Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 655 A Taboo Even the Gods Dared Not Mention

Shang Lu didn't know the origin and details of the secret realm, but he knew that someone... no, a god did know.

That evening, after taking a detour, Shanglu arrived at a village in the northern part of Ninghe County and stayed overnight in a small temple at the entrance of the village.

Although the temple is small, it is quite popular, and it is probably dedicated to the local land and mountain gods.

In the blink of an eye, it was midnight.

After using the Dragon-Tiger Secret Technique to absorb the essence of the moon's yin energy, Shang Lu took out the Soul-Offering Altar, lit incense, and communicated with the gods.

While urging the Nuo shaman to perform his mysterious incantations and secretly absorb the divine power that had descended upon this place to aid his cultivation, he also spoke to the enshrined deity tablet about his doubts about the secret realm.

However, the spirit tablets on the sacrificial altar remained silent and motionless.

Even the incense smoke was drawn straight away, without revealing any words or patterns.

This reaction made Shang Lu wonder in his heart:
"Is it that they refuse to tell us, or that even they don't know?"

Just then, I suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from outside the courtyard wall of the earth god temple:
Why do you have such a question?

Shang Lu turned his head and saw a black figure nimbly vault over the courtyard wall and land in the courtyard of the Earth God Temple.

"what?"

Shang Lu was taken aback; what appeared in the earth god temple was yet another black fox.

Does the mountain spirit really like to use the black fox as its "mouth substitute"? It is said that foxes have spirituality, is that really true?
“That’s not right.” After examining it closely, Shang Lu raised an eyebrow.

He recognized it; it wasn't "another" black fox, but the same one that had appeared before!
But shouldn't this black fox be in Xingshan?
Did the mountain spirit directly capture it a thousand miles away?

Or was it that the black fox had actually been secretly following him all along?

For a moment, Shang Lu was filled with questions, but he did not lose his manners and respectfully bowed to the black fox.

At this moment, the black fox carries the thoughts of the mountain spirit, and cannot be taken lightly.

"Okay, no need to be so polite."

The black fox went straight into the temple, jumped onto the offering table and sat down, speaking in human language: "These empty rituals are meaningless, you might as well burn me a stick of incense."

Shang Lu was a shrewd person. Upon hearing this, he immediately took out a new incense stick, lit it, and placed it in the incense burner on the offering table.

Black Fox leaned closer, took a deep breath, and looked satisfied.

Pokeweed then answered the question the mountain spirit had just asked:

"I just feel that the appearance of the secret realm is suspicious."

Many of these secret realms look like sects or caves from before the Great Cataclysm, yet they also exude a strange and chaotic aura, like fragments that have been randomly pieced together and stitched together.

At the same time, the things produced in the secret realm, whether they are cultivation techniques, treasures or spirit ores, are all chaotic and strange, as if they have been contaminated by some kind of power.

Especially those spirit ores, they look like flesh and blood. Are they just like flesh and blood, or are they flesh and blood in fact?
Not to mention the spiritual energy they contain, which is also tainted by a chaotic pollution…

Over the past two years, pokeweed has encountered several hidden realms. Some were newly formed, while others had been completely exploited and were nearly abandoned.

The impressions these secret realms left on Shang Lu, besides the strange and bizarre rules and some "ancient cultivators" whose remnants of souls or lingering thoughts were hard to define, were the strange and chaotic treasures and cultivation techniques.

He had always wondered whether the secret realm was, as many people said, a "gift from heaven" or a trap.
On the offering table, the mountain spirit possessed by the black fox inhaled the incense smoke and patiently listened to Shang Lu's doubts and worries before speaking:
"The secret realm is indeed a fragment of a cave or sect destroyed during the Great Cataclysm. Even fragments contain spiritual energy and memories, only now they have been infused with new power..."

Has it been infused with new power? Is it one of those chaotic forces?
Shang Lu raised an eyebrow and quickly asked, "Who injected it?"

"I don't know." Black Fox shook his head.

"You don't know?" Shang Lu asked in surprise.

“Yes, I don’t know.” Black Fox looked at Shang Lu with a serious expression: “We went mad and lost many memories, especially those related to the Great Cataclysm, which are now just a few scattered fragments. To recover these missing memories, we can only wait until our power recovers a bit and our minds become clearer.”

Shang Lu was speechless; what the mountain spirit said seemed to make a lot of sense.

Just then, Black Fox said, "But it must be related to the Great Cataclysm."

Before Shang Lu could ask why he was so sure, Black Fox answered first: "We sensed the aura of the Great Cataclysm in the secret realm."

"What does this mean? Could the appearance of the secret realm be a harbinger of a great catastrophe?" Shang Lu asked in surprise.

