World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 251 - 155: Demon Summoning! Temple!

Chapter 251: 155: Demon Summoning! Temple!

This was a city built of stone, mixed with jade.

Broken sculptures, incomplete buildings had crumbled under countless years, yet one could vaguely discern that this once was a city of breathtaking beauty.

As Yao Xing said, the Bloody Shore Lost City was destroyed tens of thousands of years ago.

If it were a city on Earth, it might have disappeared long ago. After all, even the pyramids of Egypt only have a history of a few thousand years.

Yet, despite its dilapidation, the overall layout of this city still remained.

Even Suo Lun could deduce from the ruins what were fountains and what were gardens.

This city had a large number of public buildings, an abundance of squares. Its architecture was far more immense and opulent than that of the City of Rage Wave.

One could infer that this was a city of a higher level of civilization. Not only was its productive capacity more advanced, but its political system was also more sophisticated.

Suo Lun stood at the city gates, with a straight road before him that appeared to lead directly to the center of the city.

Earlier, from the mountaintop, Suo Lun had seen that the roads of the Blood Case Lost City formed a spiderweb pattern.

There were a total of eight main thoroughfares running through the city, like diameter lines on a circle.

And eight circular roads created concentric circles, akin to the rings around Beijing, except that Beijing’s rings are rectangular.

Thus, the road layout of the city resembled a Bagua, but round in shape.

The eight main thoroughfares intersecting the city corresponded to sixteen city gates, and Suo Lun entered through one of these gates.

Before him was one of the roads, one of the eight main thoroughfares that ran through the city.

Logically, if he followed this road straight, he would arrive at the center of the city at Blood Lake, and the Dragon Shrine relics would be on the temple in the center of the lake.

...

As Suo Lun ventured deeper, he kept to the wide roads, entirely unobstructed, as if there were no sense of a labyrinth at all?

It felt as though he simply walked straight ahead to the end.

Suo Lun just walked, and walked, and walked...

About four hours later, he began to sense something was amiss.

The city was extremely vast, but together with the central Blood Lake, it had a diameter of just over two hundred li.

Suo Lun walked swiftly, and in four hours, he should have completed those more than two hundred li, already passing through the entire city, reaching the gate on the opposite end, and crossing the central Blood Lake long ago.

However, there was no sign of Blood Lake, and the road seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Even more bizarre, he was not walking in circles, nor had he returned to his starting point, because the buildings and landscapes on both sides were constantly different.

It was only then that Suo Lun truly understood the meaning of this city’s labyrinth.

Clearly, a normal city would not be designed as a labyrinth since that would lead to utter chaos.

This so-called labyrinth was the city’s defense mechanism. When the demon descendants’ army attacked thousands of years ago, the city activated its defense mechanism to prevent the enemy from entering the Dragon Shrine in the heart of the lake.

Suo Lun stopped and said, "Yao Xing, what’s the deal with this city’s roads?"

Yao Xing said, "Master, you have been following the longitudinal lines, and this way, you will never be able to enter the city center. You need to cross the horizontal lines as well, but I must tell you, each horizontal line may have deadly traps. The city’s defense mechanism back then was designed to use the entire city’s defenses to block the demon descendants’ army."

The so-called horizontal lines are the city’s ring roads, a total of eight rings.

"Can’t I just cut straight through these building ruins?" Suo Lun asked.

"That... is even more dangerous," Yao Xing said. "It is daytime now, and the sunlight is everywhere, so there are no ghostly spirits on the outside roads. But once you enter areas within the building ruins that the sunlight cannot reach, there are terrifying ghostly spirits everywhere."

Suo Lun shuddered and said, "Does that mean, once night falls, countless ghostly spirits will appear throughout the city?"

"Exactly," Yao Xing said. "Therefore, before nightfall, you must find a place to hide from the ghostly spirits."

"Where can one hide from the ghostly spirits?" Suo Lun asked.

Yao Xing said, "The Dragon Shrine, because in every Dragon Shrine, there is a holy light, and ghostly spirits dare not enter."

Suo Lun asked, "What are the characteristics of a Dragon Shrine?"

Yao Xing said, "On the surface, it has no characteristics, but at night, it will emit a sacred energy glow."

Suo Lun said, "What is the relationship between these Dragon Shrines and the temple at the center of the lake?"

Yao Xing said, "This Human Kingdom is a land of dragon worship, so in the city’s key nodes, there will be Dragon Shrines. These Dragon Shrines guard the central Holy Temple, and the Holy Temple is the entire city’s energy core, command core, and sacred core. These shrines and the Holy Temple form a huge Energy Array for the city."

Suo Lun said, "So you’re saying, to successfully enter the central Holy Temple, looking for roads is useless; the key is these Dragon Shrines, right? Following one shrine after another, eventually entering the Holy Temple?"

"Yes," Yao Xing said.

"How many shrines are there in total?" Suo Lun asked.

Yao Xing said, "Sixteen."

With that, Suo Lun understood that when the city’s ultimate defense was activated, the huge Energy Array was activated as well.

Following the roads would lead to a complete dead end, never reaching the city center’s Holy Temple.

The sixteen shrines are the only reliable city coordinates. The city has a total of eight ring roads, one shrine on each ring; eight times two makes exactly sixteen.

So, to enter the Holy Temple, one must first find the shrines.

Suo Lun looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was already sloping westward; it would soon set.

Once it was night, countless ghostly spirits would surge forth, and even the strongest masters would surely perish. Therefore, Suo Lun had to find a shrine before dark.

