BXBX NOVEL Chapter 292: The Cabin in the Forest
Chapter 292: The Cabin in the Forest
From the Dao of the Major Evils of the Heavens and Earth emerged a beast known to be “Arrogant and Ferocious” or the “Untameable.” It was the most savage and ferocious creature. Its enormous head, resembling that of a tiger or a leopard, was adorned with a fiery mane around its neck. Its fangs were terrifying, with a biting force capable of crushing mountains!
Aside from its massive size, this vicious beast naturally emanated a murderous aura. The moment it appeared, it would stir up storms and cause the peaks to tremble. Clearly, it wouldn't stop until it crushed all thirty-six peaks!
The moment this beast appeared, Venerable Wen Yuan reacted. As an eighth-realm cultivator and a powerful cultivator at the Heavenly Origin Realm, he once suppressed a True Dragon with one hand. Naturally, he wouldn't be weaker than this vicious beast.
But when Venerable Wen Yuan raised his hand, he saw a mass of dark clouds above him. It was as though the curtains of the heavens had opened.
A gigantic face wrapped in countless chains, emerged from the clouds. Many present immediately recognized what it was.
"Evil Ksitigarbha!" countless people exclaimed.
Indeed. However, it was not just the Evil Ksitigarbha. It was the True Form of the Evil Ksitigarbha whose presence was like a god and devil.
This was ranked tenth in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures—the True Form of Ksitigarbha!
This diabolical legendary artifact belonged to the Dark King Sect and was the foundation of their power.
What price did Lu Chengchou pay to convince them to bring this to Mount Shu today?
This was not just a legendary artifact. No sect would allow an ordinary disciple to leave their headquarters with the legendary artifact.
If a legendary artifact were to be brought out of the sect, an eighth-realm cultivator must be the one carrying it! No one could bear the consequence of losing such a treasure.
Given that the True Form of Ksitigarbha appeared, it indicated that the leader of the Dark King Sect was definitely present as well.
This mysterious figure who could command the foremost diabolical sect was undoubtedly a powerful eighth-realm cultivator.
With a legendary artifact, an eighth-realm cultivator could be considered as having stepped into the eighth-and-a-half realm, capable of slaying other cultivators at the Heavenly Origin Realm!
Rumble!
Thunder rumbled and clouds swirled chaotically!
Venerable Wen Yuan's eyes grew serious as he gazed upon this scene.
For the first time ever, a solemn sparkle of light was revealed in his eyes.
For these supreme beings who were in control of their Heavenly Origin, they had one foot in the heavens, leaving only half a step in the mortal realm. Normally, the mundane matters of the world rarely stirred their emotions.
Thus, Lu Chengchou's earlier antics were mere trifles in his eyes.
But this was different. Only another cultivator at the Heavenly Origin Realm could make supreme beings in control of their Heavenly Origin take things seriously.
As Venerable Wen Yuan gazed up at the sky, he seemed to see a towering figure in the clouds, overlooking the entire world with an icy gaze.
The Dark King!
When the True Form of Ksitigarbha appeared, four colossal entities appeared as well, coming from four directions.
A black whale, as large as a mountain, glided through the clouds as if swimming in the Northern Abyss, casting a massive shadow. On its back stood numerous diabolical sect cultivators, each exuding fierce auras.
There was also a pavilion adorned with intricate carvings and decorations, with red lanterns and colorful banners fluttering.
The pavilion slowly drifted over. As the door of the pavilion creaked open, a figure in red appeared.
A skull as large as the Heaven-Reaching Peak, surrounded by thunderclouds and crackling lightning, appeared. On the back of the skull was a deep fissure that had yet to be repaired.
The most peculiar sight was a vast azure waterfall flowing from the distant sky. As the waves splashed in the river, one would realize that the river was filled with human faces wailing in agony.
The Northern Abyss Hall... The Scarlet-Robe Hall... The White-Bone Hall, the Vermillion-Azurite Hall...
The Four Halls of Darkness had assembled!
The Dark King Sect's army had surrounded the Mount Shu Sect!
Those righteous cultivators from other sects, who initially distanced themselves thinking it was an internal conflict within Mount Shu, now witnessed the arrival of the diabolical sect.
Obviously, there were those upholding justice feeling the urge to help the Mount Shu Sect.
But immediately, some people amidst the spectators rushed out while shouting, "Darkness never dies!"
They then started hacking and killing the people around them!
Chaos ensued! It became nearly impossible to tell allies from enemies.
