Chapter 423: Imperial Path Hegemony (1/3)

The little golden dragon's scalp went numb, and he hurriedly begged for mercy.

Although he had never heard of anyone eating a True Spirit, facing this unfathomable Honored One, he always felt that this was not impossible to achieve.

Li Heng smiled slightly, not bothering to pay any more attention to the little golden dragon.

"Let's go, let's go take a look at that inn."

He stepped forward, leaving footprints of varying depths on the loess path, and under the shroud of the dark Void surrounding him, he headed toward that lonely mountain inn.

A gust of cold wind blew, making the little golden dragon, who had been left in place, shiver, and he hurriedly chased after him in fear.

The mountain was not large; it could only be called a small earthen mound.

As Li Heng walked along, he saw more and more grave mounds standing along the road. Soon, he stood at the foot of this lonely mountain, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Was this really a small mountain or just a slightly larger grave mound?

However, such speculation was ultimately meaningless without evidence. He withdrew his focus and looked ahead; a wooden sign was erected at the side of the path leading to the inn atop the lonely mountain.

Four characters were inscribed on the wooden sign.

"Beyond here lies Wujian."

Wujian, Li Heng's expression was subtle.

He thought of a place, Wujian Hell, which in the traditional Buddhism system was also called Abi Diyu, the most miserable of all the many hells.

It is said: suffering without interval, body without interval, time without interval, form without interval.

"Honored One, I can feel a heavy sense of Inauspiciousness."

The little golden dragon stared at the wooden sign, his heart pounding with fear.

"Isn't that even better? Let's go."

Unexpectedly, Li Heng gave a light laugh, ignored the wooden sign, and walked straight ahead, intending to climb the mountain and head to that inn.

Seeing this, the little golden dragon was dumbfounded.

What did he mean by "isn't that even better"?

Shouldn't ordinary people take a detour when encountering Unknown, Inauspicious danger? You only have one life!

He originally wanted to shout this, but after thinking about it, he was now just a True Spirit, equivalent to a dead dragon; even if he encountered a pile of dead people up there, he wouldn't be afraid, since everyone was dead anyway.

So he followed directly.

The mountain was not high, and Li Heng soon reached the summit, where the inn with curling wisps of cooking smoke appeared before his eyes.

The inn was also not large, only three stories high, with a large courtyard enclosed by wooden fences in the front, and a medium-sized stable built in the corner.

Li Heng did not stop his pace and walked toward the inn.

The little golden dragon, who had finally caught up, was even more terrified at Li Heng's actions. He instinctively sensed that one must absolutely not enter this inn; it was definitely a place of Great Fierce.

But in the end, he still obediently followed.

There was no help for it; after all, the other party was the one with the real power.

Arriving in front of the inn, the main gate was wide open.

But strangely, looking inside from outside the door, it was pitch black; not a sound could be heard, and it was deathly silent, as if it were a Terror monster waiting to devour people and waiting for prey to take the bait.

Yet Li Heng still did not hesitate and stepped inside.

He walked into that Unknown darkness.

Seeing this, the little golden dragon was completely dumbfounded.

If this situation is obviously problematic, why go in? Even if you are going in, you should scout it out a little; how could you just walk straight in!

Could it be that the Honored One has been bewitched?

This thought suddenly arose in his mind.

Then, the next moment, this thought dissipated.

He rejected it himself.

Just kidding, who could bewitch a Terror existence like the Honored One? He strongly suspected that even if a Sacred existence from the Creation Realm Above came, they probably couldn't bewitch this Honored One.

But since that was the case, why did the Honored One go in?

Could it be that he was truly confident?

This thought arose, but he still felt uneasy in his heart.

But in the end, he still slipped inside.

There was no help for it; his backer was inside, and he was now just a True Spirit; he couldn't leave this Ghost Place without clinging to his backer.

If it really was a trap, at worst, they would die together.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the Heaven and Earth changed.

The lights were bright, and people were coming and going.

The dozen or so tables inside the inn were almost full of people; the fragrance of wine and food wafted about, and the sounds of clinking glasses, conversation, and shouting filled his ears.

The little golden dragon looked at everything before him in a daze, completely stunned.

Where did all these people come from?

"That is... the Honored One?"

He saw Li Heng sitting at a wooden table in the corner by the entrance and was overjoyed. His body, which had been floating in the air in an S-shape, suddenly straightened, and he darted to Li Heng's side.

"Honored One, so you were here."

"What would you like to drink? What would you like to eat?"

Li Heng smiled slightly.

The little golden dragon was suddenly stunned.

Not "what would you like to drink or eat"—this isn't right, is it? This place obviously looks very Weird and not simple; he's actually eating here?

"If you don't want to eat, then forget it."

"Waiter, come here."

Li Heng slapped the table with his palm and shouted aloud.

The waiter, with a towel draped over his shoulder, arrived at the sound in an instant, with unimaginable speed, and then spoke respectfully.

"Guest, what are your orders? What would you like to eat?"

"Bring up my meal."

Li Heng smiled.

The waiter was startled, feeling somewhat suspicious.

"This, guest, you..."

Li Heng raised an eyebrow, his expression naturally imposing, and he spoke calmly. "Are you worried that I won't pay after I finish eating?"

"This, alright, coming right up, coming right up."

Realizing that Li Heng was not someone to be trifled with, the waiter quickly changed his demeanor, bowing and scraping, promising the meal would be served immediately, and then hurried away, truly afraid of being sliced in two by a blade if he were even slightly careless.

