Chapter 981: Abandoned Primal God Temple

The black wasteland stretched endlessly in all directions. Rivers of magma roared and surged without end. Ancient altars, surrounded by scattered bones, stood solemnly across the desolate land.

Li Xiaofei rode atop the bone dragon, tirelessly searching for the Evolution Temple.

Where exactly is it?

Li Xiaofei continued to encounter hundreds of waves of black monsters, varying greatly in form. Some had massive ox-like shoulders, and others the heads of bulls with the bodies of apes. There were wolf-headed pythons, two-headed one-eyed giants, and even swarms of mutated rats...

Each time they appeared, they numbered in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. They swarmed him like locusts, and each time, Li Xiaofei slaughtered them to the last. Then, within just a few minutes, their bodies, bones, and flesh dissolved into blood, seeping back into the black soil of the wasteland.

"These aren’t fierce beasts; they’re not Reapers; and they aren’t Void Beasts either... They’re more like parasites born of this wasteland itself..."

Li Xiaofei still had no idea where these monsters were coming from. Eventually, he decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he focused on using each battle to further hone his control over the Heart of Guardianship, constantly improving his combat experience.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

"It really feels like I’m stuck in a dungeon instance," he muttered with some frustration.

The presence of ancient altars suggested that intelligent beings had once existed here, yet all he encountered were bizarre, savage beasts. There was nothing but endless slaughter, with no possibility of communication.

"Since it was Sword Immortal Lin who sent me here, then the Evolution Temple must be somewhere on this wasteland. I followed the cave passage straight through without encountering any forks or splits, so it’s impossible that I went the wrong way...

"Which means—I need to be patient. I have to keep searching."

Sensing that his mood was becoming increasingly agitated, Li Xiaofei repeatedly reminded himself to stay calm and focused. He had lost count of how many monsters he had slain by now.

That day, after slaying several thousand landbound bat beasts, Li Xiaofei stepped onto a ridge. As he gazed into the distance, joy suddenly lit up his face.

"Is that... a temple?" exclaimed Li Xiaofei. He saw, far out on the wasteland, a towering cluster of ancient buildings. Majestic and imposing, they were clearly no ordinary dwellings.

The Evolution Temple. He had finally found it. Overjoyed, Li Xiaofei let out a sharp whistle and leaped from the ridge, sprinting at full speed toward the structures. The undead bone dragon followed closely behind.

A few dozen seconds later, they reached the palace complex. A vast array of rusted iron fences surrounded the entire compound. Though these fences appeared corroded and on the verge of collapse, they were unbelievably solid. Strange energy fluctuations radiated from them, preventing Li Xiaofei and the bone dragon from destroying, crossing, or leaping over them.

Left with no choice, he circled the perimeter in search of an entrance. Sure enough, he soon found a single gate. The iron door of the gate was carved with a rose pattern and stood slightly ajar. The undead bone dragon stepped forward and gave it a gentle push.

The door creaked open. Li Xiaofei frowned. The moment the gate opened, a rank, ancient stench of decay wafted out from within. It felt as though beyond that door lay not a palace filled with intelligent life, but a land of the dead.

The scent carried the unmistakable aura of danger and death, but Li Xiaofei knew he had to enter and investigate. He summoned the Heart of Guardianship, which transformed into three motes of light, gold, silver, and black that circled protectively around him. He also reminded the bone dragon to stay alert before stepping through the gate.

As he crossed the threshold, nothing unusual occurred. There were no formations like those found within a minor world. However, the stench of rot and death grew even stronger. The ground inside was covered with faint yellowish soil. It was damp, as if rain had just fallen, and there were subtle traces of greenery.

Li Xiaofei examined the ground closely. He noticed that tiny pale brown sprouts were poking through the soil. Though they emitted faint traces of life, they had already been tainted and had no hope of growing further.

A thin mist lingered in the air. A stone path appeared, stretching toward the distant palace structures. No monsters emerged from the surroundings. The silence was unnerving.

Yet Li Xiaofei’s instincts told him that this place was hundreds of times more dangerous than what lay on the other side of the iron fence. He moved cautiously forward. Eventually, he arrived safely in front of the first palace.

The palace had a hint of medieval Gothic style to it. Black stone walls and panes of black, blue, and red glass adorned the building, giving it an air of solemnity and splendor. Yet the signs of decay that could not be hidden lent an eerie aura to the entire structure.

Is this really the Evolution Temple?

Li Xiaofei began to suspect that his earlier assumptions might have been wrong.

How could a place as crucial to the Reapers as the Evolution Temple be left in such a desolate and ruined state?

Moreover, there didn’t appear to be anyone guarding it at all. The main gate of the palace stood wide open. Li Xiaofei stepped inside. The interior was dimly lit. But fortunately, the light was natural, without any unsettling anomalies. With his enhanced eyesight, Li Xiaofei could instantly take in the entire grand hall at a glance.

Six massive pillars, each requiring three men to encircle, supported the dome of the hall. The ceiling, made of pale stained glass, allowed light to faintly pass through. The patterns on it were quite beautiful, and gazing up at them felt as though one were looking down upon the stars.

A stone walkway led straight from the entrance to the deepest part of the hall. On either side of the path stood twenty rows of long benches, each able to seat ten people in a single line.

The layout resembled that of a cathedral. A few ‘people’ sat scattered along the benches. Their clothing was simple and ancient. The linen cloaks they wore had mostly rotted away, revealing metal armor beneath.

But the wearers of that armor had long been dead. The scent of death and decay flowed from their bodies. They were all corpses. Li Xiaofei had witnessed such scenes far too many times to be disturbed. He walked forward to examine them more closely.

“They were all Reapers,” muttered Li Xiaofei.

These lifeless corpses belonged to the Wisdom Faction of the Reapers. Moreover, they were from the ancient generation of that faction. They retained the original forms of early Reapers; some had crab-like heads, others the heads of octopuses, and some bore rodent features.

It was identical to the descriptions of the intelligent Reapers from the era before they assumed human forms.

“It looks like they were wounded in battle, returned to this temple, offered their prayers, and then died quietly afterward. But if this place was a temple belonging to the Reaper faction, wouldn’t their bodies have been properly collected and buried after death?

“Why were their corpses left to petrify here, without being laid to rest?” Li Xiaofei studied the scene carefully, puzzled.

There were twenty-six corpses in total, all dressed in identical uniforms and armor. It was clear they had belonged to a formally organized combat unit. The entire squad had perished. No one had come afterward to collect them.

Could it be that these Reaper warriors had been the last garrison stationed here?

Li Xiaofei proceeded deeper into the great hall. There appeared to have been a statue once enshrined at the back but it had been destroyed. Fragments of stone lay scattered across the ground, too shattered to make out what the statue had originally looked like. Aside from that, there was nothing else.

Li Xiaofei exited through a side door on the left side of the hall. Following a corridor built of black stone, he walked about twenty meters forward, turned left, and arrived in a wide open space.

“This is...” A look of astonishment appeared on Li Xiaofei’s face.