Chapter 86

As they approached the temple, the number of priests wearing white, wide robes increased. They were the most revered among the barbarians, and even the nobles would bow to them.

In the barbarian tribes, there were four strict social classes: priests, nobles, commoners, and slaves. The lower classes had to absolutely obey the higher classes.

The priests represented divine authority, while the nobles represented royal power. Although there were conflicts, the divine authority always suppressed the royal power due to the existence of the evil god.

However, when these ordinary priests saw the Shadow Priest, they instinctively made way. Even those who didn't have time to avoid him bowed, not daring to be disrespectful.

"It seems this move was right. Without pretending to be a Shadow Priest, it would have been very difficult to get in," Guchen Sha quickly walked through the temple's main gate, and no one dared to stop him, allowing him to proceed unimpeded.

A Shadow Priest at the Sixth Transformation of the Dao Realm held an unimaginably high status in the temple.

Shadow Priests were solitary, practicing alone, and could even ignore the orders of the temple's upper echelons, only following divine commands. Of course, they generally didn't hold significant power, living a life of assassination, cultivation, and communication with the gods, so the temple's upper echelons didn't restrict them.

This identity, which didn't require social interaction, was perfect for infiltrating.

As soon as he entered the temple, he recalled Yiming's information, and the entire layout of the temple appeared in his mind. The center was where the temple's upper echelons, including the Grand High Priest and High Priests, lived and practiced. To the south was the square for worship and sacrifices, to the west was the treasury, to the north was the prison, and to the east were the rooms of various priests.

In addition, there were various side halls for raising fierce beasts, refining elixirs, forging weapons, training knights, teaching scriptures, and practicing martial arts.

The temple was vast, spanning a hundred miles, with smooth, ancient stone pavements that had endured countless years.

There were priests coming and going in the temple, all of them powerful martial arts masters. Occasionally, he saw priests at the First or Second Transformation of the Dao Realm wearing red robes.

According to tradition in the Chaos Ape Temple, ordinary priests wore white robes, senior priests wore red robes, High Priests wore purple robes, and Grand High Priests wore golden robes. It was rumored that the Grand High Priest wore a multicolored robe. Shadow Priests always wore black robes.

Guchen Sha learned that this Shadow Priest was at the Sixth Transformation of the Dao Realm, with a status comparable to a High Priest, and no one dared to interfere with him.

He immediately headed for the treasury in the west of the temple.

Of course, even as a Shadow Priest, he couldn't enter the treasury at will. But he had his own methods. With guards defending the treasury, there would be vulnerabilities, and he could find them and sneak in, like a rat in a granary, moving freely.

After walking for half a day, he was close to the treasury, and the defenses became tighter. He darted into a corner, entered the Sun and Moon Altar space, and practiced while waiting quietly.

The guards patrolled in waves, seemingly endless, giving no one a chance.

Guchen Sha was very patient. He observed and practiced on the Sun and Moon Altar, seeing everything outside clearly while remaining invisible and untouchable, a feeling that was extremely mysterious.

The faint light from the Sun and Moon Altar penetrated his body, making the practice of the Heavenly Son Sealing God Technique much more efficient.

He practiced various boxing techniques and carefully studied the Mahā Town-Yama Sutra, the Chaos Ape Canon, and the integration of good and evil, with his blood energy circulating continuously.

This practice lasted for several hours.

Finally, the guards near the treasury began to change shifts. Some guards slowly withdrew, and others came in from outside. Seizing this opportunity, he emerged from the Sun and Moon Altar space and moved quickly until he encountered another wave of guards, at which point he stopped.

He continued this pattern, hiding when he encountered people and moving forward when no one was around. After two days, he was close to the treasury.

The temple's treasury wasn't just one place; there were treasuries for weapons, armor, elixirs, magical treasures, and secret texts, among other things. He wasn't in a hurry, hiding and observing the patterns. Over the past two days, he saw some priests carrying chests from outside, storing treasures in the treasury, and others taking out top-tier weapons and armor.

With his previous experience in theft, Guchen Sha had become a seasoned thief. The Sun and Moon Altar space was a perfect tool for stealing, making him undetectable.

With the Dragon Armor enhanced by the Dragon Transformation Liquid, it was silent and floated in the air, like a ghost, making his movements even more convenient. He could even hide on the roof of the grand hall to observe.

He had many opportunities to enter the treasuries but didn't act rashly.

He realized that these treasuries weren't the top-secret ones. What he needed wasn't gold, jewels, or various divine weapons and elixirs, but something that could quickly enhance his strength.

For example, Dragon Transformation Liquid and Spirit Crystals.

If he obtained a large amount of Dragon Transformation Liquid and used Spirit Crystals to neutralize it, his Dragon Armor could be upgraded to the King Dragon Armor. Wearing this level of armor, even Yiming would be helpless against him.

The hierarchy of dragons was: Black Dragon, Chi Dragon, Great Dragon, King Dragon, and then Divine Dragon. This showed the power of the King Dragon Armor.

The Demon-Slaying Blade could also be fully formed.

The Horned Dragon Armor could be fully upgraded.

He was very patient, observing and waiting, not rushing.

After three more days of observation, he finally discovered a small, mysterious treasury among the hundreds. It had an ancient bronze door, and even the guards couldn't approach it. Every other day, two priests in golden robes, Grand High Priests, would come to inspect it, recite incantations, open the door, enter, and stay for an hour before leaving.

