This is the reward for the second challenge."
Xu Hei thought he had found a loophole, not realizing that the tomb owner had deliberately designed it this way to allow him to comprehend formations and break formations with formations.
Xu Hei sighed inwardly, adjusted his state to the best, and proceeded to the third challenge.
The third stone chamber.
As soon as Xu Hei entered, he felt an overwhelming corpse Qi filling the chamber. Inside, there were no less than a hundred coffins, with a large amount of gas emanating from them, turning the air a purplish-black, easily causing poisoning.
Xu Hei sniffed. Although he disliked the smell emanating from the corpses, he did not reject it, nor would he be poisoned by it.
This seemed to be a natural advantage.
Xu Hei breathed a sigh of relief. With coffins placed everywhere, he followed the narrow path towards the end.
"Crack!"
Suddenly, the first coffin opened, and a withered claw reached out, emitting a terrifying fluctuation, definitely a powerful corpse puppet close to the False Core.
The lid was lifted, and a pair of glowing green eyes looked over.
Meanwhile, countless coffins behind him began to stir, making cracking sounds as if they were about to open.
"Could it be that this challenge requires me to deal with so many corpse puppets?"
Xu Hei looked at the coffins behind him, his heart alert, instinctively retreating.
As Xu Hei retreated to the Cat King's side, those green eyes turned, staring straight at the Cat King.
Xu Hei pondered for a moment, hoisted the Cat King onto his back, and continued crawling forward.
As Xu Hei advanced, the lids of the coffins behind him opened one after another, with countless eyes peering out, seemingly ready to rise from their coffins. But upon seeing the Cat King, they all stopped.
"After passing the first challenge, there's a reward of a shroud, meaning in this challenge, as long as I wear the shroud and disguise myself as one of them, I can pass?" Xu Hei calculated inwardly.
The shroud was taken by the butcher, but having the Cat King seemed to work as well.
Suddenly, Xu Hei felt dizzy and nauseous, as if he wanted to vomit.
It was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
.....177...
Xu Hei realized that he might have absorbed too much corpse Qi.
He took out an antidote pill and swallowed it, expelling the corpse poison from his body.
But just then, as the corpse Qi dissipated, all the coffins began to make noises, and pairs of claws reached out.
The lid of the nearest coffin was suddenly lifted, and a green-haired zombie wrapped in white cloth glanced at him and immediately charged forward.
"Damn it!"
Xu Hei's expression changed, and in a flash of thought, he quickly took a deep breath, swallowing countless corpse Qi into his body, no longer suppressing it, letting it permeate throughout.
With the corpse Qi entering his body, black Qi emanated from Xu Hei, and the green-haired zombie indeed stopped moving, merely staring at him quietly.
Xu Hei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but after inhaling the corpse Qi, the dizziness returned.
He dared not use another antidote pill and could only endure the corpse poison, crawling forward.
He wasn't afraid of a single green-haired zombie; the problem was there were too many behind him. Xu Hei worried that once he started fighting, all the coffin lids would be lifted, and it would be uncontrollable.
Xu Hei guessed that he was supposed to pretend to be a corpse puppet to get through this trial.
He slightly increased his speed, but whenever he did, the coffin lids would tremble, forcing him to slow down.
Xu Hei's gaze swept over the coffins, discovering that the corpse puppets inside were all different.
There were humans, demons, fat ones, thin ones, with yellow, green, purple hair, some with wings on their backs, some just skeletons, in all sorts of forms, like a treasure map of corpse puppets.
"What does the tomb owner mean by this? Is it for me to observe the corpse puppets?"
Xu Hei secretly speculated.
The strength of these corpse puppets also varied, starting from the False Core Stage, with some even at the Core Formation Stage, each stronger than the last, their eyes like ghostly flames, their aura like Asura.
Xu Hei dared not scrutinize them deeply, only sensing them slightly.
Moreover, he discovered a pattern.
"The cultivation of the corpse puppets seems to correlate with their hair color: hairless is the weakest, green hair is slightly stronger, purple hair even stronger, followed by yellow and red hair."
Xu Hei's eyes flickered.
After walking for a while, he also noticed that the bottom of these coffins seemed to have the names of the corpse puppets engraved on them.
"Hairless Hopping Zombie, Green-haired Flying Zombie, Purple-haired Yaksha..."
