AGM 485 – Mountain within a Mountain
There were just too many mysteries in the Mountain Range of the Heavenly Mountain. Dangers abounded in this area; there were several misty areas, or pockets of miasma, or even extremely powerful demonic beasts cultivating in the depths of the mountains. Only one path remained for those that stepped into their territory—death.
And so nobody dared to claim that they were completely familiar with every inch of this mountain. Even Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants found it impossible to pry out all the hidden secrets of the mountain range.
On the contrary, it was the risk takers and adventurers who would occasionally uncover its secrets.
Presently, the hawk-eyed man led the geniuses of the various major powers into the depths of the mountains. There, the air was thin and the atmosphere foggy. The fog within this region had a stickiness to it that caused cultivators to feel extreme discomfort, especially when a gust of cold mountain wind blew past.
“We are already in the depths of the mountains. How much longer before we arrive?” questioned one of the cultivators, staring at the hawk-eyed man.
“If it was an original landmark, then of course we would have already arrived by now. The entrance to this hidden realm is extremely well hidden, and I wouldn’t have found it save for a stroke of luck,” the hawk-eyed man replied; he wasn’t worried that these people would renege on their promises and kill him. The reason for this was very simple—if they killed him, then if other adventurers were to discover the entrances to a hidden realms, they would think twice before trading the news away, for fear of being killed after they outlived their usefulness. Hence, nobody would do something as stupid as that.
In the Treasure Seizing Assembly, those who wanted to seize the treasures might end up in a deathmatch or even incur the wrath of other onlookers. A good example was Qin Wentian. Yet, nobody would dare to target the treasure presenter. If things like this happened, the reputation of the Treasure Seizing Assembly would be totally dragged down the mud.
The others all nodded their heads in agreement upon hearing the words of the hawk-eyed man, and they continued to follow him. This group of geniuses numbered in the hundreds, with a total of eight major powers participating and each power having sent over thirty people. In addition, they were all experts at the third level of Heavenly Dipper or higher, forming an impressive and powerful group.
There were no signs of anyone else following them. Ordinary cultivators were fearful of offending the major powers, and they were also afraid that they would meet with danger beyond their capabilities in the hidden realm. Naturally, they dared not follow secretly from behind.
However, there was one silhouette that silently trailed behind this group of experts from faraway using the power of his perception. Nobody had discovered him.
After some time had passed, the group of experts arrived at a certain location. Here, the mountain mist was thick and heavy, and there were a total of eight symmetrical mountains; four on each side, and a humongous mountain right in the center. The ninth grand mountain in the center radiated a simple and unsophisticated aura of nature as though this place had been through the precipitation of countless years.
“We’ve arrived,” the hawk-eyed man spoke. Expressions of bewilderment could be seen on the faces of the crowd. After which, the hawk-eyed man pointed to a certain location and stated, “Look at that place, the huge rock akin to a great door at the waist of that mountain. That is the entrance. Just push right through it, you will find yourself inside the hidden realm.”
“Mhm?” The eyes of the crowd flickered with sharpness.
“Go and test it out,” Yin Cheng commanded one of his subordinates. After which, his subordinate dashed towards the huge rock and violently slammed into it with great force. Instantly, his silhouette disappeared from the crowd’s vision.
“It’s true…” It really was the entrance to the hidden realm. This location was even more unique compared to where past hidden realms had been discovered. Perhaps the treasures within would be even more valuable.
“You’ve entered this hidden realm before?” Yin Cheng stared at the hawk-eyed man as he asked.
“Yes, I found it by chance after being slammed into it while I was fighting against a demonic beast. The space inside the hidden realm is extremely vast. A word of warning though, there are powerful monsters inside and I was forced to retreat after I encountered a demonic beast at the fourth-level of Heavenly Dipper.”
“Right.” Yin Cheng nodded. After which, he waved his hands as a huge number of Yuan Meteor Stones flew towards the hawk-eyed man.
The elites from the other major powers all paid up as well. The eyes of the guide shone with a radiant smile—with this amount of Meteor Stones, he would be able to support his cultivation for a long time.
“I’ll take my leave first.” After stowing away his payment, the hawk-eyed man took his leave. The others exchanged glances before their gazes shifted towards those from the Xuan King Manor, who stood in the center. Beside Shang Yue, there was another imposing character. This young man was exceedingly famous in Xuan King City, otherwise known as Shang Qi, or just Prince Qi.
Previously, Yin Cheng had wanted to curry favor with him, which resulted in the death of the fifth-ranked Grandmaster, Chi Yezi, as well as the slaughter of his entire clan, besmirching the reputation of the Yin Clan.
“Prince Qi, as well as the members of the King Manor, please.” Someone gestured in invitation. Shang Qi nodded his head and waved his hands, signaling his approval.
After some time, the majority of the experts all entered within. Each power left behind two members to guard the entrance and the area regained its quiet tranquility once more.
After a period of time, the sound of gusting wind could be heard.
