Chapter 372 – Undercurrents

The fifth day after the start of the Dao Academy Grand Competition.

By the end of today, only ten academies would remain from the original twenty.

As expected, the usual Four Great Academies were still among the top ten this time.

The only variable was the appearance of an unfamiliar presence in the top ten rankings.

That was the previously obscure Tianjiu Academy.

And Tianjiu Academy’s ability to reach this position…

Could be entirely credited to that foreign girl, Xing Jiu.

She almost single-handedly carried the entire Tianjiu Academy to the top ten position.

After all, once she activated Divine Descent,

Xing Jiu temporarily became comparable to a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

In the Dao Academy Grand Competition where Foundation Establishment Stage was the norm, this was practically a dimensional crushing advantage.

As long as they didn’t encounter the Four Great Academies,

Tianjiu Academy could basically bulldoze through all opponents.

Meanwhile, Lu Chen’s Lihuo Dao Academy naturally advanced smoothly to the top ten stage of this Dao Academy Grand Competition.

Because the subsequent matches were relatively intense,

Not only was only one match scheduled per day, but there would also be a day’s interval in between.

This gave students sufficient rest time.

After all, the core purpose of the Dao Academy Grand Competition was to facilitate exchange among multiple academies.

Through this process, they could identify shortcomings and avoid working behind closed doors.

The emphasis was on participation rather than having students fight to definitive conclusions.

Therefore, in the eyes of the high-level cultivators from the major academies,

Student safety always came first.

However, during the rest periods, neither Barren Wilderness Academy nor the Great Wilderness Pagoda were completely closed.

As today’s final match concluded, both students from various academies and spectators who came to watch the matches

Were gradually exiting along the routes.

But during this process, some people with impure intentions had mixed in.

At the edge of the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s spectator stands,

A woman wearing a hooded cloak glanced at the nearby Great Wilderness Pagoda staff before silently walking upward.

“Sir, this is a non-spectator area, please…”

Before the staff member could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly became dazed.

Under the hooded woman’s gaze, a strange purple light directly shone into the staff member’s eyes.

Under the influence of this special energy, the staff member quickly fell into a nearly hypnotic state.

Since everything happened very covertly and the purple light disappeared quickly,

Those around completely failed to notice the changes here.

What was even stranger was that the people nearby seemed unable to see the unfamiliar woman.

If these spectators were all ordinary people, that would be one thing,

But many among them were cultivators, including numerous Golden Core Stage and even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

It should be noted that many in the audience were actually parents watching their children’s performances.

Although cultivator talent is influenced by many factors,

When both parents are cultivators, the probability of producing high-talent offspring is still much higher than for ordinary people.

Therefore, the proportion of cultivators in the spectator stands during this Dao Academy Grand Competition was quite high.

Yet these cultivators with considerable cultivation levels all failed to detect the hooded woman’s suspicious actions.

This was undoubtedly a highly abnormal phenomenon.As the Hooded Woman passed by the staff member, she subtly took something from him without anyone noticing.

She then headed directly toward the “core area” of the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

This direction corresponded to the publicly known underground prison of the Great Wilderness Pagoda—the place where numerous demons and heretical cultivators were suppressed.

Such a location was strictly off-limits not only to strangers but even to students of the Barren Wilderness Academy or other Immortal Alliance Cultivators.

Yet, relying on her bizarre abilities, the Hooded Woman moved like an invisible specter. Even when she encountered other cultivators along the way, she drew no attention, allowing her to proceed unimpeded until she reached the prison gate on the underground first level of the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Facing the massive bronze door and the four guardians on either side, the Hooded Woman finally removed the hood she had worn throughout her journey.

Beneath the hood was a strikingly beautiful and enchanting face. At the center of her forehead, a distinct spider-like pattern was clearly visible.

Gazing at the guardians crafted through special techniques on either side of the bronze door, the woman looked down at her exposed arm with a smug expression.

The skin on her arm starkly contrasted with the fair, creamy complexion of her face. While her facial skin was as smooth and pale as mutton fat, the skin on her arm appeared sallow and waxen.

