Austin stood still to take a closer look. To his surprise, he found that the temple had gone deep into the ground and had
disappeared.
"Damned you evil spirits, where are you going to hide?"
Austin could not help but feel agitated as he recalled what happened a moment ago in the temple. A wisp of Elliot's soul tried to
control him, but fortunately did not succeed.
Austin clearly knew what would happen if he becElliot's puppet; Elliot would be able to manipulate his every move and
thought.
Since he was furious at the thought of being use by Elliot to fulfill his evil plan, Austin was unwilling to let go of the evil spirits that
easily.
Thus, he used his special skill to travel underground at high speed.
Although Austin's vital energy realm was low for the tbeing, his physical strength was enough to display the Earth Formula and
the secret skill passed from the red demonic mouse.
Although his speed was relatively reduced compared from his normal rate, he was determined to move forward without stopping.
At the stime, he also used the Earth-energy Manipulating Skill, one of the techniques of the Earth Formula, to chase his target.
Through that, he had the advantage of communicating and sensing the Earth Energy at a far distance.
Soon, Austin found traces of the temple, and immediately headed for that direction.
However, the temple was moving at lightning speed.
Besides, the array deployed to protect the temple kept emitting a mysterious space energy to prevent Austin from perceiving its
whereabouts.
"The ancient temple is so peculiar."
Austin had been in pursuit of the temple for more than an hour. However, a sense of frustration seized upon him as he slowly lost
its trace.
Since he was committed to find the temple, he did not want to give up. Thus, he used the Earth-energy Manipulating Skill again to
trigger and detect any Earth energies nearby in the hopes of finding the ancient temple.
"Whoa. What the hell? What is that?"
Austin suddenly felt something strange.
Through his spiritual sense, he discovered that there was a small temple about ten thousand meters away deep under the ground.
The old, dilapidated temple looked small and shabby.
Austin rushed hurriedly in excitement.
Finally, he cupon the small underground temple.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Well, that's weird. This temple is not the one I'm looking for, and is so much smaller."
Austin sent his spiritual sense to observe the temple as he approached it. He was certain that it was not Elliot's temple.
"Wow. Thank you so much for expelling Elliot. He has caused a lot of trouble in this place. You truly are a young hero.
Finally, peace has been restored!"
Austin felt puzzled as he heard a voice coming from the inside of the small temple.
Then, a faint shadow appeared at the door.
It turned out to be a middle-aged man, who wore an old armor with a blade that hung on his waist. He held a red tassel spear in his
right hand.
He looked like an archetypal general from a movie about ancient wars.
"It is my honor to see you, young hero!"
The man greeted Austin. He addressed Austin politely and even bowed to him with great respect.
"May | ask, how are you related to Queen Siobhan's greatest general?
Are you a descendant of him?"
the man asked with reverence.
"Excuse me? Who are you?
What is this temple?"
Austin could tell that the man held no hostility to him. On the contrary, he seemed to be very kind and warm.
"Young hero, | am the mountain god in this place! | oversee the land stretching far out from the sloping pasture-land to the dense
forest crowned by the hill!"
the man answered proudly.
"What? The mountain god?"
The man's response had gone way beyond Austin's imagination. It stunned him to meet an actual mountain god, something he
only heard about in folk tales.
"Do mountain gods in ancient folk tales really exist?"
Austin asked with great astonishment.
"Yes, we do. There are mountain gods on Earth.
We have lived here since long ago. Stories about us had been written ever since the ancient times,"
the middle-aged man told Austin.
"You are from the ancient times?"
Austin was dumbfounded.
"Yes. Well, since you have so many questions, why don't we go inside to have a talk? | can tell you everything you want to know, as
a gesture of showing my gratitude,"
the middle-aged man suggested with earnest.
"Okay, that's a good idea. | hope you don't mind."
Austin agreed to enter the temple with the middle-aged man who was apparently a mountain god.
However, he was not sure if this man was a friend or an enemy.
Thus, he kept his guard up and thought of ways to escape in case something bad happened. With his current strength, he was sure
that he could run away from the temple quickly.
The interior of the temple had a dome-like structure.
The space was so limited that it could only fit one table and two cushions.
The floor was full of dirt, and the walls had been worn out. Spider webs also hung from the ceiling of the temple.
"I'm so sorry this place is truly in disrepair.
| had to move into this decaying temple since mine was stolen.
One day, Elliot and his men cto rob the treasures of my temple! However, they did not stop there. They took my hand
trappedin this old and rickety temple!
He even forcedto refine the Earth Energy in this worn-out temple, and bring the refined essence to him."
The man let out a sigh before continuing, "I have led a tough life throughout these years.
I'm lucky that you calong and expelled that bastard Elliot and his evil men away.
Finally, all of my suffering will end.
You have really helpeda lot, young hero!"
the middle-aged man said gratefully.
"Do you mean to tellthat the temple occupied by Elliot is actually yours?"
Austin was surprised.
"Yes, it's mine.
During the ancient times, | was just an ordinary human. | was actually a scholar who loved reading many books. Then, | met my
mentor and started my cultivation journey.
After quite stime, | joined the force of Jade Emperor in the Heavenly Court and was appointed as a mountain god to guard the
areas nearby.
However, a terrible war broke out among gods. Sof the most powerful gods perished, while the others disappeared and led a
reclusive life.
During the great battle among the gods back then, Jade Emperor, Queen Siobhan, and Emperor Haidar collaborated to preserve a
portion of their strengths here on Earth. They integrated their omnipotent skills to protect a large group of their subordinates.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThrough that act of benevolence, they had prevented their subordinates who had weaker strengths from being killed.
I am one of them.
The sealing power had saved us during the war.
| was able to get rid of the sealing power only several centuries later.
Then, | discovered that there were no more divine beings left here on Earth. | found out later that sof them have died, while
others hid from this world.
In addition to that, | learned that the star cluster where Earth is located has been sealed by sgreat mysterious power.
Anyway, | had no choice but to continue my cultivation here.
What | did not expect was that a group of gangsters would barge in and rob my temple from me!
They were the portions of the souls left by Elliot and his 81 loyal followers on Earth," the middle-aged man explained to Austin.
Austin and the mountain god sat on the cushions and talked for hours over a cup of tea. Austin didn't even notice from where the
mountain god fetched the tea pot and the tea cups as he was too absorbed in the latter's story.
"So the Heavenly Court, Jade Emperor, and Queen Siobhan really existed during the ancient times?"
Austin asked with disbelief and amazement.
"Yes, they really existed. The Heavenly Court was an omnipotent power that ruled everything in the universe.
Jade Emperor was the core leader of the Heavenly Court, and he had numerous divine gods and generals under his control. He was
extremely powerful.
Back in the day, | was just an inferior general of the Heavenly Court.
Although my rank was very low, | could still enjoy the tributes from the mortals and had a nin the earthly world,"
the middle-aged man said as he recalled his glorious days in the past.
"My gosh! | never expected that the Heavenly Court and such legendary figures as the Jade Emperor are really true..."
The mountain god's stories had taken Austin's breath away. He was astounded to discover that the myths and fables that he had
heard as a child were actually based on facts!
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