Chapter 145

Master of All Professions Tang Xuanzang is currently digging three feet underground.

He figures that digging about seven or eight meters is enough; if he finds nothing, he'll stop and go back to sleep.

On this trip, he has liberated three ghosts, which counts as some gain.

In a world where heavenly and earthly qi is abundant, ghosts formed after death actually have a chance to regain their consciousness and embark on the path of "cultivation."

But in the real world, there is no way; they fall into becoming mindless vicious ghosts, and evil degeneracy is almost unavoidable.

Naturally, liberating them will grant one merit power.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the constantly flashing palm shadows vanished without a trace; Tang Luo stopped digging the pit and threw away the nearly broken shovel in his hand.

The shovel had at least been blessed; otherwise, it would have broken long ago—Tang Luo's strikes are not light.

"Did you find anything?" Qin Menglan and the others walked over and discovered that the dug-out pit was much deeper than they had imagined.

Tang Luo bent over, as if taking out something, then leapt up and jumped back onto the nearby street.

"What is this?"

The three gathered close, shone a flashlight on it, and saw Tang Luo holding a box slightly larger than a palm.

The material did not look like wood, nor like metal, and it was covered with a lot of dirt.

Tang Luo shook it twice, shaking off some dirt, and could see the patterns carved on the box.

However, due to its extreme age, the patterns are already somewhat blurred, and the original color of the box cannot be discerned either; overall, it presents a gray-black decayed appearance.

But on the box is pasted a somewhat yellow talisman-like paper strip.

Although the color is dim, there is a faint sensation of a glimmer of light passing through.

"There is a crack in the Dao." Qin Menglan saw that the paper strip had split open, and the box at the same position also had a crack.

A hint of green jade color could be vaguely seen.

Obviously, this crack appeared after the box was buried underground.

"I don't know what's inside, but the Zhang family and Huang Gaoyi, who became ghosts, are probably inseparable from this." Tang Luo said.

This box clearly seals something inside.

The fine cracks in the paper strip and the box have caused some aura to leak out, which not only promoted the birth of ghosts, but also gradually distorted Zhang Caiyi's hobbies—perhaps it is also related to what's inside.

Holding it in his hand, Tang Luo faintly feels some abnormality.

Inside the box, there is a trace of extremely faint aura, intermittently seeping out from the crack.

Extremely faint and scarce, but over long years, it accumulates little by little, producing some negative effects.

Then, at certain critical moments, it becomes the last straw that breaks the camel's back, and even becomes the key for the unknown entity inside to escape.

"Let's take a look." Qin Menglan and the three others just heard Tang Luo say this, and were about to reach out to tear off the "seal" on the box.

"Wait!"

Qin Menglan suddenly threw down her flashlight, grabbed Tang Luo's hands tightly with both hands, and said, "What are you trying to do?"

"Obviously. To see what's inside—aren't you curious?" Tang Luo stopped his motion, but did not pull back his hand, nor did he intend to give up.

Qin Menglan then flung her earlier evaluation of Tang Luo as "Master of All Professions" to the ends of the earth.

Indeed, he is still a reckless man!

"Aren't you afraid of an accident?" Qin Menglan felt she had become a kindergarten teacher.

Telling children to play with fire is bad behavior—it's very likely to cause an accident.

Didn't you see that Ah Tuo the little kid has already prepared to run away, and the videographer uncle on the other side has stepped back two steps?

"Not afraid." Tang Luo said, "In front of me, there are no accidents."

"Are you really this confident?" Qin Menglan raised her head, straining to stare at Tang Luo's face.

"Of course." Tang Luo said, "A 1.5x unharmed upper limit—but it's extremely terrifying!"

Having residual blood means the game has just begun.

"Alright." Qin Menglan compromised and let go, "Be careful." After saying that, she retreated several steps.

Even without compromise, there's nothing to be done—Tang Luo the kid won't listen.

"Wait, Master!" Ah Tuo reached out his hand, "Why not first give us a blessing?"

"The blessing effect from when you left earlier is still active." Tang Luo said, reaching out to tear off the "paper strip" on the box.

When he had torn it halfway, Tang Luo suddenly felt a resistance coming from it.

At the same time, the paper strip burst forth with a hazy light, which rapidly formed in midair a transparent half-body image of an old man.

"What is this?"

Qin Menglan and the others gazed at the old man with immortal wind and Dao bones—could he be the legendary "portable grandfather"?

"No matter who you are, or whether you want to release the demon of the box, please hear the old man's words." The phantom of the old man with immortal wind and Dao bones spoke.

The language is slightly different, but the meaning is expressed very clearly—obviously, it is some kind of higher-level communication method.

Not limited by language.

Everyone also simultaneously felt that this illusory old man is not truly present here.

This is a deliberately left-behind "image record," likely a backup of the seal—it's unknown whether "interaction" can be performed.

"Can you communicate with us?" Qin Menglan asked.

"I am the old ancestor of the Beiming Sect." The old man did not answer, but went on talking about himself, introducing his identity: "I have roamed the cultivation world for hundreds of years, never met an equal, and my defeated opponents are countless..."

