The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 145 - 130: A Keen Eye Like a Torch, Restarting the Life Crane Sect’s Second Playthrough

'True or False Gate?'

Yang An pondered this, then looked again at the cave entrance between the six stone statues.

'Does that mean the gate is fake?'

It was a good thing he'd appraised the statues first. If he had just rushed in recklessly, there was no telling what kind of traps he might have encountered.

Still, these statues were quite interesting. They even had a specific order.

More importantly, this so-called order was completely useless to him.

His appraisal results had already revealed the statues' sequence, rendering any mechanisms pointless against him.

"Listen up, you little punk. I'd better give you a good warning. You can't just waltz into a place like this. Be careful you don't fall into a trap."

Seemingly quite satisfied, the Bow Lady was in a great mood. She had even taken the initiative to warn Yang An.

"There's definitely something fishy about these statues. You'd better investigate first. You might find something suspicious."

"Alright. Thank you for the reminder, Bow Lady. I'll be careful."

Yang An smiled. 'It's rare to hear the Bow Lady being so kind. Looks like I'll have to find more tainted souls in the future to keep her happy.'

After replying to the Bow Lady, Yang An placed his hand on the second statue.

[Exquisite Golden Venerable False Body - Chapter Two]: ...

'So there really is a specific order.'

Yang An touched all six statues one by one, learning the correct sequence.

From left to right, the order was: four, two, six, three, one, five!

What he needed to do next was destroy the statues in that order and take what was hidden inside.

The Exquisite Secret Seal—the item had to be inside the statues.

"The way I see it, these ugly-ass statues are definitely not just for show. They must be a deliberate misdirection!

You listen to me, little punk, and you can't go wrong. My intuition is always spot-on.

See the statue on the far left? One out of six! That's the one! I'm sure only that statue is real. It's probably hiding something inside!"

"…"

Yang An was speechless. If he hadn't been able to see the information about the statues, he almost would have believed her.

"Yes, yes, of course. You're as sharp as ever, Bow Lady. Such a discerning eye!"

Yang An said with a laugh, then reached out and placed his hand on the second statue from the right—the one that was number one in the correct sequence.

Purification!

Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell!

In the next moment, countless strands of Golden Radiance shot out from Yang An's hand, forming what looked like a dense net that instantly enveloped the statue.

In the blink of an eye, the statue in his hand silently crumbled into a pile of rubble.

The Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell was incredibly versatile. Truly useful.

Just as the statue was destroyed, scattering into countless fragments, a Golden Secret Seal flew out from within. It hovered in mid-air, emitting a faint golden glow.

"You little punk… You…"

The Bow Lady was fuming. One second Yang An was praising her, and the next he was doing the exact opposite of what she'd said.

She was just about to give the disobedient brat a piece of her mind when the scene before her left her words caught in her throat.

"What was that?"

Yang An hadn't heard her clearly and asked.

"…" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Smiling, Yang An reached for the statue numbered two and repeated the process.

Before long, all six completely different Golden Secret Seals had been collected, and they hovered in mid-air, forming a circle.

As the final Golden Secret Seal joined them, the six seals began to rotate rapidly.

Like a spreading spiderweb, crack-like lines of Golden Radiance spread across the empty space in front of Yang An.

After a few blinks, a golden-rimmed portal appeared before him. The entrance was pitch-black, and he had no idea what he would encounter on the other side.

According to Yang An's speculation, for a place like this to use misdirection, what was hidden inside had to be extraordinary. It might be some kind of treasure.

Whether it was a Magic Scripture or a Magical Treasure, since he had opened the way, he had to go take a look.

Having made his decision, Yang An immediately stepped through the portal.

As Yang An's figure vanished, the Golden Radiance rapidly contracted, eventually turning back into the Six Golden Secret Seals, which followed him through.

The portal vanished completely.

...

Before him was a gloomy sky. A boundless blood-red mist shrouded the air like a roll of scarlet gauze reeking of a thick, metallic stench that not even the wind could disperse.

The moment Yang An stepped through the portal, he arrived here. The Six Golden Secret Seals that followed him transformed into a bracelet and fastened around his wrist.

But as Yang An took in the scene before him, he was completely bewildered.

'Isn't this Corpse Saliva Valley?!'

'What does the Jueyun Sect have to do with Corpse Saliva Valley? Why am I suddenly back here?'

Looking at the familiar scenery, he found himself standing just outside Corpse Saliva Valley. Not far away, a coffin stood upright on the ground.

'That's Sixth Senior Brother's coffin!'

'Sixth Senior Brother is back again?'

Yang An clearly remembered that the last time he returned to Corpse Saliva Valley, his Sixth Senior Brother and the coffin were both gone. But now, they had reappeared.

'Did he anger that old monster again and get thrown out?'

His mind was filled with questions. Yang An felt like something was wrong but couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a moment's hesitation, he lifted his foot and started walking toward Corpse Saliva Valley.

Just as he walked up to the coffin and was about to pass it...

THUD!

The coffin lid was suddenly thrown open, smashing heavily onto the ground.

Yang An immediately took two steps back and looked toward the coffin.

