While Lin Xun, Zhao Jingxuan, and Toady were beginning their operation, a terrifying presence suddenly appeared in an area nearby.

It was a Golden-Winged Great Peng whose wings looked as if they had been forged from solid gold. Terrifying, radiant ocean-like dao light flowed along its body as its sharp golden eyes gazed at the mountain in the distance like a king.

“My god! That’s… is that the Great Peng from the ancient era?”

At the foot of the mountain, numerous experts exclaimed in surprise.

Rumble!

The Golden-Winged Great Peng opened its mouth and sucked. An unstoppable force immediately swept up a dozen experts and sent them into its mouth.

Crack! Crack!

The Golden-Winged Great Peng slowly chewed as blood began to flow from the corners of its mouth. It looked apathetic as if it was sampling an appetizer, evidently viewing the experts as nothing but food.

The appalling scene caused blood to drain from the other experts’ faces before they shrieked in terror and frantically fled toward the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain.

Crash~

The sky was suddenly covered by a shadow as an enormous mountain-like snake head appeared. Its blood-colored pupils resembled a pair of lakes, and its forked tongue was akin to a blood-colored waterfall flowing in reverse.

Another dozen experts were swallowed by the snake in an instant, unable to even resist.

However, when the giant snake tried to approach the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain, it was stopped by a divine force, causing it to hiss and retreat.

Peerless Great Serpent!

Its long body resembled a mountain range covered in azure scales. It towered over the land, looking down on everyone as it gave off a terrifying aura.

“Damnit! What kind of monster is that? Why is its aura even more terrifying than a Life Death Stage King?”

“Run, quickly escape up the mountain!”

Any thoughts about fighting were long gone from the remaining experts’ minds as they ran up the mountain like lunatics, creating a scene that could only be described as chaotic.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng did not move from the spot as it withdrew its wings. It proudly stood in the sky with a cold and haughty expression.

When it gazed at the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain, however, a trace of unexplainable wariness and unconcealable desire rippled in its eyes.

On the other side, the Peerless Great Serpent flicked its red tongue as it closely watched the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain as well.

They should have originally been mortal enemies, but had temporarily put aside their differences and turned their sights to the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain.

Soon after, a palm-leaf-sized butterfly appeared, its colorful wings glowing with five-colored light.

When it arrived, it glanced at the Golden-Winged Great Peng and Peerless Great Serpent before choosing another area to silently watch the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain.

Its presence was no weaker than the other two.

Swish!

A cloud of azure light appeared from another direction. It was a majestic azure fox with soft and smooth silk-like fur.

As it walked across the air, its deep, worldly, and intelligent eyes glanced over the three other terrors. In the end, it also stopped and looked at the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain.

Four great terrors who occupied different territories in the Deva Secret Domain had appeared together and were looking toward the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain as if waiting for something.

It was an extremely shocking scene.

The silver lining was that the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain was covered in terrifying restriction power and divine aura. Although the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the other beasts were powerful, the closer they were the more they would be restrained, making it impossible to approach.

Otherwise, it would be a disaster for the many experts present.

Rumble!

Not long after, a centipede appeared. Its ten-foot-long body seemed to be made from green jade, and it gave off a terrifying and sinister aura.

It seemed to be in a violent mood and immediately charged at the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain the moment it appeared. Jade-green light rose like steam from its body, supercharging it with dreadful power.

It wanted to force its way into the mountain!

This made the Golden-Winged Great Peng, the Peerless Great Serpent, the butterfly, and the azure fox narrow their eyes.

However, their expressions soon returned to normal.

Before the jade-green centipede could come anywhere close, it was crushed by a strand of divine aura. Its body nearly caved into itself as it released a piercing shriek.

Fortunately, it reacted quickly and retreated with all its might, avoiding the worst possible situation. When it looked at the mountain again, however, its gaze was filled with wariness and fear, but also a look that said it was unable to accept its failure.

In the end, it restrained itself and silently took a spot some distance away.

……

Outside the Return Dominion.

“The sacred mountain’s opportunity is about to descend. It seems to be related to the legendary Buddhist saint cultivator!”

The news shook the entire place, causing the bigwigs from the various clans to reveal excited and smug expressions.

The Herculean Demon Bull Clan, the Golden Luan Clan, the Cloud Hou Clan, the Mysterious Ao Clan, and the other clans that had managed to take the initiative were even cheering.

The greatest opportunity had finally appeared. It filled the bigwigs with longing, wishing they could also enter the secret domain to explore it.

Unfortunately, all they could do was think about it.

