CHAPTER 172: CHAPTER 173 CORPSE FOREST (3000 WORDS)

Lu Ren touched the assault rifle on his back, the ammunition for the Black Demon Dual Pistols, the High-Frequency Vibration Sword at his waist, several Highly Concentrated Adhesive Bombs, and enough Super Concentrated Nutrient Pills and Water Cannon to last him three months.

These would be enough for him to survive inside for a long time.

If he still doesn’t come out by then, he would have to consider if something major had happened.

The purpose of this trip was merely to confirm Li Ziqing, and once he knew the area where the other party disappeared, the target became very clear.

"Thanks, it’s enough."

Out of the checkpoint, Lu Ren didn’t hold back his speed anymore. The fifty kilometers radiating outward from the checkpoint had basically been cleared by the Huaxia Military.

Riding the motorcycle authorized at the checkpoint, Lu Ren roared all the way into the depth of the forest full of towering trees, until he saw the stone statues along the way and the half-destroyed gigantic stone gate at the mountain wall entrance that had been bombarded by missiles and cannons.

Many martial arts practitioners were organizing in this place, forming a small camp.

But the half-broken gate was seeing people entering and exiting all the time.

It’s just that some top martial artists in the Great Perfection of Fist Technique emerged with heavy expressions, unlike those less skilled martial artists who appeared more relaxed.

This giant stone gate was likely not less than twenty meters high and five meters thick, and the steps inside extended endlessly like climbing a mountain.

With the manpower of that time, how was it even built?!

Lu Ren was slightly shocked in his heart.

"Ding, you seem to have discovered some historical mystery."

The system prompt sounded in real-time in his mind.

Lu Ren squinted his eyes; the floral, avian, and aquatic patterns on the gate, along with the beautiful mountains and rivers, bore a strong resemblance to pre-Qin relics.

Subodhi emerged, seeing the gate, he chuckled.

"Even after death, he wanted to be the Lord of the Celestial Palace. Xu Fu, with no imperial fate, dared to imagine ascending to the heavens after death."

Speaking of this, Subodhi sneered repeatedly, as if he had discovered someone engaging in such fanciful dreams.

Lu Ren was visibly moved.

"Are you saying this is Xu Fu’s tomb?!"

"Of course, this imagination of a Celestial Palace, I initially thought it was just a whim Xu Fu mentioned when we conversed spiritually, but I never expected he actually accomplished it."

"How was this place even built?" Lu Ren looked utterly puzzled.

Subodhi replied, "There must have been a Bright Awakening expert who had cultivated to the Yang Spirit Realm, using Qi to control certain creatures in the forest to build it."

Pausing, he added with a tone of indescribable meaning, "Back then, Xu Fu tricked ten thousand troops from the Emperor, they were probably all buried here."

Lu Ren hesitated no longer, ignoring the gazes from surrounding martial artists, he stepped through the stone gate with great shock in his heart.

In front of him was a Celestial Palace suspended in mid-air, with continuous palaces, white jade railings, and spiritual terraces and pavilions everywhere, and the main hall of the Celestial Palace constructed along the central axis even emitted faint auspiciousness.

This is...

Lu Ren immediately discovered that these were illusions manifested through magnetic field distortions, and the real scene made his body cold as ice.

Subodhi, seeing this scene, sighed repeatedly, "If this tomb weren’t in the Kunlun Realm, it would have long been excavated, how else could it have allowed him to hatch here."

"Hatch?"

"You can see that the dome above is comprised of ten thousand pearls emitting milky light, forming an All Heaven Star that gathers the power of the cosmos, and below, the river of silver mercury forms torrents flowing from all directions to support the Celestial Palace."

Subodhi’s tone was somewhat fervent.

"Xu Fu, oh Xu Fu, such a grand scheme you actually accomplished, you indeed didn’t hold back from tricking the Emperor."

To excavate and construct such a place single-handedly would be impossible even if it exhausted Xu Fu to death. Xu Fu must have tricked the Emperor, instructing masses of laborers and soldiers to build it.

"Do you believe it, that in this land of ten thousand rivers, at least a hundred thousand skeletons are buried, with innumerable exotic beast bones piled up, which is the fuel to ignite this situation, gathering the Qi of all living beings to achieve one person!"

Lu Ren’s Lamp of Freedom naturally lit up, his brow slightly swelled as the illusions formed by magnetic changes in front of him shattered, revealing an extremely horrific scene.

The grand and magnificent Celestial Palace had turned into a desolate mound, the ten thousand rivers below became roads piled with skeletons, and above, the heavenly lights were made of unknown oils, burning eternally bright.

The suspended heavenly ladder in front, too, was merely a rickety suspension bridge built with bones.

The Celestial Palace was made of houses constructed from decayed flesh and blood.

This scene of extreme horror agitated Lu Ren’s spirit nearly to the point of losing control!

Truly, skeletons were stacked like mountains, and bones like forests. The dry, rotten hair had become felts, and skin and flesh, whether human or beast, decayed into mud, fashioned into palaces and pavilions.

The mountain of corpses and sea of blood, with a stench beyond endurance, almost made him want to vomit.

"Ding, you have suffered intense visual impact, your spirit has been stimulated, increasing subtly."

Lu Ren looked particularly angry, how dare he, how could he dare.

To actually use humans as resources, sacrificing countless lives to seek the chance to ascend to heaven.

