The wind howled, filling the area with a chilling atmosphere that even lifted bloodied bone fragments from the ground, splattering them onto bystanders. Gasps erupted as everyone wondered why the wind had suddenly picked up, unaware of the white glow in the sky.
Wang Xuan observed the entity he had decapitated rapidly fading away, its form dissolving in the cold gusts. It was dead! Had he truly killed an immortal?
Deep down, he doubted this was one of the celestial beings. He had encountered them before; the proud female sword immortal had mercifully spared Old Chen, even while he was nearly cleaved in half. Those who were truly immortal had to be alive to wield such power. Besides, the white tiger had transformed into a small cat before taking Old Chen away—one couldn't underestimate the beings at the ascendant tier.
No one else realized Wang Xuan had just slain a mysterious creature, but everyone felt a chill and saw blood on themselves, except for the Daoist and monk. To avoid suspicion, Wang Xuan smeared a bit of blood on himself, hoping to evade unnecessary trouble.
His heart raced as he considered how extraordinary this short sword truly was. Just as Old Chen had said, it could save one's life in mysterious circumstances.
When the wind subsided, an eerie calm took over. Such strange occurrences weren't unprecedented; even more disturbing events had happened in the past. Today's bloodshed left an unsettling impression on the witnesses.
People murmured about the Moon Pit's terrifying reputation, yet adventurers continued to flock there month after month, unfazed.
The Daoist kept swinging his sword, and the monk struck with his staff, both sensing something ominous.
"What bad luck! Just came to watch the show and ended up drenched in blood," Qin Cheng complained, grimacing as a piece of bone dropped from his collar.
His face went pale, and he stumbled back six meters, retching violently. He had never encountered such horror before; the sight of blood and flesh made him dizzy.
At that moment, four individuals still lying on the ground suddenly stood up without a sound, defying the laws of physics. One of them strode toward the base, taking huge leaps that covered ten meters with each bound.
Wang Xuan's pupils contracted—this strength was impressive!
However, when the person took their second leap, they abruptly exploded in a shower of blood. Qin Cheng, still retching, looked up in shock, finding his hands stained with blood and a chunk of torn flesh stuck to his fingers.
He leaped back two meters, thoroughly disgusted, shaking off the gruesome remnants. "Old Wang has left the building! I'm never watching this nonsense again! It's scarier than a midnight horror movie!"
Wang Xuan stood frozen, astonished. Why did that person disintegrate? He had seen the simultaneous glowing from the Baima Temple and the Daoist sect, which must have restricted the individual; something within them had struggled violently before exploding.
This confirmed that moving the ancestral homes of Buddhism and Daoism to this spot over a century ago was indeed purposeful. He wondered who had proposed such an idea back then—was it superstition, or had some enlightened individual orchestrated this to suppress the Moon's power?
"They ran! Why are they rushing toward the Moon Pit?" someone exclaimed, confused. Of the three remaining survivors, two dashed past the protective layer and leaped into the meteorite pit.
"Are those two insane?" another remarked. "It's broad daylight; the lunar surface outside the protective layer is over a hundred degrees! They'll be cooked!"
The last survivor, a young man, trembled as he spoke, "There's celestial light in the Moon Pit… a group of immortals…"
People instinctively backed away, fearing he would explode like the others, yet they leaned closer, eager to hear more.
"Don't explode!" Qin Cheng shouted, genuinely terrified.
"I… I think I'm already dead," the youth murmured before suddenly disintegrating, splattering blood on everyone nearby.
Many turned angrily toward Qin Cheng, blaming him for alerting the young man, which might have caused his immediate realization and subsequent explosion.
Wang Xuan felt his spiritual domain ripple, a fog spreading across his forehead as he focused on the ground, having caught a glimpse of something slipping underground. He waited, but nothing reemerged, and the area fell silent again.
After so many deaths, this was undoubtedly a significant incident. Soon the area was cordoned off, while ordinary people remained oblivious to the gruesome events that had transpired.
Wang Xuan and Qin Cheng took notes on what had happened and hurried away, both eager to wash off the unsettling blood.
Wang Xuan had smeared blood on himself intentionally, while Qin Cheng, upon returning to his place, nearly scrubbed his skin off in a frenzy to remove the grime.
At dinner that night, Qin Cheng saw Wang Xuan intently studying the menu, fixated on a plate of red sashimi. He felt nauseous and hastily ordered a fruit platter instead.
That night, in the darkness of his room, Wang Xuan fell into a deep sleep.
But soon, he awoke, sensing something was off. The atmosphere in the room felt wrong. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a disheveled creature, blood dripping from its mouth and its eyes glowing crimson!
This was the dead of night, when people should be in the deepest sleep, yet here he was, staring at this terrifying entity, making even the bold Wang Xuan recoil in shock.
Clearly, this creature had approached his bedside, and upon noticing him awake, it wasted no time lunging at him.
Despite his quick reflexes, Wang Xuan felt a sharp pain in his scalp as if something were trying to burrow inside him. A surge of fear coursed through him—was this a demon entering his world? It sought to penetrate his flesh, and it was coming from above!
Boom!
He activated the techniques from the Five Page Golden Book, causing a resonance in his organs, and a faint lightning glimmered in his chest as mystical power surged throughout his body.