The golden little dragon beside him fell silent.

He did not know what kind of strange scheme his Venerable was plotting.

Was he really not afraid of an accident happening while eating in a place like this?

At this moment.

He heard the voices of some people inside the inn talking.

"I didn't expect to meet a fellow Daoist on the Emperor Road. Could it be that you also want to contend for the title of the number one prodigy?"

"Have you heard? An alien prodigy has suddenly emerged and suppressed many human powerhouses in Tianyuan Gucheng in the middle section of the Emperor Road. They possess supreme Emperor talent!"

"I thought it was something major; a mere alien? Don't you know that one of our human prodigies has already reached the end of the Emperor Road and is about to break through the final chasm?"

A series of conversational snippets entered his ears.

Almost all of them were news regarding this Tongtian Road.

The golden little dragon was greatly shocked; what was going on?

The Emperor Road struggle on the Ascension Road had gradually disappeared following the closure of the Ascension Road; how could such Emperor Road contention appear again now? Could it be history repeating itself?

But why was it in such a Weird form?

His expression turned ugly.

He knew exactly how many prodigies had died and how many skeletons had been buried during the original Emperor Road struggle on the Tongtian Road; at its peak, an entire race would go extinct every second.

This was also one of the reasons why the Tongtian Road was closed later.

Too many people had died.

However, before the golden little dragon could think any further, the waiter brought plates of food to their table. Among them were hearty dishes like braised pork belly, stewed lion's head meatballs, and braised pork knuckle, as well as plain, unremarkable vegetarian dishes like stir-fried seasonal vegetables and stewed lotus root.

The golden little dragon was somewhat surprised.

It was actually served, and it was unexpectedly normal. He had thought it would be something like human-intestine noodles or dragon-bone soup—some strange, bizarre things.

Or perhaps, this was actually a disguise.

He widened his eyes, trying hard to discern the truth.

After all, being able to encounter normal food in such a Weird inn was simply inconceivable; he would rather believe that everything before his eyes was an illusion and not real.

However, Li Heng had already picked up his chopsticks and started eating the food.

The golden little dragon was immediately struck with terror.

"Venerable, you actually intend to eat it!"

Li Heng raised an eyebrow.

"Otherwise? What did you think I came into the inn for?"

"I thought you were here to investigate this place." Looking at Li Heng's righteous and confident reply, the golden little dragon spoke sheepishly.

"Eating is also an investigation; investigating while eating."

Li Heng took a bite of the sauce-covered lion's head meatball; it was salty and fragrant, the juices bursting between his lips and teeth, tasting exactly the same as the lion's head meatballs he had eaten before—very authentic.

With every bite he took, his Source Power also soared.

"Are you not afraid that there is a problem with the food?"

The golden little dragon remained doubtful.

"Who told you there was a problem with this food?"

Li Heng asked back with a smile.

"I just said, 'Bring up my meal.' Since I am eating my own meal and not someone else's, how could there be a problem with this food?"

Listening to Li Heng's explanation, the golden little dragon stood frozen in place.

He did not quite understand.

However, when he looked around, he discovered that the food on every table was different.

Some people had pieces of metal or black liquid in front of them; others had rotting chunks of meat of unknown origin, and some plates contained nothing but gas and light.

The golden little dragon suddenly realized the truth.

So this inn actually tailors the food to the person?

"Truly 'tailoring the food to the person'!"

But even so, his misgivings did not diminish.

After all, so what if the food was different? The real problem was this inn itself; perhaps these so-called differences were just a disguise, so this food still shouldn't be eaten casually!

But... the Venerable had already eaten it.

So he immediately reached another conclusion.

Eating one's own food meant there was no problem.

The Reason is very simple; after all, the Venerable One ate it.

He used this Reason to convince himself, immediately calling the waiter over to say that he also wanted to eat, and that it should be the best available, though he was only ordering his own meal.

Then the waiter became somewhat hesitant again.

He wanted to open his mouth to persuade the little golden dragon to change his order.

But he suddenly noticed Li Heng, that god of plague, sitting to the side, so he immediately changed his tune and respectfully said the food would be here right away.

Very quickly, the food really was brought up.

However, it was not the various Dragon Clan delicacies the little golden dragon had expected, but pieces of golden Energy Crystal, which he had never even seen before.

"Eat without worry; this stuff is good for your True Spirit."

Li Heng said with a leisurely smile.

This dragon had really dared to make demands just now, asking for the best of the best; looking at the waiter's pained expression earlier, he had practically wanted to slaughter this dragon, skin it, and pull out its tendons.

Since his own Venerable One had said so, the little golden dragon could only helplessly take a bite of the Energy Crystal to try it, but this single bite made his eyes instantly light up, and he began to gnaw on it frantically.

This stuff really did have immense benefits for his True Spirit.

He could sense his True Spirit beginning to become solid!

Soon, having finished off a plate of Energy Crystal, the little golden dragon felt satisfied, but still not having had enough, he continued to speak up, "Waiter, keep the dishes coming, and make them the same as before!"

"I'll have the same," Li Heng said with a smile.

The waiter was helpless, but could only serve them with a dark face. Back and forth, they served a full nine rounds.

The little golden dragon tossed the last piece of Energy Crystal on the plate into his mouth, rubbed his round, bulging belly, and let out a burp.

"Urp... Waiter, keep the dishes coming!"

At this, the waiter finally could not hold back anymore. He came before Li Heng and the little golden dragon with a forced smile and spoke.

"Two guests, please settle the bill first!"