Chapter 104: The Spiritual Consciousness Realm Has Fallen into Neglect

Although Song Yue understood the meaning of these ancient characters, he found it truly incredible.

The top-tier ancient cultivation techniques he had obtained previously usually had simple names—either the "Great Wind Manual," the "Water Control Manual," or, more impressive ones, like the "Eight Wilderness Dao Manual."

Before this, Song Yue had never even heard of a technique prefixed with the word "Saint."

And there was an "Dark" character before that.

Darkness? Dark matter?

Song Yue pondered this in his mind, then, with a slight exertion, flipped open the first page.

Qian Qianxue also leaned in, looking on with curiosity.

There was no text on the first page.

Song Yue flipped to the second page; it was still devoid of any text.

He flipped further, and this book, made of an unknown metallic material, was completely empty from beginning to end!

Truly a *Dark Canon*!

Song Yue found this quite impressive.

Turning back to the first page, he began to attempt reading it using his spiritual sense.

The next moment, he was pulled into a mysterious space.

The entire space was brilliantly white, vast and boundless in all directions.

In front of him stood a green blade of grass.

It was about a foot tall, shaped like an orchid, its long leaves looking so fresh they seemed to drip with vitality!

What on earth is this?

Song Yue stared at the grass, his brow furrowed with confusion.

He tried to make contact with it using his Heavenly Venerable spiritual method... Poof!

The blade of grass vanished from where it stood.

Just as Song Yue was startled, the grass appeared within his spiritual sea, taking root there.

"I..."

What the hell is this supposed to mean?

A blade of grass... growing inside my spiritual sea?

Song Yue was somewhat bewildered, and even a little panicked. He had no idea what this implied. Just then, he heard Qian Qianxue beside him exclaim in surprise: "Oh my, why has a flower appeared in my spiritual sea?"

Song Yue: ???

How come he got a blade of grass, while Brother Qian got a flower?

Something wasn't right. What was going on?

A metal book of unknown material and origin, containing not a single word, yet through mental visualization, it conjured up these bizarre things.

"This flower is a technique!"

Before Song Yue could react, Qian Qianxue let out another cry of surprise.

Shortly after, Song Yue withdrew from his spiritual sea and looked at Qian Qianxue.

Qian Qianxue said with a look of astonishment: "I've mastered this technique!"

Song Yue looked at her, speechless: "What's it for?"

Qian Qianxue replied: "Attack!"

Attack?

Song Yue couldn't fathom how a flower rooted in one's spiritual sea could be transformed into an attack.

"It's a spiritual attack!"

Qian Qianxue said with a serious expression: "It's a pity there's nowhere to test it right now."

"Let's get out of here first."

Song Yue frowned slightly. He had no idea what the grass in his spiritual sea was for; no one had told him, and it had simply rooted itself there like a permanent squatter.

He didn't dare to continue using his spiritual sense to visualize the second page of the *Dark Canon*, as heaven only knew what else might appear.

Just then, a commotion came from outside.

Song Yue instantly put the *Dark Canon* away.

He stood with Qian Qianxue, prepared for anything.

The next moment, a figure appeared before them.

It was a person draped from head to toe in a black robe.

Seeing the two, the person was also taken aback. He pulled down his hood, revealing an aged, Western face.

"I didn't expect someone to arrive here before me."

The elderly man from the West spoke in fluent Chinese, looking at Song Yue: "Young one, is there a black metallic book here?"

Song Yue shook his head: "Didn't see one."

The old man looked deeply at Song Yue but did not press the matter. Instead, he walked around the stone sarcophagus in the room twice and said: "Do you know who is inside this sarcophagus?"

Song Yue replied: "Not sure, but it looks like they were sealed inside."

"Indeed, this stone sarcophagus is indeed used for sealing. Inside, a true creature of the Demon Race is trapped."

The old man's eyes revealed a profound depth as he looked up at Song Yue: "The reliefs on the sarcophagus are meant to suppress that Demon creature, but what truly holds the one inside down is that book!"

"What book? I don't know."

Song Yue was determined not to admit it. This old man's origins and motives were unknown. He showed no sign of energy fluctuations, yet he could pass through the miasma and enter this place without a boat... All these factors combined were enough to prove he was no ordinary person.

"Sigh!"

The old man sighed: "It's useless for you to take that book. It is a Demon temple relic. I don't know if you've flipped through it, but there isn't a single character in it! Even if you try to read it with spiritual power, it is hard to grasp the true meaning, and your spiritual sea will be occupied by a demon seed... You haven't tried reading it with spiritual power yet, have you? If you actually read it, you'll be in trouble!"

The old man said with a solemn expression: "Once the demon seed takes root and sprouts, it will directly seize your spiritual sea and devour your soul. By then... your appearance will remain the same, but the person inside... will have been replaced by the other."

Song Yue remained unmoved: "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't see any book. Perhaps someone else came here before us and took it away?"

Song Yue didn't believe a word the Western old man said.

A book that could make the Yuxu Tongtian Tablet stir frantically to guide him to it could not possibly be harmful to him!

"Believe what you want, but if that book is gone, the Demon creature suppressed in the sarcophagus will soon break free and leave. When that happens, the first person it will look for is the one holding the *Dark Canon*!"

Song Yue thought to himself, *Good grief, I'll believe you when pigs fly, you old fraud!*

He had even let the name *Dark Canon* slip!

Combined with the fact that the old man had no energy fluctuations, Song Yue already had a guess about his origins.

He pulled Qian Qianxue: "There's nothing here, let's go!"

Qian Qianxue nodded, and without a word, she let Song Yue pull her toward the exit.