Black Fox shook his head again: "I don't know, I've lost my memory, I can't remember."

"So what do you guys remember?" Shang Lu thought to himself.

Of course, I wouldn't dare say that out loud.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Since the secret realm is related to the Great Cataclysm, why not stop it?"

"How do we stop them? Stop their appearance? Or stop people from exploiting them?"

The black fox shook its head and sighed, and Shang Lu even saw a bitter smile on its face.

"The appearance of secret realms was without any warning; they suddenly appeared in a certain place. Although they carried the aura of a great cataclysm, they did indeed provide spiritual mines and treasures to this world. They also allowed us crazy guys to retrieve some fragments of our memories from them."

"Whether for us or for you, the secret realm is like drinking poison to quench thirst. Even if you know it is dangerous and strange, it is difficult to stop it."

Otherwise, without the spiritual liquid and spiritual fat provided by the secret realm, this world would return to the chaotic Dark Ages, relying on devouring other cultivators and even us gods to cultivate...

Even if a cataclysmic event doesn't occur, the world will still be destroyed.

Although Shang Lu did not experience the Dark Ages, he had heard many people talk about them and read some related historical materials, so he knew that it was an extremely chaotic and brutal era.

If it weren't for the appearance of the secret realm, the cultivators would probably have been wiped out in the mutual hunting.

From this perspective, the emergence of the secret realm did indeed avert a catastrophe.

The question remains: could this be the beginning of an even bigger and more terrifying new catastrophe?
But just as the mountain spirit said, even if there are some terrible traps hidden behind the secret realm, one can only grit one's teeth and go in.

Moreover, by relying on the secret realm, one can increase their cultivation level, and perhaps then they will have a chance to survive when the catastrophe truly arrives.

Pokeweed doesn't have any good solutions for this kind of self-destructive method.

At least for now.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "What exactly happened during that great catastrophe back then?"

Historical records contain very little information about the Great Cataclysm. At least, the historical materials that Shang Lu has come across only contain a few words, making it difficult to glimpse the secrets of that time.

Although he witnessed some world-ending scenes in several secret realms, they only lasted for a brief moment.

He had no idea why this catastrophe came about or where it originated.

Now that the mountain spirit has descended with divine thought to answer his questions, he naturally wants to seize the opportunity to get to the bottom of it.

Only those who experienced it firsthand back then can know the truth.

What exactly is the Great Cataclysm?

The black fox, sitting upright on the offering table, was clearly stunned for a moment, then tilted its head and frowned, as if it were talking to Shang Lu, or as if it were muttering to itself.

"Yes, what exactly happened back then, the great catastrophe?"

"How come I don't remember any of it?"

"Let me think...let me think..."

“I think… I remember something… Ah—” After a few words, before the Mountain Spirit could recall the events of the Great Cataclysm, Shang Lu’s expression changed.

He noticed a significant change in the tone of the mountain spirit's voice in the last few sentences.

It became violent and chaotic!
At that very moment, Shang Lu's keen insight suddenly spotted a surging yellow-green aura emanating from the black fox, baring its fangs and claws like countless terrifying tentacles or densely packed sharp teeth, sweeping towards him.

At the same time, a sharp pain emanated from Shang Lu's brow.

His keen insight was actually injured by seeing these yellow-green energies; not only did a crack appear between his brows, but foul-smelling pus and blood also gushed out from it.

"I rely on!"

Shang Lu cursed inwardly.

The mountain spirit has gone mad!
Before the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) had even passed, the Mountain Spirit suddenly went mad!
Is it because of memories of the Great Cataclysm?
What exactly happened during that great catastrophe that drove the mountain spirit to madness just from recalling it?!
Startled, Shang Lu hurriedly tried to escape.

But he couldn't escape at all.

It can't even move.

The divine power unleashed by the mountain spirit pressed down on him like a mountain.

It pressed him so hard he could barely move.

The pressure was so intense that his internal organs, meridians, and bones were all making a "crackling" sound.

Inside the Five Internal Organs Temple, the Yin-Yang Qi Bell rang loudly, and the five divine statues simultaneously emitted their brightest light, protecting the internal organs and meridians of the pokeweed.

At this moment, Shang Lu also exerted all his energy to protect his whole body, and at the same time sang a Nuo song, trying to send away the mountain spirit.

However, it is easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away.

What's more, the one to be sent is a mad and insane deity!

Even worse, Shang Lu had barely sung two lines of his Nuo song when he was horrified to discover that he couldn't make a sound; he had been "silenced" by the mountain spirit.

The crazed mountain spirit even roared, "Shut up! Your singing is awful!"

Damn it! Have you lost your mind? You actually think my Nuo song is awful?!

