221: Chapter 221 Demon God

The Jade Palace inside the Formation appeared grandly before everyone's eyes.

Ye Jing stood on the damaged Jade Walkway, where the gaps below revealed the black seawater constantly churning.

He noticed a bone-chilling coldness emanating from this Hall of the Demon God.

The divine temple was grand in scale and majestic in Aura, standing a full thousand feet high with layered eaves and upturned corners. However, it lacked any of the elegance of an immortal palace, instead exuding a sense of ferocity everywhere.

The roof was not covered in ordinary glazed tiles, but instead was layered with dark gold scales. These scales reflected a cold luster, resembling the back of some giant beast, making one shudder.

At the end of each eave hung a black Skull Bell that swayed without wind, emitting a crisp 'ding-ling' sound.

Yet the sound carried a bone-eroding chill; upon entering the ears, it made one's heart tremble. Subconsciously, people wanted to circulate their spiritual power to resist, but hindered by the lingering power of the Formation, they could only forcibly suppress the urge.

“Elder Yun, I wonder what kind of Cultivator this Demon God was when he was alive, to be able to build such a massive palace in this bizarre place.”

Lu Shaoyou exclaimed in amazement.

Elder Yun looked at the palace, his eyes full of vigilance. He said, “Shaoyou, you don't know, but this Cultivator was a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator.”

“Soul... Soul Transformation Stage?! Then shouldn't he have long since achieved Ascension? Why would he perish here?” Lu Shaoyou was greatly shocked.

His exclamation caused the surrounding surviving Cultivators to look over, many of their faces showing expressions of disbelief.

A Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator was an existence they didn't even dare to dream of. Such a powerful figure should have stepped through the Void Realm and ascended to the Upper Realm; how could he perish within this Minghai Realm?

Elder Yun lowered his voice: “Shaoyou, don't think that being in the Soul Transformation Stage means one can rest easy. During the ancient era, powerful Cultivators from all sides fought for the Dao, with constant slaughter. This Senior Demon God was also a hero of his time back then, having killed countless Cultivators, and the Sects he offended were spread throughout the Immortal Realm.”

Speaking to this point, Elder Yun paused, as if remembering some secret.

“Rumor has it that when he intended to ascend to the Upper Realm, he was ambushed by his enemies working together. Although he fought to the death and killed several powerful foes, he was also heavily injured. His life-bound Primordial Spirit was depleted, and he could no longer support his Ascension.

Left with no choice, he found this hidden place in the Minghai Realm and laid down this Heart-Burning Spirit-Devouring Array.

On one hand, it was to block his enemies' pursuit; on the other hand, he wanted to use the Formation to devour the spiritual power and essence blood of Cultivators to repair his Primordial Spirit and plan for Ascension once more.”

“So he ultimately failed to succeed?”

Lu Shaoyou followed up, his voice carrying a bit of a sigh. When he looked at the Hall of the Demon God again, the amazement in his eyes lessened, replaced by a bit more fear.

The Jade Walkway beneath their feet was still damaged, and the black seawater churned at the gaps, carrying a faint fishy smell that intertwined with the coldness of the temple, making it even more eerie.

“Naturally, he did not succeed,” Elder Yun said with a bitter smile.

“The Blood-Bone Demon God had a tyrannical nature, and the Heart-Burning Spirit-Devouring Array he laid down was far too sinister, devouring the lives of countless Cultivators.

Ultimately, it triggered a backlash from the Heavenly Dao, and his enemies eventually found this place. Under the pincer attack from both inside and out, even with the enhancement of the Formation, he could not escape the fate of perishing.

However, no one expected that after his death, this Heart-Burning Spirit-Devouring Array would be able to operate on its own for a thousand years, still constantly devouring passing Cultivators. And this Hall of the Demon God became his tomb, hiding his lifelong cultivation and treasures.”

The surrounding Cultivators had varying expressions upon hearing this.

The light of greed ignited in some people's eyes.

If one could obtain even a single treasure of a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator, they could reach the heavens in a single bound.

