Chapter 271: Amitabha, I’ve Seen A Ghost!
A chill ran down Shen Tian’s spine when he saw what was in front of him.
Although he had seen it before in Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus’ fortuitous opportunity, the feeling was totally different.
This was the difference between a 3D movie and a 2D one, and it was also different compared to a VR movie.
Shen Tian felt creeped out in this place, and he felt someone or something was watching in the darkness.
He silently held his Saint Token in his left hand, prepared for any sudden ambush.
At the same time, he activated the Divine Devouring Vine in his body. If he encountered any danger, he would max his defense immediately and run away underground.
He would not care about Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance and Crimson Lotus!
They were the real pros here. Even a Sage could not beat them easily.
Shen Tian would just be in their way if they were to fight.
Not only that, but there was also a good chance that the enemy might capture and use him as a hostage. Thus, it was best to run away and wait for help to arrive.
It was definitely not because Shen Tian was a coward! Definitely not!
Of course, that was just a rare case that was not likely to happen. After all, after helping others get their fortuitous opportunities, Shen Tian’s halo was bright red with a little green spot.
He considered himself somewhat a Son of Providence now, and he was confident in adventures like this.
The three of them continued on the path and moved forward.
Then, the rosary bead vibrated furiously, and Jiu’er transmitted to Shen Tian, “Master! There’s a pure Yin aura around here!
“Hmmm, where is this? Is this the Yellow Springs Road? Hurricane Lilies? QAQ[1]. Master, are you dead!?”
Shen Tian, “???”
What the h.e.l.l is this ghost talking about?
Just stay inside the beads and keep quiet!
Shen Tian grabbed the beads and started to play with them violently.
“I’m still alive! This is a special domain set up by the Evil Spirit Sect. It’s likely used to raise ghosts. That’s why the pure Yin here is very strong.”
Evil Spirit Sect?
Jiu’er’s face changed immediately upon hearing this name.
The Evil Spirit Sect had ma.s.sacred her entire family, and she wanted to have her revenge.
Her face flushed with anger upon learning that they were in the Evil Spirit Sect’s turf. Well, part of it was also because of the way Shen Tian was playing with the beads.
“Relax, the sacred grounds are here to attack the Evil Spirit Sect. We’ll avenge you.”
Shen Tian continued walking with the beads in his hand.
Shen Tian’s touch slowly made Jiu’er’s hatred dissipate.
Ye Qingcang saw what happened and said to Shen Tian, “Wow, young man! You are raising a ghost? That’s interesting!”
Shen Tian tried to explain, “Old Man Ye, that’s a misunderstanding. I have saved her—”
Ye Qingcang interrupted him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I understand. I was young before too! Having some uncommon female partners is common!
“I was at your age too! Hehe. Your little ghost is good-looking.
“I’ll find a way to give her something good later.”
Ye Qingcang’s words rendered Shen Tian speechless.
Are people from the Celestial World this open-minded? ‘Having some uncommon female partners is common’?
That sounds so good!
...
Shen Tian followed behind Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance and Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus.
After some time, they stopped in front of a giant altar.
The altar was red in color, and it was about a hundred feet tall. There were a total of 99 steps on the stairway, each with h.e.l.lfire burning on it.
The fire was a product of this special domain and could bring out a human’s desire and anger.
The moment they approached the stairs, strong feelings of anger and hatred overwhelmed Shen Tian. He was very agitated.
Luckily, Shen Tian had a firm, indestructible Dao Heart. The Six Paths of Reincarnation Disk helped too.
He barely managed to suppress the negative feelings.
“What strong and pure h.e.l.lfire,” said Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance, her eyes glowing. “The one that built this special domain used the power present here and created this altar with h.e.l.lfire.
“It’s at least ten times more efficient for them to train ghosts and heretic beings with this altar!
“At the same time, it is difficult for intruders to bypa.s.s this altar and continue!”
Clang!
“Since that’s the case, I’ll just have to destroy it!”
Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus took out a giant longsword just as Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance finished her sentence.
The sword was 40 meters long, and Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus brandished it at the altar.
Boom!
The sword cut the altar in half, creating a giant explosion!
