The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 148 - 133: A Corpse Body, the Bizarre Painting on the Stone Disk

Jiang Hechuan!

Wasn't he already dead?

The Jiang Hechuan before him, whether in aura, figure, or appearance, was identical to the one he had killed.

The only difference was that this Jiang Hechuan had no Qi Seal on his body.

Yang An's heart pounded. He couldn't process why Jiang Hechuan had appeared again. 'Did he come back from the dead? But how is that possible?'

A cultivator in the Visceral Stone Realm couldn't possibly resurrect, especially not after being turned to dust with no chance of recovery.

'Unless...'

Yang An realized it instantly, his gaze locking onto Jiang Hechuan.

Although this Jiang Hechuan looked identical to the previous one, his mannerisms lacked that same obscurity and stiffness.

On the contrary, when he slowly smiled at Yang An, he seemed perfectly normal.

'Unless the Jiang Hechuan before me and the one from moments ago aren't the same person at all!'

Realizing this, Yang An took a few steps back.

But the Jiang Hechuan opposite him merely broke into a wider grin and spoke slowly.

"Junior Brother, you truly are strong! To think you destroyed one of my corpse bodies just like that! I can't let you go so easily."

Hearing Jiang Hechuan's words, a chill ran through Yang An's heart.

'A corpse body?'

He never would have imagined that the Jiang Hechuan from before was merely one of this man's corpse bodies!

And from the sound of it, he had more than one. Perhaps even the one standing here now wasn't his true self.

'What a guy!'

'I can't believe I made such a startling discovery inside this illusion, managing to bait out Jiang Hechuan's secret.'

"Senior Brother jests. I was merely hoping to spar with you, but I accidentally got carried away and didn't hold back.

Please don't be offended, Senior Brother. I will take my leave now and not disturb you any further."

The moment he finished speaking, the Buddha's Radiant Wheel appeared. Yang An instantly materialized a hundred meters away, transforming into a streak of light and fleeing into the distance.

But just then, without any visible movement from Jiang Hechuan, the fleeing Yang An suddenly froze and plummeted straight toward the ground.

Countless faces had appeared all over his body, letting out a collective, wailing shriek.

The piercing sound jolted Yang An, and his consciousness scattered for an instant.

In that brief moment, Yang An had already crashed to the ground below, while Jiang Hechuan's figure was already rushing toward him.

"Junior Brother! Stay!"

Before his voice faded, Jiang Hechuan appeared a zhang away from Yang An and waved his hand.

The flesh and blood on Yang An's body suddenly went out of control, as if countless faces were trying to burst out from within him.

At that critical moment, six golden secret seals appeared behind Yang An, instantly opening a golden portal in the void.

Yang An's figure instantly vanished through the portal.

...

A circular, gold-rimmed void portal appeared inside the great temple, and Yang An's figure emerged from it.

The first thing he did was check his body. The faces had vanished completely; he was completely unaffected.

PHEW—

After carefully inspecting his body and finding nothing unusual, Yang An finally let out a long breath and relaxed.

He never thought Jiang Hechuan would be hiding so much, or that he possessed such a bizarre technique. He had almost fallen into his trap.

It was a good thing that wasn't reality. Otherwise, even if he had tried to escape, it would have been a real struggle.

'Great! Just great!'

'To think that a seemingly honest-looking guy like Jiang Hechuan had this trick up his sleeve. What a schemer!'

'It's no wonder Shi Hu died!'

Yang An felt that his gains from this trip had far exceeded his expectations.

Cutting down three of his fellow sect members had made him more confident in his own strength. But now it seemed the Life Crane Sect was full of hidden masters. The ones he hadn't even met yet were all lying low, just waiting for him to come knocking.

Fortunately, he now knew Jiang Hechuan's secrets. Otherwise, if they were to face off in the future, he would surely suffer a great loss.

Yang An no longer cared what treasures were hidden in the space opened by the Golden Secret Seal.

What could be better than learning the secrets of these fellow disciples in advance, even discovering their trump cards and life-saving techniques?

"Bow Lady, did you see that? Those guys really are all just facsimiles, right?"

The Six Golden Secret Seals were the manifestation of a Technique or an Array, not a physical entity, so they held no information.

As a key that could only open the entrance to that illusory space, the facsimiles couldn't have been formed by anything else—they had to be the very things hidden within that space.

Although Yang An believed they were all facsimiles, he still felt a little uneasy and wanted to confirm it.

"Relax, you little punk. They're all just soulless facsimiles! As soon as you leave, they'll all cease to exist!"

Bow Lady replied.

"Okay, thank you, Bow Lady."

Yang An finally relaxed. After thanking her, he simply sat on the ground and began to regulate his breathing.

Even though they were just facsimiles, he had expended a great deal of Mana inside, and that loss was real.

He still needed to explore other parts of the Jueyun Sect, so he had to ensure his Mana was plentiful.

Before long, Yang An's Mana had recovered. He first observed the situation outside the great temple and, seeing nothing unusual, transformed into a black shadow and slipped back into the dense forest.

About a dozen breaths later, while Yang An was heading deeper into the Jueyun Sect, a new message suddenly came from the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

Yang An had no choice but to stop. He scanned his surroundings and, after confirming it was safe, immersed his consciousness in the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

A fruit shaped like a sheep's horn had grown on the Tree of Flesh and Blood. It was a message from Fellow Daoist Sheep Horn.

