Chapter 925: Hell Beneath the Buddhist Temple

**Chapter 927: Hell Under the Buddhist Temple**

Ye Fan’s cold sweat poured. Amidst the collapsed ruins, an additional person stood. In the darkness, only a majestic and tall silhouette was visible, with a pair of remarkably bright eyes, like two green lamps.

A silent confrontation ensued. Ye Fan was deeply shocked; this person must be incredibly powerful to have approached him so closely without detection.

This was highly unusual. Knowing that this place, the ancient planet Mars, had long become a dead land, why was such a mysterious entity still present?

"Are you Ancestor Crocodile?" Ye Fan's voice was devoid of emotion. Having experienced so much, he wouldn't panic even if a Quasi-Emperor appeared before him.

The eyes, like two green lamps, dimmed, and the person vanished into thin air as if they had never been there. The spot was empty.

A chill ran down Ye Fan's spine. This person was incredibly fast, vanishing without a trace, as if they had evaporated. He abruptly turned to look behind him, and a cold shiver immediately went down his spine. In the gloom, a vague yet imposing silhouette was staring fixedly at him—it was the same person from just moments ago. Again, in less than an instant, the mysterious phantom disappeared, leaving no trace of life fluctuations, only to reappear in another direction.

How could it be so fast? Ye Fan was truly astonished. If this person were to attack, how could he possibly defend himself? It was terrifying! Was it Ancestor Crocodile? He didn't know. He couldn't see its true form or features, nor could he even sense its aura. What exactly was this thing? If it were Ancestor Crocodile, it would have likely crushed him with a single finger by now. Why hadn't it attacked?

Ye Fan activated the "Line" character secret, transforming into a streak of light and darting away from the Great Leiyin Temple ruins. He stopped several miles away, listening to the sounds of the world. Everything was utterly silent. With no storms raging, the entire ancient planet Mars was still, except for the sound of his own heartbeat. Stars twinkled in the sky, casting faint glows. In the eerie dimness, the Great Leiyin Temple ruins in the distance lay motionless, like a hibernating beast.

"What's going on? Why didn't that demonic shadow follow?" Ye Fan was surprised. The majestic human-like figure had flitted back and forth there, making his hair stand on end. Why wasn't it following him now?

"A bit strange!" Ye Fan circled the exterior of the Great Leiyin Temple ruins, observing it. No abnormalities occurred, which left him puzzled. "Could it be that the figure just now was something born from the ancient temple's ruins?" Considering this possibility, he felt much calmer. He walked forward step by step, slowly approaching the ruins that had been desolate for many years.

As expected, as soon as he got close, the majestic figure reappeared silently in the same spot, constantly changing positions, like a ghost king. Furthermore, when Ye Fan tried to move towards the other end of the ruins, an even more terrifying scene unfolded: an ancient great demon, seemingly breathing in and out the world, appeared intermittently, exuding an astonishingly sinister aura, completely different from the demonic shadow he had just seen.

Ye Fan felt no fear upon seeing this scene; instead, he was completely relieved. Having spent so much time with people like Duan De and the Black Emperor in the Beidou star domain, he couldn't help but learn about many strange things. Through constant exposure, he was almost becoming an expert on the subject. These were temple-guarding demon gods!

All of this must originate from the foundation. After so many years, Ancestor Crocodile had escaped, collapsing the underground cornerstone and allowing Shakyamuni's countermeasures to manifest in the world. There was a mystical and cruel underground sealing method in the world, where the foundation was cast with the blood of powerful demon saints. The deceased could manifest various forms they had in life. The Great Leiyin Temple was built upon a demonic land, with eighteen layers of hell beneath. Its construction must have involved immense effort and thorough preparation; otherwise, the entire ancient temple would likely have been overturned by the demons below.

Ye Fan carefully cleared the debris and broken walls of the Great Leiyin Temple, immediately revealing a sinister-looking foundation. "This is a Buddhist paradise, yet underground, it's like this. To suppress demons, Shakyamuni truly employed harsh methods." This foundation was clearly extraordinary. Every stone in it was carved with mysterious black and red runes, steeped in demon blood, making it terrifying to behold. In the central area, surrounded by the underground foundation stones, there was a massive black hole. After clearing the rubble, wisps of terrifying demonic energy wafted out from below.