Xu Hei scanned the names of the corpse puppets.
The Hairless Hopping Zombie was roughly at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage, similar to what he could refine.
The Green-haired Flying Zombie was at the False Core Stage, having initially formed a corpse core.
The Purple-haired Yaksha was clearly at the early stage of Core Formation.
Further on, Xu Hei found two coffins engraved with "Yellow-haired Corpse Charm" and "Red-haired Corpse King."
These two coffins undoubtedly represented the mid-stage and late-stage of Core Formation.
"There are even late-stage Core Formation corpse puppets here..."
Xu Hei's heart raced, forcing himself to stay calm.
This trial couldn't be passed by brute force; it had to be done according to the rules! Otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he died.
As for any thoughts of trickery, Xu Hei temporarily dismissed them; that was only feasible within his capabilities.
Trying to trick others here might just end up tricking himself first.
Through observation, Xu Hei noted that among the hundreds of coffins here, most were between hairless and green-haired, with very few purple-haired ones above the Core Formation Stage.
As for the Yellow-haired Corpse Charm and Red-haired Corpse King, Xu Hei only saw these two in front of him.
Xu Hei took a deep breath and crawled forward, passing by the coffin of the Yellow-haired Corpse Charm.
"Crack!"
A crack appeared in the coffin, and a surge of overwhelming corpse Qi emanated from it, spreading over Xu Hei.
This was a mid-stage Core Formation corpse puppet!
Xu Hei dared not hold his breath, allowing the corpse Qi to enter his body, making the dizziness even more intense, almost causing him to faint.
"I can't detoxify! This trial tests endurance against corpse puppets. If I can't even withstand the corpse Qi, how can I accept this inheritance?"
Xu Hei gritted his teeth, eyes firm, crawling forward.
Moments later, he reached the coffin of the Red-haired Corpse King.
This was the strongest corpse puppet here, at the late stage of Core Formation.
"Crack!"
The coffin lid opened, revealing a red-haired arm, human-like yet ape-like, with long nails, and in the darkness, a pair of eyes seemed to be watching him.
Xu Hei dared not look back, continuously reminding himself that he was a true dragon, and these corpse Qi were useless against him!
At this moment, the corpse Qi within Xu Hei surged like a vast ocean, polluting his blood and meridians, even threatening to corrupt his Divine Sense, turning him into a true corpse puppet.
But beneath his abdomen, within the range of the Demon God Cauldron, the corpse Qi could never enter.
After a while, Xu Hei felt slightly better, not pausing for a moment, passing the strongest corpse puppet and reaching the distance.
When he finally completed this path, all the coffin lids behind him closed again.
Ahead, a door to the next trial opened.
Xu Hei exhaled deeply.
At this moment, he looked ghostly, devoid of any vitality, like a dead corpse.
"Demon God Cauldron, refine!"
Xu Hei shouted, and the Demon God Cauldron operated at full power.
This time, it took him half a day to finally absorb all the corpse Qi, refining it into a black pill.
Xu Hei spat it out, and the pill floated before him, a half-finished corpse core.
"Is this the reward for this trial?" Xu Hei frowned.
Glancing back at the room full of coffins, he thought it would be great if he could control them all.
However, with his current strength, he couldn't even withstand the corpse Qi, so it was best not to indulge in such fantasies.
Xu Hei stepped through the exit, and the door behind him immediately closed. He arrived before a new stone tablet.
The stone tablet was also inscribed with numerous inscriptions.
"The third trial tests your affinity with corpse puppets."
"These corpse puppets were personally refined by me in the past. If you can't even withstand the corpse Qi, how can you receive my inheritance?"
"This inheritance includes Hairless Hopping Zombie, Green-haired Flying Zombie, Purple-haired Yaksha, Yellow-haired Corpse Charm, Red-haired Corpse King, White-haired Corpse Infant, Blood-faced Corpse Ghoul, Black-haired Corpse Demon..."
"The Divine Puppet Sect has refined countless puppets, yet little do they know, they themselves are the best puppets."
"My inheritor, reaching here means you have passed the preliminary test. Next is the final trial, questioning your heart."
"I will see if you truly wish to become my inheritor."
"Now, there is still a chance to turn back."
After reading this unexpectedly long passage, Xu Hei fell into silence, unlike before.
