Chapter 564 Dark remnants
Of the three perilous zones, the grotto Yen Xu mentioned was one of them. East of the Deer Mountain Range, there was a small hill with nothing outstanding other than the fact the grass was always damp every second of every minute of every day despite the season and day.
Due to the weird phenomena, most thought there was something mysterious, possibly some natural treasure lurking in the area that contributed to the phenomena.
However, after countless years of exploration, nothing out of the ordinary other than the drought-resistant grass that was even immune to a certain degree to various fires, nothing special was ever found.
The grass was just at the mortal grade, and the dew that constantly coated its blade and the ground had absolutely no properties one could speak of, though if one was to speak of one attribute it had was it increased the number of flames one would have to use and the duration of preparation, which added an unnecessary burden on an already burdensome state in alchemy.
So over time, the region became one of the regions despite technically not having any dangers to it and was never inhabited. The area was constantly dumped, which added a gloomy feel to the area, and there was nothing worthwhile there. What people didn't know was there was the hill was hiding an embryonic grotto beneath it, and by now it was almost completely fully formed.
From the description given the grotto's form was a cavern full of darkness covered with rocks and water that reached one's ankles. The area was absent of spiritual qi, and the gravity was a hundred times that of the continent's and it increased the longer one was in there. A peak qi refinement realm cultivator would be crushed to meat paste within a minute and that was at the higher periphery, while the deeper regions would take the life of a palace realm cultivator, that is if they even reach that far.
However, what was truly dangerous about the place wasn't the gravity or absence of spiritual qi or the mild coldness that seemed to gradually seep into someone's soul, but the darkness that enshrouded every single area.
It was like a living creature that slowly invaded those who encroached on its territory. It swallows you whole and seals your senses, distorts your perception of time, and slowly breaks your will, as it invades your mind, amplifies all your fears, and brings them to life.
From what was written it seemed like the grotto could materialize one's inner demons into solid real-life forms which would then attack the user whose senses and access to spiritual qi had already been sealed.
The special inquisitor and Yen Xu did explore the grotto sufficiently but even they decided to call it quits before the riched the core region where the spirit of the grotto lay. They still did not know its identity or its full abilities but just from the little bit of exposure and first-hand experience they had, they deemed it one of the most dangerous places within the whole range considering it made early domain experts like themself wary of exploring the core region.
Disaster and rewards followed each other hand in hand. Based on their experience, the grotto was perfect for tempering one's will, ridding oneself of their heart demons, and even discovering the ones that they didn't know were there.
All this was vital for the growth of a cultivator especially those aiming for a higher realm, polishing one's heart and mind was vital for climbing higher peaks of the cultivation realm. However, all these were built on the premise that one survives the test of the grotto and manages to make it out alive.
lightsΝοvεl ?οm As things stood from the judgment of the duo, anyone at the early stages of the core formation and below was guaranteed death the moment they stepped in there, while for those of a higher cultivation base, their odds were not easy either the longer they stayed in there.
If you stumbled or were accidentally swallowed by the grotto, there were a few requirements one needed to meet for them to be able to come out again. If you met them, a route would appear in your mind, and if you followed that route, you would end up outside of the grotto.
Both Yen Xu and the special inquisitor found out that they couldn't forcibly make their way out once inside and had to follow the rules of the grotto-like there was some binding dao that made it impossible for them to violate it.
"From what's written here. they found about a dozen corpses in there belonging to late-stage core formation experts, and even two that belonged to palace stage experts.
What's this?!" Yang Qing muttered in shock as he read the disclaimer written at the bottom of the information pertaining to the grotto.
Though it's unconfirmed, we suspect the materialized heart demon can exist outside the grotto and the condition for that is to kill the person they were materialized from.
'If successful, with the grotto's intervention, they can absorb all the memories and attainments of the person and morph into their real-life like they were them.
We have decided to name them 'dark remnants'. We don't know how many have fallen here, but the number is likely, not small.
Various organizations out there may be inhabited by the dark remnants already, who have assumed the lives of their victims.
This is purely conjecture and thus do not yet have a way to confirm the fact. It can only be done if the grotto's spirit is subjugated, provided it doesn't have a fated person yet.
The region will therefore be permanently sealed until more is known about it..'
After reading that, Yang Qing couldn't help but look fearfully behind him when he felt a cold wind brush up against his neck. The silence and dimness of the room seemed to exacerbate his paranoia.
"If their guess is true, just how many organizations could potentially be infiltrated by these dark remnants?
Are they after something under the orders of the grotto's spirit or is it something they decided of their own volition?
How many of them could be out there?" Yang Qing wondered as countless thoughts and theories flashed in his mind, each scarier than the next.
As he was lost in a scare cycle of his own, there was a couple who echoed his sentiments.
The obsidian serpent couple had remained in the same posture after Yang Qing left: standing, whilst cautiously looking around them.
"Can you break it?" asked the cold woman to which the elderly man shook his head with a sigh.
"It seems we stumbled to a dangerous place filled with dangerous people. I can't believe a second-stage palace realm human can hold his own against me and the suppressing feel I get from him is different from those feathers.." muttered the elderly man in deep consternation.
"I don't remember the region having people like them, that fire alder bear would have been the first to react if there were such powerful human cultivators around. Or did something happen to it?" said the cold-faced woman in shock as she stared at the elderly man next to her.
"It's not an impossibility considering how that woman was able to subdue and capture us easily.
The sensation I get from her even without these injuries, she would have defeated us just as easily. She is likely in the domain realm.
Even those two we fought, if it wasn't for looking out for the other humans, I doubt we would have been able to stop them if they decided to flee. Just who are they?" he said with a look of hesitation, mild worry, and confusion flashing in his eyes.
"What they said.." the woman paused as if forcibly suppressing something with great difficulty.
"Do you think they were telling the truth about not having anything to do with our daughter's death?" she asked with great difficulty.
The elderly man on seeing her state decided to put his arms around her in a bid to comfort her.
"I don't know about that, but the treasure bone we gave her, I doubt there is anyone who would not covet it, considering it likely belonged to a mature flood dragon.
I doubt anyone would be able to resist it, especially the humans. No matter what the kid said, the body of a flood dragon pales in comparison to a treasure bone, even a damaged one like the one we found.."
The elderly man went silent for a while before he said with deep sorrow and regret,
"Luo'er, I'm sorry I implicated our daughter.."
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