Chapter 163 Strange Movement of the Ancient Ring

A forest of steles in the basin!

"Qian is three unbroken lines, Kun is six broken lines. Oh no, this place holds a terrible terror!"

Behind Luo Hao, the chubby little fellow holding a bronze Luopan tensed his dark little face, a trace of solemnity lingering in his small eyes.

Luo Hao noticed that the bronze Luoan in the youth's hand was currently glowing with a faint azure light. Initially, he thought this kid was merely playing the charlatan, but now he suspected that the little fatty might genuinely have a deep grasp of topography, landscape features, and the art of Feng Shui.

"Little fatty, do you understand Feng Shui? Whose school of thought do you belong to?" Luo Hao asked abruptly.

"Ah, I understand it a bit, just a bit! Master? Some old codger with the surname Shang. He claimed I possessed heaven-defying martial talent, a rare prodigy born once in ten thousand years. He also said my martial achievements would be limited, and that the natural mountains, rivers, and grand currents of Feng Shui were my ultimate destination."

"However, I reckon that old fellow went completely mad, and lately he's been acting so crazy that it's terrifying. He keeps insisting on burying himself, babbling about undergoing some heavenly tribulation!" At this, Tongtian's plump body shuddered violently, as if recalling some unbearable past events.

"Surname Shang?"

It certainly was a strange surname. Yet, judging by Tongtian's expression, Luo Hao guessed that his master was probably cut from the same cloth as the slovenly old man he had acknowledged as his own. His only consolation was that while the slovenly old man was messy and reeked of wine, at least his mind was sound.

"Big brother, you must be careful. There is an array guarding this place." Tongtian gazed at the steles standing all around, lowering his voice once more.

"You understand formations as well?"

"Uh, I understand them a bit, just a bit!"

"......"

Luo Hao fell speechless. True to the saying, one should never judge a book by its cover. This dark-faced little fatty, who looked rather wretched no matter how one looked at him, actually knew so many messy, miscellaneous subjects.

Of course, in a place like this, the utility of these so-called "miscellaneous subjects" far exceeded mere martial prowess.

The two of them moved one after another, continuously advancing toward the glowing pillar of light at the center of the basin. But very soon, Luo Hao realized that no matter how they walked, they kept circling in the same spot.

"A ghost wall trap!"

Luo Hao halted, these three words immediately welling up in his mind, while secretly feeling grateful that he had not allowed Ji Rou to follow them in. Glancing back, Luo Hao saw the little fatty squatting on the ground, gripping a wolf-hair brush and continuously tracing various patterns.

Quietly waiting, Luo Hao refrained from disturbing him. Yet an hour later, the little fatty gasped heavily, sweat pouring down like rain as he said to him, "Big brother, this is an illusion array. I have finally figured out its operational pattern!"

"No rush. Rest for a bit before we continue!"

Another hour passed, and the little fatty emerged from his meditative state. The two of them resumed their advance. It had to be said that the little fatty genuinely possessed some real skill; this time, they encountered no more ghost wall traps.

As the two continually crossed the boundaries of the Eight Trigrams, numerous white bones began to appear upon the ground. Upon those bleaching bones, several wisps of ghostly fire flickered.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

"Boss, did you hear something?" Tongtian, walking behind Luo Hao, spoke up suddenly.

As they spoke, the skeletal remains lying beneath the steles grew increasingly dense. These were left behind by living beings that had once entered this place, and the bones of some creatures had even turned pitch black.

"Careful, something is approaching." Luo Hao furrowed his brows slightly, the two of them pressing their backs against a stele with solemn expressions. Suddenly, Luo Hao exerted fierce force with his foot and shouted, "Come out!"

The terrifying impact shattered the ground, piercing directly underground. A sound of clashing metal echoed from beneath, followed instantly by a surging torrent of freezing Qi erupting from the earth.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

Enveloped in white, freezing mist, a hair-raising hissing sound echoed out. A pair of blood-red eyes flickered with a scarlet glare, casting a vicious glint through the chill.

"Oh no, it's the ancient remnant species, the Heavenly Silver Centipede!" Upon recognizing the true appearance of the monster within the chilling mist, the little fatty's flesh shuddered, and he let out a startled cry.

It was a gigantic centipede hundreds of zhang in size, bearing twin horns upon its head, its entire body radiating a brilliant silver luster and emitting an intensely oppressive, freezing cold. The chill alone was something ordinary martial artists could never withstand.

Perched between the horns upon its head was a bone mirror, seemingly an artifact that emanated a bone-chilling aura. Even Luo Hao felt a tremor deep within his heart upon laying eyes on this bone mirror.

"Step back!"

Luo Hao shoved the little fatty toward the stele behind him, then flooded his entire body with battle Qi. With a gravely solemn expression, he stared at the Heavenly Silver Centipede, never expecting to encounter such a ferocious ancient remnant species right as they entered the stele forest.

"Big brother, be careful! It is rumored that the Heavenly Silver Centipede is a descendant of the primordial Five-Poison Golden-Winged Heavenly Centipede, naturally possessing peerless venom. Once contaminated by its poison, anyone below the Tribulation Realm is practically beyond cure!"

