Chapter 135: The Inheritance Destroyed

The cavern world was dim and oppressive.

The air was thick with a chilling, ghostly presence; a formless, suffocating pressure permeated the space, making it difficult to breathe.

Yet, standing tall amidst this gloom, a dust-covered statue radiated an intangible, profound power. It stood as if bracing up the very heavens, providing a strange sense of peace and security.

Jiang Min had guessed that the immortal statue she obtained from Jia Fugui was of no small origin, but she never imagined it could be linked to the legendary ancient Ziyin Sword Sect.

"Could this venerable senior be the founder of the Ziyin Sword Sect? Is that why his statue brought me here?"

As Jiang Min pondered, her palm pulsed again. An invisible force seized her hand, lifting it involuntarily. Then, a stream of light emerged from her palm, darting toward the towering statue and sinking into the center of its brow.

Whoosh!

A mysterious energy coursed through the ancient statue, which had stood for ten thousand years. It blew away the thick accumulation of dust, revealing its true appearance. Indeed, it was the same benevolent old immortal, his ethereal face bearing a gentle smile that made anyone who saw it feel a sense of intimacy and reverence.

Despite the countless years that had passed, the statue appeared as if it had been newly sculpted; every line, every angle, and every shade of color made it look startlingly lifelike.

Jiang Min looked up at the towering figure, her heart shaken, and whispered to herself:

"Ten thousand years ago, did gods and immortals truly walk this world?"

As if responding to her doubt, the massive statue that had existed for ten millennia suddenly trembled. To her astonishment, it transformed into a stream of light and submerged into her palm, reappearing inside the empty Immortal Lord Hall within her palm-dimension.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Min was slightly surprised. As her consciousness probed into the palm-dimension, she saw a tall statue suddenly standing at the head of the Immortal Lord Hall, lending the space a sense of solemnity and gravity.

Paired with the incense she had always offered, it truly felt like a genuine Daoist temple.

Rumble!

As the ancient statue settled into the hall, the palm-dimension, which had previously consisted of only one hall, began to emit a dull, booming sound. Layers of gray-white mist expanded outward beyond the hall.

"The cavern world has grown?"

Jiang Min felt a surge of joy.

The rumbling soon ceased. Outside the Immortal Lord Hall, the gray-white mist dispersed, revealing a vast, white expanse. The expanded world was at least several hundred feet wide, with the Immortal Lord Hall sitting at its center, surrounded by the white mist at the edges of the space. Such heaven-defying power left Jiang Min deeply awestruck.

"How incredible! How powerful must one's cultivation be to create an entire cavern world?"

Though she still did not know his name, Jiang Min felt a firm, inexplicable belief that this old senior must have been a truly formidable immortal.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, another object darted toward her. Jiang Min immediately became guarded, only to realize it was a meditation cushion—the very one that had been placed beneath the large statue. She had been so focused on the statue earlier that she had failed to notice it.

The cushion shook off its dust, revealing its true form. It looked unremarkable, woven simply from rushes, yet its agile, flying motion proved it was no ordinary object. It shrank until it was the size of a palm and flew into Jiang Min's hand. She looked at it with pleasant surprise, holding it up and examining it closely, though she could not yet discern its purpose.

"This cushion must be connected to the old immortal. Perhaps it was where he sat, gaining spirituality and being summoned here by the statue."

Jiang Min guessed, and just as she was about to store it in her palm-dimension—she decided to keep anything related to the old immortal in the Immortal Hall—a sudden disturbance erupted all around her. A violent wind rose, and the ghostly, sinister aura surged.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Piercing, wailing ghostly winds swept across the training grounds, whipping up thick dust and the scattered cushion. Everything became hazy and dim. Jiang Min realized that while the training grounds had been peaceful and serene, the world outside was filled with towering, dense forests and endless ghostly energy. Perhaps the statue had suppressed the danger for ten thousand years; now that the statue was gone, the danger had arrived.

"Oh no."

"With the immortal statue gone, the danger Yao Sheng spoke of must be upon me."

Wrapped in the ghostly wind, Jiang Min frowned and scanned her surroundings cautiously. However, the shrunken cushion, which she had not yet put away, suddenly erupted in a brilliant glow, enveloping her.

"Hmm? Is the cushion actively protecting me?"

