Chapter 2153 - Entering the Mountains!

Outside the windows, it was late at night. The purple moon hung overhead as it always did.

But tonight, something unusual happened in the Demon Crow Mountains.

A streak of blood-red sword qi shot out of the mountains’ depths, rising into the firmament and cleaving through the layer of clouds. When it reached the heavens, the sword qi devoured the light of the Demon Flame Purple Moon like mad.

The sword qi rose into the heavens, emitting ripples of blood-red sword light, and the beasts living in the mountains panicked and fled for their lives!

Kaboom!

The ground shook, the mountains swayed, and the roaring of beasts shook the heavens.

A few massive, ferocious birds beat their wings and attempted to flee the Demon Crow Mountains, but before they got far, that terrifying blood-red sword light enveloped them, instantly slashing them into pieces!

Similar scenes played out throughout the Demon Crow Mountains.

All of this emphasized just how utterly strange and terrifying the blood-red sword qi was.

The people of Grassy Creek Village were startled too, and all of them left their homes, one by one.

“That mysterious blood-red sword qi appeared again!”

“I just wonder where it’s coming from, and why it appears at night seemingly at random to pierce the heavens and devour the moonlight.”

Many of the villagers’ hearts palpitated with terror.

This strange scene had appeared numerous times throughout the years, but even so, their hearts filled with dread every time.

“But to us, this is actually wonderful news!” Village Headman Xue Tianyun said eagerly. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll set off at dawn and enter the mountains. I’m sure we’ll be able to gather the corpses of numerous beasts!”

Many of the others’ eyes lit up, and they rubbed their hands together eagerly.

Every time this happened, numerous terrifying beasts died in the Demon Crow Mountains. Some were completely eradicated, destroyed in both body and soul.

However, many others died of sheer terror, leaving their bodies fully intact. To the people of Grassy Creek Village, this was like good fortune raining down from the heavens!

If they explored the mountains tomorrow, they could gather them up almost without expending any effort!

“Don’t celebrate prematurely,” sighed Elder Li Changqing. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that every time this happens, it draws in the experts of numerous prominent factions? If they want to explore the Demon Crow Mountains, how could we possibly reap any of the benefits?”

Many of the villagers’ expressions were instantly downcast. He was right. That had happened many times over the years.

Some of the outsiders were particularly vicious, and they’d do more than just scour the mountains for treasure. They’d even raid the village.

Anyone who hid treasures would be executed as soon as they were discovered!

Last year, one of the village children brought a rock home from the Demon Crow Mountains and hid it just for fun. In the end, when one of the raiding yao immortals discovered it, he killed the seven-year-old without mercy!

This incident saddened and enraged the entire village, but there was nothing they could do about it. That yao immortal was just too strong.

He was a prominent expert from Fire Cauldron City. They called him Immortal Spirit Pheasant, and he wielded vast, far-reaching authority!

Even if you added everyone in Grassy Creek Village together, they’d be no different from ants in front of Immortal Spirit Pheasant!

“When we go into the mountains tomorrow, everyone must act in accordance with my orders. Others will eat all the meat, but we... well, drinking a bit of soup is good, too,” said Li Changqing.

The crowd nodded.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, the Demon Crow Mountains were still shaking, and the desperate roaring of beasts still filled the air.

The blood-red sword qi pierced the cloudy dome of heaven, and a flood of blood-red sword light enveloped the entire Demon Crow Mountains.

Purple moonlight fell like a waterfall, but the blood-red sword qi relentlessly devoured it all.

Outside the village.

A slender figure shot nimbly through the air with someone on her back.

These were none other than A’Ling and Su Yi!

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Big Brother Xiao, are you sure that we won’t run into danger if we go into the mountains now?” asked A’Ling. She couldn’t help but feel ill at ease.

Back at the house, she’d told Su Yi all about the strange movements in the Demon Crow Mountains. She’d originally planned to leave tomorrow morning and search the mountains for rare medicines to treat Su Yi’s wounds.

Against all expectations, Su Yi said that they should explore the mountains tonight instead!

A’Ling was completely flabbergasted, but Su Yi insisted that they’d be perfectly safe in the Demon Crow Mountains, and moreover, that they could gather good fortune. However, if they waited too long, others would snatch it all up.

A’Ling originally planned to dissuade Su Yi, but when she couldn’t talk him out of it, all she could do was gnash her teeth and go with him.

“Rest assured. So long as that streak of sword qi is there, no one will be able to harm you,” said Su Yi. He gazed into the distance.

That streak of blood-red sword qi was enormously thick, like a divine pillar holding up the skies with immeasurable divine majesty!

“Why do you say that?” asked A’Ling. She didn’t get it.

Anyone who saw that streak of sword qi was overcome with terror and despair. It left even the ferocious beasts living in the mountains pissing and shitting themselves with fright. How could it possibly be harmless?

“You’ll understand when we get there,” laughed Su Yi. His gaze was inscrutable.

The moment he laid eyes on that blood-red sword qi, he knew with certainty that Yi Daoxuan had sent him here for a reason!

