Chapter 2: The Temple of Horrors
Chen Nan climbed nine steps on the stool and resolutely walked towards the main entrance of the main hall. The Tiger King took a few steps forward by his ears, but when it came to the dark Demon Giant Mouth, it refused to move forward, and its four tiger claws slammed into the ground.
Chen Nan whispered, "Lust Tiger, go quickly. 」
Tiger King Xiaoyu shook his head desperately, and it raised a tiger claw for a while, and at the same time there was a look of horror in its eyes.
Seeing that it refused to move, Chen Nan ran Xuan Gong to lift its neck to make it rise off the ground, and then walked towards the main hall, although Xiao Yu kept struggling, it was difficult to escape Chen Nan's powerful palm.
The moment Chen Nan stepped into the main hall, a cold air rushed towards him, and in this hot summer, the palace was as cold as an ice cellar. He placed the Tiger King on the ground, and the Tiger King shuddered, its body shrank rapidly, and then it swooped onto his shoulders, and two small tiger claws grabbed him by a strand of hair.
"The Lustful Tiger releases its claws!" Chen Nan cried in a low voice.
Xiao Yu grabbed it hard, let him scold, and refused to let go, and at the same time showed a panicked look. Chen Nan had no choice but to let it stay on his shoulder, and he slowly walked forward.
"Click", "click", "click......
In the empty, pitch-black hall, there was only the echo of monotonous footsteps, and beyond that, there was a dead silence, and in this darkness where he couldn't see his fingers, Chen Nan groped his way forward with his keen spiritual sense.
After walking nearly ten zhang in this way, several steps appeared at his feet, and a stone gate on the stone platform blocked the way. As he pushed towards the stone door, Xiaoyu let out a low growl of uneasiness, and then lifted his collar and "swished" into his arms.
"I'm xxxx, do you want to scare me to death?" actually drilled into my arms...... Chen Nan pulled it out and threw it on the ground. But Xiao Yu immediately jumped on his shoulders and grabbed his hair firmly.
"Cowardly as a mouse, it must be the reincarnation of a mouse, not like a tiger at all. 」
Chen Nan pushed open the stone door vigorously, and inside was a very open hall, the four walls were inlaid with pearls that emitted a faint green light, and the faint green light made the hall look particularly weird, as if it was a gloomy underworld.
When he saw the scene inside, he gasped, his scalp was numb, there were two columns of dried corpses standing on both sides of the hall, the dried skin and flesh were tightly wrapped around the thin bones, and the twisted facial features were extremely hideous, Chen Nan's heart was "plopping" and jumping, and he almost suspected that he had entered the netherworld.
"Ahem......" The old man's cough suddenly sounded in the hall, Chen Nan jumped up in shock, and Xiao Yu, who was hiding on his shoulder, fell down all of a sudden, but it immediately ran back. Chen Nan grabbed it, his hands unconsciously used force, pinching Xiao Yu rolled his eyes, until Xiao Yu gave him a claw, he hurriedly let go.
He quickly stepped back, but found that the stone door was long closed, and he couldn't push it open. Xiao Yu let out a low growl of unease over his shoulder, and his eyes kept scanning the surroundings.
Chen Nan stabilized his mind and shouted, "Who? 」
The old man's voice echoed in the hall: "Young man, don't speak so impulsively, I've been staying here, how can I ever escape?
Chen Nan used his keen spiritual sense to search the hall over and over again, but found nothing, except for him and Xiao Yu in the hall, there was no sign of life at all, and he was terrified.
After a long while, the old voice sounded again: "Meeting is fate, I didn't expect someone to set foot here, young man, let's talk." 」
Chen Nan said, "You won't let me see you, it's too insincere, right?"
"I'm really not hiding, since you have to see me, just keep going. 」
Chen Nan walked forward step by step, Xiao Yu nervously looked around on his shoulder, and when he stepped between the two columns of dried corpses, it "swished" into Chen Nan's arms again, leaving only a small tiger head exposed outside vigilantly observing the nearby movements.
