novelraw Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Before the statue stood a small stone platform.
On top of it lay a stone book. Wang Yu approached it with some anticipation, only to find that the book was blank. There were faint traces of characters on its surface, but they had long since faded.
He could barely make out four or five character imprints, yet they belonged to some ancient script imbued with mysterious power—one he could not recognize.
“So that’s how it is. What Jin Miaoshan took away must have been this thing.”
After weighing the stone book and finding no abnormalities, Wang Yu tucked it carefully into his robe.
His true essence and divine sense were both sealed, and his blood energy and storage pouch could not be accessed. He could only carry it with him for now.
Circling around the statue once, he found nothing more. He tried to move the statue with all his divine strength, but could not shake it even slightly. Shrugging, he decided to leave.
There were still three other passages—three directions to explore—so there was no need to linger here.
However, he still had doubts. If Jin Miaoshan had indeed obtained the inheritance here, then why was there no pit leading directly to the surface?
Like the deep crater he saw earlier in the killing grounds—such marks were left behind by the descent of the inheritance light pillar.“Unless the two locations are not on the same spatial level?”
With that speculation, Wang Yu recalled the information provided by Golden Abundance Tower regarding the Eastern Extreme Capital. The palace occupied half of the city, yet in reality, it only manifested as a small estate of about five hundred mu.
It was highly possible that an expanded space or a hidden secret realm existed within—a deep-layered place unseen to outsiders. Such reasoning aligned well with the common understanding of this world.
The Jingzhao Town Suppressing Evil Prison might also be such a semi-open, expanded spatial structure.
He had found traces of Asura—but what about Rakshasa?
The secrets of this pair of ancient enemies were deeply fascinating. Tracing the shadows of antiquity would help Wang Yu uncover the truth of this world.
This thirst for exploration stemmed from memories of his previous life—or perhaps, from a sense of insecurity that had followed him ever since.
Throughout the two Domains, countless ancient demons lay buried and sealed away.
“Life, Desire, Blood, Slaughter…”—these four alone. Add to them the deadly natural barrier of the Endless Icefield, and the demonic beast abyss surrounding the Chaotic Ancient Sea.
Though vast, this world contained only the Taihu Spiritual and Crimson Kite Demonic Domain of the two realms.
Extinct Buddhist paths, lost Ancient Eras, Fallen Immortal Dynasties of antiquity, and legends of lower-realm immortals—all these fragments together made this world seem like a place exiled from the greater heavens, a prison adrift outside reality.
The ancient demons buried beneath were like dormant nuclear bombs, ready to erupt without warning.
This ever-present sense of danger stirred in Wang Yu—a man once born into a safe society in his previous life—a deep urgency and drive for survival.
Perhaps this was why, even after becoming a Spirit Slave, he constantly sought opportunities, daring to take risks and embrace change.
His personality had transformed drastically from before.
At some point, his desire to explore historical mysteries had become almost instinctive—a hunger born of inner unease.
Of course, it was still too early to think deeply about such things. For now, power was what he needed most to ensure his survival.
Leaving the eastern passage, Wang Yu entered the northern one. The restrictive seals here were the second most damaged, their power nearly gone.
Crossing another long, identical corridor, he reached a chamber reeking of decay—an ancient torture room filled with instruments once used by the Immortal Dynasty to torment criminals.
Wang Yu approached a perfectly fitted stone bench. At its center was a black-gray spike, at least five feet long. Anyone who sat upon it…
“Ugh.”
Just imagining it sent chills down his spine.
He touched the edge of the torture device and gently pinched. It instantly crumbled into dust. The decay of time had surpassed imagination; if exposed to the surface, it would have turned to ash in moments.
Learning from the strange ingenuity of the ancients, he continued to wander around.
Still, Wang Yu found nothing useful. But he did discover a base frame meant for storing swords and blades. It radiated faint killing intent. Though the weapons had been taken, even the base was extraordinary.
He picked it up, considering it his only gain from this exploration.
He felt like he was scavenging scraps.
Leaving the passage, he proceeded to the western one. Though much of its restrictions were damaged, some still retained integrity, though their power had greatly diminished since they were first laid.
Upon entering, Wang Yu deliberately triggered a broken restriction sigil.
A blood-red sword light, no longer than a pinky finger, shot from behind him.
“Clink.”
It struck him harmlessly, leaving only an itchy sensation. Its strength was barely that of an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator—pathetically weak.
The seniors of old had already cleared the dangerous path. What remained could not threaten him, or even hinder an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator.
At the end of the western passage lay a storage room.
It was completely clean and empty, clearly looted. Footprints covered the floor.
It seemed multiple groups had already passed through. Though he gained nothing, Wang Yu did not feel disheartened. There was still one last southern passage.
From his observation, the restrictions there were entirely intact, as if no one had ever stepped foot inside.
When he arrived at the entrance, he grew cautious.
Perhaps this was the place Jin Miaoshan and the others had not yet explored.
Wang Yu took a step forward.
The entire passageway seemed to be shrouded in blood fiend energy and murderous intent. A dense scarlet mist blocked the way ahead, so thick it nearly turned solid. Wang Yu halted, then withdrew the left foot he had just lifted to step forward.
