Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Chapter 304: Chapter 244: A Great Conspiracy

Seeing that the old man seemed to have no ill intent toward Ling Xiao, Zhang Danian relaxed. With a look of reverence, he said, "That’s right. I am the son of the man who came ten years ago. In fact, I also visited back then and was fortunate enough to meet the Great Clan Leader once!"

"Good... COUGH, COUGH... You’ve all grown so big!" The old man reverted to his frail, stooped appearance and said, "Well then... all of you, come inside!"

Under the watchful eyes of the Ice Sea Secret Clan People, the group walked down the passage, which was only a few hundred meters long. The sight that greeted them left everyone utterly astonished!

It was as if they had suddenly returned to the human world. A sea of green stretched out before them! Trees formed a lush canopy, birds sang, and fragrant flowers bloomed. The sky above was the same familiar blue. It was dusk, and a few bright stars twinkled, a reminder that they were, in fact, still in their own world.

If not for the natural scent wafting from the green trees, they would have been certain they had entered an Illusion Realm!

Zhang Danian finally let out a sigh of admiration. "It’s been so many years, yet this place is as beautiful as ever! Great Clan Leader, I didn’t tell anyone about this!"

The old man turned back, a faint smile on his lips. "It doesn’t matter," he said. "No one can reach this place unless they are humans with whom we share a bond of fate."

Song Mingyue’s face was filled with amazement. "Heavens, this place... it’s truly like a land blessed by a god!"

The old man turned back, his eyes glinting for a moment. He then looked at Song Mingyue with a kindly expression and said, "The young lady is correct. This is indeed a land blessed by a god! In the entire continent, there is no other."

Song Mingyue offered a serene smile and said nothing more. ’Gods... they seem so distant from humanity! Even someone like me, who comes from an orthodox hidden family, has started to... lose faith.’

Houses were nestled amongst the trees. Not a trace of cold could be felt here, yet Ling Xiao couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. ’Logically, as an orthodox Cultivator with a powerful perception of nature, I should be able to tell if this were an Illusion Realm,’ he thought. But everything before him felt completely real. No matter how he tried to probe his surroundings, he couldn’t pinpoint the problem. Still, a great question lingered in his mind.

After all, the scene before them defied all logic. An underground world, a subterranean forest with a warm and pleasant climate—that would be explainable. But this place was clearly under the same starry sky as the world outside! Furthermore, before they entered, he hadn’t sensed the slightest aura of vegetation for dozens of miles in any direction.

Carrying this doubt in his heart, Ling Xiao followed the ancient Great Clan Leader into a very large wooden house. The room was immaculate and the air was temperate. The floor was completely covered with the hides of Magical Beasts native to this polar region. The pelts were all different colors, but they were exceptionally warm underfoot and incredibly comfortable to sit on.

These polar Magical Beast pelts seemed to serve as a reminder to everyone that they were still on the ice plains.

Zhang Danian was clearly familiar with the place. He hadn’t mentioned any of this before, likely because the Ice Sea Secret Clan People had warned him to stay silent. Keeping such a secret must not have been easy for him.

The old man had someone bring refreshments and said to the group, "This is tea brewed from the spring water of the Polar Cold Pool and mixed with Ice Flowers. It has a wonderful flavor and is considered quite a delicacy in these polar lands. My human friends, please, enjoy!"

Ling Xiao lifted his nose and took a sniff. A refreshing sensation permeated his very being, and he knew the Great Clan Leader wasn’t lying about the tea’s quality. But mixed within the aroma, he detected another, more familiar scent.

’Enchanting Grass!’

That’s right. It was the very same medicinal herb the High Priest of the Beast Race had used to try and drug him back in the Penzes Swamp!

Enchanting Grass was actually quite rare, and very few humans could even identify the herb. It had a potent sedative effect; just a small sip could send a person into a deep sleep from which they would awaken with no discomfort.

From what Ling Xiao knew, Enchanting Grass mostly grew in places with abundant water. It wasn’t particularly vulnerable to the cold, but finding it here in the Polar Ice Sea was still a bit of a surprise.

After everyone drank the tea, starting with the least powerful members of the group, they began to collapse one by one, slumping naturally onto the furry beast-hide rugs.

Ling Xiao managed to resist a little longer, but gradually, his eyes glazed over, and he too fell into a stupor, leaving only a wisp of his Divine Sense behind to observe.

Just then, several tall, pale-skinned men entered from outside. Without so much as a glance at the people sprawled across the floor, they bowed to the old man and spoke a long string of bizarre words. The old man gave a short, quiet reply. Then, the men carried everyone out and placed them in separate rooms.

Once back in his room, Ling Xiao kept himself in a state of deep feigned sleep. ’I don’t sense any malicious intent from the old man,’ he thought, ’but why did he drug all of us?’

Ling Xiao’s wisp of Divine Sense was a product of a true Cultivation Method, something that had never existed in this world. Because of this, not even the old man, with his oceanic Spiritual Power, could have imagined that his every move was falling under another’s surveillance.

The old man first sat meditating on the floor for a while before getting up and heading outside. Ling Xiao’s Divine Sense attached itself to the old man, following him deep into the forest.

He came to a small hill, only about a hundred meters high. At its base was a square platform, seemingly carved by human hands from massive blocks of stone, that jutted out for a hundred meters. It was perfectly uniform. Below it was an enormous Stone Gate, over ten meters wide and a good twenty meters tall!

The old man walked to the gate, closed his eyes, and stood in concentration for a moment. The Stone Gate slowly swung open, emitting a low RUMBLE!

Ling Xiao’s Divine Sense was instantly assaulted by an overwhelming pressure that nearly extinguished it completely! Ling Xiao was horrified. ’Could it be? Is there an expert with immense Magical Power hidden in this cave?’

The old man walked directly up to a shrine. Behind it hung an enormous painting of a monster with a human head and the body of an octopus. Its two eyes were menacing, its eyebrows thick, and its hair curly. It had a square face, an upturned nose, and a slightly open mouth that revealed a full set of small, sharp fangs.

The octopus body was poised menacingly, looking utterly terrifying. It had ten long arms that resembled ten great snakes. Two of these arms were longer than the other eight; they could stretch and contract like rubber bands and were lined with hundreds of bowl-shaped suckers.

Ling Xiao’s Divine Sense was not yet strong enough to Open the Celestial Eye; it could only hear, not see. Otherwise, he would have surely recognized the Magical Beast in the painting. It was the very monster from the final few entries in the continent’s book of zoology—the section on the legends of Ancient Magical Beasts—known as the Deep Sea Demon Chapter.

According to the records, legend said this monster possessed the power of a Tier Nine Magical Beast!

The old man knelt piously before the shrine, bowing several times to the enormous painting, which was twenty meters tall and over ten meters wide. Suddenly, a nearly transparent shadow materialized in the air!

Its form was identical to the monster in the painting.

"Why have you awakened me?"

A deep, cold, and utterly emotionless voice suddenly echoed through the grand hall. An immense, unrivaled wave of Spiritual Power slammed into Ling Xiao’s Divine Sense. Lying in his room, Ling Xiao’s brow furrowed tightly. ’What is this thing?’ he thought. ’It’s horrifying.’

"O great god, the group of humans from ten years ago did not meet your requirements, forcing you to slumber for another ten years. That was my transgression!" The old man prostrated on the ground, his voice filled with utter reverence. "Today, another group of humans has arrived. Among them is a young man with exceptionally powerful Spiritual Power. I believe he will satisfy you!" (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com for more Chapters and to support the author and legitimate reading!)

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