Seeing the smiling and relieved face of the Terrestrial Venerable, Meng Qi and the others felt a chill down their backs.
What was Gu Xiaosang thinking? Why did she want to kill the Terrestrial Venerable?
Had she deliberately left a trail so that they wouldn't get lost along the way?
The demoness had a split personality, in that it was hard to figure her out. She'd even let her teammate suffer a painful death. Thinking about it sent a chill down the spine!
Meng Qi and the others backed off subconsciously. They guarded the entrance of the hall downstairs, but they weren't really afraid because they had strength in numbers. Unless Gu Xiaosang had reached the level of the Half-step Exterior Scenery, she could not kill them by herself. And the other two with her were still being chased, so they couldn't be here right now!
"Don't be afraid. You're giving me the impression that I'm ugly to the point of being frightening." Gu Xiaosang's tender voice reverberated in the hall, for Meng Qi and the others to hear.
She was sitting on a large stone with a hand on her beautiful face, smiling. She was wearing a snow-white dress and her white boots were dangling in the air.
"Let's move!" Luo Shengyi instructed in a low voice. "We can't give that demoness any chance to delay. No matter what her plan is, as long as we keep a grip on her, we will get a chance to break her, unless she wants to lose her life."
Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei had the same idea as Luo Shengyi, which was to solve things by force. Using blades and swords to battle it out.
It was as if Gu Xiaosang was weight-less and drifted with the wind. She avoided the attack and landed in front of the stone door and said laughingly, "Do you not hear the noise and activities inside?"
Tok tok tok, tok tok tok. As she said those words, something struck against the stone door.
Seeing this, Meng Qi was even more afraid of wasting time. He decided to pick up the slack and waved the Red Sun Evil Blade, which had instilled within it the elements of the secular world, towards Gu Xiaosang.
Jiang Zhiwei wielded her sword too. The flash of her sword was unyielding with a sense to kill, like the invitation of Yama.
Luo Shengyi attacked with his fist. There was nothing fancy, no changes or transformations, just a powerful strike.
Qi Zhengyan drew his rose-gold sword. Large stones shattered to pieces and shot at Gu Xiaosang.
But just at this instant, the stone door burst open and a gust of Devil Qi spread, overwhelming Meng Qi and the others.
A dark gold glow suddenly appeared on Meng Qi's skin and his mid-brow started pulsating, but the Devil Whelm had overwhelmed them. They saw nothing but darkness.
At the top of the Sacred Fire Mountain, there was a burning pile of stones that was spitting Devil Flames. A constant stream of Devil Qi was being emitted, polluting everything in the vicinity, making the top of the mountain seem evil and bloody.
This was the Devil Tomb. The burning Devil Flame was how the Sacred Fire Mountain had gotten its name.
There was a grand temple in front of the Devil Tomb with many Devil Cult disciples coming in and out. They had just worshiped the Devil Lord, everything seemed orderly and peaceful.
Suddenly, the Devil Tomb burst open and a gust of Devil Qi rose into the sky, covering the area. The disciples soon turned into mummies.
"The Devil Tomb... Devil Tomb has been opened completely!" An elder who was not at the top of the mountain cried in shock.
It was said that the Devil Tomb would open completely only when a destined man with great energy approached. He was to impart the Devil's way and make the Devil Whelm influence the world again.
All the Devil Cult's elders and disciples watched blankly. They couldn't believe that the ancient legends had come true!
Puzzled, Gu Kongshan, who had been busy chasing Hu Buwei, lifted his head and saw the dark smoke which covered the sky.
The sense of evil and bloodiness could be sensed even from a long distance.
CLANK!
The Wind Cloud Blade in Gu Kongshan's hand started making noises, and the wind was getting stronger. The true dragon and white tiger imbibed on the body of his blade started to come alive, making even Gu Kongshan tremble.
CLANK!
The Wind Cloud Blade suddenly flew from Gu Kongshan's hand like a shooting star, heading towards the Sacred Fire Mountain.
In the meantime, Madam Huan's Tai Hua Sword, and the Portal-guarding Elder's Morningmoon Spinner all flashed and made deterrence, then shot to the clouds and flew towards the Sacred Fire Mountain.
The stars on the silver-white metal gloves all flashed and glistened. It made the Human Venerable tremble and was too lofty and immemorial to suppress.
CLANK!
The Star-picking Hand loosened itself and headed for the Sacred Fire Mountain too, like a back-flowing waterfall.
"What's happening?" Yun Tingfeng asked as he watched everything in shock.
The Human Venerable had an odd expression on his face, whether it was joy or concern was unclear. "The destined one is here, and the Devil Tomb is completely open. The four sealed Magical Arms have reacted accordingly by breaking the seal and in turn, gaining full power. They all went to repress the Devil Tomb."
The four sealed weapons had neither soul nor intellect, but they did have their maker's will imbibed within. Hence, once the energy was aligned, they would break the seal on their own accord and repress the Devil Tomb.
Of course, they could only repress it. If it were to be sealed again, there needed to be someone at the helm.
"The destined man... " Yun Tingfeng squinted his eyes and watched. Where is the destined one if no one has yet entered the Sacred Fire Mountain?
Could it be her? He suddenly thought of the mysterious and weird Little Zi.
What was she planning? "We must return immediately to the Sacred Fire Mountain!" Yun Tingfeng said heavily.
Even if we can't have everything, we should grab a piece or two of the Devil Tomb!
The Celestial Venerable and Su Yuanying both stared at the four rays of light gliding across the sky blankly. They felt dumbfounded.
