Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy-Chapter 430 - 384: Divine Mausoleum

Holding the emerald halo in his hand, Qi Xiu clasped his fingers and crushed it. In an instant, clouds and mist twined about him as chanting sounds, like low shouts and long recitations in tune with the Dao, flowed into his body through his seven orifices.

The next moment, a vast amount of ancient and complex enlightenment and experiences emerged in his mind.

These insights were filled with the charm of nature’s laws. If cultivators who cultivated the great Dao of nature obtained these, they would definitely be able to enhance their Cultivation and even break through bottlenecks.

This wooden puppet is a transformation from the remnants of a deity’s power. There are countless existences like this in the Valley of Deceased Gods. Cultivators who enter the valley just need to be more diligent, and have better luck, to slay more of these transformed remnants of deities, and they will mostly be able to break through their bloodstained bottlenecks and assault the Dao Body Realm.

Marveling at this, Qi Xiu secretly thought that the Valley of Deceased Gods was a wonderful place.

If it weren’t so dangerous, this place would definitely be able to cultivate a large number of high-end cultivators in a short period, and if used well, it could even mass-produce Dao Experts.

Grasping this mystery of the Valley of Deceased Gods, Qi Xiu’s thoughts stirred as he rode his Qingyun and soared upwards.

Countless deities had died within the Valley of Deceased Gods. The burial places of various deities were also different. To discern them, one could only rely on the wandering Divine Puppets.

It is just unknown if there are any deities in the Valley of Deceased Gods who practiced the Mixed Yuan Path.

Thinking this, Qi Xiu himself didn’t harbor much hope.

After all, over the years, I’ve almost flipped through all the ancient texts and rare books in the Shenxiao Sect’s library. Yet, the records about the Mixed Yuan Path are scarce. They often only mention it briefly, not even a complete sentence. Moreover, since the Middle Ancient Era, there hasn’t been a Sect or a family that practiced the Mixed Yuan Path.

The path I’m on, from a certain perspective, is truly unprecedented.

So, regarding whether there are deities of the Mixed Yuan Path in the Valley of Deceased Gods, my expectations aren’t high.

Even if I can’t find deities of the Mixed Yuan Path, these insights alone are rare Divine Objects. They are the essence left behind by the deaths of deities. As beings who directly harnessed the laws of the Dao, their insights into the Dao are more intuitive and comprehensive. If I gather more of these insights, even if I can’t rely on the Valley of Deceased Gods to break through to the Dao Body, it could still add to my accumulation, and perhaps I could find the Skill System and Methodology for breaking my current realm.

After patrolling the sky for a moment, Qi Xiu spotted another wooden puppet as tall as a small hill, covered in ancient trees and vines, closely resembling a humanoid shape. He was about to descend and slay it when he saw the wooden puppet sneakily looking around. It raised its hand to emit strands of light, then actually lifted a layer of the ground and walked in with a stooped figure.

Hm?

This human-like behavior from the wooden puppet made Qi Xiu pause in surprise.

He had encountered quite a few Divine Puppets transformed from the remnants of divine power before, but all of them exhibited dullness and stupor. They would attack any living beings within sight and aimlessly wander without Consciousness.

But this one before me is clearly different.

Interesting. The Valley of Deceased Gods indeed isn’t so simple.

With a hint of curiosity in his eyes, Qi Xiu decided to wait in place. He wanted to see exactly what this unique wooden puppet was up to.

This wait lasted five days and nights.

While other bloodstained cultivators were energetically slaying Divine Puppets and accumulating insights into the Dao, Qi Xiu’s distinctive behavior appeared somewhat out of the ordinary.

And it was this difference that, unseen, attracted the attention of a certain gaze.

In the Valley of Deceased Gods, the Taiyang rose and the moon set as well. It was just unknown whether this Taiyang and moon were the same as those in the Tianyuan Main Realm.

「On the sixth day, a pale golden dawn illuminated the land.」

The solid, thick earth was lifted open to reveal a crack. A pair of vigilant, huge eyes peeked out from below, cautiously scanning the surroundings.

Using [Cloud Conceals Moon] to conceal his figure, Qi Xiu sat cross-legged less than fifty meters from the opening.

Observing the lively expression in the wooden puppet’s eyes up close, Qi Xiu touched his eyebrows.

I had previously thought the Divine Puppets in the Valley of Deceased Gods were merely experience packets.

Now, it seems that judgment was made prematurely.

Watching the ground being pushed up high and the wooden puppet crawling out from underground, Qi Xiu’s eyes moved slightly. His hand sent a streak of white light swiftly into the crevice.

BOOM—

The opening on the ground closed again. The wooden puppet stood to the side, sweeping its gaze back and forth several times. After finding no abnormalities, it left contentedly.

Let me see what treasure you’ve hidden underground.

With one hand propping up his cheek, Qi Xiu’s mind stirred. Images immediately appeared in his mind—these were transmitted from the Talisman Script figure he had sent underground.

Gloomy and dim, a long, cold tunnel wound its way downward.

The Talisman Script figure, three feet tall and dressed in a Taoist Robe, held a spell in its hand and rode on a cloud of mist, swiftly passing through the corridor toward the end.

Qi Xiu’s Divine Marvel had now reached the Fifth Realm.

