Chapter 69: Fantasy of the Past (1)
The storage bag could not hold living things, so before Luo Xuanyi got the spirit beast bag, he simply planted the vine demon spider on his left arm.
The white spider egg quickly hatched into a tiny, pure white spider, like a white pearl. Luo Xuanyi carefully touched it with her finger, and it immediately jumped several times on her arm in confusion and vigilance.
If you look closely, you can see that the fine hairs on the spider's legs are actually a bit bluish, but the color is so light that it gives people the illusion that they are glowing.
After Luo Xuanyi confirmed that it could successfully bite through the skin and start sucking blood, she gently lowered her sleeves to cover the vine demon spider, jumped lightly off the vine, and walked towards the depths of the palace.
After passing through the spider silk dropped by the vine spider and the debris piled on the ground, and walking up hundreds of steps, a huge altar appeared in front of him.
The massive rock, resembling a hill, was carved into an octagonal shape, its surface crisscrossed by countless ravines. The blood had dried, turning it black. In the center of the altar sat a figure.
Luo Xuanyi almost thought she was merely asleep, not dead. Her face was rosy, her skin radiant with pink, and her long, dark hair was tied back with a simple wooden hairpin. A faint smile seemed to play at the corner of her lips.
While nothing appeared to be amiss with the corpse, the various magical treasures she carried were dazzling. She wore a golden-threaded fire phoenix robe and held a white jade vase with a double lotus pattern. What particularly captivated Luo Xuanyi was the immortal herb slanted at her waist; its overwhelming spiritual energy made the alchemist eager to explore.
But Luo Xuanyi managed to calm herself down. She couldn't rush forward. She observed the altar, unable to discern anything at first, but it was best not to touch something she couldn't understand.
Looking around, one can see that although the altar is high, it still does not touch the dome. A nearly semicircular canopy covers the altar, which can be divided into six sides by a set of gorgeous murals.
The style of the murals was unique. Every color was dazzlingly bright, a stark contrast to the ink painting style of later generations. Delicate indigo, vermilion, and gold powder filled every gap, yet strangely, the eye was drawn to the central door.
The doors on all six walls share the same shape, but the contents of the paintings inside vary slightly. From left to right, the doors depict a young girl sleeping in a medicinal field, waking up, walking, cultivating, and then decaying into a separate medicinal field.
Luo Xuanyi thought of the room in the underground palace beneath her feet where five walls had been pried away, and immediately took out the structural diagram to start comparing.
Because she had walked back and forth in the underground palace several times in search of the secret door, Luo Xuanyi had already memorized the structure in her mind. Seeing the structural diagram only confirmed her idea.
She carefully controlled the tool, trying to avoid the air above the altar, and flew along the wall toward the door with the picture of decay.
Specifically speaking, decay is actually five groups of pictures, but it is not the five decays of heaven and man. Instead, it is the process of turning into bones, just like the death of ordinary people who have not practiced cultivation.
There are generally three ways a cultivator dies. Either they fail to ascend and transcend the tribulation, transforming directly into a stream of heavenly spiritual energy, their body and soul fading into oblivion. Or they approach their final demise without achieving a breakthrough, their lifespan waning, but they leave behind an intact Daoist body, seemingly dormant. Beyond these two, those killed by various means will gradually lose their spiritual energy due to the resentment lingering in their souls and corpses, transforming them into dried bones. Over time, they will become as brittle as a sandcastle, crumbling at the slightest touch.
Other self-sacrifices and other corpses will also disappear, but there are a few special cases, such as those who have attracted great attention, expectations, or disgust during their lifetime and can still exist as ghosts after death. This is why Luo Xuanyi did not dare to go to the altar.
Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, being hit by her is a hundred percent certain to be fatal.
Although he didn't understand why these pictures were painted on the murals, Luo Xuanyi was able to determine based on the orientation that this door corresponded to the "entrance" on the side of the underground palace below.
Apart from the five walls, the sixth wall is the most easily overlooked because it has no door.
Luo Xuanyi placed her hand lightly on the door painted on the wall.
The colors of the mural swirled together like melting, forming a vortex around the door that had not yet melted, revealing a black square gap.
Luo Xuanyi suddenly had an idea and placed the stone slab behind her into the gap. With a click, the door, clearly painted on the wall, slowly expanded and protruded, transforming into a plain stone door. It swung open towards Luo Xuanyi, revealing a dark entrance.
Luo Xuanyi threw the incense in and finally stepped into the entrance after a while.
The door behind her made another "clucking" sound, like a woman's laughter, but Luo Xuanyi didn't feel any malice at all. After the door was restored, the stone slab popped out again and she put it on her back again.
A gentle breeze could be felt through the passage, carrying a mouth-watering fruity aroma. Every time the wind blew past her body, Luo Xuanyi could feel her body, aching from rapid growth, gradually ease and become more comfortable.
She quickened her pace with some anticipation and finally saw the light of the exit.
But she couldn't see anything through this small opening. When she took the first step, she suddenly tripped and almost fell forward. She quickly steadied her body and raised her head again. Luo Xuanyi was stunned.
The place where there was nothing before had become a beautiful garden. The warm spring breeze and sunshine fell on the flowers and plants, and before her stood a girl with a troubled look on her face.
Luo Xuanyi felt her face was incredibly familiar. The girl was dressed in delicate silk, her skin as soft as water shimmering slightly under the light. She finally seemed to feel bad for it, and said to Luo Xuanyi, "I'm sorry, I was too impatient just now." She paused, but couldn't help but complain, "But who are you?"
Luo Xuanyi opened her mouth to speak, but she was horrified to find that the words and voice that came out of her mouth were not her own at all, but the voice of a cold man.
"I am the soul guide of the Ten Thousand Souls Sect. Miss Yu Linghe, you have been chosen by the Ten Thousand Souls Sect. Please come to our sect to receive baptism."
Hearing this, the girl's face turned pale. The sky seemed to suddenly darken. She mechanically repeated, "Soul guide?"
The man who claimed to be a soul guide did not answer or move. Luo Xuanyi felt that he was like a living dead.
The clouds seemed to sense the girl's anger. Luo Xuanyi listened to the thunder crackle in the sky in disbelief. The girl's cultivation was so advanced that her emotions could even cause the heavens and the earth to change color, but the soul guide was not afraid at all. Even though Luo Xuanyi could sense that the soul guide's cultivation was only in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
The atmosphere gradually grew colder, with only leaves falling gently to the ground.
At that moment, Luo Xuanyi couldn't see the girl's movements at all, but she definitely sensed death.
The soul guide looked down and saw that his body was pierced by a spiritual herb with lovely red fruits hanging on it. He died the next moment.
The image of the soul-caller slowly dissipated as Luo Xuanyi covered her body in pain, but Luo Xuanyi found that the energy in her body was surging, as if the blow that transcended time was about to happen to her again.
She staggered back two steps, then immediately sat cross-legged on the ground to regulate her breathing, but she felt the scene in front of her become darker.
"Who are you and why are you in that person's body?"
Luo Xuanyi suddenly opened her eyes, only to find Yu Linghe's face leaning down to examine her.
This is a bit of a bummer! The following old dungeon is a bit of a bummer, as the author is new to writing, so the writing is lacking and the pacing is a big issue. The visual experience might not be great, sorry! This long chapter will be revised later!
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