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Two days later.
The twelfth day of the tenth lunar month, early in the morning.
Su Yi put his hands behind his back and gazed into the distant dome of heaven.
Eerie, bright red mists blanketed the dome of heaven. Countless fragmented corpses of stars hovered with the fog, unmoving.
Another layer of mist covered the entirety of Sumeru Mountain. It was black, but it was already incomparably sparse and on the verge of disappearing.
“This place really isn’t simple,” he muttered.
Sumeru Mountain was extremely grand and majestic. It was completely golden, like a pillar supporting the heavens.
This was once the ancestral ground of the Sumeru Shrine, one of the world’s three great yao sects.
However, over the past thirty thousand years, the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness had enveloped it. Even the skies were shrouded in crimson fog strewn with the corpses of stars.
This made Su Yi realize that some enormously powerful force was hidden here, and that it had been contending with the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness all this time!
Otherwise, Sumeru Mountain, a mountain so tall, it pierced the clouds, would have long since been frittered away into nothingness.
“I just don’t know what kind of good fortune hides there,” said Wen Xinzhao, her beautiful eyes sparking with curiosity.
“There might well be good fortune, but danger surely lurks on every corner,” Su Yi laughed. “Come on, let’s go have a look too.”
He’d come to Sumeru Immortal Island in part to investigate whether or not this place truly hid secrets regarding the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.
The group continued toward the mountain gate.
When they arrived, they realized that the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness had long since receded from the gateway.
The monsters of the ancient era and geniuses of the present day who’d been waiting nearby had obviously all already gone inside.
Su Yi didn’t care about that.
Even if it came down to a struggle for good fortune, there was no way to know who’d leave with it until all was said and done.
Past the gate, a cracked, damaged path wound its way up the mountain.
Upon closer inspection, there were dark, long-dried bloodstains all over its surface. It was a shocking sight.
Su Yi paused at the foot of the path, looked it over, and said, “Stick close to me. Don’t do anything reckless on your own.”
His companions were instantly solemn, and all of them nodded.
Ge Qian couldn’t help but ask, “Your Excellency, don’t tell me there’s something wrong with the path?”
“Yup,” said Su Yi. “The central ground of any peak-level orthodoxy hides enormous secrets. The path before us is covered in numerous formations. They’re not overly dangerous, but if you barge in recklessly, it’s highly likely you’ll get trapped.”
As he spoke, he waved his sleeves.
Whoosh!
Clear light circulated, and the energy fluctuations of the various formations surged forth, creating radiant silvery ripples.
“Look. This is an illusion formation. If you enter unknowingly, you’ll get stuck walking in circles. If you cannot see through its secrets, you’ll be trapped along the path forever,” said Su Yi.
He continued, “When major sects place such formations by their gates, they do so to warn those who’d enter without permission. They do this in hopes that the would-be trespassers realize the difficulty and retreat.”
He looked around and said thoughtfully, “But after almost thirty thousand years of repression beneath the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, the path’s formations are extremely weak. They’re no longer much of a threat.”
With that, he led his companions onto the path.
The scenery instantly changed before their very eyes. They now stood within a boundless, foggy void. They couldn’t orient themselves at all.
Just standing in a place like this left his companions feeling stifled and thoroughly uncomfortable.
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They had no idea which direction they should go in!
“This way,” said Su Yi, leading the way ahead.
As he continued down the path, he sometimes stopped, sometimes went a roundabout route, and sometimes turned back.
This twisting and turning left his companions perplexed; they couldn’t see through its secrets at all.
“Do you think those who went in ahead of us have been trapped here this whole time?” Ge Qian couldn’t help but ask.
Yue Shichan and Wen Xinzhao were briefly dazed. They instinctively glanced at Su Yi.
“It’s unlikely that they’d get trapped. This illusion formation includes three paths to life, and furthermore, it’s severely weakened. Anyone with Spiritual Manifestation Realm soul power, or anyone proficient with talismans and formations, should easily be able to detect the first of the three safe paths,” said Su Yi.
He continued, “But if they leave through that path, it’s highly likely they’ll find themselves in yet another formation.
“I sensed it earlier. The path leading up Sumeru Mountain is covered in at least eighteen formations. Although most are in ruins and don’t present much of a threat, if you just barge through, they’ll still cause quite a bit of trouble.
“The second path leads halfway up the mountain. It’s a bit winding and convoluted, but so long as you know where you’re going, you can reach the halfway point of the mountain without encountering any difficulties.
“But this path, although safe, isn’t easy to walk. A moment’s carelessness could lead even a formations grandmaster astray.”
Ge Qian couldn’t help but feel alarmed. He suddenly realized that Su Yi had long since seen through this place’s profundities!
“What about the third path to life, Brother Su? Where does it lead?” Wen Xinzhao couldn’t help but ask.
“Outside of Sumeru Mountain, of course,” laughed Su Yi.
“...” The beautiful young woman felt a bit sheepish. And here she’d thought the third path hid some kind of secret. Now, it seemed she was overthinking things…
Time slipped by.
The group continued their journey.
Suddenly, they heard noise up ahead.
