Chapter 182 Misty Rain Pavilion (Part 10)

As it turned out, Jiang Gu's decision was correct.

The sudden surge of fire-attribute divine power rushed towards Wei Feng without warning, but was blocked by Jiang Gu's magic array. If all this divine power were to enter Wei Feng's primordial spirit, even though his cultivation was now close to the Taiyi realm, he would not be able to withstand it, and he would be destroyed if he was not careful.

The little red shadow struggled fiercely in the spirit pet pouch. Jiang Gu supported Wei Feng with one hand and untied the spirit pet pouch with the other. The little red shadow moved incredibly fast, leaving a thin red line behind it, and directly disappeared into the constantly shaking stone wall. The cracks on the stone wall suddenly exploded, and fiery red divine power roared out in an instant.

The group simultaneously erected a spiritual energy barrier in an attempt to resist the divine power surge, but to little avail. The spiritual energy barrier was quickly shattered. At the critical moment, Jiang Gu activated the black jade bracelet, and the black belt that was originally tied around Wei Feng's waist suddenly enlarged, enveloping them all.

Lu Liyu stood at the edge of the barrier, still shaken, looking at the divine tide that showed no signs of abating. "This divine power is far too vast, probably even surpassing the Temple of War. This is abnormal."

“This temple is indeed strange.” Jiang Xiangyun turned to look at Jiang Gu.

Jiang Gu casually gathered up Wei Feng's disheveled front, "If any of you have any concerns, you may leave now."

Lu Liyu and Jiang Xiangyun both noticed the strangeness of the temple, and Jiang Gu naturally sensed something was wrong as well. The safest course of action now was to leave immediately, as overestimating one's abilities was a major taboo when seeking opportunities. However, this temple was closely related to Wei Feng, and he did not intend to leave just like that.

"Seventh Brother, what are you saying? Coming to the temple was a decision we made together," Jiang Xiangyun said with a smile. "Besides, the more danger there is, the greater the opportunity. I don't want to miss out on good things."

Lu Liyu scratched her head in frustration and gritted her teeth, saying, "Let's go in!"

Safety is important, but opportunity is sometimes more important than life. Without a great opportunity, he would probably have a hard time turning his life around from Jiang Xiangyun's.

The group carefully stepped on the gravel as they walked in.

Thump—thump—thump thump—

The beating sound grew more and more urgent. Wei Feng subconsciously grabbed Jiang Gu's wrist, his palm covered in sticky sweat. He felt an unprecedented panic, as if something extremely terrifying was waiting for him ahead, even giving him the illusion of being on the verge of death. But he couldn't control his steps, walking faster and faster, even wanting to shake off Jiang Gu and rush out of the space covered by the black jade bracelet.

Jiang Gu's cool fingertips touched his brow.

The chaos and agitation around him instantly subsided, leaving only the heavy, drum-like thumping sound in his ears. Wei Feng blinked hard, his voice dry and hoarse, "Master, I'm alright."

Jiang Gu responded coldly, but caught a glimpse of a fleeting afterimage out of the corner of his eye. However, when he turned to look, the other party had vanished without a trace. In this surge of divine power, he could not rashly use his divine sense, so he simply left an additional magic array behind Wei Feng.

The passageway behind the stone wall was pitch black, with no candlelight to illuminate it. The fire-attribute divine power made the surrounding air dry and scorching hot, as if one were being roasted by flames with each breath. Yet, the air also carried a damp and salty smell that made one want to hold their breath.

Jiang Gu felt that the taste was strangely familiar.

As they walked further in, the tide of divine power gradually subsided, replaced by an increasingly salty, fishy, ​​and damp smell. Maintaining the black jade bracelet was too taxing on spiritual energy, so Jiang Gu took it back. However, as soon as the bracelet was in his hand, Wei Feng grabbed his sleeve.

He looked up at Wei Feng and saw that the man's face was flushed and his eyes were glazed from the divine power. His clothes were also in disarray, exposing his chest, which was covered with many fresh wounds. He was leaning against Jiang Gu and weakly moved his lips, "Master... belt."

