“Who goes there!?” Leo shouted and simultaneously sent a blast of energy towards the upper corner. After a sharp, piercing scream, something dropped from the darkness above.
When the light illuminated the area, a dark creature was revealed. It resembled a gorilla but was covered in dark green fur all over its body. Its limbs bore sharp, steel-like claws. It lacked a nose and had a single eye on its forehead, with sharp fangs protruding from the upper jaw.
Leo soon realized he was surrounded by these creatures. The cavern, whether on the ceiling or in the surrounding darkness, concealed these monsters.
The creatures, with one eye fixed on Leo, were on the verge of pouncing at the right moment. Leo summoned a talisman, and five fireballs appeared around him, burning and forming a protective shield.
The monsters lurking in the darkness seemed to fear fire. They only snarled at Leo, hesitant to attack.
Leo continued forward until he was about to exit the cave. The monsters hidden in the darkness grew restless and closed in on Leo.
Leo clenched his fist, causing the fireballs behind him to explode, sending flames and shockwaves surging towards the approaching monsters.
They let out terrifying screams as many of them were engulfed in flames, igniting instantly. Others were knocked down by the shockwaves, resulting in chaos.
Seizing the opportunity, Leo ran.
Before long, Leo dashed out of the cave and entered another stone chamber. The monsters chasing him halted at the mouth of the stone cave, causing a collision between those advancing from behind and those stopping in front, creating a mess.
Observing the faces of the monsters inside the stone chamber, Leo noticed a look of fear. It seemed that there was something inside that terrified them, preventing them from entering the chamber.
The monsters began to retreat, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Leo surveyed the chamber, finding it empty except for a massive stone door that stood prominently in front of him.
The door was tightly shut, covered in black moss-like growth in the gaps. Evidently, the door had remained closed since its construction.
In the center of the stone door was an intricate pattern-a sun-engraved circular design with star-like engravings on its surface.
Approaching, Leo touched the surface of the door, intending to use his spiritual sense to locate the door’s mechanism and then open it with his Spiritual Power. However, after trying for some time, he couldn’t find the mechanism.
Deciding to use an escape technique, Leo vanished. The next moment, his body reappeared and was sent flying backward, crashing hard onto the ground. As he got up, a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth, leaving him shocked.
He never expected there to be a formation behind the stone door that could even block his escape technique!
Leo advanced, forcefully pressing his right hand on the circular pattern in the middle of the stone door. Due to wiping his mouth earlier, his hand bore a small amount of blood.
When his blood touched the circular pattern, it was absorbed by the design. With a rumble, the stone door slowly began to rise.
Leo was left dumbfounded. Could it be that blind luck had led him to this discovery?
Passing through the stone door, he entered a chamber of about three hundred square meters. The light from his phone’s flashlight revealed scattered, sinister white bones on the ground, along with skulls, some of which were incomplete, resembling a scene from the depths of hell.
In the center of the chamber stood a circular platform with stairs leading to the top. At the top sat a massive black chair with armrests featuring a black dragon on the left and a black tiger on the right. The back of the chair was adorned with numerous swords.
On the chair sat a tall and burly figure, clad in armor, with a horned helmet covering his face. In his right hand, he held a scepter.
This sculpture seated on the chair was the same person depicted in the circular platform pattern on the third floor.
His left arm was raised, palm open, holding a disc engraved with some sort of star pattern.
The disc was entirely black and about the size of an adult’s palm.
Looking around the circular platform, with the sculpture at its center, there were seven statues around it: Qiantan, Baijuan, Gluttonox, Chiseltooth, Fei, Yapi, and an unfinished statue whose specific form couldn’t be discerned.
Using divine sense to probe, one could sense a subtle and mysterious fluctuation within this chamber.
Leo had a premonition that any slight movement on his part would trigger the mysterious power within the chamber to act against him.
Just then, a powerful surge of demonic energy emanated from behind.
Leo abruptly turned around, only to see an old man dressed in a robe walking in. However, Daoist robe was black instead of apricot.
This Demon Cultivator clad in black robes was indeed a Demon Cultivator!
After casting a glance at Leo, the Demon Cultivator transformed into a black shadow and rushed towards the statues on the platform ahead.
Just as he was about to grab the disc from the statue’s palm, his figure suddenly stopped.
A massive energy arc appeared in front of the Demon Cultivator, and within the flashing arc, immense surges of power spread out in all directions.
Under the impact of the tremendous energy shockwave, Leo staggered backward, struggling to maintain his balance.
This Demon Cultivator’s strength was formidable, resisting the attacks of the mysterious power within the chamber.
While maintaining his form in the air, the Demon Cultivator slowly approached the disc with his right hand.
As his hand was about to touch the disc, a black light suddenly shot from somewhere.
The Demon Cultivator had no choice but to dodge the attack by flipping his body, landing on the ground.
“You insignificant human, dare to covet the Nine Heaven Star Disk. Then leave your soul to me!” A strange voice sounded from behind the black light.
Leo felt a slight shock. The disc was called the Nine Heaven Star Disk. Could it have any connection with the Nine Heavens Star Chart he practiced?
At the top of the platform, a black shadow slowly manifested. This shadow seemed humanoid, yet also beast-like. Its specific form couldn’t be discerned, not even with divine sense.
Seeing this black shadow, the Demon Cultivator’s expression turned vigilant.
Striking first, the Demon Cultivator took out a talisman from his body and targeted the black shadow on the platform ahead.
A black lightning bolt emerged, striking towards the black shadow in an instant.
The shadow didn’t react much. A black giant hand appeared in front of it, surrounded by black light. With an open palm, it met the fierce black lightning.