I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Dai Yuanyang had his eyes closed and was fast asleep.

He was unaware that a number of people had already gathered in the courtyard.

"...No problem, I will find His location as quickly as possible."

"It was said by a middle-aged man with blond hair and a foreign appearance."

Behind him stood a group of men dressed in dark clothes, looking capable and serious, holding guns and standing in a line.

"It seems Dai's mission failed; he couldn't hold on until the end."

The man spoke to his brown-haired companion beside him.

"But we have also obtained enough information. The secret to immortality is right in front of us. Now it is up to us."

The brown-haired foreigner said.

"Fang Geng, the lord of the mountains, we never expected that after studying the materials, consulting the classics, and going through many twists and turns, we would find that he was actually sealed here."

"And then there's Xuanjun, who exactly is he...? Perhaps he stole Fang Geng's divine power and gained immortality."

"In any case, finding Fang Geng's seal and studying these Great Old Ones is our order. As for other obstacles, they must be eliminated."

“But Gordon, according to our previous research, breaking the seal could very well lead to the leakage of the Great Old Ones' contamination. Then, the people of this mountain, no, this entire city…”

“Don’t worry, John. They’ve already suffered so much from the war. Death might be a relief for them.”

"Can……"

“This place is already decayed. Its enormous body is now merely clinging to life. Rather than letting it continue to degenerate, it would be better to let more promising people completely destroy it and then regenerate it from the ashes.”

As the two exchanged a few words, a person came out of the house.

"We found Dai; he was locked in a house and was unconscious. We found the way up the mountain."

Should we go up the mountain now?

The brown-haired man asked.

"Wait a little longer. Let those people explore first. Maybe they can become food for Fang Geng. We'll use our equipment to find the sealed location. Don't worry about them. According to Professor Correa's theory, that deity should be located in a tomb in the mountains."

The blond man pointed to the geological survey instruments on the side, then looked towards the deep, dense forest nestled among the mountains.

"Great Lord, please grant us the knowledge and wisdom to save this world."

He kissed his necklace, an irregularly shaped polyhedron, a geometric shape that didn't belong to this world.

Chapter 568 Xuanjun's Residence

Lu Ban also saw the colorful light.

These colors don't belong to Earth; they seem to come from the universe. Only in the deep, dark void could such magnificent colors appear.

Within these colors, everything begins to come alive; all things grow, nourish, and twist.

As Lu Ban meditated, more knowledge flowed into his brain.

In the distant past, a colossal god reigned over the world. In the boundless void, war raged. He was defeated, suppressed, and sealed away by other great beings, thus creating the mountains.

Afterwards, on several occasions, this sleeping deity was about to awaken, but was suppressed by some force through sacrifice and seduction.

Then, Lu Ban saw the eyes.

A huge, narrow, crimson eye.

These eyes are larger than the tallest buildings; just being stared at by them is enough to suffocate you.

The eye quickly noticed Lu Ban, but because it was so huge, Lu Ban had no idea what thoughts were contained within it.

But the eyes vanished quickly, leaving nothing behind.

Lu Ban returned to that twisted and bizarre temple.

He saw that the other six people had ashen faces and were trembling slightly, as if they were imprisoned by something. Pollution surrounded them, like a gaping maw that wanted to devour them.

……

Tang Que felt that the surroundings were unusually quiet.

After everyone stared at the token, they seemed to be completely absorbed in it, as if they had been drawn to something. Some people seemed to see a beautiful scene, with a mesmerizing expression on their faces. Others frowned, as if they had seen a cruel future. Still others, like Lu Ban, had a blank expression, as if they were in a daze.

Lu Ban might really be spacing out.

Soon, Tang Que also saw some mesmerizing things, like colorful butterflies fluttering and swirling in mid-air.

She seemed to see her father, and the power within her bloodline, which came from some enormous giants who did not seem to be beings of this world. Through this token, Tang Que saw some of the lives of this giant race. Knowledge flowed into her mind, causing Tang Que's muscles to bulge and swell, as if she could not suppress the power.

Just as Tang Que felt she might lose control of this power and was about to go mad, a hand pressed down on her shoulder.

