Fiancée Stolen by MC, I Trip Them up-Chapter 354 - 256: Artifact Spirit!

With a low roar echoing, the fearful cries of the old monk abruptly came to a halt.

The golden "卍" symbol completely turned black, and the vast Great Hero Hall was filled with a black mist.

The Bodhisattvas and Vajras standing on both sides of the hall were shrouded in the black mist, the splendid colors on the statues continuously eroded by the black mist, growing increasingly faint, and the corresponding Buddha’s Light dimmed to the point of near-invisibility.

While the black mist eroded the Buddha’s Light, the Buddha’s Light also suppressed the black mist.

It was precisely due to the suppression from the Buddha’s Light of those statues that the black mist could not rampantly burst out of the Great Hero Hall, devouring the entire Treasure Tower Secret Realm.

But this balance wouldn’t last long.

Once the "卍" symbol was completely refined by the black mist, the Buddha’s Light on the statues lost its foundation, becoming like a tree without roots or water without a source, unable to suppress the black mist much longer.

At this pace, it would only take as little as ten years, or as quick as three years, for the black mist to completely extinguish the Buddha’s Light.

From then on, the sky is high for fish to leap and the sea vast for birds to fly.

No one in All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds would be able to stop the expansion of the black mist.

If the male protagonist saw the scene inside the Great Hero Hall, he would instantly recognize it as the prelude he saw in the River of Time, where the black mist was about to engulf All Heavens.

Unfortunately, the male protagonist was not here.

After searching the Great Hero Hall thoroughly and finding nothing, the protagonist arrived at the riverbank.

One of the two places Zhao Yi had emphasized was the Great Hero Hall, and the other was the riverbed.

The male protagonist had already been to the Great Hero Hall, where there was nothing inside, no discoveries whatsoever.

He searched several times but couldn’t even figure out how the old monk disappeared.

The only place left was the riverbed.

Worried about the old monk’s safety, the protagonist didn’t think twice and leaped directly into the river.

The river roared, with waves surging wildly.

As he submerged into the river, he immediately sensed something unusual.

Silence!

This silence didn’t mean there was no sound underwater.

In fact, the river rushed forward, towering waves crashed, and the sound of turbulence beneath the water was deafening.

The silence the protagonist felt referred to the absence of life within the river.

Under the riverbed, there was deathly stillness.

Scanning the riverbed with his Divine Sense, the protagonist found not a single big fish or monster, not even a shrimp or river mussel.

Under normal circumstances, this would be impossible.

"Golden Seal!"

As he swept his Divine Sense across the riverbed, he found no fish or shrimp but saw a vast amount of the Buddha’s "卍" Golden Seals.

The protagonist arrived at the black tree roots under the embankment, frowning at the peculiar inscriptions on the roots, his brows furrowing even deeper.

Although Zhao Yi could be misleading at times, he wasn’t someone who spoke without substance.

Since Zhao Yi mentioned the Great Hero Hall and the riverbed as being unusual, there was certainly something amiss about these things.

Zhao Yi might not have elaborated on what exactly the issue was, perhaps it’s a trap or perhaps he couldn’t decipher the mysteries here.

If it were earlier, the protagonist would have undoubtedly believed Zhao Yi was setting a trap.

But now, with formidable foes at hand, the Cultivation World faced a life-or-death crisis.

As long as Zhao Yi wasn’t foolish, he wouldn’t play tricks on such serious matters!

"What exactly is here?"

The protagonist withdrew his gaze from the black tree roots, a contemplative look in his eyes.

Just as he intended to return to the Great Hero Hall for further investigation, a sudden thought struck him, and he vanished from the Secret Realm.

After the protagonist left, the originally calm black tree roots suddenly began to twist.

Hundreds of sturdy roots swirled towards the spot where the protagonist had lingered, continuously searching for something.

Seeing this, the protagonist would have realized that the reason he couldn’t find anything earlier was due to some presence shielding the aura.

Upon leaving, the protagonist’s aura lost its shielding, immediately sensed by those black tree roots.

If the protagonist had delayed leaving even half a step, he might have been stabbed into a beehive by the roots directly.

Leaving the Secret Realm, the protagonist arrived at the entrance of the Treasure Tower.

He stood before the gate, looking at the towering Treasure Tower, a flicker of strange emotion in his eyes.

Zhao Yi had previously speculated that there might be an Artifact Spirit in the Treasure Tower, an idea the protagonist had found dubious.

Growing up in West Mountain Temple, which belonged to the Buddhist Sect, the temple had deep involvement in the affairs of the Cultivation Realm.

Therefore, the protagonist had heard many rumors about the Cultivation Realm.

There were many magical artifacts in the Cultivation Realm, and quite a few famous ones, but the protagonist had never heard of any containing an Artifact Spirit.

If it hadn’t been for Zhao Yi’s explanation, the protagonist wouldn’t even have known what an Artifact Spirit was.

Yet, just now, as the protagonist was about to probe the black tree roots, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

The voice was very young, sounding like a girl of five or six years old.

The girl said at the time, "Leave quickly!"

Upon hearing the girl’s words, an intangible chill rose in the protagonist’s heart.

Almost without thinking, his body instinctively led him to exit the Secret Realm.

Once outside, the girl’s voice appeared again.

She said she was the Treasure Tower’s Artifact Spirit.

After searching for a while, the protagonist couldn’t find anything unusual about the Treasure Tower.

At this moment, the tender voice of the girl sounded once more.

"What are you searching for?" she asked the protagonist.

Curiously, the protagonist asked, "I’m looking for you, where are you?"

The girl replied, "I’m right in front of you."

The protagonist was first taken aback, then hurriedly searched around, finally frowning and saying, "But I don’t see you?"

With a burst of giggles, the girl replied, "You really... interesting."

The protagonist: "..."

If he guessed correctly, the girl’s original intent was probably to call him silly, right?

Maybe she hadn’t spoken to anyone for a long time; once she started, she couldn’t stop.

"I’m right in front of you; the tower is me, I am the tower." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"I am the controller of this tower; within the tower, I am everywhere!"

"...uh, now I can’t say everywhere; some places are polluted, I can’t go there. If discovered by ’Him,’ I’d be in danger!"

The protagonist immediately asked, "Who is the ’Him’ you refer to?"

"The Buddha!" the girl replied matter-of-factly.

The protagonist was startled again and quickly asked, "Is the Buddha in the Treasure Tower? Where is ’He?’ Can you take me to meet ’Him’?"

Having been to the Great Hero Hall Secret Realm, the protagonist’s doubts not only weren’t dispelled but grew more numerous.

The protagonist wanted to know what kind of monster Zhao Yi was referring to.

Did the Buddha have anything to do with the monster?

And where did the old monk’s Divine Soul go?

Taking a deep breath, the protagonist kept his eyes fixed on the Treasure Tower, awaiting the girl’s answer.

Suddenly, the protagonist had a premonition that the girl’s answer might lead him to a completely different understanding of the Buddha and the Buddhist Sect!

Indeed.

The girl did not disappoint the protagonist.

Once she spoke, the protagonist’s worldview shattered.

"You ask where the Buddha is?"

The girl’s tender voice carried a hint of puzzlement.

"Haven’t you already met ’Him’?"

ps: Please finish reading, and seek continued reading!