Gou's Liver Experience in the World of Demons and Demons

He was sent flying uncontrollably backward, like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the hard wall behind him with a thud. He then slid softly to the ground, the spear in his hand falling to the side with a clang.

At this moment, the dark figure, whose throat was being gripped by Gu Sheng's left hand and which was being held in mid-air, began to struggle and twist violently again after a brief period of "docility." There seemed to be some kind of undying vitality supporting that blurry black shape.

Gu Sheng's gaze sharpened as he recalled the figure who had used a long spear to launch a sneak attack and the one who had fired the poison needle earlier, and he made a guess in his mind.

"Could these things be of the same kind? Are they special beings that have spontaneously arisen in this secret realm to protect this place?"

In the instant he was pondering, he caught a sharp glimpse out of the corner of his eye that a faint, cold light was flashing again in the blurry palm of the struggling black figure, as if the poisoned silver needle was about to condense once more!

"Stubborn!"

Anger rose in Gu Sheng's heart.

These things are not only troublesome, but also use insidious and vicious attack methods.

He held back no longer; the muscles in his right arm bulged instantly, and the power of his Crystal Golden Body erupted without reservation! He grabbed the dark figure and, as if swinging a tattered sack, slammed it to the ground again! This time, the power far surpassed the previous one!

boom!
With a dull thud, fine cracks appeared in the hard rock of the ground!

Under such terrifying force, the dark figure could no longer maintain its form, like a water bag filled with black liquid being smashed open, instantly shattering into pieces with a "poof"! The viscous, faintly fishy-smelling black liquid sprayed everywhere, and the blurry figure completely disappeared.

However, a chilling scene unfolded!

The black slurry that had splashed onto the ground and walls seemed to possess a life of its own, slowly wriggling and converging towards the center like worms! Judging from the trend, it seemed that given time, it could reform and take shape again!

"Can it regenerate?"

Gu Sheng frowned; this thing was more troublesome than he had anticipated.

Just as he was pondering a countermeasure, the dark shadow of the spear that he had blasted away behind him had somehow stood up again. Although his chest was caved in and his movements were a little stiff, the dark blue spear once again carried a sharp killing intent, tearing through the air and stabbing towards his back!
At that very moment, Gu Sheng glanced at the end of the passage out of the corner of his eye, and his pupils suddenly contracted!

At the end of that deep, dark passage, countless dark figures had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere! They appeared silently, almost completely blocking the passage, as if they had seeped out from the walls and the shadows!

These shadowy figures wielded various weapons—knives, swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows…and even some unusual weapons.

The energy fluctuations emanating from them also differed slightly; some were scorching hot, some were chilling cold, some were sharp, and some were heavy. Clearly, their abilities were also different!

Individually, these shadowy figures are roughly between the peak of the Heavenly Martial Realm and the first or second level of the Sect Realm, which is not a significant threat to Gu Sheng at present.

But... this number is absolutely terrifying!

As far as the eye can see, there's no end in sight. Hundreds, thousands? Or even more?
Gu Sheng instantly realized that once surrounded by such a large number of shadowy figures, even if they were not individually strong, the sheer number of them would be enough to kill an elephant. Their various abilities combined, their ranged and melee combat intertwined, and their strange regenerative abilities... If the battle continued, even with his Glazed Golden Body, his true energy and spiritual power would likely be completely exhausted, ultimately leading to his death from exhaustion, with no good outcome whatsoever!

"We can't fight head-on!"

The thought of retreating instantly sprouted and became firm in Gu Sheng's heart.

At this moment, from the shadowy group in the distance, those wielding bows and crossbows or capable of ranged attacks had already begun their attack from afar! Countless energy arrows, poison needles, ice spikes, fireballs... like a sudden storm, rained down upon Gu Sheng!

At the same time, the shadowy figures wielding melee weapons moved like a tide, advancing silently yet swiftly from both the front and back of the passage towards Gu Sheng, attempting to encircle him!
"go!"

Gu Sheng made a decisive move, and the true energy within his body surged like a volcano, unleashing the powerful physical strength brought by the Lesser Completion Glazed Golden Body!

He stomped his feet hard on the ground, cracking the hard surface instantly. His figure shot off like an arrow, or a human lightning bolt, no longer entangled with the shadows, and rushed straight towards the deeper part of the hall!