"The Yunzang Palace, deep within the Jueyun Sect. This might be where the Jueyun Sect's inheritance is hidden. But there's a Restriction here that I can't break on my own anytime soon. Can any fellow Daoists come and assist?"

'The place with the inheritance?'

Yang An's eyes lit up. 'Isn't this exactly the place I've been looking for?'

He immediately sent a query back to Fellow Daoist Sheep Horn.

"Excuse me, Fellow Daoist Sheep Horn, what direction is Yunzang Palace from the Jueyun Sect's entrance?"

"Southwest!"

Sheep Horn replied quickly.

Yang An immediately withdrew his consciousness from the Tree of Flesh and Blood, confirmed his direction, changed his original route, and shot off as a black shadow toward the Yunzang Palace that Sheep Horn had mentioned.

A quarter of an hour later, after a perilous encounter with a group of Demon Fiends that he narrowly avoided, causing a slight delay, Yang An finally found the Yunzang Palace.

It was a conspicuous high tower, standing tall amidst the mountain forest.

It seemed to be built of gray marble and black granite, giving it a heavy, solid feel.

Its main body was cylindrical, gradually narrowing toward the top, with a pointed roof covered in something that shimmered with a faint glow.

Unfortunately, the surroundings were too desolate. The place looked dilapidated, as if no one had been there for a very long time.

Yang An stopped in the forest. Demon Fiends were lying in wait outside the Yunzang Palace; he could already sense their auras.

An idea immediately came to him. He plucked a leaf from a tree, infused it with Mana, and shot it in another direction.

THWACK!

The hardened leaf struck a distant tree trunk. The lurking Demon Fiends were instantly drawn to the sound, and Yang An seized the opportunity to use his Body Technique, reaching the outside of the Yunzang Palace in the blink of an eye.

Sheep Horn also sensed Yang An's aura immediately and opened the palace gate to let him in.

The palace gate closed silently. By the light filtering in from the windows, Yang An discovered that Sheep Horn was not alone; another person was also present.

White Bird!

Upon seeing Yang An, White Bird did not approach, and a distance of several meters remained between them.

"Fellow Daoist He Tou, do you have a way to break the Restriction?"

Sheep Horn asked curiously.

Judging by his build and voice, he was male.

"I'll have to see it before I can say."

Yang An didn't give a yes or no answer, only saying he needed to look first.

In truth, he didn't know a damn thing about Restrictions. He had only come because he heard Sheep Horn say this might be where the Jueyun Sect's inheritance was hidden.

After answering Sheep Horn, Yang An looked at White Bird.

"Fellow Daoist White Bird, you couldn't break the Restriction either?"

"Fellow Daoist White Bird only arrived a quarter of an hour ago herself. She hasn't analyzed anything conclusive yet," Sheep Horn said.

"What exactly is this Restriction?" Yang An asked curiously.

"Fellow Daoist He Tou, follow me."

Sheep Horn said, and with a lift of his hand, threads began to appear in circles over the palace gate Yang An had just entered, stitching it shut in an instant. This seemed to be a way to prevent the Demon Fiends outside from noticing them.

Once that was done, he led Yang An over to where White Bird was standing, which was right at the entrance to the upper floor.

The first floor looked like it was only used for receiving guests or holding discussions. The good stuff was probably hidden upstairs.

And on the ground in front of White Bird lay a stone disc the size of a millstone.

A bizarre image was carved upon the stone disc.

Amidst mountains and rivers, under a dark and gloomy sky, countless shadowy figures walked across the land. They came from all directions, seemingly trying to reach a certain place.

Some of these people were missing arms or legs, some had two or three heads, and others had countless hands and many eyes growing from their backs. Without exception, they were all bizarrely deformed.

And at the end of the path they were all taking, there was a giant toad, as massive as a mountain.

The image on the stone disc alone seemed unable to contain the toad's entire body, so only its head was visible.

On the toad's head were two eyes, one large and one small, each reflecting a blood-red sun and moon.

Right between its two eyes was what looked like a man-eating mire. Countless figures were submerged within it, crying out for help with pained expressions, yet unable to find release.

The toad's tongue was extended, and it was covered with innumerable eyes that blinked as if they could steal one's soul. Not only that, but it was also covered in blooming red flowers, from which tiny, trembling tentacles emerged.

It remained motionless, its long tongue like a staircase welcoming these people, allowing them to walk along it and straight into its mouth for a feast.

"This stone disc must be hiding some kind of Restriction, which is why we can't get to the floor above. If you try to force your way across, you immediately appear inside this picture. I already tested it once with a puppet."

Sheep Horn explained to Yang An, pointing to a figure within the picture on the stone disc.

It was the very puppet he had used for testing before the other two arrived. It was now sealed inside the picture, and his connection to it was completely severed, making it impossible to control.

Yang An nodded, his gaze shifting to White Bird, who was still observing the disc for clues.

"Fellow Daoist White Bird, have you found any clues?"

White Bird instinctively took a step back and shook her head.

"I've tried infusing it with Mana, dripping blood on it, and other methods, but this stone disc hasn't reacted at all. I haven't found any useful clues yet."

She had, after all, only arrived a quarter of an hour before Yang An.

Yang An pondered for a moment.

"Let me try!"