Chapter 135: Optimus Prime

Swallowed whole by the enormous head, Meng Chuan plummeted through a vortex of black wind.

After falling for a moment, his Essence Soul domain finally detected the ground. He landed silently, using his movement technique, and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

"Master said this is Yuanchu Mountain's primary forbidden zone," Meng Chuan observed carefully. "He told me to strive to obtain a powerful opportunity, but where exactly is it?"

A faint white mist drifted around him, and in the distance, he could vaguely discern towering pillars reaching for the sky.

Meng Chuan looked in all directions. Each direction had a towering pillar, and each pillar was equidistant from him.

"There are twelve pillars in total, all incredibly tall, forming a massive circle," Meng Chuan noted. He first examined the ground, which was composed of a peculiar black rock he had never encountered before.

"Thump."

Meng Chuan tried stomping on it. Even with a slight application of force, he could normally create a pit over ten meters wide, but this black rock merely trembled slightly, remaining completely undamaged, without even a single fragment breaking off.

"Where is this opportunity?" Meng Chuan's Essence Soul domain could perceive far more details than his physical eyes, yet he found no hidden opportunities within twenty meters of him.

"The most conspicuous features here are those twelve pillars. I should investigate them first." Meng Chuan immediately began walking cautiously towards one of the pillars.

Suddenly, Meng Chuan saw a red mist rising from the rocky ground ahead. The mist coalesced, forming the figure of a person in red robes. This red-robed figure, eyes filled with murderous intent, swiftly charged towards Meng Chuan.

"It's not a living being; it's formed by the convergence of special energies," Meng Chuan's twenty-meter domain clearly discerned this.

His saber flashed instantly, slicing through the red-robed figure.

"Its strength is equivalent to a newly ascended Godfiend; quite weak," Meng Chuan calmly observed the red-robed figure. After being cut, its body disintegrated back into red mist, which then diffused into the surroundings.

Countless wisps of red mist rose from the black rock surface, coalescing into more red-robed figures. Hundreds of them appeared simultaneously, with even more still forming.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

A multitude of red-robed figures, varying in size from tall to slender, charged at Meng Chuan. Some ran quickly, others slowly. Some were unarmed, while others wielded various weapons like sabers, swords, staves, hammers, and axes.

"Hmph."

Meng Chuan stood his ground. When the large group of red-robed figures closed in, he suddenly moved.

He transformed into a streak of lightning, leaving an elusive trail as he repeatedly weaved through the throng of red-robed figures. The saber strikes from his hand were silent, employing his current fastest move: the Extreme Yin Form. The Extreme Yin Form was a variation of the Heart Saber Form, sacrificing 'Yin-Yang Transformation' in pursuit of speed. It was highly effective for dispatching weaker opponents.

His saber shadows were silent, each slash cutting through three or four red-robed figures. With a shift in his movement technique and a turn, he would then slice horizontally through two more figures...

His saber moves transitioned seamlessly and silently.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of red-robed figures were sliced apart and disintegrated back into red mist, making the surrounding mist grow thicker and thicker.

"Hmm?" Meng Chuan immediately sensed that his protective True Yuan could no longer resist such a high concentration of red mist. In an instant, it permeated his body and began seeping into his sea of consciousness.

The red mist had no physical effect on his body, but it clearly affected his consciousness, giving him an urge to go mad.

With a thought, his Essence Soul power blocked the red mist, maintaining absolute clarity.

"These red-robed figures are growing in number," Meng Chuan realized.

The more he killed, the more new red-robed figures appeared.

The strength of these red-robed figures was also increasing, becoming more formidable.

After Meng Chuan had slain over a thousand red-robed figures, new ones even began to appear as archers! One by one, red-robed figures drew their bows and fired arrows from a distance, which Meng Chuan dared not block with his body.

"The red-robed figures are getting stronger, with a select few even approaching the Great Sun realm Godfiends," Meng Chuan thought, secretly surprised. He continued to employ his movement technique, dominating the entire battlefield and ensuring that only a minimal number of red-robed figures could assail him at any one time.

"This mist..."