He reached his maximum speed, weaving and flashing nimbly through the dense gaps in the shadows. His figure was like a ghost, leaving behind afterimages.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Boom, boom, boom!
Dense ranged attacks rained down like raindrops, most of which he evaded with his incredibly swift movements. Occasionally, stray arrows and missiles that he couldn't completely dodge were precisely blocked by small shields of qi containing the mysteries of the Dao of Transformation, which he instantly conjured in corresponding parts of his body with a thought, producing muffled thuds, but they could not stop his advance.

Like a slippery fish, he managed to tear a gap in the tide of death before the encirclement of the shadows was fully formed, relying on his absolute speed and agility!
Although those astonishingly large, pitch-black figures possessed strong individual regenerative abilities and coordinated perfectly, they were unable to do anything to Gu Sheng for the time being, given his single-minded focus on breaking through and his lack of desire to linger in battle. They could only watch helplessly as he shot out of their encirclement like a wisp of smoke and quickly disappeared into the distance.

Gu Sheng ran wildly without daring to stop for a moment. Only after passing through an ancient gate that emitted a faint light and seemed like a boundary did he suddenly feel that the relentless pursuit behind him had vanished!

He stopped, quickly turned around, and looked warily towards the door.

All that could be seen were countless dark figures, like a surging tide, all standing outside the gate. Their indistinct faces seemed to be "watching" Gu Sheng inside, but none of them dared to cross the threshold, as if there were some rule or taboo there that they could not overcome.

After confirming that he was temporarily safe, Gu Sheng finally breathed a long sigh of relief and had time to carefully observe and think about what kind of monster he had just encountered.

He stood inside the gate, his sharp gaze scrutinizing the motionless shadows outside.

This time, he looked even more carefully.

“These shadowy figures… although their forms are indistinct and they are mainly composed of that strange black energy, upon closer inspection, the outlines of their clothing, the styles of the weapons they hold, and even some subtle movement habits seem to be different…”

Gu Sheng rubbed his chin, his mind racing.

"Moreover, their cultivation fluctuations are mostly concentrated between the peak of the Heavenly Martial Realm and the early stage of the Sect Realm, with very few being particularly outstanding..."

A bold hypothesis gradually took shape in his mind.

"Could it be... that these shadowy figures are not native spiritual creatures naturally generated by the secret realm, but rather... the martial artists from various factions who unfortunately perished here while exploring this main hall?! Their remnant souls, obsessions, or lifelong cultivation were absorbed and transformed by this secret realm in an unknown way, ultimately forming this strange guardian existence?"

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

If that's true, then the number of powerful individuals devoured by this main hall must be an astonishing figure! Just as he was immersed in this startling speculation, a heavy, ancient sound of machinery turning suddenly came from behind him!

Snap... Rumble...

He turned around abruptly and saw that in the very center of this relatively safe area behind him, the ground was slowly cracking open, and a stone tablet about ten feet high, bronze in color and covered with countless complex and unfamiliar characters, was slowly rising from the ground!
The stone tablet exudes an aura of vicissitude, antiquity, and weight. The characters on it are twisted like insects and snakes, completely different from any script he knows from any other era, and full of mystery.

"This is... an inscription?"

Gu Sheng took a few steps closer and carefully examined the text.

"This script... I've never seen it before. Its style is so ancient and profound, could it be... a script from ancient times?"

He recalled the division of the martial arts era.

It is now widely believed that the martial arts civilization has gone through the ancient, prehistoric, recent, and present eras.

The ancient and prehistoric eras, due to their immense antiquity and apparent dramatic upheavals, suffered severe information gaps, leaving very few surviving records, shrouded in mystery. Gu Sheng had also dabbled in some fragmented ancient texts out of curiosity, gaining some knowledge in this area, but his understanding was extremely limited.

"If this inscription is indeed ancient script, then this secret realm... this Golden-Winged Roc..."

Gu Sheng was deeply shaken.

"Could this golden-winged roc be a monster that survived from ancient times?"

But then he had doubts.

"No... According to scattered records in ancient texts, the ancient times were so far removed from the present. The beings of that era possessed terrifying power to move mountains and fill seas, and to capture stars and seize the moon, far surpassing the Venerables and Saints of today."

