Chapter 181 Misty Rain Pavilion (Part 9)

The sound of flowing water continued unabated. Jiang Xiangyun looked at Jiang Gu, who had returned, and smiled, "Found it?"

"Hmm." Jiang Gu glanced at the black jade bracelet on his wrist that was constantly dangling, and said calmly, "You got lost because you were greedy."

“Raising this disciple is more difficult than raising a son.” Jiang Xiangyun smiled and summoned his spatial magic treasure. He silently recited the incantation, and the magic treasure’s exit opened, from which two figures emerged one after the other.

Yao Li stood firmly, holding his sword, while the other rolled twice on the ground and lay motionless. If it weren't for the slight undulations in his tattered clothes, one would almost suspect that he had already breathed his last.

"Stop playing dead." Jiang Xiangyun walked up to him and kicked him.

Lu Liyu coughed weakly twice before struggling to sit up from the ground. Leaning against the wall, she surveyed her surroundings with her scarlet eyes and chuckled, "You guys actually managed to get into the Ancient God Temple. You must be tired of dying already."

"Stop talking nonsense." Jiang Xiangyun grabbed his collar and pulled him up from the ground. The beggar seemed to have no bones and couldn't even stand up. He leaned lazily against the wall and laughed, which inexplicably made people angry.

Yao Li's sword was already half-drawn from its sheath, and he looked at him as if he were looking at a dead man. Jiang Gu, who was standing next to him, rarely dealt with this kind of person—if he had encountered such a deserving scoundrel, he would have killed him with a single sword stroke long ago.

Perhaps sensing Lu Liyu's demonic energy, a wisp of black mist emerged from the jade bracelet, its killing intent fully revealed. Upon seeing this, Jiang Gu simply released the person directly. The Binding God Array loosened slightly, and as soon as Wei Feng landed, the jade bracelet transformed into a belt and wrapped around his body, pulling him back just as he was about to rush forward to kill.

Wei Feng saw that Lu Liyu was like an enemy meeting, and he was extremely angry and wished he could skin him alive. But Jiang Gu was holding him back. He couldn't care less about the awkwardness just now and turned to look at Jiang Gu.

“He still has a use,” Jiang Gu said.

Wei Feng looked tense, probably because he had been crying inside the jade bracelet. His eyes were still red, making him look even more aggrieved. Jiang Gu raised his hand and placed it on his shoulder.

Wei Feng froze, but did not dodge.

Lu Liyu looked at Wei Feng with a playful gaze, but said to Jiang Xiangyun, "It's not that I can't help you, but the life-and-death contract requires passing through ten levels. Young Master Jiang, you only have half of the trial level, so your agreement alone doesn't count."

Upon hearing this, Wei Feng's expression suddenly turned cold. He was handsome and naturally fond of clinging and acting coquettish. Whether he was crying or laughing, he seemed cute and approachable. However, when his expression turned cold, the gloomy and violent aura he had been hiding was exposed, and his whole person became sharp. For a moment, there was a sense of coldness that made him unapproachable.

"You've got a good plan," Wei Feng said coldly. "But what help can you possibly offer?"

Lu Liyu grinned, "I've explored at least a dozen or twenty temples, if not a hundred. The fact that I'm still alive and standing here means I have some ability to get you all out of here unharmed."

The ruins of the ancient temple have always been extremely dangerous. It is common for eight or nine out of ten of the elites from the Eight Pavilions to lose their lives when they enter. Of course, they can choose to explore on their own, but the risks are extremely high. The guardian spirit beast alone can scatter the original group. With an experienced person like Lu Liyu, the task will naturally be much easier.

“Alright.” Just when Jiang Xiangyun and Jiang Gu thought they would have to go through a lot of trouble to persuade him, Wei Feng readily agreed. He stared intently at Lu Liyu and gave a chilling smile. “As long as you help us get the artifact, I will help you break the life-and-death contract.”

"I like working with straightforward people." Lu Liyu laughed happily.

