Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 33 The Statue Weeps Blood, The Underground Demon Cave

The gates of the City God Temple were tightly closed, and the vermilion paint, soaked by the rain, appeared somewhat dull, like a layer of blood scab that had not yet congealed.

Gu Yan did not use the main entrance.

Like a nimble gecko, he scaled the slippery wall and entered the backyard.

The Asura Guard followed closely behind. Although it was huge, it landed silently under the precise control of the spirit stone core, without even splashing any mud or water.

The temple was deathly silent, with only the sound of rain pattering on banana leaves.

The incense and candles that should have burned all night had long since gone out, and the air was no longer filled with the calming sandalwood scent, but instead with a faint, fishy sweetness.

Gu Yan arrived at the main hall.

The towering statue of the City God stood in the darkness, its eyes wide open, exuding an imposing aura without anger.

But in Gu Yan's eyes, this statue, which was usually worshipped by thousands of people, now exuded an indescribable eeriness.

A faint, ambiguous smile appeared at the corner of the statue's mouth.

Below the clay eyes, there were two barely noticeable dark red marks that snaked down to the chin.

The statue wept blood.

"As expected, this is the real Yin Eye."

Gu Yan took out a Yin-finding talisman from his pocket. As soon as he took it out, the talisman spontaneously combusted, turning into a ghostly blue flame that pointed towards the feet of the statue.

The yin energy here is so intense that even the talisman paper cannot withstand it.

Gu Yan did not rush to find the mechanism, but instead walked around the statue three times, his footwork subtly conforming to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) directions.

"The Qian trigram is continuous, the Kun trigram is broken... The layout of this City God Temple was originally the Nine Palaces Yin Locking Formation to suppress the earthly evil spirits, but now it has been reversed and turned into the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs Formation to gather yin and nourish corpses."

As a top-notch paper craftsman, feng shui and geomancy are also essential courses for Gu Yan.

"Since the formation has been reversed, the gate of life has become the gate of death."

Gu Yan stopped in the shadows behind the statue and placed his hand on an inconspicuous blue brick on the base of the statue.

"Click."

A slight click of a mechanism was heard.

The statue slowly turned, revealing a deep staircase leading underground.

A thick, nauseating stench of blood assaulted the senses, making it seem as if the space below was not a sealed room, but a massive slaughterhouse.

Gu Yan released two paper bats from his sleeve to scout ahead, while he gestured for the Shura Guards to go first.

After walking down the stairs for about a hundred steps, the view suddenly opened up before me.

This is a huge underground cavern, with glowing fluorite embedded in the surrounding stone walls, illuminating the place as if it were daytime.

In the center of the cave is a blood pool with a diameter of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

The pool water was boiling and churning, constantly bubbling with red bubbles.

Above the blood pool, a heart-shaped crimson crystal floated, beating rhythmically and making a thumping sound.

Each jump caused the surrounding air to vibrate.

Beside the pool of blood stood a young man dressed in a scarlet robe.

He had a delicate, feminine face, held a bone fan in his hand, and was gazing at the blood-red crystal with a look of rapture.

Behind him knelt seven or eight children, their expressions blank, clearly as offerings.

"How wonderful!"

The young man in the red robe took a deep breath, his voice high-pitched:

"The yin energy accumulated over decades in Changning County, combined with this pure essence blood, is finally about to awaken the Heart of the Blood River. That fool, my uncle, is still entangled with mortals up there, unaware that the great credit has already fallen into my hands."

Gu Yan hid behind a stalactite pillar, understanding the situation perfectly.

So this is the real deal.

The Foundation Establishment elder above was just a decoy, or rather, a meat shield responsible for drawing fire.

The actual refining work was done by this inner disciple who appeared to have only reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Although the Qi Refining Ninth Level has not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, it is still not something that Gu Yan, a mere mortal, can directly confront.

However, those in the Qi Refining stage are still mortal beings.

Gu Yan glanced at the Shura Guards beside him.

This puppet, enhanced by demonic scales and powered by spirit stones, is now absolutely no less powerful than a typical Qi Refining Perfection Body Cultivator.

