Chapter 015: Exploration in the Dark Night

Du Fan sat on the stone bed in the room, his expression utterly strange. He had analyzed those last few words spoken by Ringtone countless times, only to arrive at one conclusion: there was likely some secret on that altar at the place where he would meet High Priest Gannon today, and it probably had something to do with the two techniques he knew.
But could Ringtone have accidentally revealed such an important matter?
Or was it all intentional…?
Then what was her purpose? Was it just to make him go there? Or to hint that he should take a look? Or could it be a trap?
At this thought, Du Fan couldn’t help but laugh. If those barbarians wanted to deal with him, why would they need a trap? In the Gavin Empire, his status was quite high, but here, he was just a captive with slightly higher status. Would anyone use schemes against a captive?
Although it wasn’t entirely impossible, the likelihood was still too small under these circumstances…
So, should he go and see what was going on?
Du Fan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them abruptly. He turned over and slipped into the darkness.
He moved cautiously along the walls inside the dark grand temple. Of course, compared to the stealth of thieves and assassins, his way of moving was almost as noisy as carrying a torch and shouting, “I’m coming!” But this was the grand temple—aside from those insane shaman priests, there was probably no one else around.
He carefully avoided a group of shaman priests on patrol and moved slowly toward the altar, following the map in his mind. Fortunately, those shaman priests were somewhat unhinged; there was no light in the grand temple. Coupled with Du Fan’s careful effort to conceal his presence, although he encountered a few patroling shaman priests along the way, none of them noticed him.
Finally, it seemed he had reached the entrance to the altar.
Du Fan glanced over and couldn’t help frowning. At the end of the path, the huge stone door of the altar was split open, creating a passage wide enough for just one person to pass through. On either side of the door stood a shaman priest each, with dim torches beside them casting a gloomy light on the path.
There was no wind in the grand temple, yet the two torches kept swaying. The two shaman priests stood there motionless, like two statues.

Everything seemed perfectly normal.
Du Fan sighed, fumbling in his storage ring for a moment before giving up. Although he still had a bit of weakness left, using just a little would likely be enough for him to handle those two people. But he was worried that the shaman priests might have replacements, and once others arrived, they would likely notice something was wrong with the altar at a glance. His purpose this time was unclear—he just wanted to see what was on that altar—but he couldn’t take any risks.
After thinking for another moment, Du Fan sighed softly. He wiped the sweat from his palms caused by nervousness, leaped lightly from his spot, and silently climbed up the stone pillars surrounding him toward the top of the Great Temple.
Nervous, Du Fan sped up his movements. Fortunately, there were carvings on the pillars to help him gain traction, allowing him to avoid falling. After much effort, he reached the top of the Great Temple, only about ten meters above the ground. His estimate was correct—the top indeed had such carvings. Though they were all oddly shaped, if he could hold onto them, he might be able to climb from there into the room with the altar.
Du Fan struggled to grip the carvings on the temple roof. Though the grooves were deep, supporting his weight with just his hands was difficult. His physical strength wasn’t his strongest suit, so he had to use a little combat energy. However, the amount of energy needed was delicate—too little and he wouldn’t be able to stabilize himself, but too much and the two shaman priests below would surely notice.
Carefully, Du Fan directed a portion of his mental energy to cover that small amount of combat energy, preventing the shaman priests from sensing it. Performing such a complex task simultaneously showed just how refined Du Fan’s mental control was.
Holding onto the tiny cracks between the carvings on the roof, he moved forward slowly, being careful not to damage the aged carvings and cause noise. From time to time, he glanced down at the two shaman priests below, his heart pounding. If one of them looked up at that moment, he would likely be exposed immediately.
After all, in the dark Great Temple, even the faint light emitted by his combat energy would likely be noticed right away. After all, though the shaman priests might be crazy, they weren’t blind!

Finally, after moving so slowly, Du Fan had approached the entrance to the altar. The process had taken almost half an hour. Even though Du Fan was skilled in both magic and martial arts, his arms felt extremely sore. Seeing that he was almost at the altar, he exerted force with his hands and flipped over. When he reached the door, he slipped through the crack and supported both sides of the stone door before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

But before he could rejoice, he suddenly heard a soft “thud.” Whether it was due to years of disuse or his own excessive force, a piece of stone fell down. In that moment, Du Fan’s heart soared to his throat. If those two shaman priests discovered him, there would be no way to escape their clutches!

Nervous, Du Fan’s whole body stiffened. He didn’t dare look at the shaman priests below, fearing his gaze would be detected. He could only listen carefully for any sounds. The two shaman priests seemed startled by the falling stone as well, but after murmuring something, they fell silent again.

Du Fan glanced down and saw that the two shaman priests had returned to their original positions. He felt greatly relieved. Whatever the reason, as long as he hadn’t been discovered, that was the best outcome.

Not daring to be careless, he waited for a while longer. Then, using the dim light from the torches and the star-like brightness inside the altar room, he selected a pillar and leaped across it. Holding onto the pillar, he slowly slid down to ensure no sound was made, carefully reaching the ground. Only then did he take a deep breath, silently thanking fate for his luck.

If those two shaman priests had discovered him earlier, they wouldn’t have needed to call for help. With just one spell each, he would have been no match. After all, this grand temple was like a sacred cathedral, and its inhabitants were certainly not amateurs.

Patting his chest lightly, Du Fan didn’t dare stay at the entrance for long. Following his earlier memories, he headed toward the place where he was supposed to meet Gan Nong today. He wasn’t sure if High Priest Gan Nong was still there, so he didn’t dare move too quickly. He advanced slowly, not even daring to breathe heavily.

Finally, he arrived at the spot where he was supposed to meet Gan Nong. He looked carefully but found that the High Priest Gan Nong, who should have been sitting there, was gone—only a smooth, large stone remained.

Seeing this, Du Fan’s heart finally settled. If that High Priest Gan Nong were still around, no matter what secrets lay on that altar, he would definitely have turned and left right away.

A light like that of stars and moons shone down, carrying a faint orchid hue. After taking a breath, Du Fan walked toward the altar. But when he reached the spot where the High Priest Gan Nong had always sat, he couldn’t help but reach out and gently touch it.

Yet upon touching it, Du Fan felt as if he had touched a hot iron. How could this seemingly smooth stone be so hot? Frowning, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to ignore the stone and turn back toward the altar.

The altar seemed to be only three stories tall, and it was unclear what it was used for. Du Fan approached the stairs and carefully climbed up. Unlike most barbarian buildings, this altar was made of large blue bricks and was spotless, clearly cleaned frequently. There was nothing strange on the first and second floors, but on the third floor, there was a small stone platform right in the center of the altar, with some inscriptions on it.

Du Fan frowned and wanted to get closer to the platform to see what was written there. But after just one glance, he suddenly felt a strong wind blowing toward him. Unprepared, he almost got blown away. He quickly used his combat energy to roll in mid-air and stand back on the altar.

“This place is really damn eerie…” Du Fan muttered. He hesitated for a moment but this time didn’t go toward the platform. Instead, he stepped to the edge of the altar and looked down. Just that one glance made his scalp tingle—what he saw was an incredibly deep crack, with endless darkness seemingly squeezing out from within, accompanied by gusts of cold wind. The shock it caused was beyond description.