Moments later, the muscles on Su Yuanying's face started twitching. He said in a critical tone,
"What did she do?"
He'd had negative feelings towards Little Zi for a long time. After seeing all this, he blamed everything on her.
"Let's return to the Sacred Fire Mountain," The Celestial Venerable suggested without hesitation.
Su Yuanying agreed, "OK!"
If they could get a piece of the Devil Lord's energy, then their "Evil Avatar" would grow exponentially.
Windcloud Heights and the other four sects were moving slowly. When they saw the Myths coming true in front of them, they were all lost and frightened.
"Some unforeseen things have occurred on the Sacred Fire Mountain. I'm a little worried about Junior Brother Zhen Ding and the others," Zhang Yuanshan said worriedly to Fu Zhenzhen.
Fu Zhenzhen bit her lip and replied, "But we don't know where they went."
"Yes, but we should still attack the Sacred Fire Mountain." The only thing Zhang Yuanshan could do was suppress his useless concerns, and get on with their plan.
Meng Qi suddenly awoke. He drew his Buddhist Commandment Blade and stood in defensive stance.
"Where am I?" He looked at his surroundings in shock and realized that he was in the middle of nowhere. But the sand around him was neither gray nor yellow, it was black.
There was no sun in the sky either, only a maroon colored moon.
PSST, PSST, PSST! The dark gold glow appeared on his skin again, it was clear and transparent, melting the dark air that entered his body.
"The Devil Qi was entering the body... " Meng Qi roughly guessed what was going on. Even with the protection of the Golden Bell Shield, he'd felt desperation, blood-thirsty, cruel, and had almost lost his character.
This is worse than the countercharge from using the Peace Quietude Split! Meng Qi muttered, and forcefully activated the energy of the Golden Bell Shield.
PSST, PSST, PSST! The Devil Qi kept trying to enter his body, Meng Qi felt like he was practicing the Golden Bell Shield in the stupa again. The difference was that in the stupa he could stop when he couldn't hold on any longer, but here, if he stopped then the Devil Qi would invade his body and kill him!
And if he couldn't return to the World of Samsara in time, he would become a zombie.
Under the circumstances, Meng Qi had roughly figured out that he had been sucked into the depth of the Devil Tomb. He had no idea what to do next, but he knew that he couldn't wait here. He had to find a way out.
So, he activated the Transformation Strategy. His mid-brow began pulsating and his will projected outwards. He relied on his extraordinary sixth sense to find a way forward.
The poplars were erected in a thousand different poses. Under the clear contrast of the bloody moon and black sand, they seemed like blood-thirsty monsters, making him feel depressed and desolated.
As he walked, Meng Qi suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.
"Impossible, I have never come here before, and there's no way that I could have come in my past life either... " Meng Qi was full of doubt and uncertainty, but he couldn't dwell on these questions because he had to focus on the Golden Bell Shield to prevent the Devil Qi from entering his body and affecting his mind, in addition to worrying about possible sneak-attacks.
He tied the white tape to his legs, and carefully moved forward in his monk shoes. When he stepped on the soft but sticky sand, he felt an indescribable sense of disgust and nausea.
Suddenly Meng Qi's heart jumped, he stabbed backwards with his Buddhist Commandment Blade and just happened to slice the body of an evil spirit who had jumped out from the mud.
He looked like a human but with blood-red eyes and black horns sticking out. His mouth was wide-open, showing his white teeth and the saliva dripping from his mouth. He gave people an unusual sense of peril with his hands and fingers glistening like water.
When the blade cut his body, it was like chopping rotten wood, bringing down a pile of black and twisted meat.
The Red Sun Evil Blade exuded maroon colored rays like dusk. The evil spirit screamed in pain, worse than when he was cut.
When Meng Qi saw this, he exhibited his bladesmanship. Every move had its abstruse charm and the transformations were exquisite. The evil spirit had no chance of defense.
He kept screaming out in pain and eventually fell to the ground, quickly turning into a pile of bones.
"Was this an evil spirit or an infected human?" Meng Qi frowned and wondered to himself.
Though he had easily killed the evil spirit, it was all thanks to the power of the Red Sun Evil Blade. Otherwise he would probably have had to focus and utilize all his skills and bladesmanship to win because he was adept in playing dirty and sneak attacking. He was like an opponent who had reached enlightenment.
Of course, Meng Qi was not afraid of being hit a few times because he had the protection of the Golden Bell Shield.
"I hope there won't be too many of such evil spirits... or stronger ones... " Meng Qi repeated Amitabha a few times and kept moving. Perhaps Buddha would answer his prayers and shield him. He only encountered a few single evil spirits the rest of his way.
Maybe the evil spirits didn't like being in a pack without a leader... Meng Qi thought hopefully, but he was suddenly dumbfounded.
It was not because of evil spirits, but an abandoned temple. It was the same as the one he had taken shelter in when he'd waited out the sandstorm with Chen Xiao and Luo You!
"No wonder everything seems so familiar! This is a replica of the outer realm, albeit the evil version... " Shock and uncertainty suddenly rose in Meng Qi's heart as he carefully approached the abandoned temple.
He stopped dead in front of the doorstep of the temple, feeling a chill down his spine. In the middle of the temple sat a girl dressed in white. Her exquisite beauty and elegance was beyond words.
"Gu Xiaosang... " The name pretty much jumped out of his mouth.
Gu Xiaosang was crying with her head down. When she heard the voice, she lifted her head, and asked with both shock and surprise, "Master, is that you?"
Um, did you forget to take your pills sweetheart... All kinds of weird thoughts popped into Meng Qi's head.