The gap area was really the most weakened zone, there were almost no traces of the Great Mountain Guarding Array there. The people who arrived first could not help but feel delighted.
Xuanji was thrown near the gap by the teletransportation array. He could not help frowning when he saw the boisterous crowd. Looking around, he could not see Mo Tianliao nor Qingtong, he felt a pang of worry.
“First come, first served. Let’s hurry and go in,” said someone from the Thousand Ghosts Sect excitedly. They grabbed a Liuyun Sect disciple and said, “We have arrived at the Mo Palace. Fellow cultivator, why don’t you take out the map so we can carefully study it together?”
“You also have a copy. What do you need mine for?” The Liuyun Sect disciple tried to shake off the demonic cultivator’s hand.
“Humph, who knows if the one you guys gave us is the real thing?” The person from the Thousand Ghosts Sect refused to let go and tightened their grip.
Just as they were arguing, they sensed the approach of a very powerful aura and the person from the Thousand Ghosts Sect hurriedly retreated. Liu Bi had arrived.
“The maps are all the same,” Liu Bi said, covering her lips with a handkerchief. “If you don’t believe me, you can just follow us.” After that, she led the Liuyun Sect disciples to go in first.
At present, not many people had arrived, between those from the Righteous Path and those from the demonic sects, they were less than 20 people in total. They all knew the advantages of arriving first, so they naturally did not waste any time and followed Liu Bi.
Xuanji slowly stepped back and turned, wanting to leave.
“Eh? Shishu, why aren’t you going in?!” Mo Xiong, who was just about to go, looked back and saw his shishu standing far away, he quickly pulled him forward. “Hurry, they might have some scheme to prevent the people who come later from entering.”
Those words had just sounded when, sure enough, they saw the people from the Thousand Ghosts Sect quickly planting flags on the ground.
“Don–” Before Xuanji could finish speaking, he was picked up by the powerful Mo Xiong, who promptly jumped into the gap.
Because the Great Mountain Guarding Array was very weak, no one could tell where the edges of the gap were, they only knew that it mostly covered the top of this mountain.
The Thousand Ghosts Sect’s people planted a flag every three chi, covering the mountaintop, then three of them made a seal and activated the flag array. With a piercing spectral scream, pitch-black ghostly qi instantly covered the whole mountaintop.
The Thousand Ghosts Sect’s ghostly qi would rot the flesh of anyone it touched, it could even penetrate defensive barriers. If one did not prevent it from infecting the skin, it would fester immediately and become very difficult to cure.
Nearby, someone from the Thousand Gu Sect also followed suit and scattered poisonous insects in his wake.
“Despicable,” A disciple from Qingyun Sect said while grinding his teeth.
“If you think we are so despicable, why don’t you try killing the bugs?” The person from the Thousand Gu Sect smiled and threw insects at the Qingyun Sect disciple. “If you don’t, your martial siblings might get hurt when they get here.”
The Qingyun Sect disciple drew his sword and cut the bugs with one slash. He sneered and said, “Don’t think I’ll fall for that. While I take care of the bugs, you’ll just take the chance to stab me in the back.” Once he finished speaking, he followed the people of Liuyun Sect. Yun Song and Yun Yuan were not there, he could only go with the Elders from the other sects.
“Hypocrite,” The person from the Thousand Gu Sect spat at the Qingyun Sect disciple’s back. Despite the high-sounding condemnation, that did not stop their sect from setting up an insect summoning array. Wanting to get their hands on the treasures while at the same time wishing to keep their noble reputation, they were really disgusting.
The gap was at the top of the mountain, after jumping from said mountain, one would encounter a dense forest.
Ding Ziyu’s map showed that there was a trap array in the forest, one could fall into it in a moment of carelessness. It was impossible to avoid it, the only way was to fly over the forest.
In the past, the Mo Palace had been heavily guarded, so flying would have been suicide, but now that the Mo Palace was deserted, it was completely safe.
The map was really useful, they had avoided several traps one after another and could now progress deeper. At the same time, the people that came later had discovered the Thousand Ghosts Sect’s array. While cursing, they set out to find another way of entering. Soon enough someone discovered that the array had weakened and there were various other gaps.
