After the Immortal Venerable Failed to Attain Dao - Chapter 2

Lanterns buried in the ground revealed only their tops, and within the silent, deep cave, a bloody light gradually began to glow.

Large red wedding candles were embedded into the surrounding stone walls, their flickering flames dancing without wind, brightening and dimming intermittently, illuminating the narrow path beneath their feet.

Golden lightning encircled the cave entrance. The first to endure the lightning strikes and force his way in was a minor cultivator from the Kui Ming Sect.

He wore a golden crown and a deep purple robe, embroidered with lifelike skulls in golden thread. Beside him, a skeletal frame followed closely a bone puppet that accompanied every Kui Ming Sect disciple from the moment they entered the sect. Its eyes were hollow, its bones pale, exuding an eerie and terrifying aura under the candlelight.

Despite his own intimidating appearance, the young cultivator trembled with fear from the cave’s chill and the surrounding decorations.

He was only seventeen, and this was his first time entering a secret realm.

If it weren’t for the lightning striking right outside his sect, he wouldn’t have impulsively rushed in, taking advantage of the proximity.

Images of demons and ghosts from the horror stories he’d read flooded his mind.

The bride brutally murdered in her chamber the groom drained of blood in the main hall the guests devoured at the banquet.

He knew he couldn’t compete with others in a secret realm of this level. He had only come to see it for himself, but now he realized he’d been reckless. His legs trembled so violently he couldn’t move.

Instead of following the lanterns deeper inside, he huddled with his bone puppet in a dark recess at a corner, watching as others arrived one by one and passed by. Only when the secret realm was full did he emerge from his hiding spot and follow the last person.

He trailed the person ahead, winding through the cave’s twists and turns, careful not to get too close. Unexpectedly, the lantern light grew dimmer the further he went, and before he knew it, he reached a fork in the path.

He had lost track of the person ahead, unable to see which way they had turned.

Craning his neck, he peered down both forks, but both were pitch black, indistinguishable from one another.

Just as he decided to take a random path, he suddenly heard movement from the left fork. His spirits lifted, and he tugged his bone puppet along as he turned into it.

The further he went, the louder the sounds became, and he even caught the scent of thick, metallic blood.

Suddenly, a faint light appeared ahead. Swallowing hard, he crept forward silently, crouching at the corner and peeking out with half his head.

Deep within the cave, two figures were locked in a fierce struggle.

One of them was thrown heavily onto a stone platform. In the next moment, the other leaned over, raised a dagger high, and plunged it deep into his chest.

Blood splattered instantly, staining the surrounding stone walls. But the assailant didn’t stop. With a twist of his elbow, he dug the dagger deeper, carving something out of the victim’s chest.

The person on the stone platform fell silent. The attacker straightened up, one hand hanging loosely with the dagger, the other lifting the extracted object to his eyes.

The young cultivator’s eyes widened.

Above, the golden lightning had cracked open several fissures in the cave ceiling, allowing a beam of natural light to spill in, illuminating the top of the attacker’s head and half of his blood-stained face.

Crimson blood dripped from his dark hair as he lowered his head, his features hidden in shadow, seemingly examining the object in his hand.

The object pulsed rhythmically. Amid the thick scent of blood, the young cultivator swallowed hard.

It was a heart.

He slowed his breathing, turning silently to leave as quickly as possible, but his foot slipped, and he fell backward onto the ground.

Almost instantly, his neck turned cold something sharp pressed against his throat.

The blade tip was cold and heavy, still carrying an unspent killing intent. Xiao Xiu trembled as he lowered his gaze, finally realizing it wasn’t a dagger but a blood-soaked broken sword.

“Immortal friend.” He gritted his teeth, exhaled a breath, and forced himself to speak.

“I didn’t mean to spy on you, I was just passing by, I won’t fight you for the treasure Could you please not point that murder weapon you just used at me?”

His voice shook with fear, and his bone puppet companion wasn’t faring much better. The tall skeletal frame had curled itself into a ball, huddled on the ground, not daring to move.

