He then rose up into the air as a streak of azure light, leaving Yue Zong and Xian Xian to follow along behind him.
A month wasn't exactly a long time, but it wasn't a short time, either. Adding to that the month or so that they were projected to spend in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, they'd be able to return to Cloud City around three months later if everything were to progress smoothly.
Han Li continued to forge ahead as he contemplated these thoughts, and the journey proved to be quite smooth and uneventful.
A month later, after flying over a long set of nameless mountain ranges, a boundless sea of azure mist appeared up ahead.
"That's the Azure Spirit Cloud Sea, which is the restriction around the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It's also the only entrance to the mountain ranges, and attempting to barge into the mountain ranges from anywhere else would spell certain death." A hint of excitement flashed through Yue Zong's eyes at the sight of the sea of mist.
Chapter 1615: Immortal Zoysia
Han Li was flying beside Yue Zong with a contemplative look on his face as he cast his gaze toward the sea of mist in the distance.
All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly. When they were further away, he had failed to notice this, but after drawing closer, he could hear a dull rumbling from within the azure sea of mist, as if a loud thunderstorm were raging within.
At this moment, Yue Zong suddenly drew to a halt, and the crimson light around his body faded as he appeared before the azure mist.
He flipped a hand over, and a shimmering golden badge appeared in his grasp. He then raised a hand, and the badge disappeared into the mist as a streak of golden light.
The dense mist that yielded almost zero visibility suddenly parted in the face of the streak of golden light, forming a natural passageway.
"Stay close to me and make sure you don't stray from this passageway. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble," Yue Zong cautioned before flying ahead again.
Even though Han Li didn't know what kind of trouble would await him if he were to fly into the azure mist, he certainly wasn't going to find out, and he followed close behind Yue Zong as he was told.
Xian Xian was also flying along behind them, and she couldn't help but ask, "I've also been to these Golden Devil Mountain Ranges once before, and if I recall correctly, shouldn't we have entered from another location?"
"Ordinary beings would naturally have to enter from there, but I've built up a bit of reputation for myself here, so I'm exempt from that requirement," Yue Zong explained with a shake of his head.
Xian Xian nodded and fell silent upon hearing this.
Thus, the three of them continued to fly along under the guidance of the streak of golden light, and before they knew it, they had traveled close to 10 kilometers into the sea of mist.
All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes flashed as he suddenly caught sight of a cluster of buildings around 500 meters below them. After drawing closer, he discovered that this was a small town set up in a long and thin formation consisting of two rows of stone cabins. These stone cabins were all of different sizes, and there were hundreds of them down below.
At the very center of a small town was a massive pavilion that was several hundred feet tall. The pavilion had a total of five levels, and it was quite an eye-catching structure that was constructed from massive grey stone blocks.
There seemed to be some people walking along the streets of the small town, but there weren't many of them.
Yue Zong let loose a low cry and headed directly toward the pavilion at the center of the small town, followed closely by Han Li and Xian Xian.
The three of them appeared in front of the massive pavilion almost at the exact same time, and Han Li discovered that there was a horizontal plaque hanging above the gates, which were several tens of feet tall. The words "Lightning Cloud Pavilion" had been inscribed onto the plaque in flowing and graceful ancient text.
"Come with me, Fellow Daoists. This is the place where we receive restriction badges; I'm sure you've been here before as well, right, Fairy Xian?" Yue Zong asked with a smile.
"Indeed. However, on the last occasion that I was here, I had to go somewhere else and buy a Cloudsplit Badge before I could enter this place," Xian Xian replied with a nod.
"The Cloudsplit Badge that you purchased is only a temporary badge, and those expire after a month. In contrast, the treasure I just used to split apart the azure mist just then is one that can be used over and over again, and it was something that was given to me by a senior responsible for guarding this place seeing as I came to these Golden Devil Mountain Ranges quite frequently. The sea of mist is a little troublesome to traverse, but even if you get lost in there, it won't kill you; you'll just be trapped in there for a month or two before someone from this place rescues you. What we have to do now is collect Lightningbane Umbrellas, which are the items that will truly grant us passage into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. Otherwise, the divine lightning restriction is something that even holy race beings won't be able to force their way through," Yue Zong explained before making his way toward the pavilion.
The pavilion gates were wide open, and the first level was completely empty, giving off the impression that people rarely ever visited the place.
After hearing Yue Zong's introduction, Han Li nodded before also striding toward the pavilion, while Xian Xian followed along behind him.
The trio quickly made their way through the pavilion gates to find that there was nothing on the first level aside from a few tables and chairs. Thus, they scaled the staircase onto the second level, only to find that there was nothing there, either.
As such, the three of them continued up to the third level, where they discovered a white light barrier at the entrance.
Yue Zong completely ignored the light barrier and passed directly through it. Han Li raised an eyebrow before also following suit in an expressionless manner to discover that the barrier posed no impediment at all.
However, Han Li's expression immediately changed slightly after emerging on the other side.
