Chapter 221: Jade-like White Bones

The initial stage of the Small Celestial Realm.

This level of cultivation was no weakling; in the past, it was a being that Lin Fan could only admire from afar. But now, well, it just wasn’t impressive enough.

Moreover, Lin Fan’s own little chicken companion was also at the initial stage of the Small Celestial Realm. With two-on-one odds, surely they could defeat the opponent?

Lin Fan swung the Eternal Axe and stretched his body, preparing to enter a battle-ready state.

The little chicken looked at Lin Fan and mimicked him rather well. Its three-toed feet extended and retracted, and its proud chicken head shook about, as if warming up its blood and preparing for a fierce battle.

The giant beast standing under the blazing waterfall suddenly stood upright on its hind legs, pounding its chest with its claws and producing thunderous sounds. Its sharp teeth were exposed, radiating a fierce and menacing aura.

Without the system to detect the opponent’s exact strength, Lin Fan might have actually been intimidated.

But now, the more aggressively the beast behaved, the more Lin Fan sensed its underlying fear.

A faint smile appeared on Lin Fan’s lips. His figure transformed into a streak of light, appearing before the massive beast as he lifted his head. “If you want to fight, then fight. No need to drag it out.”

“Ooooo-koooo!” The chicken flapped its wings, trying to fly high, but unable to take off, it could only shout.

The tall beast slowly lowered its head, staring at Lin Fan, and then stood motionless. Suddenly, its back legs bent slightly and it leaped far away.

Lin Fan was somewhat puzzled by the beast’s actions. Its behavior was quite confusing.

After jumping far away, the massive beast roared toward Lin Fan. Its furious eyes burned with defiance, seemingly ready to fight to the death.

“Roar…”

The earth-shaking roar silenced everything around. At that moment, the beast’s terrifying aura surged suddenly, as if it were ready to fight Lin Fan to the bitter end.

Lin Fan looked at the beast and smiled slightly. He was confident in defeating this beast at the initial stage of the Small Celestial Realm.

“Although you might not offer much experience, it’s still good practice. Come on,” Lin Fan said with a grin.

The beast gave Lin Fan a disdainful glance, and to Lin Fan’s astonishment, it pushed off with its hind legs and fled into the distance.

…

Lin Fan looked at the chicken, bewildered. What was going on?

Had the beast really run away?

Lin Fan had never seen such a situation before. Usually, even when outmatched, beasts would fight to the death. Yet this beast, recognizing its inferiority, had fled in disgrace.

Lin Fan chuckled lightly and shook his head. “Sigh, nowadays beasts are getting smarter; their intelligence is actually increasing.”

The chicken crowed proudly and perched itself on Lin Fan’s shoulder. Together, the human and the bird passed through the blazing waterfall and ventured deeper inside.

Inside, Lin Fan surveyed his surroundings. It was a cave. The red-hot walls radiated intense heat. The cavern was about the size of two football fields.

It was understandable that the massive beast had been able to reside here.

Lin Fan walked forward until he stopped in front of a stone door.

This stone door was dozens of feet tall and over ten feet wide. The carvings on it caught Lin Fan’s attention.

On the stone door was a vivid relief sculpture: seven elderly men with white beards gathered together in different postures, as if they were discussing something.

Could it be that the legacy of the “Seven Sage’s Treasure Map” was left behind by seven individuals rather than one?

Lin Fan had always assumed the legacy was left by a single person. However, seeing the carvings on the stone door, he realized it was likely seven individuals.

Lin Fan placed his hand on the stone door, searching for a way to open it.

However, the moment his hand touched the door, it let out a thunderous sound and began to rise upward.

Scratching his head, Lin Fan wondered, was it really this easy to open? Was there no challenge at all? This was completely different from what he had imagined.

According to the usual pattern, the Blazing Hell was a trial, the river of flames was another trial, and the beast guarding the cave was also a trial. Naturally, there should have been a trial at the entrance as well.

So why did the door open so easily? Could it be that the Seven Sages, when setting up this cave, had exhausted all the possible puzzles they could think of and eventually couldn’t think of anything else to leave behind at the stone door?

Well, Lin Fan’s guess was actually correct.

When the Seven Sages set up the cave, they couldn’t think of a good idea for the stone door.

Inside was not as Lin Fan had imagined—pitch black. The glowing stones embedded in the surrounding walls illuminated the chamber brightly.

The environment inside was quite different from what Lin Fan had expected.

The stone walls were uneven and lacked any particularly noticeable features. Within the small chamber, there was only a stone bed and a round stone table.

Due to the passage of time, the stone table was covered in dust. Lin Fan approached for a closer look and found a wooden box on the table. The box, despite the ravages of time, showed no signs of decay.

Lin Fan blew the dust off the box and opened it. Inside was a pill resting quietly, and beneath the pill was a golden slip of paper, just like the wooden box, having withstood the test of time.

According to the system’s identification, the box was made of divine wood, and the slip of paper was woven from the silk of the golden silkworm king.

These were two materials Lin Fan had never heard of before, nor did he know what they were like.

Lin Fan read the content on the slip of paper.

“Primordial Genius Pill: Consuming it grants boundless talent.”

Lin Fan slightly furrowed his brow. Originally, he had expected a pill capable of enabling someone to ascend to heaven, but instead, it was a pill to enhance innate talent. He felt somewhat disappointed. After all, Lin Fan’s innate talent allowed infinite progression. This kind of pill was practically useless to him.

“Ding, congratulations on discovering the Soul Annihilation Pill.”

“Soul Annihilation Pill: Consuming it immediately results in death and destruction of the soul.”

Originally, Lin Fan had just picked up the pill for a look, but the system’s prompt startled him, his face paling.

What was going on? The slip of paper described it as a divine pill, yet the system identified it as a deadly poison pill.

Sigh…

At this moment, Lin Fan let out a sigh. It made sense now that there was no challenge at the stone door. The chamber was full of hidden dangers. Without the system’s identification, he could have easily been killed.

As Lin Fan placed the wooden box into his bag, he noticed, not far away on the stone bed, a white jade-like skeleton sitting cross-legged.

Startled, Lin Fan immediately approached. The white jade skeleton shimmered with a faint glow, exuding a timeless aura that imposed a great sense of pressure. Even in death, it retained the majesty it once possessed in life.

Although the flesh had decayed, the skeleton had withstood the test of time without any change.

It must have been one of the Seven Sages. During his lifetime, his cultivation must have reached the heavens. Even in death, this white jade skeleton remained incorruptible, not even a speck of dust upon it.

Truly a being immune to all worldly corruption, eternal and indestructible through countless ages.