Shi Li lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the bone puppet on the ground before settling on the young cultivator’s deep purple robes. He confirmed, “Kui Ming Sect?”

“That’s right,” Xiao Xiu exhaled in relief, speaking sincerely. “This secret realm is too close to my home, I just came to see what it’s like. I absolutely won’t fight you for anything, you.”

“What year is it now?”

“What?” The sudden question caught Xiao Xiu off guard, but he quickly replied, “ Star Era Year Six, March. maybe the eighteenth, or possibly the nineteenth. I really can’t remember clearly. How about you let me go, and I’ll check for you right now?”

But Shi Li had already fallen into deep thought.

Star Era Year Nine, the Kui Ming Sect was annihilated.

In the era he came from, there should be no one from the Kui Ming Sect.

A century in the Star Realm was considered one era. Just an hour ago, he was clearly in Star Era Year Nine. A single heavenly tribulation had brought him back a full three hundred years.

Seeing that Shi Li had fallen silent, Xiao Xiu glanced sideways at him, catching only a glimpse of a blood-stained profile.

Without making a sound, Xiao Xiu formed a hand seal with his left hand hidden beneath his sleeve. Almost instantly, the bone puppet that had been crouching nearby lunged violently toward them.

Shi Li instinctively raised his sword to block. Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Xiu broke free from his restraints and slipped back into the fork in the path, turning right without a backward glance.

Shi Li dismantled the aggressive but weak bone puppet in a few moves, paying it no further mind.

The scattered bone joints hopped away, reassembling themselves as they went, following their master into the right-hand path.

Just as Shi Li was about to turn back, he suddenly felt an itch on his face, as if a veil had been draped over his eyes, turning everything into a hazy, dark red.

The young cultivator had entered the correct path. With everyone in place, the secret realm had opened.

Shi Li found it laughable. The heavenly tribulation that had tested his path to enlightenment had actually cleaved open a secret realm three hundred years in the past.

There was also the possibility that he had arrived in this era precisely because he was now inside the secret realm.

Once the secret realm was broken, he would naturally return to his original time.

As he pondered this, something cold and sticky touched his left wrist, guiding him forward.

A mournful weeping echoed in his ears.

“I don’t want to marry. He’s a lecherous scoundrel, a debauched ghost! He’s riddled with filthy diseases, has played with and killed who knows how many people, and now he won’t even spare men!”

The voice was sharp, accompanied by sorrowful sobs. An eerie, lifeless chill gradually coiled around his entire body. Shi Li frowned slightly and gripped the hand holding him.

Seeing someone offering comfort, the man’s emotions surged. He abruptly turned and threw himself into Shi Li’s arms.

“He’s a notorious pervert in our town. He forced me here because of my beauty. Though I’m not some rugged man, I am upright and masculine. How could I endure such humiliation? It’s all because I’m just too good-looking. Many in the town have their eyes on me, you know? Today, there were five grooms!”

From the man’s torrent of words, Shi Li understood that there were now five people entering the cave to seize the treasure.

Since it was a secret realm, there must be a hidden treasure.

The higher the level of the secret realm, the more precious the treasures within, and correspondingly, the more powerful the guardian demons and ghosts.

Those five individuals had to engage with this sorrowful male bride, fulfilling certain conditions to obtain the treasure.

In the eyes of this male bride, those five were all absolute perverts who had forcibly taken him, grinning maliciously as they prepared to humiliate him at will.

He was still weeping when Shi Li gently patted his back and asked, “What do you plan to do now?”

“I…”

The man’s body trembled slightly. Shi Li felt something cold and sharp press against his neck, tracing lightly along the blood vessels. The voice in his ear took on a chilling tone.

“I would rather die than suffer such humiliation. I will slit my own throat, disfigure my face, tear open my abdomen, and pull out my intestines, wrapping them around my body one by one. They want me, don’t they? I want to see if they can still bring themselves to touch me when I become like that!”

Shi Li paid no mind to the scissors that had already reached his chest and continued, “What if they still can?”