At this moment, the black-robed old man finally grew anxious. He looked at Song Yue: "Young man, if you leave like this, you will regret it!"

Song Yue had already reached the doorway with Qian Qianxue, one foot inside and one foot outside. Hearing this, he said: "I'd only regret it if I didn't leave!"

Suddenly, a wall appeared where the door should have been.

The door... was gone!

Song Yue nearly walked right into the wall. He reached out to block it, then opened his "Spiritual Eye" to look around.

The original door had somehow moved behind them!

Song Yue said nothing and pulled Qian Qianxue toward where the door was now. When they arrived, the door shifted again.

The old man said: "Leave the book, and I will let you go."

Song Yue stopped and looked at the old man: "Does it feel good being sealed in that sarcophagus?"

The old man frowned: "Young man, what are you talking about?"

Song Yue looked at him, enunciating every word: "I'm saying, being sealed in this sarcophagus, with a dragon in front and a Buddha behind, and divine birds and beasts on the sides—are you happy? Excited? Having a good time?"

There is no greater way to strike at someone's heart than this.

The old man's expression changed instantly. His eyes shot out cold, piercing light, and his voice became incredibly sinister: "How did you see that?"

Song Yue thought for a moment: "With my eyes."

The old man sneered: "You certainly don't fear death. Aren't you afraid of being trapped here forever and never getting out?"

Song Yue looked at the old man with a hint of pity: "We can enter the Nine-Pass Battlefield directly from here."

The old man: "..."

His tone began to soften as he looked at Song Yue: "Young one, how about we make a deal?"

Song Yue shook his head: "I don't make deals with Demon creatures."

The old man argued: "It seems you have a deep misunderstanding of the Demon Race. The Demon Race is not at all what you think. You can listen to my terms first, then decide whether to trade with me."

"Not listening."

Song Yue remained stubbornly resolute.

He pulled Qian Qianxue and continued to track the shifting door.

At this moment, Qian Qianxue gently tugged on Song Yue.

Song Yue stopped.

Qian Qianxue asked: "Is he the one sealed inside the stone sarcophagus?"

Song Yue nodded and said without evasion: "Yes, he's unhappy that we took the item and left, so he's here playing tricks on us."

Qian Qianxue asked: "Then can I attack him?"

Song Yue looked at the old man: "She's asking you, can she attack you?"

The old man was furious.

However, he let out a cold laugh, no longer bothering to keep up the charade, and said confidently: "I am not even a spiritual projection; I am merely a phantom image manifested here. What good will attacking me do?"

Qian Qianxue said nothing, just stared at the old man.

The next moment.

A flurry of pink flower petals appeared above the old man's head, drifting downward.

The scene was incredibly beautiful!

But a look of terror suddenly appeared on the old man's face, and he blurted out: "How could you possibly grasp the *Dark Canon* so quickly? This is impossible!"

Although he had heard the little girl say earlier that a flower had appeared in her spiritual sea, he hadn't believed she could grasp its profound meaning so quickly.

These petals landed on the black-robed old man, immediately causing him to smoke as he burned.

Holes appeared one after another in his black robe, with steam rising from them.

The old man was livid, but he could not block this secret technique that appeared gentle but was, in fact, filled with immense killing intent.

Song Yue watched from the side, also quite surprised. He didn't expect Brother Qian's comprehension to be so astonishing. He was now truly starting to wonder what kind of monsters the Qian family were.

With such talent and insight, how was Brother Qian considered a fool by his family?

At this moment, the sound of impacts came from the stone sarcophagus again, accompanied by roars of frustration.

Dragon chants and Buddhist sounds echoed in the spiritual realm once more.

At the same time, the divine birds and beasts on the sides of the sarcophagus erupted with incomparably terrifying aura, joining in to suppress the existence within.

The black-robed old man, standing outside the sarcophagus, was now almost completely burned to ashes by Qian Qianxue's rain of pink petals, yet he made one final attempt: "As long as you help me break the seal, I can make you the kings of the entire mortal realm! I will grant you supreme power and status! I will bestow upon you immortality..."

"You can keep those good things for yourself and enjoy them slowly."

Song Yue looked at the old man and smiled.

"You will regret this!"

As the old man was thoroughly burned to ashes by Qian Qianxue's petal rain, the small room returned to peace once more.

The stone door was back in its original position, as if it had never moved.

Qian Qianxue recovered, looking at Song Yue with lingering fear: "Just now... was that an illusion?"

Song Yue nodded and sighed softly: "Truly formidable! His true form is sealed in this sarcophagus, with two golden-armored war gods acting as door guardians, yet he could still manifest such a trick!"

He then looked at Qian Qianxue: "So that is the technique you grasped?"

Qian Qianxue nodded gently.

Song Yue silently gave a thumbs up.

The petal rain that Brother Qian grasped from the *Dark Canon* was indeed powerful; it could even kill a virtual entity within an illusion.

He wondered if this move could also be used to kill enemies if they entered the virtual world?

The two left the room, and this time no further accidents occurred.

As they completely departed, the stone sarcophagus finally went quiet.

They circled the ancient castle once more, but found nothing else, so they left.

Reaching the bank of the Black Water River, they used the small wooden boat again, rowing little by little to the opposite shore.

The terrifying toxic miasma in the sky churned and rolled, hanging low, and the light around them remained dim with low visibility.

They followed their original path back, but at the entrance of the secret realm, they encountered a large group of cultivators from the Western camp.

Seeing the two emerge from the dark forest, the group surrounded them immediately.

They looked at the two with cold expressions and hostile glares.