Chapter 152 The Realm of Trials (Part 3)
Although the golden light didn't seem far away, Jiang Gu flew on his sword for a day and a night and still hadn't arrived. When he looked from high in the sky, it seemed like he hadn't made any progress at all.
Jiang Gu's primordial spirit had suffered a backlash and could not withstand long periods of sword control and magic array traversal, so he had to stop and rest.
With the Golden Roc Jade Crown, the Jade Armor was no longer damaged by the black snow. In fact, after activating the protective robe, it could cleanse the impure spiritual energy in the black snow until it was clear and then automatically absorb it to protect the primordial spirit. The spiritual energy in the first realm is rich and very suitable for healing.
Wei Feng's little primordial spirit flew in mid-air. It seemed to have learned a little and stopped touching the snowflakes. Inside the spiritual energy shield that Jiang Gu had made for him, it clumsily tried to cross its legs and cultivate, just like Jiang Gu. But perhaps it was hard to change its nature, and it soon fell asleep sprawled out.
Jiang Gu finished his meditation and was about to put it back in his sleeve when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He reacted quickly and pulled the little primordial spirit back. Hundreds of formations were instantly formed, and the Crimson Snow Sword was placed in front of him to block the opponent's attack. However, the opponent's momentum was fierce, and he was forced back dozens of feet with his sword before he could step back and use an ancient tree to stabilize his body.
The chilling aura stirred up the fallen leaves on the ground. Amidst the swirling snow, Jiang Gu gripped his sword and looked up, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
Amidst falling leaves and swirling snow, a cultivator clad in a black robe stood tall and imposing, his entire body completely enveloped, revealing not a trace of his aura. He took two steps forward, his heavy boots striking the snow-covered ground, causing the accumulated snow to ignite like flames, and black energy surged into his body.
He didn't speak, but simply raised his arm, revealing a hand with its knuckles stitched together by black thread. Dense stitches and scars wrapped around his wrist, and a long, black nail appeared on the pale, dark back of his hand.
With a flick of his finger, the long nail flew out and transformed into a thin black thread in mid-air, directly probing into Jiang Gu's sleeve. It rolled up the small primordial spirit covered by the spiritual energy shield, and his killing intent was fully revealed. The spiritual energy shield shattered in response.
The little primordial spirit trembled with fear and burst into tears. Jiang Gu slashed the black line with his longsword, scooped up the little primordial spirit, and stuffed it into the spiritual realm. When the black line condensed into nails and attacked again, he leaped into the air and formed a hand seal with one hand. Countless arrays appeared in the air, and Jiang Gu's figure moved among them like a ghost. In an instant, he was behind the black-robed man. The moment the man turned around, the Crimson Snow Sword had already wrapped around his neck, and Jiang Gu's palm pierced straight through the man's abdomen.
No Yuan Dan?
Jiang Gu was taken aback. Suddenly, the Crimson Snow Sword twisted violently, and the black-robed man in front of him vanished instantly.
Jiang Gu's gaze turned cold as he cautiously searched the surroundings for any trace of life. Suddenly, a strong smell of blood wafted from behind him, and a chilling touch pressed against his spine. A sewn-up hand gripped his wrist tightly, and he could even feel the other's breath on his ear—it was an embrace filled with an intensely intimate atmosphere.
Jiang Gu's face darkened. The protective array and the weapon-refining array overlapped, and the powerful spiritual energy swept over like a sharp blade, forcing the opponent away from him. The teleportation array he had just set up suddenly retracted and turned into a malfunction array, trapping the opponent within it for a moment. The Fire Rope went straight into the opponent's brow, and the Crimson Snow Sword swooped down from the sky, taking advantage of the opponent's momentary lapse in movement to pierce the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head.
The man in black robes narrowly escaped the fatal blow. His black robes were torn apart by the sword energy, revealing his lean waist, muscular abs, and two extremely long scars on his bare chest, sewn together with grotesque black lines. He instinctively reached out to pull at his robes to cover himself, but Jiang Gu did not give him the chance. He grabbed the man's neck and slammed his knee into the man's abdomen.
This malfunctioning array only lasts for half an incense stick's time, temporarily isolating all external spiritual energy. He formed his five fingers into claws, and the fire rope flew out from his palm, about to pierce the other's temple. However, the black-robed man raised his hand to block it. The other party seemed to realize that the spiritual energy had failed, and before landing, he suddenly exerted force to flip over, grabbed Jiang Gu's wrist, and pressed him down. His two long legs tightly wrapped around Jiang Gu's knees.
