The Vessel

On the west side of the city, in the old City God Temple, abandoned for many years.

The dilapidated eaves resembled the claws of a strange bird spread open in the night. The vermillion paint on the grand gate was peeling, revealing a dark, seemingly light-devouring entrance within.

The air was filled with the heavy scent of dust, decaying wood, and an… indescribable, cold, stony smell.

Fang Gang pushed open the creaking, broken door and stepped into the temple. Shadows enveloped his form, the silhouette of the Bronze Battle Halberd on his shoulder outlining cold lines under the faint moonlight.

His mind, clear as glazed porcelain, swept through the entire temple like an invisible tide.

Rotten idols, collapsed offering tables, cobweb-covered beams and pillars… everything was deathly still.

Only at the deepest part of the temple, at the entrance leading to the underground palace, sealed by a heavy stone slab, did an extremely subtle yet mountain-heavily energy fluctuation emanate.

Within the fluctuation, a familiar coldness and malice were mixed – the aura of the Nightmare Eye!

Old Smoker's intelligence was correct; the "Vessel" was down here.

He walked to the entrance of the underground palace. The stone slab sealing the entrance was incredibly heavy, covered with cracks from age and slippery moss.

In the center of the stone slab, a clear bas-relief of a pupil-less eye, formed by countless twisted vortices, emitted a faint, eerie glow, slowly "staring" at the intruder like a living thing.

Fang Gang extended his hand, covered with a faint golden-red radiance, and placed it on the cold stone slab.

"Open!"

With a low shout, an irresistible, terrifying force erupted!

"Creak—Boom!!!"

The heavy stone slab, as if struck by a battering ram, let out a groan of unbearable burden, then, with a grating sound, was forcibly pushed open, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass!

Crushed stones and years of accumulated dust rained down!

A more intense, cold aura, carrying the scent of decay and a certain metallic sweetness, mixed with dense Yin energy, like the breath of a giant beast asleep for millennia, surged out from the gap!

It caused Fang Gang's non-existent hair (he was bald) on his forehead to feel a chill.

Without hesitation, he sidestepped and slipped into the gap.

Underfoot were steep stone steps, covered in slippery moss.

The air was damp and cold; taking a breath felt like freezing his lungs.

The Nine Yang Qi and Blood around Fang Gang circulated slightly, dispelling the gloomy cold, and he descended like a human furnace.

At the end of the stone steps was a small, circular underground palace. The dome was inlaid with a few dim fluorite stones that had long lost their luster, barely illuminating the center.

There, something lay quietly.

It wasn't the ornate coffin he'd expected, carved with dragons and phoenixes.

Instead, it was a square stone sarcophagus, cast entirely from some kind of dark green metal!

The surface of the sarcophagus was unadorned, as smooth as a mirror, yet it exuded an extreme sense of oppressive weight.

Only in the center of the front face was a massive, deep bas-relief of the Nightmare Eye, seemingly capable of absorbing all light!

The vortex forming the pupil was clearer and colder than the one at the entrance, emanating a heart-stopping malice!

This was the "Vessel"?

The moment Fang Gang's gaze locked onto the sarcophagus!

Buzz—!

His left arm! The Grudge Pupil brand, silent for a long time, suddenly erupted with an unprecedented, violent, cold tremor!

The dark golden vertical pupil at the end opened and closed frantically, conveying uncontrollable greed, desire, and a tremor akin to pilgrimage!

It was like a starving ghost after a long drought, encountering its most primal food!

This tremor was so intense that it pierced through the mental barrier of his clear mind, transmitting clearly to Fang Gang's consciousness!

The brand and the Nightmare Eye on the sarcophagus resonated strongly!

Fang Gang's eyes instantly sharpened like knives! Whatever was inside this sarcophagus was definitely closely related to this brand and the core secrets of the Nightmare Holy Cult!

He strode towards the sarcophagus, his footsteps echoing in the silent underground palace.

The closer he got, the more violent the tremor of the brand on his left arm became, like a drumbeat!

The faint glow of the Nightmare Eye bas-relief on the sarcophagus also seemed to intensify, its cold "gaze" appearing to pierce through the metal and fall upon him.

The instant Fang Gang's hand was about to touch the cold surface of the sarcophagus!

An unexpected change occurred!

The smooth dark green metal on the surface of the sarcophagus suddenly rippled violently like water waves!

Beneath the metallic surface, countless fine, twisted, dark golden patterns, writhing like living parasites, frantically converged!

"Hisss—!"

Accompanied by a scalp-numbing hiss, those dark golden patterns suddenly pierced through the metal surface, condensing into eight energy limbs made of pure dark golden energy, shimmering with a metallic cold light, their tips sharp as spears!

Like eight venom-tipped javelins, carrying a chilling aura that could pierce the soul, they furiously stabbed towards Fang Gang's vital points from eight extremely tricky angles at a speed beyond visual capture! Their speed was comparable to Grade A agility!