Previously, it was all about summarizing the trials, with nothing amiss from start to finish.
But upon reading this, Xu Hei felt an eerie vibe from the tomb owner.
Especially the last sentence, questioning whether he truly wished to become the inheritor.
Could it be that there are those who wouldn't want to?
"The Heavenly Puppet Sect doesn't use corpse puppets. Could this person be a demonic cultivator for refining so many corpse puppets?" Xu Hei became vigilant.
....178....
Xu Hei's crafted puppets were neither human nor ghost, so he felt no aversion to corpse puppets; they were just another type of puppet to him and certainly not something demonic.
However, in the eyes of humans, that might not be the case.
"Is the owner of this tomb really an ancestor of the Divine Puppet Sect? And what is his relationship with the descendants of Gongshu?" Xu Hei pondered deeply.
Xu Hei refrained from jumping to conclusions. He carefully analyzed the inscriptions on the stone tablet from beginning to end.
Xu Hei had only been cultivating for three years, but he already possessed an insight that ordinary people lacked.
—"These inheritances include Hairless Hopping Zombie, Green-haired Flying Zombie, Purple-haired Yaksha..."
—"The Divine Puppet Sect crafted countless puppets, yet little did they know, they themselves were the best puppets."
Xu Hei scrutinized these two sentences and pondered for a long time, his pupils suddenly contracting.
Individually, these sentences seemed harmless. But together, they were deeply unsettling.
"Could it be that he refined the people of the Divine Puppet Sect?" Xu Hei was secretly alarmed.
Typically, the patriarchs of sects would leave their inheritances within the sect before their death, like the Mountain-moving Patriarch.
But this person had come to Wu Mountain, excavated a massive tomb, and left behind so many corpse puppets that attacked indiscriminately.
This was indeed very peculiar.
...
Inside the stone chamber of the second trial.
A golden figure clad in armor appeared on Bai Luo's body surface; this was the Golden Body Manifestation, his most powerful trump card.
Although this move relied on external objects, it also came at the cost of his cultivation.
Originally, he planned to use it only when obtaining the final inheritance, as the sect's patriarch had envisioned. But now, if he didn't use it, he feared he would die here.
Once the Golden Body Manifestation appeared, the six formations ahead were all destroyed by brute force, unable to stop him in the slightest.
However, he halted before the last three formations.
These three formations were clearly a level more powerful!
Pubfuture Ads
"If I force my way through, even if I succeed, my cultivation will plummet!" Bai Luo's face was gloomy.
At this moment, his hatred for the person in the shadows was beyond words.
If that person appeared before him, he would surely devour their flesh and gnaw their bones to vent his anger.
But he was also contemplating whether it was worth continuing.
His trump cards were nearly exhausted. If he continued like this, what would he have left to compete for the final inheritance? He might end up losing the watermelon while picking up sesame seeds!
"This is merely a magical treasure of the Earth Path, yet I've lost so much for this tower! Had I known, I wouldn't have come in!"
"But now, giving up is not something I'm willing to do. If I don't capture and execute that despicable person, I won't be at peace!"
Bai Luo's heart was filled with dark hatred, nearly losing his rationality.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, took out a compass, and spat a mouthful of blood onto it.
Outside the pyramid.
Lei He seemed to sense something and took out a similar compass, which began to rotate automatically, seemingly transmitting some kind of message at a certain frequency.
This pyramid isolated everything; communication talismans and Small Teleportation Talismans were unusable. Only this parent-child compass could function, allowing them to sense each other.
"You, go in!"
Lei He looked at Zhou Wendie and pointed to the pyramid entrance.
"Me?"
Zhou Wendie's eyebrow arched, and she thought to herself, "Now they want me to go in, are they trying to use me as cannon fodder?"
Zhou Wendie maintained a cold and calm demeanor throughout, never showing anger even when blocked outside, nor did she choose to leave.
This showed that Zhou Wendie's scheming was much deeper than Bai Luo's.
At this moment, she immediately saw that Bai Luo must have encountered trouble and had no choice but to ask for help.
Letting Lei He in might trigger even more powerful mechanisms due to his high cultivation, making the situation uncontrollable, so they chose her.
"That's exactly what I intended."
Zhou Wendie, her mind racing, nodded and walked into the entrance tunnel.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
She passed the stone tablet without stopping and directly entered the first trial.
