CHAPTER 176: THE OCTAGONAL BRONZE BELL

Li Yanchu stood up, his gaze turning toward the outside of the temple.

A young man with agile movements was hurrying in this direction. The sky had darkened somewhat, making it hard to see his face clearly. But his swift, fluid movements were as clean and precise as an old monkey in the mountains.

In just a few breaths’ time, he had already drawn close to this massive Daoist temple. Finally, a living person.

Li Yanchu felt a faint sense of relief rise within him.

As the figure approached, he could make out the young man’s appearance: dark-skinned, with sharp facial contours and piercing eyes. Upon seeing Li Yanchu, the youth’s gaze flickered with a trace of wariness, but there was no hostility.

Li Yanchu mirrored the sentiment.

At a moment like this, just having entered the Mount Jinting Blissful Land, there was no need to start a fight, much less kill for treasure. Besides, the ruins were so vast, the people who came in probably hadn’t even found anything valuable yet.

The sky grew darker still.

Soon, even the section of the ruins faintly illuminated by the Daoist temple would be swallowed by shadow. But this darkness... it wasn’t normal.

Just as the young man drew within thirty or so zhang of the temple, he was suddenly consumed by the darkness as if an invisible hand had snatched him away.

His expression shifted. His mouth opened as if to shout, but he didn’t even have time to utter a sound before the flesh and muscle of his body vanished entirely! In the blink of an eye, all that was left was a white and bare skeleton.

Only his head still retained some flesh and blood. His eyes stared in abject terror lifelessly.

Li Yanchu, who had just been about to rush out, froze in place, his expression shifting dramatically. What he had just witnessed was far too strange.

A living, breathing human being had just been stripped of flesh right before his eyes, as if devoured by the dark.

Li Yanchu narrowed his eyes and peered out, only to see the last faint traces of light completely disappear, plunging everything into utter, impenetrable darkness. There was no telling what exactly had killed that young man.

Li Yanchu activated his Qi Sight, his pupils surrounded by a faint ring of spirit light.

In that moment, a towering surge of murderous, deathly yin qi filled his vision, the entire world dyed a blood-red hue. This place was no immortal paradise. Calling it the Yellow Springs Hell wouldn’t be far from the truth!

And just from staring at it for a moment, tears streamed uncontrollably from Li Yanchu’s eyes. He felt a flicker of surprise in his heart.

"What in the world is going on!?"

Earlier, when he had used the Qi Sight to examine this place, he hadn’t sensed anything unusual. He sensed only the vigorous vitality of heaven and earth.

So why now... was the outside world surging with overwhelming bloodthirst and demonic qi?

A thought stirred in Li Yanchu’s mind. Could it be because night has fallen?

During the day, the Mount Jinting Blissful Land was just a desolate and ancient ruin. But once night descended... did some invisible, unspeakable terror appear?

Li Yanchu rested his hand on the hilt of his saber, his eyes full of wariness.

After all, this was once the cultivation ground of a land-bound immortal. Who knew what kind of strange and terrifying entities might have been born after its fall into silence?

But, a long while passed without any movement.

The light within the Daoist temple, though faint, was enough to ward off the darkness. The thick gloom outside couldn’t enter at all.

"This place is like a kind of safe house." Li Yanchu quickly came to that conclusion.

He stepped forward again to inspect the eternal lamps burning in the hall. After a careful examination, he confirmed that these were nothing more than ordinary oil lamps. There were no unusual materials, no divine aura.

As for why they could burn for thousands of years without going out, Li Yanchu speculated it was likely related to the statue of the Daoist elder enshrined in the hall.

Maybe these eternal lamps aren't burning lamp oil at all, but rather the residual incense and willpower left behind on the statue? He mulled it over silently.

Next, he thoroughly searched the entire main hall, but found nothing imbued with divine properties. There were no records or scrolls left behind, either.

And as for corpses or remains, there was not a single trace. It was barren, yes, but immaculately clean. There were no so-called rare treasures, no magical pills, no enchanted weapons or artifacts.

Just as he finished searching the last side room and was preparing to leave, he happened to spot a bronze bell hanging from the top of the doorframe.

It was octagonal in shape, and mottled with rust, but it clearly emanated a trace of divine aura. Clearly, it wasn’t an ordinary object!

A faint excitement rose in Li Yanchu’s chest. Finally, something worth the trip!

Why was it that other people entered Blissful Lands and secret realms, and practically tripped over sacred treasures, magical tools, and spirit pills, while he came all this way and found nothing?

At last, a magical artifact.

Li Yanchu gave a slight bow and murmured, “Pardon the offense,” Then reached up and took down the octagonal bronze bell.

Strangely, now that he was inside this Daoist temple protected by the elder’s divine will, he suddenly didn't feel entirely at ease.

"Humans... really shouldn’t be so sentimental." He gave himself a small mental pep talk.

Then, he began to carefully examine the octagonal bronze bell in his hand. Its spiritual resonance was already quite faint. But thankfully, it was still a magical artifact from within a Blissful Land, which made it exceptionally rare nonetheless.

Li Yanchu observed it closely and determined that this octagonal bell likely had the effect of protecting the soul. He promptly fastened the bell to his belt.

Though the remaining spiritual resonance was weak, it was still far more powerful than any ordinary Daoist artifact. This discovery made Li Yanchu feel a surge of excitement.

The Mount Jinting Blissful Land was filled with temple ruins, and just from a single temple, he had managed to uncover something of value. Surely, in the other temples and Daoist halls, there would be artifacts imbued with even stronger divine power.

The night passed without incident. Li Yanchu sat quietly within the temple, meditating and regulating his breath.

The spirit qi in the Mount Jinting Blissful Land was three to four times denser than that of the outside world. Cultivating here meant his progress would be significantly faster.

Li Yanchu didn’t risk traveling at night. The darkness harbored great terrors, and unless it was absolutely necessary, it was far safer to remain inside the Daoist temple.

***

The next day, the oppressive darkness over the land faded away. The world returned to that same overcast, leaden gray, and faint flickers of firelight once again glowed within the sea of clouds.

After experiencing the near-eternal darkness of the previous night, Li Yanchu found that this bleak, gloomy daylight no longer felt as oppressive.

“So it’s true, this is the daytime of the Mount Jinting Blissful Land. And during the day, those terrifying anomalies don’t appear.”

He reached that conclusion in his heart.

Once again, he resumed his journey toward that colossal, solitary mountain.

Through his Qi Sight, he could clearly see that the spirit qi around that area was the most abundant in the entire region. It was most likely the central zone of the Blissful Land’s ruins, Mount Jinting itself!

Roughly two hours passed before Li Yanchu came to a stop for a short rest.

Just then, two pressing thoughts suddenly struck him. If that terrifying darkness swallows the land again, and I don’t find a temple in time... wouldn’t I have to face that horror head-on? And with the Mount Jinting ruins being this vast, it’s going to take a long time to reach that massive mountain. What about food and water?

These two concerns made a trace of worry appear on Li Yanchu’s face.

Whether one was a Daoist cultivator or a martial artist... Both Daoist cultivators and martial artists still had mortal bodies of flesh and blood. They could go a few days without food and water, sure, but over time, the body would begin to falter.

In a place filled with so many hidden dangers, lacking strength and stamina would easily put him in a very vulnerable position.