Moreover, her arm was marked with numerous obvious stitch marks, as if it had been pieced together from many different patches of skin, creating an indescribable sense of distortion.

Yet, to the woman, this skin was far from ugly; instead, it resembled a masterpiece of art. She couldn’t help but praise, “The Fiend Skin bestowed by the Mountain Lord is truly extraordinary. Even the cultivators within the Great Wilderness Pagoda cannot detect my presence unless they specifically scan with their Divine Souls.”

“If it weren’t for the many Restrictions in this prison area that directly target a cultivator’s Divine Soul scanning, I might have completed the task assigned by the Mountain Lord with just this layer of Fiend Skin.”

After speaking, she stepped directly in front of the four guardian statues.

As she approached, the statues immediately stirred, turning their heads to look in her direction.

In motion, the guardian statues revealed their formidable aura—they were four Puppet statues comparable to cultivators at the Golden Core Stage of Perfection.

These four statues alone were sufficient to deter most would-be prison raiders.

And this was merely the outermost layer of defense for the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s underground prison. This single detail highlighted the immense security of the facility, reinforcing the Hooded Woman’s conviction that her target was hidden within.

Confronted by the four guardian statues scrutinizing her, the woman produced a special Token from her bosom.

This Token was what she had taken from another Great Wilderness Pagoda cultivator along her way.

The initial staff member she had controlled was merely a peripheral cultivator of the pagoda. His identification could only help her pass through the outermost areas requiring verification.

The core area of this prison, however, required a Token of “jailer” level or higher for access.It was utterly impossible to enter.

At that moment, in a secluded corner outside the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

An unconscious prison guard lay completely naked in a rarely noticed spot.

After the Hooded Woman took out the prison guard token, her entire body began to rapidly transform.

In no time, she became identical to that prison guard.

With the help of the ‘Fiend Skin,’

this transformation of the woman seemed to go beyond mere appearance.

Because whether it was her demeanor or the aura she emitted, it was exactly the same as the guard she had knocked out.

It is well known that imitating someone’s appearance is easy.

But mimicking their cultivation level and Dao lineage is not so simple.

Yet the Hooded Woman, as if using some special method, had completely copied everything about that guard.

Combined with the token in her hand,

the four guardian statues, which only followed certain programmed behaviors, naturally regarded the Hooded Woman as the real guard and directly allowed her passage.

Boom!

As the bronze door opened, a massive prison quickly came into the Hooded Woman’s view.

Unlike ordinary prisons with single cells of just a few square meters,

each prisoner’s cell in the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s underground prison was quite large.

Moreover, every cell was equipped with powerful Formations and Restrictions.

If any prisoner inside attempted anything, they would face severe punishment.

Not to mention, the prisoners themselves were fitted with many special restraints to limit their movements and even their cultivation.

Coupled with the seemingly impenetrable guards outside,

it could be said that once imprisoned in this underground prison,

there was truly no hope of rescue, with no one to hear their cries.

The entire underground prison area was divided into three zones: A, B, and C.

Zone C held prisoners comparable to the Golden Core Stage.

Zone B held those comparable to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Zone A held prisoners comparable to the Transformation Soul Stage.

Naturally, the Hooded Woman was heading to Zone A this time.

However, entering Zone A was not so easy.

Although the deeper one went into the underground prison, the fewer Great Wilderness Pagoda cultivators there were,

the cultivation levels of these cultivators rose correspondingly.

While the Fiend Skin could, to some extent, reduce the Hooded Woman’s presence

and lessen the degree to which other cultivators could perceive her,

reduction was not elimination.

If someone noticed her and carefully sensed her,

they could still detect her presence.

However, this was something only those at the Nascent Soul Stage or above could roughly accomplish.

Below the Nascent Soul Stage, even if the Hooded Woman openly released her aura for others to sense,

under the effect of the Fiend Skin, they might feel something strange, sensing that something seemed to be there,

but due to certain reasons, they would be unable to detect the Hooded Woman’s figure.

Nevertheless, the Hooded Woman did not place all her hopes solely on the ‘Fiend Skin.’

