Chapter 130: A Special Place

"You mistakenly killed the woman who regarded you as her own and thought of you in everything. That is truly terrible!"

The deity's voice was clearly very light, yet it exploded in Song Ce's mind.

"I, I..."

Song Ce choked and opened his trembling lips, not knowing if it was tears blurring his vision or the darkness.

Steward Li saw Song Ce standing stiffly there, the whites of his eyes submerged by black, as if he had been possessed by a demon. Creak! Song Ce turned his neck and moved his limbs like a wooden puppet.

"Young... Young Master?"

Steward Li swallowed his saliva. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the Song Ce before him seemed to have become a wooden puppet whose limbs were being pulled by someone.

Song Ce tilted his head and looked at Steward Li with an evil smile, baring his teeth as he said in a sinister voice, "Your Young Master is a bit too fragile. But this body is really poor. By the way, your Lady didn't write you any letters; it was I who told you to come to the Western Regions."

"You..."

Steward Li had just opened his mouth when he was grabbed by the throat by Song Ce. Crack! With one sound, Steward Li's head tilted, and he lost his breath.

Song Ce threw Steward Li's corpse aside like trash, the corners of his mouth curling up as he muttered to himself:

"I thought I would have to wait too long to occupy this body. It's earlier than I imagined. Once I enter the trial grounds and kill that damned Lord Wenguan to seize his luck, I imagine cultivation will be even faster."

After pausing for a short while, Song Ce, whose body was occupied by the deity, turned and left.

Three days later, at the hour of the Dragon (7-9 AM).

In front of the Buddha Caves on the back mountain of Fuyou Temple, there stood about one or two hundred monks dressed in various attires.

These were monks from the various sects of the Buddha Kingdom. Because their cultivation beliefs differed, people from different sects gathered together without talking, instead whispering from time to time while looking at the thirty people from Great Zhou.

There were also ten monks with black lotuses embroidered on their sleeves and chests, their gazes staring unreservedly and recklessly at Lu Fang's side.

Li Yu whispered a reminder, "After entering the trial grounds, Little Martial Uncle, try not to make contact with people. I will try my best to find you."

This was already the umpteenth time she had reminded him.

It was just that this time, upon entering the trial grounds, Lu Fang's rank was too low. Except for him, who was a Sixth Rank, First Stage, everyone else was at least a Sixth Rank, Third Stage.

This meant that if he encountered anyone at random and the other party had ill intentions, Lu Fang would have to flee in a panic.

"Mm," Lu Fang replied distractedly, glancing at Song Ce not far away. This person felt like a different person today, looking over from time to time.

Song Ce's gaze was like that of a wild beast, making Lu Fang feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Before he could think too much, a monk wearing a bright red cassock appeared in front of the various Buddha walls of different images. After saying a few words in the Western Regions language, he opened the trial grounds.

Golden Sanskrit characters merged into the Buddha statues one by one. As powerful energy fluctuations rippled out, a strange-looking array appeared.

Fuyou Temple was quite considerate to those from Great Zhou; after stating some precautions for entering, they let Lu Fang and the others enter first.

Lu Fang and Li Yu were the last to enter. In any place similar to the Lower Upper Realm, those who wanted to enter would generally be teleported to different locations; the closer the distance, the easier it would be to find each other.

A sensation of stepping into thin air struck.

Lu Fang steadied his figure and drifted slowly from the air onto the roof of a dilapidated temple. The first thing that hit him was the smell of decay. Looking around, this was a very large temple ruin, with various buildings in shambles and overgrown with weeds.

With a light tap of his toes, he landed in the courtyard.

On a somewhat rotten black plaque, one could vaguely see the four characters "Heng Hong Great Hall". On both sides of the hall were two stone lamps covered in thick dust.

Entering the hall, there was a Buddha statue with glaring eyes. It didn't look like a Buddha, but more like an evil god or a demon from the abyss, with sharp fangs, bulging eyeballs, a red body, and skull prayer beads around its neck.

The Buddha statue had its hands pressed together, but its angry expression and upturned mouth gave people a feeling of madness.

On both sides were various Buddha statue stone walls that looked like evil ghosts and yakshas.

Lu Fang frowned, feeling uncomfortable all over. He felt as if he had entered a temple played by demons, mountain spirits, and wild monsters.

He couldn't imagine what the situation here was like before.

Did anyone really worship these things?

Lu Fang cautiously sensed his surroundings and perceived very rich energy fluctuations at the back of the hall, just like the aura of the Ten Thousand Dao Stones.

"A special place?"

He muttered to himself.

In a special place within the trial grounds, entering it could allow one to enter a certain mysterious state, making it easier to enter an epiphany to quickly improve one's strength and realm.

If one were stagnant in a realm, this epiphany could break through the realm.

It was just that special places like this were very rare and very difficult to find. Lu Fang hadn't expected to encounter one the moment he landed.

However, just in case, Lu Fang still cautiously crept over, keeping an eye on potential threats in the surroundings at all times.

Fortunately, everything was safe and sound.

"Is this a pond?"

Lu Fang looked at the lotus leaf pond before him, somewhat surprised. Every part of this abandoned temple was dilapidated and rotten, yet the pond before him was unexpectedly clear.

Not only were there lotus leaves, but fish would jump out of the water from time to time.

This scene provided a great contrast.

Should he go in?

Lu Fang stood before the archway of the pond, hesitating. He suddenly remembered a saying: the more beautiful something is, the more it hides murderous intent.

He had to go in; it was hard to come across such a place.

However, before going in, he still needed to be careful, prioritizing his life safety.

After some searching, Lu Fang found a wild rabbit outside the temple and threw it into the archway. What he didn't expect was that the moment the rabbit entered the archway, it became the size of a fingernail.

"How could it be like this?"

Lu Fang was somewhat surprised. He wanted to use his Haoran Zhengqi to probe and pull the rabbit out, but he discovered that the moment the Haoran Zhengqi entered the archway, it lost all sensation.

It was as if once one entered the archway, it was another world entirely.

Just then, a fish jumped out of the pond, scaring the rabbit so much that it turned and ran out of the archway. The moment it came out, the rabbit immediately returned to its original size.

Lu Fang looked at the restored rabbit and muttered to himself, "Could it be that this pond is a small world, and entering it makes one become very small? I wonder if Haoran Zhengqi won't be usable if I go in."

This discovery made him even more careful. After using the rabbit to try several times, he found that there didn't seem to be any danger in the pond.

Moreover, even if he encountered danger, Lu Fang could still escape directly. With the speed at which he could summon the Qimen Feijia, it should be no problem.

A golden light rippled out and transformed into mysterious armor that attached to Lu Fang's body. He took a few deep breaths and finally stepped into the archway. ===== CHAPTER 131 =====