Hiding by the stele, Tongtian could not help but speak up. Then, gazing at the bone mirror atop the centipede's head, he added, "Boss, that toxic creature's head-mirror seems to be polished from the skull of a supreme powerhouse. Do your best to snatch it away!"

"Snatch your head!"

At that moment, Luo Hao truly felt the urge to strangle this dead fatty. There is nothing more to be feared than a god-like opponent; what truly terrifies is a pig-headed teammate. Didn't he know that ancient remnant species possessed considerable intelligence?

"Hiss, hiss..."

Sure enough, the Heavenly Silver Centipede on the opposite side flew into a rage, unleashing a major move right from the start. Upon the white-jade-like ancient mirror atop its head, intricate Dao patterns instantly emerged, naturally formed and profound.

"Pfft!"

A beam of white light abruptly tore through the void, and an aura of instant death shrouded the scene. Luo Hao's pupils contracted sharply, while Tongtian, hiding behind the stele, was soaked in cold sweat.

"Run!"

Seeing the white light sweep toward them, Luo Hao let out a furious roar, grabbed the little fatty, and flashed a black dragon pattern beneath his feet. The two figures instantly shot away like arrows released from a bow, fleeing deep into the stele forest.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"

While speeding away, Luo Hao chanced a retrospective glance, his body turning abruptly cold. Wherever the white light passed, countless steles were reduced to ashes—a destructive force absolutely no less than the self-detonation of a Tiangang martial artist.

"Big brother, if we just run like this, isn't it a bit too disgraceful?" Amidst their flight, the little fatty in Luo Hao's grip suddenly blurted out those words. Luo Hao almost wanted to punch him to death. Just which idiot on earth had provoked the Heavenly Silver Centipede?!

"Boom!"

Countless steles collapsed with a crash as the hundred-zhang body of the Heavenly Silver Centipede writhed frantically. The next moment, a pair of transparent wings emerged from its back.

With a single beat of those wings, a roaring hurricane whipped up.

"Damn it, didn't the Heavenly Silver Centipede lack wings? This bastard is a freak too! Big brother, run faster!" Feeling the waves of intense cold pressing against his backside, the little fatty pulled a miserable expression.

At this juncture, Luo Hao could no longer afford any distractions, executing the Eight Steps of the Hidden Dragon to his absolute limit. Within his dantian, the nascent spirit continuously trod upon profound footwork, which Luo Hao constantly observed and comprehended.

Seeming to notice that Luo Hao's state was amiss, the little fatty screamed internally, "What time is it, and you're actually out of the zone? Too bad I don't have a pulse!"

"Thump!"

Just as the little fatty was wailing, Luo Hao took yet another step forward. Another hazy, black dragon pattern surfaced beneath his foot—a pattern so faint it vanished the very instant it appeared.

Yet Luo Hao's speed suddenly multiplied tenfold and more, rapidly widening the distance between them and the Heavenly Silver Centipede.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

Roars of fury echoed from behind Luo Hao across the expansive stele forest. Those were the bellows of the Heavenly Silver Centipede, enraged that a mere tiny human had escaped right under its nose.

Having shaken off the pursuit of the Heavenly Silver Centipede, Luo Hao let out a breath of relief, tossed the little fatty aside, and began to survey their surroundings. Regrettably, in their panic, they had long since strayed from their originally calculated route.

"Strange, the steles here seem somewhat different from the previous ones. The passage of time weathered into these steles appears far more ancient." Passing his hand over a stele already covered in ancient fissures, Luo Hao wore a look of faint confusion in his eyes.

"Indeed they are. But big brother, what does that have to do with us!" Tongtian the little fatty also noticed, but shortly after, both of their expressions turned startled as they walked forward another few li.

"How can this be?" Gazing at a gigantic stele before him, even Tongtian lost his composure.

Luo Hao pondered for a moment before speaking, "Perhaps this stele forest was not entirely laid out by the generation-defying eccentric Chu Li. I reckon only the outermost layer was set up by him, while these other steles may have already existed long before that."

Suddenly, he paused and added, "Could it be that what is buried here is not just the generation-defying eccentric Chu Li alone!"

"Big brother, don't scare me. I'm timid!" The little fatty wrapped his robes tighter around himself, shrinking his neck unnaturally.

Luo Hao rolled his eyes at him, thinking that this fellow truly had no shame—just moments ago, facing the Heavenly Silver Centipede, this dead fatty had been the loudest of them all.

"Hum, hum!"

Suddenly, Luo Hao felt a vibration within his spatial pouch. He immediately retrieved the pouch from his bosom and opened it, watching a ball of azure light rise from within.

"This is..."

Tongtian's dark little face was filled with shock, while Luo Hao gazed at the azure light with waves of turmoil crashing in his heart.

Within the azure light, an ancient bronze ring was clearly visible. This ancient bronze ring was precisely the one he had retrieved from the skeletal remains of an ancient demon beneath the Gods and Demons Well; how could it be reacting to this place?

(End of this chapter)