Walker Of The Worlds

2726  Unearthing A Temple

”This mustʼve been where the Elder found the book,” Lin Mu reckoned, seeing the statue and the altar.

”Thereʼs a door there.” Daoist Chu pointed behind the statue.

”And this should be where Elder Nui got stuck.” Lin Mu inspected the door.

DANG!

As soon as he touched the door, he was repelled back.

”Thatʼs a strong array.” Lin Mu felt the tingle in his fingers.

”Amitabha. Junior Lin Mu, you should stay away from it,” the Abbot warned, a look of seriousness on his face. ”I sense a malignant force from it.”

”I can tell… It can actually pass through my defenses to some extent.” Lin Mu examined his hand.

His hand had already recovered, but for the barrier to affect him this much was still surprising.

”Let me take a look.” Daoist Chu took out several analytical immortal tools and began his work from a distance.

A few minutes later, sweat covered his face as he put the tools down.

”Haah… This is a lot more complex than I thought,” Daoist Chu admitted.

”How complex?” Lin Mu asked.

”This is on the level of an entire Sect Guarding Array,” Daoist Chu revealed.

”What?” The Grand Elder was stunned. ”Something this small has that level of protection?”

A Sect Guarding Array was massive and needed a large amount of space to be erected. Condensing its power to such a small area was almost unheard of.

12:58

”Whoever set it up was certainly a Formation Grandmaster,” Daoist Chu stated.

”Hmm… Considering its level, its power would be significantly stronger when condensed to protect such a small area,” Lin Mu noted.

”What do we do now?” the First Elder asked.

”We can certainly unravel the formation array, but itʼll take a lot of time and manpower,” Daoist Chu explained. ”The faster method would be to destroy it outright. But we donʼt know what would happen if we do that.”

”That would be reckless. The foul energy could be hidden in there for all we know and spill out,” the Abbot advised against it.

”The Abbot is right,” Lin Mu agreed. ”We first need to investigate this entire mountain and figure out the extent of this cave. Thereʼs a chance we can find a weak point from another location.”

”So we unearth the mountain?” Daoist Chu guessed.

”Indeed. We do have the manpower for that,” Lin Mu replied.

”Letʼs do it then.” The Grand Elder was ready.

A few minutes later, a large-scale excavation was underway. All the people combined their strength to clear away the trees and soil on the mountain before uncovering the rocks. It was done carefully to avoid triggering any protective array that might be hidden.

A couple of hours later, the secret hidden within the mountain was revealed.

”This…” The Grand Elder was stunned.

”An entire temple,” Lin Mu furrowed his brows.

”From the looks of it, it wasnʼt built within the mountain,” Daoist Chu said, inspecting the structure.

The temple had distinct architectural elements, which wasnʼt typical for something meant to be hidden within a mountain.

”Itʼs likely the temple was built first and then covered with a mountain. Over time, it fully merged into it,” Monk Hushu theorized.

The temple was built with grey and black rock and was covered with fine carvings that were a mix of Dao Script as well as an unknown script that couldnʼt be read. Some of the carvings had been weathered away by time and were no longer legible.

”Letʼs begin the inspection again.” Lin Mu spread his immortal sense.

Daoist Chu did the same, and the two combined their efforts in searching for a vulnerability.

Half an hour later, their efforts bore fruit.

”There.” Daoist Chu pointed.

”The node here is not as well hidden as the others,” Lin Mu observed.

It was one of the spots where the unknown characters had faded away.

”Itʼs probably been weakened due to time,” Daoist Chu guessed.

”Which makes it easier for us,” Lin Mu said as he quickly got to work.

HUALA!

Knowing this would be tough work, he directly summoned a brush. As soon as it appeared, everyone felt the dense Dao Traces radiating from both the brush and Lin Mu himself.

The Grand Elder, upon seeing it, was surprised.

”A Formation Dao Embryo?” The Grand Elder recognized it instantly. ”And considering the intensity of the Dao Traces… Is he a Formation Grandmaster too?” He couldnʼt believe it.

He had taken Lin Mu to be a Sword Master earlier, but now it was clear that he was a man of many talents. While formations were an art that every cultivator learned to some extent, reaching the level of a Master or Grandmaster was no simple feat. Especially when one was also a Sword Master of Lin Muʼs caliber.

It required great effort and talent—something not everyone could achieve.

The old man watched as Lin Mu used the Rune Shaping Brush to make several runes in the air. His hand moved like a blur, and hundreds of runes were created in seconds, their numbers continuing to increase.

”Support me, Daoist Chu,” Lin Mu said. ”Handle the auxiliary nodes. Iʼll attack the main ones.”

”Yes!” Daoist Chu took out his tools and followed Lin Muʼs lead.

The two men worked tirelessly for several hours. Day turned into night, and soon the two moons hung high above them.

Despite the long hours, no one moved. They didnʼt want to miss even a single moment of this intricate process.

To immortals like them, this might as well be a few minutes compared to their lifespans.

Sometime after midnight, their work finally bore fruit.

HONGLONG!

The runes that Lin Mu had drawn in the air seemingly came together and draped over the temple like a veil. They covered the structure densely before Lin Mu finally drew a single horizontal stroke.

”UNRAVEL!” he commanded.

Everyone watched with bated breaths as they waited for the truth to be revealed. They had all been waiting for this with great anticipation after all.