“With the monsters right before us, perhaps the two fellow Daoists should focus on how to deal with them first. Otherwise, obtaining treasures is nothing but a dream.” Hearing the conversation between Old Devil Qian and the other, the young man surnamed Xu turned his head and cast a cold glance at the light barrier, speaking with dissatisfaction.
“Heh! This must be Brother Xu from the Heavenly Grasslands, right? This old man has no interest in fighting to mutual destruction before even seeing the treasures. Moreover, even if everyone here joins forces, we likely still wouldn’t be a match for these three.” Old Devil Qian let out a cold laugh and unexpectedly said something that took everyone by surprise.
“What do you mean by that, Brother Qian?” Though the Heavenly Grasslands and the Yin Luo Sect had always been on good terms, the young man’s expression darkened upon hearing this.
“Nothing much. Since these three remained hidden and didn’t act even when I was locked in fierce combat with Fellow Daoist Ye, they must have some other purpose in mind. Otherwise, if they truly intended to harm us, the best opportunity would have been earlier.” A faint voice emerged from the massive white shadow.
“It’s good that you understand. Even if you wanted to fight, do you really think you could do anything to us? There’s no need to hide it—we three are also here for a few items in the Kunwu Hall. Before entering the main hall, we have no intention of fighting either.” The silver-winged Yaksha’s eyes flashed with green light as he spoke impassively.
The ugly woman and the Lion Hawk stood silently beside him, clearly deferring to his lead.
“The Holy Maiden and I have no interest in the treasures in the hall, but the items on that brat surnamed Han are something our Heavenly Grasslands Holy Temple must obtain. Of course, if we find the Ghost Luo Banner, I will return it to your sect intact.” The young man surnamed Xu naturally had no desire to risk his life fighting these three formidable monsters here. After grasping Old Devil Qian’s implication, he pondered briefly before relaxing his expression.
“In that case, there’s no need for us to fight here at all. It’s better to join forces and break the restrictions to obtain the treasures first. Otherwise, with so many of us gathered here, it would be a great joke if outsiders snatched the treasures away!” Ge Tianhao seized the opportunity to chime in.
Every cultivator and monster present had lived for countless years and would never foolishly allow others to reap the rewards of their labor. In the blink of an eye, a temporary agreement was reached.
Though it was almost certain that this agreement would shatter the moment they entered Kunwu Hall, it was still better than killing each other before even seeing the treasures.
“Since none of you have objections, let’s work together to break the restrictions.” Seeing this, Old Devil Qian let out a strange laugh. His massive white shadow flicked its sleeves, conjuring two enormous white pythons that lunged fiercely at the light barrier above.
The square-faced cultivator beside him silently pointed at the two flying swords circling above his head, sending two streaks of rainbow light slashing through the air.
Outside, the three monsters and the young man surnamed Xu remained wary of each other, but seeing this, they also began attacking the restrictions.
In an instant, multicolored lights and demonic energy erupted inside and outside the barrier, accompanied by continuous thunderous explosions.
“Tsk tsk, who would’ve thought Old Devil Qian, with his fiery temper, could team up with monsters like the silver-winged Yaksha and the Lion Hawk in the blink of an eye? I’ll have to be extra careful if I ever encounter him again—wouldn’t want to be deceived.” Hidden within a thick stone pillar in the rocky forest below the slope, a graceful emerald-green figure murmured softly.
“Hmph, with your current cultivation, Old Devil Qian wouldn’t even need to scheme against you. If his Five Ghosts of the Same Heart pounced, you’d have no way to escape.” Another green figure beside her retorted bluntly.
These two were none other than the Wood Lady of the Hua Xian Sect and the beautiful young woman.
“Senior Sister, is there really no way for me to deal with Old Devil Qian?” The young woman sounded somewhat indignant.
“A nascent soul early-stage cultivator thinking of challenging a late-stage one? Forget you—even if I faced him head-on, I’d barely be able to protect myself. Our sect’s techniques were never suited for direct combat. But if I could obtain a drop of his blood and secretly cast a curse, I’d have a seventy to eighty percent chance of severely injuring him!” The Wood Lady sneered.
“Our Hua Xian Sect is a semi-hidden sect. In terms of techniques and secret arts, we’re no weaker than the Ten Great Sects. If not for the rules our ancestors imposed, we might have already nurtured late-stage great cultivators through full development. Then we wouldn’t have to fear people like Old Devil Qian.” The young woman said resentfully.
“Our founding ancestor was a descendant of the Three Elders of Kunwu. Back then, establishing our sect near the seal and setting the rules were all for the purpose of guarding the Kunwu Mountain seal. But after so many millennia, this matter has been mostly forgotten over generations. If not for Elder Xiang’s recent message and our review of the sect’s founding records, we’d still be completely unaware of the seal. Otherwise, why would we risk entering this mountain?” The Wood Lady sighed.