Originally, the Great Mountain Guarding Array was like a transparent shield; if people tried to approach, once they reached it, they would be unable to advance further; if they tried to forcefully enter, they would immediately bounce back. Now that the shield had weakened, it was full of holes of various sizes which could be used as entry points.
Mo Tianliao stepped through the gate of the Mo Palace and the landscape before him suddenly changed. It was not the blood-red flight of stairs that could be seen through the red crystal, but a long staircase covered with transparent crystal. The steep cliff walls on both sides of the steps made it a narrow passageway which was only big enough for two people to walk on side by side.
These mountain walls were covered with many indentations in which lingshi of all sizes were embedded. This was not the same as Lord Shi Di’s crass ostentation of wealth, these lingshi were used to sustain the numerous arrays and traps on the mountain walls. Anyone who ventured to touch these traps, even if they were a powerful Half-Immortal, were guaranteed to die in an extremely gruesome manner.
These arrays were mainly an intimidation tactic, so no one had touched them for many years; the lingshi still sparkled brilliantly, bursting with qi.
The big tiger followed behind Mo Tianliao, his ears pinned back as he looked left and right. So many lingshi! But also, so many traps beside the lingshi! Surely, they would pierce his tiger pelt enough to turn it into gauze!
Mo Tianliao stepped onto the crystal stairway while holding Qingtong, activating the arrays with a thought. The crystal staircase started to move, which scared the tiger into grabbing the hem of his clothes once more. Then, as if it were the legendary celestial staircase, it rose steadily, carrying them to the top of the steps.
The Mo Palace where no one had set foot on for three hundred years… was overgrown with weeds.
Duantian’s Mo Palace was not one structure, rather, it was built by conforming to the topography of the mountain, going with the flow, as it were. Where there was a big piece of flat terrain, a palace was built, if the space was small, then a pavilion was built, a veranda with upturned eaves would be built where there was a gentle slope, and a zigzag bridge where there was a cliff. All the buildings were constructed according to the mountain, following the ups and downs of the terrain, yet still connected.
The steep slopes had crystal staircases, which only needed sufficient lingshi in order to move continuously.
Qingtong put his chin on Mo Tianliao’s shoulder and quietly gazed at this familiar yet unfamiliar scenery.
Mo Tianliao did not put him down; he just held him as he walked all the way to the inner palace.
The tiger was goggle-eyed and agape, looking here and touching there, moving aimlessly.
Legend had it that the Mo Palace was full of dangerous arrays, but as Meng Hu followed Mo Tianliao, he realized that apart from the one he had seen at the gate, there did not seem to be any. This demonic lair looked more like an immortal abode. Where were the fabled untold horrors and the innumerable deadly traps?
There was a zigzag bridge spanning a precipice which was built on top of a large waterfall. The bridge was transparent so one could see the water running below. Once over the bridge, the landscape changed again.
The outer walls of the palace were made of pitch-black stone, although it was delicately built, it still had an air of majesty. Behind the bridge there was a valley surrounded by mountains.
There were carved beams and painted rafters, upturned eaves adorned with ridge beasts, and hot springs of all sizes which covered the place with warm coiling mist.
There was no dust in the palace, it was as clean as if the people living there had only left yesterday.
Because the kitten did not like being disturbed by anyone, Mo Tianliao had set up a dust-proof array in the inner palace, so there was no need to clean it. There was a wide bed covered with black sheets patterned with garnet-coloured clouds that looked very soft and comfortable.
“Baby, rest here for now. I’ll go catch the rats and come back to keep you company.” Mo Tianliao put Qingtong on the bed and kissed his beautiful eyes.
Qingtong looked around, turned into a snow-coloured kitten, and jumped into the nest beside the big bed in a flash.
There was a high platform under the nest so it was level with the bed. The nest was not very big, the kitten’s body could barely fit and it looked a little cramped.
“This was your childhood bed; you can’t sleep on it anymore.” Mo Tianliao could not resist smirking.
The kitten ignored him, coiled himself into a tiny ball and rubbed his body against the blanket beneath him.
The big tiger stared blankly for a long time. He could not resist turning into a human and asking, “Shidi, how do you know this place so well?”
Mo Tianliao smiled and rubbed the big tiger’s head. Since he was back home, he could not help relaxing, his mood was very good. “Come on, I’ll show you something nice.”
