Loosening his grip on the cliff face, Xu Qing jumped straight down to the bottom of the cave.
In front of him were three diverging paths. The passage ahead was filled with Evil Qi, and Yin energy sharp as knives. Xu Qing sent a Straw Spirit Paperman as a puppet into the passage. As soon as it entered, a Yin wind swept through, shredding it to pieces in an instant.
One could foresee that if a living person entered, they would likely be reduced to a limbless trunk in the blink of an eye!
Xu Qing picked up the tattered paper lantern on the ground, finally realizing why his Paper Crane and lantern had lost their connection.
The Evil Qi emanating from this passage alone was not something mere paper constructs could withstand!
Xu Qing then turned to look at the passages on his left and right. The left passage was filled with deadly stagnant air; inhaling it would be akin to swallowing arsenic.
The right passage had carvings of starving ghosts on the walls, mouths open to suck in human essence. If one entered, they'd soon be reduced to skin and bones, becoming food for the starving ghosts.
Xu Qing contemplated the characteristics of the three passages, lost in thought.
Cultivators face the Great Three Disasters: lightning, Yin Fire, and vicious winds.
Creatures of the world face the Lesser Three Disasters: weapons, plague, and famine...
The three paths leading under the temple seemed to align with the worldly Lesser Three Disasters.
"Were these passage traps designed specifically for humans?"
The more Xu Qing thought about it, the more puzzled he became. The Ancient Yin River Dao was sparsely populated by the living. It made sense to defend against ghosts and demons, but what was the point of guarding against humans?
Yet, when he thought about Ji Lingzhou and Han Renshan, who had recently ventured into the ghost cave, Xu Qing found the design of the ghost cave quite reasonable!
This cave had existed for a long time without being detected by ghosts, yet living humans from outside the Ancient Yin River had uncovered it.
Combined with the setup of the Lesser Three Disasters, Xu Qing was skeptical that there wasn't some hidden mystery here.
"If Ji Lingzhou explored one of these paths, and Han Renshan another, then a third person is needed to explore the last path."
Xu Qing suddenly realized that after Ji and Han entered the ghost cave, the monk in the red robe repeatedly tried to persuade him to explore it as well.
If you included him, that would make exactly three people!
At this moment, Xu Qing even had the feeling that the entry of three people into the ghost cave was part of the red-robed monk's plan all along.
Xu Qing squinted his eyes. He didn't care what was inside this ghost cave; once he had collected the corpses, he would leave immediately!
Even if he encountered something uncontrollable, he wouldn't stay in the ghost cave like Han Renshan and be resigned to his fate.
If he had to be aggressive, he could just demolish the ghost cave along with the bone temple above with a swing of his axe!
If he wanted to play it safe, he could use the Divine Travel Celestial Scripture to disengage himself from the game and not play along!
"Let me see how this unfolds!"
Xu Qing placed his hands on the ground, activating the Undying Bone Divine Technique, and soon connected with the underground Yin veins!
At this moment, Xu Qing was like an old practitioner diagnosing a patient, with the entire underground cave complex coming to him for a consultation.
Xu Qing listened to the pulse, examining the vibrations like a web transmitting various pheromones to him.
Concentrating, Xu Qing ignored the side passages and first connected the 'threads' to the passage filled with weapon-like Evil Qi.
Earth Qi surged, and Xu Qing diagnosed by hanging on the filament, seeing through the layers of earth veins to glimpse the scene at the end of the passage.
At the end of the passage was an underground temple. On its brow were the seven solemn and ancient gilded characters: "Temple of True Monarch of the Dark Altar of Dragon and Tiger." Through the temple gate, the fog of killing intent thickened, almost materializing from the weapon-like Evil Qi.
Just as Xu Qing wanted to push further and investigate thoroughly, he suddenly saw two ghostly green lanterns light up in the darkness!
Accompanied by an intensely repressed beastly roar, Xu Qing's spine tingled with cold. The two ghost fires weren't lanterns at all, but rather the eyes of a beast!
"What a fierce creature!"
Without waiting for the temple inhabitant to pursue him, Xu Qing quickly withdrew his divine technique and retreated.
The path ahead is dangerous; even a Martial Arts Grandmaster wouldn't make it far before meeting their end.
With his Undying Bone body, Xu Qing could undoubtedly withstand it, but the being hiding in the temple was too formidable. He wasn't there to break temples or fight mountains, so there was no need to provoke what lay at the end of the weapon-filled passage.
Besides...
Xu Qing thought of the inscription above the temple's entrance and fell into deep thought.
He hadn't expected that beneath the Temple of the Demon Exorcism True Monarch, there would be another underground temple, and coincidentally it was said to be the temple of the renowned Dark Altar Dragon and Tiger True Monarch.
The secrets hidden beneath this bone temple seemed far more complicated than he initially thought...
However, he was there just to collect bodies, so what difference did it make how many secrets lay hidden here?
Xu Qing didn't concern himself with the matters of the underground temple. His gaze withdrew from the main path and landed on the two side passages.
The left passage, filled with deadly air, was also dangerous, but as long as one was careful not to let it enter their body, a living person could enter. And to Xu Qing, who viewed death energy as an appetizing aroma, it was even less of a concern.
As for the right-hand passage leading to the starving ghost path...
Xu Qing grinned. Once he entered, who absorbed whose essence was yet to be determined!
Placing his hands on the ground again, Xu Qing used the Undying Bone Divine Technique to reconnect with the earth's veins.
At the end of the left passage, Xu Qing discovered the figure of Ji Lingzhou, a member of the Cangyi Group. Further down the right passage, about five or six miles deep, Xu Qing also found Han Renshan, a rebel from the Celestial Heart Sect.
However, their auras were distinct from those of usual Martial Arts Grandmasters.
At present, their auras had far surpassed the grandmaster level and were still climbing, seemingly without end.
Xu Qing was bewildered. Could there really be an immortal opportunity down here?
Looking at the strangely eerie underground paths before him, Xu Qing felt as if he was hearing others say he was an authentic living person.