Chapter 655: Magic Mountain Core Members

Only two to three thousand li remained until the convergence point.

Meng Chuan calmed himself and continued walking slowly.

Every character of the sound emanating from the mountain peak direction rumbled within his sea of consciousness, bombarding his primal spirit. With his primal spirit structure now transformed and his mind and will having evolved, his perception of these sound characters had become even clearer.

Meng Chuan pondered each step carefully for a long time before taking the next. He continued in this manner for more than six years. Although he gained some insights, his mind and will had not yet undergone a complete transformation. At his current realm, it was becoming increasingly difficult for his mind and will to achieve such a change.

"I've arrived."

Meng Chuan looked ahead. The three paths on the Magic Mountain, specifically the 'Path of Mind' and the 'Path of Enlightenment,' had now completely merged into one.

"The Path of Enlightenment brings endless troubles," Meng Chuan mused. "However, Ancestor Jie also said that the Path of Mind is the only path on the Magic Mountain without repercussions. Many Seventh Tribulation Realm mighty ones come to traverse it, to see if they can reach the peak and verify their mind and will. Clearly, the Path of Mind is traversable all the way to the summit."

The higher one's realm, the stronger their ability to resist harm.

Many Fifth Tribulation Realm experts, like Fu Sui, were still very weak in terms of their physical body and primal spirit, and their mind and will were also frail. Naturally, walking the Path of Enlightenment continuously would lead to endless troubles.

However, those who could withstand the Path of Mind for fifty thousand li possessed a naturally different level of resistance.

"I'll give it a try." Meng Chuan took a step forward.

With that single step, he moved from the Path of Mind onto the merged path. The moment Meng Chuan set foot upon it, he instantly felt a difference.

The sound he heard wasn't significantly different, as he had only taken one additional step, and Meng Chuan could resist its influence on his primal spirit with relative ease. However, he felt an invisible power affecting his primal spirit, making it feel somewhat ethereal. His thought process also accelerated, and his insights into the 'sound characters' multiplied by more than ten times.

"It has some influence on my primal spirit, and I've gained many more insights, but it's still far from true enlightenment," Meng Chuan thought, slightly surprised. "It's even less effective than when I first took the initial step on the Path of Enlightenment back then."

Compared to when he was a Fifth Tribulation Realm primal spirit, Meng Chuan was now much stronger in terms of both primal spirit and mind and will.

The effect of the Path of Enlightenment at the junction could no longer lead to 'enlightenment' for him. If a Seventh Tribulation Realm mighty one were to come, the Path of Enlightenment would have an even lesser impact.

As Meng Chuan was experiencing the effects of this merged path, a mysterious and ancient voice suddenly entered his mind:

"Having walked halfway on the Magic Mountain path, you may become a core member of my Magic Mountain."

At the same time, a secret technique also entered Meng Chuan's mind. With this technique, he could bring outsiders in and out of the Magic Mountain.

Following this, a flood of information poured into Meng Chuan's mind. The information was so vast that it took him several breaths to memorize all of its content.

"There's a Turbid Chaos River in our universe?" Meng Chuan was inwardly shocked.

According to the information, core members of the Magic Mountain, upon acquiring the secret technique, could travel to the 'Turbid Chaos River.' The Turbid Chaos River was a mysterious place within the universe, connecting to the outside. Forbidden creatures entered this universe along the Turbid Chaos River.

"So, the true name for forbidden creatures is 'Chaos Creatures'!" Meng Chuan was somewhat astonished. This was a great secret, unknown to most Sixth Tribulation Realm experts in the River of Spacetime. "They are beings that live outside the universe. The Turbid Chaos River has formations laid down by Eight Tribulation Realm mighty ones. Thus, these Chaos Creatures cannot break out of the Turbid Chaos River's confines. Even we cultivators can only enter and exit the Turbid Chaos River alone, relying on secret techniques left by the Eight Tribulation Realm."

One could enter the Turbid Chaos River to kill Chaos Creatures.

Sixth Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures (forbidden creatures) had hidden life cores that must be shattered to kill them completely.

Seventh Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures (forbidden creatures) had even more bizarre life cores, which began to formalize and conceptualize. Even Seventh Tribulation Realm mighty ones could not completely shatter them; they could only seal them first, then destroy the will contained within the life core. The Magic Mountain Master taught the sealing techniques and methods to destroy the life core's will, but Meng Chuan's realm was clearly still far from being able to use them.

The Magic Mountain Master acquired all life core fragments.

Life core fragments from Sixth Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures, complete life cores from Seventh Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures, and so on, could all be exchanged for numerous treasures from the Magic Mountain Master.

Eight Tribulation Realm secret treasures, for instance, could be directly exchanged in the depths of the Magic Mountain. If one possessed ten complete Seventh Tribulation Realm Chaos Creature life cores or one thousand Sixth Tribulation Realm Chaos Creature life core fragments, they could summon the 'Magic Mountain Master' in the depths of the Magic Mountain. The Magic Mountain Master would then directly descend to that specific timeline and meet the summoner.

