Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 327 - 179: Obtaining the Yellow Springs Fiend

After six hours of unceasing effort.

The forty-nine layers of Restrictions sealing the Golden Coffin were all successfully broken.

Consequently, the buildings in the miniature city on the coffin lid also underwent considerable changes.

A large portion of these Restrictions had originally been tied to the various trials within the city, but now those parts were naturally gone.

This strange development also caught the attention of the hundred or so cultivators inside.

However, they didn’t know the inside story and assumed it was either a normal occurrence or a change brought about by someone else.

Aside from being a bit more cautious, they continued hunting each other or solving puzzles in search of treasure.

Meanwhile, the Golden Core True Men outside who were breaking the Restrictions were also surprised to find that some of the original Restrictions had suddenly weakened or vanished.

Thunder Sound True Man said with some surprise, "Fellow Daoist Yaohua, I didn’t expect you to be so skilled in the Array Dao."

"With your help, our progress has sped up considerably."

He made a quick mental calculation. "At this rate, we should be able to open a safe exit for the juniors in another twenty hours."

Master Yaohua, who had just arrived to help, was stunned to hear this.

She hadn’t actually done a thing. The few Restrictions she’d been assigned had simply vanished on their own.

She wanted to explain, but the others mistook it for modesty.

Master Yusha even advised, "Fellow Daoist Yaohua, you mustn’t deliberately hide your abilities."

.

Elsewhere, Master Nijie on the other side had also noticed the anomaly.

The third layer of Law, which he had originally expected to take three days to break, had suddenly become much more fragile. He estimated it would now only take another day and a half.

Astonished, he forced himself to sit cross-legged and begin meditating to compose his mind.

He was preparing for the battle that was likely to come.

He also sent word to his allies, telling them to prepare for battle as well.

It seemed a direct confrontation with the Golden Core Cultivators of the Righteous Dao was now inevitable.

As a storm brewed outside, inside the Traveling Palace, the Artifact Spirit was also growing nervous.

With the Restrictions lifted, the next step was to push open the coffin lid and trick Xiao Chen into lying down inside.

"First, release the eighteen latches on the front and back, then rotate these five points in sequence."

"Finally, push it one inch to the right from the top, then two inches to the left from the bottom."

"Repeat this cycle, adding an extra inch to the push each time, until it’s fully open."

All these steps corresponded to a mechanism left behind by the third Daoist Master.

If Xiao Chen failed to follow even one step correctly, the hidden Killing Array beneath the Golden Coffin would activate.

At that point, never mind a Foundation Establishment cultivator—even an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator would be unable to escape death.

However, with the Artifact Spirit having switched sides, these mechanisms were naturally rendered useless.

He pushed the enormous lid aside, leaving it suspended in midair, revealing a coffin filled to the brim with flowing Yellow Springs Water.

The water surged unceasingly from east to west, vanishing into thin air at the foot of the coffin only to reappear at the head.

Simply by looking at the scene before him, Xiao Chen felt as if he were gazing upon the true Yellow Springs, sensing the sinister, cold aura of the Nine Netherworld.

"Now for the final step."

The Artifact Spirit tried to suppress its voice, keeping its emotions from showing. "You must enter the coffin headfirst, with your feet up."

"Don’t be afraid. It isn’t dangerous at all."

’Not dangerous?’

’Are you fucking kidding me?’

Xiao Chen looked at the Artifact Spirit, his eyes filled with suspicion.

’Just looking at the Yellow Springs Water is enough to send a shiver down my spine. If I actually lie down in it, I’ll probably never get out.’

He had another question. "Didn’t you say the treasure was inside?"

"Why can’t I see anything besides this Yellow Springs Water?"

The Artifact Spirit was prepared. "Don’t be afraid. This is the final trial left by my master."

"In truth, there’s no Yellow Springs Water in there at all. What you’re seeing is merely an Illusion, a disguise."

"As long as you overcome the fear in your heart and return to the Yellow Springs, you will find new life within it."

This wasn’t an outright lie; it just didn’t specify who would be the one to find new life.

Xiao Chen, however, wasn’t so quick to believe it.

To see if the Artifact Spirit was lying, he activated his Eye of Truth to investigate for any trickery.

However, not only did the churning Yellow Springs Water continue to flow, but now he could even see skeletons bobbing up and down within it.

Amid the surging waves, the scene suddenly became much more realistic.

At the same time, Xiao Chen felt wisps of cold energy rushing straight into his eyes.

He actually felt a distinct chill.

With the protection of his Divine Protection Veil, this sensation was definitely not a trick of his mind.

’Could what’s flowing in the Golden Coffin truly be the legendary Yellow Springs Water from the depths of the Nine Netherworld?’

’That’s not very likely, is it?’

"Boy, don’t be so impudent!"

The Artifact Spirit quickly warned, "If you continue to use an Investigation Method to pry into the Yellow Springs, you’ll suffer a backlash!"

What was actually flowing in the Golden Coffin wasn’t Yellow Springs Water, but lethal Yellow Springs Fiend.

Without the proper Secret Techniques to dispel it, prying from such a close distance would provoke an invasion of Evil Qi. In a mild case, his eyes would be injured; in a severe one, his Divine Soul would be damaged.

The Artifact Spirit certainly didn’t want Xiao Chen getting injured now; after all, this body would soon be its own.

But its warning came a moment too late.

As it spoke, a faint wisp of Yin Fiend Qi had already rushed into Xiao Chen’s eyes.

It traveled first to his Forehead Acupoint, then through the Yangbai Acupoint, before finally burrowing into the Shenting Acupoint.

Throughout this process, his entire forehead felt as if it had been plunged into ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice. He could even feel his consciousness begin to slow.

At this point, an ordinary cultivator could only watch helplessly as the Evil Qi assaulted their Sea of Consciousness, completely powerless to stop it.