Upon entering the stone chamber of the first trial, she immediately leaped into the air, clinging to the ceiling like a spider, entering a stealth state.
One of her eyes turned golden, with flames burning within, capable of seeing through all illusions.
With one glance, Zhou Wendie saw the butcher below and also saw through the mechanism design here.
At the same time, she saw the familiar face on top of the butcher's head, seemingly staring straight at her.
It was her sister, Zhou Wenjun.
Zhou Wendie's pupils instantly filled with blood, a wave of grief and anger surging in her chest.
"Silence!"
Suddenly, she uttered a cold command, suppressing that grief and anger.
"With just this bit of emotion, you can't control yourself. How can you achieve great things?"
Zhou Wendie's voice was icy, as if she had become a different person.
She had no intention of helping immediately.
She was waiting, waiting for Bai Luo to be unable to hold on and leave this place, before she would enter.
What belonged to her, no one else could take, including Bai Luo!
As for the one who took her other eye, she wouldn't let them go either.
Zhou Wendie flicked her finger, sending a butterfly blade flying out, instantly slicing off the face on the butcher's head.
Flames ignited in her eyes, burning the face to ashes.
"Sister, rest in peace."
...
Half a day later.
Xu Hei finally stepped through the gate to the next trial because he had no other path to take.
Inside the stone chamber of the final trial, there was nothing but a solitary mirror.
As usual, Xu Hei tossed the Cat King in front of the mirror. When nothing happened, he had no choice but to approach the mirror himself.
At that moment, Xu Hei suddenly felt his consciousness fly out, entering the mirror as if his soul had left his body.
"Buzz!"
The scene before his eyes changed rapidly as Xu Hei plummeted at high speed.
In the next moment, Xu Hei found himself in a strange world.
It was a pitch-black realm, eerie with ghostly energy. The sky burned with demonic fire, and the land was scarred, with black lava bubbling up and countless spirits drifting by, resembling a hellish scene that would terrify anyone.
However, Xu Hei was not just anyone.
"Where is this, and what am I supposed to do?"
Xu Hei looked around in confusion, realizing he had also become a spirit, but in the form of a snake.
"It's said this trial is called 'Heart Inquiry.' Heart Inquiry? How does one inquire?"
Recalling the inscriptions, Xu Hei was deep in thought when he suddenly noticed his thoughts slowing, unable to generate any additional ideas.
He couldn't even manage to think calmly!
His rationality was fading, his thoughts rigidifying, leaving only instinct, pure instinct.
His eyes turned vacant.
"Fiend! You will die a horrible death!"
"Help, save us!"
Cries of murder and pleas for help echoed nearby.
Xu Hei turned his head and saw a cultivator exuding evil energy, with blood-red eyes, slaughtering wantonly within a family. Numerous cultivators and mortals were being massacred.
To his shock, Xu Hei recognized the blood-red-eyed evil cultivator as Wang Ding!
Also known as Wang Xiaoniu after he changed his name.
And the family being slaughtered was Wang Ding's own Chen Family.
At this moment, Wang Ding had lost all reason, wielding a flying sword and killing indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were bystanders or innocents, men or women, young or old.
"How could Wang Ding..."
Xu Hei wanted to think calmly, but no matter what, he couldn't.
He couldn't even discern whether what he saw was real or not, leaving only his instinctive choice.
"No need to pretend, make your choice."
A voice echoed in his heart.
.....179...
At this moment, whether it was the Wang Ding or the Chen Family, in front of Xu Hei, they were nothing but ants.
With a single thought, Xu Hei could decide their life or death. He could kill Wang Ding, annihilate the Chen Family, ignore them, seal Wang Ding, or eliminate them all.
This was clearly a test, a test of Xu Hei's Dao heart, to see what kind it was.
"Make a choice, follow your true self."
A phantom voice drifted up, echoing in Xu Hei's heart.
However, as time passed, Xu Hei made no choice.
In his eyes, a look of confusion flickered, his face showing struggle, as if resisting some kind of guidance.
"Why don't you make a choice quickly? Do you want to defy your true self?"
The voice continued, echoing in Xu Hei's ears, causing his clarity to fade, once again overtaken by instinct.
What was Xu Hei's instinct?
