471: Chapter 356 471: Chapter 356 The most frustrating thing was that it was easy to enter but hard to leave; he used to control this Magical Treasure, but for some unknown reason, the Artifact Spirit suddenly recognized someone else as its master.
Even more exasperating was the fact that the Magical Treasure he had nurtured for so many years had imprisoned him, its original cultivator.
The Old Taoist nearly fell into complete despair but couldn’t bring himself to give up and wanted to take back the Magical Treasure.
However…, without the ability to control the Magical Treasure, even the Demonic Beasts seemed to see an opportunity to bully him.
What infuriated him more was that the Ghost Cultivators, who used to obey his commands, were now disobedient, and they would retaliate given the chance.
The Old Taoist knew that once he lost control, the vengeful spirits slowly regained some consciousness.
The reason they harboured such hatred towards him was that he had killed them and trapped them here.
The Old Taoist did not want to become like those ghostly cultivators, moving soullessly.
He tried every means to regain control over the Artifact Spirit and to find a way out of this space.
The Old Taoist also attacked Huang Chen multiple times, trying to snatch the Magical Treasure from his disciple.
Unfortunately, none of his attempts were successful.
Watching the two monkeys fight, a thought struck him that the chaos in the space might present him with an opportunity.
“Hahaha, the winner becomes the leader, the loser the follower.”
Suddenly, a human voice emerged within the space, which was exactly the presence they had detected.
Before the two monkeys were captured by humans and brought here, they harboured great animosity towards humans.
Upon hearing the human voice, both monkeys, without a second thought and in perfect unison, cast spells towards the source of the sound.
The Taoist was also cunning.
As soon as he made a sound, he immediately shifted his position.
All that could be seen was dust flying up where the two monkeys cast their spells, with grey dirt soaring high within the space.
The Taoist was startled and felt lucky.
He hadn’t anticipated such cunning from the monkeys.
Weren’t they locked in a struggle for dominance?
How did they react so quickly?
The Taoist couldn’t afford to ponder too much, as he couldn’t see outside from within the space and was unaware that the monkeys’ domineering Qi had targeted him.
Would the Taoist have acted in the same way if he had known?
Huang Chen shrank back at the Magical Treasure, thinking to himself that his master had called him cunning, but now seemed so foolish, being chased around by two monkeys.
The two monkeys, who had just been fighting for supremacy, now seemed like fraternal twins.
They shared a single mind and thrashed the weak human cultivator like sweeping fallen petals and flowing water.
Daring to criticize them?
Couldn’t they see for themselves that the monkeys were quite formidable?
The Taoist wanted to cry.
Why did he have to talk so much?
He thought that mere beasts wouldn’t understand human language, but when faced with these dominant Demonic Beasts, he had to use his strongest escape techniques.
He resorted to Flying Through the Heavens and Earth, but alas, he could only fly within this space.
He, a Golden Core Taoist, had encountered no ordinary monkeys – their spirits had reached the heavens!
There was only one outcome; he was being chased and beaten!
The monkeys were merely toying with this weak human as a way to vent their pent-up frustrations of countless years.
The two monkeys who had just been fighting for dominance stopped and jointly used their demonic claws to toy with the weak human.
They couldn’t understand why such a feeble human would exist in the Hell Palace.
Were the Ghost Cultivators and Demonic Beasts blind?
It must be said that this Taoist was quite unfortunate.
Not killed by humans, but tormented by the spirits of monkeys.
It was an example of karmic retribution, not that it was absent, but its hour had yet to come.
Formerly, within the Hell Palace, the Taoist could still exert some control and watch the chaos outside, seizing others’ resources and committing wicked deeds without being discovered.
But ever since the Hell Palace gained an Artifact Spirit, this powerful Immortal Treasure was beyond his control, simply because his original power wasn’t strong enough.
He had found this Hell Palace, within which the spirits of ghosts or Demonic Beasts could grow so rapidly in Cultivation.
So why couldn’t he, the one controlling the Magical Treasure, enhance his own Cultivation?
There is a reason here not even a Taoist could comprehend.
