Demon Taming: Start by synthesizing a Lantern Ghost with Divine and Demonic Talents

Chapter 115-114: The Void Shadow Demon, the Underground Fortress

The underground grottoes of Shilin are silent.

Traces of the chaotic spiritual energy of heaven and earth remained in the void after the teleportation array was activated.

On the other side of the teleportation array was a dusty underground building.

Li Chunfeng cautiously surveyed the darkness.

Yes.

He successfully activated the teleportation array whose destination was unknown and was teleported there.

It's impossible.

Faced with the relentless pursuit of Blood Amber by the insect cloud, he preferred to confront the unknown dangers rather than repeatedly engage in conflict with the insect cloud.

Naturally, no one knew that Gao Hu could actually survive against all odds and find a way out of the impossible.

But in fact, Li Chunfeng's decision was not made on a whim.

He wasn't entirely unaware of the possible destination of this teleportation array.

He hadn't wasted his years of basic education in the Celestial Court; he had learned a lot about runes and formations. Although he couldn't fully understand the mysteries of this teleportation array, he did recognize a few key void runes.

That originated from the former overlords of the desolate wasteland, the Void Shadow Demon clan.

It is said that this small world was not originally called the Desolate Wasteland, but a small piece of land that wandered in the void after a powerful world was shattered, and later evolved into an independent small world.

The Shadow Demons were not native to this small world, but rather invaded from beyond its borders. It was only after the Shadow Demons invaded this small world that it gradually became desolate and barren, and was later simply called the Desolate Wasteland by the human race.

At the end of the last era, the Celestial Court of the Xia Dynasty rose in the Earthly Realm and captured this world in the void.

They discovered that this place was about to be completely conquered by the Shadow Demon.

Thus, they concentrated their enormous resources and resolutely launched the war of attrition.

It destroyed many of the buildings of the Shadow Demon clan and also banished the Shadow Demons to the past.

This is not a secret; rather, it's an official way of promoting the Silent Wasteland Secret Realm. They've openly posted these historical secrets at the entrance as a cultural advertising wall, all to attract more adventurers to explore it.

The Shadow Demon is a branch of the demon race, possessing formidable abilities. It has the power to control the void and shadows, allowing it to traverse space and shadows, and also possesses unique demonic abilities.

Many of the Void Runes used by the Xia people today are derived from the heritage of this race.

Combined with the records in Master Chu Ye's "Illustrated Compendium of Ten Thousand Demons", it can be roughly determined that the destination of this teleportation array is the legendary underground fortress of the Taixu Shadow Demon.

The Shadow Demon was utterly defeated by the Earthly Realm. Before retreating, in order to preserve the seeds of its future return to this world, it destroyed all the entrance teleportation arrays leading to the hidden underground fortress.

Long ago, adventurers from the Earthly Realm discovered abandoned underground fortresses, leaving behind many adventure legends of getting rich or losing their lives.

Time has passed, and the glory days of the Shadow Demon are long gone.

The traces left behind have been swept into the river of time by humankind.

As time passed, the stories of the underground fortress gradually became distant legends that needed to be engraved on cultural walls to be remembered by people, and very few people took them seriously.

Surprisingly, some fish that escaped the net are still hiding beneath this desolate stone forest.

I wonder what this hidden underground fortress was used for? Is there any treasure hidden within?

The identities of the beings who quietly entered this place through teleportation are highly suspicious.

Li Chunfeng did not act rashly; he was not in good condition at the moment.

First, find a place to squat down, swallow a handful of pills, and quickly restore your spiritual power.

At the same time, I was also reviewing materials, even if it was just a last-minute effort, to learn as much as possible about the Taixu Shadow Demon clan.

In the desolate wasteland, a powerful human being patrols the entire realm every so often. Even if there are remnants of the demon race, their strength is unlikely to be very great.

The teleportation array in the Stone Forest Cave is bidirectional, but it is not an ancient teleportation array that originated from the previous era and has been preserved to the present day. Instead, it was re-carved by later generations.

Otherwise, given Li Chunfeng's mediocre array skills, how could he have activated the teleportation array so easily?

Therefore, it is unlikely to be the Shadow Demon.

They are most likely descendants of the demon race, who inherited some kind of legacy from their bloodline memories, restored the teleportation array from back then, and then found this place through clues, and carved the teleportation array to enter this hidden underground fortress.

After his soul power had recovered to 80%, Li Chunfeng stood up.

First, he needed to confirm that the two-way teleportation array was functioning properly; this was his backup plan. Unfortunately, he didn't know any array formations, nor did he have any magical artifacts like array flags. Otherwise, setting up a large array to protect the teleportation array would have ensured its safety.

Now, he can only erase all traces of himself, merge with the lamp and transform into a demon, and leave this place silently using the 'ghostly shadow escape'.

His gaze swept around, and all around was pitch black, with no light source. However, under the combined effect of his mental vision and divine sense, the darkness posed no obstacle whatsoever.

He kept using his keen senses and perception to explore his surroundings.

What I saw before me was a huge, interconnected underground cave.

No matter which direction you look, you'll eventually be blocked by the stone wall. Above you is a radiating dome hundreds of meters high, supported by massive stone pillars with reliefs of strange beasts, and on top of these pillars, withered magical vines. A gentle touch will send fallen leaves scattering down.

As you walk further ahead, the space suddenly opens up.

A continuous stretch of buildings came into view; it was a large architectural complex.

These building complexes vary in height; some were simply carved out of the underground stone walls, while others stand on the ground. There are also numerous tall stone steps, a huge plaza, and magnificent statues of powerful demons. All the buildings are grand and imposing, with a strong exotic style.