Meng Chuan could still handle the strength of the red-robed figures. His speed was monstrous, comparable to a Regressor Godfiend; if he wished to flee, these figures couldn't catch him. He could easily control the battlefield, dividing and eliminating them in segments. However, the increasingly dense red mist exerted a stronger and stronger impact on his sea of consciousness. Even his Essence Soul power struggled to resist, with tiny wisps of red mist permeating his sea of consciousness. Even Meng Chuan's willpower felt a surge of heat and madness within.

"I can't keep killing them. The more I kill, the denser the red mist becomes, and I'll lose control," Meng Chuan decided, ceasing his slaughter. He could only rely on his movement technique to repeatedly evade the frenzied pursuit of the thousand red-robed figures.

Now, the power of his perfected Thunder Annihilation Godfiend Body became evident. These thousand red-robed figures were almost all at the Undying realm of Godfiends, with a very few at the Great Sun realm. If he had truly been surrounded, Meng Chuan would have collapsed long ago! But his speed allowed him to easily shake them off, and even a thousand figures spread across the entire battlefield were sparse and posed no threat to Meng Chuan.

After evading them for a moment, all the red-robed figures suddenly disintegrated simultaneously, turning into an even denser red mist.

The concentration of the pervading red mist surged once more.

"Oh no!"

Meng Chuan's Essence Soul power was completely overwhelmed, and the red mist surged towards his consciousness.

The moment it engulfed him, all the red mist receded.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh - all the red mist seeped back into the black rock, and tranquility returned to the surroundings.

Meanwhile, the faint white mist began to stir, parting to reveal a path that led directly to one of the towering pillars to Meng Chuan's southeast.

"Is this directing me to go there?" Meng Chuan wondered, slightly confused. He tried to take a couple of steps to the side, but the path formed by the white mist presented an invisible barrier, preventing him from going anywhere else.

"I can only go forward," Meng Chuan decided, no longer hesitating as he advanced. He carefully observed his surroundings; the other eleven pillars remained indistinct within the white mist and were inaccessible.

After walking for five or six *li*, he reached the towering pillar.

The towering pillar was majestic and lofty, entirely black, yet it subtly glowed with a faint red light.

"Whoosh."

A beam of light shot out from the pillar and landed on Meng Chuan.

It was an incredibly tiny crystal that burrowed into Meng Chuan's body—smaller than a speck of dust! It was smaller than any substance Meng Chuan had ever encountered, so minute that even his True Yuan and physical body couldn't block it. It easily penetrated his flesh, directly reaching the *Shanzhong* acupoint within his physical body.

This acupoint is an extremely vital one within a Godfiend's body.

"Boom!"

As the tiny crystal entered the *Shanzhong* acupoint, accompanied by a resounding boom, the acupoint underwent a complete transformation, opening up a new space. This space was comparable in magnitude to the Dantian space and the Sea of Consciousness space.

"The Middle Dantian!" Meng Chuan understood.

The Lower Dantian is where True Yuan gathers. The Middle Dantian, located at the *Shanzhong* acupoint, is where Marquis Godfiends and Regressor Godfiends cultivate their Godfiend bodies and condense Godfiend Blood Crystals. These Blood Crystals then accumulate within the Middle Dantian. The Upper Dantian is the Sea of Consciousness, the dwelling place of the Essence Soul.

"Only Marquis Godfiends are supposed to open their Middle Dantian. Did this tiny crystal actually help me open mine prematurely?" Meng Chuan was still pondering this when, as his consciousness probed the peculiar tiny crystal, a torrent of information immediately surged into his mind from it.

Meng Chuan stood motionless before the majestic pillar, needing some time to process the immense influx of information.

"Whoosh."

A dark vortex appeared beside him, sucking Meng Chuan inside.

Meng Chuan was thrown out again.

He staggered upon landing but quickly regained his balance. Looking around, he saw his Master and the ethereal figure of the woman in gold and red robes.

"I'm out?" Meng Chuan was somewhat bewildered.

How long had he been in there? He was out so soon?

"You were only in there for half an hour; that was quick," the ethereal figure of Venerable Luo Tang asked. "Young Meng Chuan, what kind of opportunity did you obtain?"

Beside her, Venerable Qin Wu smiled. "The length of time spent in Cangyuan Caverns has no bearing on the quality of the opportunity. Meng Chuan, what kind of opportunity did you receive?"

"What did I receive?" Meng Chuan stood there, still slightly dazed, for the immense information transmitted by the mysterious tiny crystal had truly stunned him.