Chapter 376: Mysterious Cave

The ferocity of thunder techniques needs no further explanation.

Nowadays, some dharma lineages in the Divine Land even use the possession of thunder techniques as an important basis for judging the strength of a lineage.

And this Soul-Hooking Thunder Rope of Li Yan's was even more extraordinary.

The heavenly thunder stored within it could be called the nemesis of all evil.

Those dense black hairs instantly turned into charred ash, lost their support, and rolled off the Alligator Master's head.

Li Yan was the same, thrown directly into the water.

The underground river's currents were fierce, and he was tossed around by the water, as if thrown into a washing machine, dizzy and disoriented.

Boom!

The bronze coffin's lid suddenly popped off.

It turned out that Li Yan's use of thunder techniques underwater was ultimately somewhat weakened, and coupled with the wooden board inside the bronze coffin for insulation, it hadn't directly killed the thing inside.

However, the other party's foundation had also been destroyed, and its divine soul was about to dissipate.

In despair and madness, the other party no longer hid.

He saw a woman lying in the coffin, in white robes, her skin blue-purple, her mouth full of fangs, her body withered, her fingernails sharp, no different from an old zombie of many years.

This person was precisely Huang Sanlang of the Ezhou Ghost Sect, and also a clansman of Huang Liushi, who had secretly reincarnated as a woman many years ago and practiced the "Water God Longevity Art."

Her body was now covered in thunder-strike patterns, and red light was spreading outward; wherever it passed, it turned into charcoal.

This time, she had died from a thunder strike and was completely unable to reincarnate.

With her last breath of resentment, she grabbed at Li Yan desperately.

Li Yan was tossed by the currents, and everything around him was pitch black, the sound of water rumbling; before he could react, he felt his neck being gripped by a pair of cold, withered hands.

Thump!

He didn't say a word and punched out.

Huang Sanlang, who had ambushed him, had her head shattered, her soul flying away and scattering.

However, that heavy bronze coffin also happened to trap Li Yan inside, sinking toward the pitch-black riverbed, and soon disappeared without a trace...

…………

On the other side, the white film in the Alligator Master's eyes completely dissipated.

Although the evil art was broken, the Alligator Master was also a monster; Li Yan's thunder strike just now had also caused its divine soul to shake, and it couldn't recover for a long time.

If someone ambushed it at this time, the Alligator Master would also be in trouble.

But on the ruin's stone platform, it was also a scene of great chaos.

The fire-caltrop added with new-style gunpowder was truly terrifying in power.

More than thirty Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect monsters at the center were blown to pieces; as the fire and smoke dissipated, stone fragments were everywhere, and quite a few people were blown to a state of disarray, covered in wounds.

Some were still able to remain conscious, while most had long since fainted.

"Seeking death!"

A shrill scream rang out.

It was precisely Princess Tan Yuner of the Tusi City.

Aside from her arts, her kung fu was also quite good; she unleashed her hidden strength at the first opportunity, jumped to dodge, but was still thrown by the shockwave, slamming hard against the ruins.

Pfft!

Tan Yuner spat out a mouthful of blood and roared at the remaining people: "Quick, catch that brat, I want to use him as a gu-room!"

After saying this, she took down a shriveled head from her waist.

The head had been specially refined, turning pitch-black like ink, and had shrunk to the size of a steamed bun, with its five senses and seven orifices all sewn shut with needle and thread.

It was barely possible to tell that it was a monk.

It was precisely Poliu Han Baling!

This time, Poliu Han Baling had grown tired of reincarnation and planned to enter the Buddhist gate, but was still forced out and eventually died in a siege by the monsters.

At that time, Princess Tan Yuner of the Tusi City was ruthless, directly cutting off his head and refining it into an evil object using Gu Sect secret arts.

Tan Yuner lit a handful of dry grass, chanted ancient and obscure language, and drew three circles to the left and three circles to the right on the head.

Hum!

A cloud of black smoke sprayed out from beneath the shriveled head.

Looking closely, it was all poisonous insects with wings, similar to ants.

The swarm of poisonous insects vibrated their wings, emitting a harsh roaring sound, and actually carried the shriveled head like smoke, flying toward the temple where Lu San was hiding.

"Go to hell!"

Inside the temple, Wu Ba picked up his battle axe and was about to rush out.

His eyes were blood-red, and killing intent surged on his body.

He had no memory of what happened after being controlled, but he remembered clearly that the people outside were among those who had destroyed the Renxiao tribe.

"Come back!"

Lu San's expression changed, and he hurriedly pulled him back.

The demon gourd at his waist shook wildly, squeaking a warning.

Being used as a trump card by Tan Yuner, how could this head be a simple poisonous gu? It was filled with a large amount of poisonous fire and phosphorus fire; as long as it was touched, it would explode directly, burning everyone into charcoal.

Lu San pulled Wu Ba and retreated directly into the stone wall of the "Jing people" tribe; just as the stone door was about to close, he suddenly threw out flying needles with a backhand.

Boom! The head exploded.

Green and bloody flames instantly engulfed the temple.