Just when Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus sheathed her sword, the altar started to combine again, and it was restored back to normal.
It looked exactly like before, as though nothing had happened!
“Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus, you are too impulsive!”
Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance said helplessly, “This h.e.l.lfire altar is not a Dharma artifact. It’s made from the entire special domain itself. Unless the entire domain is destroyed, there’s no other way to take down this altar with normal methods.”
Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus scoffed. “It’s just h.e.l.lfire. I have my way!”
She thought of something and made a hand seal. A 7th Stage Red Lotus appeared, settled on the altar, and began to suck the h.e.l.lfire around the altar.
After absorbing some of the h.e.l.lfire, the lotus began to glow beautifully, and it was filled with energy. Even the petals were jumping around like flames.
Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance looked at the lotus enviously.
She smiled and said, “I almost forgot. Senior Brother Chu had brought you guys for adventures before. There was an Immortal Island somewhere, and it had a lotus pond. There were lotuses of various colors.
“Senior Sister chose this h.e.l.lfire Lotus. It is very useful against such h.e.l.lfire as it can absorb the power of h.e.l.lfire to increase its growth rate.
“We can at least absorb 1,000 years of this h.e.l.lfire from the altar!”
...
There were thousands of lifeforms in the world, and each had its own vanquisher.
Although h.e.l.lfire was harmful to many beings in this world, it was the best nutrient for the h.e.l.lfire Lotus. Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus could feel the lotus’ joy. It was like a kid that had been rewarded with their favorite cake.
Then, someone walked up the stairs on the altar.
It was Shen Tian!
“Shen Tian! What are you doing! Come down now!”
“Do not go up there! You will suffer a Qi Deviation!”
The two Heavenly Venerables panicked immediately.
However, Shen Tian did not respond to their reminders and continued walking.
The h.e.l.lfire gathered on him like an endless stream.
He heard Ye Qingcang’s voice in his head. “That’s right! Absorb all of the fire.”
Shen Tian nodded. As his Tinder Sutra processed the fire rapidly, an unfathomable desire overwhelmed Shen Tian—he had a strong urge to kill!
However, the idea was extinguished swiftly as the Six Paths of Reincarnation Disk spun lightly. All the negative feelings he had disappeared.
Shen Tian absorbed the fire’s pure energy, and its power rushed into his body.
Surprisingly, it mixed well with the Li Fire. Although it was not as pure as the Li Fire, it was rather mysterious too.
Shen Tian could feel that the Li Fire had changed slightly, and his heartbeats were much stronger now!
...
Shen Tian continued his way toward the altar after knowing how good the h.e.l.lfire was to him.
As he ascended, the h.e.l.lfire got stronger, and so was the powerful feeling Shen Tian was getting from absorbing it.
Shen Tian felt that his body was changing. Initially, he would need more time to have any breakthrough. But now, he felt that it was coming!
His body started to let out a golden glow.
The Golden Body Second Refinement was completed, and it was still making good progress!
th step... 20th... 30th...
th... 80th... 90th...
Soon, Shen Tian finished climbing the stairs and sat on the altar.
The Six Paths of Reincarnation Disk spun quickly, and all the h.e.l.lfire around the altar was absorbed into Shen Tian’s body.
Fire breeds Earth, and h.e.l.lfire was even better for the Reincarnation Earth.
The h.e.l.lfire on the altar gushed into Shen Tian’s body with no signs of slowing down.
Soon, the altar started to crack, and the cracks spread quickly.
Finally, the altar was covered with cracks, and it was destroyed!
The energy from the altar was completely depleted!
Duang!
As Shen Tian was enjoying the feeling of the h.e.l.lfire entering his body, it abruptly stopped, and he fell from mid-air. He landed with his b.u.t.t on the ground, leaving a hole on the ground.
“What? That’s all!?”
Shen Tian looked at the ashes of the altar in disbelief.
Why? Why is it so little!?
He felt that he was close to reaching the Golden Body Third Refinement. He just needed slightly more h.e.l.lfire.
Shen Tian turned around and looked at the h.e.l.lfire Lotus. He smiled at it and said, “Hey, little flower. Can you share some h.e.l.lfire with me?”
The lotus quickly hid behind Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus and shivered uncontrollably.