In the stone chamber, Xu Hei stood before the mirror, his entire skeleton beginning to tremble, especially the three dragon bones at his tail, emitting a buzzing sound, very intense.
"What is my instinct?"
Xu Hei suddenly murmured to himself.
Xu Hei closed his eyes, deciding to follow his instinct.
"Ah!!"
In the mirror world, Xu Hei's spirit let out a sharp screech, a terrifying soul wave erupting from his sea of consciousness.
Everything before him, all the illusions, began to collapse.
Like a will-o'-the-wisp, everything was false, fabricated out of thin air.
Wang Ding shattered inch by inch, the fleeing members of the Chen Family vanished, and the hellish scene disappeared as well.
"How could this be?"
Pubfuture Ads
A voice of astonishment sounded in the dark.
Instinct is the true self.
Since Xu Hei knew this was fake, his true self would only make one choice, to resist this illusion!
"You wish to see through my heart, to read my memories, how could I, Xu Hei, fall for that?"
"This inheritance, I don't need it!"
Xu Hei had never told anyone about his relationship with Wang Ding, yet this mirror could read it, which had already crossed his taboo.
If it could read Wang Ding, could it also reveal the Demon God Cauldron, the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon?
Xu Hei hated being manipulated, and he was already wary of this place, especially after learning that the tomb owner might be a demonic cultivator, he even considered escaping.
If his retreat hadn't been cut off, he wouldn't have come to this heart-questioning trial.
"Whether you want it or not is not up to you! Such an opportunity comes once every thirty thousand years, and since you're here, how could I let you go?"
The ethereal voice echoed once more.
Xu Hei confirmed that the other party had always been present, watching him from the shadows.
This made Xu Hei's scalp tingle, his eyes turning fierce.
"Crack!"
Suddenly, Xu Hei's storage bag flew out on its own, a pale golden storage bag.
The storage bag opened, and a mirror floated out, hovering in mid-air, its surface facing the heart-questioning mirror.
This was the mysterious purple mirror left by Hei Huang. Since Xu Hei used it once, it had remained inactive, and now, it appeared on its own for the first time!
"What is this..."
The voice appeared astonished once again.
A faint light emitted from the mirror, shining on the heart-questioning mirror, and a powerful attraction erupted.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
"Boom!!!"
In an instant, the heavens and earth shook, the ground quaked, and mountains swayed.
The mirror world, like an impending apocalypse, twisted, collapsed, and shattered, the void cracking in countless places, spreading to every corner, like a breaking mirror.
The hellish ground, the burning sky, disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, this was the collapse of a world, akin to the end of days.
"What kind of magical treasure is this?"
The voice was filled with terror.
At this moment, a sharp, eerie laugh emanated from the purple Demon Mirror.
"Hehehe, there's actually an artifact spirit here, what a rare and great supplement!"
The attraction from the Demon Mirror's surface grew stronger, twisting the space around the heart-questioning mirror, as if it would be pulled into the Demon Mirror.
"No! I'm not an artifact spirit! I'm not!"
The heart-questioning mirror let out a miserable cry.
But the Demon Mirror did not argue, only continuing its eerie laughter. As the space twisted more, the heart-questioning mirror floated up, growing smaller.
"Buzz!"
Before Xu Hei's spirit, the mirror world completely shattered, turning to nothingness, leaving nothing behind. His spirit returned, automatically merging back into his physical body.
Xu Hei was dumbfounded by the scene before him.
"Hehe, a little artifact spirit shouldn't struggle, you impersonated the tomb owner and set up so many trials, just to find a suitable physical body to snatch and transform into a human, right?"
The Demon Mirror continued its eerie laughter.
Hearing this, the heart-questioning mirror went mad, roaring frantically: "No! I'm not an artifact spirit, I'm the third-generation ancestor of the Gongshu family!"
Its voice was hysterical, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Hehehe, you can fool others, but don't fool yourself."
The Demon Mirror sneered, "I should thank you, otherwise, where would I find such a good supplement?"
The Demon Mirror increased its power, the surface of the heart-questioning mirror cracking with countless fissures, about to shatter, its size shrinking, about to be absorbed.
Xu Hei watched the struggle between the two magical treasures, utterly speechless.
"Artifact spirit?"
Xu Hei had heard the term before, but this was his first time seeing one.