Especially at the scalp, a real thunderous roar erupted, followed by a muffled explosion of sound, and then he heard a scream. The disheveled creature, with its crimson eyes, showed a flicker of fear but also madness as it staggered back, only to charge at him again.
Boom!
Wang Xuan struck forward with his palm, a faint white light and the sound of thunder accompanying the blow, sending the creature reeling. Black smoke billowed from its chest as it screamed in agony, but it turned to flee.
Wang Xuan leaped up, quickly grabbing the short sword beside his clothes and chased after it. As he thrust the blade forward, the creature let out a chilling wail, its body becoming half-transparent as it burrowed into the ground.
Wang Xuan felt a surge of energy in his legs; thunder roared loudly, and white light spread across the ground. The creature shrieked again, this time bursting through the wall.
Realization dawned on him—he was witnessing a manifestation of his spiritual domain, which allowed him to perceive this being while ordinary people could not.
He pursued it into the courtyard, throwing the short sword. The creature howled in pain, its form dissipating into a wisp of mist. Just then, the distant sound of a bell echoed, and the ancient Daoist temple nearby illuminated, scattering the last remnants of that mist into nothingness.
Though it was night, stepping outside his room revealed a brightness akin to daytime—a frustrating and unsettling aspect of the Moon.
"This isn't quite like the ghostly beings of legend. They aren't afraid of sunlight. What exactly are these creatures? Why did those people say there's a group of immortals in the Moon Pit? By their account, I've already killed two immortals," Wang Xuan muttered to himself, realizing he had dispatched a daytime creature that had slipped through.
The most annoying part was being disturbed from his slumber. He was tempted to charge into the Moon Pit and deal with those immortals responsible for this assault on his rest—he would remember this grievance.
However, after pondering for a moment, he hesitated to venture into the Moon Pit. If it were that simple, they wouldn't have summoned both Buddhist and Daoist ancestral temples to suppress it.
"I've caught the attention of the 'immortals.' Why are they coming after me?"
With a determined mindset, he returned to his room, short sword in hand, and soon fell back asleep.
The next morning, Qin Cheng rushed to find Wang Xuan, exclaiming that there was a young heir from a financial conglomerate among the previous day's expedition team.
"What's so special about that? People from financial circles dare to venture into danger; they can die just like anyone else," Wang Xuan replied dismissively.
"It's the Qin family, one of the super conglomerates in New Star. Their descendant has gone missing in the Moon Pit. That's not the main point; the key is they've issued a bounty. Whoever can retrieve Qin Yunfeng's body will receive a hefty reward," Qin Cheng explained.
"Is that someone from your family?" Wang Xuan chuckled.
"I have no connection to them whatsoever!" Qin Cheng sighed, noting the vast disparity between him and someone of Qin Yunfeng's stature.
One of the two young men who had ventured back into the Moon Pit was indeed Qin Yunfeng. There was no doubt he would have succumbed to the extreme heat.
"Some people have things that others work a lifetime to achieve, and they find it so easy. Perhaps they've lost the drive in life and seek extreme thrills through adventures, ultimately costing themselves dearly," Qin Cheng remarked, reflecting on the stark differences in their lives.
This incident had stirred up quite a commotion. While the power of conglomerates had been on the rise in recent years, they generally kept a low profile, staying in the shadows.
Qin Yunfeng's reckless endangerment was unprecedented among the heirs of wealthy families in recent times.
"Are you going to watch?" Wang Xuan asked him.
"Of course! I want to see who dares to enter the Moon Pit," Qin Cheng replied, unable to resist the allure of the spectacle.
At the protective barrier, a crowd had gathered, murmuring and discussing recent events. They had deployed the latest model of robot to explore the Moon Pit, but it had completely gone offline after entering.
"It's still ineffective. That robot was designed to withstand magnetism, pulse attacks, and energy interference, reaching its peak performance, yet it still couldn't resist the mysterious erosion within the Moon Pit," someone lamented.
"Here comes Old Ling!" Qin Cheng whispered, sounding slightly awed.
Wang Xuan turned to see Ling Qiming approaching, accompanied by several people, standing near the protective barrier to observe the Moon Pit.
"Why has Old Ling come here?" Wang Xuan wondered aloud.
"They say the Ling family has a close partnership with the Qin family. It's likely they informed him about the situation on the Moon and asked him to keep an eye on things," Qin Cheng responded.
Wang Xuan nodded. "I'm curious about how enticing the Qin family's reward is."
Qin Cheng had gathered information about the offer: "It's quite appealing. The Qin family has prepared a variety of items to choose from—golden mushrooms, earth marrow, considered rare treasures. Additionally, there's an ancient secret book for honing the spirit, a notebook left behind by the legendary figure Olesha from the New Technique realm, and a sword classic unearthed from the old Shu Mountain. While no one can fully master the ancient sword techniques, it's said to be related to flying sword techniques. They're all valuable items. If someone doesn't want those, they can exchange them for New Star coins."
"Sounds tempting, but Wang Zhenxian's worth is too high; they won't be able to entice me!" Just as Wang Xuan finished speaking, he sensed something was off. A few figures, serene and radiant, began to silently float from the Moon Pit, fixating on him with their vibrant light.