His face was obscured by his black robe, and his rapid breaths sprayed onto Jiang Gu's face. A look of disgust flashed across Jiang Gu's eyes.
The opponent's strength was so great that he was unable to move. Jiang Gu's eyes flashed with sternness, and he twisted his wrist sharply. The sound of bones breaking was crisp. The opponent seemed to be stunned for a moment, but Jiang Gu did not hesitate at all. He pulled out his wrist, gathered his energy, and pressed it hard against the side of the opponent's neck. The bones were reset, and he had already pressed against the opponent's fatal acupoint at the back of the neck. He cleanly and neatly twisted the opponent's neck. The Fire Rope and the Crimson Snow Sword exerted their magic power at the same time, completely annihilating the illusory primordial spirit.
The malfunctioning array, which had been burning for half an incense stick, was about to expire.
A faint smell of blood permeated the snow. Jiang Gu's expression turned cold. He vaguely sensed something was wrong. This man in black robes didn't seem to be using his full strength, and his purpose was unclear. But he didn't need to know the other party's purpose. Killing anyone who threatened him was the safest course of action.
This place is not safe to stay for long.
He glanced at the little primordial spirit crying its heart out in the spiritual realm, then jumped onto the flying sword and pulled it out.
The little spirit flapped its wings and landed on his face, hugging his nose and wailing loudly.
"Don't cry." Jiang Gu lifted it down and softened his voice, saying, "That blind thing is dead."
The little spirit sat in his palm and sobbed, clinging to his fingers and refusing to let go.
Jiang Gu patted its little head and increased the speed of his sword flight.
At the spot where he had just killed the man in black robes, a cloud of black mist re-formed into a human shape. He tilted his head, repositioned his broken neck, and made a teeth-grinding crunching sound.
Beneath the wide hood, a pair of slightly drooping eyes were revealed. He chuckled hoarsely, raised his hand to form a magic array, and silently melted into the swirling snow.
——
Jiang Gu deduced that his landing point in the Spirit Tempering Realm must be relatively remote. He healed his injuries while traveling, but surprisingly, he didn't encounter many cultivators along the way.
The snow just kept falling heavier and heavier.
As they approached the ruins of the ancient temple, a thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground. Half of the primordial spirit, eroded by the snowflakes, was visible in the snow. Through the bone eye, Jiang Gu could see that the primordial spirit was murky and black, almost blending into the snow. The jade armor protecting the spirit on its body had long been burned and was in ruins.
No wonder there's a rule in the rules that eliminates players if their primordial spirit is damaged.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Wei Feng placed his small primordial spirit into the spiritual realm, where the swirling snowflakes fell on his protective robe and melted silently.
Jiang Gu raised his head and looked down at the ruins of the ancient temple below the mountain.
This ancient temple was much more dilapidated than the ancient temple in the Stream Source Secret Realm, with only some ruins remaining. However, it covered a vast area, almost encompassing an entire valley. At the very center of the ruins stood an ancient statue over a hundred feet tall. This ancient statue should be a male deity, with a high nose, deep eyebrows, and a cold expression. His hair was tied up high, and his right hand was supporting a heavy, broad sword. Around him were several servants and disciples carved from jade. Behind his cloak was a half-open door, from which hundreds of twisted arms stretched out in a frantic rush, their broken fingers reaching out unwillingly towards his cloak, but no matter what they did, they could not touch it.
"This is the ancient god Mingyin. Legend has it that he controls thousands of evil spirits and ascended to godhood through the path of slaughter when he was still a human cultivator."
An unfamiliar voice, accompanied by several footsteps, came from afar.
Jiang Gu hid in the concealment array, hiding in an ancient tree. He kept his aura as faint as possible and looked at the approaching person through the tree trunk.
There were many people, about eleven or twelve, led by a young man dressed in fine clothes and covered in rare and precious magical treasures. He had a blood-red cinnabar mark between his eyebrows, and everyone subtly respected him.
Yan Huairan, as the top-ranked candidate in this trial of the Shenglou, was extremely powerful in both cultivation and background. He didn't take the first level seriously at all. On his left and right were a man and a woman. Jiang Gu listened carefully to their conversation and learned that the burly male cultivator with fist-sized earrings was named Luo Fan, a demonic cultivator, while the fair-skinned and beautiful woman was a demon cultivator named Qi Yi.
Judging from their tone, their cultivation level had already reached the Great Perfection of the True Immortal Realm.
