The Abyss Beneath the Holy Mountain

All of this was eerie and terrifying. The Lion King Dragon, unmatched in combat, had vanished without a sound, as if it hadn't even had time to struggle.

The three skeletons seemed to sense something; the lotus brands on their foreheads blazed like flame, radiating divine light. They scanned their surroundings warily, ready for battle.

Keke leaped directly onto Qin Guangwang's skull. Her snow-white, jade-like body gave off a faint multicolored radiance, her large bright eyes fixed unblinkingly on the Sacred Mountain.

A supremely sinister aura spread from the Sacred Mountain, enshrouding the boundless primeval forest. The mountain grew even more ethereal and hazy; even standing at the correct vantage point, even under the bright moon, the towering Sacred Mountain became indistinct, as if shrouded in an impenetrable fog.

The aura emanating from the Sacred Mountain was deeply unsettling, as if one were standing in a yin-ridden field of floating corpses. A chill crept up the spine.

Keke's snow-white fur stood on end. With a whoosh, she charged forward—her target was that terrifying Sacred Mountain. Xiao Chen hurriedly gave chase; the three skeletons exchanged glances and followed. But Keke was too fast; Xiao Chen could not catch up for a time.

Fortunately, Keke stopped at the foot of the mountain. Xiao Chen grabbed this fluffy 'snowball,' and for once, she did not struggle. She simply stared quietly at the Sacred Mountain before them.

Seven or eight enormous stone tablets, each fifty or sixty meters tall, stood at the mountain's base, casting massive shadows on the ground. The scene was sinister and terrifying to the extreme. The lifeless steles were engraved with ferocious dragons—the craftsmanship superb, the carvings vivid. Tyrant Dragons, Lion King Dragons, Sword Dragons, Thunder Dragons—all appeared!

At the foot of the mountain, there was no longer any need to shift positions; from every vantage point, one could see the cloud-shrouded Sacred Mountain. Xiao Chen found himself walking forward involuntarily. Though he knew it might be very dangerous, the urge to explore the unknown drove him to take step after step.

'I'll go back after twenty meters,' he reminded himself. He desperately wanted to know how the Lion King Dragon had vanished without a trace, and what secrets the Sacred Mountain held.

One meter, two meters… ten meters…

Xiao Chen advanced a full twenty meters, and still nothing happened. Of course, twenty meters was barely a few steps up the mountain's base. The Sacred Mountain had no vegetation at all; its surface was blackish-red, as if soaked in blood.

Not far ahead stood the first ancient, mysterious palace—a massive structure that had weathered the ages. It exuded a sense of boundless time. But the deathly stillness of the Sacred Mountain and an indescribable eeriness lent the great hall a sinister quality.

Twenty meters, twenty-five meters… thirty meters!

Xiao Chen was deeply captivated; he had forgotten his twenty-meter limit and desperately wanted to enter that ancient palace, which looked as if it might collapse at any moment.

When he was still twenty meters from the magnificent hall, Xiao Chen suddenly felt as if he had stepped into a bottomless abyss. The moonlight around him vanished in an instant. A deathly stillness enveloped him, and he felt himself sinking into hell!

But in that fleeting moment, a burst of brilliant light erupted from the boundless darkness. Xiao Chen was wrapped in radiant splendor and then pulled back into the light.

Xiao Chen felt cold sweat trickle down his spine. In an instant, he was back on the moonlit Sacred Mountain. What had just happened? He noticed his body was still shrouded in a faint radiance. Not far behind him, Keke, sitting on Qin Guangwang's head, was waving her little paws, using divine light to wrap around him and pull him back.

It was Keke who had saved him!

Retreating five or six meters, Xiao Chen came to stand beside the three skeletons and Keke. He had calmed down, but he still did not understand what had occurred. Why had he suddenly felt as if he had stepped into a bottomless abyss?

'Keke, what did you see just now?'

Keke made a fierce, threatening gesture on Qin Guangwang's head, as if describing something. Xiao Chen was utterly confused.

'I'll try again. If anything happens, Keke, be quick with your paws.' Though Xiao Chen felt the mountain was sinister, he was not overwhelmed with dread. He walked forward again, but this time, nothing happened at the spot where he had been stopped before. Keke also ran over curiously, hopping and jumping in place, but nothing unusual occurred.

Xiao Chen again tested his approach to the ancient palace. This time, after advancing ten meters, he suddenly felt his hair stand on end. In an instant, he once more felt as if he had stepped into a bottomless abyss—a terrifying silence, no light, sinking into a hell of deathly aura!

But this time, divine light enveloped him before he could fall, and Keke dragged him back into the moonlight.

Cold sweat dripped from Xiao Chen's forehead, and a chill climbed his spine. He felt as if he had truly walked through the gates of hell. He dared not test further. Slowly retreating, he cast one last glance at the ancient palace so close at hand, then strode away.

'Let's go. This place is too strange. We can't stay any longer!' Xiao Chen decisively withdrew.

There were not many ancient palaces at the foot of the Sacred Mountain; they only became more numerous starting halfway up. If every palace were as sinister and dangerous as this one, then the Sacred Mountain was truly an accursed land.

A sinister aura permeated the vicinity of the Sacred Mountain. They had reached the foot of the mountain, and though Keke seemed to have a strange pull toward the massive peak, she was uncharacteristically quiet and did not try to charge ahead.

Just then, a dragon roar that split the clouds erupted. The trees shook violently! In the dead silence, such a thunderous roar was truly frightening. Xiao Chen quickly covered his ears to avoid bursting his eardrums. He turned to look—the Lion King Dragon, which had vanished into the Sacred Mountain, had reappeared!

It had materialized near the palace area, golden light blazing all over its body as it charged down. Its fifty-meter-long frame was like a small mountain; when it landed at the foot of the mountain, the ground cracked into enormous fissures.

The Lion King Dragon seemed listless and dispirited. It did not linger but surged with a fierce, bloody aura, stirring up a gale of blood as it rushed out of the mountain region. The earth trembled violently.

Keke seemed greatly displeased by the Lion King Dragon's roar. Like an irritated little beast king, she let out a series of low growls at the retreating dragon, even crouching as if to give chase. This surprised Xiao Chen—this little fuzzball was truly extraordinary, showing no fear in the face of the Lion King Dragon's mighty draconic pressure. Any ordinary beast would have been trembling and prostrate on the ground. After all, even dragonkind who had lost their divine powers were still royalty among beasts, and the Lion King Dragon was a member of the dragon royal bloodline!