Besides being able to draw things into reality on a larger scale, the Fifth Realm allowed for proportionate downsizing, sacrificing power to draw items bigger than the range of drawing things into reality.

This Talisman Script figure was drawn by Qi Xiu based on his own appearance.

Although its power was only one ten-thousandth of his, it was sufficient for exploring the unknown.

After racing through the corridor for nearly half an hour, the space in front of the Talisman Script figure suddenly expanded countless times.

The space here was vast and profound. A towering dome was inlaid with dazzling gems, and giant pillars supported the entire structure. Each pillar was engraved with mysterious spells and totems, symbolic traces of some being’s existence.

In front of this space stood a thick, towering stone door, with an ancient Divine Statue carved upon its surface.

Its eyes were bright and piercing, as if it still watched over all the affairs of the world.

Could this be...

With a frown, the Talisman Script figure approached the towering stone door. With a flick of its hand, it scattered a handful of soybeans. In an instant, a brilliant divine light shone splendidly, and a group of miniature Yellow Turban Strongmen with serious faces appeared.

"Come, push this door open for me!"

Pointing at the thick stone door, the Talisman Script figure ordered. Hundreds of Yellow Turban Strongmen responded with a deep chant, marching with small steps towards the door.

BOOM!

Thanks to the concerted effort of the hundreds of Yellow Turban Strongmen, the tightly closed stone door gradually began to open.

Just as the gap in the stone door had widened enough to allow a person to pass through, a cold and sinister wind, filled with an ominous and eerie aura, suddenly blew out from the space behind the stone door.

「...」

The visions in his mind abruptly ceased. Qi Xiu, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed intently on the now-closed crevice in the ground.

Just before the Talisman Script figure was wiped out, his sight had caught a glimpse of what lay beyond the stone door.

Although it was just a brief moment, for a cultivator of his caliber, an eidetic memory was second nature.

In the deepest part behind the stone door rested a sarcophagus carved from the purest white jade, surrounded by a holy aura. Despite the silence, one could feel an intangible pressure, as if the will of a divine being still lingered there, guarding its territory and deterring any creature daring to trespass.

But his act of pushing open the stone door seemed to have disturbed the long-deceased divine body.

The moment the stone door opened, the sacred tranquility was shattered, replaced by endless eeriness and ill omen, as if opening a forbidden gate had conjured terrible visions in the void: the annihilation of all Spirit Beings and the bloodshed of immortals and Buddhas.

I’ve caused trouble...

Qi Xiu chuckled wryly, thinking that his momentary curiosity had led to such consequences, and scratched his chin.

Considering the appearance of that underground space, it must be a mausoleum for divine bodies.

Thinking of the mausoleum, Qi Xiu’s eyes flickered slightly.

If it’s a mausoleum, could there be any burial offerings with it?

Although it’s unclear who built this Divine Mausoleum for those deities, from the looks of the wooden puppet just now, it was likely him.

That wooden puppet’s intelligence is already on par with that of the Human Race, so it’s very likely that there will be burial offerings inside the mausoleum.

In the Valley of Deceased Gods, even the most ordinary stone could be the bone of a deity.

Wandering here all year, what kind of burial offerings might that wooden puppet have prepared?

With this thought in mind, Qi Xiu slowly retreated. His figure flickered, and in a blink, he was already hundreds of miles away.

Not long after his departure, the tightly closed underground entrance was abruptly torn apart by a great force. Wave after wave of aura that chilled all things to the bone and inspired terrifying dread surged out, overwhelming the area for hundreds of miles.

It’s here!

Watching the torn entrance, Qi Xiu narrowed his eyes calmly, observing the ominous aura that continued to gush forth.

RUSTLE—

Extremely eerie footsteps sounded. The world seemed to have been muted, all other noises eliminated, leaving only these clear and unsettling footfalls.

「The next second,」

a stiff and wooden figure emerged from the underground mausoleum.

It was a woman dressed in a teal gauze gown and white shoes, her figure graceful. Her facial features were gentle and lovely, provoking an instinctive sense of affinity at first glance.

Yet, such a beautiful woman had a shocking wound on her neck, with bright red flesh turned outward, revealing her broken trachea and bones.

Judging by the cut, it seemed to have been inflicted by a Sword blade or similar weapon.

A combination of beauty and terror.

The first sight of the woman filled one with a strong sense of the grotesque.

God’s Loathful Remnants!

The moment he saw the woman, Qi Xiu’s mind flashed with a name Dongfang Qing had repeatedly cautioned him about before his departure.

These were entities formed after the death of a divine being, materialized from boundless hatred and resentment.

They were neither living creatures nor inanimate objects.

They were akin to a Primordial Spirit Idea, an epitome of extreme obsession.

These God’s Loathful Remnants had no intelligence or reason, only hatred for all things in the world.

Once targeted by a God’s Loathful Remnant, there was no other way but to flee.

Unless one was a Primordial Spirit Boss, even a Dao Expert would die if entangled.

Seeing that his moment of curiosity had unleashed a God’s Loathful Remnant, Qi Xiu was contemplating how to lure it away so he could explore the Divine Mausoleum.

But the next second, as he lifted his gaze, the stiff, green-clothed woman had unexpectedly turned her body sideways. Her pale, lifeless eyes were staring dead at him from hundreds of miles away!