The attack came without warning! Treacherous and vicious! Aiming straight for the vital points!

This is a deadly trap guarding the "Vessel"!

"Hmph!" Fang Gang's eyes sharpened, his reaction at its peak! His bones, perfectly connected through the late stage of the Tendon Transformation Realm, tensed in an instant!

Exploding with speed! He didn't retreat. Instead, he lunged forward, stepping directly towards the eight dark gold limbs stabbing at him!

"Vajra! Indestructible!"

Golden-red light surged beneath his skin! The perfected Vajra Indestructible Body was pushed to its limit!

A layer of condensed, almost tangible golden-red aura instantly enveloped his entire body! He looked like a golden-bodied Arhat descended to earth!

"Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!..."

Sharp, crisp sounds, like rain drumming on banana leaves, exploded instantly!

The eight dark gold energy limbs, capable of piercing steel plates, struck fiercely against the golden-red aura!

The expected penetration did not occur! The tips of the limbs rubbed violently against the aura, erupting with dazzling sparks!

The aura vibrated intensely, indenting inward, but like incredibly resilient rubber, it stubbornly blocked the insidious ambush!

Fang Gang remained motionless! The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch!

"Break... for me!"

He unleashed both fists! The immense Dragon Elephant strength of fifty thousand jin poured out without reservation!

On his fists, the golden-red Nine Yang True Fire burned fiercely, carrying the domineering will to incinerate all evil!

"Eight Extremes! Prison Quake!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

His fist shadows were like mountains! Instantly engulfing four of the dark gold limbs!

Pure power crushing down! Augmented by the force of vibration and the supreme Yang True Fire!

"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Grating, shattering sounds rang out in rapid succession!

The four incredibly tough dark gold limbs, under the ferocious fist shadows, shattered and crumbled inch by inch, like fragile colored glaze!

They turned into dispersed dark gold energy points filling the air, subsequently being purified by the Nine Yang True Fire!

The remaining four limbs seemed to sense a fatal threat. They suddenly retracted, like startled venomous snakes, attempting to retreat back beneath the rippling metallic liquid on the surface of the stone coffer!

"Trying to escape?" Fang Gang's eyes were cold. His left palm shot out like lightning! The golden-red light in his palm compressed to its limit, with a faint illusory Great Sun appearing!

"Great Sun! Demon Burn!"

He slammed his palm onto the smooth surface of the stone coffer!

"Ssssss—!!!"

It was like a red-hot iron pressing onto ice! The ferocious Nine Yang True Fire clashed violently with the strange metallic energy on the coffer's surface!

A pungent, acrid smoke, accompanied by a foul stench, billowed up! The rippling metallic liquid let out a silent shriek, fluctuating violently and evaporating!

"Bang!"

With a muffled sound! The strange metallic energy layer on the stone coffer's surface was brutally blasted apart!

Revealing the cold, heavy, lifeless dark green surface beneath!

The four dark gold limbs, retracted halfway, dangled powerlessly at the edge of the stone coffer like severed snake tails, rapidly dimming and dissipating.

The underground palace returned to deathly silence. Only the "sizzling" sound of the Nine Yang True Fire burning residual energy and Fang Gang's steady breathing could be heard.

The Grudge Pupil brand on his left arm, at the moment the stone coffer's guardian energy was broken, vibrated to its peak!

The dark gold vertical pupil at its end almost burst out of his body!

An intense urge, compelling him to open the stone coffer immediately, crazily assaulted his sea of consciousness!

Fang Gang took a deep breath. The powerful Glazed Heart Mirror's brilliance flowed, forcefully suppressing the restlessness of the brand.

He looked solemnly at the cold, dark green stone coffer before him.

What was inside...?

He hesitated no longer. His hands, covered in golden-red aura, gripped the heavy lid of the stone coffer, unleashing immense strength!

"Lift!"

Creak... Boom!

The heavy metal lid was slowly lifted open!

A wave of ancient, icy, and malevolent aura, far more potent than before, as if it had accumulated for endless years, mixed with a faint scent of blood, gushed out from within the stone coffer!

The moment the lid was lifted!

Hummm—!!!!

An unprecedented torrent of condensed, almost tangible data-stream of icy coldness, as if traversing space, descended instantly! It precisely locked onto the underground palace!

It locked onto the opened stone coffer! It locked onto Fang Gang!

and… the Grudge Pupil imprint on his left arm, which was quivering crazily!

The Faceless Cult Master's emotionless, synthesized electronic voice, carrying an almost "fanatical" cold wave, echoed directly in the space of Fang Gang and the entire underground palace:

"Discovered… Key… Coordinates… Locked…"

"Vessel… Activated…"

"Data… Synchronized… Complete…"

"Fear… Ultimate Feast… Initiated…"

"Descent… Countdown… Commencing…"