Old Dao dropped some liquid into each pot, and suddenly, the area around the Golden Gate was filled with an enchanting aroma. Then, Old Dao shouted to Li Xiu and the others: "All of you, get inside my house. No matter what happens outside, do not come out until I return, and then open the door."
Li Xiu and the others quickly hurried into Old Dao’s wooden house, bolting the door from inside.
Fortunately, the wooden house had gaps everywhere, allowing them to peek through and see the situation around the Golden Gate.
They saw Old Dao taking the Golden Green Tourmaline bought by Li Xiu and embedding it one by one onto the Golden Gate.
Before long, the Golden Gate slowly opened, and golden light began to radiate from inside.
Old Dao stood at the entrance, seemingly unhurried, neither intending to go inside nor leave.
After a while, as the Golden Gate slowly closed, Old Dao re-embedded the Golden Green Tourmaline.
The not yet fully closed Golden Gate once again gradually opened.
After repeating this five or six times, the golden light inside the Golden Gate suddenly experienced some subtle fluctuations.
Seeing the fluctuations, Old Dao reached into his pocket, pulled out several Rubies, and scattered them on the platform outside the Golden Gate.
He continued to scatter Rubies while retreating, stepping back towards the river before stopping.
"Can these things really lure out the Demon Spirit?" Ye Yuzhen questioned in disbelief, as he had never mentioned being able to lure the Demon Spirit out from the Trial Gate.
"Don’t speak," Li Xiu whispered, then made a gesture to signal silence.
The Golden Gate was slowly closing, and this time Old Dao did not go over to embed the Gemstone again, just watching the Golden Gate close.
Although the light shining from within had some fluctuations, nothing had emerged, and as the doors nearly shut entirely, Li Xiu and the others thought Old Dao’s plan was about to fail.
Suddenly, three fingers appeared in the crack of the closing Golden Gate, grabbing onto it.
Another three fingers emerged on the other side of the Golden Gate.
These fingers somewhat resembled human fingers, yet with only three fingers on each hand, they seemed more like bird claws.
They were entirely golden, about twice the size of a human hand, looking extremely bizarre.
The almost closing Golden Gate was forcibly pried open by these three-fingered golden hands, and a silhouette walked out.
Li Xiu and the others peered through the gap and were slightly shocked to see the figure’s appearance.
The entire silhouette emitted a golden glow, with scales as dazzling as neon lights, and eyes resembling two golden searchlights, casting golden rays upon everything it looked at, as if painting them with gold.
Li Xiu had seen depictions of five-clawed gold dragons, the head of this Demon Spirit looked just like a dragon, though without any dragon horns.
Its body, however, somewhat resembled a human, walking upright, with three-toed hands and feet, and covered in golden scales.
With every step it took, its scales flickered, nearly blinding anyone who dared to look.
More bizarrely, the Demon Spirit had a pair of golden crystal structures on its back, resembling ancient mace weapons.
After walking out, its eyes fixed on the Rubies on the ground, and a golden light shot from its palms toward the Rubies, shattering them thoroughly.
Li Xiu and the others were astonished, originally thinking Old Dao meant to lure the Demon Spirit to consume the Rubies. Yet it seemed the Demon Spirit had no intention of eating them, only to smash them to pieces.
It walked step by step toward Old Dao, shattering one Ruby after another along the way.
However, it did not harm the piles of wood or the bubbling liquids in the pots.
The Golden Gate closed completely, the Demon Spirit glanced back but appeared indifferent, turning and smashing the last few Rubies with its hand.
"You’ve finally dared to come out?" Old Dao squinted, staring at the Demon Spirit.
The Demon Spirit, hearing Old Dao’s words, suddenly widened its eyes, the golden light from its eyes crossed and shone onto Old Dao.
Old Dao’s body was suddenly enveloped in mysterious purple light, which upon contact with the golden light, created a stream of something akin to lightning, crackling incessantly. The security uniform Old Dao wore was reduced to ashes in an instant, revealing a purple robe underneath.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the purple light wasn’t emanating from Old Dao himself but was emitted from the purple robe.
"Still the same old tricks, show something new," Old Dao chuckled.
The Demon Spirit seemed to understand but paid no attention to him, instead reached its hands behind, grasping the pair of Golden Crystal Maces.
With a swing of the arms, the maces collided, instantly producing a dazzling golden burst, like thunderous lightning, painfully shaking the eardrums.
Just when Li Xiu and the others were puzzled about what the Demon Spirit was up to, they suddenly widened their eyes.
Amidst the golden lightning and thunder, the Golden Gate unexpectedly burst open once more.
Seeing this, Old Dao softly frowned.
"Old trickster, did you think your tricks could fool me? I’ve come out just to take your life." The Demon Spirit spoke human language, revealing itself as a Super Intelligent Demon Spirit.