The excitement and joy did not last for long before the bad news arrived—

“Monsters, many monsters have appeared in the vicinity of the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain. There’s a Golden-Winged Great Peng, a mysterious giant snake, and a palm-leaf-sized five-colored butterfly!”

“Many clansmen were unable to escape in time and were eaten by them!”

“They are more frightening than Life Death Stage Kings. My god, why did so many terrifying existences suddenly appear in that god-forsaken place?”

The spirits of many experts began to appear on the Life Soul Altars. They were the experts who had managed to escape using the Life Soul Bone Talisman after being killed.

Their recounts caused the bigwigs’ hearts to turn cold and their expressions to sink as they realized the severity of the issue.

“These terrifying creatures are clearly there for the opportunity in the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain! Since they can’t enter, they have decided to camp outside. In other words, no matter which disciple manages to obtain the opportunity, they will be attacked the moment they try to leave!”

One of the bigwigs gnashed his teeth in hatred.

“The fact that it managed to draw so many terrifying creatures means that it is definitely no ordinary opportunity. It's so infuriating that we can only wait outside and cannot enter to help!”

Another bigwig bitterly lamented, his face green with rage.

Who could have anticipated that a group of terrifying creatures would gather before anyone even obtained the opportunity?

“This matter is not that simple or severe. Since those terrifying creatures can’t enter the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain, it means that there’s a chance for the disciples to escape.”

One of the more cool-headed bigwigs shared his analysis.

“If they dare to kill any of my clansmen, I will wipe them all out one day!”

A thunderous roar suddenly boomed. It was the Herculean Demon Bull Clan’s Demon Bull King Niu Xiaori. His voice was filled with murderous rage.

However, that was all they could do. After all, they were stuck outside and could not enter. No matter how angry they felt, they could only glare, hope for a good outcome, and pray that nothing would go wrong.

……

Back on the peak.

“Scam? That’s all? F’ck his grandma, another useless message! Why are all those bold monks like this? They’re clearly being nonsensical!”

Toady cursed out loud, clearly rather frustrated.

He had brought Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan to investigate the other altars. Since there was no longer anyone else around, they had quickly explored nine altars.

It was exactly as Toady had predicted. Strange and cryptic Mahalayana secret script had been left on each altar. However, the contents were nothing but disappointing, and they had discovered nothing of value until now.

This left Toady dumbfounded and exasperated. He had originally believed that he would discover some secret or clue from the altars and had not expected that it instead would all be nonsensical words.

It would be a devastating loss if they ended up finding nothing. Not only would they have lost the initiative in vying for the opportunity, but they would also have wasted a lot of precious time!

“Let’s go to the next one.”

Lin Xun’s expression had become a little dejected, already somewhat regretting having listened to Toady’s nonsense. However, since they had already started this, he would make sure that they would investigate every single altar.

“Right right right, let’s go look elsewhere. We’ll definitely find something.”

Toady was feeling somewhat embarrassed and could not bear to face Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan. Hence, he hurriedly agreed to Lin Xun’s suggestion.

“They’ve been watching us since the beginning.”

Zhao Jingxuan was feeling rather uneasy as she pointed to the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the other terrors camping outside the mountain.

They had been shocked to discover them earlier and soon realized that these creatures must have been lured here by the opportunity in the mountain.

However, after realizing that the creatures could not approach the sacred mountain, Lin Xun and the others could care less about them.

“Ignore them. They’re just a bunch of useless trash that can’t even enter the mountain. It's only fitting that all they can do is watch us in envy.”

The smug manner in which Toady said it made Lin Xun itch to hit the back of his head.

If these creatures that were comparable to Life Death Stage Kings were trash, wouldn’t all of them be worse than trash?

“Hurry up and move!”

Lin Xun glared at Toady.

Toady knew that his plan so far wasn’t really working out. Hence, he didn’t argue back but instead continued the operation.

“Fangchun is where the heart lies. Does that mean that Fangchun Mountain doesn’t exist?”

“I did not expect that he would have tricked all of us…”

“Does Fangchun Mountain really not exist?”

Toady investigated altar after altar only to find that their contents were similar.

It made his expression grow increasingly ugly as he incessantly cursed the Buddhist saint cultivators for leaving such nonsense instead any useful clues. It was as if they were taunting and making fun of anyone who managed to decipher the words.

Even Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan were speechless. What kind of place was Fangchun Mountain? Why were these Buddhist saint cultivators so obsessed over it?

Finally, while investigating the thirteenth altar, Toady was suddenly invigorated by a new discovery!

When Toady translated the Mahayana secret script on the altar, Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan were first taken aback before they immediately honed in on a certain few key words.

Secret of the Bodhi!

It turned out that Fangchun Mountain hid the ‘secret of the Bodhi’!