——

“Most ancient temples were built for the descent of ancient gods. The higher the god's rank, the more abundant the divine power within the temple. For example, the ancient War God Temple located at Yanyu Terrace enshrines Yao Shuo, the War God of the Upper Realm. The remaining divine power within it is less than one-tenth or one-twelfth of the combined power of all the temples discovered so far.” Lu Liyu said as they walked forward, “There is also the Haohai General Temple at the Water Pavilion. It is said that Haohai God once descended upon the cultivation world with the War God and opened the water veins of Wangyue with a single sword strike…”

“Besides these, there are a few other well-known temples such as the Wuwang Temple and the Sihu Temple. Although there are many other temples, most of them are small and unknown ones. However, some ancient gods do not like to descend to earth, but people have built temples for them. For example, the Hongchen Temple on the Chenyao Continent has never descended.” Lu Liyu said, “Each temple’s divine power has different attributes. The Eight Pavilions were originally divided according to the different attributes of the temple’s divine power. Although the name of this Fuquan Temple contains water, it actually has more metal and fire attributes. I estimate that the artifacts and remnants of the spirit will also have these two attributes.”

"Divine artifacts and remnant spirits are of paramount importance in exploring ancient temples. Divine artifacts are divided into four ranks: low, medium, high, and heaven. The higher the rank, the more divine power they possess. Remnant spirits are divided into four ranks: ghost, human, immortal, and god, based on the degree to which their divine consciousness is preserved. The higher the rank, the more difficult they are to deal with. With our current overall combat strength, we can at most subdue human-rank remnant spirits. If we encounter immortal-rank or god-rank remnant spirits, we can only wait to die."

“But there’s no need to worry. So far, no remnant spirits of the God rank have appeared in any temples on the entire Wangyue Continent. There have only been two remnant spirits of the Immortal rank. Usually, the remnant spirits in these temples are mostly Ghost rank. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Human rank one.” Lu Liyu said confidently, “None of us are particularly unlucky. We won’t be that unlucky.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Feng couldn't help but turn and glance at Jiang Gu.

Jiang Gu met his gaze expressionlessly.

"..." Wei Feng was still in a state of wanting to talk to him, but he was also feeling suffocated. However, it was undeniable that Jiang Gu's eye contact with him instantly brightened his mood.

I couldn't help but pinch his shoulder just now.

Wei Feng withdrew his gaze with a touch of smugness, leaving Jiang Gu with only a cold and arrogant profile.

Jiang Gu felt that his brain might have been damaged by that Grade A spirit beast.

The construction of ancient temples follows certain rules, and Lu Liyu was very familiar with these rules. Along the way, he led them away from many dangers and attacks by ferocious beasts. Putting everything else aside, he could be considered a qualified guide.

The fog grew thicker as they approached the center of the temple, and the sound of the surrounding water became increasingly rapid. Soon, a stone wall tens of meters high blocked their path.

Yao Li leaped up and quickly jumped down again. "Young Master, the top is also blocked. There's no reaction at all when spiritual energy goes in."

Jiang Xiangyun looked at Lu Liyu, "A dead end?"

"Let's try a different direction." Lu Liyu wasn't entirely sure either.

As a result, they encountered similar stone walls blocking their way three times in a row.

Wei Feng, his patience exhausted, snapped, "Hey Lu, are you even capable of this? You've been leading us in circles!"

Lu Liyu chuckled: "I'm as good as I can be. If you don't believe me, ask Young Master Jiang."

Jiang Xiangyun replied with a smile, "He's no good, my dear nephew, eat him alive."

Wei Feng retorted angrily, "Who's your nephew! Don't try to claim kinship with me!"

Jiang Xiangyun was startled by his shout and looked at Jiang Gu reproachfully, but Jiang Gu remained expressionless and pretended not to see it.

While cracking jokes, Lu Liyu reached out and touched the stone wall, then suddenly became serious, "Something's not right with this wall."

"What's wrong with it?"

“Look at how this wall is built. It’s completely different from the stone wall next to it.” Lu Liyu placed her palm on the stone wall next to her. “Back then, some gods would use their divine power to help build temples, so there would be a lot of divine power left inside. But these walls blocking our way have no divine power at all, only spiritual power.”