Subodhi still praised this without end, though acknowledging Xu Fu’s fanciful ideas, but also his great will and courage.

When the Qi around was shed by Lu Ren’s spirit, revealing the most real scene, the utter darkness and cruelty of that ancient Borrowing False to True Cultivation system were disclosed to him with no cover.

For a long time, Lu Ren was filled with a murderous intent.

"You cultivators, who exclusively train their Spirit to control all kinds of Qi, deserve to die!"

Could it be that Ji Quanzhen cultivates in the same way?!

Subodhi was somewhat puzzled.

"You have transcended, and to advance further, you must use all things as fuel to ignite your path forward; otherwise, how can we talk about transcendence?"

Lu Ren smirked coldly, unwilling to debate with Subodhi. The latter was well-versed in Buddhist Dharma, and though he became a demon despite being a revered Buddha, his skills in debate never faltered. Lu Ren admitted to himself that he wasn’t capable of arguing against him.

He only needed to firm up his inner thoughts; there was no need to say more to the other.

Seeing Lu Ren silent, Subodhi also said no more. Paths that differ should not be pursued together; saying too much leads to no good.

He merely praised repeatedly.

"This Corpse Forest has been arranged so exquisitely, gathering all the Qi emitted by living beings as nourishment. For a thousand years like this, it seems Xu Fu has truly attained great fortune!"

Lu Ren remained silent, with eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, observing scattered members of the Martial Arts Family exploring below, even engaging in disputes, fiercely fighting over a dried, pale skull.

What surprised him was that the four military personnel in power armor seemed to have already seen through this place and were slowly setting up some devices, seemingly resembling heavy cannons.

Aiming heavy cannons at that central meat room?

Why target it only now?

A thought flashed through Lu Ren’s mind, and after some hesitation, he decided temporarily to put aside the idea of inquiring and prioritized finding Li Ziqing for now.

He needed to bypass this ’Celestial Palace’ and proceed further. A road had been carved into the rock wall, leading straight to the back of the Celestial Palace, with traces both old and new. Perhaps two thousand years ago, laborers and soldiers escaped through here.

Seeing Lu Ren’s lack of attachment to this place, Subodhi spoke with a lingering tone.

"Don’t you want to go into that Celestial Palace and have a look? Perhaps within, Xu Fu has already nurtured a true Elixir of Immortality."

"Elixir of Immortality?"

Lu Ren sneered, "Even your Buddha has perished; where can there possibly be an Elixir of Immortality?"

Subodhi remained silent for a long time, seemingly saying no more.

Seeing this, Lu Ren could not help but smirk coldly again and again.

It was the first time his face showed such a great emotional fluctuation.

"Xu Fu..."

Lu Ren stared intently at the gigantic central meat room. He could sense an extremely dangerous Qi slumbering inside.

It’s not the time yet, wait until I return.

Without a word, Lu Ren bypassed the so-called ’Celestial Palace’ from the side, rushing towards the innermost area.

The colossal magnetic field here entangled everything. If he really listened to Subodhi and entered, he might end up assimilated by these magnetic fields, becoming one among the white bones.

This place needs to be destroyed, so the magnetic fields break.

Xu Fu likely never imagined that, two thousand years later, human power could truly destroy heaven and earth.

Seeing Lu Ren having no intention of going over, Subodhi sighed and fell silent, knowing if he said more, Lu Ren might forcibly suppress him.

Sprinting all the way.

Straight to the back of the Celestial Palace.

Lu Ren saw a huge excavated cave entrance, sloping upward by more than twenty degrees.

Standing here, he felt slight wisps of wind.

This was an exit for the wind, meaning this place led to the outside world.

Lu Ren’s expression brightened slightly; after confirming without discrepancy the information given by the Security Bureau, he swiftly traversed through the cave.

To his greatest surprise, along the way he encountered a group that had previously entered the Kunlun Exotic Realm.

Among them was Li Tianxing, standing there with a long knife strapped to his waist.

As the group noticed Lu Ren swiftly approaching from the rear, they were taken aback, knowing this man was a top expert with the Great Perfection Realm of Fist Technique, even having fought Wu Qi to the bitter end with sheer force.

Such a mighty individual was not someone they dared to offend.

Li Tianxing was a bit excited, waving his hand eagerly.

"Big brother..."

Lu Ren continued at full speed, glancing at him briefly before zooming away.

Li Tianxing’s hand, raised in mid-air, paused awkwardly.

Others noticed his reaction, and after a moment of silence, someone chortled once Lu Ren’s figure was out of sight.

"Haha, Li Tianxing, you were brushed off, right? I knew someone of that caliber wouldn’t bother with you!"

Li Tianxing’s face reddened instantly, he turned and shouted, "What do you know? If an expert of the Great Perfection Realm of Fist Technique were in a good mood and offered some guidance, you’d have wasted less time standing around here!"

The crowd fell silent once more, knowing this was quite true.

Li Tianxing continued somewhat bitterly, "If it weren’t for those masters of the Great Perfection Realm in the sect being so haughty, I wouldn’t have undertaken this dangerous exploration task from the Security Bureau! The mortality rate is huge!"

The crowd was subdued once more; his words were indeed piercing.

Even though the Kunlun Realm had undergone repeated verification checks by the Space Monitoring Center to ensure it was permanently stabilized, there was still no sense of safety.