An artifact spirit is born when a magical treasure reaches a certain level of power and develops self-awareness.
For example, the sword spirit of a flying sword is a type of artifact spirit.
The Black Dragon Pagoda also had some self-awareness, with the potential to birth an artifact spirit.
When Xu Hei first used the Demon Mirror last year, he saw something resembling an inner demon, which, after chasing Xuan Yangzi, returned and entered the Demon Mirror. Xu Hei had speculated whether that thing was an artifact spirit.
Now it seemed, it was highly likely.
Of course, Xu Hei wasn't certain, perhaps it was a product of copying the other party's artifact spirit.
"Ahhh!! How could I, the third-generation ancestor, die at the hands of an artifact spirit? This is impossible!"
At this moment, the heart-questioning mirror was close to being completely absorbed, letting out its final howl.
But the Demon Mirror froze, angrily cursing: "You're the artifact spirit, your whole family are artifact spirits!"
"Whoosh!"
The attraction suddenly intensified, forming a vortex, completely swallowing the heart-questioning mirror, absorbing it into the Demon Mirror.
At this moment, the Demon Mirror calmed down, landing on the ground, no longer moving.
The Demon Mirror's surface regained a hint of spiritual charm, returning to the state it was in when Xu Hei first took it out.
Xu Hei stood there, stunned for a long time, before finally taking a deep breath, inexplicably shaken.
"What on earth is this mirror?"
Xu Hei crawled closer, hesitant to touch this treasure, but remembering it was left by Hei Huang, he used the Gravity Technique to pick it up, examining it from the side.
Xu Hei dared not look too closely, lest he accidentally reflect himself, creating a duplicate to fight him, which would be truly unjust.
He quickly stored it in the pale golden storage bag.
This golden storage bag was specifically for storing this mirror, opening automatically at certain times.
"Rumble..."
Suddenly, the entire stone chamber shook, dust falling from above, as if this pyramid had lost some structure, on the verge of collapse.
....180...
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The stone walls in all directions began to crack and collapse, revealing door after door, with various passages leading in all directions, their destinations unknown.
Although the Divine Sense was still being blocked, Xu Hei could already spread out a large amount of it, clearly seeing the direction of these passages.
"What's going on? One artifact spirit dies, and this happens?"
Xu Hei's face showed a hint of surprise.
"Boom!!"
The ceiling suddenly collapsed, crashing down. Xu Hei quickly dodged and rushed into one of the passages, only to find that it was also collapsing, with cracks everywhere.
"Could it be... that wasn't the artifact spirit of the Heart-Mirror, but the tower spirit of the pyramid?"
"The Heart-Mirror, just a product simulated by the tower spirit?"
Xu Hei had a bold guess in his heart.
His idea was not without reason. If this pyramid was a Magical Treasure, then the most likely place for an artifact spirit to be born would be this pyramid.
And the only thing capable of setting up these checkpoints would be the pyramid.
The Heart-Mirror was just the final test, with the tower spirit personally taking action, using its own Divine Ability to simulate it.
This made sense.
In this way, the content on those stone tablets before could all be disregarded; they were not left by the tomb owner at all, but were a disguise by the tower spirit!
"If it really is the tower spirit, then with the tower spirit dead, the rules of the pyramid are broken. This is the best opportunity for excavation!"
"I must quickly find the treasures here."
Pubfuture Ads
Xu Hei's eyes flickered as he spread out his Divine Sense, heading towards the general central area.
Along the way, the tunnel walls were collapsing. Xu Hei relied on his memory to keep moving forward. Fortunately, his body was very small, allowing him to squeeze through even narrow gaps, an advantage humans did not have.
...
One hour earlier.
In the second chamber, Bai Luo had been waiting for half a day without seeing Zhou Wendie come in, his face turning grim with anger.
"Is this Zhou Family's proud daughter a waste? Can't even pass the first test?"
"Or is she deliberately stalling for time, waiting for me to leave so she can enjoy the inheritance alone?"
Bai Luo's mind raced as he looked at the remaining three formations in front of him, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
He was unwilling to leave without catching the person behind the scenes.
But on second thought, the butcher in the first test was indeed strange, and he didn't really understand Zhou Wendie's true strength. Without the paradise painting, there was indeed a slight possibility of failure.
"Truly a waste," Bai Luo cursed inwardly.