“This temple has already been explored,” Jiang Gu said.

“That’s right.” Lu Liyu nodded, her expression becoming increasingly solemn. “But the Eight Pavilions wouldn’t specifically send people into a temple that has already been destroyed. That’s such a basic mistake.”

The group felt a chill run down their spines. If someone had already checked, it meant that the divine artifacts and remnants of the spirit in the temple had most likely already been taken away. All their efforts might have been in vain.

“These walls don’t look very old; they weren’t built in recent years,” Jiang Xiangyun said, looking at the moss growing in the cracks in the stones. “If someone had come to explore this place a long time ago, why would they have built so many walls in the passage?”

Lu Liyu released his divine sense, but it was bounced back by the magic array behind the wall. He looked at the surrounding mist and said, "The array inside this wall is all sealing magic. The divine power feels very strong, but there is so much mist and water sounds around. I guess it is very likely that it is suppressing something."

What exactly is it that would make people go to such great lengths to build so many high walls in the temple and then use water and fog to suppress them?

They lingered in front of the wall for a while, but couldn't find a way to break it down. Suddenly, Jiang Gu spoke up: "Wei Feng, you do it."

Wei Feng was staring at him absentmindedly when he heard this, and he suddenly snapped out of it. "Me?"

“Your spiritual power is fire-based, give it a try,” Jiang Gu said.

Wei Feng had no doubts. He clenched his fist, gathered his spiritual power, and punched the high wall.

The high stone wall remained unmoved. They waited patiently for a while, but there was still no reaction. Lu Liyu shook her head, "Let's work together to set up a teleportation device—"

Before the words were finished, a large amount of fire-attribute divine power suddenly surged out from inside the high wall. A strong gale swept through, forcing the group to retreat several feet away.

"Listen, what's that sound?" Jiang Xiangyun suddenly held her breath.

Amidst the surging divine power and the gurgling sound of water, it seemed as if something was heavily pounding the ground, producing a dull and heavy sound.

Thump—thump—thump—

The small red shadow, tethered by the Fire Rope, began to struggle violently inside the pet pouch.

Jiang Gu listened intently, but his gaze fell on Wei Feng beside him. Perhaps affected by the fire-attribute divine power, Wei Feng's face was extremely pale. He hunched over slightly, his hand unconsciously clutching his chest, twisting the fiery red cloth into a ball. Because he used too much force, traces of blood were faintly visible.

Jiang Gu grabbed his hand and asked in a deep voice, "Does it hurt a lot?"

Wei Feng raised his eyes, pursed his pale lips, and felt a fine sweat on his forehead. His whole body was burning hot.

Thump! Thump-thump! Thump! Thump-thump!

The deep, heavy thumping sound grew closer and more urgent, making Wei Feng almost breathless. His eyes were bloodshot. Jiang Xiangyun and the others beside him also noticed that something was wrong with him and looked over.

"Master...Father..." Wei Feng was trembling all over. The wooden puppet body seemed unable to withstand the heat of his primordial spirit and made a crisp cracking sound.

At the same time, the high wall began to tremble with the thumping sound, and cracks appeared.

Jiang Gu raised his hand to cast a hand seal to help him concentrate, but Lu Liyu stopped him, saying, "Wait a little longer! The wall and the magic array behind it are about to crack!"

Jiang Gu glanced at him coldly, his hands continuing to cast spells, one after another enveloping Wei Feng's primordial spirit, attempting to extinguish the scorching heat within.

Wei Feng's eyes were already somewhat unfocused. He grabbed Jiang Gu's sleeve and shook his head, his voice barely audible: "Master... I can... hold on a little longer..."

Jiang Gu swatted his hand away, and a powerful array of spiritual energy enveloped him, blocking out the irritating throbbing sound from behind the wall. He steadied Wei Feng by supporting his waist and said coldly, "No need."

It's just a remnant of a divine artifact; it's not worth him risking his disciple on it.