After passing through the entrance, the sound of chatter and activity could be heard from above the staircase, and it seemed that there were many people on the third level.
Yue Zong and Xian Xian had naturally also heard this, and expressions of surprise appeared on both of their faces, but Yue Zong's remained unfazed as he calmly scaled the staircase first.
The voices from the third level immediately cut off, indicating that the people there had also noticed Yue Zong's arrival.
At this moment, Han Li also made his way onto the third level, upon which he discovered that the level was only just over 200 feet in area, but it was packed with people.
There were over 30 foreign beings in different attire sitting on the ground in a cross-legged manner, and the only other things in the room were a round stone table at the center of the room, as well as the futons of different sizes that the beings were sitting on.
As soon as Han Li's trio appeared, everyone naturally turned toward the three of them.
"Oh, it's Brother Yue!"
"So you came as well, Fellow Daoist Yue."
"Haha, I knew you wouldn't be willing to give up on this opportunity, Brother Yue."
...
After identifying that it was Yue Zong who had arrived, many of the beings in the room extended warm greetings toward him, and among them, there were even beings with superior cultivation bases compared to Yue Zong.
The other beings who didn't recognize Yue Zong also stirred upon hearing his name, and some of them were appraising him with enmity in their eyes.
It seemed that even though they didn't recognize Yue Zong, he was indeed quite renowned around these parts.
However, there were four or five beings in the room who displayed no reaction even after hearing Yue Zong's name, and they were merely appraising Han Li's trio in a discreet manner.
Han Li swept his spiritual senses throughout the room, and he was quite su
rprised that all of the beings here were at or above the Deity Transformation Stage. In fact, close to half of them were Spatial Tempering Stage beings, and there were even three beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.
There were also some beings who were using treasures to conceal their spiritual powers, so even Han Li was unable to ascertain their cultivation bases.
In contrast to Han Li, Xian Xian was rather intrigued by the resounding reputation that Yue Zong clearly had in this place.
Yue Zong cupped his fist in a salute to everyone before heading toward a thin elderly man with grey hair, and asking in a respectful manner, "You're here as well, Senior Yan; did something happen in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?"
This elderly man was one of the three beings who were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was appraising Yue Zong with a benevolent smile on his face, seemingly closer with him than all of the other beings here.
"Did you not know anything before coming to this place? Aren't you aiming to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?" The elderly man was rather surprised to hear Yue Zong's question.
"I am indeed going to enter the mountain ranges, but that's for another reason. As far as I know, this is a period during which a mass influx of devilish Qi is taking place, so why are there still so many people gathered here? Could it be that all of them are here for Lightningbane Umbrellas?" Yue Zong asked with a serious look on his face.
"Of course. No one would come here unless they were looking to enter the mountain ranges. As for the reason behind this, that's a long story. Hmm? Who are those two fellow Daoists?" the elderly man asked in a hesitant manner as he cast his gaze toward Han Li and Xian Xian.
"It's alright, Senior Han and Fairy Xian are my companions, with whom I'm going to be entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges together, so you can tell them what you're about to tell me as well, Senior Yan. It seems that the three of us are the only ones here who are still in the dark," Yue Zong chuckled with a wry smile.
"That's true. Long story short, a humanoid immortal zoysia suddenly came to our town and wounded a cultivator a few days ago, then fled into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges," the elderly man replied after a brief contemplation.
"Humanoid immortal zoysia? Did I hear that right?" Xue Zong's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.
Han Li and Xian Xian also exchanged an astonished glance.
"There's no mistaking it; it was indeed an immortal zoysia. While it was trying to escape, someone wounded and secured a few drops of its spirit immortal blood, which they sold in the two for a staggering amount of spirit stones," the elderly man confirmed.
"It's extremely rare for spirit medicines to attain human forms, and it's not necessarily the case that spirit medicines will attain sentience and a human form after existing for a certain period of time. Spirit medicines have to encounter many miraculous opportunities before they even have a sliver of a chance of attaining a human form. It seems that even in the entire Spirit Realm, there haven't been many precedents of such spirit medicines. If this news were to spread, all of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races and even beyond would surely erupt into a massive frenzy. All of these beings gathered here must've arrived after hearing this news," Yue Zong mused with a peculiar look on his face.
"That's not going to be the case, Brother Yue. Perhaps more people will gather here from the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in the coming days, but beings from further away won't have any chances of capturing the immortal zoysia. Not only is it proficient in two types of earth movement techniques, it seems to have also attained a movement ability that allows it to attain a shadow form," a young man with a clean-shaven face interjected with a chuckle.
"It has a shadow form? If it possesses such a legendary movement technique, then what's the point of venturing into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges? With that ability, it would be impossible even for holy race beings to capture it," Xian Xian exclaimed with a stunned expression.