Lu San and Wu Ba hurriedly pushed the stone door shut; not only did they escape a disaster, but the burning poisonous fire also blocked the pursuing monsters.

"This is simply reckless!"

The Daoist of the Snake Sect was instantly furious when he saw this, turned around, gritted his teeth, and said: "There is a secret passage in the back. Is the Princess helping them escape?"

He detested this Tan Yuner deeply.

She was also willful and arrogant, not only snatching his leadership but also acting recklessly, simply failing to accomplish anything while ruining everything.

But there was no help for it; the other party was sent by the Tusi City, and even the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect had to be cautious and tolerate her in every way.

"How would I know there was a secret passage in the back."

Tan Yuner also felt some regret, but she remained stubborn.

Swish!

Just at this moment, a black shadow broke out of the water, caught her off guard, and directly tore the leather drum from her waist, which fell into the water.

"Oh no!"

Tan Yuner touched her waist, her expression finally changing; without a word, she rushed toward the stone steps in two or three steps, trying to escape.

However, it was already too late.

Boom!

The water surface exploded, and the Donghu Ancestor broke out of the water; its massive body stirred up mist in the sky, and it landed on the shore with a boom.

At the same time, it suddenly opened its big mouth and sprayed a cloud of white mist toward the sky, which was precisely that kind of terrifying white threadworm.

Countless threadworms fell like rain.

Whether they were living or dead monsters, all were shrouded within it; they scratched frantically, but it was difficult to stop the gu-insects from drilling into their bodies.

Tan Yuner was even more unlucky.

She had only run two steps when a whistling sound came from behind her, and then her waist was wrapped by a long tongue and pulled back violently.

"Ah——!"

The scream had just begun when it instantly disappeared.

This willful and arrogant Tusi Princess had already been swallowed whole by the Donghu Ancestor, and at the same time, she was engulfed by the white threadworm gu inside.

All the surviving monsters turned pale and didn't dare to move.

They had witnessed the terror of these gu-insects.

This white threadworm gu was a rare exotic species with powerful might; as long as it parasitized a biological body, it could multiply frantically in a short time, eating up a person's internal organs and brain marrow in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

Sure enough, those injured and dead monsters soon stood up, stumbling, their bodies twisting unnaturally.

White threadworms were wriggling inside their nostrils and eyes.

This kind of gu-insect could also control people to become puppets!

It was precisely because this gu was terrifying that the Donghu Ancestor had fallen for Zhao Changsheng's trick, and while refining the gu-insects, Zhao Changsheng had left behind a hidden hand.

Yu Faling of the Snake Sect felt bitter, but seeing that the gu-insects in his body didn't explode immediately, he had a guess in his heart and hurriedly bowed: "Greetings, Ancestor. Please think twice; the leather drum controlling the gu-insects is not the only one; Senior Huang Liushi also has one..."

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, a tentacle on the Donghu Ancestor's head whistled over and struck him heavily, sending him flying.

Yu Faling rolled on the ground, spat out blood after getting up, lowered his head, and didn't dare to say another word of nonsense. And the Donghu Ancestor opened its mouth again.

Clatter, clatter...

A skeleton rolled out, which was precisely Tan Yuner from before.

Falling out at the same time were two giant jade congs.

"Prepare... for sacrifice..."

A cold, dull voice issued from the Donghu Ancestor's mouth.

It turned out that it had taken advantage of the chaos to find all the jade congs that had fallen to the bottom of the lake, including the one that had been thrown away by the Alligator Master.

Now, all eighteen jade congs had been gathered!

Seeing this, Yu Faling felt a chill in his heart.

Only then did he realize that the Donghu Ancestor had been playing the fool all along; before, when it was bullied by Tan Yuner, its appearance of incompetent rage was all to paralyze them while it waited for an opportunity.

In this ancient ruin, there was not only Wang Chan's Sutra Forest but also the secrets of the ancient Fuxi clan.

!.

He and his master had learned of this by chance, and coupled with the secrets passed down by the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect, the two sides joined forces to learn of this matter.

If the Donghu Ancestor obtained the inheritance, it might be able to resolve the hidden danger; why would it need to worry about Zhao Changsheng anymore?

Thinking of this, Yu Faling felt bitter in his heart but didn't dare to resist, instead bowing respectfully: "Yes, as you command, Ancestor."

After saying this, he led the remaining people to move the jade congs and place them in the depressions on the stone platforms on both banks in turn.

After doing this, Yu Faling ordered:

"Bring the offerings up!"

The monsters who had been hit by the gu also didn't dare to resist, entered a stone cave near the stone platform, and dragged out more than twenty unconscious monks.

They were precisely the people who had been abducted when Li Yan and the others found the temple.

Originally, there was one more dharma lineage practitioner caught on the road, but the other party was extremely shrewd and used secret arts to escape the cave.

It was only when the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect people came out to capture him that Li Yan discovered them.

These unconscious monks were dragged before the eighteen stone platforms, their throats were slit directly, and their blood was sprinkled on the jade congs...

Inside a stone cave above the ruins, Lu San and Wu Ba poked their heads out to look down, their eyes filled with anxiety.