Jiang Gu remained silent for a moment, then transformed the black jade bracelet into a belt and wrapped it around his waist.

Wei Feng exhaled a breath of hot, stale air and buried his face in the crook of Jiang Gu's neck to cool it down. Jiang Gu paused slightly, then led the group forward.

The path beneath their feet began to feel sticky. Lu Liyu, who was walking at the front, lit a lamp. The dim light illuminated the path beneath their feet, which was covered with writhing flesh and blood. The deep red flesh had veins showing, and blood kept seeping out and sticking to the soles of their boots. With each step, many thin blood streaks were pulled out.

Jiang Xiangyun's face turned pale, and his stomach churned. Lu Liyu said mockingly, "Oh, someone like you is cultivating the path of slaughter?"

Jiang Xiangyun raised his hand to hit him, but Lu Liyu smiled and stretched out his arm to block it. However, he slipped and bumped into the wall next to him, and cried out in pain from the burn.

A small red shadow darted out from the wall, squeaked twice in fear, and then dragged the long fire rope behind it into the flesh and blood on the ground.

Jiang Gu reacted swiftly, forming a hand seal and grabbing the end of the Fire-Leaving Rope. "Follow it!"

After saying that, he pulled Wei Feng and crawled into the sticky chunks of flesh. Yao Li followed closely behind, and Lu Liyu let out a wail and followed as well. Jiang Xiangyun wiped his face in despair, gritted his teeth, and crawled in as well.

A pungent stench of blood assaulted his senses. Jiang Gu held his breath and followed the direction of the Fire Rope, tearing open the flesh around him. However, the flesh seemed to be alive, immediately closing up and trying to devour him. Jiang Gu could only continuously mobilize his spiritual power. Just as he was about to unleash the Crimson Snow, Wei Feng suddenly broke free from his grasp, flipped over, and pulled him into his arms. The flesh clung to his body in a frenzy, only to be repeatedly torn apart by the ghostly markings. In just a moment, they passed through the flesh and fell to the ground.

The moment he landed, Jiang Gu clearly heard the sound of the puppet's shell breaking. "Wei Feng!"

Golden spiritual energy suddenly enveloped his scattered body, and the black jade bracelet solidified his primordial spirit. Jiang Gu shouted sternly, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

Wei Feng was startled. "I'm fine, Master."

“The Fire Rope can only be operated by one person. The slightest mistake will cause you to lose track of the other person’s primordial spirit. Your primordial spirit is of the same element as this flesh and blood. Using magic will not only cause your soul to be scattered, but will also implicate everyone inside.” Jiang Gu’s voice deepened. “Next time you act on your own, can you please use your brain?”

Wei Feng was stunned by his scolding, but he was also very indignant. He couldn't help but say, "But if I don't take action, those things will hurt you!"

"I won't die." Jiang Gu looked at him coldly.

Wei Feng was speechless, his eyes red with anger, "Then I won't die!"

"Ouch!" Lu Liyu rolled out of the chunks of flesh, his body mostly burned and exposed to the bone. He grimaced in pain and began frantically slapping healing talismans on his body.

Yao Li and Jiang Xiangyun, who came out later, were in no better condition. Their injuries were so deep that the bone was visible. While receiving treatment, Jiang Xiangyun did not forget to tease Jiang Gu, "What happened? Just give the child a beating if he misbehaves."

Wei Feng glared at him fiercely.

Jiang Gu turned to look around. The little red figure, bound by the fire rope, lay slumped on the ground, crying and hiding behind a huge black shadow. Jiang Gu took out a luminous pearl and stepped forward. The eerie blue light illuminated the shape of the black shadow, and a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

A nearly ten-meter-tall stone statue of a mermaid stood there, its features extremely deep. One hand was raised to shoulder level, its sharp nails curled inward, as if it were gripping something with extreme force. The other hand hung down beside its curled tail. It tilted its head back, its expression sorrowful, as if it was trying its best to see something clearly. A pale white silk veil covered half of its face, hanging high and moving without wind, faintly brushing against the luminous pearl in Jiang Gu's hand that emitted a faint glow.