With the legendary artifact's pressure looming overhead, most chose to retreat further, watching from a safe distance to keep themselves safe.
However, there were a very small number of people who made different choices.
"Scum of the diabolical sect! Fucking ask me if I will tolerate your evil actions!" A muscular man shouted as he swung a massive halberd.
Suddenly his clothes split open with a bang, revealing a set of strong, glistening muscles!
Who else could it be but Yun Chaoxian from the Great Astral Sect?
"Ah... Senior Brother, it's so chaotic, I'm so scared..." Beside him, Little Junior Sister Tang Shi was like a delicate flower in the storm, trembling with fear.
"Junior Sister, get out of here, don't get hurt!" Yun Chaoxian shouted amidst the battle.
"So scary—" Before she could finish her sentence, Tang Shi's voice suddenly became hoarse and deep.
It turned out that a diabolical cultivator had targeted Tang Shi behind Yun Chaoxian, seemingly trying to take her hostage to restrain Yun Chaoxian. However, this was a miscalculation.
The seemingly fragile girl instantly transformed, her muscles bulging, into a form no less imposing than Yun Chaoxian's. She wielded a large spear, and any contact with it would either result in a gaping wound or an explosion of blood and flesh.
The strange thing was, while she was slaughtering her way through the enemies, she kept shouting, "Ah... don't come near me, sniff... don't hit me, stay away..."
But with such a rough and powerful voice, it didn't evoke any sense of weakness, but rather seemed quite bizarre.
Soon, she had cleared a large area around her.
Terrifying.
The Dark King Sect had a large number of members.
Some elite disciples descended with the enchanted tools of the four halls, while others had already mingled with the crowd watching the ceremony at Mount Shu.
The disciples of the diabolical sect were not very familiar with each other and had different appearances. To distinguish fellow sect members, they all tied a black cloth around their waists.
This was a clue known only to the disciples of the diabolical sect.
However, as soon as the chaos broke out, the diabolical cultivators immediately sensed that something was wrong.
The disciples of the Mount Shu Sect, controlling their dazzling flying swords, also had black cloths tied around their waists when they landed. As a result, many diabolical cultivators mistook the cultivators in front of them as allies and were then pierced by their swords.
The battle had barely begun, and the casualties were already heavy.
With black cloth tied around their waists, some elite disciples of the Mount Shu Sect, fighting alone, would shout "Darkness never dies!" as they approached the disciples of the Dark King Sect. They would then swiftly strike them with their swords.
That was not the end of it.
There were also groups of disciples from the Mount Shu Sect forming a grand sword formation of forty-nine people. Each with a black cloth tied around their waists, they shouted "Darkness never dies" to lure the disciples of the Dark King Sect closer.
But that wasn't the most outrageous part.
The most outrageous sight was a tall woman surrounded by crimson-gold flames, with wings of fire forming behind her. She weaved through the crowd, burning every diabolical cultivator she encountered to ashes with a single burst of flame.
Anyone who had been attending the Mount Shu Summit for a few days would know this was Di Nufeng. Nevertheless, she too had a black cloth tied around her waist. After clearing an area of diabolical cultivators, she loudly shouted, "Darkness never dies! Dark King Sect brothers, gather around me!"
Not only was it terrifying, but it was also infuriating.
Who did the Mount Shu Sect think they were fooling?
...
Under the sea of clouds not far away, Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai were in great danger.
The thirty-six peaks of Mount Shu soared above the clouds, including the mountain tops and mid-mountain regions. Below the mid-mountain, the lower areas were much bigger and were inhabited by many wild animals.
The entire area under the clouds was a vast, primitive forest.
A man in a black robe, with half of his body missing, transformed into a fierce black wind that howled past. His divine sense swept over every plant and tree, determined to find the two people he was searching.
A green energy kept flowing from the wound on his shoulder and chest, stopping it from healing. Normally, this injury wouldn't be serious for a disciple of the Northern Abyss Hall, but the sword qi from the legendary sword was continuously weakening his divine abilities, making it much worse.
At this moment, the intense pain was relentlessly torturing him.
He had been tracking the place where the two had fallen, convinced they were in this area. The black wind was also patrolling back and forth, not intending to miss a single blade of grass or tree.
What he didn't see was that, hidden in an inconspicuous mountain wall, Jiang Yuebai was still holding Chu Liang. The two were stuck tightly together in a narrow gap in the stone wall, inhaling each other's breath.