"Ten Seventh Tribulation Realm Chaos Creature life cores allow one to directly request a meeting with the Magic Mountain Master?" Meng Chuan secretly marveled. "Ordinary treasure exchanges can be done directly in the depths of the Magic Mountain? It seems many treasures are hidden in the Magic Mountain's depths."

Considering Cang Yuan Patriarch's treasure, one could imagine how astonishing the treasures intentionally left behind by the Magic Mountain Master must be.

As long as he remained alive, no one would dare to force their way into the Magic Mountain. After all, a forceful intrusion might cause the Magic Mountain Master to descend to that particular timeline.

"No wonder the Magic Mountain caused such great trouble, and no top cultivators dared to destroy it," Meng Chuan sighed inwardly. "Presumably, the decision to mitigate its influence was also made by other Eight Tribulation Realm mighty ones."

Seventh Tribulation Realm mighty ones alone probably wouldn't have the guts.

Throughout its history, the Magic Mountain had caused endless troubles, perhaps provoking the dissatisfaction of other Eight Tribulation Realm mighty ones in this universe. This ultimately led to the decision to conceal information about the Magic Mountain as much as possible and prevent cultivators from entering on a large scale.

"Turbid Chaos River?" Meng Chuan mused. "Forbidden creatures are very rare in our universe. It turns out they are almost all in the Turbid Chaos River, and blocked by formations. I wonder how the forbidden creatures scattered across the universe managed to break through those formations."

"Also, what about these maddened forbidden creatures in the Magic Mountain?"

"Why does the Magic Mountain Master collect life cores of forbidden creatures in such large quantities? Are these life core fragments of great use to him, a dignified Eight Tribulation Realm mighty one?" Meng Chuan had many speculations.

With a flip of his hand, a very small fragment appeared in Meng Chuan's palm.

He had obtained this when he swept through the Three-Bay River System's plundering forces. At that time, a goblet fragment caused his Slayer Saber to absorb a large amount of malevolent aura, greatly increasing its power. However, Meng Chuan hadn't spent much effort comprehending body cultivation techniques, and as a melee weapon, he naturally hadn't invested much effort in cultivating the Slayer Saber. After he reached the Sixth Tribulation Realm, he simply nurtured it normally, and the Slayer Saber had now also ascended to the Sixth Tribulation Realm secret treasure level.

At the time, Meng Chuan had broken off a small piece and preserved it. It was identified by the Eternal Tower as a life core fragment from a Sixth Tribulation Realm forbidden creature.

There were also great differences between fragments from different Sixth Tribulation Realm forbidden creatures.

Some had terrifying malevolent aura, some spread cold energy, and some were scorching hot. It wasn't easy to find specifically 'malevolent aura' type fragments, and Meng Chuan hadn't deliberately acquired them.

"The life cores of forbidden creatures seem very special." Meng Chuan flipped his hand, putting away the small fragment, and then hesitated.

"Every core member will be bestowed an opportunity by the Magic Mountain Master."

Among the vast amount of information Meng Chuan received, one opportunity was to go to the 'Bone-Weary Land.'

According to the description of the opportunity, the Bone-Weary Land held numerous hidden dangers but also wondrous encounters. Whether one would be buried there or gain great rewards depended on their strength and luck.

"Bone-Weary Land, I've never even heard of it before," Meng Chuan mused. "Becoming a core member of the Magic Mountain means free benefits? That doesn't sound like the Magic Mountain Master's style."

From these events, Meng Chuan could sense that the Magic Mountain Master didn't care about the lives of cultivators; even millions of cultivators dying in madness didn't bother him.

The so-called core members of the Magic Mountain were more like bait for the Magic Mountain Master to tempt them into helping kill forbidden creatures and collect life cores.

"A place like the Turbid Chaos River has at minimum Sixth Tribulation Realm forbidden creatures, with Seventh Tribulation Realm forbidden creatures also appearing. As a newly ascended Sixth Tribulation Realm cultivator, I should stay far away for now. I should only consider going if I'm confident in killing a Sixth Tribulation Realm forbidden creature in a short time." Meng Chuan thought to himself. If he were to kill an ordinary Sixth Tribulation Realm forbidden creature now, it might cause a huge commotion, attracting tens or hundreds of forbidden creatures, and possibly even a Seventh Tribulation Realm one. Wouldn't that be seeking death?

"I can send a primal spirit avatar to try out the Bone-Weary Land," Meng Chuan mused.

Just as Meng Chuan was processing the vast amount of information, high up on the Magic Mountain, at approximately the ninety-thousand li mark, where the three paths had long merged completely, stood a man resembling a ball of flesh. He had short legs and six small arms, yet only one large eye. This single large eye was now observing Meng Chuan below.

"Meng Chuan, City Lord of Dongning, a newly ascended Sixth Tribulation Realm primal spirit, has actually walked halfway on the Magic Mountain path?" He grinned, a smile spreading across his face. "The Magic Mountain Master must have also given him an opportunity, right? What a coincidence, I just happened to come across it."