Relying on his memory and Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique, Qi Xuansu accurately located the sun god’s temple without the slightest deviation.

At this moment, the temple had already been completely engulfed by shadows, causing what should have been a magnificent golden building to appear pitch black instead.

The shadows also covered the temple gates, almost as if countless talismans and ropes had been wrapped around them, indirectly reinforcing and sealing the doors shut.

Qi Xuansu fastened Pure Bodhi at his waist, placed both hands directly against the doors and forcibly pushed open the temple gates with the unmatched strength of a Martial Arts Practitioner. The serpent-like shadows coiling around the doors were completely scorched away by his blood qi.

Then, he strode openly into the temple, casually waving his hand to disperse the swarming shadows as though brushing away irritating cobwebs. Yet one could easily imagine that if the intruder were not Qi Xuansu but a Xiantian Being or an ordinary Heavenly Being, the current situation would have been extremely troublesome.

The layout of this temple was not much different from that of ordinary temples. Since it had been built upon a remote overseas island, it could hardly be called grand or magnificent. The first thing that came into view was a statue of the Feathered Serpent God, who was also the Sun God Kukulkan.

The Feathered Serpent God was a giant serpent with wings. In a certain sense, it even resembled the Eastern flood dragons, except that it lacked claws and horns.

Of course, Kukulkan also possessed a human form, though he rarely used it. He greatly favored the image of the Feathered Serpent God, so most of his statues depicted that form. This was not unusual for deities. The former God Luwu had likewise preferred appearing before mortals in beast form rather than human form, because that was their true body.

From an Eastern perspective, this would essentially be a demon that had successfully attained enlightenment. It did not seem much different from Tamamo-no-Mae or the Great Tengu.

Perhaps the image of the Feathered Serpent God had brought certain advantages during the early spread of the faith. Its exoticism, terror, and awe-inspiring nature helped to attract worshippers. Yet at the same time, it also restricted future development to some extent. In the end, if one wished to become a truly orthodox deity with vast influence, one still had to return to a human form.

Surrounding the Feathered Serpent God’s statue were shadows so dense they seemed impossible to disperse. Hidden within them lurked several servants of the shadows, who were also known as Yaxirs.

These creatures that were half-human and half-demon moved with extraordinary agility. They could merge perfectly with the shadows, gliding soundlessly alongside them before launching sudden ambushes. They were natural-born assassins.

Yet even if Qi Xuansu could neither see with his eyes, hear with his ears, nor sense with his mind, he still possessed the instinctive intuition of the Demonic Blade. Every ambush by the Yaxirs was blocked by him. Since the Juesheng Hall already possessed specimens of these creatures, he saw no need to hold back. He directly crushed them apart with the force of his fists, after which the shattered remains of the Yaxirs dissolved back into the shadows once more.

Qi Xuansu walked beneath the statue of the Feathered Serpent God and raised his head to examine it. Because his senses were heavily restricted here, he could not determine whether the shadows originated from the statue itself. However, he had a powerful urge deep within his heart to smash the statue to pieces. Fortunately, the Pure Bodhi at his waist emitted a flowing radiance, bringing forth a cool, calming sensation that helped him suppress the impulse.

This startled Qi Xuansu. The shadows could not crush his sanity outright, yet they were capable of subtly influencing his thoughts without him realizing it. After all, Qi Xuansu had not completely withdrawn his soul into the Longevity Stone Heart. Doing so would mean surrendering most control over his body, much like when True Lord Ziguang used his body as a vessel for her divine descent. Since he had not fully retreated into it, some degree of influence was unavoidable.

This place truly was strange.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu had prepared the Pure Bodhi in advance. To him, whether the blade could kill others was secondary. Its true importance lay in its ability to protect his sanity.

In the end, Qi Xuansu refrained from destroying the statue and instead circled it once.

The statue stood upon a raised platform. This square pedestal-like structure was as tall as a person, and each of its four sides was covered with different carvings and murals, seemingly telling some sort of story.

Qi Xuansu knew little about these mythological stories and had no interest in studying them in depth. Instead, he used the Piercing Sight Technique from the Taiping Essential Arts. This spell could pierce through all illusions and even penetrate physical barriers to reveal hidden objects.

This spell might not necessarily be more advanced than a Martial Arts Practitioner’s true sight or a Banished Immortal’s Divine Observation Technique, but every discipline had its specialty. A Martial Arts Practitioner’s true sight used tangible force to shatter illusion, while a Diviner’s methods did the opposite, using illusion to penetrate reality.

Dealing with the current situation, the techniques of a Diviner were clearly more useful than the rest.

Qi Xuansu quickly located the hidden mechanisms embedded within the four murals. After pressing them one by one, the mural behind the statue slowly shifted aside, revealing a hidden doorway. The elevated platform supporting the Feathered Serpent God’s statue was actually hollow inside.

After a brief hesitation, Qi Xuansu stepped into the dark doorway.

Beyond the doorway was not a descending passage but endless darkness.

