Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 580 - 459: Sudden Change

Chapter 580: Chapter 459: Sudden Change

"Shall we continue forward?" Zanjin asked.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Two women in black dresses floated beside Wu Xiaode, their forms sometimes becoming transparent, sometimes turning into skeletons, and sometimes revealing flesh as clear and lustrous as ice.

Being skilled in close combat, he had no idea how to handle these eerie beings.

It was all thanks to the Grey-Backed White Wolf a moment ago.

"Forward..."

Wu Xiaode echoed, looking up towards the main hall of the temple behind them.

Standing at the entrance to the main hall were two rows of headless statues, the doors were open, and vaguely visible inside was an enshrined colossal entity.

Unfortunately, some kind of fog at the entrance of the hall made it impossible to see clearly.

Suddenly.

Wu Xiaode’s pupils contracted.

"Did you see that?"

Zanjin quickly asked in a low voice.

"I saw it, feels like something we can’t handle," Wu Xiaode also whispered.

Just now.

That enormous thing seemed to have slightly moved.

A massive hand rested on the doorframe of the hall, then a face seemed to emerge from the mist, looking distantly at the two of them.

In that instant, Wu Xiaode felt a shiver in his heart.

Damn it.

Since the first time he saw the One-eyed Giant, he hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

—What on earth was that?

Wu Xiaode pondered deeply, lowering his head again to look at the two statues in his hands.

This thing gave off an evil aura, uncertain of what it was.

For safety’s sake—

Wu Xiaode silently called in his mind, "Book of the Dead."

The Book of the Dead appeared quietly, opening its pages to reveal two lines of ice crystal tiny characters:

"?????"

"The current Bonephone 3 cannot parse."

Unable to parse, huh...

While Wu Xiaode was thinking, the book flipped to the "Shadow Followers" page.

Little Bone said indignantly, "Leave it to me, I will go and enhance my strength further, I must upgrade the Bonephone to a higher level."

Wu Xiaode smiled.

It wasn’t just Little Bone that needed to upgrade.

If they didn’t use the Death Skill, if they didn’t have the "Dual Phases of Reality and Illusion" with them—

He wouldn’t even dare to enter the hall.

They must hasten to improve their strength, striving to stand at the pinnacle of this world to obtain that card.

"Lord Zan, I think we’ve gathered enough for now, we should temporarily withdraw from the temple and submit these two headless statues to our leader," Wu Xiaode pondered.

"Exactly, exactly so," Zanjin nodded, relieved.

The two reached an agreement and quickly retreated.

Only then did they realize how eerily silent the entire temple was.

The rest of their companions who had entered the temple for exploration had not made any noise.

—Where were they?

The two exchanged a glance, quickly turned back through the same small door, exited, and returned to the open space outside the temple.

Evil Phoenix and the Red-skinned Demon were still waiting there.

"Leader, we found these two items."

Wu Xiaode said, holding the two headless statues.

Evil Phoenix looked at the two ghost-like women in black dresses beside him, her eyes lit up, and she spoke:

"Well done."

With a gesture, the two statues immediately flew into her hands.

The two women in black promptly left Wu Xiaode and flew directly towards her.

Evil Phoenix silently said a few words to the two women.

The women paused slightly, the eerie smile on their faces faded.

Evil Phoenix then pinched a strange Dharma Seal.

The women re-examined her, simultaneously transforming into streams of light and entering the statues.

Evil Phoenix seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well.

She took out a jade box emitting a chill, and put the two statues inside.

"This mission was quite fruitful, we’ll go back to rest and replenish our forces, and return to explore this place another time," she commanded.

As her words fell, the Red-skinned Demon began to arrange the Array Plate.

This was their cue to leave—

Wu Xiaode subconsciously turned to look at the temple behind them.

He saw nothing but deathly stillness.

The other explorers had not returned.

It was only then that Wu Xiaode realized.

—Apart from Evil Phoenix, the Red-skinned Demon, Zanjin, and himself, everyone else had perished.

He looked at Zanjin, seeing that Zanjin’s face also bore a look of incredible fortune.

Hum—

A low buzz emitted from the Array Plate.

Space started to ripple, forming a pattern.

The four silently waited for the transportation to begin.

Suddenly.

A voice came from the darkness nearby:

"Who goes there? Halt!"

A streak of Golden Light pierced through the darkness, rushing toward the temple like thunder and lightning.