In that very instant, the surging blood mist vanished as if it had been nothing more than an illusion.
“A mind illusion barrier…”
He roughly grasped the nature of the restriction. No wonder no one had managed to break through it.
Because of the southern passage’s integrated structure, it was nearly impossible to observe the restriction patterns clearly from the outside. Attempting to break it from a distance would likely fail and lead to unpredictable consequences.
Yet once one stepped inside, they would immediately be drawn into a mind illusion, unable to perceive the restriction’s patterns unless they first broke the illusion.
But once the illusion itself was shattered, what difference would it make whether the restriction still existed or not? It would be better to leave it as it was, creating an obstacle for those who came later.
That was perhaps the very reason why the southern passage had remained intact to this day.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Yu still decided to take the risk. After all, from what he could see, there were no corpses inside, meaning the chance of instant death was low.
He stepped fully into the passage.
When the bloody mist surged toward him, Wang Yu did not attempt to dodge. He allowed the red fog to engulf his body completely. In the next moment, heaven and earth shifted, and he found himself drawn into a mind illusion realm.
This place was an iron-blooded city filled with a chilling atmosphere of killing intent. There were no civilians on the streets, only armored soldiers carrying weapons.
And he... was still a prisoner.
Nor was he the only one. At the moment, he stood among a long line of chained prisoners, flanked on both sides by fierce-looking soldiers whose cold gazes made escape impossible.
The line of prisoners slowly advanced. Wang Yu glanced around curiously.
This mind illusion was utterly real.
He could feel the wind, smell the stench of the prisoners’ bodies, and when his tongue touched his lips, he could even taste the metallic tang of blood.
It was completely different from the illusion created by the Taiyin Nether Eyes, which controlled emotions. The two were built upon entirely different foundations—two separate paths within the Way of Illusion.
“No...”
Wang Yu murmured inwardly.
“These are two different roads, different evolutions after obtaining illusion power… for example: the Mind.”
The Path of Mind.
In this world’s cultivation inheritance, it was exceptionally rare. It was the only mystical power that did not require Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cultivate.
Not only did it demand immense talent (unrelated to Spiritual Roots), but also certain innate traits. Only sentient beings capable of self-awareness could learn it.
The mind could grant a powerful will; conversely, a powerful will could also forge an indomitable mind. The two were inseparable—two sides of the same coin.
Its relationship with soul and divine sense was very similar.
The commonly spoken Dao Heart among cultivators was also part of the mind, yet Dao Heart could only affect oneself. When the Path of Mind reached a certain level, it could influence reality itself and affect others as well.
It could even summon miraculous powers—turning the impossible into possible.
All of this was part of Wang Yu’s knowledge from his extensive reading. His Idle Slot possessed an extraordinarily strong ability to memorize pure information.
He did not need to comprehend or internalize it—mere memorization was enough.
Especially in the Scripture Hall of the Blood Reversal Sect, where he had once searched for demonic methods that could improve his Wasted Spiritual Roots. He had read nearly a quarter of the entire collection.
That was a sect with a ten-thousand-year history.
The vast historical records alone had greatly broadened Wang Yu’s understanding. Now, faced with a mind illusion, he was able to identify it at once.
Combining the clues of this place, Wang Yu subconsciously deduced that the so-called “Asura Slaughter Sacred Scripture” was most likely a supreme-level cultivation manual directly aimed at the Spirit Transformation Stage and the power of the mind.
Its rarity and value were immeasurable—it might very well be unique in this entire world.
Like the pure Body-refining or Soul-refining arts, it could be cultivated alongside other methods without hindering one’s main cultivation path. In fact, it might even serve as a powerful aid.
That was perhaps why Jin Miaoshan had chosen to cultivate the Asura Slaughter Sacred Scripture. Even within Golden Abundance Tower, there was no other mental cultivation technique of such high grade.
“A tremendous opportunity… yet one I cannot grasp. Even if I obtained it, it would only bring calamity. I might not even have the qualification to cultivate it.”
Wang Yu sighed softly.
His Ancient Soul Art represented Spirit, his Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon Technique represented Essence, and his Heavenly Cold Yin Blood Technique represented Qi.
They seemed unrelated, yet all served one goal—
to condense the Golden Core.
This stage presented an even greater challenge to the unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit than Foundation Establishment. It was harder to achieve by far.
Therefore, if Wang Yu could attain third-rank divine sense and third-rank physique in advance, his path to breakthrough would be smooth and unhindered.
Even without a Core Formation spiritual item, with more time, perhaps a hundred or two hundred years of refinement—his True Essence could still transform into Mana, allowing him to cross that heavenly barrier.
The Path of Mind was not part of his original plan.
Even if he obtained the Asura Slaughter Sacred Scripture, he could not cultivate it for now. First, he did not have enough Idle Slots; second, mental techniques were prone to twisting one’s personality.
They could induce obsession—or complete madness.
Jin Miaoshan was already at that stage. If she could not withstand the erosion of killing intent, the best outcome would be becoming a mindless killer under slaughter’s control.
If worse came to worst, even her consciousness would be lost completely—turning into a Spirit Slave of [Slaughter].
After sorting through his thoughts, Wang Yu’s focus returned once again to the illusion before him.