The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 194 - 178: There’s a Price to Pay for Saying the Wrong Thing

Given the Workshop Master's level of knowledge regarding the Outer Continent, Yang An was more inclined to believe he was from there himself.

To have single-handedly founded the Scripture Defector Association, found so many Innate Flesh Mushrooms, and created a marvel like the Tree of Flesh and Blood—the Workshop Master's origins were certainly anything but simple.

On a matter like this, perhaps he could ask the Workshop Master if he had any solutions.

With this in mind, he told Wen Yin and Zhou Quan to remain calm and immediately immersed his consciousness into the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

The Tree of Flesh and Blood had been quiet recently. Other than Yang An, no one else had proactively sent any messages.

'I wonder if I was too harsh when I chewed them out last time.'

But Yang An didn't care. He did what he had to do and promptly sent out a new message.

"Workshop Master! I have an urgent matter to ask you about!"

Whenever a message was sent, the Tree of Flesh and Blood would stir, alerting all members of the Scripture Defector Association. As soon as Yang An's message went out, several bloody marks immediately appeared on the fruit.

"What is it?"

The Workshop Master responded at once.

Yang An: "Workshop Master, do you know anything about the Golden Soul Sect's Teleportation Array?"

"You should be in Fei State within the Fusheng Domain right now. Are you trying to use Sanchuan City's Teleportation Array to get to the Treasure Temple Domain?"

The Workshop Master seemed to have anticipated this move, his words hitting the nail right on the head.

Yang An thought about it and didn't find it strange. The Workshop Master was the one who had told him about the path through the Witch Barrier to the Outer Continent.

He must also know where one would appear after entering the Outer Continent.

"Exactly! Do you have a solution, Workshop Master?"

"I didn't expect you to have obtained this information about the Golden Soul Sect so quickly."

The Workshop Master sounded surprised.

"As for solutions, there are two."

'The guy was building suspense again.' Yang An absolutely loathed it. He wished he could crawl through the internet, grab him by the collar, and make him spit it out.

"Workshop Master, please tell me!"

Urged by Yang An, the Workshop Master's message soon arrived.

"The first method: The Golden Soul Sect's State Lord in Fei State is named Wu Yun. He once had an unfinished deal with one of my subordinates and still owes something.

If you can find it, you might be able to leverage this deal to use his authority and activate the Teleportation Array."

"..."

"Let's... let's talk about the second method!"

"What's the matter? Can't you spare any time at all? If you can use the Teleportation Array, you'll save yourself a lot of time," the Workshop Master asked curiously.

"It's mainly that finding things isn't my forte. Besides, I'm a stranger in a strange land, so I might not be able to find it anyway," Yang An replied immediately.

'What a joke. He had already killed the man and turned him to ash. This method was obviously off the table.'

'If only he'd known about this beforehand. But it was too late now.'

Still, this Workshop Master was truly something else. To think he even did business with the Golden Soul Sect. Yang An was growing more and more curious about the extent of his influence.

"Since you don't want to accept the first method, let's talk about the second one. It might be a bit difficult, though."

'Here we go again!'

'Just how is it difficult? Spit it out!'

Yang An was going crazy internally, but there was nothing he could do but wait obediently for the Workshop Master's next message.

"There's a place in Fei State called Tianmu Mountain, only two hundred li from Sanchuan City. I buried something there once. Calculating the time, it should be just about ripe.

If you can retrieve it for me on your way and deliver it to a family in Sanchuan City, I can use that as a trade to borrow the Golden Soul Sect's Teleportation Array for you."

Yang An: "Isn't it supposed to be difficult? Why does that sound so simple?"

"Of course, it's not that simple!

If nothing has gone wrong, I'm afraid many people are already waiting there. In their eyes, it's an ownerless treasure.

So, if you want to get this done for me, the difficulty for you will probably be quite high."

The Workshop Master said with a chuckle. After all, from what he knew, Yang An's Cultivation Level was only at the Visceral Stone Realm.

Yang An knew this as well. The members of the Scripture Defector Association were unaware of his true Cultivation Level, and he had to keep it hidden for now. Therefore, this method wasn't actually that difficult for him.

However, to be cautious, Yang An pretended to hesitate for a moment before deciding to accept this method.

This also seemed to be the most viable option at the moment. Otherwise, if he had to find a faction that could lend him the Golden Soul Sect's Teleportation Array on his own, there was no telling how long it would take.

"I can give it a try."

After receiving Yang An's reply, the Workshop Master quickly sent a new message. But this message was different from the others; after the fruit appeared, no bloody marks manifested on it.

This meant that no one else had seen this message.

Yang An's consciousness touched the fruit, and he immediately received a cryptic Mantra.

"This is the Forbidden Curse to collect that item. Once it has ripened, you can trigger the Forbidden Curse within a hundred-meter range to retrieve it."

The Workshop Master sent another new message, but from beginning to end, he never said what the item actually was.

Having found a solution, Yang An agreed, thanked the Workshop Master, and then withdrew from the Tree of Flesh and Blood, returning to reality.

Wen Yin and Zhou Quan had been waiting by his side the whole time. Unsure what Yang An was doing, they assumed he was regulating his breathing to recover his Mana and didn't ask any questions.

