267 The Grand and Inconspicuous Stone Cave (2/2)

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There was a large cerulean lake south of Tianqi Mountain. It was deemed sacred land by the barbarians of the grassland who called it the Hulan Sea. A thin layer of ice floated on the surface of the lake. Many men from the tribes on the grassland who lived by the lake were harvesting aquatic plants before the icy surface froze completely.

Traveling merchants from the Central Plains would appear wherever there were barbarians from the grassland. However, it was the middle of winter and the war between the grassland and the Central Plain's coalition forces had just ended. It was a little odd that a merchant caravan from the Central Plains appeared by the Hulan Sea right now. However, these businessmen were generous with their spendings and had paid the down payment for the leather goods they needed next summer. That was why the tribe leader had silently assented to their existence and even left an empty spot for them to camp on.

The traveling Central Plains' merchants were cooking on a fire by the lake. Due to the mild weather, they did not hide in their tents but sat around the bonfire. Should one observe their actions, one would notice that one of the merchants amongst them was their leader.

The merchant who looked rather wealthy was munching on an oily lamb leg. He would grumble occasionally. It was evident that he was not satisfied with how the people on the grassland had treated them. A burly middle-aged man wearing a cap stood beside him and was probably a steward or guard. He tried to placate the merchant in low tones but received a thorough verbal lashing instead.

Suddenly, several pieces of white clouds appeared in the clear cerulean skies. It looked as if an invisible giant hand had tried to tear away at the blue canvas and added white paint on it.

The grassland barbarians and merchants from the Central Plains had noticed the anomaly in the skies at the same time. They looked at them in surprise.

The merchant leader cursed.

The submissive burly middle-aged guard looked at the wisps of clouds with half-closed eyes. His expression was grave.

It was not known why the wealthy merchant's expression cleared and dared not curse anymore after looking at the middle-aged man's grave expression. He lowered his head to hide the respect in his eyes and asked something in a low tone.

The burly middle-aged man looked at the clouds in the skies quietly. He felt the ripples in the aura of heaven and earth from the far away northern mountains. His hat hid the jumble of emotions that appeared on his face. Longing and warmth and after a long while, peace appeared on his face. And within all these, laid a faint trace of repentance or even sadness.

And then, the middle-aged man said four simple words, ” The door is open.”

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Ning Que piggybacked Mo Shanshan's frail body as he stepped on the rocks strewn about on the ground messily. They reached the middle of the lake and saw a large stone door. The stone door was enormous and looked like a small mountain as they looked at it from below.

Even the largest city in the world, Chang'an, did not have a stone door as large as this.

It was enormous. That was why this was the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine.

Ning Que had never thought that he would find the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine so easily and could not believe his own eyes. He did not try to understand how such a large stone door could be hidden in the Daming Lake and why he didn't spot it when they traveled in The Great Blockage Formation. He turned around to look at the path they took earlier subconsciously.

The stone door was not visible at all when he walked in the rubble and sharp array. But when he walked out of them, the stone door appeared in front of him, as if the stone door would only allow itself to be seen by the people it chose to reveal itself to.

The opening of the Devil's Doctrine's Front Gate was easier than finding the Front Gate. One did not have to recite any spell, nor was there any scary scheme that they had to pass. When Ning Que's right hand touched the rough but stately stone door, there was a puffing sound followed by the splashing of a thick layer of dust that had accumulated over the years. And then, the stone door opened slowly.

Ning Que raised his head and looked at the majestic Snow-capped Peak that was even taller than before. And then, his gaze met Mo Shanshan's surprised and weak stare before he walked through the door.

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Majestic, dignified, solemn, ambitious, sacred... These traits were usually built unto an enormous space. Just like the Chang'an city that even goshawks dare not enter at will, or the Divine Hall that overlooked the people on the Peach Mountain. These feelings would arise when these buildings were in stark contrast to the tiny bodies that belonged to humans.

These emotions overtook Ning Que and Mo Shanshan as they entered the large stone door, climbed up numerous stone steps and entered the main hall of the Devil's Doctrine's Front Gate.

That was because the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine was larger than any other structure they had ever seen.

The Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine was on the mountain. To be more exact, it was in the majestic Snow-capped Peak by the Daming Lake. The Devil's Doctrine had formed the space by hollowing out the middle of a tall Snow-capped Peak.

Space was larger than one could imagine, deeper than the deepest end of the world and taller than the tallest skies. It even made one felt that it was a place that could only appear in dreams. Only Haotian had the ability to create this place.

A stream of light shone into the place. Several enormous rough stone beams hung in the air. There were an evident knife and axe markings on these pillars. These beams were strong and thick enough for four-horse carriages to cross together side by side.

The two looked at the straight hanging wide stone beams before them and realized that they could not see where the beams ended. The thick beams suspended in the air farther out looked as thin as spider webs in the large space.

The thick stone beams gathered in the middle like a spider web and came together in a stone platform farther in the middle of the empty space. There was a temple on the platform. The temple should be enormous, but when looked upon from the cliff walls, stood like it was carved from a grain of rice by a skilled craftsman. As for Ning Que and Mo Shanshan, who stood looking at the temple from afar, they looked like a grain of sand on the rock walls in the large space. It was as if they did not exist.

The two looked at each other and could see the shock in each other's eyes.

Anyone would find it hard to repress their respect in the face of such an incredibly large existence. They would want to kneel and worship it or even feel incredibly small and tear up.

Men were just ants in the face of such magnificence.

However, the thing that truly shocked Ning Que was that the space that looked as if only Haotian had the ability to create was made by humans who were like ants thousands of years ago.