The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 120 - 105: Earth Spirit Stele, Complete Visceral Stone Realm Cultivation Technique

Chapter 120: Chapter 105: Earth Spirit Stele, Complete Visceral Stone Realm Cultivation Technique

Yang An spent the time it took an incense stick to burn wandering through the darkness, a Buddha’s Radiant Wheel floating above his head.

The darkness seemed to have its limits, because he reached a certain point and could go no further. Though he couldn’t touch anything, it felt as if an invisible wall was blocking his path.

But even after tracing the perimeter of this invisible wall, Yang An still saw nothing.

’Is that old codger just messing with me?’

Yang An simply couldn’t find the Earth Spirit Stele, and he suddenly had the feeling he was being played for a fool.

He was afraid that the old man had just teleported him to some random place and would let him out after two hours, ready with an excuse that Yang An’s failure to find the Earth Spirit Stele was due to his own lack of Enlightenment.

The old man was definitely capable of pulling something like that.

But Yang An calmed himself and decided to keep searching. He could worry about what to do next if he truly found nothing.

It was pitch-black all around. Even a Cultivator’s True Eye was useless here; he couldn’t see a thing.

His Buddha’s Radiance, on the other hand, did illuminate a small area around him. ’Maybe I can stack other Light Magic on top of it,’ he thought, ’and try to expand the search radius.’

With that thought, Yang An immediately set to work.

In terms of brightness among the Light Magic he had mastered—not counting the black light from the Dark Communication Secret Spell—the Buddha’s Radiance behind his head ranked first.

Next were the Divine Radiance of the Extreme Day Divine Aspect, the Dao light of the One Qi Dao Guang Method, and the Golden Radiance of the Qi Guang Technique.

Following those were the cyan light of the Treasure Light Glaze Purification Technique and the Golden Radiance of the Great Brightness Golden Zen Spell.

The crimson flame of the Lighting Technique, ironically, was the dimmest of all.

Yang An decided to start by adding the Divine Radiance. Activating all his Techniques at once would only overwhelm his vision.

At his current Cultivation Level, he could only open his True Eye. The more advanced Spiritual Vision would likely require a higher realm of cultivation.

The next moment, a pure white Divine Radiance emanated from Yang An’s body, instantly expanding his field of vision by several more meters.

’Still not enough!’

Yang An then activated the Dao light and the cyan light, expanding his visible range once more.

’Still not enough!’

Yang An stacked the Techniques one by one, until even the Golden Radiance of the Qi Guang Technique and the Great Brightness Golden Zen Spell were active. Still, he found nothing.

Having activated so many Techniques and allowing his vision to adjust to the increasing brightness, his visible range now extended for dozens of meters.

Yet, as Yang An explored the dark space once more, wreathed in a multitude of lights, he still came up empty-handed.

Only the flame from the Lighting Technique remained. Compared to the radiance already enveloping him, the added brightness would be minuscule.

’Whatever, every little bit helps.’

Yang An used the Lighting Technique anyway, and his entire body became wreathed in crimson flames.

But just as Yang An scanned his surroundings, saw nothing, and concluded that the old man had fooled him after all, a sound suddenly echoed through the space—like something catching fire.

Yang An immediately fixed his gaze in the direction of the sound. He discovered that the ever-present darkness around him was beginning to show flecks of a matching crimson light.

He watched as the surrounding darkness receded like a tide, revealing a translucent object like a glass dome. It materialized around him, enclosing him completely, like a bubble that could be popped with a single touch.

The specks of light slowly coalesced in front of Yang An, eventually forming characters on the newly visible wall. They seemed to float silently in mid-air, confined to a small area before him.

’It’s the Lighting Technique!’

Yang An’s gaze sharpened as a thought immediately struck him.

In the Life Crane Sect, every disciple who cultivated the *Mystic Path Decoded* shared one commonality: they all knew the Lighting Technique.

’So, the Lighting Technique has another ability? It can make the Earth Spirit Stele manifest?!’

’This is the Earth Spirit Stele?’

If he didn’t know that glass didn’t exist in this world, Yang An would have written the whole thing off as an elaborate prank.

When he saw the text, he realized it was identical to the Fake Food First Understanding stage of his Cultivation Technique.

’Why is it only the First Understanding?’

Yang An slowly moved closer.

As he drew closer, a second glass-like barrier manifested behind the first. As the flames of his Lighting Technique neared it, the text for the Fake Food Second Understanding of the Cultivation Technique gradually coalesced upon its surface.

Yang An understood at once. Each layer represented one minor stage of the Cultivation Technique!

Realizing this, Yang An grew excited and reached out to touch the barrier. However, his hand couldn’t make contact; his entire body passed through the first layer with ease, bringing him before the second barrier.

The barriers only looked solid; in reality, they were intangible and could not be touched.

Moreover, when he passed through the barrier, his unique ability showed no reaction whatsoever.

This meant he couldn’t use his ability to directly appraise this so-called Earth Spirit Stele.

Yang An had no choice but to continue forward. After passing through several of these glass-like barriers in succession, he finally stopped before the one for the Seventh Understanding of the Viscera Stone.

The characters on its surface began to slowly coalesce, but to Yang An’s surprise, they were incredibly blurry when they finally materialized.