"You perverted tiger, come out quickly. But this time, no matter how Chen Nan pulled it, Xiaoyu's little tiger claws firmly grasped his clothes, and he refused to come out.
"Hehe, didn't you come here a hundred years ago, don't you think I'm an old man, come back to see me?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn't stop any longer, got out of Chen Nan's arms with a "whoosh", stepped on Chen Nan's face and climbed on his head, grabbing his hair and looking around.
"I'm xxxx, you dare to stool my nose on my head, and you're angry with me. Chennan pulled it off and threw it at the feet of a dried corpse.
"Roar"
Tiger King Xiaoyu let out a low roar in fright, and then quickly ran back to Chennan's feet, a small tiger claw nervously grabbing his trouser legs.
"Hehe, kitten, you're still as timid as you were a hundred years ago, and I won't eat you, what's so scary?" The old man's voice echoed throughout the hall, and he couldn't tell where it came from.
Chen Nan walked forward a few feet further, and a dry corpse next to him suddenly turned his head and smiled at him, Bai Sensen's teeth flashed with a strange light.
"Roar" Xiaoyu roared loudly, and quickly ran out a few feet away, at this time it was covered in hair upside down, staring at the dried corpse in horror from a distance.
"Ahh He pulled out the long knife behind his back and shouted, "Are you a human or a ghost?"
The "dry corpse" walked out of the corpse, his whole body covered in skin and bones, and he walked mechanically stiff, like a zombie.
He laughed, "I'm still alive, but I'm not far from death. Then he beckoned to Xiao Yu in the distance and said, "Kitten a hundred years ago, you accidentally broke into the Demon Palace, and you didn't find me until you left, and now you can see the true face of my old man's Lushan, are you still as scared as before?"
Looking at the living skeleton like a zombie and a ghost, Xiao Yu was full of fear, it had grown its body and was ready for battle.
Chen Nan looked at the "dry corpse" in front of him with a disbelieving face, and said, "You...... Is it really alive? How could this be?"
"Yes, I'm still alive. Don't be afraid, let's have a good talk, I haven't seen a living person in years. 」
This time, when Chen Nan was running the Xuan Gong, he finally sensed the faint life pulse in the body of the "dry corpse", but it was intermittent, and there was almost no sign of life. Chen Nan was sure that this was indeed an old man with a hint of anger, and he must have performed a kind of sound skill just now, making it impossible to distinguish his position.
Chen Nan put the long knife on his back, took a few steps forward, and came to a distance less than a foot away from the old man, and stood opposite him. Xiao Yu refused to come over at all, and looked at this place in horror from a distance.
The old man said, "I think your heart must be full of doubts at this moment, right?"
Chen Nan said, "Yes, it's hard to imagine that there will be such a terrifying hall in the vast mountains, can I ask you some questions?"
"Yes, you can ask questions. I don't have a long time to die, and if I don't tell the secret in my heart at this time, I'm afraid I won't have a chance again. 」
"What kind of place is this?"
"Demon Temple. 」
"Demon Palace, is it this great hall created by a demon?"
"It was created by an old god. 」
"Since it was created by God, why is it called a demon temple?"
"Because the old god felt that he had fallen and was no longer worthy to be called a god. 」
"How did he fall?"
"He fought with another fallen ancient god over a divine treasure, and although he was lucky enough to defeat the other party, he himself was seriously injured and dying, and he remained in the human realm ever since. 」
Chen Nan's heart moved, the owner of this demon temple was very likely to be one of the ancient gods recorded in the parchment scroll dug up in Sin City, but the content of the parchment scroll was somewhat different from what the old man said.
The old man said, "Young man, have you heard of the two ancient gods before, otherwise how could you not have a trace of shock?"
"Yes. Chennan recounted the rumors of the old gods of Sin City.
The old man sighed, "I didn't expect that divine war thousands of years ago to be recorded, but it is different from the facts. 」
"What are the facts?"
