Chapter 815: This Is a Forced Break-In

"What was that sound?" Suddenly, someone cocked their head, listening intently.Everyone immediately fell silent."What sound? You must have misheard.""No, listen!"

As they spoke, expressions of doubt and surprise crossed their faces, because a distinct "ding" sound had indeed rung out beside their ears. It sounded as if someone was flicking a metal object with their finger.

Initially, the sound was faint and infrequent, but soon it grew louder, the "dinging" becoming continuous.

"Where is that sound coming from?"Their faces changed color. Now, it sounded as if someone was creating a commotion right next to their ears, yet they could see nothing!

The next moment, a valiant voice suddenly resonated right by their ears, leaving everyone stunned.

"Pang Huanyin of Ziwei Dao Palace has come to pay respects to your mountain. Please open the gate!"

"Ziwei Dao Palace?""Pang Huanyin?"The group of guarding cultivators was dumbfounded.

They were, of course, familiar with the name; they had just been discussing this woman. But what baffled them was how her voice could reach their ears.

The voice was incredibly close, yet they saw no one.

Among the group, an older guarding cultivator seemed to realize something and quickly said, "Activate the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror! Let's see what's happening outside!""Elder Jiang, do you mean—""Stop talking nonsense, activate the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror now!" the elder urged impatiently.

Soon, the guarding cultivators activated the power of the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror. Their gazes turned to the bronze mirror, and they all gasped in surprise.

Reflected in the mirror were several figures. Leading them was a woman dressed in men's clothing, her hands clasped behind her back, exuding a valiant aura. Even without having seen her before, one glance was enough to confirm her identity.

"Pang Huanyin!""She's outside!"

As they spoke, Pang Huanyin seemed to sense something. She raised her eyes and met the gaze of the guarding cultivators, as if making eye contact across the distance.

Her sharp gaze made everyone involuntarily step back a few paces.

"She... she... she can deduce the location of our Sumeru Mountain's gate!" Someone exclaimed, their face pale with shock.The three great Human Race secret realms drift through the void, and each family has its own methods for calculating their gates' locations. Without knowing the specific techniques, it would be utterly impossible to pinpoint the gate's corresponding position at any given time.

Pang Huanyin was now waiting outside the secret realm, clearly having found a way to calculate the gate's location.

This was truly unbelievable.

Even more astonishing was the method she used to transmit her voice inside.

"Quickly report to the Mountain Lord!" Elder Jiang immediately commanded.

Someone immediately took the order and sped off towards Sumeru Mountain.

"Elder Jiang, this woman is right outside. What should we do now?"Elder Jiang calmly replied, "What's there to fear? Even if she's deduced the location of our Sumeru Mountain gate, she can't force her way in! However, this is a serious matter, and the Mountain Lord must be informed immediately."

Only then did the group come back to their senses. Yes, if the gate wasn't opened, Pang Huanyin couldn't get in, so what was there to fear?Just as they breathed a sigh of relief, strange spiritual energy fluctuations suddenly erupted in the void before them. Then, large swathes of golden light spread out, outlining the shape of a gate.

"Oh, this..." Elder Jiang involuntarily retreated several paces, his old face filled with shock.He had just said that Pang Huanyin couldn't force her way into Sumeru Mountain, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than the gate showed signs of opening. It was clear that the gate was not being opened by any of the guarding cultivators.

Pang Huanyin, incredibly, possessed some mysterious means to forcibly open Sumeru Mountain's gate!

Elder Jiang was filled with dread.

"Close the gate quickly!" someone shouted.Only then did the many guarding cultivators scramble into action.If the gate could be opened, it could naturally also be closed. No matter what strange methods Pang Huanyin had used to achieve this, she absolutely could not be allowed to enter.

If she were allowed to force her way in like this, it would be a dereliction of duty on their part.

However, at that very moment, a large hand reached out from within the fluctuating gate and firmly grasped its edge. The gate, originally ethereal and formed by spiritual energy, now seemed to possess a tangible presence.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to the large hand, and a sense of dread welled up within them. It was as if what was grasping the gate's edge was not a human hand, but the sharp claw of a ferocious beast.

And from within that gate, a formidable beast seemed poised to emerge.

The large hand gripping the gate's edge suddenly exerted force, and a figure shot out from within the gate, standing before it like a guardian deity.

The crowd looked up and saw that the one who had rushed in was a young man, less than twenty years old. He stood there, his clothes tattered and soaked in blood. Through the tears in his garments, one could vaguely see the raw, exposed wounds on his flesh.

These were not marks from a battle, but rather the cost of forcing his way through an unstable gate, having been torn by the void.

Yet, the man remained expressionless, standing quietly. His eyelids were slightly lowered, and his dark hair cast a deep shadow over his brow, obscuring his gaze and making his expression unreadable.

He stood tall, one hand loosely gripping the hilt of a weapon.

No one dared to make any further moves. The moment this person appeared, everyone felt an extremely powerful aura lock onto them; any sudden movement could invite a fatal strike.