"Relax."

A voice came from behind her, and Tang Que then realized that it was Lu Ban.

Tang Que saw Lu Ban raise his hand and write something on everyone's head, as if writing.

As Lu Ban wrote, these people gradually came to their senses.

"I just..."

Du Ming seemed to still be savoring what he had just witnessed, but he quickly rubbed his temples, burying those memories away.

Clearly, while forbidden knowledge can bring power, it can also bring danger.

"This thing contains great power; knowledge brings power, and knowledge brings pollution."

Lu Ban said calmly.

Everyone fell into thought.

What I just saw was indeed forbidden knowledge, which did enhance their abilities considerably, but at the same time, I almost succumbed to it and lost my senses.

Only Lu Ban seemed unmoved, and even saved himself.

At this point, the outcome of the battle for the Xuanjun title was no longer in doubt.

If anyone could bear the weight of the position of Xuanjun, it would be Lu Ban.

Blind Zhang fell into thought.

He went through four battles for the position of Xuanjun, so it's impossible for him not to be obsessed with it.

But this time, even Blind Zhang felt something was off.

In the previous instances, he had only gained a small amount of knowledge when he tried to comprehend the tokens, but this time, he almost traced the origins of the Nine Schools of Thought.

This is unreasonable.

Furthermore, Lu Ban's previous actions of taking the token were also very unusual. It's unclear whether it's because Lu Ban is too special, or if there's really something wrong with this Xuanjun competition.

However, given the current situation, all we can do is continue the tradition.

"In my opinion, Lu Ban has remained true to himself during this enlightenment process, unmoved and not tempted by power. He should be the winner of this round of competition."

The others exchanged glances, their emotions a mix of regret, indifference, and something more profound.

"At the same time, due to Lu Ban's lead, we can determine the Xuanjun this time without a fifth event."

Although Blind Zhang did not look at Lu Ban, everyone else present looked at him.

Without a doubt, even if Lu Ban doesn't play in the fifth match, his score will be enough to secure first place. And in a normal Xuanjun competition, the outcome is usually decided after the fourth match.

"Keep going up. There, there is a cave. Take the token and go in. You will enter the cave, and everything about Xuanjun is there."

Blind Zhang pointed outside the temple.

Lu Ban walked out and saw a mountain path leading to the top of the mountain, but strangely, he had never noticed that there was a path there before.

He glanced back at the successors of the Nine Schools.

"You can wait here, I'll be right back."

Lu Ban nodded and then began to climb.

This mountain road is very rugged and can only allow one person to pass at a time.

It was still very hot in the mountains, and even more humid than before. Lu Ban roughly estimated that the temperature had probably exceeded forty degrees Celsius, which was not something that ordinary people could endure.

He walked for about half an hour before finally seeing a cave.

The cave is already close to the mountaintop.

Lu Ban arrived at a flat platform, which was very close to the actual mountaintop, where he could see lush trees.

One side of the platform is a cave.

The cave looked ordinary, like any other cave you could find anywhere.

Lu Ban used [True Sight] to look into the cave, which was shrouded in a thick layer of black mist that spread down the mountain in a vast and mighty manner.

At the cave entrance, an invisible barrier blocked most of the black mist, preventing it from dissipating.

Lu Ban took the token and entered the cave.

……

Boom—

An explosion rang out, startling the birds into flight.

Gordon, the blond man, stared at the shattered rock face ahead with a serious expression.

"Sure enough, this leads to the center of the mountain. This mountain itself existed to seal Fang Geng."

He looked at the deep, dark road leading into the mountainside and said.

“Dai, let’s go. You will soon witness the true deity.”

Upon hearing Gordon's words, Dai Yuanyang, who had already regained consciousness, felt somewhat fearful.

"If the monster is really suppressed here, aren't we trying to break its seal now? We won't be able to escape then."

He tried to dissuade him.

"Don't worry, Dai. Neither of us are ordinary people. Besides, we're just going to check on the seal. If the seal can be broken so easily, then given the current pace of urban development, this place will eventually alarm Him."

Gordon didn't take it seriously; he took the torch and went inside the cave.