Chapter 1796 - The Lifeless Mountain

The golden-robed old man and his companions all looked stricken, and their hearts quivered uncontrollably.

“What happened earlier was just a little misunderstanding, yet here you are, killing someone like it’s nothing. Don’t you think you’re being unreasonable?” shouted the one woman in the group.

“I saved your life earlier, didn’t I?” said Su Yi.

“We’re naturally grateful for your benevolence,” said the woman.

Su Yi shook his head slightly. “I don’t need your gratitude anymore.”

Splurt!

A streak of sword qi descended from the heavens, piercing the woman’s skull. Her entire body split down the midline, like splitting bamboo, and her soul scattered.

“I saved you thinking that if you lowered your head and apologized of your own accord, then paid the price for your mistakes, I could show leniency and spare your lives. Now, it seems all of that was entirely extraneous.” Su Yi subtly shook his head.

He had no grudge with the Ba Serpents. They’d annoyed him earlier, but he hadn’t planned on killing them.

Now, it seemed he’d given this altogether too much thought.

The two surviving Ba Serpent experts turned and fled, but before they got far, sword qi suppressed and killed them.

The Red Dragon Dao Monarch saw it all. She couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim over Su Yi’s abilities.

When we last met in the Black Dragon Market, the Sovereign was only in the Universe Realm. Only two years have passed, yet now, he can kill Immortal Kings with ease! The rumors really were true. The Sovereign can now completely disregard Immortal Kings!

Su Yi was nowhere near as emotional about it. He just stretched out his hand, and the three scattered Departed Soul Pearls flew into his hand.

The strange objects were all dusty gray and about the size of an infant’s fist. They each contained different powers of the Grand Dao.

After a cursory examination, Su Yi recognized the Laws they contained: the Daos of Corrosion, Blood, and Baleful Yin.

To the world’s heretical cultivators, these were first-rate mysteries of the Grand Dao, but none were up to Su Yi’s standards.

Still, Departed Soul Pearls were incomparably rare, and they had other wondrous applications. They could be used to refine weapons and pills. They contained mysteries of the Grand Dao, so their value was far beyond other divine materials.

Next, the Red-Dragon Dao Monarch collected the treasures the four Immortal Kings had left behind.

Most of the treasures weren’t of any interest to Su Yi. In truth, Immortal King treasures, from pills to weapons, had largely ceased to be of use to him.

Fortunately, the spoils included six more Departed Soul Dao Pearls!

Three of the pearls contained identical mysteries of the Dao of Blood. The other three contained the mysteries of Devouring Yin, Dark Lightning, and Cleansing Fire.

Practically all of them were connected to the Dao of Departed Souls. This was why the pearls were called “Departed Soul Pearls.”

“Hold onto these,” said Su Yi, tossing them to the Red Dragon Dao Monarch without a second thought.

She was the ruler of the Black Dragon Market. Even if she had no use for these treasures, she could ensure they fetched a good price.

The two of them quickly set off.

“Hm?” Suddenly, Su Yi sensed something. He turned his head to gaze at the path behind them, but he saw nothing at all.

“Your Excellency, did you perhaps discover something?” The Red Dragon Dao Monarch was instantly solemn.

“Earlier, it seems that someone snuck a secret glance at me,” Su Yi said with a frown. “But they were most likely proficient in a mysterious evasion technique. They disappeared in an instant.”

He shook his head and kept walking. “Come on, no need to pay them any heed.”

But the Red Dragon Dao Monarch was instantly on guard. Earlier, she hadn’t sensed anything at all. That alone was proof that whoever had been spying on them was extraordinary!

......

After the two of them disappeared into the fog-shrouded landscape, an unearthly streak of black shot out of the Corpse-Strewn Ruins, practically slicing through the dome of heaven.

Upon closer inspection, it was a strange bird swathed in black electric light!

“Terrifying! He ripped Immortal Kings apart like they were made of paper. Don’t tell me that guy was a Great Realm expert? All four Immortal King elders of the Ba Serpents met their end. When word reaches the clan, how great a disturbance will it cause?

“In any event, I can’t remain in the Corpse-Strewn Ruins any longer! The Kui Ox Spirit Race and Jade Firmament Immortal Palace have already monopolized the Lifeless Mountain. Now, an unparalleled, ruthless expert who kills without even batting an eye has shown up too. If I stay any longer, I’ll be doomed!

“Fortunately, I fled quickly...”

The strange bird beat its wings and quickly disappeared into the boundless skies of the Eastern Sea.

......

The Corpse-Strewn Ruins.

The Lifeless Mountain was three hundred thousand feet tall with steep slopes, as majestic as a coiled dragon.

The mountain was shrouded in explosive, turbulent fragments of Immortal Laws year-round. They were densely packed, and they flooded the steep slopes with their terrifying power.

The further someone climbed up the mountain, the more powerful the Law Fragments, and the more terrifying their power.

Rumor had it that whenever someone died in the Corpse-Strewn Ruins, their Immortal Laws were stripped from their bodies, and the deceased experts’ powers of the Grand Dao gathered on the Lifeless Mountain.

Years of accumulation had made the Lifeless Mountain’s fragments of Immortal Laws increasingly numerous, varied, and turbulent.

