Chapter 168 – Land of the Ancient Gods
“Even if that old hunchback dies, he will drag the entire Giant Demon Clan down with him!” A hoarse voice rang out from the sky. On the horizon, a giant green toad was slowly approaching.
The frog landed on the ground far away, causing the earth to shake. Even though Wang Lin was very far away, he could still feel the ground shaking. Shortly after, the frog kicked off with its hind legs and disappeared from sight. When it reappeared, it was already close.
The frog descended from the sky like a small mountain collapsing. It landed about 100 feet away from them, creating a shockwave that spread the mist in all directions.
After the mist parted, the giant toad was revealed. Numerous nodules covered its body, each moving slowly, each emitting powerful spiritual energy fluctuations.
As the toad’s eyes moved, a strong desire to suck blood was evident. Sitting on the toad’s back was a figure. He wore a green robe and was very short. His back protruded like a hunchback. His eyes were triangular, his chin pointed, and his mouth resembled a monkey’s.
He touched the boils on his face as he laughed and said hoarsely, “Those old fellows from the Giant Demon Clan who chased me for over 300 years were all poisoned to death by me. If it weren’t for the 1,000-year deadline that was about to arrive and this place was about to open, I would definitely go to the Giant Demon Clan to take revenge.”
After that, he stepped on top of the frog. The frog seemed to know what he wanted as it stuck out its blood-red tongue and touched the ground with it. The hunchback walked along the tongue towards the ground. As he walked, he coughed occasionally.
After landing, he casually waved his right hand, and the giant frog quickly shrank to the size of his palm. It then jumped onto his shoulder. Its belly rapidly expanded and shrank as it crouched.
When he landed on the ground, everything within three feet of him immediately began to hiss and streams of black gas billowed from the ground.
Wang Lin calmly took a few steps back while coldly observing the person. This person was using poison, so his vigilance increased another level.
Six Desires Demon King Xu Liqing frowned and said, “I haven’t seen you for 1000 years. Why is the smell of poison getting stronger now?”
The old hunchback rolled his eyes and said, “Others might be afraid of your six wishes spell, but I’m not. A thousand years ago, we fought to a stalemate. Could it be that you want to fight again?” After that, he touched the toad on his shoulder and laughed eerily.
The Six Desires Demon Lord stared coldly at the hunchback. Soon, the spiritual energy between them began to surge, but the fluctuations soon subsided as both of them withdrew their spiritual energy.
Just at this moment, the Ancient Emperor, who had been watching coldly from the side, suddenly said, “It looks like everyone is here. I’ve stolen an Ice Wind Shield from a level 4 cultivation country. It should help us clear more than half of the first trial.”
The Demon God of Six Desires said coldly, “I will handle the second part of the first test.”
Hunchback Meng touched the pimple on his face and said hoarsely, “Just watch this old man for the second test.”
Duanmu Ji looked at Wang Qingyue and said, “That person is Wang Qingyue. He has mastered the five-elemental escape technique, which is useful to us. This little friend has mastered the death spell. The third trial’s divine sense attack will depend on him.”
Hunchback Meng’s misty eyes stared at Wang Lin, but he didn’t say a word.
The Six Desire Devil Lord’s hands formed mysterious seals as he walked toward the transfer array. After sending out a few seals, the entire formation began to crumble from within. Bursts of green gas erupted from the transfer array until nothing could escape, and the array completely collapsed. Then, his body disappeared as he began walking through the shattered array.
Every time he took a step, he would leave a trail of spiritual energy on the ground. He began moving faster and faster, leaving more and more trails of spiritual energy on the ground. Eventually, he began leaving behind afterimages. Now it looked like several people were walking around the formation.
After a moment, all the shadows disappeared. Only the real body remained in the center of the formation. Then, his hands began to move, bringing out many precious materials. Finally, he spat out a purple flame. All the materials melted upon contact with the flames.
The Demon Lord of Six Desires pointed with his finger. Liquids of various colors began to move and enter the formation in a specific order. When the last liquid entered the formation, it began to rumble.
A different transfer array appeared in place of the old one. This array contained at least double the number of symbols it had previously, plus ten pillars of light that shot into the sky.
One by one, the disembodied creatures let out low cries as they moved within the pillars of light. Six Desire Devil Lord took a deep breath and shouted, “The transfer array has been opened. Quickly throw in the top-grade spirit stones we agreed on. I’ll use four this time.”
