This made his heart skip a beat, connecting the dots between the Demon Monk’s devouring of vitality, the Demon Mother’s sacrificial demon fire, and this present situation—it seemed these Celestial Demons indeed existed to harvest life.
To appear in such a place and even lay traps in advance, this Celestial Demon must have concealed itself very deeply, likely still maintaining a social circle and some measure of fame and status. But in truth, it was a Celestial Demon.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Song Yan’s feet had already touched the ground. He waved his hand upward and shouted, "Gentlemen, if there’s danger, please lend a hand."
The Divine Tiger King responded, "I will certainly take action. You quickly investigate."
Hearing the response, Song Yan confirmed that while the light mist could block divine sense exploration, it wouldn’t block sound, and thus he felt reassured.
He looked up at the Celestial Venerable Statue, his gaze settled on the black wind under the statue’s feet, and his expression slightly tensed.
In fact, he had some understanding of the ancient divine statues of the mortal world’s Celestial Venerable, but... the mortal world’s statues lacked the clarity of this true ancient divine statue.
At this moment, he could clearly see the composition of that black wind.
’Is this... the Vilampu Twin-Headed Proud Worm?’
’If the Vilampu Twin-Headed Proud Worm had only appeared once in this world, then is this black wind Vilampu?’
’Vilampu said the Changwang Tiger Race was deliberately cultivated to be used in creating a special evil treasure. If this black wind is indeed Vilampu, then could the person who created Changwang’s Evil Treasure be...’
He looked up at the commanding yet lifeless divine statue of the Celestial Venerable, his eyes showing a hint of contemplation as a sudden thought intruded into his mind: Could I be the Celestial Venerable reincarnated? Otherwise... why is there such a resemblance? Even the treasures of the Celestial Venerable have fallen into my hands?
As this thought rose, Song Yan was immediately filled with suspicion and a seed of unease was buried in his flawless heart.
If he was the reincarnated Celestial Venerable? If he had other memories, then what was the purpose of his existence?
In the next moment, he quickly took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, suppressed the thought, and briskly began searching for the treasure. He couldn’t let the Divine Tiger King send more people down.
Yet, the light mist had a strange isolating effect, preventing him from exercising his abilities here.
Was there really a treasure here?
He looked into the distant darkness.
In the darkness, those fierce eyes continually veered in a certain direction, turning more rapidly after several turns, as if that young Celestial Demon wished to jump out and tell him "over there, my bait is placed there, go take a look"!
Song Yan walked in that direction, and saw another deity statue, but the statue’s head had already cracked.
With a thought, he raised his hand and flicked.
The statue’s head split open with a hiss, and in an instant, blinding treasure light burst forth into the sky.
The inside of that statue was entirely crafted from "those pearls that can enhance one’s comprehension"!!
Song Yan’s pupils contracted tightly.
The existence of this statue indicated that ancient cultivators from the Ancient Era had comprehension several dozens if not hundreds of times stronger than today’s cultivators. The spells that current cultivators can’t practice were practiced by ancient cultivators!
So, after he practiced "One Step to Heaven," he displayed the words of the Ancient Crimson Palace Realm. And such a realm, in the Ancient Era, was actually common?!
Then why did such an era perish?
In the darkness, Song Yan couldn’t spare much thought, his lips moved slightly, emitting the Demon’s Sound: "This statue, it’s entirely made of those pearls!! Whoever obtains it can surely have an unimpeded path to cultivation?!"
The Demon’s Sound spread, instantly unlocking the mental defenses of all the cultivators.
Greed was infinitely magnified, then turned blind.
"Mine!"
"It’s mine!!"
Led by Long Yinghai, a group of cultivators crazily dashed into the cave.
Song Yan hurriedly fled, disappearing in a flash, hiding in the shadows, arriving beside that young Celestial Demon, gesturing with a nod as an exchange of greetings.
The young Celestial Demon also smiled, baring a mouthful of sunflower-seed-shaped teeth, his lips still moist, glowing red.
And just as Long Yinghai, Ye Congfeng, the Divine Tiger King, and several experts descended or drew near, the young Celestial Demon suddenly released an undisguised eerie laugh, then stood up, raising both hands.
The strange and ancient gray hues suddenly rose, transforming into a black vortex!
It was the black aura that formed that illusory deity statue earlier, only now it was completely unveiled without any concealment!
This aura was not only ancient, but also filled with decay and deathly silence, like layers upon layers of black insect corpses, like mottled ink, graveyard soil, and the black eyes of evil spirits—this was absolute deathly energy.
This deathly energy, Song Yan had actually seen before.
He had seen it on the Netherworld Corpse Demon!
"Yin Mansion, Sacrificial Array!"
The young Celestial Demon showed a ferocious grin, channeling strength through his ten fingers, the black gas transformed into a large funnel, a great vortex, drawing in all the nearby loose cultivators indiscriminately.
Long Yinghai, Ye Congfeng, the Divine Tiger King, and others were all stunned and each used their means to try to break free, but their powers could not shatter the array shield of the Yin Mansion Sacrificial Array!
More and more loose cultivators screamed as they were dragged into it.
The originally approaching Bright Color True Person watched the scene in horror, then hurriedly saluted An Li and turned to flee with her dao companion.
An Li also retreated back, slightly hiding, intending to find Song Yan.
"Come on!"
"Come on!"
"Become my nourishment!"
As more people entered the barrier, the young Celestial Demon opened his red, luscious mouth wide, transforming it into a gaping maw over the top of the array shield. Under the terrified gazes of the cultivators, he began devouring life force.
However, even as the young Celestial Demon devoured the cultivators, those fierce eyes stared fixedly to the side, locking eyes with the benignly smiling Song Yan standing beside him.