357: The finishing touch is right in front of us

Shen Bei had initially thought that after dealing with the previous roadblock, the zombie ape that almost killed him, the path ahead would be clear.

Who would have thought…

He had just turned a corner.

Before his eyes,

five zombie apes were squatting on the road ahead. On the nearby rooftops, zombie apes emerged one by one. In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by at least forty to fifty zombie apes, each with a single eye, emitting a cold light, staring coldly at the path ahead, like focused soldiers.

The gate of a three-story building ahead opened, and a monster with a single horn on its forehead, ox hooves, a human body, and a height of three zhang, covered in dark blue skin, walked out. With one step, an overwhelming Aura surged forth, and the air suddenly solidified.

Illusions appeared before Shen Bei's eyes. He saw a single-horned green ox striding forward, with a vast sea of blood behind it, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang tsunami. Countless bones floated and sank in the sea of blood, and a strong smell of blood pierced his nose, directly assaulting his Divine Soul.

His vision blurred, and when he looked again, all the illusions had vanished. This monstrous creature with a terrifying Aura stood in the center.

Before he could pique their curiosity, Shen Bei quickly withdrew his steps and hid around the corner.

This was only possible because Shen Bei was operating the Breath Concealment Technique; otherwise, these monsters would have immediately gone into a frenzy at first sight.

At this moment, ripples floated across the sky. In the very center, a point of divine light suddenly transformed into a red sun. The scorching sunlight created a seven-colored ripple that slowly spread, and for a time, a vast, scorching, unbearable heat enveloped the entire complex of buildings.

The eerie, deathly silence and bone-chilling Qi in the air seemed like cold snow in midsummer, rapidly melting away. A faint glow then appeared on all the buildings, and Dao patterns emerged, resisting the scorching heat.

Shen Bei couldn't understand what kind of phenomenon this was.

The next moment, something even more terrifying happened.

Within these grim and silent building complexes, one gate after another opened.

From a small building not far away, a massive Dragon head emerged, then shook its tail and soared into the sky, transforming into a thousand-zhang-long black Dragon. Its scales were black, it had a broken horn on its head, four claws on its belly, and with a sway of its body, a vast amount of corpse Qi appeared out of thin air, forming black clouds that covered the sky and obscured the sun.

“A Flood Dragon… not a Dragon, right?”

Shen Bei mumbled, in his impression, a Flood Dragon and a Dragon were still quite different.

But from this, he could imagine that Immortal Storyteller's previous statement about Wolong Mountain having a Dragon might not have been baseless.

Then,

on the other side, a frog's croak erupted. A three-legged giant toad, as massive as a mountain, hovered in the sky, opening its mouth to swallow clouds and mist. Its terrifying Aura stirred the sky, and the divine light flowing there seemed to be swallowed by it. For a time, the sky and earth grew dim.

Again, a wolf howled. A thousand-zhang-tall human-wolf with a wolf's head, a human body, and all four limbs as sharp claws, howled up at the sky. A dark moon suddenly appeared in the sky, and its eerie moonlight descended in strands, as if instantly transforming the scorching daytime into a frigid winter night.

All sorts of phenomena arose one after another. Powerful and mysterious corpse-like monsters appeared continuously. The scorching heat that had just emerged vanished in an instant, and the entire mausoleum once again became cold and deathly silent.

Shen Bei strained his eyesight to look, and he felt only one thing: trembling fear.

Each of those pavilions was actually home to a corpse-like monster, and each one was no less formidable than the three monsters Zhuang Bifan had lured away.

One must remember that those three monsters were comparable to Bai Wei.

And how many were there here? If not a thousand, then eight hundred!

Even many of these corpse-like monsters had an Aura so strong and a Vicious Beast power so immense that they far surpassed the original three. Looking around, most of them were unrecognizable, with only a very few whose features Shen Bei could match with the knowledge he had learned at school. Without exception, they were all famous and notorious beings.

Single-horned Flood Dragon, Sun-devouring Golden Toad, Eternal Night Demonic Wolf…

Any one of these, if taken out, could be the protagonist of a mythical tale told to young children.