"This is the eighteen layers of hell. Ancestor Crocodile escaped from here back then." That the Buddhist Great Leiyin Temple had eighteen layers of hell beneath it would be unbelievable even to devout Buddhists if the news reached the mortal world. When Ancestor Crocodile escaped, the divine remnant thought also rushed out. It was unknown whether other, more powerful extraterrestrial deities had also broken free. "This place isn't far from Earth. If these things were to break free..."

Ye Fan shivered involuntarily. In this current era of spiritual decline, where people didn't understand cultivation, who on Earth could possibly contend with them? The thought made him uneasy, and he decided to go down and investigate.

Ye Fan entered the large black hole alone. It resembled the gaping, ferocious maw of an ancient beast, waiting to devour its prey. Bone-chilling killing intent surged forth, hurting like dull blades cutting into flesh. The underground space was vast, hundreds of *zhang* deep, and equally long and wide. Although it was pitch black, nothing could hide from his Heavenly Eye. This was the first layer of hell!

The walls were covered with carvings of golden Arhats, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas, depicted in demon-subduing stances, glaring fiercely with divine majesty. This was a place for refining demons! Ye Fan was astonished. The killing intent emanating from these carvings, accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years, could refine a great demon king. They possessed profound and unfathomable divine powers. This was where Ancestor Crocodile had been suppressed. His ability to survive two millennia of live suppression was nothing short of a miracle.

The enormous and desolate first layer of hell was entirely carved out of rock, as if it had been hollowed out from a gigantic demonic stone. In each of the four corners stood a massive stone pillar, supporting the Great Leiyin Temple above, and seemingly suppressing this place as well. These four stone pillars were carved with various demon gods and featured grooves filled with dried black blood. These were demon-transforming stakes, used for refining demon saints. The ground was permeated with killing intent. There were several enormous scales, each more than a person's length, gleaming with a chilling light. These undoubtedly belonged to Ancestor Crocodile, having been refined and shed in the first layer of hell.

Ye Fan picked up one, finding its material extremely hard. Even though its demonic energy had been refined away and its essence dissolved, it still retained a trace of immortal quality. "Truly a demon saint! Even a discarded scale is this terrifying!" Ye Fan gritted his teeth, filled with hatred for Ancestor Crocodile, wanting to pull out its tendons and extract its bones.

In one corner, there was a large black hole leading deeper underground. That was the entrance to the second layer of hell, the place where the vengeful spirit of a Great Accomplishment Saintly Body was suppressed. Ye Fan leapt in. He wanted to see how many layers of hell had been breached. The underground was utterly dark and even more gloomy. At the same time, yin energy assailed his body, making his skin ache as if pricked by needles.

Suddenly, his expression froze, and his entire body stiffened. In this layer of hell, there was a ghostly lamp emitting a green, oily light, with a chilling aura washing over him. Moreover, in front of that ghostly lamp, there was a stone coffin, and a wizened old man was squatting on top of it, smiling eerily at him. Ye Fan's hair stood on end. He stumbled back, horrified that there was a living being in this second layer of hell!

This place had already been unsealed, so why was there still such a ghostly lamp and such an old ghost exuding overwhelming yin energy? His body ached even more, as if thousands of yin needles were piercing him.

"Boom!" Ye Fan immediately summoned his cauldron. Nine-colored flames poured out like a waterfall, enveloping his entire body, and he held a Bodhi seed in his palm. This was a supreme Yang divine fire, capable of burning away all filth and evil spirits. Ye Fan used it for protection but did not act rashly, staring intently ahead.

"Swoosh!" The wizened old man transformed into a faint light and merged into the bronze lamp with a human body and ghost face. The lamp's wick immediately grew brighter.

