The wedding was livestreamed by the sister, revealing his identity as a Taoist priest.

At the end of the stone steps, the space suddenly opens up.

The beams of the eight headlamps shone out, but there was no response.

There is a lake in front of us.

The water was pure black, reflecting no light and without ripples, like a mirror stripped of all life.

In the middle of the lake, a stone platform stands alone.

Atop the stone platform stands a giant stele.

It stands nine feet nine inches tall, entirely black, with its surface covered in dense runes.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

"This is..."

Tieshao swallowed hard.

"The Mysterious Heaven Demon-Slaying Stele".

Sun Yinglong's voice was kept extremely low.

The golden barrier remained, covering the eight people.

But faced with the oppressive aura emanating from the monument, the edges of the barrier were already trembling slightly.

"past."

Sun Yinglong lifted his foot.

The lake wasn't deep, only up to my ankles.

The water was icy cold, and even through the golden barrier, the chill still seeped in bit by bit.

Ten steps.

The shovel groaned and bent over.

"Brother Long..."

He clutched his chest, his voice strained.

"This thing... is pushing people away."

eight steps.

The golden barrier shook violently, and crack-like ripples appeared on its surface.

Five steps.

"puff!"

The shovel spat out a mouthful of blood.

Next came the groundhog and the fine needle; all three vomited blood almost simultaneously.

The golden barrier made a crisp "crack" sound at that moment, like glass being struck by a heavy hammer.

"retreat!"

Sun Yinglong roared.

The eight men retreated three steps.

The dark red vortex surrounding the monument seemed to be alive, sensing the retreat of the intruders, and then quieted down again.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the shovel, his face pale.

"Brother Long, this thing is more than ten times more powerful than the magic suppression we just experienced."

The fine needle squatted on the ground, its hands supporting its knees.

Something's not right.

He looked up at the monument.

"This is not simply an outflow of magical power; it is actively attacking anyone who gets close."

Sun Yinglong stared at the dark red vortex outside the monument.

Six hundred years.

This monument has been buried underground for six hundred years, surrounded by the resentment of those who were buried alive with the dead and the yin energy of the earth's veins.

Originally a magical artifact used to suppress all evil, it has been absorbing this yin energy for six hundred years, growing thicker and thicker until today…

It's no longer something that any ordinary person can touch.

"Use a talisman."

Sun Yinglong gritted his teeth.

The fourth one.

The golden light exploded, condensing into a pillar of light that shot straight towards the monument.

The moment the beam of light collided with the dark red cyclone.

"Bang!"

The talisman was flicked away.

The golden beam of light shattered into countless fragments the moment it touched the monument, as if it had been bounced back by an invisible wall.

At the same time, all 108 runes on the monument lit up with a dark red light.

The entire stone platform trembled.

An invisible force stirred up waves in the underground lake's black water, splashing against everyone's calves.

"Hold!"

The shovel staggered back two steps.

"It bounced back?"

The sound of a fine needle trembled.

"Brother Long, this thing has chosen its owner; it won't let us touch it."

The groundhog turned its head and glanced at the remaining talisman paper in Sun Yinglong's hand.

"Could the Celestial Master's talismans... sometimes fail to work?"

No one responded.

Sun Yinglong stood there, his chest heaving violently.

He closed his eyes.

My mind raced, recalling every word Chen Shidu had written in that handwritten letter.

He remembered everything: the layout, the route, and the precautions.

How to break through each layer is clearly written out.

There was one last line of smaller text.

He hadn't paid much attention before because the first three levels went too smoothly, so smoothly that he thought the twelve talismans could easily sweep everything away.

Now he remembered.

"If the stele does not comply, affix the fifth talisman to the 'Return' character at the top of the stele and recite the four characters 'All things return to the right one.'"

Sun Yinglong opened his eyes.

"Cover me."

The shovel suddenly tilted its head back.

"Brother Long, what are you going to do?"

"Apply talismans."

Sun Yinglong took out the fifth card.

All seven people's expressions changed simultaneously.

The stele is nine feet nine inches tall.

The monument was enveloped in a dark red vortex that could make one want to vomit blood.

Sticking to the top of the monument means you're about to rush into that vortex.

"I'll go."

The shovel stood up.

