Start with push-ups to gain experience

Chapter 473 Soul Devouring Domain, Old Schemer

Upon hearing Fang Cheng's question, a glint flashed in Chen Hongye's bloodshot eyes.

He glanced at Fang Cheng and asked with some doubt:
"Judging from your appearance, is this perhaps your first time entering someone else's mental realm?"

Fang Cheng nodded noncommittally.

"I see."

Chen Hongye immediately adopted the demeanor of a senior and patiently offered guidance:
"Young friend, please be patient. To enter the spiritual realm, you must first establish a spiritual beacon between the caster and the visitor."

"Now relax your body, clear your mind of all distractions, and concentrate all your attention on the mantra I am about to recite, and memorize it firmly."

"Then, you only need to recite it once, and your soul will leave your body and follow the beacon to find the location of my secret realm."

After saying this, he sat down cross-legged and uttered a long string of obscure incantations in a slow and solemn tone.

Those syllables were extremely difficult to pronounce, yet they contained a certain mysterious rhythm that echoed softly in the silent night sky.

It's like an invisible key, knocking on a door to an unknown space.

"This is my secret communication code."

After finishing the recitation, Chen Hongye's eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice:
"Young friend, I will take the lead and wait for you in the secret realm."

After he finished speaking, he slowly closed his eyes.

The broken body trembled violently, then froze like a wooden or stone sculpture.

All signs of life—breath, heartbeat, and even the glowing incantations on the body's surface—vanished in an instant.

He remained seated like that, his soul seemingly detached from his body, transforming back into a cold corpse.

Fang Cheng stared at Chen Hongye's lifeless body and sat down cross-legged in front of him.

Then he closed his eyes slightly, focused his mind, went through the extremely complex incantation in his mind, and recited it in a low voice without any mistakes.

Soon, his breathing became long and shallow, almost imperceptible.

I felt as if I had fallen into a deep meditation.

The lingering sound of the incantation drifted away with the night breeze.

The two parties then went "offline," and the manor in the darkness became eerily quiet for a moment.

The campfire still flickered, casting everyone's shadows onto the crumbling walls, stretching them into distorted shapes.

The Chen family members and monks from Cuicheng Temple were still lying on the ground, unconscious, their fate unknown.

Lin Chuqiao, Pan Wendi, and Bailing looked at each other, then stood separately around Fang Cheng, quietly forming a protective circle.

Lin Chuqiao's gaze was the most solemn. She gripped the amulet tightly and scanned her surroundings warily, not missing even the slightest sound of the wind rustling through the grass.

Pan Wendi and Bai Ling stared at Fang Cheng nervously, unconsciously softening their breathing, afraid of disturbing him.

Only Chen Xu'an stood a little distance away, his expression shifting, his eyes filled with complex emotions, seemingly lost in thought.

At the same time, Fang Cheng's consciousness was passing through an extremely thick black fog.

Guided by the incantation, he quickly located a coordinate hidden in the endless darkness.

On the edge of the subconscious world, a building radiating a dark red light emerges faintly from the mist.

It was a building so bizarre that words could not describe it.

It has the outline of an ancient temple, yet it also resembles a huge tomb, exuding a gloomy and deathly aura.

The walls are covered with reliefs resembling human faces, and the lintel is inlaid with a huge skull of an unknown creature.

When Fang Cheng's gaze fell upon it, he could even faintly hear the mournful cries of countless wronged souls.

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly, and without hesitation, he took a step forward.

The next second, he was already standing in front of the door of this haunted house.

Before he could even raise his hand, the red door creaked open slowly and automatically.

A hazy, blood-red halo emanated from it, illuminating the small area in front of the door.

It was as if welcoming travelers from the darkness.

Fang Cheng remained calm and stepped into the portal with practiced ease.

A flash of red light appeared before my eyes, and the space suddenly shifted.

His figure instantly appeared in a spacious room.

The moment I set foot, a chilling gust of wind swept over me.

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop to freezing point in an instant.

Fang Cheng looked up and saw that it was a dimly lit hall.

In the very center stands an altar made of countless white bones.

The eye sockets of each skull are all facing the entrance, silently gazing at the visitors.

There were no statues of gods on the altar, nor were any offerings visible.

Only a stone slab shaped like a tombstone stood alone, its surface still bearing traces of dried, dark blood.

In addition, the walls and floor of this room were covered with various dark red incantations.

They writhed slowly like living creatures, emitting an eerie red light that made the entire space resemble a purgatory.

Upon closer inspection, the style of these incantations was exactly the same as those on the surface of Chen Hongye's body.

"Welcome, young friend Fang, to my humble abode."