Inside, a man with a deathly pale face, covered in blood and scars, was staring at him with a strange grin.

A dozen or so withered, yellow tubes extended from his body, connecting him to the coffin as if they were one and the same.

It was his Sixth Senior Brother, Jin Tong!

"Hehehehe…"

A bizarre laugh escaped Sixth Senior Brother's lips. As his chest heaved with ragged breaths, long gashes were revealed, through which one could even see the beating of his Heart.

He suddenly stretched out a hand, pointing weakly at Yang An.

"Junior Brother… you're going to die… I saw it… hehehe…"

"You are a Flesh Mushroom… worthless… you have no value! You will die!"

"…"

Yang An was speechless, but then he suddenly froze.

'Wait!'

'Why does this scene look so familiar? And I think I've heard those words from Sixth Senior Brother before, haven't I?'

He thought back. It must have been the scene that occurred after he returned to the Life Crane Sect from his trip to Yulan City with Senior Sister Wen Yin.

It was exactly the same as what he was seeing now!

Jin Tong let out a continuous, manic laugh as the upright coffin crashed down with a thud, sealing him inside.

But Yang An remained rooted to the spot, staring at the coffin on the ground, his mind racing.

'Something's wrong! Very wrong!'

'Is this an illusion?'

Yang An lightly tapped the spot between his eyebrows. The flame of the Lighting Technique instantly ignited above his head, its blazing crimson light illuminating his figure.

In his hands, the Lighting Technique had the effect of Bright Heart and Pure Spirit, which should protect him from illusions. But after several breaths, nothing before him had changed in the slightest.

The coffin still lay before him, Sixth Senior Brother's mad laughter echoing from within. Corpse Saliva Valley was still the same Corpse Saliva Valley, with its lingering, sky-covering blood mist.

Dispelling the flame, Yang An looked at the scene before him. After a moment of hesitation, he began walking into the valley.

He wanted to see what the situation inside the valley was. A faint suspicion was forming in his mind.

Before long, Yang An walked straight into Corpse Saliva Valley and entered the Life Crane Sect.

'Just as I thought!'

It was just as he had suspected. Even his residence was the one he had first chosen. Fugui and a few other Corpse Slaves were diligently guarding the gate.

His current residence was one he had found after Xuan Kang had destroyed his original one, right before he killed Xuan Kang.

But now, he was back in the old place.

'Could it be... I've returned to a time not long after I first joined the sect?'

Yang An wondered. It would be simple to confirm his suspicion. He immediately ordered Fugui to go and fetch his Second Senior Brother, Fu Ming.

A short while later, Fu Ming arrived.

Nothing about Fu Ming had changed; he still had that terminally ill appearance.

When he saw Yang An, before Yang An could even speak, he seemed to have already guessed why he had been summoned.

"Junior Brother, are you hoping to obtain the follow-up Cultivation Technique?"

"…"

Yang An said nothing, just quietly watching Fu Ming.

"If you want to obtain the Cultivation Technique, you shouldn't go looking for Master.

There is only one copy of the Cultivation Technique. You should go find your Eleventh Senior Brother, Pi Chu!"

Fu Ming spoke as if to himself, seemingly engaged in a conversation with Yang An that was only happening in his eyes. In reality, Yang An hadn't said a single word.

Every scene unfolding before him was something that had happened in the past, now replaying right before his eyes.

This didn't feel like time travel. Instead, it was more like some kind of program running based on a predetermined past.

"Senior Brother…"

Yang An spoke softly, tentatively asking, "Can you sense what my Cultivation Level is right now?"

He deactivated his Illusion Technique, completely revealing his true cultivation aura.

But Fu Ming's answer only further confirmed his suspicions.

"Late Stage Fake Food Realm! Junior Brother, if you can't get the next Cultivation Technique, you won't be able to break through to the Primordial Feeding Realm."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Yang An nodded.

Pi Chu and Xuan Kang were still around, and in his Second Senior Brother's eyes, his Cultivation Level was only at the Late Stage Fake Food Realm. Everything was just as it had been.

For everything he was currently seeing, Yang An could only find one plausible explanation: memory!

He was afraid that after he stepped through the portal opened by the Six Golden Secret Seals, this place had recreated scenes from his past based on his memories.

'So, what am I supposed to do now?'

Fu Ming soon left, and Yang An pondered.

'Am I supposed to relive everything I went through before?'

'But what's the point of that?'

'I'm here to find treasure, not for a New Game Plus. Besides, I never even cleared the Life Crane Sect…'

'Wait!'

'New Game Plus?! Clearing the game?!'

Something suddenly occurred to Yang An. He looked down at the Six Golden Secret Seals fastened to his wrist.

'The Secret Seals… the portal… scenes from my past…'

CLAP!

Yang An clapped his fist into his palm as realization dawned!

'There must be something important hidden here, but I have to pass a trial to get it.'

'And everything I'm seeing now must be the trial, formed by recreating relevant scenes from my memories!'

'Only by passing this trial can I get the treasure hidden here!'

'That's it! It must be!'

The more Yang An thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. First, there was the trap at the entrance, and now a trial. The item hidden in here was definitely something extraordinary.

But how was he supposed to pass this trial?