In the minds of many, anyone who could cultivate heavenly light force to the level of a blazing sun, blend it with their consciousness, and go spirit wandering had to possess an extraordinary background.
For this was not their domain; normally, masters of the Newborn path could not go spirit wandering at all! Even the old man riding the four-tusked white elephant showed surprise, staring repeatedly at Qin Ming's back.
The silver-haired young woman had a graceful figure, each step sending out ripples of layered divine halos. She, too, watched closely, feeling quite surprised.
Though many were stunned, once they recovered their wits, they shook their heads.
"Even if a Young Ancestor came in person, they most likely wouldn't succeed. Going in like this is practically seeking death."
"Indeed. No one has ever walked out of that divine temple alive!" A group of people wore solemn expressions. It was rare for such an extraordinary figure to barge into the temple, but his fate would likely be just as grim.
The master of this place was simply too terrifying. An important figure had once commented that this place could be called a death zone—a deadly, fatal temple with entry but no exit.
Qin Ming stepped into the temple. The ground was strewn with withered branches and dead leaves, as if no one had set foot here in ages. This was no illusory realm constructed from spirit.
It was an authentic ancient architectural complex with an immense sense of age. The smell of decay and age rushed at him, yet the structures still had not collapsed. Whenever the night mist surged, the temple would descend upon this realm.
With Qin Ming's arrival, golden light surged from the ground, blanketing the courtyard. Even the withered leaves and the tattered windows creaking in the night breeze were bathed in golden dawn-light.
All around, the engravings upon the courtyard walls turned translucent. Were they gods or fiends? All shone with light. Some soared into the heavens while others plunged into hell, bearing varied expressions—some joyful, some hideous—each emitting a grand voice.
It was as though a host of spirits and gods was chanting scriptures at Qin Ming. Dense swarms of symbols bloomed from the surrounding walls and flew toward him.
"Is the master of this place sizing me up?" Qin Ming halted.
Then he saw the gods and fiends grow even more vivid and lifelike, as if coming to life to step down from the walls. The scriptures they chanted condensed into tangible form.
The symbols spilling from their mouths linked into golden chains that expanded from the walls, coiling toward Qin Ming. Farther off, the dense crowd following behind watched intently.
Recognizing the situation, someone couldn't help sighing, "This is exceptionally high-spec treatment. Right off the bat, he's being dragged into the Lock God diagram to expound the Dao with them."
Many had heard of it; some called that wall the Gods Expounding the Dao Diagram, while others called it the Host of Fiends Descending upon the World Diagram.
Anyone locked inside the wall either triumphed in expounding the Dao and broke out of the diagram, or their primary consciousness was burned to ash by the golden chains in an instant.
"Little Wu, this acquaintance of yours was a bit too reckless," the three-eyed youth said, shaking his head.
For he saw that Qin Ming had already drawn close to the wall. Did he lack even the power to struggle? Others were equally surprised. Wasn't this person a Young Ancestor? He seemed rather "feeble."
An old man said, "What this place tests has little to do with one's depth of cultivation; it mostly concerns brilliance and path-blazing potential. It heavily demands natural talent, favoring beings capable of carving paths through brambles and thistles in the future."
What if he were a Young Ancestor? In reality, he was probably so old he was on the verge of kicking the bucket. Even if he had cultivated his heavenly light force to the level of a terrifying great sun, coming here would still be futile.
"Huh?!" Suddenly, people noticed something abnormal. That upright back had not vanished into the wall. Instead, he was slowly moving his feet, viewing one glowing, lifelike engraving after another, while the figures on the wall dimmed, retreated, and dissipated.
Having approached, Qin Ming examined the carvings carefully.
The chains from the wall had not touched him at all. They were blocked by the sun-like light outside his body and even incinerated in reverse, snapping every divine chain.
"Why isn't he expounding the Dao? Why did those engravings fade away?" In the distance, people were astonished, and many stood dumbfounded. He hadn't even entered the wall, yet he had burned back the figures in the carvings?
A top-tier variant Golden-Winged Peng, radiating intense light, said, "If you are sufficiently powerful, the anomalies around you will speak on your behalf and debate scripture in your stead."