Moments later, he activated his Golden Body Manifestation, enduring the fire poison formation and the ice thunder formation.
Only the last Five Elements Killing Formation remained.
After all this trouble, Bai Luo's face was pale, and he spat blood. These two formations had directly caused his cultivation to plummet from the brink of Core Formation Stage to the late Foundation Establishment stage.
It would take at least a year to recover to the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
This made Bai Luo so furious that he was almost smoking from his seven orifices, but he had to calm down and consider whether to continue.
"The last formation must be a deadly trap. This Golden Body Manifestation might not withstand it, and even if it does, my cultivation might drop further."
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
Bai Luo's mind was active, his gaze fixed on the center of the nine-square grid.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he took out a conspicuous Talisman, striking it out. With a bang, the formation base appeared in the void, revealing faint bridges of spiritual Qi.
Throughout this journey, Bai Luo hadn't spent time studying the nine-square formation, focusing solely on speed.
But with his insight, he still discerned some formation principles, at least not being completely in the dark near the final test.
At this moment, he vaguely discovered that some bridges of spiritual Qi connected the other eight formations with this central final formation.
Bai Luo was dumbfounded, gasping as if he'd seen a ghost.
"That was close! Almost fell into the trap!"
He was horrified to find that this final test, once entered, would simultaneously trigger the other eight formations, combining into one. Even if he survived, he would be severely injured.
This would absolutely force him to use all his trump cards!
Bai Luo breathed heavily, grateful that he hadn't acted impulsively. If he had rushed in recklessly, even if he survived, he would have no chance with the final inheritance.
The nine formations combined, a deadly trap. At this moment, his anger towards the person ahead was mixed with a hint of fear.
This person was definitely not simple.
"This place must be abandoned. This might be a warning from the other party. Continuing to pursue might lead to greater losses!"
Bai Luo began to suspect whether this was a deliberate flaw exposed by the other party, but he didn't think much about it. Whether it was or not, he didn't want to continue.
Bai Luo took out the child-mother compass, placed it on the ground, and stepped on it.
At the same time, outside the pyramid, Lei He also took out the child-mother compass, placed it on the ground, and the two of them simultaneously cast a seal, causing the space to shake violently, about to teleport away.
Suddenly, Bai Luo thought of Zhou Wendie, who might still be stalling in the first test.
Zhou Wendie, whether you're dead or alive, don't even think about entering here!"
Bai Luo's eyes flashed as he cast a concealment Talisman, hiding the bridges of spiritual Qi, and then used a secret technique to shield the danger of this place once more.
Next, he released some flying sword fragments hidden in the dark and set up a mechanism at the entrance. If anyone came in, the flying swords would activate the entire formation.
If he couldn't have it, no one else would!
"Go!"
With a thought, the child-mother compass flickered with spatial fluctuations.
The space twisted, and Bai Luo and the compass instantly disappeared from the original spot, appearing outside the pyramid.
"How did it go?" Lei He quickly asked.
Bai Luo picked up the compass and said calmly, "I lost half of my trump cards and only reached the second test. This place must be abandoned."
Lei He's eyes flashed coldly, "Someone set you up?"
He knew Bai Luo's background; he was someone heavily cultivated by the Heavenly Puppet Sect, armed with various Magical Treasures, someone even the Core Formation Stage couldn't easily deal with, so it was impossible for him to be in such a sorry state.
"This is a long story, I'll explain later."
Bai Luo seemed unwilling to mention the encounter inside the tower, walking straight ahead, but his fists were clenched tightly, his eyes flashing with ferocity.
He knew nothing about the person ahead, only the dragon scales used to carve the stone tablets and the butcher.
With these two clues, it was enough. He would eventually dig that person out.
...
Shortly after Bai Luo left, Zhou Wendie seemed to sense something and arrived in the second chamber.
One of her eyes was burning with flames, able to see through everything. The moment Bai Luo left, she sensed it and immediately arrived.
Suddenly, her pupils shrank as countless flying swords shot out from the dark, striking the nine squares of the grid.
The formation activated!
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The nine formations launched simultaneously, with heavenly thunder and earth fire, quicksand burial, falling meteors, vortex suction, corpse dissolution... all kinds of destructive forces descended together, even more ruthless than Xu Hei's, with the first wave being a super deadly calamity.