“The technique of tempering the spirit can only be found in the temple, but this Netherworld Temple is surrounded by evil spirits, and those evil spirits are impossible to kill. Their attacks are specifically aimed at the primordial spirit.” Luo Fan crossed his arms and looked down at the ruins of the ancient temple. “There aren’t many cultivators who can find this place yet. I’ve been guarding it for several days, and not many cultivators who go in come out. Only one cultivator from Pingze escaped unscathed.”
"A cultivator from Pingze?" Qi Yi asked, somewhat surprised.
"Ignore them." Yan Huairan was clearly not interested in the cultivators from Pingze. He said in a deep voice, "Since the first level has a three-month time limit, there must be something in this Netherworld Temple. Put on your jade armor and protective magic artifacts, and let's go in and find out."
More than a dozen streaks of light flew toward the ancient temple ruins at the foot of the mountain.
Jiang Gu slowly revealed his figure from the ancient tree. Just now, when he used his Bone Eye to look at the primordial spirits of these people, they were only slightly dim, much cleaner than those of the Golden Roc and the Red Scale Demon.
He was now almost certain that the Moon Gazing Cultivator's primordial spirit had a problem.
Recalling the jade marrow that Wei Feng had used to detoxify, his heart sank slightly.
However, with the Spirit Tempering Technique right before him, he had no other choice but to be as cautious as possible. He silently recited the incantation and followed the group of people toward the ruins of the ancient temple at the foot of the mountain.
The moment Jiang Gu stepped into the ruins, the surrounding environment suddenly changed, and a cacophony of noise surged in like a tide.
The strong, pungent smell of face powder made Jiang Gu hold his breath. Under his feet was a damp stone path, and a light drizzle was falling in the air. The surrounding houses were eerie, yet many people were busy inside, with clanging sounds filling the air.
Jiang Gu quickly discovered that the clanging sound came from beneath their feet. Each person had a pair of heavy shackles on their ankles. Their faces were pale or bluish-black, and they kept muttering something as they carried what looked like packages without daring to stop.
The scent of cosmetics in the air grew stronger.
A group of people dressed in pale white hurried past Jiang Gu. The woman in the lead had a white flower in her ear and said in a high-pitched voice, "Tonight, General Mingyin is holding a marriage contest. Hurry up, hurry up!"
"Another marriage proposal, another marriage proposal."
"I'll die, I'll die, I'll die... Don't go, don't go."
"A nightly marriage proposal, a nightly killing; what if you chew up the bones and swallow them whole?"
"We must find a way to preserve the soul."
Behind the woman with the white flower in her hair were men and women, most of whom were slender and beautiful. However, even the most beautiful faces couldn't look good with such pale faces.
Jiang Gu pondered for a moment, then followed the group.
This is not an illusion, but more like a real world—the remaining divine power of some deities has the ability to create things and worlds, and can form a small world of its own. However, the duration of this world is limited, ranging from a few years to thousands or tens of thousands of years. Once the divine power is exhausted, the so-called real world will vanish.
Jiang Gu recalled the records in the ancient books. This was the first time he had seen a real reality. Usually, there would be extremely powerful artifacts in the reality to preserve divine power and maintain the operation of the entire reality.
If he could obtain another divine artifact… Jiang Gu narrowed his eyes, realizing that breaking through to the True Immortal Realm was within reach.
He trudged through the wet ground, blending into the crowd, and followed the group to a tall, dark, and gloomy pavilion adorned with white banners and red cloth. The sounds of string and wind instruments filled the air. Two Qiongqi stone statues, each over three zhang tall, sat in front of the open hall, while patrolling soldiers in heavy armor and robes moved back and forth.
The woman with white flowers in her hair led the group to a stop in front of the door. Not long after, more than a dozen women with white flowers in their hair arrived with their entourage. Behind them were all slender and beautiful men and women, dressed in white mourning clothes with pale and lifeless faces. Soon after, more than a dozen men with red flowers in their hair arrived with their entourage on the other side of the Qiongqi Beast. The men and women behind them were all dressed in bright red wedding gowns, heavily made up, and with rosy complexions.
The contrast between red and white in the pitch-black night was stark and eerie, sending a chill down one's spine.
“General Mingyin invites you all inside,” a child wearing a flower wreath said as he came out.
Jiang Gu recognized that he looked quite similar to a small jade statue next to the deity statue, and should be a servant or disciple of the Underworld.
Nearly a hundred people began to enter in an orderly fashion. Jiang Gu made a hand seal to change his appearance and blended into the group of people in white.