“Who?” the guards coldly shouted, however they saw only a beam of intense light shooting over in response.
“Bzzzz!”
The keening of a sword reverberated around them, forcing the guards to retreat and left to watch helplessly as an unknown silhouette flew into the entrance.
“This…” The guards outside exchanged glances as one of them spoke, “Should we go in to catch him?”
“It’s fine. It’d be useless even if we did enter. Although that person’s speed was fast, I could sense that his aura wasn’t that powerful. Considering that the others who entered earlier were all geniuses and talents from the eight major powers, there’s no need for us to worry,” another person replied as the others nodded in agreement.
Qin Wentian was immediately dumbfounded the moment he entered the hidden realm.
He was in a place where he could see the blue skies and white clouds. In front of him were mountains, rivers and ancient-looking trees. It was as though he had arrived in another world.
“There’s actually another dimension within this mountain. What kind of place is this mountain exactly?” Qin Wentian stepped out as he murmured to himself.
If humans were to never travel, they would never know how vast this world really was. Qin Wentian had only stepped into Grand Shang for a short period of time and already so many unusual things had appeared. Right now, this hidden realm he was in had totally toppled the logic of what he knew.
“What could be inside the depths of this ancient mountain, I wonder?” Qin Wentian mused, and increased his speed, dashing forwards. Within his embrace, Little Rascal’s eyes were exceptionally bright as it surveyed the surroundings. It was evident that its interest and excitement were piqued.
Although Little Rascal couldn’t speak human speech, its intelligence was comparable to a human. An extremely resplendent light shone in its eyes, and a moment later, Little Rascal leapt out of Qin Wentian’s embrace and started scampering in a certain direction. It transformed into a blurred white shadow, moving so fast that even Qin Wentian at top speed had trouble catching up with it.
Little Rascal led Qin Wentian as they advanced across this vast region. If this area was as large as that outside the mountains, they would have traversed ten times the distance already. It was obvious that the vastness of the space within the mountain was relative—it was measured on a totally different scale.
And it was at this moment that Little Rascal brought Qin Wentian to a mountain range that looked completely similar to the Heavenly Mountain Range outside the hidden realm, albeit a smaller version.
“There’s someone ahead.” Qin Wentian’s perception could clearly sense the aura of a fight breaking out. Him and Little Rascal swiftly advanced forwards and crossed several mountains before human silhouettes appeared in the field of his vision.
“It’s them.” Qin Wentian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued rushing ahead. Among those fighting, two of them were none other than the pair he had encountered after his trade of the Blood Shadow Herbs. When the young woman asked for his name, he replied that since it was just a chance meeting, there was no need to ask so many questions. Who would have thought that he would encounter them so quickly, and in this strange location?
“It seems like they already knew of this place before this. Not only that, the injuries to the young woman might have been caused by something that came from this place.” Qin Wentian speculated. Currently, they were fighting against an immensely ferocious demonic beast.
This demonic beast was a five-meter tall green ox. It had an immense stature, and thunderous rumbles echoed out from its mouth with every breath. All four of its hooves were firmly on the ground and exuded a huge sense of pressure. This demonic ox was a demonic beast at the fifth-level of Heavenly Dipper and was incredibly fearsome to fight against.
The combat strength of demonic beasts were, by nature, many times stronger compared to humans at the same level. Not only that, their vitality also far exceeded that of humanity and hence, had a higher recovery and level of endurance.
Although wounds could be seen on the body of this ox demon, its aura was still as stable as before. In fact, it was the pair of humans whose auras were fluctuating wildly.
“Yiyaya!” Little Rascal barked. The adorable sound seemed to tell Qin Wentian to look behind the ox demon.
Qin Wentian turned his attention over to the thing behind the ox demon. It was actually an ancient tree whose height towered up towards the heavens. Twisted roots and intertwined joints dug deep into the earth. At the very least, it was more than hundreds of meters tall and occupied an extremely vast space.
And there were a few enormous fruits that appeared completely different compared to the others. These fruits were yellowish-brown in color and exuded a sense of palpable heaviness, as though it had been created after absorbing the spiritual qi of mountains inside this strange hidden realm.
“What tree is this?” Qin Wentian had a complete lack of knowledge when it came to medicinal herbs and ancient trees. If Mo Qingcheng were here, she would definitely be able to identify it, but it was a different story for him.
However, seeing that this ancient tree was being guarded by the ox demon, which was now in a battle with two cultivators at the fifth-level of Heavenly Dipper, it was obvious that it was something extraordinary.
The young man and woman had finally noticed Qin Wentian’s presence. The young man frowned slightly while a look of joy flashed on the face of the young woman. She excitedly called out, “It’s you! How about joining forces with us to deal with his ox demon? It’s consumed a Great Terra Fruit, which just gave it an insane boost to its attack and defence, even to the point of evolving its will of Mandate.”
“Great Terra Fruit?” After hearing that, Qin Wentian’s eyes sparkled with a bright light!