"The master of this hall is a master of skill, and he has killed another ancient god with serious injuries and dying. When the ancient god was about to die, he suddenly blew up his divine body, and although the owner of the demon temple had a treasure armor on his body, he was still seriously injured and dying. His divine power had weakened to the lowest level, and he couldn't sense the divine treasure lost in the mountains, so he hurriedly put away the bones of the ancient god who had exploded his divine body, and fled back here to cultivate in embarrassment. 」
"What happened?"
"The master of the Demon Hall has been cultivating here for a while, and he is horrified to find that his divine power can no longer be condensed, and can only be maintained at a fairly low level. He went to the place of the great battle several times to look for the lost treasure, but each time he was disappointed. 」
Hearing this, Chen Nan was a little nervous and said, "That...... Where did the old gods go?"
The old man sighed and said, "He has been cultivating here for hundreds of years, but his divine power has never been restored, and once he went out and never came back. 」
"Ahh......h It's gone?"
"Yes, I really don't know if he's evil or good when his divine power is limited. 」
After hearing these words, Chen Nan came back to his senses for a long time, and muttered, "It's unbelievable, a god wanders in the world...... and then he asked, "What do those giants living outside have to do with this demon temple, why do they worship this hall?"
"The ancestors of those giants were once subdued as slaves by the old gods, and they made great efforts to build this hall, and they brought the black stones needed for the hall from the mountains far away. The Old God is a god in their hearts, and although he has long since disappeared, his divine power has been passed down from generation to generation among the giants, who have lived here for generations, guarding this demon temple. 」
"But...... Why did they pile up so many bones under the Demon Temple?"
"This is one of the secrets of the Demon Temple. The old man pointed to the ground and said, "There is an unusually powerful brute beast under this hall, and the reason why the giant piled up those white bones outside the stone mountain is completely to carry out the orders left by the ancient gods. The ancient gods laid down a large array of nine white bones here, condensing the power of heaven and earth, gathering the souls of all spirits, and deterring the brute beast underground, so that it could not come up to do evil. 」
Chen Nan was dumbfounded when he heard this, and his heart was extremely frightened, the brute beast that was suppressed by the god must have been terrified to the extreme, thinking that it was dozens or hundreds of zhang under his feet, he felt a chill.
"What kind of beast is this?"
"I don't know, no one has seen it except the owner of the Demon Temple, but I can hear its roar occasionally. 」
At this moment, a dull roar suddenly came from the ground, but the sound was not very clear from the stratum of the main hall, but it was terrifying to hear. Xiao Yu quickly shrank to the size of a kitten, and then suddenly jumped to Chennan's shoulder, and while it looked vigilantly at the old man on the other side like a dried corpse, it shook its ears to listen to the whistling sound like a magic sound.
Chen Nan had already heard a strange roar when he was looking outside the main hall during the day, and at this time, it became clear, and when the whistling stopped, he asked, "Why did the ancient gods trap it here, why didn't they just destroy it in the first place?"
The old man said, "The old gods brought it here from elsewhere and originally wanted to tame it as a mount, but the brute beast had a strong temperament and refused to give in, so the old gods had no choice but to trap it under the main hall and wanted to slowly subdue it. But he never thought that he would be seriously injured in that divine battle not long after, and he was no longer capable of killing the evil beast, so he set up a large array of nine white bones to prevent it from escaping. 」
"I see, I really didn't expect there to be such a mysterious place in such a deep mountain. 」
The old man said, "This is just one of the secrets of the Demon Temple, but there is an even bigger secret. 」
"There's a bigger secret?"
"Beneath this hall is not only a vicious beast, but also a piece of armor. 」
Chen Nan's heart moved, he remembered a legendary armor, and he couldn't help but ask, "What is the name of the treasure armor?"
"Xuanwu armor. 」
Chen Nan exclaimed, "Ah, is it ...... Could it be the Xuanwu armor that has existed since ancient times?"
