novelraw Chapter 801 - 795: Endless Corridor, Candle Jiuyin
Chapter 801 - 795: Endless Corridor, Candle Jiuyin
"It seems it’s still the same as always!"
Jia Ren surveyed the scene, where remnants of magical battles left scorched earth and craters everywhere, with dark brown soil and an enduring scent of blood.
White bones and severed limbs were an unchanging sight, visible everywhere.
Upon the skeletal remains perched black ravens picking at rotting flesh, and emaciated black wolves chewing bones, indulging in their own Taotie feast.
They mostly roamed alone; whenever encountering another creature, it would surely explode into a relentless battle.
Even though their powers were unequal, knowing it might be a fight to the death.
The creatures of this sinful land had destinies beyond their control, merely puppets on strings, entertaining unknown entities with their deaths.
Being part of Donghua Immortal Domain, the stark contrast between tranquility and total destruction was evident.
Jia Ren sensed a few carrion crows nearing, disappearing before they could reach him.
A cup of tea later, he arrived at the abandoned ancient temple.
The temple had been deserted for who knows how long, located in a cold, damp area with lingering chills.
The temple was in disrepair, with indistinct idols, the most striking of which had slightly upturned lips, giving a sense of a smile yet not a smile.
Jia Ren didn’t rush inside the temple, releasing his senses to confirm the inside conditions.
The other two areas were no good either, even if this place was slightly better, it wouldn’t be much better.
While observing the inside, he took out the Corpse God Mysterious Bell from the Na Xian Bag, releasing Mou Zongxian.
The abandoned temple showed no changes or abnormalities.
The Linghuan True Heart and Heavenly Secrets Calculation showed no abnormalities; the situation wasn’t irreparable.
"Go!"
A Tian Shang Bao Yuan Avatar emerged, entering the temple, and moved the stone idol aside, revealing a black passageway winding downward.
This place connects to the underground, with a damp cold breeze wafting from below, carrying an unpleasant moldy smell.
This passage is passable!
The Tian Shang Bao Yuan Avatar uncompromisingly plunged into it.
Before him lay endless darkness, without a hint of light.
The Tian Shang Bao Yuan Avatar continued down the stone steps.
His golden eyes lit up, providing a faint glow.
Bronze serpent-formed oil lamps hung on the walls, with identical lamps every ten feet.
Whenever the Avatar approached, the orange light flickered on, driving away the darkness.
Under the mottled lamp light, the stone walls outlined archaic murals, seemingly deliberately damaged, rendering them indistinguishable.
After scrutinizing them for a long time, their meaning remained unclear.
The Tian Shang Bao Yuan Avatar quickened his pace, feeling a draft from a nearby opening, and found the connected region.
He proceeded along this path, leaving behind the long mural corridor, through broken openings, to behold the massive palace ruins.
This was the region seen from a divine-human perspective.
Found it!
Upon confirming no danger, Jia Ren hastened his pace into the temple.
Everything was normal.
Jia Ren stepped over the idol, entering the underground corridor.
After he left, the idol’s lips curled widely upward, giving a sense of life.
Following the steps downward, he felt no trace of light, with bronze serpent-formed lamps feeling icily cold, not seeming ever lit.
Though they entered the same passage, it felt like they were in different worlds.
The Tian Shang Bao Yuan Avatar glanced back, the oil lamp lights still bright, forming a continuous trail.
Yet Jia Ren’s path was utterly dark, unable to see beyond an inch.
Even the eyes of a Taiyi Jade Immortal were suppressed by invisible power, making the scene especially bizarre.
Jia Ren resisted risking further, turning to return.
The entrance vanished, erasing any retreat.
"Flame!"
A flame ignited in Jia Ren’s palm, turning into a fire to dispel the darkness.
A strange scene occurred.
Though flame soared in his palm, with heat palpable, no light was visible, still captured by darkness.
Meanwhile, the sound of countless movements emerged from the darkness, like slithering serpents crawling forth.
The sound intensified, drawing near from afar.
Jia Ren’s expression turned icy, Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force flowing, coating his eyes to purge the dark infiltration.
Simultaneously, a shield formed from Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force guarded externally.
A shroud of pitch black over his vision rapidly receded, restoring normalcy swiftly, with flame in his palm.
Despite this, his eyes remained affected by the dark power here, incapable of viewing external objects.
Thankfully, everything returned to normal.
"Not a bizarre contamination?"
Jia Ren initially thought Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force could eradicate this power but realized upon closer feel, it wasn’t a bizarre power.
Fortunately, Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force could transform into other forces, easily solving the problem.
Hiss!
A black serpent with a swirling singular eye flew forth, repeatedly striking the Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force shield around him.
Smack!
The serpent collided with the shield, its body like ink, dissolving into black liquid, corroding the shield turned by Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force.
The color of the Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force was changing at an astonishing speed, and at some point, it turned into black liquid, its flowing power completely consistent.
The corrosive shield’s power was unable to cause the slightest harm to the shield of the same origin.
Black serpents, seemingly devoid of reason, continuously came to meet their deaths.
Jia Ren realized something was amiss, a gray flame appeared in his palm, transforming into a gray flame dragon and descended upon the serpent king.