The atmosphere instantly became tense, and some cultivators' foreheads broke out in nervous sweat.

The golden gate quickly stabilized, and another figure emerged from it. Spiritual energy surged around her body, radiating brilliant light as if resisting something. It was Pang Huanyin.

After the light around her receded, everyone realized that she had not entered alone; an elder followed closely behind her.

Upon entering Sumeru Mountain, she smiled faintly and looked at Elder Jiang and the others, who stood as if facing a formidable enemy, yet dared not make any rash moves. "Thank you for your trouble!" she said.

All the guarding cultivators' faces twitched."Thank you for your trouble"? What "trouble"?

This was clearly a forced entry! Don't make it sound as if we opened the gate for you!

It was the first time they realized that the current Ziwei Dao Palace Master possessed such a talent for twisting facts.

She turned her head and looked at Lu Ye, who had rushed in first. Her delicate brows furrowed, and she asked with concern, "Are you alright?"Forcibly opening someone else's gate was no simple matter; others would certainly try to resist. If that happened, it would only tip them off.

Therefore, once the gate was open, there could be no delay. One person had to go first to restrain the guarding cultivators on this side.

However, passing through before the gate was fully stable carried significant risk.

Lu Ye's wounds were the price for this endeavor.

This forced entry was somewhat different from their last departure from Silver Serpent Valley. Although the gate there had also not been entirely stable, the situation was much better this time, as Silver Serpent Valley had been preparing for a long time. Thus, when Lu Ye and Ying Wuji passed through that gate, they were at most a little disoriented, suffering no injuries.

But the injuries he bore now would be considered severe for any other cultivator.

What surprised Pang Huanyin was that Lu Ye's aura showed no signs of weakening, as if his injuries had little effect on him.

"I'm fine," Lu Ye replied, then finally removed his right hand from the hilt of his weapon.

The horrifying sensation felt by the guarding cultivators vanished in that instant. Elder Jiang glanced at Lu Ye with wary eyes, then bowed to Pang Huanyin. "Palace Master Pang," he said, "we have already sent someone to inform the Mountain Lord. Please wait here for a moment. The Mountain Lord will surely be pleased to know of your personal visit." Being an old fox, he did not accuse Pang Huanyin and her group of forcing their way through the gate. The deed was done, and accusations were pointless. Moreover, they were already on Sumeru Mountain's territory. A powerful dragon cannot subdue a local snake. How to decide and handle this matter was for the higher-ups to consider; they, as guarding cultivators, merely had to pretend ignorance.

Therefore, his task was simple: keep Pang Huanyin here!

"Very well, then this Palace Master shall await your Mountain Lord's esteemed presence here!" Pang Huanyin responded.

Since they had already entered, it was best to follow the host's lead. Forcibly departing now would only provoke conflict.

The guarding cultivators' willingness to feign ignorance also suited her intentions.

She turned to the side and said, "Elder Xiao, please recover first, and Yiye, you should heal your injuries."

In front of outsiders, it was not appropriate to call him "Fellow Daoist Lu," so she simply addressed him by his name, Yiye.As for Elder Xiao, forcibly opening someone else's gate was no easy feat. Even with the treasures left by Dao Palace ancestors, his spiritual energy was almost depleted.

Lu Ye and Elder Xiao both nodded. One walked aside to meditate and recover, while the other tore off his ragged clothes and used clean water to wash away the bloodstains.

The many guarding cultivators clearly saw that Lu Ye's numerous wounds had stopped bleeding, and the flesh at the injury sites had sealed tightly, leaving them utterly astonished.

Pang Huanyin simply stood there quietly, her mind open, fully sensing for something.But she soon gave up.

Because she couldn't detect anything.

She marveled inwardly at how the cultivation of concealment practiced by the cultivator named Ying Wuji was truly beyond compare.

During the forced entry, Lu Ye went first, distracting the guarding cultivators' attention. She followed closely behind, deliberately activating her spiritual energy to create a lot of commotion and radiating brilliant light. This wasn't to display her own power, but to provide cover for Ying Wuji.Ying Wuji had entered right after her, vanishing the instant he stepped through the gate. At this moment, no one knew where Ying Wuji had gone. However, this had all been part of their plan from the beginning, so she wasn't worried.

Pang Huanyin, however, still didn't understand why Lu Ye was so insistent on visiting Sumeru Mountain, or what means he possessed to compel Sumeru Mountain to actively join the alliance against the Corpse Race.

If Sumeru Mountain and Silver Serpent Valley had truly intended to actively confront the Corpse Race, they would have acted long ago, rather than delaying until now.

If the three great Human Race secret realms could truly cooperate sincerely and unite against the enemy, they might not be unable to fight a decisive battle against the Corpse Race. Unfortunately, Ziwei Dao Palace's efforts over a millennium had yielded no results.

Thus, she still held a great deal of anticipation for Lu Ye's assurances, maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.