Chapter 2207 - An Undying Dao Weapon

“Vice Palace Master, what do we do now?” Qian Hu frantically transmitted.

Huang Changting snorted coldly. “What’s there to panic about? There’s no way they’d dare kill and silence us all. They wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences of that!”

Although he said this, he wasn’t at all confident.

“One.” Nie Wuxiu began the countdown.

“I’m going to test it. Let’s see if transmission talismans really don’t work!” said Huang Changting. He raised his right hand, and a talisman floated into the air.

But the results made his heart sink. Nie Wuxiu wasn’t the least bit nervous. On the contrary, he looked at Huang Changting like he was an idiot.

Crunch!

Huang Changting gnashed his teeth and shattered the talisman.

An arc of divine radiance took to the skies, but when it reached the dark clouds hovering beneath the dome of heaven, strange lightning of the natural order manifested and shattered it to bits!

“This...” Huang Changting’s face paled. This time, he really panicked.

“We got here a long time ago,” said Nie Wuxiu. “But when we tried to leave, we ran into trouble.”

“Trouble?” Huang Changting frowned. “What kind of trouble?”

“These black plains are a forbidden zone. Those who enter cannot leave. It looks as if you can leave from any direction, but in truth, space is twisted and contorted all around us. No matter which direction we tried to leave from, we wound up right back where we started.”

“It’s like those stories mortals tell of ghosts building walls in their path. We’re just going in circles. No one can leave unless they find the true path to life,” said Nie Wuxiu. He paused, then added, “We requested aid too, but our message was similarly intercepted. There’s no way to contact the outside world.”

Huang Changting and the others’ hearts sank. Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that the “good fortune” the Grand Dao Heaven-Guiding Compass had directed them to would turn out to be an utterly perilous forbidden zone!

What were they supposed to do?

Their hearts were tied up in knots.

“Two.”

Niu Wuxiu resumed the countdown, his face expressionless. “Since we’re all stuck here, you ought to understand that we really can kill you without fear of consequences.”

“But that temple obviously leads to certain doom! Just now, one of our deacons met with disaster there. How is sending us to investigate any different from sending us to our deaths?” Qian Hu roared in fury.

These Red Dust Demon Lands bastards are just too despicable. They’re completely shameless!

“No, I predict that the temple is the key to leaving these barren black plains,” said Nie Wuxiu. “Of course, it’s precisely because the temple is so strange and dangerous that I’ve decided to send you in first. Otherwise, your help would be entirely unnecessary.”

Huang Changting and the others’ expressions darkened. Their lungs threatened to burst from sheer fury.

Chu Bi sighed to herself.

When Vice Palace Master Huang forced Deacon Xiao to investigate that temple, I bet he had no idea that he’d soon find himself in the same position.

“Come on, let’s go have a look at that temple!” Huang Changting gnashed his teeth and made up his mind.

The Red Dust Demon Lands’ camp had Nie Wuxiu, a Greater God, to oversee things. He was accompanied by around a dozen other demon gods.

The disparity was enormous. Open conflict would be no different from suicide.

Exploring the temple was dangerous, but they might well manage to find a path to life!

“A wise choice.” Niue Wuxiu said approvingly.

However, to Huang Changting and the others, it sounded like blatant mockery.

They drew nearer to the temple, but then, Huang Changting stopped not far away. He said warmly, “Chu Bi, didn’t you say you wanted to rescue Deacon Xiao? Now’s your chance. Take Hou Yu and Zhou Jia and work together to destroy that copper bell. Deacon Qian Hu and I will watch over you!”

Chu Bi and the other two Wandering Night Gods were instantly frantic and flustered.

“Vice Palace Master, we...” Chu Bi opened up her mouth to object.

But Huang Changting just frowned and chastised her. “Rest assured. So long as I’m here, I promise not to let you die in vain!”

Chu Bi, Hou Yu, and Zhou Jia were overcome with grief and indignation. Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that they’d be used as cannon fodder, too.

“Be quick about it!” urged Qian Hu. “If you disobey, you’ll infuriate the vice palace master. He won’t let you off lightly!”

In the end, the three of them dared not disobey. All they could do was steel themselves and proceed toward the temple.

The three of them drew their treasures and readied themselves for battle, but just as they were about to attack the bell hanging over the gate, an ear-splitting ring filled the air.

Clang!!

The tightly shut temple door suddenly came to life, like a whirlpool or a black hole with a terrifying suction. The three of them couldn’t even react before they were swept uncontrollably into the temple.

“No——!”

“Save us, Vice Palace Master!!”

...Before their desperate cries had even finished echoing through the air, the three of them vanished.

The sound of the bell faded, and soon, the temple gates were just as they’d been before.

Huang Changting and Qian Hu saw the whole thing. They broke out in cold sweats, and goosebumps rose all over their skin.

This place is seriously just too sinister!!

Further away, Nie Wuxiu and his companions from the Red Dust Demon Lands were startled too.

“Vice Palace Master, we should just run,” transmitted Qian Hu. “We can’t believe anything those Red Dust Demon Lands guys say. I’m sure there’s another way out of these barren black plains!”

