Chapter 478: Xing Xing Tongyou

Damn.

The instant the passage cracked, Li Yuan inwardly cried that something was wrong; his body shot backward, evading the surging cloud mist!

He looked up. Beneath the memorial arch, that stone stele was also covered in crack

lines, with dim, lightless characters flickering across its surface!

"The… the True Inheritance Trial… is closed!"

So it's already busted? Li Yuan frowned inwardly. By now he was thoroughly familiar with running this True Inheritance Trial, but altogether he hadn't run it that many times!

Is this all the foundation the Shan Xuan Jing Gate has left? In a flash, Li Yuan sensed something was off. After the dispersing mist, he saw a pair of dark, Shan Xuan-colored eyes!

"It's the stone statue left by Cang Huang Longzi inside the great hall."

Li Yuan's heart tightened slightly. He had already heard the heavy footsteps, and before long, he saw that tall stone statue with a wisp of eleventh-tier incense fire atop its forehead!

The statue's gaze was deep and dim, its voice low: "Dao Child of Shan Xuan Jing, Li Yuan?"

Great, the loophole's been spotted!

Li Yuan came to his senses—this trial passage was probably not—

"It's me!"

The statue has been shut down!

Li Yuan cupped his hands in a salute. He was also sizing up this statue, feeling more than a little odd about it!

This statue had no spirit-intelligence; of that, he was certain!

After all, he'd run this True Inheritance Trial dozens, even over a hundred times. If it truly had spirit-intelligence, it would have noticed long ago!

Or rather, is it some kind of mechanism?

While Li Yuan was mulling it over, the statue spoke in a low voice: "Dao Child holding the Hammer Spirit may enter—the Eight Directions Temple Trial!"

Li Yuan said nothing, and the statue merely stared at him fixedly, endlessly repeating that same line!

With a low hum, a stone stele rose from the ground. The Shan Xuan Jing Spirit couldn't hold itself back: "En… enter…"

It's your turn to rush me?

Li Yuan reached out a hand; the Hammer Spirit trembled lightly, transforming into a hand-hammer that landed in his grip!

"The Eight Directions Temple Trial…"

Li Yuan mulled it over!

His original plan had been to slowly grind through the True Inheritance Trial, and once he'd made enough progress, then grind the Dao Child Trial; after entering the Dao, he'd attempt that final trial!

After all, even the Grand Grandmaster Qian Di couldn't pass that trial—him going now would likely be pointless!

But now that this statue had spotted the loophole, the Dao Child Trial was probably

no longer grindable.

I still lack a weapon with the Weapon-Control augmentation of the fifth layer of the Soldier-Nurturing Scripture—this is getting troublesome!

After some thought, Li Yuan tried asking the statue about the final trial, about all sorts of information regarding the Eight Directions Temple!

But just as before, the statue could only repeat that one line!

The Shan Xuan Jing Hammer, however, answered in broken snatches, though the Hammer Spirit didn't know much either—only that this trial held no danger!

"Then, shall we go take a look?"

Li Yuan, hammer in hand, walked toward the great hall. The statue followed with heavy footsteps!

With a low rumble, inside the great hall, the statue returned to its place. Behind it, that deep, dim light-gate appeared once more—mysterious and profound!

With a plan in mind, Li Yuan didn't hesitate. Toting the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer Spirit, he stepped into the light-gate!

Just before entering, he looked back and saw the statue also turn around. A pair of blazing, incandescent eyes, like two lanterns, lit the way ahead for him!

With a hum, after a momentary flicker of light and dark, Li Yuan steadied himself. Beyond that light-gate lay a dim, lightless expanse!

He focused with all his might. All around was pitch-black; no matter how he looked, he couldn't see a thing!

Only the light cast by the statue's gaze behind him, a faint illumination falling down, vaguely revealed a dark, protruding path beneath his feet!

"This place… how does it feel a bit like… You Jing?"

Li Yuan keenly sensed something amiss. The aura this place gave off was—

identical to the aura of "Xing Xing Tongyou's Long Corridor"!

And… he looked back. The statue's gaze flickered, lighting the way for him!

Li Yuan tightened his grip on the Hammer Spirit, his thoughts subtle!

"That gaze

comes from that wisp of eleventh-tier incense fire on its forehead, doesn't it? This place…"

This trial requires holding the Hammer Spirit, and the full Weapon-Control of the Rending Sea Shan Xuan Jing Hammer includes the augmentation of Xing Xing Tongyou!

With a hum, at the thought, Li Yuan took a wisp of incense fire from his Weapon-Bearing Space and tossed it into the darkness beside him!

The incense fire flashed past, and indeed there was a momentary brightness!

Even if it isn't You Jing, it's probably not far off!

Li Yuan was very cautious, lingering near the gate. From the surrounding darkness came occasional whistling winds, invisible to the eye, making one's hair stand on end!

"What exactly is this You Jing?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself. He'd heard of You Jing from more than a few places, but even now he couldn't figure out what sort of place it was!

It was everywhere, with gods dwelling within. After wandering around for a bit, Li Yuan carefully walked forward. Visibility here was extremely low; the statue's gaze could only illuminate a few steps ahead of him!

After walking for quite a while, the expected danger didn't appear, and Li Yuan relaxed slightly!

"Oh?"

Li Yuan suddenly stopped. By the light of the statue's gaze behind him, he saw not far ahead a vague, shadowy shape!

"Is this the trial ground?"

