Chapter 1656: Chapter 1656

The old Taoist priest irate and fuming, berated his two disciples: "You’re absolutely useless! If you hadn’t held me back, I would have already completed the Ancestral Master’s task!"

The disciples were even worse off than he was, lying on the ground, bodies heaving lightly. Their eyes were filled with hatred and resentment. Inside, they were strongly compelled to tear their master apart and consume him.

"If we consume this old man, our injuries will instantly heal, and our strength will greatly increase. We’ll be able to fulfill the Ancestral Master’s task."

Berry dared not move, merely hoping that this "artifact" on him would be powerful enough to prevent the three monsters from discovering him.

However, at this very moment, Berry suddenly sensed a slight movement from his square ring. It shattered completely, turning into a pile of fine sand that fell to the ground. In the process, it spontaneously combusted, leaving absolutely no trace behind, as if it wished to erase every evidence of its existence from this world.

Berry was stunned: What on earth happened?! Did the Da Luo World Gate abandon me? But I didn’t do anything wrong...

Suddenly, Berry was covered in sweat. He was standing in the courtyard, facing the main gate of the Taoist temple. The master and his two disciples in the hall all turned their heads at once, staring directly at him. Their six blood-red eyes radiated a greedy and starved light.

"Damn!" Berry cursed internally. The Da Luo World Gate had forsaken him, and all his "artifacts" were now rendered useless! However, before he could figure out how to escape with his life, intense pain surged from every cell of his body, and his soul. Like Faithe and company, he crouched helplessly on the ground, his body convulsed as he moaned in agony.

Unexpectedly, this scared the master and his disciples in the temple. They reacted like wild beasts, retreating instantaneously to position themselves cautiously upon encountering something unfamiliar. Staring at Berry from a distance, they scrutinized him.

Once sure this person was harmless and not poisonous, they would devour him.

Berry’s strength was ebbing away. His aura was decreasing rapidly till it reached the Third Great Boundary. By then, Berry was merely convulsing on the ground, making no more sound. He was soon going to die like Faithe and the others.

At this realm, Berry could no longer suppress the Cold Poison in his body.

Master Burgess had, through following some clue of the Rule, roughly figured out how the Da Luo World Gate infiltrated the Eight Desolations World before Faithe and her companions had died.

Even though the Da Luo World Gate had severed its connection with the Eight Desolations World, such a trace at the rule level could not be removed swiftly.

The methods of the Da Luo World Gate were somewhat similar to those of the Divine Tower, except that the former worked externally. As Master Burgess could see, the Da Luo World Gate must have spent a considerable amount of time exploiting the gap in the Heavenly Track and building a void path based on the rule level. This allowed it to transport adventurers to any location in the Eight Desolations World, passing easily across the Vast Ocean because it was directly transported from the Heavenly Track level.

Then, Master Burgess traced back on the clues to check all the adventurers transported for this quest and, sure enough, he found Berry among them.

Master Burgess was surprised to find that Berry was in such a bad state. His hesitation merely lasted an instant before he dismissed his reservations and prepared to take action himself!

In the Azure Jade Temple, a giant hand should have come down from the void to take Berry away directly.

However, in the main temple hall, the broken statue suddenly emitted brilliant Divine Light. A powerful sense of will descended, and the three heavily mutated master-disciples knelt reverently. "Ancestral Master!" they cried out.

The Ancestral Master ignored them and fixed his gaze firmly on Berry, expressing surprise: "How does a man from the Lower Realm possess the scent of furnace ash?!" Following this, three clusters of golden auspicious clouds flew out of this will and landed in Berry’s body.

The descent in Berry’s realm stopped, and the Cold Poison in his body was suppressed.

Berry felt as if he was immersed in a hot spring, comfortably warm, with all pain dissipated, inducing a longing for slumber. But then, a grand voice echoed in his ear, "Would you like to become a disciple of mine?"

Berry immediately snapped out of his stupor, and what he saw before his eyes was a majestic and imposing Immortal. Berry asked, "Will you control me the same way the Da Luo World Gate does?"

