Chapter 2661 - The Sky-Cutting Cloud, Crimson Snow

Red Pine Mountain wasn’t just enormous. Its Laws of the natural order were mysterious and strange.

Some seemingly ordinary places were, in truth, certain doom. Those who entered were like mortals trapped in a ghostly labyrinth for all eternity, with no hope of ever finding an exit.

Sometimes, something as simple as stepping on the wrong blade of grass could land you in inescapable peril.

This was especially true on the road to the Five Elements Altar. If you didn’t follow the guidance of the Five Aggregates Talisman, it didn’t matter how strong you were. You could forget about ever reaching your destination.

This was an ironclad rule.

Thus, even those as mighty as Di E, the Dipankara Buddha, and Lu Shi obediently followed the directions provided by their Five Aggregates Talismans.

None of them acted willfully. They weren’t afraid. Rather, they feared that mishaps or delays would hurt them during the Battle for Order.

Although only the yellow finch and the Mountain Guardian Beasts knew it, there were numerous different paths to the Five Elements Altar.

Most paths had danger at every turn. Those who walked them faced all but certain doom no matter how capable they were.

One path was littered with good fortune. So long as you were cautious of the danger, you could repeatedly gather wondrous good fortune.

There was only one such blessed path, yet Su Yi, the first to arrive on Red Pine Mountain, managed to step onto it!

His luck was so good that Cang Ji found it hard to believe.

The yellow finch was confused, too. It was the Patrolling Spirit, but it could at most borrow the power of Red Pine Mountain’s Laws. It couldn’t change them!

In other words, there was only one explanation for Su Yi walking the Path of Blessings.

He’d gotten lucky!

“Esteemed Patrolling Spirit, I increasingly suspect him of cheating,” Cang Ji said gravely. “When he passed through the gates, I sensed another presence on his person. He’s a mere Master God, yet he was the first to overcome the gates’ three trials. Now, he’s even become the first in history to step onto the Path of Blessings. It all seems far too out of the ordinary.”

Its eyes blazed with murderous intent. “Seems to me that we should capture him, deliver him to the Altar of Divine Punishment, and interrogate him!”

The yellow finch glanced at Cang Ji.

Boom!

A whip manifested of the natural order of chaos appeared and ruthlessly lashed Cang JI’s body, tearing open its flesh. It cried out in agony.

Only then did the finch speak. “As a Mountain Guardian Beast, your job is to protect and enforce the rules, not to satisfy your selfish desires or vent your petty grievances. That lash as a warning. Overstep like that again, and...”

Cang Ji shook from head to toe and said hurriedly, “I wouldn’t dare!”

“Get ready," said the finch. "It’ll be easy for something to go awry when the fighting begins on the Five Elements Altar. I’d hate to see a repeat of what happened last time.”

The yellow finch beat its wings and shot into the distance.

Last time, experts of the River of Destiny intervened in the battle, triggering the cataclysm known as the Great Extinguishing and destroying the entire Central Divine Continent.

Many of the Mountain Guardian Beasts had perished during the cataclysm. Even the yellow finch had only narrowly escaped destruction.

The thought made Cang Ji shudder.

The fate of the whole world rests on this Battle for Order. I’m afraid it’ll see far more terrifying variables than last time!

Are those variables... really avoidable?

“The finch is the Patrolling Spirit, an incarnation of the Laws of the natural order, but

you

aren’t. You needn’t obey it,” an aged voice resounded out of nowhere. It originated from Cang Ji’s singular horn.

Outwardly, Cang Ji’s expression didn’t shift in the slightest as it transmitted, “You’re insane! This is Red Pine Mountain, the Esteemed Patrolling Spirit’s territory. It senses everything that happens here, down to the slightest breeze swaying a single blade of grass. I told you earlier: we can’t afford to be reckless!”

“Don’t panic,” said that aged voice. “This lofty one has means of eluding the finch’s notice. All you have to do now is decide.”

Cang Ji fell silent, its expression full of uncertainty. Finally, it asked, “Why must we attack before he reaches the Five Elements Altar?”

“Only then can we assure that no one fights us for the spoils," said that aged voice. "Succeed, and I’ll take you away immediately. Furthermore, in accordance with our agreement, I’ll lead you to the River of Destiny. You’ll no longer be bound to Red Pine Mountain.”

The aged voice continued, “I swore on my Dao Heart. You ought to understand the weight of that. If we wait until Su Yi reaches the Five Elements Altar, there’ll be too many wolves for far too little meat. It’ll be too late!”

Cang Ji was obviously hesitant. “You’re certain you can elude the Esteemed Patrolling Spirit’s senses?”

“I can!” the aged voice said firmly.

In the end, Cang Ji gnashed its teeth, its eyes flashing with cold light. “Very well!”

......

A river came into view. It was at most ninety feet across. As its waters coursed past, mist rose into the air.

Su Yi walked over to the shore and saw that its waters were crystal clear. He could see the riverbed clearly.

Pale pink stones were scattered across the riverbed, like stars dotting the sky.

Su Yi stretched out his hand, and a pale pink stone broke through the surface of the water and landed in his hand.

It looked and felt like jade, and it emanated shocking spiritual power. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like countless minute celestial fires were clashing within the stone. It was a spectacular sight.

I bet I could refine Undying treasures with these stones.

Su Yi sighed to himself. The stones were as numerous as the stars overhead. No one had even begun to harvest them.