Supposedly the Immortal Dao Law Fragments at the peak of the Lifeless Mountain were remnants of fallen Great Realm experts. Their power was terrifying beyond imagination.

Meanwhile, halfway up the Lifeless Mountain.

A hundred-foot black lotus lamp hovered over a thousand-foot flat clearing. The lamp’s thirty-six petals unfurled, and black flames blazed from its stamen-like wick.

A flood of Immortal Dao Law Fragments poured down like a waterfall, crashing down the slopes in a non-stop stream. The fragments poured into the lotus lamp, making it sway, rumble, and buzz.

Most were blocked, but a portion of the fragments were absorbed into the lamp and refined by the blazing black fire of its wick.

As they were refined, they gradually formed a layer of dense, colorful, and pure Grand Dao source power at the base of the lamp!

Seven Immortal Kings were working together to control the lamp. Even the weakest of them was a mid-stage Miracle Realm expert, while the strongest was a peak Immortal King!

They were from the Kui Ox Spirit Race and Jade Firmament Immortal Palace. They entered the Corpse-Strewn Ruins a month prior, and they’d occupied this spot ever since.

A tall, stalwart man fully ten feet tall stood not far away. He wore dark robes, and he had a prominent mustache. His eyes blazed like twin suns, and even just standing there casually, the force emanating from him suppressed the flood of Immortal Dao Law Fragments, preventing them from getting too close.

Chu Yunjia!

He was an old-timer of the Kui Ox Spirit Race, a mighty expert who’d long since proven his Dao and entered the Great Realm!

He’d been in seclusion ever since the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals swept across the Immortal Realm, and tales of his accomplishments no longer circulated the world.

Yet now, here he was on the Lifeless Mountain, overseeing and protecting a group of Immortal Kings as they gathered Immortal Dao Law Fragments!

Chu Yunjia gazed up the slopes and sighed to himself. “If I hadn’t been injured during the Age of Fallen Immortals, I could climb this mountain and gather the Great Realm Law Fragments at the peak....”

“Success!” an Immortal King suddenly cried out in delight.

The source power of the Grand Dao at the black lotus lamp’s base suddenly condensed into a pearl shrouded in chaos energy.

It was incomparably resplendent, like a miniature star, and it emanated shockingly dense chaos energy. It was faint, but the incomparably mystical sound of the Dao emanated from it.

This was a Dao-Refining Pearl!

An unparalleled, precious treasure that fused numerous Immortal King-level Law Fragments and absorbed their Grand Dao source power!

Such treasures were nowhere to be found in the outside world. Immortal Kings would go mad with desire at the sight of them, and even Great Realm experts would be tempted!

This was for the simple reason that they were just too rare and hard to find! Even if a Great Realm expert had no use for the pearl, they could pass it on to their descendants!

“Hurry up and put it away, then let’s rest for a bit,” Chu Yunjia said gravely.

“Got it!”

The seven Immortal Kings put away the Dao-Refining Pearl and black lotus lamp, then hurriedly took out medicines to recover their strength.

There was no need to even question it. Without a Great Martial Stage expert like Chu Yunjia to oversee things, they likely couldn’t have even climbed this mountain.

The explosive Immortal Dao Law Fragments were just too terrifying. They could easily rip Immortal Kings’ bodies to shreds, scattering their souls!

Numerous such incidents had happened over the years. Immortal Kings tried to climb to the peak and condense Dao-Refining Pearls, only to die brutal deaths. In the end, not even fragments of bone remained.

“We have three now. We can leave once we’ve acquired nine of them,” said Chu Yunjia.

At the halfway point of the mountain, they could use their cultivation bases to suppress the explosive fragments of the Immortal Dao, but they couldn’t manage it for too long.

The crowd nodded.

“With these Dao-Refining Pearls, we can help our greatest Immortal Lords establish the best possible foundations when they break into the Miracle Realm!” someone said eagerly.

“That’s right! Dao-Refining Pearls are wondrous and unfathomable. They’re full of the purest, concentrated Immortal King-level Grand Dao source power. Even one of the pearls is enough to help an Immortal Lord effortlessly prove his Dao and enter the Miracle Realm!”

“It’s all thanks to Ancestor Yunjia. He braved the risk of Divine Misfortune to accompany us here. We could never have achieved this without him.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“It’s just a shame that Holy Son Chu Batian disappeared inexplicably during the Divine Hunt. According to our seniors, Su Yi most likely killed him! Otherwise, given Holy Son Chu Batian’s talent and foundations, a single Dao-Refining Pearl would have been enough to help him break into the Miracle Realm and become an unparalleled Immortal King capable of suppressing all others of the same level!” someone sighed.

The other Immortal Kings’ faces filled with murderous intent.

They were certain that Su Yi was involved in Chu Batian’s disappearance!

“Rest assured. A few days ago, the clan sent word that Su Yi had arrived in the Eastern Sea, and he’s wanted by every major faction in the area. This time... he’s dead beyond a shadow of a doubt!” said Chu Yunjia. He made no effort to conceal his murderous intent.

But it was then that laughter suddenly emanated from the foot of the mountain.

“Ha!”