On the city’s longitudinal lines, he might not find a shrine; only on the ring roads might there be shrines.

Suo Lun continued forward, and after several kilometers, he reached the intersection of a longitudinal line and a ring road, standing between a crossroads.

To the left or to the right?

Suo Lun found himself faced with a difficult choice as he carefully observed the differences between the left and the right.

Looking to the left, it seemed there were piles of bones; many people had died there, so there must be deadly traps on the immediate left.

Then he should go right, and he couldn’t help but glance to the right. He discovered that there were also many skeletons on the right; certainly, many had died there as well.

What the hell is going on here?

On both the left and the right, there were skeletons, many people had died; so which way should he go?

"Master, use the Inverted Moon Mantra, calm your heart, and follow the inner calling," Yao Xing said.

Suo Lun closed his eyes and entered the world of the Inverted Moon Mantra. Soon, the pond in his heart became completely calm; the water was undisturbed, casting back a full and unbroken reflection of the inverted moon.

"To the left... to the left..."

Then, an incredibly enchanting and captivating voice reached his ears.

Just the sound of that voice was enough to make one addicted and unable to extricate oneself.

"Yao Xing, is that you speaking?" Suo Lun asked.

"Of course not," Yao Xing replied. "As I have said, no one else can enter the core sanctuary of this city, only you can."

"To the left, to the left..."

The beguiling voice rose again.

Was this truly guidance, or a trap? Should he trust it?

Suo Lun took a deep breath. Had it not been for Yao Xing’s presence, he might have chosen the opposite direction.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Suo Lun walked towards the left entrance.

Suddenly...

Strange fluctuation of light and shadows.

It was as if time was traveling backward, the scenery around him constantly changing, time retreating, retreating, retreating...

The ruins that were once collapsed and broken along the road sides, all restored to their complete form, turning into snow-white, gorgeous buildings with libraries, bathhouses, and council halls.

Green trees and flowers were everywhere along the road, and fountains were found in every corner. On top of the splendid buildings, there were also charming Air Gardens.

But then...

Armies of demonic descendants poured in from both sides of the road, numerous fires and dark energies destroying the magnificent structures along the road.

Like a tidal wave of demon descendants, they surged past Suo Lun, even passing through his body as if he were invisible, like a swarm of demonic locusts, leaving nothing alive in their wake.

Innumerable elegantly dressed humans were slaughtered, violated, torn apart alive.

Then, a seemingly ordinary building ahead suddenly roared with the cry of a dragon, and like sun rays illuminating everything, it shot forth astonishing beams of energy.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."

The armies of the Barbarian Tribes were instantly reduced to dust.

This was the Dragon Shrine, appearing quite ordinary, but at a critical moment, it could unleash blinding energy rays.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."

A dazzling beam of energy shot straight into Suo Lun’s eyes.

In response, he quickly closed them.

When he opened his eyes again, all the illusions had vanished. In their place were the ruins on both sides of the road.

The Dragon Shrine was just 300 meters ahead, the building that appeared so ordinary, somewhat resembling a public bathhouse.

And just at that moment, a figure burst into the crossroads behind him.

A Barbarian completely shrouded in blackness, with sharp horns protruding from their head.

Suo Lun was startled and ready to flee swiftly, knowing that a Barbarian capable of entering the Blood Case Lost City must be incredibly powerful.

But the Barbarian seemed not to see Suo Lun and stood at the crossroads, also indecisive, unsure whether to go left or right.

"Absolutely do not go left," Suo Lun prayed silently.

Sure enough, after a long hesitation, the Barbarian headed right.

Then... Suo Lun witnessed a truly horrifying scene.

The moment the Barbarian stepped into the right entrance, his entire body convulsively trembled; his eyes burst out, his skin split open, and black-red blood spurted out as he violently exploded, turning into a mess of flesh.

Suo Lun knew that this was because the atmospheric pressure in that area was almost zero, causing his blood to boil and body to burst open from the inside.

This city was truly full of deadly traps at every turn!

And at that moment, the sun set in the west, and the light completely disappeared.

The sun had set, and there was a little more than an hour until dark. By then, terrifying undead spirits would be everywhere in the city.

However, there was plenty of time, as the Holy Temple was only 300 meters away, and a little over an hour to spare was hardly a concern.

However...

"Swoosh..."

As if in an instant, the moment the sun set, the entire sky turned dark.

Without stars or a moon, the entire city fell into complete darkness.

Suo Lun felt a shiver in his heart, "This is... this is ridiculous."

As soon as the sun set, night instantly fell.

Then, the scene that made Suo Lun’s hair stand on end occurred.

Transparent wraiths began to crawl out from the ruins on both sides of the road, emerging from below the ground.

This vast city was once a Human Kingdom, inhabited by millions of people.

All of these millions had been butchered by the demon descendant armies! Since the demons had conquered the city, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the balance of dragon power and the cycle of reincarnation were broken.

Those who were slaughtered became powerful and fierce undead spirits.

To these spirits, Suo Lun, a living person, shined like a spotlight, clearly visible in their eyes.

Almost every glance was directed at him. Then, immediately, thousands, tens of thousands of undead surged towards him like a tide.

Facing tens of thousands of undead, even a Samurai of the Warrior Layer would undoubtedly perish, let alone Suo Lun, a mere three-star Samurai.

...

Note: This Chapter was difficult to write; it took me several hours. Tonight, I must save a Chapter draft, so I can update earlier tomorrow!

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