The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 174 - 158: Adding Fuel to the Fire, the Unseen Fourth Senior Brother

"This is... Light Magic?"

Zen Master Qing Yin, a look of astonishment on his face, slowly extended a hand, reaching out from within the illusory Golden Bell.

The moment his withered, ancient hand passed outside and touched the brilliant light, the flesh on it melted away like snow on a hot stove. A wave of searing pain instantly shot through him.

"So much Light Magic!"

His expression changed drastically, and he immediately pulled his hand back.

In just that brief moment, most of the flesh on his five fingers had dissolved. Now, new flesh writhed and grew, restoring his hand in an instant.

"The Life Crane Sect truly lives up to its reputation as Evil Demons and Outsiders. How audacious! To even dare to practice Light Magic!"

He showed no emotional reaction to De Lan's death. Instead, he marveled at the deranged madmen within the Life Crane Sect who would actually practice such a suicidal Technique.

Although De Lan was dead, the person who had unleashed these Techniques would likely not meet a much better end.

Chanting a Buddhist mantra, Zen Master Qing Yin shook his head from within the protection of the Golden Bell.

「Inside the Heavenly Respect Pavilion of the Life Crane Sect.」

Elder Life Crane was seated in the main chair of the central hall. He showed no emotional reaction to the turmoil currently wracking the sect, his expression as impassive as ever, no different from any other day.

It was only when a flash of light erupted from the direction of the Corpse Saliva Valley's entrance that He Tou glanced sideways, a grim, cold sneer appearing on its face.

"That kid has already entered the Corpse Transformation Realm! He tricked us!"

Yang An wanted to hide it, but it wasn't that easy.

It had a lock on the auras of everyone in the Life Crane Sect; it knew their every location and every action with perfect clarity.

This included Yang An killing a monk at the Corpse Transformation Realm, and then using the aura of the Wild Forbidden to secretly attack De Lan. He Tou had seen it all. Nothing could be hidden from it.

In its eyes, these were all just the boy's clever little tricks.

"He's not an Innate Flesh Mushroom! Old man! We were both wrong! It's impossible for an Innate Flesh Mushroom to break through to the Corpse Transformation Realm!"

"No! He is an Innate Flesh Mushroom! There's no mistake about that."

Hearing He Tou's words, Elder Life Crane simply shook his head.

"Only an Innate Flesh Mushroom can suppress the price. No one can escape the corruption, not even those fellows who have been hiding since the legendary Ancient Era!

But do you think he's some ancient monster?"

"Then how could he break through to the Corpse Transformation Realm?"

Based on all of Yang An's words and actions, he was clearly a fledgling who had just started cultivating. This meant that him being an Innate Flesh Mushroom was the only possibility, a fact even He Tou had to admit.

"Everyone has secrets! He must have them too!"

Elder Life Crane said slowly.

He Tou flew into a rage. "No shit! Cut the crap and speak plainly!"

"There might be someone behind him!"

"Someone else? Are you saying someone else also discovered he's an Innate Flesh Mushroom and secretly helped him break through to the Corpse Transformation Realm?"

"He's not the only Innate Flesh Mushroom. The Outer Continent is vast. Perhaps some people have already figured out a way for an Innate Flesh Mushroom to break through!"

"Then who could it be?"

Elder Life Crane's words immediately piqued He Tou's curiosity.

"Who it is isn't important. What's important is... the future of an Innate Flesh Mushroom! His soul! Everything about him! We've never had our hands on something like this before!"

"In that case, taking this little disciple under our wing was truly the most correct thing we've ever done. Hahaha!"

He Tou couldn't help but laugh as well.

"And there's the Earth Spirit Stele. He can also help us uncover what's hidden inside the Earth Spirit Stele."

"The Earth Spirit Stele is the most important thing! We must keep this boy. He's getting more and more interesting. He could very well be our breakthrough!"

"Don't worry! From now on, he will be our new Head Disciple!"

He Tou chuckled sinisterly, its plans clearly set.

"But these useless pieces of trash are too slow. Why don't we add some fuel to the fire?"

Changing the subject, He Tou brought up the current situation in the Life Crane Sect.

It was very dissatisfied that so many people had been fighting for so long without any result.

In contrast, Yang An had killed two monks back-to-back, both with clean efficiency. This greatly pleased it.

Elder Life Crane also seemed to be growing impatient, so he nodded.

"The sooner this ends, the sooner we can have our revenge."

"Heh heh!"

He Tou grinned.

"Then let the Fourth make a move!"

Its gaze turned to the southeast, piercing through countless buildings to land on an ancestral hall.

"Did you hear that? My good disciple!"

In that instant, the entire Life Crane Sect trembled slightly.

...

Leaping away from Wild Forbidden and completely ignoring its berserk frenzy, Yang An instantly vanished into a corner not far from Jin Tong's coffin.

'After thinking it over, this place actually seems a little safer.'

At least both Jin Tong and the monk lying on the ground seemed peaceful, and the surrounding battles had not spread to this area.

He had held nothing back with that arrow, unleashing all his Techniques and even infusing it with the Celestial Gnomon Light.

'De Lan had to be dead!'

And just as his feet touched the ground, a brilliant light flared up at the valley entrance, and De Lan's aura vanished without a trace. Yang An knew he had succeeded.

'With the Life Crane Sect in such chaos, I can only hope no one noticed me. I just need to wait for this to blow over.'

'I wonder how Junior Sister Wen Yin and that Zhou Quan are faring in this situation?'