Yet here, they were merely corpse-like monsters, only capable of occupying a single building to guard this area.

Numerous corpse-like creatures soared into the sky, and the brilliant firmament formed by divine light was obscured by the Aura of these corpse-like monsters, transforming into night in an instant.

Although Shen Bei couldn't see the specific details, he could feel the turbulent, earth-shattering terrifying fluctuations. If the residual waves hadn't been rendered invisible by the power before they landed, he would probably have been instantly shattered into dust.

After all the corpse-like monsters had disappeared, Shen Bei stood in place, glanced at the zombie apes still squatting motionlessly, and swallowed. The pressure was simply too immense.

A single zombie ape could easily put him to death, let alone forty to fifty of them here.

Gritting his teeth, Shen Bei took a step forward and slowly moved along the wall.

All the zombie apes still maintained their curiosity, turning their single eyes in unison to continue staring at him, but none made a move.

Perhaps they thought a rolling stone… was nothing to worry about.

Shen Bei continued to walk, and these zombie apes continued to stare, still without any other movement.

Shen Bei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He strode deeper into the building complex.

When Shen Bei made his move, all the zombie apes remained squatting in place, motionless, only their gaze still following him.

From all directions, even more zombie apes arrived one after another, just like the forty to fifty, all squatting on the buildings, tilting their heads and staring at Shen Bei.

He wondered how Yun Zhiyi and the others had passed through here. Perhaps they had to repeat the previous tactic, sending out a sacrificial pawn to lure them away?

He had no time to think about such things.

After walking for some time, Shen Bei had a flash of inspiration. He strained his eyesight and saw that these zombie apes were not gathered in one place, but rather, like guards of a grand Dao, they were squatting on both sides of a main road, their gazes all following him.

Were they showing the way?

Shen Bei had a glimmer of understanding but wasn't sure. It was also possible that it was a taboo or a command that prevented them from setting foot on this grand Dao.

Whatever it was, following this grand Dao should be the safest option.

Not daring to take risks, Shen Bei immediately changed direction and rushed forward. He couldn't run; under the Breath Concealment Technique, no speed could be built up.

Shen Bei didn't know what Zhuang Bifan's situation was, so it was better to be quick.

After about half an hour, all the zombie apes guarding the grand Dao had disappeared. Ahead, only a nine-story building stood in the center.

Shen Bei stopped and looked back. The zombie apes were still behind him, but none dared to look directly at this place. Even when facing it, they were all bowed and lowered their heads respectfully.

This was the most ordinary place he had encountered so far. There was no grim coldness, nor the bone-chilling silence. Instead, it was like an ordinary nine-story building, with eaves and pillars devoid of any decoration, and tiles and windows that were all extremely simple.

If it were placed elsewhere, aside from its height, it would have no distinguishing features whatsoever.

Shen Bei took a deep breath and stepped forward, walking to the front of the building.

This was a stone door, carved with some lines, seemingly the pattern of some Vicious Beast. Shen Bei didn't look closely, and when he tried, he couldn't push the stone door open.

Originally, Shen Bei had wanted to circle around to find traces of Yun Zhiyi and the others entering.

There must have been traces.

But the circumference of this nine-story tower was quite large, and finding entry traces would also take some time.

What Shen Bei was most worried about right now was Zhuang Bifan.

There was no time to delay.

Shen Bei looked up at the stone door again.

It must be openable; he just hadn't found the mechanism.

This time, he carefully observed the stone door, and where his gaze fell, a conspicuous indentation appeared before his eyes.

The indentation was a palm-sized round pit.

Shen Bei caressed the lines around the round pit.

He increasingly felt that where the lines converged, it should be the head of a Vicious Beast?

Wait—

Shen Bei suddenly had a flash of insight.

He vaguely remembered having an object about the same size as this round pit.

Shen Bei rummaged through his Storage Ring and placed a disc-like object on the stone door.

The next moment,

the stone door flashed with light.

With a gentle push, the door opened silently…

Shen Bei's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, “It really is this damn thing!”