Despite the passage of countless years, most of the buildings remain intact because the passage was cut off. Only a few buildings have been severely weathered and collapsed naturally, and are covered with a thick layer of dust.

The entire underground fortress was deathly silent.

No sound was made, but the air he breathed was fresh and not as stuffy as he had imagined; there was a slight, subtle movement of air. This discovery put him at ease; the movement of air meant there might be other entrances or exits.

Li Chunfeng released the Mosquito Taoist and quietly communicated with it.

Hoping to use the Mosquito Taoist's heightened sensitivity to blood, he could discern the movements of the creatures that had previously entered this place. "Buzz~"

"No?"

Li Chunfeng instructed Mosquito Taoist to remain on guard while he himself explored forward, eventually stopping in front of a massive stone tablet.

These stone tablets are engraved with many contents in etched script, as well as majestic murals, mostly proclaiming the power of the Taixu Shadow Demon Clan and how they suppressed and slaughtered the powerful wild beasts of this world.

[You have discovered a set of Human-level Basic Void Runes!]

A thought struck Li Chunfeng, and he subconsciously began to comprehend this set of void runes.

Even the void runes of the Earthly Realm were based on the inheritance of the Taixu Shadow Demon Clan, which shows how profound the Taixu Shadow Demon Clan's expertise in the void is.

The first sentence recorded in the basic rune textbook published by the Celestial Court in the academy is:

"Runes are the manifestation of rules."

Mastering rune knowledge is equivalent to controlling the world.

The rune system of the Earthly Realm is vast, with almost every intelligent race developing its own rune knowledge. The Taixu Shadow Demon has an unparalleled talent in the void and shadow realm.

Li Chunfeng's previous basic rune course grades were only passable. If it were too profound void runes, he would definitely not be able to comprehend them.

Fortunately, these are just basic human-level runes.

There are a total of 360 basic runes, which can be counted in a full cycle.

Now that his earth soul has returned to its place and his wisdom has greatly increased, he has memorized all 360 basic runes in just a short time.

A series of insights welled up in my heart, and a strange feeling surged up, as if I had returned to the elementary school classroom and started learning mathematics and physics from the basics.

Strangely, as he was studying these 360 ​​basic void runes, his proficiency in 'Blink' and 'Phantom Charge' was rapidly increasing.

Especially 'Phantom Charge'.

Having only learned these basic void runes, he had already advanced two levels.

He mastered the two spatial spells, the Xuan-rank 'Blink' and the Ling-rank 'Phantom Charge', very early on, but his understanding of these two spatial spells was limited to memorization and use; he could not truly comprehend the mysteries of the runes.

Because that might involve the legendary laws of space.

In the traditional understanding of cultivators in the Earthly Realm, to comprehend the rules, one must at least master one supernatural ability to reach the entry threshold. Therefore, those are things that come after reaching the Void Step or Dharma Form stages.

But he is only at the Burning Lamp Realm now, yet he has a strange feeling of analyzing the Dao of Void from scratch.

He was no longer a clueless "player" who only knew how to mechanically activate spell runes and then cast spells. Instead, he began to truly understand the mysteries of the Void Path, comprehending these two spatial spells little by little from the most basic things.

This discovery secretly pleased Li Chunfeng.

He tried to gently move the stone tablet, but it weighed over a billion pounds. Even with all his strength, the seemingly isolated and towering tablet remained motionless. It was clearly fixed in place by some secret method, so he gave up the idea of ​​taking the tablet for himself.

Continue exploring, and you've discovered a map!

'Mind's Eye' then sent a new hint.

Li Chunfeng scanned the map, which was a partial map of this underground fortress. From the map, it could be roughly determined that the fortress had seven levels.

This floor is now the lowest level of the living area. The Shadow Demons prefer dark environments; they would rather be underground than on the sunny ground.

If you add the three layers of the ground stone forest, that makes a ten-layer structure.

All buildings are layered and protected to defend against invasion.

As expected of a fortress!
It is evident that the Taixu Shadow Demon Clan also practices class-based rule similar to that of primitive tribes, with the living areas of commoners, nobles, commanders, and demon generals all rising in rank.

This is somewhat similar to the demon race, where social status is judged based on bloodline level.

The Earthly Realm abandoned its bad habits long ago.

Li Chunfeng had no interest in the social structure of the Shadow Demon race; all he wanted to do now was find more Void Rune Heritage Stone Tablets.

Continuing upwards, they suddenly saw something that didn't belong to this area, and their expression changed slightly.

Several extinguished torches and human lighting implements were carelessly discarded to one side. Then, several torn and mummified corpses were found nearby, and the scattered magical artifacts, divine weapons, and armor were all broken. There was a pool of dried black blood on the ground.

"Someone came here, but met with misfortune!"

The clothes he is wearing must be from this era.

The proof is that it hasn't been long.

With a sweep of his divine sense, he found nothing on the corpses that could prove their identity, and the Sumeru Ring had also disappeared.

This discovery made Li Chunfeng even more vigilant.

He carefully examined the scene and soon found several more details: traces of magic, bite marks from wolf claws, and traces of shadow corrosion...

The corpse had become a mummified corpse, which might have possessed an ability to absorb and devour similar to that of the Mosquito Taoist.

"Is it a wolf?"

Li Chunfeng made his guesses.

Not long after, Li Chunfeng found dozens of items with distinctly exotic styles in the lowest level of the living area. These items were not magical artifacts or divine weapons, but rather the daily necessities of the Void Shadow Demons. They had some archaeological research value and could also be collected.

Collectors and archaeologists from outside the field would likely be interested in these.

He also located himself by using several landmark buildings and found the route to the next level.

We walked through caves and tunnels.

We finally arrived at the second floor.

(End of this chapter)