Upon seeing it, many felt a shiver in their hearts. This old Peng possessed an immense background and was quite likely a real Golden-Winged Peng bird in reality as well.
Some even speculated that it was most likely the ancient Peng of the Tianpeng Daoist Sanctuary in Kunling Great City, whose illustrious name was known in all directions.
An elder clad in feathered robes nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist speaks truly. The true meaning contained in his heavenly light force is likely extraordinary beyond measure; it has already spoken for him and debated scripture on his behalf."
People realized that the temple challenger must have cultivated a unique heavenly light force beneficial for trailblazing, which aligned with this place's assessment of talent and natural endowment.
"How unexpected. One would have thought an old fellow with half his body buried in the yellow earth, even with profound cultivation, would have no new scriptural truths to show, yet he is so formidable!"
The old man riding the four-tusked white elephant spoke up: "Who said he must be a Young Ancestor whose lifespan has dried up? What if he is a young junior? That might be closer to the truth."
Hearing this, many were skeptical.
For the Newborn path was far too dependent on age; the older one was, the more formidable one became, requiring time to grind away. If not a renowned old fellow, how could anyone achieve spirit wandering with heavenly light force?
A young man with a single golden horn on his head said, "Well, we just have to keep watching. As long as he is a Newborn, he'll likely find it hard to pass the later trials, because that path itself has reached a dead end and can hardly be expanded further."
Qin Ming walked a circle along the courtyard walls. The spirits and gods retreated, and all the designs vanished. When he tentatively sensed the lingering emotions here, he heard a deafening roar.
It was the sound of the entire temple. All the ancient buildings were connected as one, vibrating like great bells and massive cauldrons, threatening to shatter the night. Qin Ming stopped immediately, not daring to continue; this temple was like an immense "living creature"!
He stepped into the second courtyard. Blue bricks were cracked, weeds grew in the gaps, and a few old trees swayed in the night breeze, shedding yellow leaves in a scene of utter desolation.
With his arrival, an incense burner more than half the height of a man lit up, and the entire courtyard began to glow with it. Inside the bronze incense burner stood three thick sticks of incense burning like torches, their smoke rising straight into the clouds.
The heavy accumulation of incense ash in the bronze burner now floated up, filling the courtyard and dividing into countless motes of ash.
"There really is an afterlife! Hahaha! Reincarnated with the wisdom of my past life, in this life I shall become a being near-immortal!" A dark shadow inside a mote of ash shouted joyfully.
"Unimaginable! After dying of old age, I actually arrived in a brand-new world, advancing triumphantly all the way. I am about to become a god!" In another mote of ash, an elderly dark shadow possessed a dignified bearing, smiling serenely.
"To think that after wasting my entire past life, I would gain a second chance here! Becoming an immortal and founding ancestor is no longer a dream!" Inside yet another mote of ash, a mad-looking young man roared.
Qin Ming sighed. Were all these ashes filling the bronze burner and countless dark shadows merely the obsessions of the dead?
An old man's face surfaced upon one of the incense sticks and said, "Heaven and earth are the furnace; all living beings are mere ash. Do you think yourself special? First take a turn in the furnace and fight your way through ten realms before coming out."
These words sounded far too grandiose—fighting through ten realms? Soon Qin Ming understood: the old man's face had matched him with ten brilliant, rather special motes of ash, inside which resided deceased beings.
"What? An otherworldly fiend dares invade our realm?!" a white-robed young man shouted.
The moment Qin Ming approached a mote of ash, he saw an immortal sword slash forward, rending the sky of that ash world.
He took quite a fright. Could such a sword be blocked? In an instant, he discovered that his own golden dawn-light shone over all things and dispelled the sword light; the other's immortal sword was not as powerful as imagined.
"Who am I? Where am I? Did I... have a great dream?" Opposite him, the white-robed young man wore a complex expression, as if he had just awakened from the mote of ash.
Immediately afterward, he spoke: "I was a disciple of a pure land and died within the divine temple. Now that my consciousness has returned, let us expound the Dao together."