Just then, an old yet loud voice echoed through the space.

Fang Cheng withdrew his observing gaze and looked in the direction of the sound.

At the foot of the white bone altar in the center of the hall, a figure had appeared without anyone noticing.

The man had white hair but a youthful face, and wore a loose white Taoist robe. His face was thin and refined, giving him a somewhat otherworldly and ethereal air.

However, those eyes, which should have been wise and peaceful, were a terrifying crimson.

This ruined his overall aura, making him look like a demonic sorcerer who had gone mad.

This man was none other than Chen Hongye, who had been waiting for a long time.

Here, he was no longer the charred and broken figure he once was, but presented a completely different face.

Seeing the slight surprise in Fang Cheng's eyes, the Taoist-looking "Chen Hongye" smiled slightly and then explained:

"I forgot to introduce myself. My Taoist name is 'Xuanzhen,' and I won't mention my secular name. The past 124 years are long gone."

Fang Cheng nodded upon hearing this and went straight to the point:

"Now that we're inside, can you tell me that person's name?"

"Not urgent."

Xuanzhen, however, revealed a profound and unfathomable smile, and raised his hand:

"Young friend Fang, what do you think of my secret realm? How is it being constructed?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.

Before Fang Cheng could reply, the blood-red runes on the wall suddenly shone brightly.

Countless thick iron chains shot out from the surrounding walls and ground like venomous snakes, rushing straight towards them with a shrill whooshing sound.

In the blink of an eye, the chains had wrapped around his limbs and body like maggots clinging to his bones.

A tremendous force came, and Fang Cheng felt his feet sink into the ground.

When I came to my senses, I found that I had been moved.

His body suddenly appeared on the altar of white bones, tightly bound by iron chains.

"Chen Hongye, what does this mean?"

Fang Cheng pressed his back against the cold tombstone, his gaze piercing Xuanzhen.

"Didn't we reach a cooperation agreement?"

As he spoke, he suddenly exerted force with his hands and feet, trying to break free of his restraints. *Whoosh!*

The iron chains that had wrapped around his body dozens of times instantly straightened.

The other end of the chain was deeply embedded in the wall and the ground.

Despite Fang Cheng's bulging veins, the dust only fell in a flurry, without the slightest loosening of the object.

With each struggle, the surrounding incantations glowed with an eerie red light.

An invisible force of confinement seeped into his limbs and bones along the iron chains, making him feel heavy and unable to muster any strength.

"Means nothing."

Chen Hongye, or rather, Xuanzhen, strolled slowly around the altar with his hands behind his back.

"You're just too stupid to believe the words of a dead man."

He then stopped in front of Fang Cheng, his scarlet eyes full of mockery.

"I have been roaming the martial world for 132 years, and I have always been the one scheming against others. How dare a junior point his finger at me, shout and yell, and humiliate me like this?"

“We haven’t settled the score for the damage you caused to my body at the Chen family manor. Now that you’ve delivered yourself to my doorstep, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to pay that debt.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng snorted coldly:
"Do you think you can blackmail me by doing this? I can withdraw my mind at any time, leave this space, and return to reality."

Xuanzhen immediately pointed at Fang Cheng, threw his head back, and burst into laughter, as if he had heard an extremely funny joke:

"Kid, you're welcome to give it a try."

Fang Cheng said no more, immediately closed his eyes, and concentrated all his energy to try to sever the connection with the secret realm and return to his physical body.

But the next second, his expression changed drastically, and his body suddenly trembled slightly, as if he had encountered something bizarre.

Then, a few more seconds passed.

He opened his eyes abruptly, the calm in his pupils vanishing, replaced by an undisguised terror:

"How is this possible... What... What exactly did you do?"

"It's very simple."

Xuanzhen seemed quite satisfied with Fang Cheng's performance and, unusually, was in the mood to reveal his trump card:
"Because this is not a purely spiritual realm, but a 'Soul-Devouring Domain' that I refined using my remnant soul after my physical body died."

"After being nurtured for over a hundred years, it has become deeply integrated with my world of consciousness. The moment you step into this place, you become a fish in the net."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dark red runes on the surrounding walls suddenly shone brightly, forming an airtight cage that enveloped the entire hall.

A constantly rotating crimson vortex appeared on the ceiling.

Within that vortex, one could vaguely see countless distorted faces rising and falling, men and women, the old and the young.

Their faces were contorted in agony, emitting silent wails that looked particularly tragic, as if they were desperately trying to crawl out.

The entire space was filled with a chilling wind, instantly permeated with the stench of blood and decay.

“This place is like a tomb. I usually rest here, and it is also used to imprison the remaining souls after I have hunted them.”

