Chapter 61

The headless black tiger, which had been decapitated, was also neatly cleaned up by the people of the Yin clan. Its body was magically shrunk and tucked into a brocade bag, and the tiger's blood on the ground was collected using secret techniques, not a single drop wasted.

Only then did Yin Xuege and the others have the leisure to look around at the scenery, and everyone couldn't help but sigh.

What a beautiful landscape, truly a scene from the immortal world. In the era of the decline of the Dharma, where could one find such a divine grotto?

Under their feet was a grand avenue paved with white jade, the seams between the jade tiles filled with gold. The golden and jade light shone together, making the avenue look resplendent with pearls and treasures, yet without any vulgar or worldly feel, instead exuding a magnificent and splendid aura of the immortals.

At the end of the avenue, between two green peaks, stood a red coral archway with nine bays. It was hard to imagine where the owner of this grotto found such a huge piece of red coral, as the entire archway was carved from a single piece. Hundreds of pearls the size of fists were embedded in the archway, their faint light making the archway glow red as if on fire.

About a mile behind the archway, a lake covering a hundred square miles was dotted with numerous exquisite palaces and pavilions, nestled among lush flowers and jade trees. These palaces and pavilions were built entirely from various kinds of jade, gold, coral, hats, tourmaline, and pearls, with no trace of any mundane materials, all rare and precious items in the world.

On the lake, which was as clear as the moon, several water pavilions were connected by rainbow bridges. The lake was filled with countless exotic lotuses, with white stems, black leaves, and flowers as red as fire, each as large as a water vat. These lotuses seemed to breathe out the essence of heaven and earth, and the silver dew from the lotus pods would drip onto the lotus leaves, rolling around like pearls on a plate, shimmering and radiant.

Behind this cluster of buildings, a steep peak rose from the ground. The peak, a thousand feet high, was covered with countless large and small holes, from which large patches of purple smoke, resembling lingzhi mushrooms, slowly emerged. As the purple smoke drifted away from the peak, it turned into a heavy rain of spiritual essence, nourishing the nearby mountains and making the moss and vegetation lush and vibrant.

At a glance, the Jade Splendor Microcosm was only a few hundred miles in circumference, but the peaks visible to the group were covered with all kinds of spiritual flowers and exotic herbs, and countless lingzhi mushrooms hung from the ancient pines.

Apart from the tiger and the python guarding the entrance, there were no other living creatures in this vast winter, making it eerily quiet.

Moreover, countless faint glows could be seen in the surrounding void, and a large number of straight beams of immortal light crisscrossed the void like a vast net. These were the various formations and restrictions set up by the owner of the grotto, making the grotto airtight and impenetrable.

To walk down this avenue, pass through the red coral archway, enter the cluster of palaces and pavilions, and even step onto the thousand-foot peak, which was clearly the core of the grotto, was clearly no easy task.

"Such a wonderful place!" Yin Tianjue pulled out a black jade flute from somewhere and tapped it against his palm. He sighed sincerely, "Compared to this grotto, our clan's ancestral land, Feiyun Cliff, is just a garbage dump. Tsk, tsk, I never thought that in the Eastern cultivation world, there would be a great predecessor who opened such a divine grotto in the Western lands!"

Jiang Ruren smiled at Yin Tianjue and said, "According to our agreement, the Jiang clan only wants the ancient texts and various magical artifacts left by our ancestors. As for everything else, it all belongs to the Yin clan. This grotto, these palaces and pavilions, and all the spiritual flowers and exotic herbs have nothing to do with the Jiang family anymore!"

Yin Tianjue nodded in agreement and said with delight, "Excellent, marvelous! This Jade Splendor Microcosm can be the eternal foundation of our Yin clan!"

Yin Xuege had been secretly observing the expressions of the Jiang clan disciples. When Yin Tianjue mentioned the term 'eternal foundation,' a few Jiang clan disciples clearly showed a hint of ridicule and disbelief. This faint smile flashed by but did not escape Yin Xuege's keen senses, as the Blood Demon clan's senses were far superior to those of humans.

This grotto is not valued by the current members of the Jiang clan! Yin Xuege reminded himself.

But the problem was, if such a grotto, which Yin Tianjue praised so highly, was not valued by the current Jiang clan, then how could an ancestor of the Jiang clan have chosen to open his grotto here many years ago?

It doesn't make sense!

Yin Tianjue seemed eager to obtain ownership of the grotto. He suggested to Jiang Ruren that they all push forward, break through all the restrictions, and quickly retrieve what the Jiang clan wanted.

Jiang Ruren naturally welcomed this suggestion with open arms.

After a brief rest, Jiang Ruren carefully explained the various changes in the formation-breaking array and the types and power of the restrictions they might encounter ahead. Then, the formation-breaking array was activated again, and a large amount of fire and starlight, along with silver smoke, surged forward under the guidance of the Heavenly Mechanism Compass.

All the restrictions within the Jade Splendor Microcosm were immediately activated. On the avenue where the group was, a palm-sized purple-green immortal talisman quietly floated out from each white jade tile. Immortal light swirled, and the essence of heaven and earth was absorbed by the tiles like a tide. The surrounding void was sealed, the sky and earth inverted, and the gravity on the group increased to about a hundred times its normal level. If not for the protection of the formation-breaking array, this terrifying gravity would have torn apart countless bodies.

Yin Xuege was hidden within the formation-breaking array, pondering how Yin Tianjue would create an opportunity for him to secretly copy the Jiang clan's texts. Suddenly, he heard a dozen Yin clan members at the edge of the formation-breaking array cry out in alarm. The light from their formation flags became disordered, and the operation of the formation-breaking array suddenly stagnated, triggering a chain reaction.

The formation-breaking array almost collapsed, and the terrifying gravity surged. In the blinding light, Yin Xuege felt his body become weightless as a spindle-shaped light screen suddenly appeared and enveloped him. With a 'whoosh,' Yin Xuege's body was carried away by the light screen and vanished into the void in an instant.

When Yin Xuege came to his senses, he found himself standing in an ancient, metal-made hall.

In front of him was a giant altar, eight zhang and one chi wide, with several water vat-sized light orbs floating above it, each containing some strange instruments.

In the center of the altar was a golden box, two chi square, with countless tadpole-shaped immortal characters carved on its surface. The flowing, radiant characters made Yin Xuege feel dizzy and almost nauseous just by looking at them.

In the hall, nine large furnaces were arranged in the Nine Palace positions. These furnaces continuously spewed out high-temperature red light, making Yin Xuege sweat profusely and his hair curl from the heat.

Just as Yin Xuege was wondering where he was, heavy footsteps suddenly came from behind the giant altar.

"Finally, someone has come?"

With slow, steady footsteps, a small figure, less than three feet tall, emerged from behind the altar.