Chapter 2398: True Immortal Descends Iron Cage

The hall was a staggering thirty to forty zhang high, and its area easily exceeded a thousand mu. However, the originally smooth bluestone floor was now riddled with pits and depressions, strewn with the debris of magic tools like flying daggers and swords. There were also charred marks from fire and lightning strikes. In the center lay an enormous beast skeleton, translucent and jade-like. Its form resembled neither alligator nor flood dragon, yet had hints of both.

It appeared as if someone had engaged in a fierce battle with this strange beast here. However, judging by the time these traces had remained, it was an event from quite a long time ago.

Han Li looked at the beast skeleton with some surprise. From the faint aura still lingering on it, he could tell that the beast had possessed the cultivation of a Grand Ascension stage expert before its death.

For a mere Grand Ascension stage beast to leave behind such fierce battle traces, it was clear that none of those who entered this place were Mahayana stage cultivators. However, their cultivation levels certainly wouldn't have been too weak either.

Judging from the remnants of magic tools and treasures scattered on the ground, there was certainly more than one person involved in the fierce battle; there must have been four or five individuals.

After observing for a moment, Han Li's gaze suddenly shifted to a row of wooden shelves in a corner of the hall.

The wooden shelves were about two to three zhang long, completely black. They held two rows of over a dozen silver trays of varying sizes. However, all the trays were empty, as if their contents had long since been taken.

Seeing this, Han Li no longer hesitated. He immediately flashed forward, heading directly for the exit at the other end of the hall.

The same blue passage continued to spiral upwards.

This time, however, Han Li walked for the duration of a meal before finally exiting the passage.

Suddenly, a vast space opened up before him, several times larger than the previous hall.

A few faint white clouds floated above, and the ground was covered in fine white sand.

In the center of this space, a triangular structure, resembling a temple, stood prominently.

Han Li glanced at the structure, and with a flick of his wrist, a translucent small bottle appeared.

After a quick scan, he noticed no special reaction from the bottle, so he frowned slightly. He then walked towards the temple's main gate, which was already open.

Meanwhile, the Three Sages of Wuling were already standing before an expanse of black mist, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The mist surged and churned as if alive, and from it, gusts of strangely cold, eerie wind blew intermittently, accompanied by spine-chilling shrieks.

The three of them looked extremely fatigued. Their auras were noticeably weaker than before, and the three giant worms they had originally been riding were gone. However, as they gazed at the misty sea, their eyes gleamed with excitement.

The reason for this was naturally the crimson archway standing before the misty sea.

This archway was a hundred zhang tall. It was inscribed with countless blood-red runes, but at its very top, two large, silver ancient characters were prominently displayed, spelling out 'Blood Prison'.

"This is the Blood Prison," the old man surnamed Yu mumbled, "It's a bit different from what I imagined." He spoke after gazing at the misty sea for a while.

"It must be some kind of illusion," replied the old man surnamed Wu next to him, his eyes flashing. "Let me try to dispel it!"

He then flicked his sleeve, and a blue wooden plaque with an inlaid black ghost head flew out. He formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed a finger at the plaque in the air.

With a 'poof'!

The blue wooden plaque expanded against the wind, instantly transforming to the size of a doorway. Multicolored blue runes immediately appeared on its surface. At the same time, the ghost head on it opened its eyes and slowly parted its mouth.

With a roar!

A hazy blue light beam shot out from the ghost's mouth. After spinning rapidly, it instantly transformed into an incredibly massive pillar of blue wind, which immediately plunged into the misty sea nearby.

The next moment, a thundering sound erupted from the black misty sea. Amidst the fierce blue winds, the surrounding mist was swept away, forming an incredibly clear passage.

The Three Sages of Wuling immediately peered into the passage, and all their expressions changed.

Within the visible portion of the passage, they saw a massive lake formed from viscous blood. On its surface, countless thumb-sized, white maggot-like creatures crawled back and forth, sending shivers down their spines.

"So this is the true face of the Blood Prison? It can't still be an illusion, can it?" the old man surnamed Yu said subconsciously, his eyes wide.

"Hmph, what illusion can remain unchanged under my Azure Gale Wind?" The old man surnamed Wu snorted, then suddenly opened his mouth and spat out several wisps of vital energy into the blue wooden plaque.

Immediately, the gentle wind spewing from the ghost's mouth became more than ten times stronger than before, flowing continuously without interruption.

In less than the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, a large portion of the misty sea was completely swept away by the fierce wind, revealing most of the blood lake's true appearance.

The three old men looked again, and this time, all their faces lit up with joy.

On the blood lake, apart from the densely packed maggots, over a dozen dark iron cages of varying sizes had appeared.

The smaller cages were only about a zhang high, while the largest ones were over a thousand zhang tall. Not only were their surfaces covered with unknown faint golden runes, but their inner bars were also covered with countless sharp, blood-red spikes, making them appear exceptionally grim.