With the augmentation of the Flame Principle, the power of the gray flame surged dramatically, terrifyingly dissolving the corridors under the blaze, with each black serpent becoming fuel for the flames.
The flowing black liquid sensed danger and transformed into a giant serpent, a hundred times larger, its enormous vortexed single eye emitting a peculiar magical power.
Waves, invisible to the naked eye, spread in all directions, falling upon Jia Ren.
The shield formed by the Heavenly Treasured Path Celestial Force radiated light, and the dizziness that just ascended vanished immediately.
The gray flame ignited the giant serpent, and with the giant serpent’s hiss, it was utterly annihilated.
The flames illuminated the melted black gallery, occupying the domain of darkness.
In the distance, many more one-eyed black serpents were rushing over, as this was a snake lair.
The gray flame advanced unimpeded, reducing them all to ashes.
Jia Ren instinctively quickened his pace, arriving at the exit position where the Heavenly Merchant Treasure Yuan Avatar stood.
Looking ahead, there were only solid walls, with no exit in sight.
He synchronized with the avatar, confirming this was the place where the Heavenly Merchant Treasure Yuan Avatar stood.
Sibilant noises sounded again in the distance, as black serpents pursued.
"That’s not right, I clearly cleared them out!"
Jia Ren subtly furrowed his brow; seemingly realizing something, he turned to look back.
Behind him, an earth-shattering change had taken place; the melted black serpents and walls returned to normal, appearing as they did when he first stepped into this dark gallery.
Countless intertwined one-eyed black serpents attacked, with darkness advancing, yet were ignited by the rising gray flames.
Another one-eyed giant serpent appeared, quickly melting.
The Xuantian Suppressing Immortal Demon Tower Mark on Jia Ren’s forehead emerged, instantly absorbing all the black serpents within.
A barely noticeable sensation flashed by, and upon close inspection, he found himself back in place.
The destroyed corridor returned to normal, and the slain black serpents were restored as before, with the darkness sent into the Xuantian Suppressing Immortal Demon Tower disappearing completely.
He was trapped in an endless corridor, perpetually in a cyclical loop, unable to escape.
Not daring to slacken even a little, as he was unsure if being killed by the one-eyed black serpents would reset the cycle.
"Candle Abyss Demon Pupil!"
Jia Ren’s left eye shone crimson, and his right eye was pitch black, with strange Power of Laws flowing in his pupils.
The space seemed to ripple like water, as if invisible forces were confronting each other.
The two forces were similar, both... the Power of Time!
Buzz!
The snake-headed long lamps hanging on the walls trembled incessantly, then fell silent, becoming ordinary mundane objects.
A body, illusory and cyclopean, of a phantom serpent emerged, its form somewhat resembling the previous one-eyed giant snake, yet possessing noticeable differences.
"Candle Jiuyin?"
This was indeed a remnant soul of a Candle Jiuyin; after it was destroyed, the black lamps where it resided collapsed, exposing its true form.
"How is this possible?"
"How can you command the Power of Time?"
The eye of the Candle Jiuyin Demon Soul conveyed disbelief, unable to accept the scene.
The remnant soul, ethereal and flickering, resembled a candle flame on the verge of being extinguished.
As a remnant soul, it had no power to contend with Jia Ren, and the collision of two different Powers of Time brought it to the brink of annihilation.
Without the influence of Candle Jiuyin’s endless corridor, everything finally returned to normal.
"What lies beyond here? Who assigned you to guard this place?"
In this rare opportunity to communicate with a target, it could not be missed.
Jia Ren had a hunch that there was an incredible secret hidden here.
The single eye of the Candle Jiuyin remnant soul stared intently at Jia Ren, bursting into laughter: "This is a forbidden land."
"Concealing lost secrets."
"Are you sure you want to proceed?"
"You’ve dismantled the endless corridor, those people will soon find out, best of luck to you!"
The remnant soul of Candle Jiuyin reached the brink of collapse, eventually disappearing from the world.
A forbidden land?
Does it hide many secrets within?
Was the Candle Jiuyin remnant soul’s last warning a cautionary alert?
Leave? Or continue to open the Heaven Repository?
Two thoughts flashed by, and he chose the latter.
Jia Ren hurriedly quickened his pace, passing through the corridor, finally glimpsing the Heavenly Merchant Treasure Yuan Avatar and corresponding entrance.
The Heavenly Merchant Treasure Yuan Avatar seemed normal, yet was caught in the same loop, as the gap leading to the palace ruins was near at hand, entering it only returned him to the starting point.
After the demise of the Candle Jiuyin Demon Soul, the avatar finally returned to normal.
Jia Ren tossed the Corpse God Mysterious Bell to the avatar, arranging the Formation to guard this place.
If an intruder is encountered, Mou Zongxian can be summoned immediately to counter strong enemies.
Using this opportunity, he would quickly open the Heaven Repository, breaking through the Fourth Mystical Barrier By Strength, Prove the Dao.
At that time, he would face the Daluo Golden Immortal without fear.
Even against the Dao Ancestor, he would no longer be utterly powerless.