Chapter 426 - 218: Asura

"Oh?"

The Yaksha’s words made Chu Xiu raise an eyebrow: "What do you mean by that?"

"Just a few months ago, I felt myself awakening from that beast-like slumber, slowly regaining my consciousness, while my power increased dramatically. Yesterday, it reached its limit, becoming more than ten times stronger than before."

"For some reason, the will that had been suppressing me seemed to weaken significantly, and I sensed that beyond this ’Peach Blossom Spring’, there’s a much broader space. As long as I can get outside, I can completely escape the control of that consciousness."

"After having experienced ’freedom’, even if you kill me, I don’t want to return to that muddled state. We drove the Hungry Ghosts to attack just to break into the Buddhist Sect and force those bald monks to tell us how to leave."

"Originally, we thought with our current strength, achieving this would be easy, but we didn’t expect..." The Yaksha looked at Chu Xiu, its soul’s fluctuations filled with bitterness.

It felt aggrieved too; it thought it was being careful enough, even gathering a large group of Hungry Ghosts to overwhelm the place before acting, just in case the Buddhist Sect had some special means.

But who the hell would have thought that such a terrifying powerhouse would suddenly appear!

On the other side, the so-called "terrifying powerhouse" furrowed his brows, sinking deeper into contemplation.

The restoration of consciousness and power enhancement in these three minions should all be due to Abyssal Power.

Once the Ancient Trials are initiated, the Abyss begins to find these lost "Shelters" and enhance the power of the abyssal creatures within to match the difficulty of the Ancient Trials.

Meanwhile, the Abyss’s terrifying power to accelerate time can make time in this area leap by hundreds or thousands of years in a short period, until it reaches the appropriate time node.

This is why only a few decades have passed since the apocalypse in the Corpse Demon World, yet this shelter has seemingly experienced seven hundred years, and why each Awakened can quickly match with the corresponding trial.

But what intrigues Chu Xiu is why the arrival of the Abyss would weaken the will suppressing the three. Logically, it should enhance all abyssal creatures indiscriminately.

Of course, Chu Xiu is more concerned about how he could possibly lead over twenty thousand residents out when even these three monsters don’t know the way out of here.

"Have you ever tried forcibly opening a path?" Chu Xiu asked.

"Of course, but..."

The Yaksha looked at Moloch, who then smiled wryly, "My lord, even my ’Earth Dragon’ cannot break through here. Whether we go down, up, left, or right, the terrain becomes increasingly dense, and after progressing a distance, we encounter an impenetrable ’hard shell’, a special metal, extremely solid."

"To break through by brute force would likely take several years at least."

"From what we know, only the Celestial Dragon can freely leave this place and bring back the energy and supplies needed for the ’Peach Blossom Spring’."

These words deepened the furrow of Chu Xiu’s brows.

He has now completely overturned the speculation that this place is just a temporary underground shelter built by humans.

Though sedimentary rocks are visible everywhere, making it seem like it’s underground, what kind of underground region has increasingly harder rocks as you go outward?

Moreover, the significant presence of steel structures that clearly aren’t human-made leads him to believe this place has numerous extraordinary traces.

"So what exactly is this place?"

As Chu Xiu was pondering, the Kinnara suddenly spoke, "My lord, I’ve always had a feeling, though it seems too bizarre, I’m not sure whether to say it or not."

"What is it?"

"My lord, I actually feel that the ’Peach Blossom Spring’ we’re in is a living being!"

"Hmm?"

The Kinnara’s unexpected statement brought a look of shock to Chu Xiu’s face.

The Kinnara smiled bitterly, "I know it sounds strange, but I dare not deceive you, my lord. Ever since I became the Song God, I’ve had this vague sense that the world we are in is actually a giant ’living entity’, and I’ve become a part of this ’entity’."

"I’m like an organ of this ’entity’, and how can an organ have its own thoughts? So whenever we have our ideas, they are suppressed."

"This is also why we cannot leave; the outermost layer made of special metal is the ’skin’ of this living entity."

The Kinnara’s words gave Chu Xiu a creepy feeling; the ground beneath his feet, this vast space, isn’t some "underground shelter" but a living entity?

Such a massive living entity?

"Of course, this is just my wild guess, not to be taken seriously." Seeing Chu Xiu’s face change, the Kinnara quickly added with a forced smile.

Chu Xiu didn’t respond, only thought to himself: "It seems to find a smooth path to the outer world, I’d have to visit the Buddhist Sect to understand how the Celestial Dragon travels between this place and the outside."

"The Buddhist Sect might also have more records about this place."

Without dwelling further, Chu Xiu turned to inquire about the information he was most concerned about, namely the other High Tier forces here.

"There should be one member for each of the eight divisions; we haven’t yet seen the top-ranked Celestial and the second-ranked Celestial Dragon. The tool the Buddhist Sect uses to obtain resources from the Outer World is also called the Celestial Dragon, though whether there’s a connection between the two is unknown."

"As for the other three, we have had contact, but they do not agree with our large-scale offensive actions, preferring a low-key ’decapitation’ strategy, so they did not act with us." The three answered honestly.