Xuanzhen flicked his finger and tapped the white skeleton on the altar, producing a clear, ringing sound. He then said leisurely:

"If an outsider accidentally wanders into this place, there is only one way to leave: completely destroy my territory."

"Of course, you can also try to beat this old bone of mine to death with your fists..."

At this point, Xuanzhen grinned, a fierce glint suddenly flashing in his eyes.

The chains binding Fang Cheng tightened even more, leaving indentations on his hands, feet, and chest.

Even the bones made a teeth-grinding "crunch" sound.

"But do you, a brute who only relies on muscles and brute force, really have that kind of ability?"

Xuanzhen raised his voice, his eyes filled with even more cruelty.

Before he finished speaking, the iron chains binding Fang Cheng sprouted dense black thorns that pierced his muscles like the fangs of a venomous snake.

Blood dripped from the spikes, falling drop by drop onto the bone altar and into the eye sockets of the skeletons.

"Heh, you pretended to be a psychic before and tricked me. Now you wish you really had powerful psychic abilities?"

Xuanzhen's face revealed a smug smile as he reclaimed the victory.

But soon his eyes narrowed and he realized that the black thorns only pierced Fang Cheng's surface muscles and could not penetrate any further.

He frowned slightly, then clapped his hands as if suddenly realizing something:
"As expected of Fang Shijie's son, it seems you have inherited his bloodline. Although you haven't developed any substantial abilities, your spiritual energy far surpasses that of ordinary people. You are quite a promising talent."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng abruptly looked up, glaring angrily:

"Once I break these chains, your death will be imminent!"

As he spoke, veins bulged on his forehead, and he struggled a few more times, but to no avail.

"Young people are just full of vigor!"

Xuanzhen shook his head, his tone full of contempt:

"As your elder, I really look forward to you achieving this level."

“However, even if your father, Fang Shijie, came here, he wouldn’t be able to break my domain, let alone a body enhancement user like you who has gone astray.”

"You need to understand one thing: time and space here are under my control."

He snapped his fingers, and a gleaming dagger instantly appeared in the air.

“Here, I am an omnipotent god. With a single thought, I can create hundreds of weapons to deal with any enemy.”

As if to prove his words, the short knife flew out with a "whoosh" and accurately pierced Fang Cheng's shoulder.

Fang Cheng groaned, cold sweat sliding down his cheeks, but he didn't utter a single word of begging for mercy.

Immediately afterwards, Xuanzhen raised both hands.

More knives, swords, and spears emerged from the void, densely packed and suspended in front of Fang Cheng, their cold light almost blinding.

"The suffering you experience here is exactly the same as in reality. How long do you think you can endure it?"

Xuanzhen's lips curled into a smile as he looked at Fang Cheng with great interest.

"In reality, you might have a chance to break free of the chains with brute force, but here, all your muscles are useless."

His voice was as cold as a viper's hiss, deliberately using words to belittle and mock him, filled with the pleasure of revenge.

"Kid, what do you think you can do against me?!"

Fang Cheng took a few deep breaths, his eyes still sharp:
"What's the point of imprisoning me here?"

"captivity?"

Xuanzhen seemed to have heard another hilarious joke, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight:

"I never intended to imprison you. What I want to do is devour your soul and take over your body!"

He reached out and stroked Fang Cheng's arm from a distance, his eyes filled with a greedy gaze, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.
"Chen Hongye's body is already decayed and rotten. Even if you hadn't damaged it, it wouldn't have lasted more than a few years."

"But you're different. You're so young yet you have such a strong physique, and you also have Fang Shijie's bloodline. You're practically the perfect vessel!"

"Once I devour your soul and live on in your body, who will remember Chen Hongye, who died in the Chen family?"

Fang Cheng gradually stopped struggling, his chest heaving violently, and his breathing becoming increasingly heavy.

Xuanzhen thought he had finally resigned himself to his fate, and his smile became even more smug.

"Xuanzhen, I admit, you won this round."

Fang Cheng let out a long sigh, his voice tinged with weariness:
"However, before I die, I want to know who the mastermind behind the shooting incident at Guangwu Gate was back then, so that I can die in peace."

"That person's name..."

Xuanzhen deliberately dragged out his words, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he watched Fang Cheng show weakness.
"I'm sorry, but I can't mention his name directly. After all, I still want to rely on his protection to continue living with your body."

He paused, as if suddenly intrigued, and leaned closer to Fang Cheng, whispering:
"However, since you're sensible, I can tell you a secret."

“I was one of the main perpetrators in the Guangwu Gate shooting incident back then.”

(End of this chapter)