CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 177: STEALING THE MAPO LEGACY

The biggest secret of Ma Po Cave?

Qin Chuan was taken aback.

Could it be the recipe for Mapo tofu?

He pondered for a moment, then made a gesture with his right hand. The Withering Curse Seal flew back from the monster’s body, and the monster immediately collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

At this moment, its once strong body had already shrunken significantly, and its skin was wrinkled, almost just skin and bones.

"Huff huff..."

It gasped a few times, then weakly said, "Master, I’ll take you to see Ma Po Cave’s greatest secret right now."

After speaking, it shook its head and crawled toward the darkness ahead. Its large size allowed it to move quickly.

Seeing this, some people speculated something good was in store, so they planned to follow secretly.

"Hmph!"

Qin Chuan snorted coldly. His Emperor Divine Thought crushed them, and they spat blood, flying backward in screams of agony.

In the darkness ahead, huge stone tunnel passages appeared, crisscrossing more complexly than a rabbit warren.

But the monster moved through them with ease, leading Qin Chuan inside. Along the way, they encountered many powerful adventurers, but Qin Chuan merely glanced at them, causing them to faint instantly.

This route must not be exposed.

After a long journey, there was no path ahead. The person and the beast reached the end of one of the cave’s side passages.

This cave had many passages, but few dead ends, as most of them were interconnected and looped around.

"This is it."

The monster said in a muffled voice, then took two steps back and suddenly charged forward.

"Boom!"

The wall ahead shattered, and a holy glow shone through, accompanied by a dense spiritual energy.

Qin Chuan swiftly dashed inside, then used the Law of Earth with a backhand to repair the wall, preventing the spiritual energy from dispersing.

He looked forward.

It was a spacious cave, with thirteen huge crystal pillars standing inside, resembling stalactites, one end connected to the ceiling and the other hanging down to the ground, thick at both ends and thin in the middle.

Even the thinnest part was over two meters wide.

Within twelve of the pillars, a stunningly beautiful woman was sealed.

The women in the twelve pillars all had different appearances, but upon close inspection, they seemed to be the same person.

"Could this be Ma Po, practicing some kind of Rebirth Technique?"

Qin Chuan had a wealth of knowledge.

After all, such methods of dividing souls and reincarnating to merge later were common in fantasy worlds.

Women especially favored this technique.

He speculated that these avatars arrived here successively, possibly every few hundred years, until finally gathering in number for eventual fusion, enhancing Ma Po’s original form’s cultivation.

"Master, I was born in that river. For thousands of years, I’ve often seen stunningly beautiful women run here, and I’m sure this is undoubtedly the greatest secret of Ma Po Cave."

The monster confidently stated.

Qin Chuan turned his head, thoughtfully stroking his chin as he observed it, then asked, "Can you shrink down?"

"That... should be possible, right?"

The monster tried, and its body started to crack and quickly shrank, becoming about the size of a gecko.

In Qin Chuan’s right hand, the Withering Curse Seal appeared, black and white runes entwined like vines, forming a sphere that trapped the shrunk monster inside. He said, "Stay here and don’t move. I’m going in to take a look."

The monster nodded repeatedly.

It carefully curled its body, wrapping its limbs and tail tightly, afraid to touch this terrifying curse.

After ensuring the monster wouldn’t dare move, Qin Chuan headed toward the largest crystal pillar in the center.

With his current high skill level and over twenty "privileged points," he didn’t fear ordinary dangers.

A gamble worth taking, a long shot leading to great fortune!

"According to the usual storyline, the main avatar is always the last one to return, and when she does, the realms and insights of the other twelve avatars will converge upon her."

"And this pillar plays a crucial role in that process. If I enter this pillar, maybe I could strike it rich."

Qin Chuan took a deep breath, releasing the force of nine kinds of law, transforming it into Protective Gang Energy, and then pressed his right hand onto the pillar.

"Buzz!"

The pillar suddenly lit up, and a mountain-crushing force surged forth, slamming into Qin Chuan’s body.

"Bang!!!"

The Protective Gang Energy outside Qin Chuan’s body shattered instantly, and he spat a mouthful of fresh blood, flying back in distress and embedding into the cave wall.

The cave shook violently.