The plan had still gone wrong.

They hadn't expected the Donghu Ancestor to suddenly make a move.

More importantly,

Why hadn't Li Yan come out yet!

Perhaps because the effect of the Concealment Powder on his body had worn off, the Donghu Ancestor, who was lying on the stone platform, suddenly turned around and let out a giant roar with a "quack."

Lu San and Wu Ba only felt a hum in their brains and felt the world spinning; even the little fox and the mice, Da and Er, were swaying unsteadily.

At the same time, the white threadworms spread all over the ruins also gathered toward them from all directions.

Seeing this, Lu San hurriedly gritted his teeth and patted the demon gourd.

Hum!

Poisonous bees swarmed out, constantly devouring the threadworms rushing up.

The demon gourd was just the thing to restrain all kinds of gu-insects.

But compared to the threadworms, the number of poisonous bees was still insufficient, and they could only barely hold them off.

The Donghu Ancestor below was also somewhat surprised, but it didn't pay them any mind, instead slowly crawling to the edge of the stone platform, staring fixedly at the water surface.

On the surging water surface, mist suddenly rose.

A giant object slowly floated out; it was precisely the Alligator Master, which had regained consciousness.

When Lu San saw this, he was instantly overjoyed, pinched a spell, let out a shrill whistle, and then shouted loudly: "Quick, save Brother Li first!"

The Alligator Master looked coldly at the Donghu Ancestor, swung its body, and dove toward the bottom of the river.

The scene before them left the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect monsters somewhat dazed.

"You... continue!"

The Donghu Ancestor let out a low roar and jumped into the water as well.

"Continue! Continue!"

Yu Faling of the Snake Sect gritted his teeth and roared.

He already had a premonition in his heart that they were likely doomed this time; no matter which side won, he wouldn't be able to survive.

As things stood, his only thought was to see with his own eyes what kind of treasure he had tried to exhaust most of his life's efforts to find.

The Alligator Master took the first step, but the Donghu Ancestor was faster; before the Alligator Master could reach the bottom of the river, it was entangled by tentacles.

"Roar!"

The Alligator Master let out a roar, and the Yin-Sha aura on its body permeated, freezing all the gu-insects that surged over, while simultaneously controlling the underwater currents.

This was the foundation of its confidence in plotting for the position of Water God.

Most old monsters in the Yangtze River could stir up wind and waves, but it had obtained the inheritance of the Yunzhong Jun lineage and was even more skilled in this.

Whether it was regulating the earth's qi, dredging river channels, or stirring up clouds and rain, it had many insights and could be considered a righteous sect among monsters.

The two giant beasts fought in the water, causing huge waves to surge.

Although the Alligator Master was blocked and unable to dive to rescue Li Yan, the huge waves it stirred up also interfered with the progress of the sacrifice.

For a time, both sides fell into a stalemate...

…………

Gurgle, gurgle~

The sound of water surged in his ears, and everything before his eyes was pitch black.

This underground river was very strange; the currents above were surging and violent, but below it was all quiet as dead water, leading to the accumulation of silt.

Li Yan was trapped by the heavy bronze coffin and soon sank to the bottom of the river; then his feet tightened, and half his body sank into the silt.

The more he exerted force, the deeper he sank.

Even more unlucky was that his Profound Water Escape had already stopped, and he hadn't reached the level of reciting spells silently; holding his breath, he felt increasingly uncomfortable.

No!

Li Yan forced himself to calm down, drew his Dust-Breaking Blade, exerted force suddenly, pierced directly through the bronze coffin, and then pulled it out.

He planned to break a small hole and drill out.

But every time he exerted force, his body sank deeper.

Boom!

Just as Li Yan pierced through the bronze coffin again, his expression changed instantly.

It felt as if he had suddenly stepped into thin air; before he could react, a terrifying suction force came from below, dragging him directly into the silt.

Plop!

Li Yan landed heavily and took a big breath of air.

He slowly stood up, looked around, his eyes filled with shock.

This was a strange mountain cave, surrounded by crystal-clear stone walls, and they were extremely irregular, forming depressions like shrines.

The stone walls seemed to be some kind of gemstone, emitting a faint blue light.

And inside those "shrines" sat corpses!

Their clothing and appearance were all different.

Some had thick hair, knotted muscles, wore animal skins, had disheveled hair, and wore crowns woven from jade...

Some had wide robes and high crowns, with long beards hanging down to their chests...

Some wore Daoist robes, with white hair and aged faces...

They seemed to be from different eras!

Li Yan felt his hair stand on end, his face filled with vigilance.

In this place, supernatural powers were completely suppressed; he drew his Dust-Breaking Blade, approached cautiously, tested the breath of one person, and then breathed a slight sigh of relief.

These were all corpses!

Li Yan's eyes were filled with doubt.

This place looked like some kind of burial treasure cave.

Could the secret of the Fuxi tribe,

be this?

Afterward, Li Yan looked toward the center of the cave and saw stone tablets standing there, arranged according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, pitch-black like ink, appearing exceptionally mysterious under the blue light of the cave.

It was Wang Chan's Sutra Forest!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 377 =====