Chapter 2173 - Demons of the Black Pagodas
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Woosh! Woosh!
Two giant plumes of water erupted in the muddy yellow Emperor Bone Sea. Lin Ming and Sheng Mei flew into the Emperor Bone Sea at the entrance of the abyssal ritual smelting trial.
Along the way, Lin Ming felt an intense tearing force pass over him. The surroundings began to rapidly change. Lin Ming knew that he was passing through a transmission array and quickly held onto Sheng Mei's hand to avoid them being separated by the tearing force of the transmission array.
This tearing force grew stronger and stronger. Although Sheng Mei and Lin Ming had formidable divine souls, it was impossible for them to be immune to this type of brutal tearing force. But, as Lin Ming felt the strength of this storm, he was left secretly dumbfounded. If an abyssal at the Empyrean level or below were to enter it, their soul would be crushed and torn apart by the massive force and they would perish before they even made it to the other end of the transmission array.
This was the might possessed by the highest echelon of mystic realm in the entire universe. Not to mention the emperor force field that was gathered in this mystic realm, just the space storm here weren't something that could be compared to those of the 33 Heavens. The space here was exceedingly stable, but at the same time, once it shattered, the storm that erupted would be hundreds of times more terrifying!
This sort of disorienting scene continued for an unknown period of time. Lin Ming felt his body lighten and in the next moment he arrived in a strange space.
Because of their powerful divine souls, the moment they exited the transmission array, they immediately rid themselves of their dizziness to clearly see the scene in front of them.
In the middle of this space was a vast and endless road. This road was shrouded in gray fog that seemed completely stagnant, and carried with it an aura of deathly stillness.
On both sides of this road were great towering pagodas. Each pagoda was a thousand feet high and stood tall like a black monument.
Lin Ming gazed at one of these pagodas. This pagoda had 12 floors and gates that was 100 feet high. The gates were tightly closed shut and the relief of a three-headed and six-armed demon god was carved into it. This demon bit down onto a demonic sword.
From behind the great gates, Lin Ming could faintly feel a mysterious and extraordinary aura sealed within, one that left the heart shocked.
"Are these the burial grounds of the great demon emperors that died in ancient times 100 billion years ago?"
Lin Ming suddenly asked on a whim. There were so many demon pagodas; could each one be the grave of a demon emperor?
As Lin Ming was thinking about this, he could feel the Magic Cube suddenly start trembling from within his inner world.
"Mm?"
Lin Mig was startled. "Magic Cube?"
"What is it?"
Sheng Mei's thoughts were connected to Lin Ming's. She looked towards him. Then, with a thought, Lin Ming summoned a grandmist force field that blocked out the surrounding space. He waved his hand and the dark gray Magic Cube appeared in the world, slowly revolving above his palm.
"Magic Cube?"
After accompanying Lin Ming these past several years, Sheng Mei already knew the name that Lin Ming had given the Magic Cube. She also recalled the myth of the Stone of Eternal Life passed down amongst the spiritas.
"The Magic Cube gently trembled just now. For a brief moment, it transmitted a strange aura. There is something extraordinary happening with this place…"
At this moment, Lin Ming felt the Magic Cube in his hand heat up a little. This made him even more wary, because Jiu'er was hiding in the Magic Cube space.
Lin Ming felt that the Magic Cube space was the safest place possible. Thus, he hid Jiu'er inside and had Ruby look after her.
After hearing Lin Ming's words, a thoughtful look crossed Sheng Mei's face. "According to the Demon God's Tomb jade slip, there are many ancient demon emperors buried here. After they died, their remnant souls also remained here for eternity without being destroyed. Could it be that the Magic Cube had some reaction because it resonated with these powerful soul auras?"
Sheng Mei's speculation was reasonable. In fact, since the Magic Cube was the ultimate divine tool when it came to the aspect of souls, it could have suddenly been excited upon encountering so many formidable souls.
However, these ancient demon emperors were far too amazing. Even just a single remnant soul would be too difficult to deal with.
"But no matter what, just be careful."
Lin Ming put away the Magic Cube and took down the isolating grandmist force field.
But the moment that Lin Ming removed the grandmist force field, he suddenly heard a deafening roar coming from outside!
Hou - !
Hou - !
Hou - !
Horrifying roars filled with the air and reverberated in space. These roars left the ears tingling with numbness.