"You can't handle it."

Sun Yinglong shook his head.

"I'll do it."

He didn't give anyone a chance to refute him, and stuffed all the remaining talismans into the shovel's hand.

"If I fall, take these things back the way you came and tell the Celestial Master... the monument does not recognize people."

The lips of the fine needle moved slightly.

Sun Yinglong didn't look at them again.

He gripped the fifth talisman tightly, faced the nine-foot-nine-foot giant monument, and stepped forward.

first step.

The dark red cyclone reacted immediately.

Like startled venomous snakes, they swarmed toward him.

Blood gushed from my nose, my ears were ringing, and my vision began to blur.

third step.

It felt like an elephant was stepping on my chest, and my ribs were making a creaking sound.

Step 5.

He had almost lost all feeling in his legs.

He saw the top of the monument.

On the black stone surface, at the very top center, is carved a character the size of a fist.

"Return."

Sun Yinglong gritted his teeth and poured his last bit of strength into his right arm.

He raised his hand and slapped the talisman onto the top of the monument.

"Return everything to its proper place!"

Four words were squeezed out of his throat, accompanied by blood and foam.

A burst of golden light erupted.

But this time, it didn't bounce back.

Golden light spread from the talisman paper, flowing like water over every crack and rune on the surface of the monument.

The 108 dark red restrictions vanished the moment the golden light touched them.

One after another, the dark red light was replaced by gold.

From top to bottom, it flips like dominoes.

The dark red cyclone churned violently for three seconds.

Then, it disappeared.

Clean and spotless, without a trace.

The monument revealed its true form.

On the jet-black Kunlun Ruins stone, fine golden lightning patterns flowed, and the 108 restrictions lit up again.

This time it's a pure gold, bright, majestic, and solemn.

The entire mausoleum trembled violently at that moment.

The monument slowly detached from the stone platform.

The colossal monument, weighing 9,900 jin (approximately 4,500 kg), floated into the air.

Sun Yinglong collapsed on the edge of the stone platform, lying on his back, panting heavily.

He was covered in blood, but he was smiling.

The shovel knelt in the water.

"Long live the Celestial Master!"

He blurted out those four words without even realizing it himself.

The fine needle knelt beside it, looking up at the floating giant monument.

Tears flowed down my face.

"Walk."

Sun Yinglong got up from the ground and wiped the blood from his face.

"Take it out."

The return trip was ten times faster than the way there.

The Xuan Tian Demon-Subduing Stele floated above the heads of the eight people, its body enveloped in golden light.

Upon passing through the second layer of the restricted passage, the runes on the walls shattered upon seeing the light of the monument.

As they passed through the first burial pit, the mummified corpses in the niches all shrank back, and the Yin energy that had accumulated for six hundred years evaporated instantly.

All evils are eliminated.

It's not a legend.

Is the truth.

The moment the monument emerged from the mountain.

dusk.

The peaks of the southwestern mountain range stand silently.

A golden beam of light rose from the depths of the valley.

The beam of light was several meters thick, piercing through the mountain, the forest canopy, and the clouds.

Soaring straight to the sky!

Birds in the mountains suddenly took flight in flocks.

The beasts in the forest scattered and fled.

Thirty kilometers away, on a scenic viewing platform, a dense crowd of tourists were taking pictures of the sunset.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

The phone was held up.

The sound of camera shutters clicking filled the air.

No one spoke.

Only four words, rising and falling in succession.

"Oh My God……"

Within five minutes, the short video platform was flooded with messages.

Within ten minutes, the trending topics exploded.

[#Golden pillars of light spotted in southwestern mountainous region#] Breaking news.

……

At the same time.

In the capital city, there is a gray building without a sign.

The building has three underground floors and a circular conference room.

On the giant screen, satellite thermal imaging data scrolls in real time.

Suddenly, a bright red dot appeared in the southwest direction.

The middle-aged man in the Zhongshan suit abruptly slammed down the phone.

He looked at the screen, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.

The red dot is still there.

"Activate the 'Tian Shu' Level 3 response."

"Send someone to investigate; I need to know what that light was!"

There was no name on the doorplate.

There is only one gold-plated badge.

A coiled dragon holding a sword.

The sword bears the two characters "Tian Shu".