“Mei Yanbai, this is the path you led us down?”
“Dammit! What the hell was that voice just now? Why did Dou Kou disappear out of nowhere? If things go on like this, doesn’t that mean we’ll all… disappear one by one too?”
“I said it earlier, didn’t I? We’ve yet to reach the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, so why bother visiting Sumeru Mountain? This is just great. Now we’re all stuck here!”
The voices were a mixture of furious interrogation, terrified muttering, and pessimistic, helpless sighs.
Even from a distance, Su Yi’s companions recognized the speakers. It was Mei Yanbai, Feng Zidu, and the others!
“Let’s go look,” said Su Yi as he led the way ahead.
Others were effectively blind as they walked through the formation’s layers of mists; they couldn’t see anything at all.
However, to Su Yi, this was as effortless as walking through an ordinary field.
Before long, he and his companions saw Mei Yanbai and company. They were clustered together and cautiously evaluating their surroundings. Each had a grimmer, more unsightly expression than the one before.
When he detected Su Yi and his companions approaching through the fog, Mei Yanbai shouted, “Who is it!?”
Both he and his companions prepared to face a mighty foe.
However, when they saw Su Yi clearly, they couldn’t help but freeze. They wouldn’t have guessed that they’d bump into Su Yi here.
“Fellow Daoist Su, you… might you perhaps help us?” Qian Yun said excitedly. He sounded desperate, as if he were grasping at straws.
Mei Yanbai, Feng Zidu, and Nie Li looked hopeful too.
They’d already been trapped here for quite some time, but they couldn’t break free. They were already in low spirits, and they felt increasingly pessimistic. They even thought it likely that they’d die here.
Who’d have thought that Su Yi would appear just as they were on the verge of giving in to despair?
When they saw how pitiful Mei Yanbai and his companions were and sensed their pleading gazes, Su Yi’s companions couldn’t help but find it rather strange.
Logically speaking, Su Yi had once suppressed them in a formation and robbed them of all their treasures. It absolutely wouldn’t have been unreasonable to consider him their enemy.
Yet now, the moment they saw him, they cast aside all reservations and begged Su Yi for aid…
This was completely beyond Su Yi’s companions’ expectations.
Su Yi was stunned too. A moment later, he said, “Tell me, did you hear a strange sound earlier? And did that Dou Kou girl disappear immediately afterward?”
Mei Yanbai and company nodded repeatedly.
“No need to hide it from you, Fellow Daoist Su. When we arrived here a little less than ten minutes ago, we heard a strange voice ring out. It was so faint, it was only barely discernible,” said Mei Yanbai at top speeds. “It lasted less than three breaths of time before disappearing, but just as we prepared to set off again, we discovered that Dou Kou was missing…”
He and his companions’ faces filled with lingering terror.
Dou Kou’s disappearance had been too strange and inexplicable; it was only natural that they’d be scared.
“An inexplicable disappearance isn’t actually all that strange. After all, this is an illusion formation. A moment’s carelessness is enough for anyone to lose their way,” said Su Yi thoughtfully. “But the strange voice you mentioned is interesting. Is it possible that some kind of life form still exists on Sumeru Mountain?”
The others found the very prospect alarming.
The power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness had enshrouded Sumeru Mountain for close to thirty thousand years. Just what kind of creature could possibly have survived its taboo power for so long?
Su Yi glanced at Mei Yanbai and his companions. He couldn’t help but laugh dryly. “What’s there to be so surprised about? Aren’t you survivors of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness too?
They looked at each other, suddenly sheepish.
“Fellow Daoist Su, to tell the truth, we survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, but that’s because we…” Feng Zidu started to explain, only for Su Yi to interrupt him.
“I know,” said Su Yi. “You survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, but the situation was indeed different.”
As soon as he said this, a strange voice suddenly emanated from deep within the mist.
It was like a faint muttering, or someone talking in their sleep. It started and stopped erratically. Sometimes it sounded nearby, other times, it sounded far away.
“This is bad! It’s that voice again!” Mei Yanbai and his companions’ expressions changed dramatically. Their faces paled, and their bodies tensed.
Wen Xinzhao and company readied themselves for battle, their hearts tense.
It was then that Su Yi suddenly took action.
Clang!
The Abstruse God Sword appeared in his grip and thrust behind Ge Qian.
That spot was originally just mist, but as the sword pierced into it, it seemed to hit something solid. There was a low thud on impact.
Immediately afterward, fresh blood sprayed within the mists. Su Yi stretched out his hand and drew it closer to him.
At the same time, the strange muttering came to an abrupt halt and disappeared.
All of this happened extremely quickly.
When Ge Qian realized what had happened, a chill coursed down his spine, and he gulped. “Your Excellency Su Yi, just now… Just now….”
“You were almost kidnapped just now,” Su Yi said casually.
“That…” Ge Qian felt a chill in his hands and feet, and his scalp went numb.
The others’ hearts palpitated with terror too.
Su Yi ignored their reactions. He was busy examining the fresh blood he’d drawn out of the mist. It was as golden and translucent as amber.
The moment Su Yi laid eyes on it, his eyebrows shifted upward in surprise.