Chapter 115 Whose World Is This?
The immortal beings were one thing, but how had the world come to belong to Wang Xuan and Old Zhang? Qin Cheng listened to his cryptic talk, struggling to understand.
"Boom!"
The ground shook violently as the Moon Pit collapsed, massive black fissures forming in the surrounding area, threatening to tear the Moon apart.
In that instant, Qin Cheng's heart sank, and he suddenly grasped who the world truly belonged to. He shouted, "Where's Old Zhang?!"
Wang Xuan felt a weight pressing down on him, as if the cosmic void itself was about to crash down. Everything seemed to be returning to a primordial state, and his scalp felt like it was about to burst!
Having formed his spiritual realm, he saw more than Qin Cheng. The Moon Pit was breaking open, as if some colossal being were about to emerge!
He couldn't afford to answer; he grabbed Qin Cheng and sprinted. With the Moon's lower gravity, he felt as if he were gliding just above the ground.
Finally, they arrived at a millennia-old Daoist temple inscribed with three ancient characters: Zhengyi Guan.
This famous Daoist ancestral temple had been relocated from Longhu Mountain.
Of course, throughout history, it had faced wars and rebuilt several times. However, the foundational stones remained intact, and remnants of the early bricks and ruins still existed, all moved here.
Especially notable were some relics of Zhang Daoling enshrined in the temple!
Upon entering the temple, Wang Xuan called out, "Old Zhang, the Moon is about to change; I need you to hold the fort!"
Inside the thousand-year-old ancestral temple, some Daoists bustled about, setting things up, and no one paid attention to the two of them.
Qin Cheng felt an overwhelming panic, a pressure building in his chest that made him feel suffocated. He swallowed hard and said, "I don't think you're very familiar with Old Zhang."
"I have a spiritual connection with him; we've never met in this world," Wang Xuan replied. As he searched the ancient buildings, he muttered, "I need to find out where Old Zhang is resting."
"Stop talking! You might get us killed!" Qin Cheng urged, concerned that if a group of Daoists overheard them, they might not make it out of the temple.
"I found it, just ahead." Wang Xuan appeared relaxed on the surface, but inside, he was incredibly tense, his heightened senses capturing the unfolding spectacle at the Moon Pit. He felt as if his spiritual realm might explode!
He suspected that something extraordinary was either about to emerge from the Moon Pit or that the mightiest immortals were entering the realm!
The complex was vast, and the ancient pines and cypress swayed even without wind, their branches moving erratically. The millennia-old stone pagoda stood tall, while hundreds of pounds of copper bells began to resonate ominously, filling the ancestral ground with an unsettling atmosphere.
One could only imagine the terror lurking within the Moon Pit.
"Old Zhang's remains are in the Patriarch Hall!" Wang Xuan pointed ahead to a radiant hall that initially appeared hazy, then brightened like a beacon of sacred fire in the night.
As the Moon Pit trembled, the hall of the patriarch began to glow more intensely, becoming increasingly brilliant!
Qin Cheng couldn't see the light; this was something only the extraordinary could perceive.
Wang Xuan felt a pang of regret; the brilliance of this world and the malevolent fires from the Moon Pit seemed to be something he alone could appreciate—something he could not share or discuss with anyone.
He sighed, realizing that this world seemed to belong to him alone.
Then, he noticed the Patriarch Hall shaking violently—not from an earthquake, but as if the ancient structure had come alive, breathing and pulsating with energy.
This time, although Qin Cheng couldn't see the light, he could perceive the rumbling and shaking of the hall.
His face turned pale as he murmured, "I feel like Old Zhang's coffin lid is about to break open!"
Mysterious particles drifted down, appearing like snowflakes in Wang Xuan's eyes. This was the densest concentration of mysterious matter he had ever encountered in this world.
Next, Wang Xuan saw the entire Patriarch Hall engulfed in a surge of light, like the sun itself descending, covering the area in a grand and shocking spectacle.
For a moment, he hesitated to approach; the resting place of Old Zhang was terrifying. Was it being stimulated?
"Can you really not see it?" he asked Qin Cheng. Witnessing such a stunning phenomenon yet unable to share it with anyone felt isolating, leaving him in a position that was somewhat lonely and cold.
"I see the building shaking, and I hear the sound of the coffin lid clashing, but nothing else," Qin Cheng reported, his complexion pale.
He found it frightening—was Old Zhang truly coming back to life?!
Wang Xuan was also unsure; Old Zhang was too powerful. If he pulled him out from the ancient pit, would he be able to control the situation, or would he end up getting dragged in himself?
Moreover, was this really Old Zhang? That question crossed his mind but remained unanswered!
Buzz!
The ancient hall thundered, radiant light erupted, and a force began to pull Wang Xuan forward.
He heard the roar of a tiger, a sound that seemed earth-shattering, as if a colossal demon were about to emerge. Wang Xuan's spiritual realm was nearly shaken apart!