Right now, they were the only two in the Life Crane Sect with a lower Cultivation Level than him.

But Yang An couldn't see either of them. He didn't know if they had already been killed by the people from Great Virtue Temple or were hiding somewhere. Even the Qi Seals he had left on them had disappeared, making them impossible to track.

If they were dead, their auras should have been easy to sense, so the latter possibility was more likely.

Glancing at the fierce battles still raging in the area, Yang An fully activated his Illusion Technique to conceal his aura.

'So far, I haven't seen the Zombie God Realm expert the old man mentioned. If I'm not mistaken, he's probably guarding the valley entrance, since that's the only way out.'

'It makes no sense for the entire Life Crane Sect to be trapped while leaving the entrance unguarded. Even though De Lan is dead, it's obvious I can't go back there. I'd just be walking right into a trap.'

Yang An had originally planned to head to the dungeons, but he dismissed the idea. For now, he would just hide here and see how things developed.

The Life Crane Sect was engulfed in the flames of war, now reduced to a complete ruin.

'I wonder when this will end.'

Just as Yang An was thinking this, he felt the ground beneath him begin to tremble.

'It's probably just fallout from the battle. The Life Crane Sect will have to be completely rebuilt after this. Otherwise, with so little left intact, this place will be uninhabitable.'

As he thought about it, Yang An suddenly furrowed his brow.

'Something's wrong!'

'The tremors are getting stronger, and... why does it feel like the entire ground is rising?!'

Yang An's gaze hardened, and he fully unleashed his perception.

His Cultivation Level had reached the Corpse Transformation Realm, and with his perception fully extended, he could cover more than half of the Life Crane Sect. The realization struck him with shock.

'The Life Crane Sect really is rising!'

Even the massive Golden Bell in the sky that had sealed the entire sect was getting visibly closer!

The barriers and Sanskrit characters that had enveloped the Life Crane Sect on all sides were also trembling violently, as if trying desperately to suppress this strange phenomenon.

'What's going on?!'

Yang An grew more and more astonished, a feeling of creeping horror washing over him.

The two sides fighting within the Life Crane Sect seemed to be on the verge of stopping due to this sudden disturbance.

Seeing this strange omen, the people from Great Virtue Temple immediately tried to withdraw and retreat.

But the members of the Life Crane Sect had gone berserk. They paid it no mind, continuing to attack the monks from Great Virtue Temple as if they had completely lost their minds.

People like Wild Forbidden You Hong'Er, in particular, continued their frenzied attacks with no intention of stopping.

And at that moment, not far from Yang An, next to Jin Tong's coffin, the monk lying quietly on the ground suddenly burst into roaring flames that instantly consumed him.

At the same time, the lid of the coffin flew up and landed on the ground with a BANG.

Covered in blood, Jin Tong slowly sat up in the coffin, then rose to his feet.

The blood vessels connecting him to the coffin like tentacles snapped one by one, releasing a flood of blood that quickly turned the coffin into a crimson pool.

Yang An noticed Jin Tong's strange movements. It was obvious this guy had dealt with the monk; the flames rapidly burned the monk's body to a crisp, his Undying Body seemingly having lost all effect.

Jin Tong, however, raised his head at that moment, looked up, and began to mutter to himself.

"Fourth Senior Brother... It's Fourth Senior Brother... I've seen you before. I saw you in Master's dream, hahahaha!"

"You're awake! You're finally awake!"

As if speaking in a delirium, Jin Tong began to laugh maniacally.

'Fourth Senior Brother?!'

Yang An wasn't far away, and hearing Jin Tong's words, he was stunned.

He had never heard that the old man had a "Fourth Senior Brother" among his disciples. He had never even heard him mentioned by Fu Ming, Wen Yin, or the others.

'I'd always assumed the position of the old man's fourth disciple was vacant, but to think such a person actually exists!'

'Could this "Fourth Senior Brother" be the cause of the strange phenomenon happening to the Life Crane Sect right now?'

Yang An had already extended his perception to its maximum range, but he couldn't find any trace of a "Fourth Senior Brother."

Suddenly, he looked down at the ground beneath his feet as if he had sensed something, and his expression changed dramatically.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The entire Life Crane Sect was rising, forcibly pushing the massive Golden Bell and countless Sanskrit characters higher into the sky.

The entire place seemed to be lifting out of thin air, rising higher and higher until it became a solitary island floating in the sky.

In an instant, countless cracks and fissures spread across the ground, as if an earthquake had struck.

But at that moment, a series of rumbles suddenly echoed from the southeast direction of the Life Crane Sect.

Massive steles began to rise from the location of the ancestral hall, bursting out from beneath the ground and spreading out in all directions!

Each stele was dozens of zhang high, like sharp blades piercing into the grounds of the Life Crane Sect.

Two enormous, dirt-caked hands suddenly appeared, one on either side, slamming down and gripping the flat ground of the Life Crane Sect. A deafening roar shook the heavens.

At this very moment, as Yang An extended his perception further and further downward, the shocking sight beneath the Life Crane Sect left him completely dumbfounded.

Beneath the Life Crane Sect was a figure. Its hair was disheveled, obscuring its face. Its body was caked in mud, and its knotted muscles were fused with rock!

Chains of flesh and blood extended from its body, connecting it to the earth far below and to the Life Crane Sect above.

Its hands gripped the edges of the Life Crane Sect's landmass, carrying the entire sect firmly upon its back.

It was... a barefoot giant, a full hundred zhang tall!