"This is a Coffin-Suppressing Lamp!" Ye Fan gasped. He recalled Duan De's words and finally understood what this object was. This human-bodied, ghost-faced lamp would undoubtedly be a priceless treasure for Duan De. It was a divine artifact used to suppress tombs, capable of pressing down coffins and suppressing vengeful spirits! In this place, there were no other vengeful spirits, but there was once a divine remnant thought of a Great Accomplishment Saintly Body—an emperor among ghosts. Who could compare? And this ghostly lamp was naturally a leader among its kind!

How such a ghostly lamp was refined was unknown to anyone. Not to mention the lamp body itself, even the oil it burned was incredibly hard to find. It was said to be refined from the fat within a Saint's body, and the more Saints involved, the better. The lamp's flame would burn eternally. Looking at the ghostly lamp and its eerie green flame, Ye Fan felt a shiver of horror. That was oil refined from a Saint's body burning, and considering it was used to suppress the vengeful spirit of a Great Accomplishment Saintly Body, its oil must be even rarer and more terrifying. This type of object was not a magic weapon and could not be used to attack enemies in normal times. It was only for suppressing tombs and had unparalleled utility in Yin mausoleums.

Ye Fan stared at the human-bodied, ghost-faced lamp. Its wick was a tongue protruding from it, exuding an indescribable sinister and terrifying aura. This object was very ancient; time had left indelible marks of its age upon it. By sheer intuition, he could tell that this lamp had existed for at least tens of thousands of years. It certainly wasn't refined by Shakyamuni; he must have found it elsewhere to suppress the vengeful spirit of the Great Accomplishment Saintly Body. This ghostly lamp was likely a marvelous item. If Duan De were here, he would undoubtedly be drooling and pouncing on it, but Ye Fan was quite resolute and unwilling to keep it. Aside from dealing with ancient Yin mausoleums, this lamp truly had no significant use.

Ye Fan looked at the human oil burning in the wick with a hint of disgust. Although ancient great saints were sacred, the kind of things they left behind were truly unsettling. "Although it's not very clean, it does have its precious aspects. Once you enter an ancient burial ground or a divine tomb, this lamp would be equivalent to a divine treasure, possessing an inexplicable and eerie power." He wanted to put it away, but he was somewhat concerned about the wizened old man causing trouble. However, this also indirectly proved the lamp's terrifying nature, having given birth to a divine spirit. Ye Fan pinched his nose and threw the lamp into the nine-colored flames within his cauldron to suppress and collect it.

The stone coffin was empty. It was unlikely anything would be left behind, as the divine remnant thought had already escaped, leaving only wafts of chilling aura. The hell reached its end, but it wasn't eighteen layers; there were only two. This puzzled Ye Fan, as it was completely different from his conjecture. He searched repeatedly and meticulously, eventually coming back up, and re-examined the Great Leiyin Temple ruins. Finally, he discovered a hidden secret.

A stone tablet was buried beside the underground cornerstone. The inscriptions on it were neither Sanskrit nor Bell-and-Tripod script, but the divine script common to all primeval races! Now, although Ye Fan couldn't fully comprehend it, he was close, able to discern the meaning of most of it. "The Yin-Yang Hell has only two layers, mutually restraining and sealing each other using the power of Yin and Yang." This was the general meaning of the first line, and there was more written below.

Ye Fan instantly understood: the eighteen layers of hell were separate, grouped in pairs, scattered across nine ancient planets, collectively suppressing eighteen terrifying ancient beings, each more powerful than the last! "It's fortunate that's the case. Otherwise, if the seals here were broken and all eighteen ancient divine beings rushed out, even Shakyamuni's return might not be enough."

Suddenly, the deafening sound of waves reached him. At first, Ye Fan thought it was an illusion, but listening closely again, he could hardly believe his ears—it was real! And just then, he saw a vast, black ocean surging towards him on the horizon! He had read reports before that the ancient planet Mars might have had large rivers, even great lakes and oceans, in the distant past. But the era was completely different now, so how could they still exist?

"Boom!" Crashing waves battered the shore, and rocks flew through the air. In that black expanse of water, several ghostly ships were sailing, flickering with eerie green lights. It was indescribably bizarre.