The next moment, Jiang Min witnessed the cushion's power.

The wailing in the howling ghostly wind grew louder, sounding like cries of agony emanating from the swirling gray dust, enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.

Wail!

The crying sounds grew closer, coming from all directions. Jiang Min’s expression turned solemn. Just as she was about to retreat into her palm-dimension, the cushion hovering above her palm emitted a wave of incredibly comfortable and gentle ripples. These ripples spread outward, dispersing the ghostly energy and the dust.

As the dust cleared, Jiang Min finally saw what had been hiding within it: clusters of thick, sinister energy. They constantly emitted wailing sounds, and an intense, overwhelming resentment poured from them, infecting Jiang Min and filling her heart with a phantom sense of agony.

But when the gentle ripples from the cushion met these vengeful spirits, the spirits began to writhe, emitting painful shrieks.

Hiss!

The harsh, piercing shrieks echoed through the air, causing Jiang Min's sea of consciousness to tremble and her head to spin. She hurriedly channeled the "Divine Jade Hut Sutra" to steady her mind and asked aloud toward her palm: "Immortal senior, where should I go now?"

Since this was the old immortal's domain, perhaps it could guide her.

Whoosh!

A beam of light emerged from her palm, turning into a current that swept to both sides, carving a path through the dense, ghostly energy. Seeing this, Jiang Min immediately followed the path, leaving the training grounds and passing through a forest filled with gray fog.

Within the ancient forest, the number of vengeful spirits was vast and their power intense, but protected by the cushion, no spirit could get near her.

After walking for half a stick of incense, the forest remained, but the dense gray fog suddenly vanished—a very strange occurrence.

"Hmm? Something is wrong."

Jiang Min’s heart tightened.

She looked back. The forest behind her was still shrouded in gray fog, and the training grounds were no longer visible. She felt that this fog was too abrupt; reflecting on it, she recalled that there had been subtle fluctuations within the mist.

"This gray fog seems to be a formation."

Jiang Min frowned.

She raised her palm, drawing a pebble from the ground. With a flick of her hand, she tossed it into the gray fog.

Hum!

Within the fog, golden formation patterns suddenly emerged, flowing with light and blocking the pebble. After a moment, the golden patterns faded and vanished.

Seeing this, Jiang Min’s expression sank.

"It really is a formation. Someone actually set up a grand array in the ancient forest, turning it into a wall of fog to seal off the training grounds."

"I was transported to the center of the grounds by the statue, which is how I got in. But this sealing array is clearly designed to let people out but not in—it’s meant to keep people from entering."

She thought to herself.

"Could it be that someone came to this ancient cavern world before and sealed the training grounds? Yes! Someone must have come before; otherwise, how would the Old Man of Ghost Mountain have known that there was something inside that he wanted?"

Linking this to the fresh cracks on the teleportation altar in the cave, and reflecting on her past experiences…

A suspicion began to form in Jiang Min's mind.

"No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. I'll see if there are more clues."

The immortal statue’s guidance continued. A beam of light from her palm pointed the way forward. Jiang Min suppressed her questions and, under the protection of the ancient cushion, followed the guidance. About a quarter of an hour later, she arrived at a ruin within the ancient forest.

Yes... a ruin.

Jiang Min stopped. Before her, the ground was covered in dust made of pulverized wood and stone, indicating that a pavilion or hall had once stood there. Moreover, the powder was fresh, clearly destroyed by human hands only a short time ago.

Jiang Min looked at the ruins, her gaze heavy and her heart troubled. She asked softly, "Immortal senior, what place is this?"

A soft light glowed from her palm.

It shone upon the pile of dust at her feet.

Specks of golden light ignited within the dust, forming three ancient golden characters before her eyes, archaic and weathered.

Hall of Hearing the Dao.

As the name suggested, it was a place for preaching and teaching.

Jiang Min understood immediately. The destroyed hall, the sealed training grounds—everything was related to the inheritance of a sect's Daoist arts.

Her suspicion was confirmed.

She reached out to touch the floating golden characters, but they dissipated upon contact, turning into golden light that scattered into the air.

"Sigh."

Seeing this, Jiang Min felt a surge of emotion and whispered, "Immortal senior, someone is trying to sever your lineage."