In the dark, countless skeletal hands tried to grasp the Golden Light but it dodged each one, finally reaching the front of the temple.

The Golden Light shifted, transforming into a woman dressed in golden armor.

"Evil Phoenix! It’s you!"

The woman exclaimed in surprise.

"I was wondering who it could be, turns out it’s the Golden-winged Bird," Evil Phoenix sneered.

"I didn’t expect you to manage to get here with your abilities," the woman in golden armor said.

Her gaze swept across the faces of the Red-skinned Demon, Lord Zan, and Wu Xiaode.

"Don’t go, Elder Sister Feng, have you acquired anything here?" the woman asked with a smile.

"No," Evil Phoenix said coldly.

"You would leave without any gains?" the woman disbelieved.

In the blink of an eye—

Evil Phoenix shouted, "Let’s go!"

The Array Plate in the Red-skinned Demon’s hand immediately erupted in a loud wail.

The fluctuation of the space settled on the four individuals.

But the next instant—

Several beams of light suddenly burst out from the profound darkness.

Within the light, two figures quickly materialized.

"Sister Feng, why did you run so fast?"

A man wearing a jade crown said with a smile.

"We’ve had quite the challenge tracking you down, thanks to you and your subordinates—at least let us say thank you," a woman in bright red feathered attire said.

The Array Plate in the hands of the Red-skinned Demon let out a mournful cry.

"My lord, the space is locked,"

The Red-skinned Demon said, changing color.

At this point, Evil Phoenix was no longer in a hurry.

She stared at the three in the air and said coldly:

"Golden-winged Bird, Li Long, Vermilion Bird, you’ve been following me all the way, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Wu Xiaode looked at these three people, secretly pondering.

Among these three, Li Long’s strength was on par with Evil Phoenix, and as for the Golden-winged Bird and Vermilion Bird, they were stronger than the Qilin but a bit weaker than Evil Phoenix.

This combination could indeed beat Evil Phoenix—

But then.

Did they really want to fight a grand battle in such a bizarre place?

"The so-called treasures of the world should be shared by those who see them. Bring out what you’ve acquired this time, or else... we are three to your one," the Golden-winged Bird said.

Evil Phoenix’s gaze darkened as she said:

"What if I say no?"

The Golden-winged Bird and Vermilion Bird remained silent.

The man with the jade crown let out a sinister laugh and said:

"Attack!"

Before the echo died, Lord Zan slapped his storage bag, releasing a Seven-colored Talisman toward Evil Phoenix.

Wu Xiaode’s mind suddenly cleared.

That’s how it was,

A traitor in the ranks!

He caught a gleam in his eye, just as the woman in the red robe stared at him, pinching a spell between her fingers.

The Golden-winged Bird charged directly at the Red-skinned Demon.

Meanwhile, Evil Phoenix was enveloped by the Seven-colored Talisman, bursting out with a terrifyingly murderous roar:

"You are all going to die!"

In that instant, Wu Xiaode discerned the entire situation’s direction.

The traitor turned against them.

The two subordinates were trapped in a deadly situation.

Next, it would be the Golden-winged Bird, Li Long, and Vermilion Bird against one Evil Phoenix.

This game was simply unplayable!

In an instant, Wu Xiaode suddenly spoke up softly:

"Resume."

In the snap of a finger, everything around him vanished.

Wu Xiaode found himself still standing in front of the temple, yet the Golden-winged Bird, Li Long, and Vermilion Bird had all disappeared.

The close guards of Evil Phoenix were around.

Time had returned to the moment everyone had just arrived at this eerie temple.

—Dual Reality!

Wu Xiaode exhaled, feeling suddenly hungry.

"White Wolf."

Evil Phoenix suddenly called out.

Wu Xiaode snapped back to attention and bowed, saying, "Here at your service."

Evil Phoenix showed a satisfied smile and said:

"We’ve advanced so far, directly arriving at a critical location, and only five people died. You’ve played a significant role."

"I dare not, I am merely doing my utmost," Wu Xiaode replied.

"Hmm, I’ll reward you once we get back. For now, everyone pairs up and spreads out to explore this temple," Evil Phoenix instructed.

The people instinctively sought out partners to team up with.

Lord Zan came over with a smile and said, "How about we team up, brother?"

Wu Xiaode studied him, a fleeting shade of depth flashing in his eyes.

"To be able to act alongside Lord Zan couldn’t be better."

He bowed and said.