Lamps hung from the stone walls of the passageway, sprinkling away the darkness with their soft light.

Shadows flickered on the walls like they always had for countless years, giving off a sensation of eternity and silence.

“Is this the world of the lotus flower?”

Toady was surprised when he arrived and curiously looked around. He even thought about breaking off one of the lamps to have a closer look.

However, he hesitated out of wariness and caution and ultimately decided against it. Hence, he could only try his best to study them with his eyes alone.

After a long time, he disappointedly said, “They’re only the most ordinary dragon oil lamps, no wonder they could keep burning till now.”

“Careful, this place is too quiet.”

Lin Xun scanned the surroundings, feeling a sliver of unexplainable nervousness as if something dangerous was hidden deep within the passageway.

He had already taken out the Broken Blade and was firmly grasping it.

Zhao Jingxuan had also taken out the Nine Dragons Cauldron. Auspicious light sprinkled from it, forming a defensive layer around her.

They advanced along the passageway.

The atmosphere was quiet, not a single sound to be heard. Although the long passageway was illuminated by the lanterns’ soft glow, the deathly silent atmosphere would make anyone shiver uncontrollably.

Not long after, a mist-like glow surfaced in the distance like the sprinkling light left in the wake of a flying immortal. It was exceptionally eye-catching in the monotonous passageway.

“This is?”

Lin Xun and the others were slightly startled. When they looked closely, they discovered a figure seated cross-legged on the ground in the glowing area. It looked very ancient in its daoist clothes and sported snow-white hair that reached all the way to the floor.

The mist-like light seemed to originate from the figure.

The figure was currently facing them. Its silver eyes seemed to burn like the sun as a terrifying aura spread from them.

Lin Xun’s and the others’ turned rigid as a chill filled their bodies. Their hearts wildly thumped while their spirits trembled uncontrollably as if on the verge of crumbling.

“Oh no!”

Toady suddenly cried out as a knife handle appeared in his hand. It released a smog of black light that spread out in front of him like a halo, blocking the aura from the figure.

The bizarre sensation instantly dissipated although Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan were still shivering in horror.

The aura from the figure had nearly killed them!

“What the hell, it’s a saint corpse!”

Toady blurted out in alarm. Although the figure's eyes were clear, it was a corpse without any life force and had been dead for countless years.

This was even all the more alarming. How strong had the saint been to be capable of preserving his body so perfectly even after death? It was so life-like and its aura could have easily killed all of them!

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

It was simply inconceivable!

How terrifying would he have been if he was alive?

“This old fellow must have been an amazing existence, and yet he ended up dying here for some reason. There are no hints of any injury on his body, which makes this seem rather strange.”

Toady mumbled to himself as his golden eyes inspected the saint corpse.

The knife handle in his hand continued to release clear black light as he spoke, and he did not dare to relax in the slightest.

“So this is a saint?”

Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan were deeply shaken.

A Life Death Stage King was already a frightening existence that they could only look up to, while a saint was an existence that stood above that!

The Saint Stage was a superior cultivation stage that could only be reached after experiencing the nine longevity tribulations. After surpassing the ordinary and entering the saint realm, it was said that a cultivator’s lifespan would become equal to heaven and earth!

The shock factor of seeing the saint corpse from the ancient era appear right before their eyes was so tremendous that no one would be able to remain calm.

“This daoist robe…seems to be made from Star Soul Silver Silk!”

Toady’s eyes glowed as his breathing grew heavy. “That’s a damn nice find. A single strand of Star Soul Silver Silk can crush a mountain and is heavier than an entire planet. I can’t believe this old fellow wove it into a daoist robe!”

Toady was practically drooling. A Star Soul Silver Silk daoist robe was a saint-level supreme treasure!

Unable to restrain himself, Toady gritted his teeth and directed the knife handle in an attempt to remove the corpse’s clothes.

However, he screamed a split second later when he was knocked away by a terrifying force, causing him to cough blood.

If the black light produced by the mystical knife handle had not helped him neutralize most of the force, then it would probably have taken his life.

Fear washed over Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan. The saint corpse was too powerful. Even after being dead for countless years, it was still akin to a god that had surpassed the limitations of mortals and could destroy anything that tried to violate its sanctity.

“Damnit, the rumors are true that saints cannot be disrespected. It is the unbreakable law of the dao. Unless you possess a similar level of power, it will be impossible to take away this treasure.”

Toady dejectedly crawled up from the ground. That was a daoist robe made from Star Soul Silver Silk! But he couldn’t take it…

Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan looked at each other.