Qi Xuansu felt as though he had stepped into the void itself. When he turned back to look, the doorway through which he had entered had completely vanished.

His expression turned solemn.

Although he was extremely close to being a Pseudo-Immortal, he was still not truly a Pseudo-Immortal. If he were to encounter a divine descent, he might not emerge completely unscathed.

He also could not judge Kukulkan’s true strength.

The Apostles of the Holy Court had rampaged unchecked, directly slaying countless ancient gods. Itzamna had not escaped this fate, and Ixchel had even been split into two separate beings. Yet Kukulkan had survived.

Even if Kukulkan were exceptionally cunning and skilled at preserving his strength, he still could not have survived the crusades of the Holy Court’s Apostles without sufficient power to back it up.

In the end, Kukulkan had not only survived but even stolen the divine authorities of two sun gods, ultimately becoming the chief of the surviving ancient gods. His divine power could not be comparable to that of an ordinary Immortal. It was very likely on par with the Three Deputy Grand Masters.

The Three Deputy Grand Masters were Quasi-First-Tribulation Immortals. Though they could not compare to true First-Tribulation Immortals, they still possessed overwhelming superiority compared to ordinary immortals.

During the assault on Ise-jingu, the Imperial Preceptor had faced a flood dragon comparable to an Immortal with nothing but him and his sword. The battle had been utterly one-sided. In the end, the Imperial Preceptor slew the dragon without suffering even the slightest injury.

Even among immortals, there were vast differences. If Qi Xuansu faced Chen Shuhua, he might still be able to struggle for a bit using various methods. But if Qi Xuansu were to face the Imperial Preceptor instead, it would be settled in a single strike. He would have absolutely no power to resist.

Clearly, there were also hierarchies among Immortals.

If Kukulkan truly possessed the strength of a Quasi-First-Tribulation Immortal and was at the height of his power and completely unharmed, then he might be even more terrifying than Izanagi, who had been sealed away for many years.

At that moment, not far from Qi Xuansu, two flickering lights suddenly appeared within the darkness, wavering like ghostly flames.

Qi Xuansu looked toward the two ghostly fires, empowering his eyes with the body spirits in an attempt to pierce through the illusion.

Then he realized that they were not ghostly fire at all, but rather a pair of eyes with vertical pupils resembling those of a serpent.

Qi Xuansu’s true sight could not fully pierce the illusion, managing only to discern a vague outline resembling a long serpent.

He let out a cold snort, clenched his fist, and immediately struck with a killing move—the Martial Arts Practitioner’s Void Shattering Technique.

Yet once again, Qi Xuansu was caught off guard. This punch was powerful enough to severely wound or even kill a Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being, but it failed to impact anything tangible at all. The darkness clearly could not be considered a physical substance.

Instead, the pair of serpent eyes seemed startled. They blinked once, as if enraged, and began moving toward Qi Xuansu.

As the serpent eyes drew closer, they also grew large.

At first, they were merely like two ghostly flames. In the blink of an eye, they had become like a pair of lanterns. Moments later, they resembled the sun and moon.

The colossal body hidden behind those serpent eyes naturally expanded as well, though its full form still could not be perceived.

Even though Qi Xuansu could not see it clearly, he could still sense it.

At first, it resembled a gigantic python. Then, in an instant, it became like a massive dragon. A moment later, it was like the Great Wall itself, stretching endlessly across Qi Xuansu’s vision, so vast that even his field of view could no longer contain it.

The serpent’s eyes and body seemed limitless, growing infinitely larger.

That was precisely what made it so strange. If such an enormous creature truly existed, then Qi Xuansu’s punch should not have missed, no matter what. Yet somehow, his strike had indeed landed in the void.

Qi Xuansu could see the serpent, but he could not touch it. Did this mean that the serpent did not actually exist?

His thoughts raced. Deep down, he believed the phenomena before him were likely an illusion, yet his body refused to obey him. Intimidated by the overwhelming presence of the colossal shadow, he felt as though he had been frozen in place.

A sense of fear welled up within him. This was not an acquired fear, but an instinctive, primordial terror, like that of a prey before a predator. It was something carved into his very bones.

Yet because of the protection of the Longevity Stone Heart and the Pure Bodhi, Qi Xuansu still retained part of his rationality.

As a result, his current state was one of both fear and calm. His consciousness seemed split in two, one side overwhelmed by emotion and descending into chaos, while the other was coldly observing, yet powerless to intervene. He had completely lost control of his body.

Qi Xuansu had never encountered anything this bizarre since practicing the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage.

Martial Arts Practitioners spread their body spirits throughout their entire bodies, much like establishing prefectures and counties to govern a territory. But now, the central authority failed. There was only one possible explanation. The current situation had already surpassed Qi Xuansu’s cultivation level.

Even though Martial Arts Practitioners could counter Diviners, the former at the Guizhen stage still could not rival the latter at the Zaohua stage.

In other words, Qi Xuansu’s techniques had been overwhelmed by brute force.