Vajra Sarira

Xiang Tian began sprinting onward, but this place was simply too vast. He had no landmarks by which to tell direction.

The spatial movement technique he excelled at could not be used at all within this secret realm.

Just as he was feeling rather helpless, he suddenly spotted two figures in the distance and immediately gave chase.

The two fled in panic, as though something terrifying were pursuing them. When Xiang Tian appeared before them, their faces abruptly went white, and they collapsed onto the ground.

"Is something chasing you?"

Xiang Tian had been observing them for quite some time. Their terrified expressions had clearly not been caused by his appearance.

Seeing that it was the Deity Transformation Realm expert from the foot of the mountain, the two calmed down somewhat.

"M-Milord, there's a cliff behind us. It seems like there's something down below."

One of them trembled as he pointed in a direction.

Xiang Tian nodded without another word and flew straight in that direction.

Seeing Xiang Tian leave, the two breathed a sigh of relief and continued fleeing forward. This place was far too terrifying—what kind of place was this for people to stay in?!

After a while, Xiang Tian vaguely noticed black qi seeping from the ground ahead. His eyes widened, and he was secretly alarmed. What sort of ghostly place is this? Why is the yin qi so heavy?

Before him lay a deep ravine. Faint sounds of ghosts weeping and wolves howling drifted into his ears, seeming both real and unreal, ethereal and indistinct.

Xiang Tian glanced down at his feet. Even the ground felt damp and soft beneath his steps, giving him an unsettling sense that he was not standing on anything solid.

After taking a few steps, he reached a steep gorge. Xiang Tian looked down and was met with a startling sight—bones covered the ground below. He could not tell whether they belonged to humans or beasts; a vast expanse of gleaming white, utterly horrifying.

"How many people died here for there to be so many bones?"

Xiang Tian was truly shocked, so much so that he failed to notice the two people quietly hiding behind the rocks behind him!

They were none other than the young man from the tent earlier, with the goateed old man beside him. Ever since entering the secret realm, they had been searching for Xiang Tian's whereabouts, until they had just run into two fools scared out of their wits.

"Haha, the ancestor has truly blessed us. This variable actually came here on his own. It seems the Xiao Family's return to its peak is just around the corner!"

"Congratulations, Young Master. Once this is accomplished, no one in the clan will be able to compete with you for the position of clan head!"

The old man began showering him with flattery, making Xiao Yu rather pleased with himself.

There was no helping it. When a person's luck turned, even immortals could not stop them.

That was what he thought now.

Seeing Xiang Tian still standing by the cliff's edge, Xiao Yu took out a wooden carving of an old man. What was strange was that the carving's eyes had been painted red, making them exceptionally conspicuous.

Clutching the carving tightly with both hands, Xiao Yu closed his eyes and muttered under his breath, though no one knew what he was saying.

Then he opened his mouth and bit his finger open, pressing a drop of blood onto the wooden carving's forehead.

Sensing the Xiao Family bloodline, the wooden carving actually broke free of Xiao Yu's hands and flew into the sky.

Sensing the disturbance behind him, Xiang Tian whirled around, only to see the wooden carving emit a faint glow. The low, muffled sound of ghostly wailing in his ears instantly grew loud and fierce.

Black tentacles shot out from the bottom of the cliff one after another. Fortunately, Xiang Tian reacted quickly enough and rose straight into the air, but those tentacles seemed to have eyes, pursuing him relentlessly.

Xiang Tian suddenly noticed that there were two other people here.

The young man was looking at him with a smile, as if everything that had suddenly happened was perfectly normal to him.

Xiang Tian understood at once. This commotion had definitely been this brat's doing.

In other words, this person must know this secret realm very well, making Xiang Tian even more curious.

In the brief instant he was distracted, a tentacle coiled around Xiang Tian's ankle and began dragging him toward the bottom of the gorge.

Xiang Tian had initially intended to sever it with a single slash, but suddenly changed his mind and allowed himself to fall into the Bone Sea.

Seeing Xiang Tian vanish without a trace after falling, Xiao Yu let out a breath of relief and beckoned with his hand. The wooden carving returned to his grasp.

The Xiao Family was an aristocratic clan that had gradually been forgotten.

At the height of its glory, it had one Golden Immortal and three True Immortal Realm cultivators. Unfortunately, they had made one wrong move on the chessboard.

Back when the extraterrestrial heavenly demons attacked the Ninth Realm, the Xiao Family head was at a critical juncture in his breakthrough. Whether he could advance another step beyond the Golden Immortal Realm depended entirely on that period.

Thus, the Xiao Family sealed itself away, paying no heed to the blood and storms raging outside.

That had happened a very, very long time ago. All anyone knew was that when the Xiao Family appeared before the world again, the entire Heavenly Realm seemed to have been reshuffled.

More than half of the Golden Immortals had fallen. The prosperity of old was nowhere to be seen, and the entire world was steeped in deathly silence.

Unfortunately, the Xiao Family head had failed his breakthrough, destabilizing his foundation and causing his strength to plummet.

Yet he was still a Golden Immortal expert. Even weakened, he was far stronger than those few who had been barely clinging to life after the great war. How could he possibly be willing to let such a fine opportunity slip away?

And so, the Xiao Clan began expanding its power like mad, and its methods were far from honorable.

It was not until a golden longsword descended from beyond the heavens, tore through the void, and severed the Xiao Family head's head that their frenzied plundering finally came to an end.

From then on, the Xiao Clan declined.

Xiao Yu knew that this secret realm had originally been called Yin Si Hall. It had been the lair of an ancient evil sect that drove and refined Yin Spirits.

And his ancestor had been a disciple who emerged from this very place.

This secret had been hidden within the Xiao Family for over ten thousand years, witnessing the rise of countless geniuses and the fall of countless monstrous talents.

He had seen Immortal Kings ascend to godhood, and he had seen peerless kings fall. Now, three Immortal Kings had appeared once more.

Xiao Yu stroked the wooden carving, ambition blazing in his eyes.

He hoped that, under his hand, the Xiao Family could return to its former glory and once again secure its place among cultivation clans, instead of being what it was now—a vast family reduced to fodder for people's after-dinner laughter.

"Let's wait a little longer. As long as those fellows release enough Yin Spirits, they'll surely draw out the Vajra Sarira. When that time comes, no matter who gets it, once they leave, they'll become prey in our bag!"

Xiao Yu sneered. Anyone in the Deity Transformation Realm who fell into the Bone Sea was doomed to die. The Yin energy within would surely torment them until they became one of the bones here. Everyone in the secret realm was now within his grasp.

The two left the place. Within the Bone Sea, Xiang Tian tossed the skull in his hand, while countless tentacles formed from Yin energy swayed and drifted around him.

Yet not a single one of those things dared approach Xiang Tian.

Xiang Tian had actually heard every word Xiao Yu said outside. He sighed inwardly; he had actually been played by that brat.

Nothing from before had revealed their identities, so Xiang Tian could not guess who they really were. Still, that did not matter.

It was merely that Vajra Sarira that interested Xiang Tian. This seemed to be a supreme treasure of the Buddhist sect. Legend had it that, in ancient times, one of the great sects possessed a cultivation method through which, after a Buddha passed into nirvana, their bones could condense the power of their entire life. Lustrous as jade and exquisitely precious, it was an object of utmost hardness and ferocity between heaven and earth.

Using such a treasure to suppress a place of such yin and evil was perfectly reasonable. But now, if they still wished to obtain this Vajra Sarira, it would likely not be so easy.