The old man nodded and said, "Yes, it is the legendary divine armor of the original immortal fantasy continent. 」
In that distant past, there were several weapons in the Immortal Continent that had always been regarded as immortal treasures and divine treasures, and legend has it that if the top master held a weapon like this, he could fight against the gods and immortals. But unfortunately, these weapons often only appear in legends, and only occasionally appear in the world for thousands of years.
Ten thousand years ago, Chen Nan saw Hou Yi Bow, and the bow was unintentionally obtained by his father Chen Zhan when he traveled the world. After 10,000 years, he saw the Divine Bow again, but it was no longer human, and he didn't know whether Chen Zhan left Hou Yi Bow and broke through the void, or ......
Although Chen Nan had not seen several other legendary treasures, he knew that there was a treasure armor named Xuanwu, and he did not expect to be able to learn its whereabouts here today. It is rumored that this armor can not only protect the body, but also use its strength to counterattack, both offensive and defensive, and it is extremely wonderful.
"Old man, are you telling the truth?"
"Really, this armor is indeed sealed under the Demon Temple. The owner of the Demon Temple got it by chance, and he cherished it like his life. If it weren't for this armor, he would probably have died with another ancient god in that divine war.
Chen Nan sighed, "In the ancient legend, the Houyi Bow, which is as famous as the Xuanwu Armor, once shot down the gods in the sky, I really don't know what the Xuanwu Armor is wonderful. 」
The old man said, "The treasures that have been handed down from ancient times to the present day must be extraordinary. 」
Chen Nan said, "Who are you, old man, and why are you staying here? I still don't know your identity. 」
The old man stretched out his hand and pointed to the two columns of dried corpses in the main hall, and said, "I am a servant in the Demon Hall just like them. 」
"Ah, they're still alive too?" exclaimed Chennan.
"No, it's been dead for years. These people are the servants of the gods for generations, and because the exercises they practice are all deadwood, they are all like this after death. 」
"Servant of God?"
"Yes, before the master of the Demon Temple disappeared, he once received a servant, that is, the first generation of divine servants, and he is the only one who has seen the master of the Demon Temple. The first generation of divine servants were loyal to the ancient gods, and they had been looking forward to the return of the ancient gods, but they had waited for more than a hundred years without success. In his old age, he asked the giants from outside to send him out of the mountains, took a disciple in Sin City, and returned there. This has been the case for generations since then, and the servants of the gods in the demon temple have all come like this. 」
"Oh, I see. 」
The old man continued, "Time has passed, thousands of years have passed, although there are still divine servants in this demon temple, but the hearts of divine servants are not the same as before. The later servants of the gods had never seen the ancient gods, and there would be a trace of awe, and besides, the servants of the gods had long since lost the meaning of their existence. There were people in previous generations who planned not to accept apprentices, but they never made that decision. I've seen it and decided not to accept any more disciples. 」
"You...... Are you going to get out of here?"
"I'm over 300 years old, I'm a dying man, what's the point of leaving, this is the best place for me to be buried. 」
"Ah, more than three hundred years old?!, isn't your cultivation ......" Chen Nan couldn't go on, if what the old man said was true, then his cultivation might have reached a point unimaginable to ordinary people.
The old man said, "Each generation of divine servants can live to be at least one hundred and fifty years old, and the exercises handed down by the ancient gods are mainly for health preservation, not the kind of cultivation in the usual sense. In fact, the skills of the divine servants of the past dynasties were not very strong, and they could only be regarded as ordinary masters on the mainland. Take me as an example, although I am now more than 300 years old, I am not your opponent at all, and I will definitely not be able to fight you. 」
"Oh. Chen Nan had indeed heard of this kind of cultivator, which was a side branch of the Dao Sect, this kind of person did not pursue the growth of strength, the purpose of their self-cultivation was only to obtain immortality.
The old man said, "I know that my life is short, so I tell you the secret in my heart. The Xuanwu armor has been one of the legendary treasures of the mainland since ancient times, and I hope that the world can know its whereabouts, and I don't want it to be buried deep underground for many years. 」