What the h.e.l.l is wrong with this young man!?
He consumed all this expanse of h.e.l.lfire? Even I only managed to take part of it!
The h.e.l.lfire in this altar is so pure! How did you absorb all of it!? 20% of it is the best I can absorb!
You absorbed the entire thing? And you are not yet satisfied?
And you want me to share some with you? Although I’m not a human, you are really inhumane!
At the same time, somewhere in the Immeasurable Ancient State...
“Lifeless King, Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus, and her party have reached the h.e.l.lfire Altar.”
“No worries. Although Heavenly Venerable Crimson Lotus has the h.e.l.lfire Lotus, it can only absorb 20% of it, maximum. Then the lotus will have to rest for at least two hours. By then, my plan will have been completed.”
“But my king... There’s no more h.e.l.lfire left. Even the altar is not there anymore!”
“!?!?!?”
“It’s... It’s okay, that’s alright. I have sealed the treasure in the array formation. There’s no way anyone could get it!”
...
After absorbing the h.e.l.lfire, Shen Tian felt that his body was stronger and more powerful.
If the Nan Ming Li Fire was to be considered as the Yin version of fire, the h.e.l.lfire must be the Yang version of it.
When these two were together, they mingled very well, like two poles attracting each other!
The new fire borne from it was stronger than before too!
Shen Tian felt that he was on the verge of reaching Golden Body Third Refinement, and he believed his power had already surpa.s.sed it. There was still power within him that he had not utilized yet. He had to control these powers slowly in the future.
“Good job!” Ye Qingcang said happily. “Let’s keep going. The good thing is just ahead!”
...
Shen Tian nodded and followed behind the two Heavenly Venerables.
The three of them left special markings on the way and continued their way on the Yellow Springs Road.
After a few kilometers, they reached the end of the road.
There was an endless sea of Hurricane Lilies and a black palace in the middle of it.
The palace gave them a creepy feel. Its gate was bright red, and it looked like a giant mouth that could swallow them anytime.
The front of this palace had an ancient tablet, and three majestic words were carved on it: “Little Nether Palace”.
“If I’m not wrong, this palace is the Netherworld Yellow Springs’ core area.”
Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance had a serious look on her face as she said, “Although this palace looks small, there are countless special domains in it.
“After we enter it, we might find the area is way bigger than we thought. Not only that, but it will also be very dangerous.
“Whoever built this place is a pro in array formations. That person is at least a Sage-level cultivator. I’m no match against that person!”
Apparently, Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance was very scared of this Sage.
“We have left markings for the Sacred Leaders. We should wait for them to arrive before—”
She stopped before she could finish her sentence because... Shen Tian had moved forward again!
He stood in front of this Little Nether Palace and cast a few hand seals into the void.
Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance looked at him carefully. The hand seals were used by Spirit Ore Appraisers to control the arrays in domains.
He wants to solve the palace’s array formations with his own power?
That is impossible! A Sage-level array formation master made it!
...
What was more impossible was that the palace started shaking violently after more hand seals were cast.
Then, it shattered!
The palace, which was built by a Sage-level array formation master and terrified Heavenly Venerable Scarlet Dance, shattered!
How? How did the Saint do it? Is he more talented than a Sage?
How is that possible?
Becoming an array formation Sage was way harder than cultivation itself.
Given Shen Tian’s age, it was impossible for him to have reached that level!
Scarlet Dance started to doubt herself.
“I’ve made it!”
Shen Tian was not aware of what she was thinking, neither did he care.
He smiled, and a silver disk flew out of him. It radiated a silver light in all directions, and then a red light appeared from the palace’s ashes.
When the red light appeared, all the Hurricane Lilies bowed their stems. The petals were closed too. It was like the flowers were worshiping the light!
At the same time, somewhere in the Immeasurable Ancient State...
A man in a half-monk and half-armored attire was reciting a sutra.
Then, some mysterious runes floated around him and started glowing.
When the man looked at the runes, he spewed a mouthful of blood while all the runes exploded simultaneously.
“Amitabha, I’ve seen a ghost!”
[1] Eastern emoticon, similar to that of:"(, meaning crying or sad