"Hehe, we're naturally not going to take the risk if it's only bound to be futile. This immortal zoysia was quite unlucky in that it attacked a cultivator who just so happened to have mastered a type of Golden Origin Restrictive Light. Even though he was caught off guard and severely wounded, his instinctive retaliative attack also struck the immortal zoysia. When it tried to escape by adopting its shadow form, it only managed to activate the ability halfway before the restrictive light took effect, and it was forced to revert to its normal form. However, it also possesses some kind of ability that makes it insusceptible to the Lightning Cloud Formation, and it passed directly through the restriction before escaping into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges," the young man explained.
Chapter 1616: Provocation
After a brief pause, the young man continued in an excited manner, "The cultivator who was wounded by the immortal zoysia says that his Golden Origin Restrictive Light can prevent the immortal zoysia from adopting its shadow form for two months. On top of that, due to the fact that the immortal zoysia has his restrictive light within its body, he can refine a formation plate that can track the immortal zoysia's location as long as one is within 50 kilometers of it. This immortal zoysia possesses some powerful movement and concealment techniques, as well as some other special abilities, but its combat prowess is actually quite lackluster. On top of that, it's also been wounded, so there's no way that it would dare to venture deep into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, which means that it must be hiding in the outskirts. As such, this one-month period would be ideal for capturing it. We originally had no intention of entering the mountain ranges during the influx of devilish Qi, but we certainly couldn't give up on such a brilliant opportunity. As for the people outside of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, even if they've received news of this, it's too late for them to get here."
Han Li's trio was enlightened by this explanation.
Yue Zong contemplated the situation momentarily before a cautious look appeared on his face, and he said, "Humanoid spirit medicines are indeed extremely rare, but there are no records suggesting that they possess any special properties when it comes to pill refinement, so they may not be any more potent than other high-grade spirit medicines. The only thing special about it is that spirit medicines of this nature are extremely rare. In that case, surely it wouldn't be enough to draw so many people here in just a few days, especially during this period of devilish Qi influx. After all, the mountain ranges are far more perilous during this period of time than otherwise, and even when traversing through the outskirts, there's a good chance that we may encounter powerful devilish beasts."
"That's the other thing that I was just about to explain, Brother Yue; on the day that the immortal zoysia appeared, a holy race being appeared in our town and offered a reward of three Myriad Wonder Pills, three Myriad Year Green Lotus Flowers, and a massive sum of spirit stones as a reward in exchange for this immortal zoysia, and he doesn't care if it's been captured dead or alive. This senior is currently living in the town, and he's announced that he'll only leave after the one-month period during which the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are open. By the way, that senior was also the person who purchased the few drops of blood shed by the immortal zoysia," a beauty in a palatial dress explained."A holy race being?" Han Li repeated with a hint of surprise on his face.
The woman glanced at Han Li and found him to be completely mundane and nondescript, so she replied in a slightly cold manner, "Indeed. This senior's surname is Gu, and he possesses an unfathomable cultivation base. He doesn't appear to be from our Cloud City." "Looks like everyone is actually here for the reward being offered by this Senior Gu," Xian Xian chuckled upon hearing this.
"All cultivators who come to this town are desperately in need of spirit stones. Otherwise, no one would want to risk entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. With such a high reward being offered, we wouldn't have to keep living in this town or risk our lives to kill devilish beasts," the woman harrumphed in response, seemingly rather displeased by X
ian Xian's words.
Xian Xian merely smiled and offered no response to this.
"Ni'er, don't be so rude. These two are both friends of Junior Yue's." The old man with the Yan surname seemed to be a direct senior of the woman in the palatial dress, and he scolded her in a stern manner.
The woman still didn't appear to be very pleased, but she still gave an affirmative response before falling silent.
Yue Zong seemed to be confused about something else, and he looked around with furrowed brows before asking, "Seeing as this happened a few days ago, why are there still so many people here? Could it be that Senior Liao is no longer responsible for this place?"
"Indeed, Brother Yue. Senior Liao departed over 10 years ago, and he was replaced by an extremely strict man. He's even brought back the old passage examination, and those who aren't able to pass the examination won't be given Lightningbane Umbrellas. On top of that, he's nowhere near as flexible as Senior Liao and refuses to give out Lightningbane Umbrellas in advance. You've actually come at just the right time as this is the first day that the examination is being held. That's why there are so many people gathered here," the clean-shaven young man complained.
"That's enough, these are not matters for you to comment on. The newly appointed Enforcer Min has only reintroduced the examinations in order to bar entry to beings who are too weak, thereby preventing them from entering the mountain ranges, only to be killed by the devilish beasts in there," the elderly man said in an indifferent manner.
"But this examination is just an outdated relic of the distant past. It was only put in place because back then, too many fellow Daoists perished in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. Now, hardly anyone is willing to venture into the mountain ranges, so such an examination is completely superfluous," the young man argued as he pursed his lips.
"It doesn't matter what we say. The fact of the matter is that no one can enter the mountain ranges without Lightningbane Umbrellas, and the one responsible for this place is no longer Senior Liao. As such, the rules will naturally be changed," the elderly man with the Yan surname said in a meaningful voice.
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