Chapter 126: The Soul-Extinguishing Platform, Tantai Jin

The water of the cold pool was boundless and tranquil. On a hilltop not far from a deep, cold pool in the southern direction of the Lingya Secret Realm, mist rose from nowhere, layer upon layer, obscuring the view.

Anyone with intent, anyone proficient in arrays, would notice with just a little attention that this suddenly appearing mist was precisely a part of an array.

Thick fog shrouded this emerald-green hilltop, making it impossible for one to see the appearance of the mountain clearly.

No one would have guessed that inside this small hilltop, the interior had been almost entirely hollowed out, and above it, layers of structures had been stacked—lofty buildings and jade pavilions—fascinating and astonishing to behold.

Yet, having achieved all this in such a short time, there were still those who were not satisfied.

Lu Guangyang sighed softly, his brows furrowed tightly.

"It is a pity that time was still not generous enough; otherwise, it certainly would not be so shabby."

His peers beside him, upon hearing this, did not refute it at all; instead, they wore expressions of complete agreement.

"Indeed, if time had been generous, it would not have been so crude. Now we can only make do with it. It is fortunate that the Family Head will not mind, which truly makes me feel ashamed."

Those jade pavilions and lofty buildings were extremely luxurious, all of them being movable magical treasures, and they possessed both defensive and offensive capabilities.

If anyone else were to come here, they would absolutely never say that these were things to just make do with.

But as it happened...

It was spoken so brazenly from the mouths of the Lu Family members.

And this place was indeed the temporary dojo for the Lu Family for these three years, as chosen by Lu Ren.

The Lingya Secret Realm is incomparably vast; if there were no place to stay, it would be quite inconvenient.

After trekking through mountains and rivers, Lu Ren finally chose this hilltop to be the official resting point for the Lu Family.

And the reason he was so impatient was naturally to select a place as quickly as possible, set up arrays, obscure the heavenly secrets, hoodwink prying eyes, and bring the Lu Family out from the space.

"The Lingya Secret Realm is vast. You do not need to stay with me; each of you has your own opportunities, so you may explore individually."

At the top of the mountain was Lu Ren's temporary residence.

He spoke to the few people before him with deep meaning in his eyes.

And before him were precisely the 'Dao' generation of the Lu Family's younger generation.

Over a dozen people were all here.

At the forefront were Lu Daoshuang, Lu Daoran, and the others.

There was also Lu Daocheng, whose cultivation could almost be considered to be advancing by leaps and bounds; a trace of evilness was vaguely revealed in his brows and eyes, making one's heart shudder. His peers had doubts and wanted to ask, but were hindered by the fact that the Family Head had not spoken, so after several moments of hesitation, they ultimately said nothing at all.

This group of young juniors, after hearing what Lu Ren said, had different lights flickering in their eyes, each with its own color, but the only thing they shared was a sharp, enterprising spirit.

They knew very well in their hearts.

Thanks to the Family Head, they were able to come into this Secret Realm; they were all considered to have snuck in.

Now, under the cover of the array, they had logically and naturally integrated into this environment as if they were fish in water.

Three years of time flashed by, but compared to three years of time in Dongzhou, the three years in the Secret Realm were completely different.

To start with the basics, the concentration of spiritual energy was different. If they could seize this opportunity, even if they did not go out to seek their own resources and only cultivated in seclusion within the Secret Realm, their progress would be much faster than in the outside world.

Therefore.

Even though they admired the Family Head, not one of them was thick-skinned enough to insist on following Lu Ren.

They also knew in their hearts that the gap in cultivation realm between them and Lu Ren was truly too great. Even if they had the heart to help, they would likely just be a burden, so they all followed the arrangements.

After settling all the Lu Family members, Lu Ren left behind two of his contracted Fierce Beasts for protection and supervision.

He did not need to worry too much about Lu Daoran, but Lu Daocheng was a major source of concern.

He had an intuition in his heart, which was why he left the two Fierce Beasts hidden in the dark without telling anyone.

After everything was properly settled, Lu Ren took a deep look at the mist-filled mountain peak behind him and turned to leave.

The Compass pointed to the south, and he was now not far from the place he had glimpsed. And at that time.

When he took out the Compass, what he had in mind was related to the Dao.

In the south, there was a very high possibility of an existence related to what he had in mind at that time.

This inevitably gave him a tiny bit of nervousness.

Following the direction of the Compass, Lu Ren stepped forward step by step, not using a Flying Sword, nor riding a mount or a phoenix carriage.

The Fierce Beasts that could represent his identity were all safely put away by him.

His pace seemed extremely slow, but in reality, it was boundless in speed. In just half a day, he had gradually approached the place where his Compass needle kept shaking.

And upon arriving at the place, Lu Ren suddenly stopped his steps.

His brows furrowed.

Something is wrong.

Could this be a place related to what he had in mind at that time?

Before his eyes.

What was presented before him was an extremely dilapidated jungle.

Whether it was trees or flowers and grass, everything was in a withered state.

After Lu Ren hesitated for a brief moment, he cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind, stepped forward, his eyes steady.

After Lu Ren reached out and touched the withered leaves in front of him, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He saw that the leaf he had plucked began to break inch by inch from his fingertips, turning into grayish-white ash, and dissipated directly in his hand.

And this action of his seemed to have triggered some kind of chain reaction.

Whether it was the tree from which he had plucked the leaf, or the flowers and grass connected nearby, they all went 'thump' and, like dust tossed high into the air, vanished into thin air.

They all fell to the ground and turned into grayish-white dust.

Something is wrong.

Something is deeply wrong. At that time, when Lu Ren took out the Compass, what he had in mind was related to his own Dao.

But... a place filled with such an aura of death before his eyes could absolutely not be a place closely related to his Dao.

What exactly was the purpose of the Compass guiding him here? Lu Ren raised his sleeve slightly and flicked it gently toward the front.

A gust of clear wind poured out from his sleeve, sweeping all the ash before him, along with the gray-white withered branches and rotten leaves that had yet to fall, off to one side.

All the gray-white was swept away.

What appeared before Lu Ren was a path.

As if cleansed of all impurities.

One could vaguely make out that on the ground, which had once been paved with bluestone slabs, there was a small path winding its way forward.

At the end of the path...

Lu Ren walked forward along this path and saw a dilapidated Dao platform.

No, that was not right.

From a distance, it looked like a Dao platform, but when he walked closer, his gaze suddenly froze.

Lu Ren's voice was slightly deep as he read out the six distinct characters carved into this stone platform, enunciating each word with an extremely grave tone.

"Soul-Extinguishing Platform, Dantai Jin."

(End of chapter)