Chapter 209: The Mysterious Tuodi Temple

“Ding! Congratulations on defeating the mid-level Overlord of Darkness.”

“Ding! Congratulations on gaining six hundred million experience points.”

“Ding! Congratulations on leveling up.”

“Ding! Congratulations on successfully forging an artifact.”

“Ding! Congratulations on discovering the Shadow Core.”

…

“Haha…” At that moment, Lin Fan stood there, stunned by the system notifications, his heart brimming with joy. He burst into laughter. In his mind, refining the Overlord would yield nothing, and even the kill might not be credited to him. Yet, to his surprise, he not only received a massive amount of experience but also successfully forged an artifact.

What a windfall! What a tremendous gain!

Looks like I really am a person blessed with great fortune. Everything just works out so perfectly.

At this moment, Lin Fan wasn’t even that angry about the Overlord’s attempt to seize his body. Dying was worth it after all.

The adventure in Tuodi Temple had been extremely dangerous, but the rewards were abundant. Not only did Lin Fan gain a deeper understanding of the Celestial Furnace’s power, but his cultivation had also improved.

He had reached the early stage of Divine Entry.

Although his current cultivation level wasn’t particularly high, his combat strength now rivaled that of the Lesser Heaven Realm.

“Shadow Core: Formed from the Overlord of Darkness’s essence, a substance connecting the Nine Infernal Realms.”

Lin Fan rolled the fist-sized, diamond-like crystal in his hand. Its surface shimmered with a violet hue. He was somewhat puzzled—how exactly was he supposed to use this thing?

He didn’t dwell on it for long, simply placing it into his backpack.

Although the big boss had been defeated, the Tuodi Temple still held many strange mysteries.

Looking around, Lin Fan could now see the entire temple, which wasn’t that large. But he was certain it couldn’t possibly be this simple.

The Tuodi Temple had existed for ages. Many people must have visited before him. Why hadn’t others encountered these Shadow Beasts sealed inside ancient urns?

Something was definitely off.

At this moment, Lin Fan turned his gaze toward the ancient urn on the statue’s finger and immediately approached to inspect it, hoping to find anything else of value.

“Ding! Congratulations on discovering a Sealed Urn (damaged).”

The sealed urn in his hand seemed ordinary and useless. It looked run-of-the-mill, and worse, it was damaged. Still, no matter how broken it was, it must have once been a precious treasure.

Without hesitation, Lin Fan placed it into his backpack—perhaps it would come in handy someday.

Lin Fan continued to search around the Tuodi Temple. He checked behind the statues, hoping to find hidden scrolls or treasures. He even smashed another statue, hoping something might be concealed inside.

Back in the day, Lin Fan had been heavily influenced by novels. He knew these were the most likely places to hide treasures, so he naturally couldn’t afford to miss out. If he found something valuable, it would be an unexpected windfall.

After thoroughly searching and finding nothing else inside the Tuodi Temple, Lin Fan turned to leave.

This mysterious Tuodi Temple was clearly not as simple as it seemed. But perhaps the timing wasn’t right yet. He decided to come back later to see if anything had changed.

Outside, Sandulong had been waiting anxiously. The adult had entered the temple over a day ago and still hadn’t emerged, causing them great concern.

“Brother, do you think something happened to him inside?” Shajie sat on the ground poking at the campfire. The surroundings of the Tuodi Temple were dark and terrifying. At night, eerie sounds echoed from time to time, making one’s skin crawl.

If their older brother hadn’t ordered them to stay, they would have left long ago.

They knew following the adult had its rewards, but so much time had passed—no one knew if he was alive or dead. Could they really wait here forever?

Sandulong didn’t reply. He furrowed his brows and finally sighed, “Let’s wait two more days. If the adult hasn’t come out by then, we’ll go back.”

Sandulong glanced toward the temple entrance, but it was pitch black inside—so dark that you couldn’t even see your own hand.

Standing there, he could feel the cold wind blowing out from within, carrying a stench of decay.

Suddenly, a sound came from afar.

The Fourteen Bandits immediately tensed. Sandulong drew his curved saber, eyes narrowing as he stared ahead. But when he recognized the figure, he relaxed and quickly stepped forward.

“Adult, you’re out!”

“Hmm.” Lin Fan nodded. However, when he saw the campfire, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “How long have I been inside?”

“A full day and night.”

Lin Fan was taken aback. He hadn’t realized so much time had passed. Inside, he hadn’t felt any passage of time at all.

“Alright, let’s move out.” Lin Fan didn’t want to linger too much on the Tuodi Temple. Although he had defeated the Shadow Overlord, something about this place still felt off.

“Pack up and move out.” Sandulong didn’t ask any questions. He simply signaled to his men, who began gathering their belongings and preparing to depart.

As Lin Fan’s carriage gradually disappeared into the distance,

The Tuodi Temple once again sank into its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere. The entire area was silent and oppressive, occasionally interrupted by chilling, unnatural sounds.

Night fell. Moonlight tried to pierce through the ancient sky, shining onto the Tuodi Temple, but was blocked by dense foliage, leaving everything in darkness.

Suddenly, a streak of light tore through the night sky.

A crow, radiating a chilling aura of death, flapped its wings as it flew from afar. Its blood-red eyes seemed to pierce the soul.

The crow soared into the dark entrance of the Tuodi Temple, gliding forward until it reached the grand hall.

It perched before the massive central statue. Its crimson eyes glowed with a sinister red light. Its jet-black wings suddenly began to bleed, as if blood were gushing from a spring.

The crow screeched violently, then disintegrated into a pile of withered bones, vanishing into thin air.

The blood, as if alive, trickled down the statue’s body, eventually seeping into the ground, deeper and deeper.

Deep beneath the Tuodi Temple, a black stone coffin lay silently buried underground. Thick, rugged chains coiled around it. Inside the coffin sat cross-legged a golden skeleton, emanating an ancient, formidable aura—clearly someone of immense power in life.

Intricate, densely carved runes covered the surrounding walls.

At that moment, a thin wisp of crimson mist slowly seeped from the coffin. But suddenly, the countless runes on the walls blazed with brilliant light. Upon contact, the crimson mist recoiled instantly back into the coffin.

A single drop of blood dripped from above, landing on the golden skeleton.

With each drop, the golden bones dimmed slightly.

With each drop, one of the mysterious runes on the wall faded into darkness.