Others showed fear; even a Soul Transformation Stage powerhouse had perished here, while they were only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Rashly entering the divine temple would likely just be throwing their lives away for nothing.

Elder Yun didn't shy away from being overheard by other Cultivators, so Ye Jing heard everything clearly.

So this Demon God was actually a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator. No wonder he was so powerful, able to create a traveling palace at will within the void.

After fully entering the palace, the other Cultivators had already begun to move restlessly, scattering to enter the interior, wanting to get a share of the spoils in this palace.

Ye Jing was in no hurry to move. A few Cultivators came forward to ask if he wanted to team up with them.

Even Ye Tianhao came over.

Jia Zheng said with a smile, “Since everyone wants to be together, let's go together then. What does this Fellow Daoist think?”

He asked Ye Jing, who was off to the side.

Seeing this, Ye Jing nodded, having no objection.

He saw that Jia Zheng seemed extremely familiar with the Cultivators who had approached; it appeared they were a group.

One of the elders stepped forward and nodded respectfully to Jia Zheng before saying, “Fellow Daoists, since we've decided to team up, we must follow the rules, look out for each other, and there must be no attacking or private touching of items!”

After speaking, they all began to walk forward together.

The palace doors were wide open, but the inside was pitch black. Coupled with the inability to use Divine Sense, they could not defend against any unknown dangers within.

The Night-Luminescent Pearl seemed to have a spirit of its own, floating up into the air. Its faint white glow instantly spread out, illuminating the passage behind the temple doors clearly.

As everyone looked, their hearts all trembled.

Beneath their feet were dark blue-black Black Iron Floor Tiles, each carved with blurred blood-colored patterns. Despite the passage of a thousand years, they still faintly exuded a bloodthirsty chill.

In the gaps between the tiles, there remained long-dried black stains, unknown if they were bloodstains from Cultivators or traces of other bizarre things.

On both sides of the passage stood two rows of stone carvings, all in the form of fanged, green-faced demon gods. Their eyes were embedded with dark red crystals, which, under the light of the Night-Luminescent Pearl, actually seemed like living things, staring fixedly at the intruders.

A young Cultivator couldn't help but reach out to touch the arm of a stone carving. Just as he touched the cold stone surface, the stone carving's eyeballs suddenly moved slightly, and a thin thread of blood-colored Qi darted out from a crack in the stone, instantly wrapping around the Cultivator's wrist.

“Ah!” The Cultivator cried out in pain. His wrist turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the spiritual power in his Meridians seemed to be crazily devoured by something. His face instantly turned pale as paper.

In just a moment, he collapsed and turned into a pool of black blood.

The stone tiles on the ground were flying around in all directions, floating as if they had a life of their own.

Black Qi rose from the gaps between the stone tiles; falling down would surely mean leaving no bones behind.

“Oh my god! How can we possibly cross this?”

A Cultivator cried out in alarm. Now that they couldn't use spiritual power, facing such a bizarre staircase, they couldn't cross even if they wanted to.

“Everyone, how about letting me give it a try?”

At this moment, a gentle voice came from the crowd, and a frail-looking male Cultivator walked out with several people.

His emergence drew the gazes of all the Cultivators upon him.

This person had a thin frame and looked like a scholar, appearing unremarkable. However, behind him stood many Cultivators showing their support.

He looked like some kind of hidden big shot.

This person was none other than Jia Zheng. He ignored the surprised looks of these Cultivators and threw forward the Black Jade Plaque he had used for defense earlier.

The jade plaque traced a steady arc through the air, landing firmly against the foremost floating Black Iron Floor Tile without making a sound, instead seeming to merge with the tile.

In the next second, a bizarre scene occurred.

A faint dark light rose from the surface of the Black Jade Plaque.

This dark light slowly spread along the blood-colored patterns on the tile. Wherever it passed, the stone tiles that had been flying about actually began to stabilize.

The black Qi emerging from the gaps between the tiles also seemed to be suppressed, slowly retracting back into the depths of the patterns, leaving only the blue-black tile surfaces reflecting a cold light.