With that, four high-quality spirit stones appeared from his storage bag. They each flew to one of the pillars and remained there.
This change caught the attention of Wang Qingyue, who was still fighting with his own avatar. He was currently losing the battle. The avatar’s endless attacks, coupled with the avatar being a level higher than him, meant that he could die with a single mistake, leaving him in a desperate situation. He was pushed out of the Chaotic Broken Stars time and time again, but the more he fought, the brighter his eyes became, and the bloodlust in them grew stronger.
After seeing the changes in the transfer array, he began to hesitate and retreated from the Chaotic Broken Stars. He arrived beside Duanmu Ji and stared at the four high-quality spirit stones. A hint of greed flashed across his eyes.
After he returned, his avatar slowly faded and turned back into a rock that slowly rotated around the area.
Wang Lin also stared at the high-quality spirit stones with a teasing gaze. The Sea of Devils was extremely vast. If it weren’t for the ancient transfer array that allowed people to teleport across it, it would take a long time to cross it. The sea was also filled with danger.
However, the only way to use this ancient transfer array was to have high-quality spirit stones. Because high-quality spirit stones were extremely rare, all the ancient transfer arrays in the Sea of Devils were in disrepair, and many of them were completely useless.
At this moment, the Ancient Emperor took out two high-quality spirit stones and looked at them intently. Then he threw them toward the pillar of light, where they remained motionless.
Duanmu Ji gritted his teeth as he took out two top-grade spirit stones from his bag. His heart ached as he threw them into the light. Of the ten pillars, eight contained top-grade spirit stones.
The last person was Hunchback Meng. He patted the frog on the shoulder. The frog’s belly swelled as he spat two things into the pillar of light.
At this moment, all ten pillars had high-quality spirit stones within them. The pillars of light suddenly disappeared. All the light had gathered on those high-quality spirit stones.
These ten spirit stones shone like ten bright suns. They slowly descended into the transfer array, causing it to slowly rotate.
The Six Desires Devil Sovereign revealed a joyful expression as he shouted, “1,000 years ago, over 100 of us entered, but we couldn’t even truly enter the inner area. It was only the restrictions outside that made things difficult for us, and we were forced to retreat during the third trial, with only the four of us managing to survive by sheer luck. 1,000 years later, all of our cultivation levels have improved greatly. We must break through the restrictions and see what’s inside!”
Even the Ancient Emperor’s eyes couldn’t help but light up as he stepped into the transfer array.
Behind him were Hunchback Meng, Duanmu Ji, and the young man who had come with the Six Desires Demon King. As for Wang Qingyue, he pondered for a moment before stepping into the formation. Wang Lin lowered his head. His eyes lit up as he stepped inside.
After the seven people entered the transfer array, the Six Desire Devil Lord let out a roar, and the array began to move. Ten high-quality spirit stones shattered, creating a powerful wave of spiritual energy. All the surrounding mountains turned to dust, and even the Chaotic Broken Stars trembled.
It took a very long time before the spiritual energy dissipated. The transfer array was completely damaged and could no longer be used.
There was a plain within the Chaotic Broken Stars, and in the sky above the plain was an oval-shaped ring of light. The inside of the ring was completely dark.
Beneath the ring was a transfer array. At this moment, the transfer array began to glow, and seven figures appeared.
The Ancient Emperor was the first to emerge. He stared at the oval-shaped ring in the sky with a hint of obsession. He leaped up and appeared beside the ring of light before circling it for a moment. He said, “It seems no one else has come here in the past 1,000 years. The seal we left behind is still intact.”
With that, he opened both arms and moved in front of the ring. Every now and then, a black fragment would come out and enter his hand.
Wang Lin could clearly feel Duanmu Ji, the Six Desires Demon Lord, and Hunchback Meng let out a sigh of relief after hearing those words.
He looked around and saw that the plains within the Chaotic Broken Stars were completely empty. The plains seemed endless and were covered by an endless, dark sky. Wang Lin understood that this was some kind of powerful restriction.
There was complete silence on this plain with no signs of activity.
The Six Desires Devil Sovereign looked at Wang Qingyue and Wang Lin before saying in a heavy tone, “Welcome to the Shattered and Chaotic Stars. It doesn’t matter if Duanmu has spoken to you two about this place before, I must emphasize it again.”