In the outside world, they’d have been gathered and sold a long time ago. Someone would have surely excavated the riverbed by now, too!

Su Yi didn’t plan to take them all. He stood on the riverbed and carefully selected a few of the stones that, judging by their color and luster, seemed better than the rest.

He chose nine in total, no more, no less.

Suddenly, a voice rang out. “This river originates from a natural spirit spring on the peak of Red Pine Mountain. The spring waters are fundamentally imbued with divinity.

“The stones dotting the riverbed are called Fivecolor Rocks. After countless years in these divine waters, each has become a supreme Undying treasure in its own right.”

The ox-like Cang Ji appeared accompanying this voice, its body glowing with purple lightning.

It stood on the far shore, looking at Su Yi. “If you’re lucky, you might even find a Fivecolor Rock imbued with the power of Eternity. Those are extremely precious. Even Eternal Dao Lords from the River of Destiny would scramble over them.”

Su Yi inclined his head in apparent enlightenment. “Thank you.”

“Give me a certain something, and I’ll help you gather a few Five-Color Rocks imbued with Eternity.”

“Oh?” Su Yi arched his eyebrows. “What is it you’re after?”

Cang Ji’s eyes flashed with sinister light. “Your... life!”

As the word left Cang Ji’s mouth, the flowing river suddenly stilled, and a blood-red curtain of light enveloped the entire stretch of heaven and earth. It wasn’t particularly large, at most thirty thousand feet across.

But it was more than big enough to envelop both Su Yi and the Mountain Guardian Beast on the opposite shore.

Boom!

Meanwhile, Cang Ji stomped its feet, and a dazzling streak of golden lightning descended from the heavens, its destructive power shaking heaven and earth.

Su Yi furrowed his brow and swung his sleeve, shattering the golden lightning filling the sky.

But as the electric light fell like rain, a slender flying knife flashed through the air.

Su Yi’s pupils constricted, and he tried to dodge.

Kcch!

The air tore open where he’d been standing just moments prior.

A bloody gash tore open, starting from his left shoulder. Skin tear, muscle split, and blood gushed from the wound. His blue robes were instantly stained red.

The knife had struck with incomparable ruthlessness!

Had anyone else been on the receiving end of such an ambush, they’d have panicked—assuming, of course, that they were even still alive.

But Su Yi didn’t panic. His gaze was as calm as ever, his eyes as tranquil as the waters of an ancient well. As he shifted out of the knife’s way, he locked onto it.

The flying knife was as thin as a hairpin, and its edge glinted like snow. It shone with blood-red luster, like rouge. The name “Crimson Snow” was carved on the hilt in characters the size of a fly’s head.

As it hovered in midair, Eternal power flowed over its surface, terrifying and fierce.

“Impressive! You’re only in the Undying Realm, yet you managed to survive my attack. You’re the first to do so!” an aged voice rang out.

Su Yi looked over and saw divine radiance shoot out of Cang Ji’s horn, then transform into an old man in Daoist robes. He held a jade-like bamboo staff.

This old Old Daoist Crow, a prominent heretical cultivator of the River of Destiny!

He’d participated in the battle of the Borderless Mountains, too.

Afterward, Su Yi mentally replayed the battle and concluded that Old Daoist Crow was most likely in the third of the five stages of Eternity, Silence.

That meant that this Old Daoist Crow couldn’t possibly be his true body. Still, this clone was likely stronger than the last, with cultivation in the Unfettered Realm.

Otherwise, that flying knife attack couldn’t possibly have injured Su Yi.

That aside, Crimson Snow was quite the terrifying treasure. Su Yi guessed that it was a true Eternal weapon imbued with Eternal Laws!

“I wouldn’t have guessed that even a Mountain Guardian Beast would go against the rules to collude with an unsavory character like him.” Su Yi glanced at Old Daoist Crow, then looked at Cang Ji.

Cang Ji’s gaze was cold and indifferent. It just stood on the far side of the river in silence.

Old Daoist Crow, however, laughed. He gestured to the curtain of blood-red light and said, “The rules of Red Pine Mountain are not to be crossed lightly, but that doesn’t mean they’re unbreakable. Take this curtain of light. It’s called the Sky-Cutting Cloud, and I paid a heavy price to obtain it on the River of Destiny.

“It isn’t particularly powerful, but it can sever the mysteries of the heavens and elude the Laws to create a miniature, self-contained world.

“It might

seem

like we’re standing on Red Pine Mountain, but in truth, we’re within the Sky-Cutting Cloud’s barrier.”

Old Daoist crow approached Su Yi, walking toward the opposite shore. “Most wondrous of all, here on Red Pine Mountain, Unfettered Realm experts are the strongest around, and Unfettered Realm experts... have no hope whatsoever of breaking through the Sky-Cutting Cloud’s barrier.”

Old Daoist Crow was now just one thousand feet away from Su Yi. The flying knife, Crimson Snow, flew to him, then hovered there, blade pointed at Su Yi.

Terrifying murderous intent surged from Old Daoist Crow’s body and locked onto Su Yi’s body.

He smiled faintly. “Under the circumstances, no one can save you. Beg and plead all you like. None shall heed your call!”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air...

Kcch!

The flying knife shook, then vanished into thin air.

Old Daoist Crow drew closer, raising his bamboo cane like a saber.

Countless green chains of the natural order flooded in explosively from all sides, thoroughly surrounding Su Yi.

Like a beast in a cage.