The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 149 - 134: Giant Spirit Devouring Map, a World-Destroying Blast

At Yang An's words, White Bird retreated slightly, making way for him.

Yang An walked up to the stone disc and took a moment to observe it.

It looked like a perfectly ordinary stone. While the carving on it was quite bizarre, it didn't seem to have any other unusual properties.

He crouched down and gently placed his hand upon the stone disc.

Just as he'd expected, an information box appeared.

"[Giant Spirit Devouring Map]: Crafted by Zhang Huqing, an Elder of the Jueyun Sect. It seals a spatial entrance within the mouth of the Toad Giant Spirit depicted in the map. Those who enter without permission will compete against all other living beings within. The first to enter the Toad Giant Spirit's mouth can escape through the spatial entrance, after which the Toad Giant Spirit will close its mouth.

Cost of Use: With the exception of the first to arrive, all stragglers will be returned to their starting positions and trapped within the map forever, unable to move and subjected to endless torment until the Toad Giant Spirit opens its mouth again.

Status: Purification available!"

Yang An fell into thought as he read the information in the box.

'Isn't this just a goddamn foot race?!'

'And an unfair one at that!'

'Because every creature in the map starts at a different position.'

He studied the map. Based on the scale, the creature closest to the so-called Toad Giant Spirit was likely less than a kilometer away.

He then checked the position of the puppet Sheep Horn had used for the test. It was currently located somewhere in the back half of all the creatures on the map, but not at the very end.

'This means your starting position is random, not just at the back of the line.'

'But in that case, unless you start at the very front—or at least near it—there's no way you could outrun the creatures ahead of you.'

As he withdrew his hand, Yang An casually used Purification, and the "Cost of Use" vanished.

'According to my guess, the cost doesn't apply to me. That means even if I enter the map and don't make it into the toad's mouth first, I won't be punished by being trapped inside.'

'Doesn't that mean I can leave whenever I want?'

"How is it? Fellow Daoist He Tou, have you figured anything out?"

Sheep Horn, who wasn't as wary or fearful of Yang An as White Bird, asked curiously from the side.

Yang An hesitated. He was certain that he himself wouldn't be affected by the map's cost, but he wasn't sure if these Innate Flesh Mushrooms could also negate it.

After some thought, he decided against telling them what he had learned.

'If all three of us go in, and I'm fine but those two get trapped, my cover as an Innate Flesh Mushroom will be blown.'

So, he shook his head. "I can't figure anything out."

Seeing that Yang An also seemed to be at a loss, Sheep Horn couldn't help but sigh.

The others were probably busy with important matters and had no time to come here. Since the two who did come were unable to undo this Restriction, he lost interest in exploring any further.

"It seems we're not fated to enter this place. Unless the Workshop Master himself comes, he might be able to uncover its secrets. On our own, I doubt we can reach the floor above."

White Bird nodded in agreement.

"So be it. Jueyun Sect is massive, and this isn't the only location. We don't need to waste any more time here. Let's go search somewhere else."

Yang An rose to his feet and nodded as well, though he seemed rather unenthusiastic.

"Let's go look somewhere else."

The three of them decided not to waste any more time there.

Sheep Horn dispelled the Technique on the palace gate. The Demon Fiends that had been outside were gone, and he couldn't sense the auras of any others.

Soon, the three of them transformed into dark shadows and swiftly departed from Yunzang Palace, disappearing into the dense forest.

As they had decided before, they split up to search on their own. Soon, all three figures had vanished completely.

A short while later, a bizarre creature with the head of a rat and the body of a duck slowly passed by. It was covered in rotting flesh and reeked of a foul stench, as if it had just been fished out of a deep fryer.

It seemed to possess a keen sense of smell, craning its neck to sniff at the shadows of the trees, but it failed to find anything. Soon, it too left and disappeared from sight.

A while later, once the forest had fallen completely silent, a figure slowly emerged from the shadow of a tree trunk.

It was none other than Yang An!

He had actually returned not long after leaving, but he had sensed a Demon Fiend approaching. So he had remained hidden, waiting for it to leave before revealing himself.

He had been able to conceal his presence thanks to the Dark Communication Secret Spell, a Technique that could emit a dark light.

Combined with the Illusion Technique to mask his aura, he could hide perfectly in the darkness, remaining undetectable even to Demon Fiends.

There were no Demon Fiends before the gates of Yunzang Palace now. It seemed he had successfully lured the previous one away, and the area was completely unnoticed.

The next second, Yang An transformed into a dark shadow and, in the blink of an eye, entered Yunzang Palace once more.

