Chapter 578: Taking the Shortcut into the Secret Realm

"This path also leads to the secret realm," the evil spirit began. "However, it's full of formidable restrictions and traps. Back then, the Tiger Demon Emperor and I struggled greatly to clear it. That old Taoist won't be able to break through in just a few days."

The evil spirit sneered.

Jiang Fan mused that there was indeed more to it.

"Where is the other path?"

The evil spirit recalled, "Have you seen a large Buddha statue facing east, with half of its head missing?"

Jiang Fan scanned the surroundings. He indeed found such a large Buddha statue. He remained silent, instead gesturing with the Dragon-Binding Lock towards Concubine Yunxia. "How long do you plan to keep me bound?" he asked. "You can't expect me to go down like this, can you?"

Concubine Yunxia was looking towards the bottom, her eyes full of worry. Hearing this, she nodded slightly. Pulling the chains, she led Jiang Fan to a stone pillar that plunged directly into the ground. Then she firmly tied the other end of the chains to the pillar.

"What do you mean?" Jiang Fan asked, momentarily stunned. "Do you take me for a beast of burden? You're tying me up here?"

Concubine Yunxia let out a chuckle and gave him a playful roll of her eyes. "Who said I was taking you with me? Just wait here for me to return." With that, she hurried underground with Chun Ni.

Leaving Jiang Fan tied to the stone pillar alone, he muttered a few choice words about her.

"That rotten woman!" Jiang Fan was both amused and annoyed. "She has a hundred tricks up her sleeve," he mumbled.

The evil spirit frowned deeply. "Lad, aren't you in trouble now? Even a Nascent Soul cultivator can't break free from these chains. Even if you could smash the stone pillar and move freely, your hands and feet are still bound. You can't go into the secret realm like that, can you? There are still some dangers inside. Being incapacitated would be like losing half your life from the start."

Jiang Fan smiled mysteriously, reaching into his topknot and feeling around. He surprisingly pulled out another key. He inserted it into the lock and twisted. The lock clicked open.

The evil spirit's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "Didn't that woman take the key?"

Jiang Fan put all the chains into his Heavenly Thunder Stone, then stretched his hands and feet, which had gone slightly numb from being bound. He casually replied, "Yes, I gave it to her. But I didn't give her the real key."

The evil spirit was baffled. "Then what key did you give her?"

"The key to my Azure Cloud Sect's dwelling," Jiang Fan replied. Jiang Fan shrugged, saying, "She's never seen the Dragon-Binding Lock key up close anyway. If I gave her my house key, she wouldn't recognize it either."

It turned out that even before he was about to be locked up, Jiang Fan had a thought. He tucked both the Dragon-Binding Lock's key and his dwelling's door key into his hair. Upon receiving a fake key, Concubine Yunxia's vigilance greatly decreased. She didn't bother to check Jiang Fan's hair further, completely unaware that the real key remained in Jiang Fan's possession.

The evil spirit was dumbfounded: "Lad, you... you're too cunning! You can do that?" Even for him, a former grand cultivator of the Nascent Soul stage, Jiang Fan's trick left him utterly stunned. And here he was, thinking Concubine Yunxia had a hundred tricks up her sleeve. Jiang Fan himself had eight hundred!

"Alright, it's time for us to set off."

He approached the large eastward-facing Buddha statue with half its head missing. It was the only Buddha statue still standing in the temple. Circling the statue, he suddenly noticed the words "Benevolent Buddha" carved into its base. He then remembered the same two words from the prophecy. It seemed the evil spirit hadn't tricked him. This was indeed the true passage into the secret realm.

After a moment of thought, he exerted his strength, trying to push the large Buddha statue.

Rumble—

As the statue moved, a man-sized opening hidden beneath its base came into view.

"Lad, hurry in! Many treasures are waiting for us to claim them," the evil spirit urged excitedly.

Jiang Fan didn't rush to act. Instead, he placed a copper coin in his mouth, wore the jade bone necklace around his neck, and donned the Turtle Breath Cloak. Meanwhile, he held the Heavenly Mountain Silk. Only after preparing thoroughly did he carefully descend.