Unfortunately, although he’d inherited Yi Daoxuan’s memories and experiences, he was so badly injured that he had no strength at all. He couldn’t even comb through his fourth incarnation’s memories for answers.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to guess. He’d have known why Yi Daoxuan had sent him to the Billowing Blue Realm, and why he’d arranged for him to meet A’Ling in the Demon Crow Mountains.

“Go a little faster. You don’t need to be so cautious. Just head for the mountains at top speed,” said Su Yi. He’d just noticed that A’Ling was proceeding with extreme caution. Even her smooth, soft skin was taut with tension.

He couldn’t help but find it amusing. With him there, what was there to worry about? Admittedly, he was effectively crippled now, but... even gods could forget about threatening him!

“Uh...” A’Ling was stunned. “But Big Brother Xiao, what if we aren’t careful and something goes wrong?”

As they conversed, they entered the outer ring of the Demon Crow Mountains.

Boom!

An enormous blue ferocious bird shot over from afar, bringing with it appalling, baleful mists.

The sight left A’Ling’s scalp numb with fright, and she instinctively retreated further away.

But then, a tide of blood-red sword light swept over. The ferocious bird wailed in grief and despair, then exploded into pieces. Its blood poured down like rain.

This bloody scene left A’Ling unwittingly stunned.

“It’s fine,” Su Yi said gently. “That blood-red sword qi is like a formation. It specifically targets the beasts living in these mountains, but... it won’t harm us at all.”

A’Ling took a deep breath, suppressed her astonishment, and said, “Big Brother Xiao, in that case... I’ll go with you!”

With that, she leaped into the air and flew further into the mountains.

Along the way, boulders tumbled down the slopes, and the forests broke and collapsed. Everywhere they looked, they saw dense swarms of birds and beasts fleeing in panic, filling the air with clouds of dust.

But the moment that blood-red sword light swept over them, the beasts died on the spot, no matter how terrifying they were!

A’Ling even saw some World King-level beasts scared directly to death!

But although the situation

seemed

incomparably perilous for her and Su Yi, and although they were almost attacked by beasts on numerous occasions, that red sword light always appeared just in time to slay the beasts on the spot.

It seemed utterly unbelievable.

Even more unbelievably, the blood-red sword light seemed somehow sentient. From beginning to end, it never harmed her or her Big Brother Xiao in the slightest.

“Isn’t this a bit

too

miraculous...?” murmured A’Ling.

Everything she saw today had broadened her horizons. This was an attack on her very perception of reality.

“Big Brother Xiao, I’m finally starting to believe you,” said A’Ling, her spirits rising and her eyes bright and sparkling. “If I tell this secret to my seniors in the village, they’ll be thrilled. There’ll be no need to wait until dawn. We can sweep the Demon Crow Mountains for beast corpses while it’s still dark out!”

“Don’t,” said Su Yi. “Whatever you do, don’t reveal this secret to anyone.”

“Why?” asked A’Ling.

Su Yi paused briefly. “Only you and I can come here safely. Anyone else who tried would die beyond a doubt.”

“????”

“I’ll naturally explain the secrets behind it all later,” said Su Yi. “For now, you just need to remember that you are not to tell anyone that we came to the Demon Crow Mountains. Do you understand?”

A’Ling didn’t understand, but she wasn’t stupid, and she knew that this was out of the ordinary. There had to be secrets behind it all!

In the end, she nodded. “I trust you, Big Brother Xiao.”

Crunch!

Suddenly, the steep slopes of a distant peak split. Boulders rolled downhill, and a little tree shining with silver light came tumbling down.

The little tree was quite mystical. It was obviously an extraordinary spirit medicine!

A’Ling’s eyes lit up. She was just about to go retrieve it when Su Yi stopped her.

“A World-King-level spirit medicine, that’s all. Pay it no heed. We’ve got to advance further into the mountains and get closer to that blood-red sword qi!”

“Even World-King-level spirit medicines are beneath your notice?” A’Ling couldn’t help but object. She really couldn’t bear to just leave it.

After all, she was only in the Spiritual Revolution Realm. She’d yet to reach the Profound Dao, let alone the World King Realm beyond it!

Never mind her, even the elder and village headman would have seen the tree as a grand stroke of good fortune!

“It’s not that it’s ‘beneath my notice’ but that even greater treasures are waiting for us deeper in the mountains,” Su Yi patiently explained. “We’ve got to do our best to gather them before the blood-red sword qi disappears, right?”

“Mm! As you say, Big Brother Xiao!” A’Ling took one last longing glance at the little silver tree before continuing into the mountains.

Along the way, she discovered numerous treasures that would have seemed unimaginably precious under ordinary circumstances.

Beasts whose entire bodies were precious and all manner of spirit medicines lay strewn amidst the rubble...

The young woman found it all immensely tempting, and she wanted to stop on numerous occasions, but Su Yi stopped her every time.

At this point, A’Ling couldn’t even imagine just how precious a treasure had to be to interest her Big Brother Xiao...

A little less than ten minutes later, they finally reached the heart of the Demon Crow Mountains. They were closer to that blood-red sword qi than ever before.

A’Ling was instantly solemn. “Big Brother Xiao, I’ve never been here before. When I was little, the elder said that this was a forbidden zone, and that even mighty immortals would be doomed if they came here. Are you.. sure you want to continue?”