He was so scared that chills coursed down his spine. He didn’t want to spend any more time near that strange Daoist temple.

“If you run, you’ll be the first one Nie Wuxiu and the others kill,” transmitted Huang Changting. “Go have a look around the temple. See if there’s another way in.”

“Me?” Qian Hu was stunned.

“What, are you going to refuse my orders?” Huang Changting furrowed his brow.

The temple really was strange. It was shrouded by some sort of invisible power. Not even their divine senses could uncover any of its mysteries.

“I...” Qian Hu’s expression shifted erratically, but in the end, he gnashed his teeth and said, “I’ll go!”

Huang Changting patted him on the shoulder. “If we get out of this alive, I’ll be sure to request recognition of your merits!”

Qian Hu wanted to cry, but he squeezed out a smile. “Then I’ll really have to thank you, Vice Palace Master!”

He was just about to take action when the tightly shut temple doors silently swung open!

The mellow light of a lamp was visible from beyond the doorway. A large, fair hand held it upright. It belonged to none other than Xiao Jian!

Huang Changting and Qian Hu’s eyes widened in shock, and they were rooted to the spot.

He isn’t dead!?

Off in the distance, Nie Wuxiu and the others looked startled, and their eyes lit up. All of them looked eager.

Su Yi stood in the doorway, holding a copper lamp aloft. Its gentle glow bathed his snow-white robes in yellow light, and he flickered in and out of view.

“Don’t just stand there, you two. Come on in,” said Su Yi.

“Haha, hahaha, your fortune is indeed as grand as the heavens themselves, Deacon Xiao. I just knew that nothing had happened to you!” Qian Hu burst into mad, uproarious laughter.

Huang Changting furrowed his brow. He could sense that something was amiss. “Deacon Xiao, isn’t it... dangerous in there?”

“Yes,” said Su Yi. “But if you don’t act recklessly, you won’t run into any trouble.”

“What about Chu Bi and the others?” asked Huang Changting.

Su Yi said casually, “They were startled earlier, and they’re still resentful. They weren’t willing to come with me to welcome you.”

Huang Changting was instantly a bit uncomfortable. It was true; he’d behaved far too cruelly earlier.

“Huang Changting, tell that kid to come out!” Nie Wuxiu and his companions shot over with fierce bluster. All of them gazed intently at Su Yi.

“That’s right! Come out, Xiao Jian!” Huang Changting said gravely. He could sense that something wasn’t right about Xiao Jian!

“You still don’t get it? Are you seriously that stupid? If I go out now, they’re sure to attack me immediately,” sighed Su Yi. “Huang Changting, surely you realize that if you and Qian Hu want to live, your only hope is to follow me into the temple?”

Su Yi’s blatantly rude rebuke made Huang Changting glower. He found it hard to bear.

But Su Yi’s words did knock some sense into him, and he promptly led Qian Hu straight into the temple.

“Want to run? There’s no way!” Nie Wuxiu bellowed, then swung his fist and tried to intercept them.

Clang!!

The ear-splitting chime of a bell rang out. Nie Wuxiu and the others shook from head to toe. All of them felt a rending pain in their souls.

Meanwhile, Huang Changting and Qian Hu seized the opportunity to flee into the temple.

“Consider yourselves fortunate.” Su Yi glanced calmly at Nie Wuxiu and the others, then shut the temple door behind him.

“It seems that kid has figured out how to control that run-down temple’s power!” Nie Wuxiu said gravely.

“What should we do, Elder?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

Nie Wuxiu gnashed his teeth. “We’ll watch and wait here. We have nowhere else to go anyway, and I’ll be interested to see if they can really make it out of here!”

......

Within the Daoist temple.

Pieces of a divine statue lay strewn across the ground. The temple interior was desolate and bleak.

The altar at the center of the temple had split. They were only dimly discernible, but there were still traces of numerous strange and mystical markings all over its surface.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Chu Bi, Hou Yu, and Zhou Jia stood near the broken altar. When they saw Huang Changting and Qian Hu, a massive weight lifted from their shoulders. They felt as if they’d survived a close brush with death.

“You’ve done well this time, Deacon Xiao!” praised Huang Changting. “If not for you, I’m afraid we’d have fallen prey to those Red Dust Demon Lands bastards a long time ago.”

Su Yi chuckled. “So long as I’m here, I won’t let you die by their hands.”

Huang Changting’s eyes flashed, and he gestured to the lamp in Su Yi’s hands. “Don’t tell me that treasure is the key to controlling the temple?”

“That’s right.” Su Yi inclined his head. “This is an Undying Realm treasure. It’s been here for a long, long time. It’s imbued with Undying source power, and it’s extraordinarily wondrous.”

An Undying Realm treasure!

The group’s hearts shook. All of them gasped.

That’s a true Undying Realm treasure! Only Master Gods can refine them!

“You really are blessed with good fortune, Deacon Xiao,” said Qian Hu. The depths of his gaze glinted with irrepressible greed.

If I’d been the first to enter the temple instead, I’d’ve been the first to get my hands on that Undying treasure!

“Might I have a look at that treasure, Deacon Xiao?” Huang Changting asked with a smile, his gaze heated.

The others’ expressions shifted subtly.