He mingled with the crowd, walked through the winding corridors, and arrived at the eerie and gloomy main hall.
In the center of the hall, a tall and imposing man sat casually on the main seat, one foot propped on the table. He leaned against the woman beside him, sipping the wine offered to him by a young man. His sharp eyes narrowed as he swept over the group below, and he laughed loudly, "All of you! Tonight, we'll consummate our marriage!"
"Congratulations, General! Congratulations, General!" Countless congratulatory voices echoed from somewhere in the hall.
Jiang Gu released an extremely subtle wisp of spiritual energy, just as he was about to probe, when General Mingyin on the throne suddenly roared and slammed his fist on the table, "Who! A living person has infiltrated!"
Screams erupted in the hall, followed by chaos. Countless arms surged from the damp walls, grabbing at the fleeing white-clad and red-clad figures. Those who resisted fiercely were torn to pieces, while those who did not struggle were relatively safe.
More and more arms appeared. Seeing this, Jiang Gu stopped resisting and let several arms grab his ankles and wrists. When he pressed himself against the damp wall, a pale arm emerged and tightly wrapped around his waist. The front of his clothes, sleeves, and hem were pulled and crumpled. Suddenly, the hand formed a claw and covered his waist, pinching it viciously.
Jiang Gu frowned slightly. The cold, sticky sensation seeped into his skin through his protective robe, making his bones feel a chill.
At this moment, everyone in the hall had been "strangled" to the wall by arms. Mingyin had risen from his seat, carrying the broadsword, and slowly walked to a man in red. He showed an expression of "I knew it" on his face, and squinted his eyes and said, "How fragrant. I haven't smelled such a clean primordial spirit in a long time."
The red-clad man's expression changed drastically. He shed his disguise and revealed himself to be a trial cultivator clad in jade armor. Mingyin reached out and drew closer to him. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately severed the arm that was binding him and transformed into hundreds of clones to attack Mingyin. However, Mingyin accurately grabbed his main body and squeezed it hard with his large hand, causing cracks to appear in the protective jade armor.
The cultivator undergoing the trial was startled. He used his magic weapons and formations simultaneously, finally finding an opening. He immediately transformed into a streak of light and fled towards the door. However, Ming Yin was even faster than him. He grabbed the cultivator's primordial spirit at the door, held it to his nose and smelled it with fascination, then opened his mouth with a smile and bit off half of the primordial spirit's body.
The cultivator undergoing the trial let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Mingyin laughed even more heartily, tearing the primordial spirit apart and chewing it clean in a few bites. The refined liquid inside the primordial spirit dripped onto the ground, turning into damp water vapor.
He licked his lips with lingering satisfaction, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed "people" on the wall, his deep eyes gleaming with a faint green light. "I'm starving! Let's consummate our marriage now!"
After saying that, he casually grabbed the white-robed man next to him and began to chew on him. The entire hall was instantly filled with cries of pain. Mingyin laughed loudly, "Don't cry, don't cry, it'll be your turn soon. It's your honor to be one with me. Delicious, delicious!"
He clapped his hands, and the arms that had been binding the crowd on the wall instantly came to life, their hands transforming into gaping maws that began to devour their imprisoned "prey."
The hands gripping Jiang Gu began to bite harder, and cracks began to appear in the protective robe of the Golden Roc Jade Crown. Jiang Gu knew something was wrong. His mind raced, and the wooden puppet body he had hastily prepared in the ancient tree attached itself to his primordial spirit. Then he activated the black jade bracelet, preparing to use the "Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell" technique to hide in the space inside the bracelet.
However, the five or six arms that bound him seemed to have anticipated his movements. Their five fingers transformed into sharp threads that pierced through the puppet and the protective robe, wrapping around his true primordial spirit.
The arm around his waist suddenly tightened, and the bloody breath brushed against his ear through the wall. Cold, dry lips pressed against his shoulder without obstruction, biting a small piece of skin and grinding and licking it viciously between their teeth.
The hands that were gripping him suddenly became more audacious, caressing his knees and waist in an intimate and ambiguous manner, tearing his once neat clothes into a mess.
And all of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Gu turned his head sharply before entering the black jade bracelet, only vaguely seeing a black figure.
Having successfully entered the space of the black jade bracelet, he raised his hand to touch his shoulder and, sure enough, felt a sticky residue and a deep teeth mark.
Jiang Gu's mood immediately plummeted to an unprecedented low.
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