Originally, he had cultivated the Mount Tai Sect’s cultivation technique, and later stumbled upon a magical treasure from the Hell Palace, as well as this book of control.
He completely devoted his energy to this endeavor, learning the abilities described in the book as well.
However, he did not master them fully, for he didn’t dedicate all his energy to his cultivation.
Instead, he used all his energy to nurture the magical treasure, using his own power to continuously nourish the Hell Palace, allowing for its restoration.
The Taoist didn’t understand why, despite his relentless daily efforts at cultivation, he couldn’t increase his cultivation for decades.
He once thought it might be due to the energy expenditure of performing rituals and casting spells?
But then he thought again, and it didn’t make sense!
The Taoists of the Mount Tai Sect were specifically trained for this, and others could quickly increase their cultivation.
As for him, since advancing to the Golden Core stage, he had found not a few good magical treasures and learned to control them.
Yet after many years, they became another’s dowry, controlled by someone else; the Immortal Treasures no longer belonged to him, and he fell into the traps set by others.
Unable to escape the clutches of the Immortal Treasure, the ghosts he once controlled became stronger and not only stopped obeying him, they even started to bully him.
Inside the Hell Palace, the Demonic Beasts were even more rampant, pursuing him the moment they sensed his Qi.
He had thought the two souls that suddenly appeared, engaged in a fierce battle, would intensify their fighting if he prompted them.
But to his dismay, these two despicable monkeys chose not to fight each other; instead, they turned their aggression toward him.
The Taoist, in utter despair, dodged left and right, toyed with by the two monkeys.
It was truly miserable not having an extra pair of legs.
His misfortune wasn’t just about being unlucky; he also hadn’t realized that the Immortal Treasure of the Hell Palace he was nurturing was consuming the abilities of a Golden Core Elder, and why he didn’t know this magical treasure from the Hell Palace had an absorbing function.
It drew away the spiritual power he gained from his daily cultivation, yet it didn’t turn him into a dried husk, for the magical treasure had an innate function and recognized that he was still of use.
The Taoist didn’t know that what he treasured as an artifact that could control the world would one day become someone else’s property and bury him right here.
He didn’t know that the book he found could only control the care and maintenance of the Immortal Treasure, and did not contain the secret manual for the cultivation method used by its original owner.
The Hell Palace itself was indeed a very evil magical treasure.
Those who could control it would find it could bring many benefits to its master.
If they could not, it would drain the master’s mana, absorbing the power garnered from daily practice.
How could one’s cultivation improve if it was being sapped away every day?
The creator of this magical treasure indeed had other abilities, nurturing so many Demonic Beasts within it purely for the sake of his own cultivation.
The Hell Palace had other uses; one day it would turn into a Hell on Earth, a Hell in the Heavenly Realm.
Yet for reasons unknown, after a great war thousands of years ago, the owner of the magical treasure died, and the Hell Palace was damaged, falling into ruins and later discovered by another.
The person who found the Hell Palace had similarly vile intentions, nourishing the Hell Palace while using this treasure to cause disaster in the Mortal Realm.
Could someone who does evil continue to be lucky forever?
Of course not!
He encountered one of his own disasters: among those who had survived his calamities, one sought revenge, and his retribution arrived.
Not only was he confined here by an enemy, unable to leave, but those whom he had once controlled to spread disaster now turned against him and bullied him instead.
Huang Chen saw his master being chased but chose to remain silent and not help.
The last time, his master had tried to snatch his magical treasure, tearing apart their master-disciple relationship.
All bonds of mentorship meant nothing before personal gains!
Why would Huang Chen risk exposing himself to the two monkey souls just for a master?
He always remembered how his grandfather had given a lot of money to ensure this master lived comfortably, yet it had caused their family to lose many Spirit Stones.
The master was insatiable in his greed, but thankfully his grandfather had kept a secret, not revealing the benefits and uses of the magical treasure, which prevented the master from snatching it immediately.
Now, with his power grown stronger and in possession of this magical treasure, he was able to hide among the formidable forces of this Immortal Treasure, evading detection by his master and the fearsome Demonic Beasts, a victory indeed!