Unable to use Nuo magic to send the gods away, Shang Lu could only hope in his heart that the gods Tu Bo and Dong Jun would hurry up and save him, and stop being so busy collecting incense offerings.

"If I die, you won't have such delicious incense offerings to eat anymore! You need to know the difference between one full meal and a full stomach!"

I wonder if they heard Shang Lu's thoughts.

On the sacrificial altar, the spirit tablets of Dongjun and Tubo simultaneously emitted two beams of divine light, one red and one black, which instantly flew over.

The Earth God's nether energy protected the pampas grass, while the Eastern Lord's fire power suppressed the mountain spirit.

To Shang Lu's surprise, a beam of white light also flew out from that strange Golden Elemental Divine Tablet!
This white light, carrying an extremely strong killing aura, transformed into a sword of wisdom, and slashed straight at the mountain spirit's chaotic and frenzied divine thoughts!
The sword of wisdom moved with incredible speed, striking the mountain spirit's frenzied thoughts with a "whoosh" and piercing through it.

The divine sense did not detect any damage, but the frenzied aura was greatly reduced instantly.

The power of Dongjun's fire was greatly reduced at night, but fire overcomes wood. With the help of the killing and wisdom sword of the metal element divine tablet, he was able to suppress the mountain spirit and force its divine thought back into the divine tablet.

As soon as the mountain spirit's divine power dissipated, the immense divine might pressing down on Shang Lu also dissipated.

"Huh...huh..."

Shanglu was panting heavily.

Everything that just happened, though seemingly long, actually happened in the blink of an eye.

He almost died because he asked the wrong question.

It's true what they say, loose lips sink ships!

Shang Lu thought to himself with lingering fear.

This incident served as a lesson for him.

The great catastrophe that happened many years ago was definitely not simple; even the gods dared not speak lightly of it.

Even if he wants to find out the secret behind it, he has to be more careful, otherwise he might lose his life before he finds out the secret.

After catching his breath, Shang Lu walked to the altar of the soul offering, added a stick of incense to each of the three gods who had helped save his life, and bowed with his hands clasped.

To be honest, he really didn't expect that the star lord behind the Golden Deity Tablet would actually lend a helping hand.

It seems that the incense offerings made recently have not been in vain.

If He is able to lend a helping hand today, next time He should be able to reveal His name so that He can truly communicate with the Gods and seek their guidance, and even make Nuo masks.

This time, the boar-bodied, eight-legged, snake-tailed god did not offer any assistance, but Shang Lu did not blame him.

Judging from the divine position, the boar-bodied, eight-legged, snake-tailed god is inferior to the mountain spirit, and may even be its subordinate. It is understandable that the god would not dare to disobey its superior.

As long as the boar-bodied, eight-legged, snake-tailed god can help when dealing with other dangers, that's fine.

After offering incense and waiting until the incense was used up, Shang Lu ended the ritual to communicate with the gods and put away the altar for the soul offering.

When he turned around, he was surprised to find that the black fox had not run away, but was still squatting on the offering table.

The black fox had been possessed by the mountain spirit several times, and had gradually adapted from its initial fear and terror to a point where it was somewhat indifferent and didn't care what happened.

Even after the mountain spirit's divine sense left, it was too lazy to run anymore.

Anyway, even if it escapes this time, it will come back next time it gets possessed by the mountain spirit.

It's better to save your energy.

Even when the pokeweed looked at it, the black fox was not afraid and simply licked its fur.

Shang Lu watched in amazement, took out some meat from the Impermanence Token and threw it to the black fox. The black fox sniffed it, then took a bite and began to eat.

It ate as if it were nothing out of place, completely at ease, as if it deserved its reward after a hard day's work.

The pokeweed ignored it and continued to cultivate the Heart Sutra, purifying the pollution.

After the mountain spirit went into a frenzy, his mind and vital energy were affected and need to be purified as soon as possible to prevent the situation from getting worse.

He then took out some medicine and applied it to his brow—after his spiritual eye was damaged, not only did a sore appear on his brow, but a growth resembling a tumor also appeared.

Shang Lu didn't know what kind of bad consequences this thing would bring, but he knew it was better to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Time flew by as he recovered from his injuries.

In a blink of an eye it was dawn.

Shang Lu left the land temple and continued his journey towards Qinglin Prefecture.

The black fox actually followed them out, and even after Shang Lu released the paper horse, it jumped onto the horse's back and sat down, not acting like an outsider at all... no, an outsider fox.

"So she's trying to cling to me now?" Shang Lu clicked his tongue, then looked at San Niang: "Let me make it clear first, this vixen came to me on her own; I didn't provoke her."

Third Sister didn't reply, but just gave him a disapproving look.

Did you watch the military parade today? Our development is truly amazing!

(End of this chapter)