Earlier, when the two had fallen here, the man in the black robe had pursued them closely. In a moment of desperation, Jiang Yuebai had taken Chu Liang and traversed through the mountain wall.
The stealth traversal art itself wasn't difficult, but traversing through the wall while carrying someone would require a very high level of skill. This showed that Jiang Yuebai's current mastery of the art had indeed reached an astonishing level.
After waiting for a while, Jiang Yuebai continued to traverse forward. She didn't dare to retrace her steps and instead traversed through the mountain wall. After traveling more than ten zhang, they suddenly found an open space.
It was a bright and open area.
Behind the mountain wall, there was a spacious valley with lush green grass.
There was even a wooden cabin on the open ground!
"Is there really such a place behind this mountain wall?" Chu Liang looked at the space in front of him, quite amazed.
As they traversed through the stone wall in an instant, they unexpectedly emerged into another hidden valley within the mountain. This place was already beneath the sea of clouds, and so well-hidden that they might never have found it if not for a stroke of luck.
"Are there actually people living beneath the sea of clouds on Mount Shu?" Jiang Yuebai was also very surprised. "Let's go in and take a look."
"It's fine to go in and take a look ..." Chu Liang said somewhat embarrassedly, "but Senior Sister Jiang, could you put me down first?"
Being held in Jiang Yuebai's arms wasn't a bad experience, but as a grown man, being carried like a princess by a young lady was somewhat embarrassing.
"Can you manage?" Jiang Yuebai, unconcerned with formalities, asked with a hint of concern.
"I'm much better now," Chu Liang quickly replied.
In fact, the reason he had been so weak earlier was because the Azure Ophidian Sword had instantly drained all his foundational qi as well as the three energies—vitality, qi, and spirit.
It wasn't that he had been injured.
But through the crazy recovery speed of his ultimate-tier Golden Cores, his Sea of Qi had recovered by half. He had returned to his normal state.
Nowadays, if there was one thing Chu Liang could boast about, it was his unparalleled recovery speed among his peers.
Since he said he was fine, Jiang Yuebai put him down, and the two walked side by side towards the wooden cabin.
"It looks like it has been deserted for a long time," Chu Liang said, looking at the thick dust piled up at the door as they approached the wooden house.
With that, he gently pushed the door.
It opened effortlessly, creaking because of its age and decay, and half of it fell off with a push.
A cloud of dust blew into their faces. Chu Liang waved his hand, and a breeze swept the dust away. Only then did the two enter the house.
The interior was very simple: a small bed, a desk with writing materials, and a yellowed book. It looked like the rough paper used by Mount Shu children to practice writing.
Chu Liang leaned closer to look and confirmed it was the familiar paper. Out of curiosity, they flipped through it.
The first page had the scrawls of a child.
"Haha, my teacher thinks making me reflect on my mistake while facing a wall is a punishment? Dream on! Who would've thought there would be a valley hidden beneath the sea of clouds? From now on, this is my secret hideout, and no one on Mount Shu knows about it!"
"The monkeys in this mountain are so annoying, always trying to invade my territory."
"The people on Mount Shu aren't as good as these monkeys; at least the monkeys are willing to be my friends."
"Oh no! I think Lu Wuqi found out that I would secretly traverse through the wall to this valley while I am supposed to reflect on my mistakes while facing the wall. How smart of him!"
"Hmm?" Upon seeing the name, they both exclaimed in surprise, "Is the disciple who recorded this from the same generation as Venerable Wuqi? That would make him an esteemed senior from at least four or five hundred years ago..."
It was astonishing that this rough paper had survived for so long. As they continued reading, they saw a mix of childish trivia and teenage concerns. Learning about the growth of an esteemed senior from hundreds of years ago was truly fascinating.
"The Mount Shu Summit is essentially held just for Lu Wuqi. There's no real competition for the head disciple. It is already very good that I was able to get second place."
"Teacher said it's a pity that his father is the sect leader. Otherwise, with his extraordinary talents, he would surely lead Mount Shu. But I think, if his father being the sect leader disqualifies him from becoming the sect leader, isn't that unfair?"
"So my mother was..."
"No wonder..."
"Why...why?!"
Something must have happened in between, as there was a long gap before the next entry. Chu Liang could tell there was a long gap because the handwriting on the next page was noticeably more mature and steady, indicating years of growth and experience.
"What should I do?"
"So, my mother has been trapped within the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda all these years! It was for my sake that she... Caiyi told me that I can only find the way to break the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda in the Divine Ruins Monastery."