He felt the urge to curse, truly feeling like he was in a nightmare!
Wang Xuan yanked Qin Cheng and turned to flee, sprinting as fast as he could, nearly flying just above the ground.
He was overly sensitive to that kind of sound; in the Inner Landscape, he had nearly been devoured by a white tiger alongside Old Chen. Why was there also a tiger demon here?
"Weren't you looking for Old Zhang?" Qin Cheng asked.
"Let's see first. Without me, does the Moon still turn?" Wang Xuan paused a distance away and looked back.
He began to suspect that the ancestral temple, relocated from Longhu Mountain, was responsible for the accompanying phenomena of dragon roars and tiger howls.
He stood at a safe distance, ready to react. If anything changed, he could rush in to release Old Zhang or turn and run without making any hasty decisions.
In essence, both the beings beneath the Moon and Old Zhang were likely remnants from the ancient pit. Whoever emerged would not bring peace.
"Life shouldn't be rushed in making choices!" Wang Xuan told himself to stay calm and collected.
Suddenly, a series of gasps echoed through the crowd as many looked up in shock. Outside the protective barrier, the spaceship was experiencing problems.
In fact, it had been acting strangely for some time. Not just Wang Xuan, but many had noticed that the ship appeared to be trapped, shuddering violently multiple times.
Now, it was slowly being drawn toward the Moon Pit, as if an invisible hand was guiding it down to the ground.
Indeed, without Wang Xuan, the Moon continued to turn, divine light shooting upward toward the pit.
The Daoist ancestral ground, Zhengyi Guan, radiated light, primarily from the original Daoist earth, with celestial mist flowing from its stone foundations. The ancient, cracked bricks of the temple glimmered with boundless radiance, forming runes that plunged into the Moon Pit.
"Fortunately, I restrained myself and didn't release anyone recklessly. Old Zhang is… in the main hall of Zhengyi Guan? The Patriarch Hall might hold his remains, but it's likely suppressing something, similar to a Buddhist crypt!" Wang Xuan wiped the cold sweat from his brow, relieved he hadn't acted impulsively.
In mid-air, the battleship broke free from its confinement, swaying as it gradually ascended. Its power system was evidently damaged; otherwise, it wouldn't be moving so slowly.
Cheers erupted from the crowd as the battleship escaped its constraints.
Qin Hong was already in deep space, having departed from the Moon ahead of the battleship's launch.
At that moment, he received the latest information from ahead and coldly remarked, "In this age of brilliant technological civilization, the so-called mysteries can be deciphered. There are no problems that cannot be resolved. The immortals are dead, and soon we shall touch the essence of immortality!"
Just then, the White Horse Temple lit up, beams of light cascading into the Moon Pit, calming the ground that had been shaking.
Wang Xuan reflected on what he was witnessing: overwhelming power suppressing the chaotic abyss, myths reappearing, yet he was alone in this experience.
Both ancestral grounds had unleashed their might, quelling the disturbances in the Moon Pit and restoring tranquility.
Wang Xuan turned back to the Patriarch Hall, increasingly sweating. The mysterious forces there fell like snowflakes, yet ominous energy also permeated the area.
"The lower half of the Patriarch Hall is built of blue stone, with the upper structure acting as the temple. Could it be used for suppressing demons?" he wondered.
In Buddhist crypts, aside from the relics of the patriarchs, there were often formidable beings being restrained.
The structure of the Daoist ancestral ground should be similar; beneath the Patriarch Hall, could there be a stone tower? If Old Zhang had celestial bones, what was he suppressing?!
Suddenly, the ground trembled, causing unease among everyone.
The dark pit on the Moon resembled an abyss, as if some unknown power was expanding within.
Meanwhile, above the Moon, the battleship plummeted without warning, crashing toward the Moon Pit!
"This is bad! The power system has failed; the battleship is in trouble."
"Something's off. Even if it were to malfunction, it shouldn't deviate so far from its original trajectory—it's falling at an angle toward the Moon Pit. This isn't over yet!"
Many people looked up, anxiety gripping them. The events of the day had been tumultuous and strange, and upon reflection, terrifying.
In this era of emerging advanced technology, could a dark pit on the Moon truly interfere with a spaceship's descent? How potent was this mysterious force?
But the situation was far from over. While Wang Xuan believed ordinary people remained oblivious, enjoying his own "extraordinary world," a chorus of gasps erupted within the protective barrier.
Creatures from the depths of the Moon Pit were manifesting their powers underground, myths and legends were nearing the surface, and there were violent energy fluctuations.
People began to see it—a brilliant light expanding, the first glimpse of the extraordinary phenomena within the Moon Pit!
Light rain surged upward, looking soft yet vibrant, radiating extreme danger. It fell rapidly, enveloping the falling battleship, binding it tightly.
Then, a massive hand formed from the light rain, colossal and imposing, gently grasping the spaceship. With a crunch, it simply crushed it!