The evil spirit rolled his eyes. "Is all this caution really necessary?" he asked. "Would I, this old man, harm you?"

Jiang Fan chuckled softly. He focused intently as he descended through the narrow passage. It was unclear how the passage was carved; it was perfectly circular and incredibly smooth and extremely deep. Jiang Fan continued to climb down for a considerable amount of time. He estimated he had reached the very bottom of the mountain's core.

Suddenly, a faint light entered his vision. He focused his eyes. Below him was a vast, hollow cavern within the mountain. It had been transformed into a grand underground dwelling. Pavilions, towers, artificial hills, and flowing water were present, and luminous pearls on the mountain walls shone like stars. Various spirit-gathering formations on the ground flickered on and off. As his feet touched the ground, puffs of white mist rose, revealing itself to be etherealized spiritual energy. Cultivating here for a day would surpass a month of cultivation outside!

"Hiss! This is truly a blessed land!" Jiang Fan exclaimed inwardly. Even if he gained nothing else, cultivating here for two days would significantly boost his cultivation. Moreover, this place hardly looked like one from which he would leave empty-handed.

Inner halls were carved into all four sides of the stone walls. One of the grand halls was tightly shut, while the other three stood open, revealing a messy interior. Clearly, they had been plundered.

Jiang Fan's eyes flickered, and he approached the stone hall with the tightly shut door. There were signs of violent bombardment on the hall door, but it hadn't opened. He didn't dare to act rashly. Those who came here were all Nascent Soul cultivators, or even close to the Soul Transformation stage. Since even they couldn't open it, it was clear that something powerful on the door had blocked their attacks.

Through a small crack in the door, where a corner had broken off, Jiang Fan peered inside and found what appeared to be a meditation room. The room was covered in dust. The meditation cushion had decayed into ash. The gem-studded kasaya had also rotted away, leaving only some gold threads and remnants of fabric. Even the stone bed for resting was covered in a foot of dust.

What was surprising, however, was a string of golden prayer beads hanging on the wall. It emitted a faint golden glow. Dust that settled on it was automatically repelled. Therefore, it looked as good as new. Moreover, even through the restricted main door, he could feel the intense suppressive power this string of prayer beads exerted on souls.

"What is this?" Jiang Fan asked, his eyes burning with eagerness. "Why didn't you take it back then?"

These prayer beads were definitely no ordinary item.

The evil spirit was silent for a moment, seemingly reluctant to speak. After some consideration, he truthfully revealed, "Those are Soul-Suppressing Prayer Beads, effective in suppressing vengeful spirits and binding evil souls. They are a spiritual artifact, a top-grade one, similar to the Five Magnetic Origin Mountain in your hand."

"What? A top-grade spiritual artifact?" Jiang Fan gasped. "And specifically for suppressing souls." He shifted his gaze, a half-smile playing on his lips. "No wonder you were reluctant to say anything. So, this item specifically counters you."

The evil spirit snorted, "Not just me. It can counter any soul entity. Alright, don't even think about getting your hands on those prayer beads. This hall is the hardest of the four to open. Even the Tiger Demon Emperor and I, working together, couldn't break through the restrictions on it back then. Presumably, only a Soul Transformation cultivator might be able to." It was precisely for this reason that he finally divulged the information. After all, with Jiang Fan's current ability, he wouldn't be able to break the restrictions.

Jiang Fan showed a look of regret, saying, "Even two great powerful cultivators like yourselves were helpless when working together. No wonder people kept coming later but still couldn't do anything about this door." With a hint of unwillingness, he said, "Never mind. Let's quickly go check the other three halls before they arrive." With that, he immediately headed towards the other halls.

The evil spirit secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Jiang Fan were to acquire that item, it would truly be the end of the world for him.

However, he didn't notice. Jiang Fan had indeed left, but the robe in his arms stirred. A small, fluffy beast silently remained near the grand hall. Once they were far away, the little beast emerged from the shadows and, with sleepy eyes, observed the door. Then, without a care, it pushed its way into the hall. Neither the stone door nor the restrictions offered any resistance.