Although the Golden Wing Ridge Secret Realm is wondrous, its status seems... not to have reached the level described in the legends.

Moreover, the memories left behind by Situ Qingfeng's mother, as well as the various signs of 'selection' and 'testing' exhibited by this secret realm, all indicate that the Golden-Winged Roc retained clear intelligence and a definite purpose before its demise..."

His heart was in turmoil because of these two contradictory speculations.

If the Golden-Winged Roc is an ancient being, then the value of this secret realm and the secrets it may hold will far exceed his previous imagination! But if not, how should this ancient inscription be interpreted?
The fog in front of us seemed to have grown even thicker.

What stories are hidden within this main hall, this secret realm, and that golden-winged roc that has been dead for countless years?
Gu Sheng forcibly suppressed the intense emotional turmoil he felt due to the ancient scripts and the mystery of the secret realm's era. He knew that this was not the time to delve into these matters.

The most urgent task is to find the remains of the Golden-Winged Roc and enhance our own strength in order to deal with the crisis outside the secret realm.

He took a deep breath and approached the newly erected bronze stele, examining the strange characters on it more closely. Although he couldn't fully decipher them, based on the arrangement of the characters and certain recurring combinations of specific symbols that seemed to represent honorifics or commemorations, he gradually formed a vague deduction in his mind.

"This seems...not to be an ordinary inscription recording cultivation techniques or events, but more like...a sacrificial text?"

Gu Sheng frowned slightly, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cold, etched marks.

"The inscription seems to be a tribute to an extremely powerful being who rests here. Moreover, the person who erected this monument spoke with an air of... being ordered to do something? As if he was tasked with guarding this... 'immortal tomb'?"

Immortal Tomb!

This deduction gave him another jolt.

If this is truly the tomb of an ancient powerful being, then the opportunities and dangers it contains will far exceed previous estimates! And what role does that golden-winged roc play here? A guardian beast? A sacrificial victim? Or... a being also buried here?

Countless questions flooded in like a tide.

"That's enough. It's difficult to get a complete picture based on these fragmented ancient characters alone."

Gu Sheng shook his head, deciding not to dwell on these incomprehensible fragments of information.

"Let's stick to the original plan and go deep into the main hall to find the remains of the Golden-Winged Roc. Perhaps it can provide some answers."

He took one last look at the motionless, dark figures outside the door, which further confirmed his other guess.

"These shadowy figures are probably the transformations of warriors who explored this main hall over countless years and ultimately perished."

Their power, even some of their lingering remnants of souls, were assimilated and absorbed by this secret realm, becoming part of its protective mechanism, endlessly cycling... truly pitiful and lamentable.

Just as he withdrew his gaze and prepared to turn around and continue deeper, a sudden change occurred!
The bronze stone tablet seemed to sense his gaze and thoughts, and the complex and twisted ancient characters on it suddenly lit up with a soft and mysterious light!

Immediately afterwards, to Gu Sheng's astonishment, the glowing characters seemed to come alive, detaching themselves from the monument and transforming into radiant symbols, like dancing sprites, slowly undulating and swirling around his body!
An indescribable, ancient, vast, and seemingly timeless pressure instantly enveloped Gu Sheng's entire body!

Alarm bells rang in his mind, and he instinctively wanted to retreat rapidly to escape the encirclement of these strange characters.

However, the moment he had that thought, he was horrified to find that the air around his body seemed to have turned into solidified, ancient ice, incredibly heavy, binding him firmly in place, making it impossible for him to move even a finger! He could only watch helplessly as those ancient characters, emitting a faint glow, flowed around him like a galaxy.

"This is... a spatial confinement?!"

Gu Sheng was greatly alarmed.

Before he could come up with a solution, the entire palace suddenly began to tremble violently and without warning! It wasn't a physical tremor like an earthquake, but a high-frequency vibration originating from space itself! The walls, the floor, the dome—everything blurred and distorted!
"Spatial fluctuations! This bronze tablet... is a triggered teleportation restriction!"

Gu Sheng instantly understood, but his body was bound, and he was powerless to resist, forced to let the powerful spatial force envelop him. (End of Chapter)