Meng Hu thought that Mo Tianliao was taking him to look for treasure, so he eagerly followed him. As a tiger who depended on his sect, he was very poor. Duantian’s Mo Palace was full of treasures, one could get a lot of money even by taking a single candlestick to sell. Alas, the best plans of tigers and men often go awry. Along the way, he saw that the outer palace was in shambles, and that all the visibly valuable things had been looted. They must have been taken away by the servants when they fled. Meng Hu grit his teeth in distress. Could it be that Duantian’s assets had already been sacked?
After a meandering walk, they arrived in front of an imposing hall. Mo Tianliao put his hand on the stone pillar in front of the door and with a thought, the huge stone gate burst open.
“Shixiong rest assured, my household’s assets are still fairly substantial, they will not run out for a while.” Mo Tianliao stood in front of the door with his hands behind his back and spoke in a clear voice, full of laughter.
Meng Hu had not yet recovered from the phrase “my household’s assets are fairly substantial,” when he was stunned again by the sight before him.
The entire palace only had one floor, and the three-zhang-high ceiling was very wide, making sure that one would be dazzled by the contents as soon as one entered. A lingshi mountain! Several lingshi mountains!
Lingshi was very valuable. Usually, a cultivator’s lingshi would be placed in their storage tool. He had never seen anyone who kept it laying on the ground so casually, and even less someone who had enough for it to become a mountain!
Mo Tianliao threw a small storage bag at Meng Hu and said, “Grab some top-grade lingshi.”
“Fo– for me?” Meng Hu squatted at the base of the lingshi mountains with his mouth wide open.
“Once the work is done, you can keep the rest,” Mo Tianliao said while patting the tiger. These here were not his best lingshi, those were in the storage box on the shelf behind the lingshi piles and were the highest quality lingshi there was.
However, he only needed to repair his array, so he did not need to use the very best lingshi.
The starry-eyed Meng Hu who had been bewilderedly dragged to collect a pile of lingshi by Mo Tianliao, was then bewilderedly dragged once more to install them.
The two got on their flying swords and went around the periphery of the Mo Palace, finding numerous indentations of various sizes. Some were on cliffs, some were under springs, some were in rocky crevices, and there was even one inside a latrine. Almost all of the top-grade lingshi in these indentations had turned a pale grey, with only very weak qi remaining in them, some had simply crumbled.
Mo Tianliao took Meng Hu around and instructed him where to place the lingshi, while he headed to the big waterfall.
Behind the waterfall there was a small cave, inside this cave there was a Taiji array plate with eight mirrors, one for each of the eight cardinal points, they reflected all parts of the Mo Palace. Outside the gate, people were trying to enter from almost every direction, Liu Bi and party had even reached the edge of the outer palace.
Mo Tianliao stood quietly next to the array plate, watching the array’s crystalline heavenly stems and earthly branches light up one by one. Once the last one lit up, he quickly embedded two round lingshi of just the right size in the Taiji’s Yin and Yang fishes’ eyes.
There came a loud reverberating sound, it was not the sound of the mountain crumbling in an avalanche, rather, it was similar to the knell of an ancient bell, remote and drawn out. The cultivators who had just managed to climb up to the mountain top and broken through the illusion array were suddenly thrown out by a great force.
They were really flung! As if their bodies had just rammed against a solid rock wall and bounced off, they were slingshotted violently into the distance. Meng Hu, standing on the staircase, stared wide-eyed at the countless cultivators whizzing through the air, and gulped.
“Shocking! Sect’s Weekly Gossip Magazine-Exclusive Celebrity Interview”
Reporter Colourful Tiger: Today, we have the honour to be interviewing the Demonic Lord
Carpenter: Hello everyone
Reporter Colourful Tiger: The Demonic Lord has been committed to defending the charitable organization that cares for wild Demonic Beasts and has even adopted a homeless kitten abandoned by his brother. It’s so touching and praiseworthy.
Tianlang: Objection, this is fake news
Xuanji: +1 Total fake news. Was this reporter paid off?
Carpenter: Big wet chest, did I bribe you?
Reporter Colourful Tiger: *Looking at the lingshi* I mean…
Carpenter: *Silently lighting up the array* Well?
Reporter Colourful Tiger: Nope! QAQ
# TIL that shidi is even more brutal than Master #
Unedited, please point out any mistakes