“Speaking of Old Devil Qian, I’m more concerned about that young man who wields the Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning. The power of that feather fan of his is so great that even late-stage nascent soul cultivators keep their distance. In an enclosed space, its power doubles—it’s definitely an imitation of the legendary Seven Flames Fan.” The beautiful woman suddenly brought up Han Li.
“It’s indeed an imitation of a Heaven-reaching Spirit Treasure, but whether it’s the Seven Flames Fan is hard to say. Still, this man’s appearance is unfamiliar, and his other abilities are formidable. Those silver wings of his can even perform the rare Lightning Evasion Technique—he’s no ordinary cultivator. But he doesn’t seem to be from our Great Jin, nor is he aligned with the Ye Family. Well, no matter how strong he is, we don’t need to pay him much mind. Speaking of which, Elder Xiang should have entered this mountain long ago—why hasn’t he acted to stop these cultivators? With his abilities, Old Devil Qian and the others wouldn’t dare act so arrogantly.” The Wood Lady frowned in confusion.
“Perhaps Elder Xiang has other urgent matters or went straight to the Demon-Suppressing Tower—after all, that’s the most critical place.” The young woman hesitated.
“Impossible. Though the Demon-Suppressing Tower is the true core controlling Kunwu Mountain’s seal, reinforcing it requires the Dragon Transformation Seal from Kunwu Hall. Elder Xiang knows the stakes—he wouldn’t skip retrieving it first.” The Wood Lady shook her head grimly.
“Senior Sister, are you suggesting something happened to Elder Xiang? That can’t be! With his cultivation, who in this world could possibly harm him? Unless… that person has broken free?” As she uttered the last sentence, the young woman’s face turned deathly pale.
“Unlikely. The earlier restrictions were only recently broken. If that person had escaped, all the restrictions would have been shattered long ago—they wouldn’t have waited until now. Maybe Elder Xiang was delayed and hasn’t entered the mountain yet.” The Wood Lady forced a smile, though her expression shifted uneasily.
“I hope so. Regardless, we should follow these people and see if we can secure the Dragon Transformation Seal first. But besides this seal, wasn’t there another artifact—the Heavenly Crystal Stele—that could reinforce the seal? Why wasn’t its location passed down to us? Then we wouldn’t have to take such risks trailing behind these people.” The young woman complained.
“You don’t understand. The Heavenly Crystal Stele was only a backup. Its location was entrusted to another branch of the Three Elders’ descendants—just in case something happened to either lineage. I heard it’s hidden in an unexpected place. Unless that lost branch reappears, no one knows where in Kunwu Mountain it lies. Having both an overt and covert safeguard shows how much thought the ancient cultivators put into this.”
“I wonder what the Three Elders of Kunwu were thinking, leaving such a massive threat for us. Why not just execute that person with a single strike? Why seal them away and waste a precious spirit mountain of the human realm?” The young woman frowned.
“The records mention a bit about this. It seems the sealed individual’s identity was extremely special—even their life and death were tied to matters of the Upper Realm. That’s why the ancient cultivators didn’t dare act recklessly and could only seal them within the mountain.” The Wood Lady hesitated before revealing what she knew.
“So that’s why they hesitated back then. But how strong is this person exactly? Even Elder Xiang seemed restless just mentioning them. We’ve known him for so long, yet we’ve never seen these old monsters so unsettled.” The young woman asked curiously.
“No matter how strong they are, they could crush us with a flick of their finger. What’s the point in speculating?” The Wood Lady shot her a sidelong glance, exasperated.
“Fair enough.” The young woman sighed helplessly.
“By the way, did you bring the Four Symbols Ruler? Our chances of seizing the Dragon Transformation Seal later depend entirely on it.” The Wood Lady changed the subject.
“You’ve reminded me multiple times—of course I brought our sect’s treasure. But it’s a shame. If not for your cultivation being incompatible with the ruler, you’d be the best candidate to wield it. You once said that among the two Heaven-reaching Spirit Treasures used to suppress that person, one was the Eight Spirit Ruler—the very artifact the Four Symbols Ruler imitates. I’d love to see what it looks like.” The young woman’s eyes sparkled as she smiled.
“The Eight Spirit Ruler and the Black Wind Banner were only briefly mentioned in the records. Whether we’ll actually see them… Hm? Old Devil Qian and the others have broken the restrictions—we should follow!” The Wood Lady was about to say more when her gaze shifted to the platform. The light barrier was crumbling under the barrage of attacks. Her expression tightened.
The young woman’s heart skipped a beat as she looked up. Just in time to see Old Devil Qian and the others passing through the dissipating barrier, heading toward the mountain gate.
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