In reality, with a Magical Artifact like the Mora Buddha's Acupoint that could automatically absorb and condense Mana, Yang An had already recovered the Mana he had expended on the way to Sanchuan City.

"Senior Brother, are we going to Sanchuan City now?" Wen Yin asked.

Yang An shook his head. "No, we have to make a trip to Tianmu Mountain first."

He didn't explain to them why they were going to Tianmu Mountain, because there was no need.

'As long as the two of them listened to him obediently, did as he said, and didn't pull any stunts, he could guarantee he'd bring them both to the Treasure Temple Domain.'

'If they had other ideas, or were looking to die, he'd be the first to throw them out.'

Seeing that Yang An didn't elaborate, the two of them tactfully refrained from asking.

"Bow Lady! Navigate to Tianmu Mountain!"

"What the heck?"

"Ahem, tell me how to get to Tianmu Mountain."

"Head straight east."

Once they had their bearings, Yang An led the two of them toward Tianmu Mountain as quickly as possible. It was a race against time.

A little over an hour later, they arrived at a spot ten li from Tianmu Mountain.

Tianmu Mountain was a majestic, towering peak. It was covered in a dense, lush forest, with vibrant red flowers blooming all over the slopes. A gust of wind would carry a faint, sweet fragrance.

But in Yang An's perception, what looked like red flowers were actually eyes.

They grew within the pistils of various flowers, the whites of the eyes blood-red. When the wind blew, they seemed to blink as if stimulated, creating a chilling and eerie sight.

There were far more than just tens of thousands of these flowers covering the mountain, which meant there were also far more than tens of thousands of these eyes.

It truly lived up to the name Tianmu Mountain—"Heavenly Eye Mountain."

And as he neared Tianmu Mountain, Yang An also sensed some unusual auras.

This meant that, just as expected, quite a few Cultivators had already arrived at the base of Tianmu Mountain. Some were out in the open, while others were likely hiding in the shadows, spying on everything.

Some of the auras were only at the Visceral Stone level, but others were at the Corpse Transformation level. It was a motley crew.

The item the Workshop Master mentioned was on the mountain, which meant that if Yang An wanted to retrieve it, he had to go up.

And at this moment, the Cultivator auras he could sense were already beginning to move up Tianmu Mountain. They had clearly started to make their move.

"Senior Brother, are we going up now?"

Looking at Tianmu Mountain right before them, Wen Yin had also sensed the situation on the mountain and immediately asked.

Only Zhou Quan, the rookie, couldn't detect anything and could only watch from the side in silence.

"You two wait for me here. Don't move. I'll go alone," Yang An said after some thought.

If he let Wen Yin and Zhou Quan follow him, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to protect them if something happened. It was better to have them wait here.

Actually, Yang An had considered waiting for a while first.

If he entered the mountain now, he would surely have to face many people.

It might be better to wait here, let those guys fight it out to the death, and then go take the item at the end. That would be much more effortless.

Besides, the Workshop Master had only told him the Forbidden Curse. Without it, no one else could take the item.

But the situation was urgent. He didn't know when the Golden Soul Sect would discover that he had killed their State Lord, and the whole affair would come to light. It was best to be as quick as possible.

The sooner he left the Fusheng Domain, the safer he would be.

The two of them obediently nodded in agreement, watching as Yang An's figure quickly vanished into a black shadow.

"Senior Sister..."

After Yang An left, Zhou Quan called out to Wen Yin awkwardly.

"Do you feel like... Senior Brother seems to have gotten even stronger?"

"Senior Brother has always been strong to get to where he is today."

Wen Yin spoke from the heart. From being his senior sister to his junior sister, she had watched Yang An grow step by step.

"No, what I mean is, ever since we entered the Outer Continent, the gap between us feels like a bottomless pit!

The feeling Senior Brother gives me is... it's like he's on the same level as our Master!

Do you think, maybe..."

Take that last battle, for instance. The Golden Soul Sect's State Lord, Wu Yun, was so powerful and terrifying that even the Yellow Dragon Daoist couldn't withstand a single blow from him. And yet, Yang An still decisively killed him.

He and Wen Yin were both there, and they had personally felt that immense celestial might, like the sun itself descending upon them.

This level of strength filled Zhou Quan with growing admiration, but also with fear.

After all, according to the rules of the Life Crane Sect, they might become direct competitors in the future. This couldn't help but fill him with dread.

'An opponent with this kind of strength... how could he ever hope to surpass him in the future?'

WHAM!

Just as he was lost in thought, a hand shrouded in shadow shot out and instantly clamped around Zhou Quan's neck, brutally hoisting him into the air.

Zhou Quan was horrified, his eyes widening as he looked at Wen Yin. A painful feeling of suffocation washed over him.

At this moment, Wen Yin was completely enveloped in a layer of shadow, radiating undisguised killing intent.

The shadow snaked along her arm and wrapped around Zhou Quan's neck, seemingly trying to cover his entire head. With Zhou Quan's strength, he was utterly unable to resist and could only struggle in agony.

"Junior Brother, some things shouldn't be said carelessly. Speaking out of turn has consequences.

Senior Brother hasn't abandoned us this entire journey. If you start having other thoughts at a time like this, I can guarantee you won't make it to the Treasure Temple Domain alive!"