Chapter 262: Full Moon

"Boom"

In the instant his five fingers closed around the orb, the elliptical stone inside shattered, and a tall, semi-transparent figure emerged from the white light, growing from small to full size.

Before Wang Yu could react in shock, the semi-transparent figure merely lifted its head and glanced toward the temple ruins, uttered a soft "Hm?" and then seized his wrist, speaking calmly.

"Kid, lend me your body for a moment."

No sooner had the words left its mouth than the figure's sleeve flicked once.

With a "sssshh," a massive, several-zhang-wide, misty-white talisman pattern appeared beneath Wang Yu's feet in midair.

Wang Yu felt blinding white light flood his vision; the surroundings blurred, and amid dizziness and vertigo, he and the semi-transparent figure reappeared at the center of a large blue-stone hall, standing atop a familiar teleportation array.

The hall was toweringly high, with a massive copper door prominently ahead, while around it stood numerous iron racks—empty, yet coated in thick layers of dust.

Wang Yu stared at it all, dumbfounded.

At that moment, the semi-transparent figure released his wrist, swept its gaze across the surroundings, and spoke calmly:

"It seems I slept too long—but this too must end."

Only then did Wang Yu snap back to awareness and quickly turn to look at the semi-transparent figure.

Though its body was indistinct, its face clearly resembled a refined middle-aged man—and strangely familiar.

Wang Yu recalled for just a moment, then gasped and bowed deeply:

"Senior, are you Master Jialan?"

The middle-aged man's appearance was unmistakably similar to the bas-relief of Master Jialan in the underground cavern.

"Of course not. Whether that old fool Jialan is alive or dead, only he himself knows."

"But clearly, now that I've awakened, all his arrangements here have failed." The semi-transparent figure replied without preamble.

"If you're not Master Jialan, then who are you?" Wang Yu, bewildered, asked cautiously.

Though he dared not scan the figure with his spiritual sense, the mere fact that this semi-transparent figure had teleported him across space meant he was a being beyond Wang Yu's reach.

"Who I am doesn't matter. But since Jialan's plan has failed, it's time for me to end this." The semi-transparent figure replied, fixing his gaze on the massive copper door before him.

The next instant, the copper door erupted in a thunderous "Boom!" and began to violently shake, as if someone outside was violently smashing it.

"So the reincarnated ones still aren't recognized—otherwise why go through such trouble? Fine, I'll help them." The refined, semi-transparent man shook his head, flicked his sleeve toward the copper door, and a wave of white light surged forth.

"Puff."

The surface of the massive copper door suddenly blazed with countless colorful talisman patterns, which surged and vanished layer upon layer; within mere breaths, a deep boom echoed from within the door, and it slowly swung open on both sides.

"Ha! Open! Finally open! No need for blood sacrifice after all!" A withered voice came from outside the copper door, brimming with excitement and delight.

Upon hearing this, the semi-transparent figure showed no expression, merely flicked his sleeve—white light surged around them.

Wang Yu felt a flash of brightness, then was swept up by the white light and shot toward the outside of the copper door.

"Thud."

When the white light vanished, Wang Yu stood on an open expanse of blue stone outside the massive copper door.

Not far ahead stood an elderly monk with a benevolent face, beside whom hovered a hazy black figure.

The old monk held a young monk by the arm—his face unmistakably that of Yuan Tong from the Golden Vajra Temple—but he had only one arm left, drenched in blood, barely clinging to life.

"Who are you?"

The old monk, startled by Wang Yu's sudden appearance, cried out involuntarily.

The hazy black figure beside him also flickered its blood-red eyes, equally startled and uncertain.

Wang Yu's expression stiffened; he had no idea how to respond.

These two clearly weren't good people.

At that moment, brilliant white light flared beside him, and the semi-transparent figure slowly coalesced into form.

"It's you."

The old monk's face turned pale with shock and disbelief upon seeing the semi-transparent figure.

The hazy black figure, however, fixed its blood-red gaze, emitted a shrill "Squeak!" and suddenly exploded inward, its black light collapsing.

Amid splattering flesh and limbs, a fist-sized, headless spider phantom shot straight through the tower's roof and fled upward at blinding speed.

"Wretched beast, think you can escape again?" The semi-transparent figure uttered a low roar, raising a hand and pointing remotely into the sky.

The next instant, concentric ripples of distorted space spread across the heavens above the temple ruins, and a colossal full moon slowly emerged at their center.

The moon's surface gleamed brilliantly, and countless milky-white talismans surged into the air within a radius of several li, an astonishing sight.

"Puff."

The colossal moon merely spun once in midair, then spat out a thick, misty-white beam of light that vanished in an instant—striking the fleeing headless spider phantom.

A piercing, ear-splitting scream echoed across the entire ruin as the headless spider phantom dissolved into black mist and vanished within the white beam.

"Grade-four treasure!"

Outside the ruins, the massive Tian Gu Old Ancestor, commanding numerous demonic airships to assault the blood-red curtain, saw this scene from afar and instantly shuddered, shouting urgently: "Retreat!"—then rolled black mist around him and fled wildly backward.

The demonic disciples aboard the airships below, though unaware of what had happened, saw Tian Gu Old Ancestor fleeing in panic and immediately broke into chaos, all frantically turning their airships around and retreating.

At the very top level of the tower.

The semi-transparent figure's eyes glowed white as he glanced toward the direction of the demonic retreat; even across such distance, he seemed to see everything clearly, and calmly spoke:

"Anyone above Foundation Establishment who dares enter here—if you survive the next strike, I'll spare you."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the full moon hanging above the ruins blazed brightly and fired another misty-white beam, sweeping toward the distant black mist.

Seated on a bone chair within the black mist, Tian Gu Old Ancestor witnessed this and shrieked, hurling the four artifacts in his four arms—the blade, shield, banner, and hammer—into the sky, where they swelled into four massive black orbs as they met the wind.

Tian Gu Old Ancestor then swiftly pulled out a blood-red talisman, crushed it instantly, and transformed it into a crimson lightning streak that pierced through the black mist and fled.

But the white beam was far too fast.

Tian Gu Old Ancestor heard only a thunderous "Boom!" as the colossal beam obliterated the four black orbs, then flashed forward and caught up with the crimson streak.

The four-armed skeleton instantly materialized in the white light; its massive bone body struggled left and right for mere breaths before beginning to crumble.

The colossal skeleton roared, clenching its fingers into a seal.

"Boom!"

Its massive body exploded inward, and amid a staggering shockwave, a small black mist-wrapped eyeball finally pierced through the white light and vanished into the nearby ground.