Whoosh!
The instant he touched the curtain barrier, Lin Xiao felt his whole body yanked by a mysterious force. Darkness swallowed his vision. He had no idea how far he was dragged before light returned, and he tumbled out of the void.
There was not a single soul around him. He had landed in an area dotted with ancient trees sprouting sinister dark shoots.
Moonlight spilled down. More than ten miles away, a lone ancient temple stood within sight. The surroundings reeked of dense yin energy. Everything was deathly still, no sound, not even a faint breeze, no trace of human movement. The atmosphere was spine-chillingly eerie.
“It looks like everyone was teleported randomly. No idea how far I’ve been sent, and there’s no telling how many temples there actually are.”
Lin Xiao silently guessed.
This place was clearly far more than just a simple cluster of temples.
“Let’s check it out!”
He glanced at the temple ahead, then cautiously flew towards it.
In no time, he reached the temple’s vicinity.
Lin Xiao circled it once, scanning carefully with both eyes and spiritual sense, but found nothing unusual.
The temple was wooden, coated in thick dust, looking as though it might collapse at any moment from sheer age.
Naturally, unsure what dangers might lurk, Lin Xiao did not approach too closely. He observed from several miles away.
Seeing nothing special, he circulated a trace of spiritual force. A weak strand of primordial force shot from his hand towards the temple gate.
He wanted to test whether this temple, like the strange city they had entered before, could withstand powerful attacks.
Pfft!
Contrary to his expectation, the gate was easily pierced. A cloud of wood dust billowed up. The feeble force continued through and punched a hole out the back.
Crack! Crack! Crack! The moment the entrance was struck, the entire structure, pillars, walls, splintered and collapsed, as if long hollowed by termites and unable to bear even the slightest extra pressure. One touch triggered a chain reaction.
In moments, the whole temple crumbled.
Bang! Dust and debris filled the air. The ancient temple was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Lin Xiao was somewhat surprised. Clearly, not everything in the Domain of Evil was as extraordinary as that previous ancient city.
Still, might there be something inside?
He slowly drew closer, scanning repeatedly with eyes and spiritual sense. Using spiritual force, he lifted away chunks of broken timber, but ultimately found nothing.
“An empty temple?”
A touch of disappointment arose.
After coming all this way, could it really just be an abandoned ruin from ancient times?
Of course, it was also possible that, like the ancient city, not every temple contained treasures.
That seemed more likely. With an unknown number of temples scattered here, if every single one held treasures, the accumulated wealth would be unimaginable.
Even the ancients probably did not possess that much. And even if they had, after countless ages, many treasures would have turned to dust.
After clearing the ruins once more and confirming nothing remained, Lin Xiao picked a direction and flew onward.
After travelling several hundred miles, he astonishingly saw no further temples.
A while later, however, the sounds of combat drifted from afar.
Lin Xiao proceeded cautiously. Soon, several figures appeared ahead, locked in fierce battle.
“They found something?
Already fighting?”
Curiosity stirred.
They had only just entered, yet people were already killing each other for profit.
Something valuable must have appeared. In a place like this, murder and robbery were commonplace.
More precisely, four people were fighting: three surrounding one.
Their cultivation was not high, all early-stage Martial Emperors.
The one under siege was a youth of twenty-three or twenty-four radiating Second-layer Martial Emperor aura.
Of the three attackers, one was a middle-aged Third-layer Martial Emperor, while the other two were youths nearing thirty at the First-layer Martial Emperor level.
In this region, they could hardly be called geniuses. Their clothing was ordinary, their faces unfamiliar.
Clearly, they were not from the three major forces.
The besieged youth, though no great genius himself, wore white robes bearing the Sacred Heaven Sect emblem.
He was obviously a Sacred Heaven Sect disciple, but with this level of strength, likely just an ordinary one without outstanding combat power.
Overall, the three attackers were stronger, especially the Third-layer Martial Emperor. The Sacred Heaven Sect disciple was quickly overwhelmed, in constant danger.
Whoosh!
As the Third-layer middle-aged man seized an opening and thrust his sword towards the disciple’s body, brilliant golden light suddenly erupted from the youth. His flesh turned golden, like a vajra body. The sword struck but failed to penetrate, producing only a metallic clang.
“Hm?”
Extreme shock appeared on the Third-layer Martial Emperor’s face.
At that moment, the Sacred Heaven Sect disciple smashed a fist into the man’s chest.
The middle-aged Third-layer Martial Emperor suffered a tremendous impact. He spat blood and was hurled far away.
Meanwhile, the other two First-layer youths attacked. One slashed at the disciple’s torso, the other stabbed towards his head.
The disciple parried the blade aimed at his skull with his own sword, but could not block the second strike, which landed on his back.
Clang!
Another loud metallic ring. Apart from his clothing, the disciple’s body remained completely unscathed.
He whipped around and punched the youth who had struck his back, sending him flying.
The remaining youth paled in shock and hastily retreated.
“Hahaha!”
The Sacred Heaven Sect disciple burst into excited laughter and shouted triumphantly, “Golden Body! An invincible Golden Body! That golden light actually granted me the Golden Body of Buddhist cultivation!”
Full of confidence, he deliberately dropped all defences, spread his arms wide, and roared arrogantly at the trio, “Even if I leave myself completely open, you cannot harm me in the slightest!”
The three attackers frowned, exchanged glances, then gripped their swords and charged again.
The Third-layer middle-aged man’s longsword blazed with brilliant light as he slashed heavily at the disciple’s body.
He refused to believe he could not breach the defence.
One of the others unleashed a piercing sword beam straight at the disciple’s head.
The last attacker charged with a sword infused with surging power. Even before the tip arrived, terrifying fluctuations rippled outward.
Yet the Sacred Heaven Sect disciple truly made no attempt to block, allowing all three attacks to land on his unprotected body.
