Archfiend

Chapter 219: Danxia Temple (38)

Xu Yangyi didn’t speak. In fact, he knew even more than Sister Nine.

Fish molt… He breathed in deeply a few times and looked towards the mountainous thing. So it’s you… The massive demon that I once caught a glimpse of… was you… In the end, you were at the bottom of the lotus sea?

He wordlessly stood up and walked towards the small white mountain.

“Has anyone gone under the water?” Xu Yangyi asked quietly and Sister Nine followed.

“Who would dare?” Sister Nine answered, her expression motionless. “The situation is unclear. I may have thought up of these things, but the others might’ve not. Besides, the sects of Daoism and Buddhism have existed in the world for over 2,000 years… Perhaps they know even more than what I’ve guessed.”

This region was very strange. All around there were boundless leaves and bobbing lotuses, but only in this place… an area close to 5,000 meters long and 700 meters wide, there wasn’t a single lotus flower or leaf. There was only a stretch of jade ripples as far as the eye could see.

As if… this place was Danxia Temple’s nexus.

Xu Yangyi walked over to the nearest lotus leaf. Over yonder, there were people sitting down. Greenwall’s Three Swords, Fahui, Ye Old Four, Yi Old Five, and the leaders of the remaining powers were present.

He didn’t speak. Instead, from here, he seemed to stand at the foot of a giant, as if he was looking up at Mount Everest!

Extreme largeness and smallness constructed an even more supreme shock in this place!

Unseen was its length or its width. Neither was its tail or its dorsal fin visible… In all places that entered the eye, there were only pale fish scales, uncertain as to how thick they were. Packed together and filling the area, they brought an immense impact to one’s sight!

Upon seeing Xu Yangyi come over, nobody said anything. Right now, no one had the effort to ask again about the issue concerning the Heavenmend Stone. Danxia Temple’s unusual transformations and this giant fish molt pushed down on each person’s heart like a great mountain, exceptionally heavy.

The presence of fish molt represented… that a demon existed. It was connected to that chain. No one was an idiot about the worldly transformations moments ago. Everyone had thought of these matters.

“Master Fahui, what do you know about this fish molt?” Xu Yangyi asked lowly and looked at the fish molt.

“The Buddhist Monastery has a secret art. It is known as Bodhisattva Opens Eye.” Fahui faintly nodded at him. “This technique allows this poor monk to observe within a distance of 10,000 meters for several seconds.”

Xu Yangyi mumbled to himself as he looked at the large white mountain. “Can the molting time be determined?”

“No,” Fahui sighed. “But it’s at least three centuries.”

Xu Yangyi nodded and studied the enormous fish molt. In his heart, a bizarre sensation suddenly arose. 

Something’s wrong… His brows began to furrow. Wrong… Inevitably, something was overlooked… A very important matter… He focused his mind and pondered for ages. Without warning, his eyes shined, and his body nimbly rushed straight to the giant fish molt!

Yes… at last, he’d discovered something was wrong!

How was this fish molt floating on the water?! It certainly wasn’t sealed up. It was no understatement that such a heavy fish molt was hundreds of thousands of kilograms! Through a fish’s mouth, the water that flowed into a fish’s gills physically couldn’t turn a fish molt into a ship!

Watching Xu Yangyi vault over, everyone’s gazes flashed, but they didn’t say a word. In such a time, there was nothing better than a daring vanguard.

Xu Yangyi jumped to the peak of the fish molt. Without any hesitation, he shockingly clenched Azure Dragon Seeks Cauldron in his fist and fiercely battered downwards!

Boom… The sound echoed just like a bell chime. It was very soft and passed away in the blink of an eye. His gaze flashed. This fish molt was dreadfully solid! In the Qi Condensation realm, his Azure Dragon Seeks Cauldron was virtually triumphant no matter the task. But right now, not even a white scar was left behind on this molt! And that wasn’t to mention something like shaking the fish molt!

“Some of you, come up.” He faced the faction leaders on the lotus leaves and lifted up his chin. “I’m not enough by myself.”

“What do you want to do?” Ye Old Four knitted his brows. “Even if this fish molt has already been here for a couple hundred years, there’s no way that we can pierce through it by relying on our strength. Its existence has already surpassed a magik treasure. I even suspect that it can directly pressure a spirit treasure. If you want to look inside, you can only get in through the mouth. But…” he laughed mockingly, “do you risk going underwater?”

Xu Yangyi laughed even more scornfully. “We don’t need to punch through. I was only testing the fish molt’s hardness. Its durability exceeds my imagination by far, but hasn’t anyone thought about how much this durability compares to this weight…”

Before Xu Yangyi’s voice even fell, Fahui was already standing. He took a deep breath. “Benefactor Xu is saying… how is it floating on the water?”

A single sentence caused everyone to stand up in alarm! One verse jolted people out of their dreams! Before, everyone was paying attention to the fish molt. However, no one had thought about how such a heavy object was floating on the water!

There was only one explanation… 

Down below… there was something… supporting it… Supporting this giant mountain to float on the water! The heart of the lotus sea!

“Huff…” Sister Nine gasped coldly. She immediately looked towards her foot and couldn’t help but to fall back by two steps. Below her feet… there was something supporting this giant mountain of a fish molt… 

Silent terror rapidly spread through the air. Each person looked underfoot with terrible vigilance. It was like some monster would suddenly jump out from below the endless waters in the night!

Silence. A silence like that of death. After five minutes passed, Fahui said with a solemn face, “I will help benefactor with the power of my one arm.”