After gently closing the palace gate, he waited a moment longer to confirm that no Demon Fiends had noticed him before turning to face the stone disc.

'Now that I'm the only one here, this is the perfect opportunity!'

However, before entering the map, he still needed to observe it and consider how he would handle it if he appeared in an unfavorable position.

After all, the information box hadn't specified when the great toad would open its mouth again once it closed.

'If it takes a long time, then my one chance will have been wasted.'

'And there's another crucial point!'

'If the first one to enter the great toad's mouth gets to exit through the spatial portal…'

'...doesn't that mean one of these creatures from the painting could potentially escape?'

If something from inside were to escape, it might attract the attention of the Demon Fiends outside Yunzang Palace.

'Even worse, what if the creatures in the painting are the very Demon Fiends that now occupy Jueyun Sect? That would make the situation far more severe.'

So, crouching before the stone disc, Yang An began to study it with great care.

He mentally divided the creatures in the map into three sections—front, middle, and back—based on their proximity to the great toad.

The puppet Sheep Horn had sent in was in the back section, though not at the absolute rear.

Being in the front section meant you were closest to the great toad and had the best chance of entering its mouth. Once the first person made it in, everyone else would be sent back to their starting points to await the next opportunity.

'Looking at it this way, the front section always has the best advantage.'

'So how can I guarantee I'll start in the front section when I go in?'

Yang An stared at the carved map, pondering for a long while. He even reached out to touch the engraved creatures, but nothing happened other than the information box for the stone disc popping up again.

He still came up empty.

'Looks like I'll have to go in and try it myself to find out.'

With a sigh of resignation, Yang An stood up and looked toward the entrance leading upstairs. This was where Sheep Horn had sent the puppet, which then became trapped in the map. That meant the entrance was right here.

Having made his decision, Yang An walked resolutely toward the upstairs entrance.

He felt as though he had passed through an invisible, faintly rippling barrier. His vision went black, and his body was suddenly plummeting downward.

Abruptly, his vision cleared.

Yang An was stunned to find himself in mid-air. He had entered the world within the map and was now in a freefall, headed straight for the back section where countless other beings were gathered.

'This won't do!'

He immediately tried Flying in the Sky, hoping to use this chance to fly to the front.

But to his surprise, he couldn't fly here. An invisible force seemed to be pressing down on him, making it impossible to control the speed or trajectory of his fall.

Falling from a height of at least several thousand meters, at this speed, he would hit the ground in the space of two blinks.

At this critical moment, a thought suddenly sparked in Yang An's mind!

'The Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell!'

In the next instant, countless motes of Golden Radiance suddenly converged behind Yang An, forming a massive, fan-like propeller.

Seeing this oh-so-familiar product of the modern era, Yang An was so excited he felt like dancing.

'The brilliant fruit of modern technology!'

'ALRIGHT, GET SPINNING!!!'

WHIR!

The propeller of Golden Radiance roared to life, spinning at an incredible speed as if powered by a supercharged motor. It generated a massive thrust that instantly arrested Yang An's fall and shot him forward in the blink of an eye.

The spinning propeller created a powerful, visible vortex behind him. In an instant, its explosive speed propelled him over a kilometer forward, straight toward the colossal toad.

'It's true what they say: necessity is the mother of invention!'

If not for this desperate situation, Yang An might never have thought that the Golden Radiance from his Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell could be used so ingeniously.

Gazing at the Toad Giant Spirit, which was at least ten kilometers away, Yang An was thrust forward. In the space of a few breaths, he had already crossed half the distance, arriving directly above the middle section of the creatures below.

But at that exact moment, the creatures on the ground all began to move, stampeding madly toward the Toad Giant Spirit.

From his vantage point, it looked like countless ants swarming forward, all trying to get into the great toad's mouth.

In the blink of an eye, Yang An was less than two kilometers from the great toad. But as he watched the figures at the very front draw ever closer to their goal, he saw red.

'If I let these things beat me to the toad's mouth even after pulling off a stunt like this, all my effort will be for nothing.'

'No way! I have to stop them!'

At that thought, Yang An slung the Bow Lady off his back and violently drew the bowstring.

A long, golden arrow instantly materialized in his drawing hand, nocked and ready. A five-colored light erupted from his hand, pouring entirely into the arrow and distorting the very light around it.

"Bow Lady! Triple amplification!"

"I'll show these bastards what it means to be a fighter jet armed with a nuclear bomb! One shot to wipe them off the face of the earth!"