He watched from a distance, and the bronze door treasury was deep and winding, leading underground, with no clear view of what was inside.

The two Grand High Priests in golden robes were very powerful. Based on his judgment, they were even stronger than Yiming, so he didn't act rashly.

In the Chaos Ape Temple, Grand High Priests were second only to the Grand High Priest, Yuan Shasheng, whose cultivation was unknown. The Grand High Priests were all at the Seventh or Eighth Transformation of the Dao Realm, or even stronger.

This was the holy land of the barbarians, the main temple of the Chaos Ape Evil God, the highest faith of hundreds of millions of barbarians, where all the elites had gathered for thousands of years, protected by the evil god, making it a place of countless experts.

"Every day, two Grand High Priests inspect the treasury, but they are not the same people. They rotate every three days, meaning there are at least six Grand High Priests," Guchen Sha calculated, realizing that trying to take over the temple was like an ant trying to swallow the sky, an impossible dream.

Fortunately, this was part of his plan. Even if he couldn't take over the temple, he could still steal treasures to enhance his strength, cause chaos, and create unrest. If he could take advantage of the situation, he would; if not, he would leave and return to the border to learn from other princes how to conquer and plunder.

"Two Grand High Priests enter to inspect, but the door doesn't close. I can take the opportunity to enter and hide, but I need to control the timing and speed," Guchen Sha thought, but he wasn't in a hurry.

On the fourth day, he continued to observe, not taking any action, and practiced quietly.

Over these few days, he had comprehended the mysteries of the Sun and Moon Altar and organized his martial arts, making his foundation more solid. Since leaving the capital, he had hardly practiced, fighting every day and accumulating much experience but not having time to digest it.

First, he battled the Black Bat, killed the Yin-Yang Scholar, and slew the Poison Daoist and the Blood Soul Sect Leader in the midst of thousands of barbarian cavalry. Later, he encountered the House of Chen from the Xian Dynasty, obtained the Heart-Seizing Talisman, and went to the Peach County Temple to subdue the divine messenger, turning him into his servant "Yiming." He reviewed these events during the days of waiting, reflecting on what he did well and what he could improve.

By integrating martial arts and personal conduct, his mind and spirit became more refined.

On the fifth day, two more Grand High Priests recited incantations and opened the bronze door, entering to inspect. They were different from the previous ones, making a total of ten different Grand High Priests.

Any two of these ten Grand High Priests could easily kill Guchen Sha's team, including Yiming, multiple times over.

After they entered, Guchen Sha suddenly appeared and slipped into the bronze door. But in an instant, he jumped into the Sun and Moon Altar, appearing to outsiders as a shadow that flashed and disappeared into the bronze door.

Indeed, the moment he disappeared, a Grand High Priest in a golden robe appeared at the door. He was one of the inspectors and, sensing something, immediately rushed to the door, moving so fast it seemed like teleportation. If Guchen Sha hadn't been quick, he would have been caught on the spot, with no chance to return to the Sun and Moon Altar.

"Indeed powerful. Despite my careful planning, I still broke out in a cold sweat," Guchen Sha stood in the Sun and Moon Altar space, watching the golden-robed Grand High Priest carefully inspect the area. His heart pounded, and he realized that if he had been a moment slower, he would have been dead.

The Grand High Priest's eyes seemed to flash with fire, and he sniffed the air, searching everywhere.

Another Grand High Priest arrived, and they conversed in the barbarian language, searching again but finding nothing. They then went inside to inspect for a while, recited incantations, and closed the bronze door.

After the two left, Guchen Sha didn't move but waited quietly.

Indeed, after an hour, the bronze door opened again, and two more Grand High Priests appeared, inspecting the area and finding nothing before leaving.

"Indeed, a second inspection," Guchen Sha sneered, "I have plenty of patience."

This time, he was completely safe. He emerged from the Sun and Moon Altar space and began to move deeper.

He had observed that no one guarded the area behind the bronze door, which was very secret and required a high level to open. After the inspection, it would be safe for at least a day, giving him plenty of time to act.

He landed on a bronze staircase, descending in a spiral into the ground.

He floated in the air, not touching the ground, as it might have traps or alarms.

The spiral bronze staircase was long, leading a thousand feet underground before reaching the underground palace.

In the center of the underground palace was a pool made of bones.

In the center of the pool was boiling blood.

"Indeed, Dragon Transformation Liquid!" Guchen Sha was overjoyed, "This trip wasn't in vain. That is......"

In the pool of Dragon Transformation Liquid, a small pagoda floated. The pagoda had nine layers, was one foot tall, and each layer was covered with countless glowing runes, unaffected by the fierce and powerful energy of the Dragon Transformation Liquid.

The Dragon Transformation Liquid was an essence extracted from the bloodlines of countless prehistoric beasts, mixed with spirit liquid and various rare materials, a creation of the evil gods to strengthen the barbarians. It was not only difficult to refine but also had the power to destroy magical treasures.

The more Dragon Transformation Liquid, the stronger the fierce energy.

"Could this be the Dragon Transformation Pagoda that Yiming mentioned? But why is it so small? Is it a model?" Guchen Sha approached, trying to figure out how to collect the Dragon Transformation Liquid.

This pool of Dragon Transformation Liquid was the result of many years of effort by the Chaos Ape Temple, and it wasn't easy to collect.