Shortly after, a great sun hung across the sky, and conscious spiritual light intertwined in fierce collisions. Then this ash world dissipated, and the white-robed youth showed a smile of release, cupped his fists to Qin Ming, and vanished entirely.
Next, Qin Ming, the "otherworldly fiend," broke through nine more realms in succession.
His expression turned grave. Those who died in the divine temple were exceptionally extraordinary. Across ten debates of the Dao—from pure land cultivators to variants, to giant beasts, formless monsters, and bizarre plants—each cost him no small amount of effort.
He did not know that these were the standouts among the incense ashes, exceptionally gifted figures specially selected for him by the master of this place.
"So fast! He has already traversed the second courtyard!" In the bizarre town, many floated up into midair to gaze toward the divine temple.
"I'm certain he isn't a Newborn. He's probably someone from another path who practiced heavenly light force merely as an early dao-protecting measure."
Some refused to believe a Newborn could advance with irresistible momentum and pass two trials so quickly.
Qin Ming entered the third courtyard and saw an azure ox sitting cross-legged under a ginkgo tree.
With golden-yellow leaves drifting from the tree, the old ox patted the empty ground before it and said, "Come, let us expound the Dao."
After Qin Ming sat down, the old ox began lowing incessantly, utterly incomprehensible.
"Are you deliberately making things difficult for me?" Qin Ming looked at it.
"All things have spirit; the Great Dao has no form. I am manifesting the Dao and expounding the Dharma. Did you understand?" the old ox asked.
Qin Ming lightly brushed his hand, using heavenly light force to construct a zither, and began to play.
First, he played a piece: Ascending the Tower of the Banished Immortal.
Immediately, scenes seemed to emerge—climbing the tower to look far into the distance, ten thousand li of vast rivers, sunset clouds of fiery glow, waves churning golden sands, and a flood dragon tearing through the sky, soaring into the highest heavens.
The old ox stared blankly. What kind of blasted noise was this? It couldn't make head or tail of it at all.
"My Dao—do you understand it?" Qin Ming smiled.
Next, he played another piece: Cook Ding Carves the Ox.
This zither music, infused with his golden light, manifested imagery that revealed his unique heavenly light force, which the old ox saw this time.
"Moo!" It understood. It sprang to its feet, stamping its hooves and baring giant horns.
Then, it saw a blade resonating with the melody, ringing out crisply as it sank swiftly into its flesh and began dismembering it.
With a whoosh, Qin Ming entered the fourth courtyard...
Afterward, with unstoppable momentum, he cleared eight trials in total and arrived directly in the courtyard housing the grandest, main divine temple.
By this point, those outside could no longer see inside, the dense mist blocking their vision. Yet all were shaken to the core—someone had actually broken through eight trials to face the master of the divine temple directly!
Qin Ming stood in the courtyard, gazing deep into that pitch-black, colossal hall, feeling a stirring in his heart.
Suddenly, the ancient building began to shine, blazing brilliantly.
It was all because the walls inside the hall were covered in carved writing. The calligraphy soared like dragons and danced like phoenixes, wild and unconstrained, covering what should have been a solemn, sacred grand hall.
Qin Ming immediately knew that these had to be the scriptures left behind by that grandmaster of old. He sensed powerful heavenly light surging there like an undulating ocean, threatening to burst out of the temple!
"That venerable grandmaster had immense courage, boldly carving scriptures like this in someone else's most important sanctuary!" Qin Ming marveled inwardly.
"Enter," a voice called from inside the ancient temple.
As Qin Ming drew near, apart from the glowing characters on the walls, everywhere else was relatively dark. Moreover, many spots were draped in spiderwebs stained with blood.
His expression grew heavy. Those spiderwebs... how could they exist in a place like this? Soon, he seemed to glimpse a creature as massive as a mountain.
He quickly shook his head, finding it unreal. Could the creature that once inhabited the decrepit cobwebs of this hall have truly been as gigantic as a mountain?
The deepest recess of the divine temple's main hall suddenly grew hazy. A path appeared there, stretching toward the extremely distant horizon, leading to a bright moon, where a graceful silhouette was slowly approaching.
Chapter 180