A bout of self-praise, but Qin Menglan and the others did not doubt it.

"I say these things not to boast, but merely to tell you the seriousness of the matter."

Qin Menglan and the others' faces turned solemn.

This Beiming old ancestor, in just a few words, described an image of invincibility in the cultivation world, as well as a mysterious world.

Gods and demons walking the world do not bow their heads in worship, but it is enough to draw their attention.

"That year, I was full of vigor, at the peak of my state, in seclusion hoping to make another breakthrough, never expecting a great demon to suddenly be born, its ferocious flames raging across the heavens, bringing calamity to the region."

"All the major cultivation sects united to besiege the great demon, and in the end, the ten great sects lost six of their number to the demon's hand. The remaining three sects also suffered heavy blows, including my North Ming Sect. Upon receiving the news, I broke my seclusion and set out to slay this wretch. Little did I know this demon's strength far exceeded my expectations. I had no choice but to sacrifice my life, using a secret art to gravely wound it and seal it here."

"Awaiting the fated one to utterly slay this wretch."

"Words end here; whether fortune or misfortune, it lies in a single thought of yours."

After saying this, the illusory old man swiftly vanished.

The paper slip sealed on the box also looked somewhat dimmer.

"Hah—" Atuo let out a long breath, relieved that the North Ming Ancestor still had a trump card; otherwise, things would have gone badly.

"The place he spoke of, isn't it not Earth?" Qin Menglan said.

What the North Ming Ancestor described, no matter how you listen, doesn't sound like something that happened on Earth.

"Could it be that the Gods and Demons Walker brought back an artifact from the mission world?" Atuo guessed.

The establishment of Walk-Through Science is actually not long, just a few years.

But how long the Gods and Demons Game has actually existed, even the Gods and Demons Walker now cannot say clearly.

Atuo's guess is not entirely impossible.

"Who knows?" Tang Luo said, casually tearing open the paper slip.

"..."

"Da..."

Atuo opened his mouth wide, his jaw seeming to dislocate and stay that way, not retracting.

Torn?

How did it suddenly get torn?

Wasn't it said there would be a terrifying great demon?

Even if it were to be torn, it didn't need to be this fast; give me some mental preparation!

Atuo felt his heartbeat stop for a few seconds, seeing Tang Luo's paper slip turn into fragments and dust.

Afterward, cracks began to appear on the box.

The cracks were very obvious and kept increasing; in just half a minute, they covered the entire box.

Qin Menglan and the others had no doubt that in the next second, the box would shatter into a pile of fragments.

And the great demon sealed within would also be born.

"Hah—"

A sudden chill wind came from nowhere; Qin Menglan and the others suddenly felt their vision go black, as if deprived in an instant.

No, to be precise, that gust of wind blew forth an intensely dense black mist, completely swallowing and enveloping them.

Though Tang Luo stood only three meters away from the three of them, they saw not a trace of his figure.

They could barely make out the outline of their own raised palms.

"You—" Qin Menglan turned her head to look beside her, the cameraman uncle and Atuo also having vanished, leaving only the surging "black mist" visible, "Can you hear me speaking?"

All around was silent, no one responding to Qin Menglan's voice.

"Oh no."

Qin Menglan dared not move rashly; since the black mist could block vision and muffle sound, disrupting perception and causing a sense of disorientation was not impossible.

Staying still at least keeps one in place; moving might just lead one further astray.

"I can first use a clone." Qin Menglan thought silently, about to perform the clone technique.

At this moment, the surrounding black mist suddenly began to fade.

It quickly revealed both sides, the wary Atuo and the cameraman uncle.

"I'll lead you farther away." The three turned their heads simultaneously, just seeing a mass of surging black mist rapidly receding, within which Tang Luo's voice could still be heard.

Before they could react further, it vanished from sight.

"This guy!" Qin Menglan didn't know what words to use to describe him.

Tang Luo leisurely held the box, its cracks increasing and about to shatter, walking toward the mountains and forests.

Having roughly estimated the position, he simply squeezed hard, giving the "great demon" inside a little help.

"Roar—"

A low, muffled thunder-like roar pressed in the heart, the box shattered, and a great wind rose around.

Like a storm, a thick demonic aura emanated.

"Hahahaha!" The ecstatic laughter made the black mist continuously tremble, "Finally, the damned old ghost! This true self will cut you into a thousand pieces!"

The black mist around Tang Luo began to contract, surging toward midair, likely being absorbed back by that great demon.

"This voice..." Tang Luo slightly lowered his head, touching his chin, as if he had heard it sometime before.

"Was it you who released this true self? Very good, mortal." The sound of metal clashing came from the sky, a towering black shadow wrapped in black mist, its appearance indistinct, resembling a demonic god, fell before Tang Luo, "Raise your head, let this true self see your appearance; as this true self's benefactor, it will let you die without pain."

Tang Luo suddenly clapped his hands: "I remember!" and jerked his head up.

"Hiss—"

A sound like a bellows inhaling.

"Pop!"

The earth trembled slightly, and cracks appeared.

"Tang... Tang... Tang Grandfather?"