As soon as his voice fell, he jumped into the empty sky. Surprisingly, a white lotus floated into view from underneath his feet. He stepped on white lotuses to walk to the fish molt and gravely looked at everyone. “Benefactors, we have been trapped in Danxia Temple’s depths today. Only by finding a way out can we leave. The Transference Formation that we arrived from has already been destroyed underwater. We must not relinquish any sliver of an opportunity.”

“So it is…” Sister Nine gritted her teeth and vaulted straight up. At her side, Yi Old Five and Ye Old Four shared a glance. Not saying a word, they pursed their lips and also jumped up. 

Although they all held their own thoughts, they understood more clearly than ordinary people that this was a question of principle 

All of Xu Yangyi’s spiritual force revolved, and his fist radiated about a foot of red light. Already, Sister Nine stood on her corpse puppet and used some unknown secret technique. The corpse puppet’s entire body strangely withered, but its right fist exploded over five times in size! It was emitting rays of black light.

Yi Old Five opened his mouth and spat out a small hammer. Facing the wind and blurring, it swelled up to around 1.5 meters in a flash. Ye Old Four cautiously took out a dried-up yellow branch and formed a seal. The branch gave off wisps of dim light.

“Get ready…” Xu Yangyi finished whispering and suddenly raised his voice. “Strike!”

Boom! Everyone’s divine abilities bombarded the fish molt. This time, there was a droning sound. It was still like a bell chime, but it was deep and drawn-out. The sound jolted the vast sky! Under everyone’s full-powered barrage, the entire fish molt was gently stomped down. With it as the center, an immense ripple took shape. 

Crash… Wave upon wave spread out, and countless lotuses swayed. It was in this moment that everyone’s pupils needled!

A black shadow horrifyingly swam out from under the fish molt… Soon afterwards… there were ten shadows and then a hundred… which turned into thousands! A hundred thousand! A million! These countless shadows were simply infinite, like flies swarming a corpse in summertime! They dispersed all around to the four directions and eight reaches! 

“These…” Xu Yangyi observed each shadow with rapt attention. “Are fish!”

Yes, fish. They were presently standing on the large white mountain and gazing several thousands of meters away at the fringes of the lotus sea beyond. An endless horde of fish were madly swimming away!

“These fish… were supporting this fish molt?” Ye Old Four looked at his surroundings in amazement. Because of the immeasurable number of fish, the water’s surface had now become black!

The scene was too bizarre… Cast off at least several centuries ago, the fish molt had surprisingly been densely surrounded and protected by millions of fish here! In this situation and scenery, perhaps claustrophobic cultivators would be scared out of their wits if they were present!

None of them whatsoever, including Xu Yangyi, dared to exhale. This was also their first time seeing so many fish, a level similar to leeches in a tropical jungle! With this amount… a person in the water would possibly be run over alive by these million fishes!

Below their feet, and even on the lotus leaves below, they felt great billows rising up and down. These waves were created by the incalculable number of fishes dispersing all around that were close to the water’s surface. No one made a sound. Everyone fixed their eyes underfoot.

At the same time, a creaking noise was heard from the entire mountainous fish molt.

“What’s that sound?” Yi Old Five furrowed his brows and called attention to this grinding. “Everyone, did you hear that?”

He didn’t need to ask again, because in the next second, the creaking noise was everywhere! It spread all throughout the fish molt!

Xu Yangyi’s gaze flashed. His spiritual sense was more powerful than the others. He was the first to “see”. On the fish molt’s body, a fish scale faded away. Its disappearance was rather orderly, just like… it was falling off from its original place. He was without a second word, the first to dash towards a lotus leaf!

The second to come to a realization was Fahui. He gasped coldly, “Go! The fish molt is falling apart! It was being supported by the fish at the water’s surface! It seemed intact, but it broke apart long ago! Were it not for the fish bracing it, it would’ve sunk to the seabed earlier!”

Before his voice even fell, a cracking sound followed. Not too far away from them, another fish scale fell off and exposed a pitch-black man-sized cave. Without another word, everyone left the fish molt with all the strength they could muster!

From tranquility, a resounding boom pervaded the entire sky! At the start, fish scales fell off one at a time, but soon, great swaths plummeted! Like a tree emptied out by termites or a building stripped of its backbone, fish scales were jolted away. The giant fish molt, towering for several centuries, finally began to crumble.

Plunk… In an exposed section of water, fish scales fell down and crashed down to form several-meter-tall sprays. The giant white mountain was slowly collapsing. Everyone was already standing on a lotus leaf. They raised their heads and gazed ahead, taking in this magnificent sight.

They were akin to tourists on a boat, and these large boats of lotus leaves traveled along the Three Gorges of the Yangtze. However, they watched a giant mountain fall apart in the surrounding, boulders slamming into the water. A great mountain crumbled into a little hill. A little hill crumbled into a mound. It grew smaller and smaller. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, none of them would’ve been able to believe that there had been a giant white mountain here moments ago.

But… at this time, everyone’s pupils suddenly needled! In that place, the region where the fish molt had faded away into practically nothing, a black rectangular object shockingly appeared in the water!

“This is…” Xu Yangyi’s gaze flashed, and his spiritual sense completely erupted.

He saw clearly. But it was because he saw so clearly that he almost dared not believe in his own eyes!

It… was bronze coffin! 

Bound by ten chains in the water, a coffin was concealed in the fish molt! At this very moment, it slowly sunk underwater!

“Huff…” Xu Yangyi breathed in deeply. The millennia-old depths of Danxia Temple were actually concealing a timeless bronze coffin!

In the end, who was inside?

Was it… the “I” in “I am at the bottom of Danxia Temple”?

And who had buried this person here?