This is the stone statue in front of the tombstone in Mermaid Bay. Jiang Gu remembers it clearly. The raised hand should be grasping a stone tablet. Jiang Gu can even smell the salty and fishy smell of the lake.

He refined the Mermaid Bay ruins and stored them in his Purple Mansion, but he did not take this stone statue with him. However, it should not be here at this time, thousands of miles away.

Snap.

A round ball rolled out from behind the stone statue and hit Wei Feng's calf. Wei Feng's heart skipped a beat. After picking it up, he saw that the ball was covered with silver-blue scales. Moreover, it looked like the ball had been kicked too many times, and the scales on it had become curled and worn. Wei Feng felt that the ball looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before. He touched the silver-blue shark scales on it and his breath caught in his throat.

Jiang Gu turned to look at him.

Wei Feng's mind suddenly became chaotic. He finally grasped an anchor point in the mess of memories: "Back then, when I went down the mountain to Jiaolong City to find the Divine Kite Shark Scales, I saw a group of children playing football in a small alley. I picked them up for them, and the scales on them were exactly the same as this one."

His pupils contracted slightly, as if he had discovered something incredible, and he said softly, "But these are... my scales."

Each mermaid's scales are unique in color, and they would never mistake one for another. However, Wei Feng was still in the pre-awakening stage of the Divine Kite Mermaid bloodline and couldn't recognize them at all. This was such a trivial matter that he quickly put it out of his mind. He originally thought it was just an insignificant little thing that he had seen by chance, but now it had mysteriously appeared in the ancient temple of the Moon Gazing Continent, which only made him feel terrified.

Jiang Gu walked over and took the merman ball from his hand. "Wei Feng, calm down."

Wei Feng's breathing trembled slightly. He tried his best to calm himself down by listening to his words. He looked up at the mermaid statue. The empty chest in his primordial spirit trembled along with the sound of the impact from the ground. In a daze, he seemed to hear his own heartbeat. Strange, sharp resentment and hatred surged into his empty chest like a tide, destroying his rationality. The ghost patterns and ram horns dormant in his body appeared and disappeared. The original form of the divine kite mermaid struggled to break free from the restraints of the puppet body.

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

Countless cracks appeared on the merman statue, from which a viscous black liquid gushed out, flowing down the statue and merging with the blood clot. The small red shadow eagerly burrowed into the mixture, and the previously faint sound of the impact suddenly amplified hundreds of times—

Jiang Gu finally heard it clearly; it must have been the sound of a heartbeat.

The mermaid statue shattered, and the figure of a young man slowly emerged from the rubble. He hovered in the air, raised one arm with his palm facing upward, and the mixture of pulsating flesh and black liquid was gathered up by the small red shadow and condensed into the shape of a heart, which landed steadily in his palm.

He slowly lowered his head and met Jiang Gu's gaze—the same lingering obsession that Jiang Gu had briefly encountered in the mist before.

However, unlike that obsession, the boy in front of him had already materialized, and his bright eyes had become spirited. He smiled at Jiang Gu, his eyes full of joy, and his voice was clear and pleasant, "I found you."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly transformed into a red light and rushed straight towards Wei Feng, who was standing next to Jiang Gu. Wei Feng was delayed by half a breath because of the heartbeat. Just as the red light was about to enter Wei Feng's heart, Jiang Gu grabbed his belt and pulled it back sharply. In the next instant, the black jade bracelet enveloped Wei Feng completely, giving the young man no chance to take advantage.

The boy wasn't annoyed. He smiled and looked at Jiang Gu, reaching out to hug him.

Beside him, Lu Liyu stared at the testing artifact containing the remnant spirit in his hand, his face ashen. "A remnant spirit of the Immortal Rank... How could such a dilapidated temple possibly contain a remnant spirit of the Immortal Rank?"

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Gu kicked the remnant immortal spirit several feet away.

Wei Feng was already furious and rushed out of the protective shield, ready to devour this arrogant and ignorant thing alive.

Lu Liyu's vision went black instantly.