“After passing through the oval ring, you will enter a mysterious space. According to information we obtained from an inheritance, the corpse of an ancient god is there. The power of ancient gods comes from their bodies, so their bodies are extremely large. Even the weakest ancient god is at least the size of Planet Suzaku. I can tell you that this ancient god is fully grown. Its size is as large as countless Planet Suzakus.”
“The reason there are so many treasures inside is because even though the ancient god died, his divine sense wasn’t destroyed but remained in a state of hibernation. If we can enter it and obtain his memories, then any technique from his memories will be an extremely powerful technique right now.”
“As for the magic treasures, because none of the magic treasures used by the ancient gods could fit into the storage bag, they were all stored inside their bodies. If you’re lucky, you might be able to find one.”
“There are also pills. The cultivation of ancient gods requires pills, and the things they consume are far more precious than we can imagine. However, they don’t absorb 100% of the pills, so some of the remnants are stored in their bodies. Our goal this time is the Soul Transformation Pill, which can be found within the veins of ancient gods.”
Wang Qingyue’s eyes lit up as he stared at the oval ring in the sky and began to ponder.
Hunchback Meng touched the pimple on his face and said, “Six Desires, Duanmu, it won’t matter if we can’t break through that barrier, but if we do, how are we going to divide the things?”
The Six Desires Devil Sovereign looked at Wang Qingyue and said, “For the goods, everything will be shared equally, but if there is a Soul Transformation Pill, then let our expertise decide.”
Duanmu Ji laughed slyly and said, “It’s too early to talk about this matter. It won’t be too late to decide after we break this boundary.”
Hunchback Meng’s gaze fell on the young man following the Demon Lord of Six Desires. He said, “I wonder what this little friend will do to help us break through that barrier?”
The Six Desires Devil Sovereign stared at Wang Lin and said coldly, “Just like him; this person will be useful in the third trial. This person is a cultivator from the third-tier cultivation country of Tian Zhu. He is skilled in ghost techniques, which might be useful against the creatures in the third trial. I spent several years finding him.”
“So that’s how it is, hehe… the third trial. Last time, we were stopped at the third trial. I hope we can pass it this time!” Hunchback Meng smiled strangely as his gaze shifted between Wang Lin and the young man.
The Ancient Emperor, who was in front of the oval, began moving his arms faster, causing black flakes to appear like rain. His expression became serious as he closed his hands and pushed forward. Suddenly, countless black flakes shot out from the ring. They gathered and formed the shape of a dragon. The dragon let out a roar before shrinking and landing in the Ancient Emperor’s palm.
“It’s ready. Come in!” The Ancient Emperor took a deep breath. After putting the dragon away, he took out two jade bracelets. The larger one was red, while the smaller one was gray.
Holding two bracelets, the Ancient Emperor hesitated for a moment before stepping into the ring and disappearing.
Six Desire Devil Lord’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed the young man and jumped in. Wang Qingyue licked his lips and followed him.
The last two people remaining were Duanmu Ji and Hunchback Meng. After they looked at each other, they turned to Wang Lin. Without a word, Wang Lin flew into the air and stopped before the circle of light. He extended his hand to Duanmu Ji and said, “Since I’ve come to this place, I hope senior can keep his promise.”
Duanmu Ji laughed and said, “There’s no need to rush. Once we pass the third test, I’ll give it to you.”
Wang Lin looked at him coldly and didn’t say a word.
Hunchback Meng laughed slyly as he watched them. He was done observing the two of them, so he walked past Duanmu Ji and entered the ring.
Duanmu Ji stared at Wang Lin. He pondered for a moment before taking out two pills and throwing them at Wang Lin. He said, in a heavy tone, “Drink!”
Wang Lin caught them and examined them. They were indeed as Li Muwan had described. The smaller one was an Earth Transformation Pill and the larger one was a Nascent Forming Pill.
After carefully storing it, Wang Lin stepped into the ring without a word. As he entered, he felt like he was walking through a thin film.
The sight before him made him take a breath of cold air and stare at what was before him in amazement.
This place was very similar to a decaying world. It was also a place of endless darkness. The only difference was that there were countless enormous stone pillars here. These stone pillars were kept afloat by a mysterious force and were slowly moving forward.
Wang Lin stood on one of the stone pillars. The top of the pillar was 300 feet wide, and he was the only person there.
Beneath the stone pillar was an endless void.
He looked around and saw that everyone who had entered was just like him. Everyone was standing on a stone pillar alone.