However, Qin Chuan was not discouraged at all. Instead, he slowly dug himself out of the wall and shook his head.

"I knew it would be like this."

Then, he asked in his heart, "System, how many ’Father Points’ do I need to enter that pillar?"

"Ding! This is a restriction set by a Martial Emperor expert. To enter, you need to spend 10 ’Father Points’.

The system replied straightforwardly.

Qin Chuan was silent for a moment, then cautiously asked, "When coming out, it shouldn’t cost anything, right?"

"Ding! Host, rest assured, unless something unexpected happens, you’ll be kicked out shortly after entering. You couldn’t even lie in there pretending to be dead if you wanted to. The pillar’s owner won’t kill you inside; it would dirty the pillar."

The system vowed earnestly.

"That’s good then."

Qin Chuan let out a sigh of relief.

As long as it doesn’t cost anything to get out, that’s fine. As for being thrown out... that’s to be expected.

A hacker can’t just break into a company’s system and take over a company; at most, they can steal some confidential files.

This pillar is the same way.

A major setup planned by a Martial Emperor expert for tens of thousands of years couldn’t possibly be picked so easily by someone else, right? There must be a recognition system!

What he needs to do is to gather some benefits before the pillar reacts and then make a swift escape.

"System, send me in."

Qin Chuan said solemnly.

"Ding! Completed."

The system replied,

In the next moment, Qin Chuan felt himself entering a warm and moist place, lubricated, compact, and wrapped in a vibrant energy that made him feel almost ecstatic.

It was the inside of the crystal pillar.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

At this moment, the crystal pillar lit up. Not only that, the other twelve pillars started to shine as well, reflecting off each other.

Then, Qin Chuan felt a vast amount of information pouring into his mind like a rushing river.

Endlessly.

"Nine Cang Continent... Witch God Hall... Witch Venerable Ma Po... Witch Venerable Body Refining Scripture... Sun Devouring Emperor Scripture..."

A stream of shocking information continued to flow into Qin Chuan’s mind, making his breath rapid.

In a short period, he not only received the inheritance of two Martial Emperor-level techniques but also learned a lot about the true nature of this world.

It turns out the Four Great Regions where he was located were merely a small fragment of the Main Continent of Nine Cang. The battle over the Celestial Divine Object many years ago shattered many edge territories of the Nine Cang Continent, turning them into the Fragment Continent.

And this Ma Po.

Is the Witch Venerable of a Martial Emperor-level force, the Witch God Hall, on the Main Continent of Nine Cang. Moreover, she is the daughter of the legendary giant, Sun-Devouring Emperor, with an extremely high status.

Additionally, he learned specific information about that Celestial Divine Object, simply put, that object has two major functions.

The first is to form a Spiritual World. The world inside is incredibly real, where talented individuals can adventure and fight recklessly. Even if they die in there, they won’t die in the real world.

The second is to release an infinite amount of spiritual energy that will nourish the entire Nine Cang Continent, benefiting all living beings!

These two functions could each allow a race to rise and create a magnificent future, so it’s understandable why the Nine Cang Realm and Celestial Permanence Realm fought so hard over the Divine Object.

And now, the Main Continent of Nine Cang has preserved that Divine Object. After tens of thousands of years of development, who knows how prosperous it has become?

It might very well... surpass all previous eras!

The inheritance information inside this pillar seemed endless, still continuously transmitting, but Qin Chuan quickly became alert.

He swiftly pulled out two strands of hair that were prepared in advance and threw them inside the pillar—these were Qin Zi’s hair.

Soon, an angry female voice rang from his mind, thundering like a bolt: "Dare to spy on my inheritance, get out!"

Bang!

Qin Chuan only felt a heavy blow to his waist, then flew out of the pillar, crashing onto the ground in a state of disarray.

"Rumble!"

At this time, the thirteen pillars shook violently, the entire cave lit up, and terrifying killing arrays appeared densely.

"Hiss hiss hiss..."

These arrays were so dazzling, exuding destructive energy that made Qin Chuan’s scalp tingle.

"Run!"

He grabbed the shrunken monster, broke through the exit stone wall, and ran outside, only to find that the outside cave was also trembling. All the caves displayed dazzling array patterns, as if they were endless!

The entire Ma Po Cave was exuding the aura of death!