Li Li Yuanzhong looked at the hammer in his hand; the Spirit of the Black Whale Hammer trembled slightly and gave no answer, clearly knowing nothing about this final trial!

"Divine Realm?"

Li Li Yuanzhong's heart trembled slightly; this place actually contained a Divine Realm?

"Enter... enter..."

The Spirit of the Black Whale suddenly trembled lightly, urging him on!

"What place is this?"

Li Li Yuanzhong was naturally in no rush!

"The Black Whale Sect... left traces, leading, leading... to the Eight Directions Temple!"

This hammer stammered; one didn't know if it wanted to conceal something or if it simply knew this much!

Li Li Yuanzhong had asked many times and only managed to summarize a general idea!

This ancient temple was indeed a Divine Realm, likely left by a master of the Black Whale Sect in years past; originally, it was probably a cluster of temples, but now, only a small half-room remained!

"If a few more years pass, I suppose this temple will be gone?"

Li Li Yuanzhong walked into the courtyard; beneath an old tree stood a stone stele. From outside the courtyard, it was unclear; even upon entering, it remained blurry. He drew out a wisp of incense, only then illuminating it!

The stone stele bore characters written in the Sea-Splitting Divine Script!

"Exhausting the sect's entire foundation... this, is the You Jing?"

"The Divine returns to the You Jing... only a Divine Realm can preserve itself within the You Jing; only a Spirit Form can walk within the You Jing!"

"Then, within this You Jing, do countless legends exist?"

"... in legend, Outer Gods dwell within the You Jing..."

"What of the You Jing left by Divine Beings?"

The characters on the stone stele were chaotic and blurry, as if the stele had existed for countless years and been weathered; Li Li Yuanzhong could only barely recognize a portion!

He urged the Spirit of the Black Whale Hammer to decipher it again, then half-guessed and summarized a part!

"The Divine returns to the You Jing; does this 'Divine' refer to both the Divine Realm and the Outer Gods?"

Li Li Yuanzhong pondered in his heart, recording the various pieces of information one by one, while glancing around to examine this ancient temple!

Inside the ancient temple, there was nothing else: three broken walls, with a temple facing forward, within which a similarly blurry divine statue was enshrined!

Li Li Yuanzhong drew out wisp after wisp of incense, only barely managing to recognize it as an unknown divine statue possessing eight arms and numerous beast-like features!

"Was this ancient temple's Divine Realm left by people of the Black Whale Sect, or was it left long before that?"

Li Li Yuanzhong guessed in his heart, but his gaze fell upon that incense burner!

The temple was filled with an unusual spiritual pressure, or perhaps it was simply the obstruction of the You Jing; Li Li Yuanzhong walked all the way into the temple before he saw the gleam of weapons!

"Incense Burner Before the Eight-Armed Crocodile God Temple (Sixth Tier)"

"The mind gathers; the object of visualization, lacking incense, has been invaded by the aura of the You Jing, falling to the brink of extinction!"

"Condition for Mastery: Eight Arms"

"Effect of Mastery: Seventh Tier (Pale Gold): The favor of the Eight-Armed Crocodile God."

"Note: This burner cannot be moved; moving it causes the temple to collapse."

"

Note: Offering incense allows one to trace the lingering spiritual pressure within the abandoned temple."

"The Eight-Armed Crocodile God!"

Li Li Yuanzhong glanced at the divine statue on the stone platform and already understood the gist of it!

Regardless of who left this temple, it was clear that now, the Black Whale Sect was using it as a trial marker!

"Offer the incense!"

Li Li Yuanzhong looked outside the temple; the distance was too great. Although the gaze of the divine statue still shone upon his feet, looking back, he could no longer see the stone statue!

Fine, I'll pay myself... Daoist Li was wealthy and generous. He pulled out a handful of incense, ranging from unranked to Fourth Tier. He tried them one by one and found the incense burner had extremely high requirements; even Fourth-Tier incense only made it glow slightly brighter!

"Try adding more?"

Li Li Yuanzhong certainly did not want to waste Fifth-Tier or higher incense; as for the lower tiers, he felt no pain using them!

After filling in about sixty or seventy wisps of incense, Li Li Yuanzhong stepped back, and the light within that incense burner suddenly blazed forth!

With a hum, it engulfed him!

Wuu—before his eyes, light and shadow intertwined and flowed!

Li Li Yuanzhong focused his spirit intensely. He saw this ancient temple radiate brilliant light; the walls, once dilapidated and mottled, were renewed before his very eyes!

The ancient tree in the courtyard no longer bore its original withered appearance; it was lush and green, dripping with vitality, radiating emerald light like a divine tree!

Hum—Li Li Yuanzhong blinked slightly; where were even half the traces of the temple from just moments ago?

He glanced around. Outside the temple now, buildings stood in clusters. Each ancient temple radiated light, illuminating this dark place

brightly!

He focused his perception. Outside the temple, he could even see layers of mountains, and even the light and shadow of flying birds and running beasts!

"Is this what this ancient temple looked like long ago?"

▲c〇

Li Li Yuanzhong reached out to touch the surroundings. The light and shadow were merely light and shadow, not substantial existence. Just as seen in the Military Strategy, this was the lingering spiritual pressure remaining within the temple!

Hum—under Li Li Yuanzhong's gaze, the ancient temple gradually fell into ruin again, and temple after temple was swallowed by darkness!

In the end, only three or five remained, their light dim!

Li Li Yuanzhong frowned, watching. His gaze fell beneath the old tree in the courtyard of the ancient temple, where an elderly man of very tall stature sat cross-legged!