It was as if they were heavily pixelated, making it impossible to recognize any of the characters.

’Looking at these blurry patches of light... this must be the opportunity with the Contemplation Stele the old man was talking about. Does this mean I have to use visualization?’

’This so-called visualization... is it just a matter of staring at the text and trying to imagine what the characters are? Like some kind of word puzzle?’

Yang An decided to give it a try.

An incense stick’s worth of time later, Yang An rubbed his dry eyes. He hadn’t blinked once, but there had been no reaction at all. He couldn’t visualize anything.

He then tried to pour Mana into the barrier, but just like his physical body, his Mana couldn’t touch it.

Next, he sliced open his palm and tried using his blood, but that was useless as well...

A little over a quarter of an hour passed. Yang An had tried nearly every method he could think of, even dropping his pants and urinating on the barrier.

But no matter what he tried, he couldn’t make the text become any clearer.

Seeing that nearly a quarter of the two hours was already gone, Yang An began to grow anxious.

If he wasted this opportunity, he didn’t know when the next one would come, or if he’d even get another turn.

In that case, he would either have to wait a very long time, or he’d have to risk fighting his fellow disciples to the death. The latter would be extremely risky.

After all, his fellow disciples in the Life Crane Sect were clearly a cut above the common riffraff outside.

At a complete loss, Yang An stared at the blurry text on the barrier and fell deep into thought.

’How can I make these characters clear?...’

His mind raced, countless thoughts flashing by, but all of them seemed impractical.

Without realizing it, Yang An’s stare grew vacant.

And at that very moment, as Yang An’s eyes were fixed on the blurry text, a giant eyeball suddenly appeared on the transparent barrier!

The eyeball was shot through with countless blood vessels, and a cicada-like wing grew from either side of it, flapping rapidly.

Yang An froze, startled. But in the time it took him to blink, the winged eyeball had vanished without a trace.

’This...!!!’

’Wasn’t that the eye from the statue he saw on Wuwei Peak?!’

The memory of seeing the same illusion on Ding Chong Daoist’s Wuwei Peak, right as he was about to leave, instantly flashed through Yang An’s mind.

The only difference was that many eyes had appeared at once back then, while this time there was only one, and it was enormous.

The eye had appeared and vanished in a flash. If Yang An hadn’t been staring intently at the barrier, he might not have even registered its presence.

’Was it an illusion?’

It didn’t seem like it.

The first time was on Wuwei Peak. He had merely touched that strange, sinister statue and had seen the bizarre phenomenon.

The first occurrence could have been explained away as an illusion, but seeing it a second time meant it was definitely something more.

’Could it be that something has targeted me?’

This was the Life Crane Sect; Ding Chong Daoist shouldn’t have the ability to reach him here.

Yang An was puzzled, but when his gaze inadvertently drifted back to the barrier, he froze.

The text, once a blurry mass of light specks, had at some unknown point become perfectly clear.

He instantly recognized the content of the characters.

At the same time, an information box popped up before his eyes.

[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Seven Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele, passed down through the Life Crane Sect lineage. One Realm, Three Understandings; One Understanding, one Technique; Miaofa Entwined; Melt Dao Ascension.

...]

He had merely finished reading the text on the barrier, and the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Seventh Understanding of the Viscera Stone was imprinted in his mind, even triggering the information box.

’That’s it? It’s done just like that?’

Yang An suddenly found the whole thing a bit strange.

’Could it be because of that giant eyeball that just appeared?’

He hadn’t done anything; the text had changed right after that bizarre giant eyeball had appeared.

He couldn’t figure it out, but now that he had obtained the Cultivation Technique for the Seventh Understanding, Yang An suddenly had the urge to check out the subsequent stages.

’The old man never said I could only get one stage of the technique!’

Besides, only a quarter of the time had passed. With so much time remaining, he couldn’t just stand around idly.

With that thought, Yang An immediately walked toward the barrier and passed through it in an instant.

As the flame of the Lighting Technique approached, the next barrier materialized, and the specks of light on its surface instantly coalesced into characters.

Yang An was stunned once again.

’It’s not blurry like the last one!’

[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Eight Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele, passed down through the Life Crane Sect lineage. One Realm, Three Understandings; One Understanding, one Technique; Miaofa Entwined; Melt Dao Ascension.

...]

As the Cultivation Technique for the Eighth Understanding imprinted itself upon his mind and another information box appeared, Yang An felt a distinct flutter in his heart.

’What is this inexplicable excitement and agitation?’

’Could the next layer also be...’

At this thought, Yang An strode through the barrier and immediately looked to the next layer.

A few breaths later.

[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Nine Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele...

He now had the subsequent Cultivation Techniques for all three stages of the Visceral Stone Realm!

Yang An was ecstatic, but he had no time to celebrate. He immediately prepared to pass through the barrier to the next layer.

’If I can get the Cultivation Technique for the Corpse Transformation Realm, too...’

But just as he was about to pass through the barrier, when he could even see the next layer beginning to manifest with specks of light...

...at that very moment, Yang An’s entire body shuddered, and he snapped back to his senses.

’Huh... What’s this?’

Yang An looked ahead, then glanced behind him.

He suddenly realized he was still standing in front of the barrier of the seventh layer.