The young man in the red robe seemed to have reached a crucial moment in the ceremony. He raised his bone fan, preparing to slit the throat of the boy closest to him.

Just then.

"call out!"

A beam of golden light shot out from the shadows without warning.

It was a golden paper mantis, moving at incredible speed, aiming straight for the back of the red-robed youth's neck.

"Who?!"

The young man in the red robe reacted extremely quickly, waving his bone fan with a backhand motion.

"clang!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out.

The paper mantis was knocked away, but this was just a feint.

The next moment, the Shura Guard's massive body burst out of the darkness like a cannonball.

It has no fancy moves, just a simple and unadorned Iron Mountain Lean.

boom!

The young man in the red robe never imagined that such a monster would be hidden in this place.

He hastily conjured a blood-red light shield, but the power of the Asura Guard was too terrifying, especially the demonic scales that actually had the effect of breaking magic.

With a crack, the light shield shattered.

The young man in the red robe was sent flying, crashing heavily into the stone wall and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Puppetry? You're from the Mechanical Gate?"

The young man in the red robe clutched his chest as he got up, his eyes filled with shock and anger.

Gu Yan did not answer; he remained hidden in the shadows, his fingers rapidly changing hand seals.

Shura Guards gave their opponents no chance to breathe, charging forward with great strides, punching one after another, each punch accompanied by a sonic boom.

Although the young man in the red robe was quite skilled, he was a magic cultivator. He was being entangled in close combat by a body cultivator puppet, and he couldn't use his magic at all.

He could only desperately parry with his bone fan, and was forced to retreat in defeat.

"Damn it! Explode!"

The young man in the red robe panicked. He bit his tongue hard and spat a mouthful of blood onto the bone fan.

The bone fan instantly grew larger, transforming into a giant scythe that slashed towards the Asura Guard with a dense aura of bloodlust.

If this strike lands squarely, the Asura Guard will be severely injured, if not destroyed.

"Certainly."

From the darkness came Gu Yan's calm voice.

The ground was covered with a dense layer of white paper money.

At Gu Yan's command, the paper money suddenly floated up and stuck to the red-robed youth's body like a leech.

These are not ordinary paper money, but "thousand-pound weights" specially made by Gu Yan.

Each piece of paper money is drawn with gravity runes. Although a single piece is insignificant, hundreds of them stuck to your body are like carrying a small mountain on your back.

The red-robed youth's movements froze for a moment, and the bone fan he was about to unleash was delayed by half a beat.

This amount of time is enough for the Asura Guards.

The Asura Guard's intact iron fist, glowing with blue spiritual light, struck the red-robed youth's dantian with pinpoint accuracy.

"puff!"

The young man in the red robe had bulging eyes and arched his body like a boiled shrimp.

His protective spiritual energy was shattered, and his dantian was crushed.

He collapsed limply to the ground, his eyes filled with resentment.

Gu Yan then emerged from the shadows, fiddling with a few unused paper money notes in his hand.

He walked up to the young man in the red robe, looked at the man's terrified face, and smiled:

"I noticed a dark aura around your forehead, foretelling a bloody disaster soon. And look, it's come true!"

"You dare kill me? My grandfather is an elder of the Blood River Sect..."

Click.

Gu Yan didn't let himself fall into the "villain dies from talking too much" situation, and waved his hand.

With a single stomp, the world became peaceful.

He shook his head and skillfully bent down to touch the corpse.

"Elders? They should be killed even more. A family should be kept intact."

After dealing with the corpse, Gu Yan turned his gaze to the Blood River Heart floating above the blood pool.

This is the real treasure.

But this thing is extremely malevolent; if you touch it rashly, it might drain your life essence.

"We need to find a way to pack it up and take it with us."

Gu Yan stroked his chin and suddenly remembered a special sealing container recorded in his book "The True Explanation of Paper Making": the Soul-Locking Paper Coffin.

Perfect, here are the bones and skin of that young man in the red robe.

"Since you're here, don't waste your time. Be my raw material."

Gu Yan took out the carving knife, his eyes focused.