From Wang Lin’s observation, he could see that Duanmu Ji, the Six Desires Demon Sovereign, Hunchback Meng, and the Ancient Emperor appeared very calm. Wang Qingyue was pondering as she looked at the tip of the pillar into the void.
Finally, there was a young man. He sat on a stone pillar, staring dumbfoundedly around with a shocked expression.
Wang Lin took a deep breath and slowly spread his divine sense. There was no force that stopped his divine sense, but considering the powerful old monsters around him, he didn’t spread it too far. He just covered the stone pillar where he was and stopped.
At this moment, the Six Desire Devil Lord’s voice rang out from afar. “There’s no danger here, as this is just a passageway. You just need to stay on the stone pillar.”
After Wang Lin heard this, he sat down and watched the stone pillars slowly move forward. He realized that no one was paying attention to him, so he reached into his shirt and touched the storage bag he had obtained at Hou Fen Union.
His divine sense entered the bag, but there was no reaction. Wang Lin was surprised, but this was not the time to test it, so he slowly pulled his right hand and looked around.
Wang Qingyue, who was looking at the edge of the stone pillar, suddenly shouted, “What is that?”
In the endless void below them, two bright lights suddenly lit up. These two lights were several feet wide. Wang Lin spread out his divine sense and discovered that they weren’t lights at all, but a pair of eyes.
Shortly after, the pair of eyes disappeared but quickly reappeared, only this time larger. Hunchback Meng walked to the edge of his pillar and looked down with a grim expression. He waved his right hand, and blue powder fell from his palm. As the blue powder descended, it released a ghostly light. The further it descended, the brighter the ghostly light became, and when it finally landed on the pair of eyes, a scene that made everyone suck in a breath of cold air occurred.
The creature below was an enormous, serpent-like creature. Its size was impossible to estimate. Based on what the dim light revealed, it was at least 10,000 feet long and at least 1,000 feet wide. Its reddish-purple body glowed in the dim light.
There were nine horns on its large head, and when it opened its mouth, the sharpness of its teeth would make anyone shiver.
Hunchback Meng’s expression turned extremely ugly as he waved his hand. The light instantly vanished, and darkness once again enveloped the area.
Hunchback Meng pondered for a moment before saying slowly, “In his weakest state, he is a desolate beast, which is equal to a late stage Soul Formation cultivator!”
Six Desire Devil Lord’s expression was grim as he said calmly, “Don’t anger him. We were able to get through safely last time, so as long as we don’t anger him, he’ll be fine.”
Just as he finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from below him. A pair of eyes widened as a foul odor washed over them.
Everyone immediately stood up. Hunchback Meng immediately took out several pills and threw them at them. He shouted, “Holding these in your mouth will prevent the poison from killing you.”
The Six Desire Devil Lord leaped up and arrived beside the young man he was carrying. He grabbed the young man, caught the pill, and quickly fled into the distance.
At the same time, Duanmu Ji looked at Wang Lin. When he saw Wang Lin’s calm expression, he hesitated for a moment before sending a voice transmission saying, “Follow me!” After that, he quickly flew into the distance.
Wang Lin caught Si Bungkung Meng’s pill, but he didn’t drink it right away. He looked around and after seeing everyone drinking it, he put it in his mouth while jumping into the air.
Everyone immediately fled by jumping from one stone pillar to the next. The pillars seemed to continue endlessly. Wang Lin remained close behind Duanmu Ji. The roars from below grew louder and louder, and the surrounding stone pillars seemed to tremble.
At this moment, one of the stone pillars behind them shattered as the snake’s head slammed into it. After the pillar shattered, the giant head emerged, revealing its cold gaze.
A fishy smell came from behind them. Wang Lin held the pill in his mouth while jumping as fast as he could behind everyone. Regarding the strangeness behind them, no one except the young man looked back. Everyone was fully focused on moving forward.
As a result, everyone was advancing at high speed. The fastest person was Wang Qingyue, who had mastered the five-elemental escape technique. This person was half-transparent and flew in a different arc than the others. He flew straight ahead, and whenever a stone pillar blocked his path, he would immediately attack it. His body would disappear upon contact with the pillar and reappear on the other side.
The snake-like beast stared coldly at the people who had leaped in front of it. After letting out a roar, it immediately raised its body, revealing its length of over 10,000 feet, and charged towards them.