The man paused, and the movement of the scissors became coy.

“Then that would prove someone truly admires me. I’ve long heard that among them is a young gentleman of exceptional grace. If it were him, I might not be entirely unwilling.”

The scissors traced coyly across his chest. Shi Li’s expression darkened slightly.

The golden lightning was meant for his tribulation, not the usual purple lightning used in ordinary secret realms. Now that it had abruptly struck, the laws of heaven and earth didn’t know how to handle it and could only randomly assign a secret realm to bear the brunt.

It couldn’t overlap with other purple lightning realms, nor could it let the beings within detect anything amiss. Thus, it could only assign a previously created but now abandoned secret realm.

To be abandoned, it was either extremely difficult, with no one able to pass it, or utterly absurd, with only a few willing to attempt it.

Like this one, where the only way to break the situation and claim the treasure was to spend a night of passion with this male ghost who was about to slit his throat and pull out his intestines.

It wasn’t particularly difficult, but there were truly few who could do so without batting an eye.

Shi Li asked again, “After you and that young gentleman become a couple, will there be any token of affection you’d give him?”

“Of course.” Shi Li’s vision blurred, unable to see clearly. The man guided his hand to touch his face the upper half was covered by a cold, artificial mask.

The man’s troubled voice sounded, “As I mentioned earlier, I am far too beautiful. Walking the streets every day is a nuisance, fearing that anyone who glances at me might become infatuated. So, I have to cover my face whenever I go out.”

“But I don’t want to waste this fine appearance of mine. Being beautiful isn’t my fault, why should I hide it?”

“So, I spent a fortune to have this silver mask crafted. When I wear it, people can only vaguely sense that I am attractive, but they can’t clearly see my features. Isn’t that perfect?”

Shi Li sighed inwardly.

This treasure didn’t seem particularly useful.

Given such conditions, it was highly unlikely anyone would be willing to act, so they could only wait for this secret realm to end on its own.

“What if you never meet that young gentleman who truly admires you?” he asked again.

“Impossible!” the man’s voice rose sharply before softening again. “If that were truly the case, I would test them night after night. Those perverts deserve to die. I would torment them bit by bit until they become just like me!”

Those who enter secret realms typically possess the ability to protect themselves, capable of withstanding a night of ghosts and monsters without issue.

At best, if an unfortunate incompetent were to enter, they could flatter their way into the favor of some senior brother or sister and safely pass the night.

Given the rate of one man per night for this male ghost, the automatic conclusion would take at least five days at the earliest Shi Li couldn’t wait that long.

“Have you ever considered,” Shi Li suddenly snatched the scissors from his hand and tossed them aside, “instead of harming yourself, making those perverts pay the price directly?”

The man hesitated. “But if I don’t do this, I have no way to resist. How could I make them pay?”

“I’ll help you.” Shi Li raised a hand, touching the man’s mask, a faint smile gradually appearing in his eyes.

“You wear a mask all year round, and they don’t know your face. Give me the mask, and I’ll kill them all for you slit their throats, slash their faces, gut them and pull out their intestines to wrap around their bodies. If there’s any young hero who admires you, I’ll tie him up and deliver him to your room. You can just sit back and wait for my good news. How about that?”

The man seemed somewhat tempted but was still hesitating. The surroundings fell into silence.

Shi Li waited patiently, the chilling aura around him letting him know that the ghost was still there.

Suddenly, his vision brightened. The first thing that came into view was a bright red wedding canopy, but there was no bride on the bed only a wedding dress laid out quietly, with a silver mask on top, covered in ghostly patterns and exuding a sinister aura.

Success.

His earlier words had already convinced the male ghost to transfer ownership of the secret treasure to him.

He hadn’t entered through the proper channels, so by default, he wasn’t participating in the competition for the secret realm’s treasure. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the chance to communicate with this ghost from the same standpoint.

Now, all he had to do was step out as the bride, pick someone who caught his eye, bring them in, and hand over the secret treasure this useless mask to that person.

Once someone obtained the treasure, the secret realm would collapse on its own.