Chapter 153: Tianduan Mountain

Novel:

Yu Daiyue frowned slightly but said nothing.

The Liu brothers and Baiyun Shanren whispered a few words to each other, then turned to Qingting and Yu Daiyue. "Thank you for your understanding, fellow Daoists," they said. "We are all willing to go. Please rest assured, since we're already here, it would be senseless to leave a treasure mountain empty-handed. Unless it's truly too dangerous inside, we will certainly see this through to the end."

Wu Yuesheng smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Liu is right, but if it's truly a perilous place, Senior Sister Qingting and Senior Brother Yu wouldn't sacrifice their lives in vain, would they? What do you say, Junior Brother Qin?"

Qin Sang, who had been sitting quietly on the side, looked up when he heard this. Seeing Wu Yuesheng smile kindly at him, he felt a slight stir and nodded, "That's right. Once we break through the formation, everything will become clear."

With this, everyone agreed to work together to break the formation. Yu Daiyue's expression turned to joy, and he clapped his hands firmly. "Excellent! Since you have all agreed, I won't need to invite anyone else. I will now give you the Fire Crow Tokens. It will take ten days to refine them. In ten days, we will meet on this island. Fellow Daoists, please do not go back on your word."

They knew very little about the ancient cultivator's ruins and there wasn't much to discuss; they would simply adapt as needed after breaking the formation. Each person then received a Fire Crow Token, and they all took their leave.

As he flew towards his cave dwelling, Qin Sang took out the Fire Crow Token he had received. This token, however, was somewhat different from Yu Daiyue's: its flames were not dark green, but pink, and the Fire Crow spirit within was also distinct.

"Perhaps the spiritual bird bones used were different, which is why there's this variation," Qin Sang murmured.

He didn't hesitate too long before agreeing to explore the ancient cultivator's ruins together, also because, unlike a year ago, he now had something to rely on.

Firstly, knowing the true power of the Profound Yin Thunder gave him a renewed sense of confidence. Moreover, Senior Sister Qingting's conditions were very generous: if it was truly dangerous, they could simply return.

Secondly, his 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter' had successfully broken through to the second level, and Qin Sang had also mastered the divine abilities accompanying the cultivation method.

Unity of man and sword, formless evasion.

Qin Sang had initially thought it was a sword-based stealth technique, but after truly mastering it, he realized that this phrase referred not to the sword refiner, but to the spiritual sword itself. Through the sword talisman on the Ebony Sword, controlling the sword with his divine sense could not only render it silent, but also, due to the Ebony Sword's exceptionally pure material, transform it into a pure wood spirit sword embryo. This would conceal its form, making it difficult for opponents to detect. At the moment of approaching the enemy, it could unleash powerful sword energy and killing intent, delivering a fatal blow with a single strike. This transformed the spiritual sword into an invisible weapon of slaughter, with endless wondrous applications.

With his damaged cultivation foundation, Qin Sang's greatest aversion was clashing head-on with opponents. Making his spiritual sword invisible meant that as long as he could seize the initiative, the enemy would be decapitated with a single strike before they even noticed, which was simply perfect for him.

After returning to his cave dwelling, Qin Sang immediately closed it and seized the time to refine the Fire Crow Token. The Fire Crow spirit within the token was not simple, and it would take some effort to completely tame it; ten days was a bit tight.

Ten days later.

From time to time, a streak of light landed on the small island.

When Qin Sang arrived, most of the others had already gathered. After waiting for a short while, a rather young man arrived by sword flight. The young man had a stern appearance and a somewhat cold demeanor, reminding Qin Sang somewhat of Chu Wenjian, like a pure sword cultivator.

"This is Junior Brother Li Zai," Qingting introduced him to everyone one by one.

At this moment, all eight participants had arrived, and even the Liu brothers, who were the most worrying, had successfully tamed their Fire Crow spirits.

Yu Daiyue flicked his finger, conjuring a cloud of mist that floated above them. Looking around at everyone, he said, "This cloud is my flying artifact. Since you all have agreed to follow Senior Sister Qingting's and my arrangements, I will activate the artifact's restrictions during the flight. You will not be able to see outside, nor should you probe with your divine sense. Once we reach the ancient cultivator's ruins, I will let you all down."

Everyone hesitated a bit upon hearing this, but since they had already agreed, it was difficult to go back on their word. Moreover, they understood it was a precautionary measure by Qingting and Yu Daiyue, so they all agreed and, under Qingting's guidance, entered the white cloud artifact and settled in.

The white cloud artifact trembled slightly, and its cloud essence inexplicably vanished into thin air. Then it drifted up into the sky and sped away.

The white cloud artifact's speed was not exceptionally fast; Qingting and Yu Daiyue took turns controlling it.

Qin Sang looked around; all around him was dense cloud essence. He couldn't see the outside scenery, nor was it advisable to probe with his divine sense. Since he was here, he decided to make the most of it and seize the opportunity to cultivate.

They flew for a full two months.

The artifact, which had been flying steadily, suddenly shook, and then its speed sharply decreased. The cultivators inside noticed this and one after another awoke from their meditative states, looking at the two people in front.

Qingting turned around and nodded, saying, "We are about to reach the ancient cultivator's ruins. This place is not peaceful either, so everyone, be prepared."

Before her words had even faded, the artifact immediately began to descend rapidly and soon vanished into thin air. Yu Daiyue put away the artifact, and everyone's vision returned to normal.

Qin Sang stood on solid ground and looked around, realizing that they were not on a small island now, but on the summit of a mountain peak. All around, as far as the eye could see, were towering mountains, piercing the clouds. To the east, there seemed to be countless even larger mountain silhouettes, like an iron curtain.

Between the mountains was dense primeval forest, where the roars of beasts and the calls of birds were ceaseless. There was no trace of human presence, nor could mortals possibly live in such dangerous jungles.

It was midday, but the sunlight was blocked by the mountain mists. The mountain winds howled, chilling to the bone, making the place appear extremely eerie and desolate.

How large must this island be to feature such towering mountains?

Just as Qin Sang was secretly surprised, he saw Baiyun Shanren's expression turn exceptionally grim. Staring at Yu Daiyue, he sharply questioned, "Didn't you two Daoists say the ancient cultivator's ruins were in the Cloud-Vast Marsh? So why have we come to Heaven's End Mountains? Do you think we are all so senile that we can't even tell the difference between Heaven's End Mountains and the Cloud-Vast Marsh?"

Heaven's End Mountains!

Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly, and he thought to himself, "No wonder it's so desolate."

Heaven's End Mountains and the Cloud-Vast Marsh are located, respectively, to the east and south. One is a mountain range reaching the heavens, and the other a vast expanse of water. These two natural barriers precisely mark the boundaries of the Lesser Cold Domain.

Such so-called natural barriers naturally couldn't stop cultivators, especially high-level cultivators above the Golden Core stage, who could come and go freely.

However, these two places were the agreed-upon boundaries between the cultivation sects of the Lesser Cold Domain and the cultivation worlds of other realms. With these as their borders, cultivators from both sides could pass through freely, but extensive cross-border activities were forbidden.

It is said that multiple major battles had erupted there in the past.

Once forces from other realms invaded the Lesser Cold Domain, cultivators of both the righteous and demonic paths would immediately cast aside their past grievances. Even the Demonic Beast Mound in the far west would not remain aloof; the entire cultivation world would unite to resist foreign aggression and drive out the invaders.

During the most critical times, it even happened that the righteous and demonic paths merged, and demonic beasts willingly allowed themselves to be driven by humans, achieving unprecedented unity in the Lesser Cold Domain.