"Hahaha! To think such delicious food has delivered itself to my door once more!"
A crazed and maddened voice echoed out. What this voice spoke in was the ancient abyssal language. If it weren't for Lin Ming having obtained many of Famine's memories he wouldn't have been able to understand it.
"What!?"
Lin Ming was panic-stricken. He originally thought that the ancient demon emperors here had all died off and never expected that there could be one that emitted such a brutal roar.
He stretched out a hand to reach for the Black Dragon Spear. And at this time, not too far away, he saw a 12 level pagoda emit a dim black flash of light.
Gudong!
With a loud bang, the front gates of the pagoda fiercely trembled.
From behind the great gates, loud rumbling sounds echoed out. These were the sounds of thick chains being dragged across the ground, as if some ancient beast that was wrapped in chains wanted to rush out.
"This is a king of the ancient demon race?"
Lin Ming looked at the violently shaking gates of the black pagoda and the tremendous impact force that seemed to be striking it like a falling star. The vibrations grew increasingly fierce, as if the door would be broken open.
However, in that moment, the demon relief on the gates began to shine. The eyes of the demon relief radiated with a blood red light and the countless intricate runes engraved atop the relief started to emit a dazzling light.
Then, a pitiful cry echoed out from behind the gates.
"Ahh!"
That ancient demon emperor seemed to suffer some agonizing form of suppression. He fiercely struggled and roared. Then, the runes on the gate flashed once more and the roar became increasingly weak before eventually devolving into hateful curses. Eventually, even those curses subsided to nothing and the entire black pagoda returned to tranquility once more, as if nothing happened.
This small interlude caused Lin Ming's heart to skip a beat. He stared at the demon relief on the gates of the pagoda and a strange thought appeared in his mind.
The style of this demon relief as well as the carving technique were completely similar to what he saw in the underground cavern!
The only difference was that in the underground cavern, the demon relief had a bronze coffin in its mouth. But, the demon relief on the black pagoda held a demonic sword in its mouth instead.
The black pagoda and underground cavern had similar demon reliefs. But, one was used to refine a demon bone and the other was used to seal in a demon…
With such a scene, one couldn't help but produce some associations.
"What are you thinking of?"
Lin Ming asked Sheng Mei as he continued to eye the demon relief.
Sheng Mei said, "I've thought of many things, but none of them are good…"
The ancient bronze coffin filled with blood, the demon locked in the black pagoda, these things caused Sheng Mei to feel as if there was something bloody and hideous hidden in the dark.
This was not the first time that the Demon God's Tomb had opened, but these things she saw hadn't been recorded in the Demon God's Tomb jade slip. Only by entering deep into the Demon God's Tomb could one see such scenes…
"Let's continue onwards. We've already come this far. Although peerless demon emperors from ancient times are buried here, all that is left of them are their remnant souls. Even if one of them manages to free itself, we can still fight them."
The Lin Ming of today was no longer the same person he had been before. He was no longer a genius of the younger generation, but one of the characters who truly stood at the highest levels of the universe.
Even if they were ancient demon emperors, it was still impossible for them to be Beyond Divinity.
And even if they were at the limits of a True Divinity, after having been dead for so many years and only having a wisp of their remnant soul and will remaining, their strength would inevitably be limited. Lin Ming had full confidence he could deal with all incoming challengers.
Lin Ming and Sheng Mei pushed forwards. On the side of the road, demon pagodas appeared one after another.
Some demon pagodas were extremely calm, even emitting an aura of complete deathly stillness, as if they were ancient graves that had never been moved for all of eternity.
But some demon pagodas began to emit earth-shaking roars as Lin Ming and Sheng Mei approached.
"Flesh and blood! Fresh flesh and blood!"
"Me! Me! Give it to me!"
These voices were filled with madness, loneliness, despair, and utter hostility and hatred. They didn't seem to resemble the voices of ancient peerless powerhouses at all, but rather like hungry ghosts that had gone insane.
In Lin Ming's impression, even if these ancient peerless powerhouses were part of the cruel and barbaric demon race, they would still reveal a grand and majestic aura of a great emperor once they obtained absolute strength; they wouldn't resemble crazed beasts and starving ghosts.
Perhaps those that were sealed in the black pagodas weren't ancient demon race emperors at all, but some evil and depraved souls.
This thought flashed through Lin Ming's mind. It was also his only guess.