Most of these iron cages had their gates wide open, with only a few appearing perfectly sealed and seamless. Inside, each of them contained a skeletal remnant, each posed differently.

Although these skeletons had clearly existed for an unknown number of years, and their bone structures varied greatly, the faint auras lingering on them still sent shivers down the spines of the Three Sages of Wuling upon sensing them.

"These are the formidable enemies suppressed by True Immortal Tianding back then, and they are indeed extraordinary," the last old man said, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the skeletons. "However, we need to carefully identify which one is the skeleton of Lord Tianwu."

"That's easy to say," the old man surnamed Wu said with a light chuckle. "Since Lord Tianwu cultivated the Dao Comprehension technique, even after falling, his skeleton would definitely be different from others'. We just need to get closer, and we'll naturally be able to identify it easily."

"The other few corpses also belonged to individuals of great background, and they must have valuable treasures on them. We mustn't let them go either," the old man surnamed Yu also said eagerly, a hint of greed in his eyes.

"That's natural," the old man surnamed Wu finally declared, making the decision. "However, our main purpose for this trip is Lord Tianwu. To be safe, let's secure his legacy first."

The other two found this reasonable and immediately stopped debating. They each raised their hands and released several protective treasures to shield their bodies, then flew together on their escape lights directly towards the nearest black iron cage.

Given the bizarre nature of the blood lake, the three naturally dared not be careless in the slightest.

However, greatly to the surprise of the Three Sages of Wuling, until they reached the iron cage, the blood sea remained unusually calm, with no changes whatsoever.

Greatly astonished, the three were naturally overjoyed.

However, after each of them carefully examined the aura of the petite skeleton inside the cage, which was noticeably smaller than a normal human's, they all shook their heads, exchanging glances, and immediately flew towards another iron cage containing a skeleton.

After identifying two skeletons that were not the one they sought in succession, the three of them inadvertently flew to the very center of the blood lake.

There, they found a fourth iron cage containing a skeleton.

Unlike the previous three, this iron cage was almost the largest on the blood lake, standing five to six hundred zhang tall. In addition to the dense inward-facing barbs, the skeleton inside was bound by an immeasurably long blood-red chain, wrapped around it in countless coils.

The blood chain itself appeared extremely old and worn. Not only was its surface covered in rust, but in some places, faint cracks were clearly visible, as if the skeleton itself had struggled desperately in life.

The skeleton in the enormous iron cage was half-human, half-horse. Each of its bones was translucent and emerald green, and faint golden light could also be vaguely seen flowing within them.

While the skeleton's upper body was massive, it was otherwise identical to an ordinary human. Its lower body was nearly a hundred zhang long. The four remaining giant hooves were the only parts of the entire skeleton that still had some dry, pale silver, shriveled fur.

"There's no mistake, this must be the true form of Senior Tianwu!" the old man surnamed Yu said with immense delight, after merely sensing the terrifying aura emanating from it.

"Indeed, it's the aura of the Witch Dao, and it remains so powerful after such a long time. He is truly worthy of being called the venerable Lord Tianwu!" the last old man said with extreme excitement after also sensing it with his eyes closed.

"But where is Lord Tianwu's legacy?" the old man surnamed Wu asked, frowning after observing for a while.

These words immediately reminded the other two old men, who then realized that apart from this giant skeleton, there seemed to be nothing else suspicious in the entire iron cage.

"What's that?" After the three of them observed for a moment, the old man surnamed Yu's eyes lit up, and he suddenly pointed at a certain spot on the giant skeleton.

The other two quickly focused their gazes and followed his direction, only then noticing a faint dark shadow embedded within one of the colossal, beam-like ribs. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a jade tablet, or perhaps a jade slip.

"Good. Since this is undoubtedly where Lord Tianwu met his end, let's get to work and quickly open this cage," the old man surnamed Yu said hastily, no longer hesitating.

The other two naturally had no objections.

Immediately, waves of colorful light swirled around the three's bodies. Several protective treasures instantly transformed into surging waves of energy, striking a certain part of the iron cage with full force.

After a thunderous 'boom,' a golden light flashed from a spot on the black iron cage, erupting in an extremely dazzling burst of light. After the entire cage swayed for a few moments, the light subsided, and it returned to its calm state.

The old man surnamed Wu focused his gaze upon it, and his expression immediately turned grim.

Not a single mark was left on the surface of the entire iron cage.

"I'll try again!" the old man surnamed Yu said, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. He then made a grabbing motion in the air with one hand, and a hazy blood-red short sword instantly appeared in his palm. Its surface was engraved with countless strange spirit insect patterns, and embedded in its hilt was a thumb-sized crystal, as white as jade.

The old man held the sword in one hand. With a flash of blood-red light, he actually severed several fingers from his other hand. Then, muttering incantations, he pointed at the sword in the air.

Immediately, with a 'sizzle,' all the severed fingers transformed into several streams of bloody mist and drilled into the short sword. To be continued.