Chapter 195: A Farce
100,000 years was enough time for seas to turn into mulberry fields, and for high mountains to be leveled to the ground.
But this valley alone was as if time had stagnated here.
Monk Miao Kong stood at the valley entrance, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.
He held a yellowed bamboo scroll in his hands, which recorded the secrets of an ancient seal from 100,000 years ago.
At this moment, the valley before him was shrouded in a vast, white mist.
Faint runes flickered within the mist; it was clearly an extremely ancient magic formation. The slightest carelessness would trigger a fatal trap.
"This is the place..." he muttered to himself, his gaze grave as he looked at the churning gray mist before him.
It seemed this illusion formation was one of the magic formations that had sealed the Demon Venerable for 100,000 years. No wonder no one had been able to set foot here for so many years.
He thought of the people from Immortal Spirit City and could not help but sneer: truly, the ignorant are fearless.
Of course, he did not dare to enter rashly himself. Instead, following the guidance of the ancient texts, he followed an inconspicuous stream around to the base of a cliff on the northern side of the valley.
There was a cave entrance there, concealed by vines. It was pitch-black, like a giant maw that chose men to devour.
"Amitabha..." Miao Kong took a deep breath, pushed aside the vines, and stepped into the cave.
This was a secret entrance he had only discovered after searching through all the ancient texts.
Along the way here, he could still see the traces of battles from ancient times.
Although the affected area was not wide, within a certain space, all matter had been annihilated into ash. This was clearly the aftermath of a battle that could only be possessed by someone whose control over power had reached the Saint Realm.
Moreover, after 100,000 years, the scene left by this battle still looked as if it had happened just a century ago, which made him click his tongue in amazement.
Inside the cave, it was damp and cold.
Water droplets condensed on the rock walls, dripping and pattering on the ground, sounding especially jarring in the dead silence.
The further in he went, the darker the light became. Miao Kong lit a wisp of Buddha Fire at his fingertip, illuminating the path ahead. The karst cave was a labyrinth of tunnels, with stalactites hanging like inverted, sharp swords, grim and terrifying.
Some stone columns grew strange, glowing moss, which emitted a faint green light, making one's face appear as pale as a ghost's.
The ground underfoot was wet, slippery, and sticky; each step felt like treading on the skin of some living creature.
A rotten aura permeated the air. It was not a stench, but it was more uncomfortable than a stench—like the smell of some kind of moist reptile.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept past, causing the Buddha Fire to sway violently.
Miao Kong's entire body stiffened. He vaguely heard a "shasha" sound coming from the darkness, as if something was crawling on the rock walls. He whipped his head around but saw only an empty darkness.
"Playing tricks..." he forced himself to calm down and quickened his pace.
After passing through a narrow stone crevice, Miao Kong finally arrived at an expansive underground space.
There was no light source here; even the Buddha Fire could only illuminate the three feet in front of him. Even stranger, his Divine Sense was completely ineffective here, as if suppressed by some power.
Suddenly—
"Boom!"
A terrifying pressure descended from the heavens! Miao Kong's knees went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. The pressure was like an abyss, like the sea, vast and boundless. Just the wisp of leaked aura made the bones all over his body creak.
The Saint Realm! It was definitely the pressure of the Saint Realm!
Instead of being alarmed, Miao Kong was overjoyed. He quickly said in a loud voice, "Demon Venerable, calm your anger! I am here to help you escape!"
A light laugh came from the darkness: "Oh? Help me escape? How did you find this place?"
The voice was deep and resonant, carrying a strange rhythm, as if it could directly shake the soul.
Miao Kong replied respectfully, "To report to Demon Venerable, we consulted various ancient texts and underwent countless hardships to find this place."
"Then... that must have been truly difficult for you." The Demon Venerable's voice seemed a bit lighthearted. "To go to so much trouble to find me."
For some reason, Miao Kong vaguely sensed a hint of mockery in those words.
But on second thought, it was normal for the other party to be mentally unclear after being sealed for 100,000 years. What was strange was that the Demon Venerable did not ask for his identity, which left him momentarily unsure how to continue.
Just as Miao Kong was hesitating on whether to announce his origins, another question came from the darkness: "If that's the case, how do you plan to help me escape my predicament?"
"Oh, right, right, right!" Miao Kong quickly took out a golden fillet from his robes and offered it up with both hands. "This is the Immortal Artifact, the Crossing Tribulation Fillet. As long as you wear it, with your divine power, you will surely be able to break the shackles!"
He was full of confidence—on the surface, this golden fillet was a treasure to help one break a seal, but in reality, it was a restriction from the Buddhist Sect of the upper realm used to control others. Having been personally disguised by an Immortal Venerable, no one could possibly see through it!
A gust of cold wind swept past, and the golden fillet vanished into thin air. Miao Kong's heart was greatly settled. He stood on the spot, savoring the moment as he waited for the Demon Venerable to put on the golden fillet.
As time ticked by... after waiting for a long while, there was still no movement from the other side. Miao Kong gradually grew anxious, constantly formulating words in his mind that could urge the other party without angering them.
But he suddenly heard the Demon Venerable ask: "How is your Buddhist Son?" Miao Kong's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, and for a moment he didn't react, answering subconsciously: "The Holy Son is currently at Gale Pavilion, accompanied by spring scenery, living quite leisurely..."
The moment the words left his mouth, his expression changed drastically: "You, you... how does Your Excellency know about the Buddhist Son?!"
What answered him was a resplendent sword light! Monk Miao Kong's pupils suddenly contracted. The sword light came too fast, so fast that he did not even have time to think.
"Ho—" He had just squeezed a single word from his throat when he felt his body go light. His line of sight split bizarrely—he saw his lower half still standing in place while his upper half slid sideways to the ground.
"Impossible..." His consciousness had not yet dissipated, and his eyes were filled with disbelief. "I clearly..." He had come bearing a supreme treasure of the Buddhist Sect, and by his own account, he had not said anything to offend the other party during their exchange. Why would he be struck down by a sword without any explanation?!
What terrified him even more was that he had not even seen when the Demon Venerable had made his move!
"Thump!" The two halves of his corpse fell to the ground one after another. Before the blood could even spurt, it was suppressed by an invisible force, bizarrely suspending in mid-air. Miao Kong's upper body was still twitching, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but he could only spit out a few mouthfuls of bloody foam.
Just then—"Pop!" With a soft sound, a golden lotus emerged from his brow, slowly blooming. Profound Buddhist patterns flowed on the lotus petals. It was the Buddhist Sect's "Mind-Imprint Transmission" technique, which would send back the host's final sight to the sect upon their death.
"Hmph!" A cold snort came from the darkness. A fair, slender hand appeared out of nowhere, its five fingers like hooks as it grabbed at the golden lotus. The palm seemed slow, but in reality, it was fast enough to tear through space. Demonic patterns coiled around its fingertips, devouring even light wherever it passed.
However—The golden lotus trembled slightly and, in the instant before the demonic claw closed, it transformed into specks of golden light and dissipated into the void.
"..." The jade hand paused in the air for a moment before slowly retracting. An ambiguous snort came from the darkness.
On the ground, Miao Kong's eyes were still open, frozen with his final shock and bewilderment. The cracked ground silently closed, swallowing the corpse and bloodstains as if nothing had ever happened.
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