"Da Luo World Gate?" The Immortal suddenly laughed heartily, "I see. I wonder who contrived this. Hehe, truly cunning!"It then said to Berry, "No, what this master is looking for are disciples, not slaves. If you are willing, I can grant you true power, allowing you to leap straight to the Seventh Level, and then to the Eighth, Ninth Great Realm, and even ascend to become immortal!"

Your disciples end up , don’t they? That’s what Berry saw when he saw the master and disciples kneeling and calling "ancestral master". Berry hesitated, and behind the scenes, Master Burgess was also hesitating.

If I intervene now and engage this descending immortal in combat, Master Burgess can be 70 percent certain that he can save Berry. However, intervening personally goes against the essence of the "Grand Hidden." Not to mention embarking in a duel with a descending immortal.

Risking a sure-fire exposure, maybe the moment Berry is rescued, the Heavenly Tribulation might descend upon Master Burgess.

But Berry had just escaped from the control of Da Luo World Gate, and now he might fall into the hands of another Master Burgess? Master Burgess was reluctant to see this.

However, what truly made Master Burgess indecisive was not the price he had to pay, but a sentence the descending immortal had said earlier: The scent of furnace ashes.

From the reaction of this Immortal, it is clear that he knows the existence of the Da Luo World Gate. Then, where did the so-called "scent of furnace ash" come from? Master Burgess immediately thought of ...Burning Hillock!

In Berry’s experiences, apart from taking over the Burning Hillock, there was nothing really noteworthy.

At the same time, Master Burgess also guessed: Could all the people who left the village be entangled in various "cause and effects" because of the reason of Burning Hillock? Like himself, like Berry.

"Hold the troops". At this moment Master Burgess could not make an accurate judgement. "Encountering this Master Burgess, is it Berry’s crisis or....opportunity?"

However, evidently Berry was different from those worthless disciples in the Azure Jade Temple who had been passed down through countless generations as far as this Master Burgess was concerned.

Berry smiled bitterly, he seemed to have no other choice. Besides, the person before him was after all an Immortal, surely he was more trustworthy than the Da Luo World Gate, right?

Berry knelt down: "Junior is willing."

"Hahaha!" The Immortal laughed heartily, obviously truly pleased: "From this moment on, you’re the inheritor of my lineage in the Lower Realm!"

A massive force was infused into him, and from the decrepit ancient god statue, even a pinch of ancient "dust" was squeezed out and fell into Berry’s mouth.

Berry’s injuries were quickly healed, and his bodily strength was greatly improved, truly reaching the standard of the Seventh Level. Berry stood up amidst the golden light, feeling the power of the Seventh Level. Master Burgess even opened up five Mini-worlds for him!

Then, Master Burgess’s gaze fell upon the master and disciples, and he scolded angrily: "Waste! You can’t even accomplish a tiny task! If it weren’t for the fact that the successor I just accepted needs help, I would have let you three fend for yourselves!"

The madness brought about by the erosion of dark energy in the body of the old Taoist priest disciples earlier, had already been suppressed by the golden light of the descending Immortal. They regained their sanity, hastily bowed and said, "We will certainly assist the new master with all our heart and soul!"

The Immortal snorted again, then three groups of golden lights fell down. The three received the light clouds, and their injuries healed quickly. The changes brought about by the erosion of dark energy gradually disappeared, and they returned to their human form.

The three hurriedly knelt down to Berry again, "We swear to follow the master to the death!"

Berry bowed to the immortal, "Master, do you have any orders?"

The Immortal said, "I am bestowing upon you a method, which you must widely disseminate in the Lower Realm. You must develop our sect into a top sect in the Eight Desolations World before our sect is fully restored in the Heavenly Track!"

While speaking, numerous golden tadpoles fell from the Nine Heavens above, each transforming into deep, profound characters, integrating into Berry’s mind.

"In addition, they couldn’t handle the task of seizing the Netherworld before, so I will give that task to you as well. Don’t disappoint me!"