Toady was far too greedy. He didn’t seem to care that he had nearly lost his life. Instead, he was in anguish over being unable to take the treasure. What an oddball.

“Toady, that knife handle of yours is pretty good.”

Suddenly, Lin Xun said as he stared at the knife handle. He had seen it before when he first met Toady.

The old pitch-black handle was wrapped in a bloody cloth and did not look like anything special.

However, the fact that it could block the saint corpse aura showed that it was far from ordinary.

Toady immediately became vigilant. “Don’t even think about it. This treasure is my life. It has always followed this king ever since I awakened, and if you dare to have any designs on it, I guarantee that I will stop you with my life!”

“Can you let me have a look?”

“No!”

Toady refused without any room for negotiation.

Lin Xun dropped the topic. He could tell that the knife handle was extremely important to Toady.

“Let’s hurry up and get going. Seeing this Star Soul Silver Silk Dao Robe without being able to take it away is the worst kind of torture in this world.”

Toady was still in agony.

They avoided the saint corpse and continued along the passageway.

It was not long before they came across another corpse. It was an azure lion that was as large as a bull and had fur that gleamed like silk. It also gave off a saint aura.

There was no doubt that the azure lion was also a terrifying creature from the ancient era that had reached the saint stage!

“Ruyi Scepter! That’s a peerless saint treasure!”

Toady’s eyes had turned red with desire again. He had seen a white Ruyi Scepter flowing with saint aura in the azure lion’s mouth.

However, he did not dare to try and take it this time and could only leave with a bleeding heart and heavy footsteps.

This continued for a while. As they traveled along the passageway, they would discover saint corpses from time to time. The corpses were all in pristine condition with no visible injuries to be seen, as if they had all died while meditating.

It made Lin Xun’s and Zhao Jingxuan’s scalps turn numb as their hearts churned incessantly. Why had so many saints from the ancient era died here?

What was this passageway?

On the other hand, Toady continued to howl in grief, his face filled with bitterness. He kept seeing treasure after treasure on the saint corpses, but could not take them away. As someone who viewed treasures above all, it nearly made him go crazy with frustration.

“If not for Toady’s knife handle, we would have long died before coming here…”

Lin Xun realized something as he shivered in fear.

He had originally believed that after solving the secret of the altars, they had found the special path that would lead them to a reward.

Who could have imagined that it would instead be a dangerous passageway littered with saint corpses?

“Is this a road of no return? Even saints have died here, is that…going to be our fate as well?”

Zhao Jingxuan had a grave expression.

“Bah! Don’t jinx us!”

Toady scolded, “The more dangerous a place, the more unimaginable the prize at the end. Just because these saints died here doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to leave alive. Moreover, this king is certain that the reward is still here and hasn’t been taken away.”

Lin Xun did not believe Toady’s speculation. He turned around only to discover in shock that the passageway they had come from had disappeared!

There was nothing there but darkness. Even the saint corpses were nowhere to be seen, let alone the path.

“We can’t even turn back…”

Lin Xun’s voice was filled with agony as his heart thudded in fear. Although there seemed to be no direct danger, the passageway was far too bizarre and ominous. To think that something so crazy had happened without any of them noticing!

Zhao Jingxuan’s expression changed slightly, also alarmed and frightened by the discovery.

“Since there’s no way back, we’ll have to keep walking forward!”

Toady gritted his teeth with a resolved expression. “Only forty-nine of the fifty daos can be derived in the world. We’re walking the path of the only unknown dao which is also the only path of life. There must be a way to escape!”

“That's all we can do.”

Lin Xun took a deep breath and suppressed his loudly thumping heart.

After they continued to move, Lin Xun began carefully observing the path behind them. Sure enough, he found that the path would disappear into darkness shortly after they left.

It felt as if a giant invisible hand was noiselessly erasing the path behind them. It was indescribably bizarre.

The only silver lining was that they had yet to encounter any danger.

Of course, if not for Toady’s mysterious knife handle, the saint corpses would have made it impossible to advance!

The saint corpses’ auras were too powerful and frightening and could probably destroy anything they wished.

How terrifying were such individuals when they were alive? Even after being dead for so long, the auras they left were still so outrageously powerful and frightening.

“A door!”

Toady suddenly cried out in surprise and happiness, realizing that they had reached the end of the passageway.

There was indeed a tightly shut arched stone door that gave off an ancient and worldly aura.

There was another saint corpse in front of the door. It was a monk dressed in white who was seated at the side of the door with his back bent over, facing the floor, and his right hand on the ground.

On the ground, his finger had left a single sentence―

“It originates from here, but is also destroyed here. If the time is not right, nothing can be done!”