Or rather, starting from the prison area,

the Fiend Skin’s primary use for her was its ability to suppress her aura.

Because this allowed her inherently skilled transformation art to be pushed to its limits,

achieving a level of deception that was truly indistinguishable from reality.

Thinking of her mission this time and the changes it would bring to the Immortal Alliance and even the entire world upon completion,

the Hooded Woman could not help but reveal a frenzied smile on her face.

She was a typical agent of chaos, delighting in turmoil.

Relying on her unique innate talents and the enhancement of the ‘Fiend Skin,’The hooded woman finally arrived before the golden door rumored to imprison Transformation Soul Stage cultivators.

However, she had long lost the initial ease she once possessed.

Not only had her expression turned grave, but her aura had also weakened considerably.

To evade the spiritual sense detection of other Great Wilderness Pagoda cultivators along the way,

she had been forced to make numerous compromises.

Compounding the difficulty, the underground prison of Great Wilderness Pagoda was riddled with restrictions.

Even with a prison guard token, specific conditions had to be met to avoid triggering them.

How could the hooded woman have known all these details?

Several times, she nearly activated the restrictions outright.

This was despite having obtained numerous clues about the restrictions in advance from her inside contact.

Otherwise, she would never have made it this far.

Fortunately, after all these sacrifices, she was finally approaching her destination.

As long as she opened this golden door and met the ‘Thousand-Year Elder’ imprisoned within,

her mission would be nearly complete.

The greatest obstacle before her now was the guardian of the golden door:

a special Aura Golden Dragon, its spiritual sense sealed and connected to the Luck of Wildlands Province.

This entity was not only immensely powerful but, due to its connection to Luck,

was in a sense indestructible.

Attempting to force their way past such a being would be utterly foolish.

The only viable approach was to outsmart it.

Fortunately, when devising this plan, the Great Thousand Mountains had prepared a countermeasure in advance.

The hooded woman crouched down and retrieved a peculiar black incense from her storage bag.

The incense appeared to be made from the fur of some creature.

As the black incense was lit, hazy smoke began to drift slowly, eventually spreading near the Aura Golden Dragon on the golden door.

The black smoke seemed to hold a powerful allure for the Aura Golden Dragon,

capturing its entire attention.

Seizing this opportunity, the hooded woman stealthily approached the golden door and pushed it open with force.

Although the Aura Golden Dragon noticed her presence during this process,

the black smoke made it too preoccupied to bother with her, allowing her to enter unimpeded.

But upon stepping inside the golden door, the hooded woman froze in disbelief.

What lay before her was not the legendary prison cell for Transformation Soul Stage cultivators,

but a vast, empty arena.

At the center of the arena stood a statue.

The figure depicted wore a Seven-Star Mask and carried an Immortal Sword on its back.

Gazing at the statue, the hooded woman seemed to recall something and uttered in disbelief, “C-Central Court Seven Stars?!”

The moment she spoke, the distant statue seemed to sense something.

In the next instant, the once lifeless statue fully awakened.

Overwhelming Sword Intent surged from all directions, completely enveloping the hooded woman.

In a flash, the world spun around her.

The hooded woman found the space around her utterly vanished,

replaced by an endless starry sky

and a majestic, star-sized colossal figure.

Before this gigantic presence, her Nascent Soul Stage cultivation was as feeble as an ant on the ground, utterly defenseless.

Perhaps foreseeing her fate,

the hooded woman let out a desperate roar.

“NO!!!”Under the hooded woman’s desperate gaze, a colossal Sword that seemed capable of splitting stars descended upon her head.

When it was all over, changes also appeared in the hooded woman’s true physical body outside.

A crack emerged from between her eyebrows and eventually spread across her entire body.

Bang!

Soon after, the hooded woman’s body turned to dust and vanished completely.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

A high-level cultivator from the Great Thousand Mountains abruptly opened his eyes.

He gazed fearfully in the direction of the Great Wilderness Pagoda and said with lingering dread, “So the so-called Underground Prison was merely a trap.”

“Where, then, is the true Leader?”

(End of Chapter)