Confronted against the two impatient cultivators, Master Sable dryly coughed. As he considered what to say to pacify them, a cold voice chimed from the distance, “What? Do you plan on charging through even with both the Heavenly Devil Sect and High Zenith Sect blocking you?”
Suddenly, Old Man Luo’s expression vastly changed. A black light shot before them from the distant horizon.
It faded to reveal a hook-nosed middle-aged man in black scholar robes.
As soon as he appeared, the old man’s bearing turned completely gloomy.
“Daoist Sevenwonders!” He coldly gasped.
It wasn’t to say that Sevenwonders was superior to Master Sable, but that he was notorious for his extremely cruel acts as the Heavenly Devil Sect’s enforcement elder. As Old Man Luo was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was entirely unwilling to upset him.
“Fellow Daoist Sevenwonders must be joking. Since your esteemed sects view this matter with such severity, it seems the pa.s.sage must truly be dangerous. Waiting a few more days is perfectly acceptable.” The old eccentric chuckled and drew back into the crowd.
The cultivator in green mist silently withdrew as well.
With the appearance of the top sects of both the Righteous and Devilish Dao joining hands, disodence stirred in the crowd.
As of current, even an idiot would know that whatever being sealed was of grave importance. Why else would the two greatest sects be willing to spare such a strong force?
But under the pressure of two vastly powerful factions, the vagrants and those from smaller sects didn’t dare complain. Even those from the larger sects were unwilling to stir up trouble.
Eight Heavenly Devil Sect cultivators flew in their direction, all at Nascent Soul stage.
As soon as they arrived, they silently took out formation plates and spell flags, quickly erecting a huge restriction in the blink of an eye and creating a dense white mist over the seal’s opening. The High Zenith and the Heavenly Devil Sect cultivators then disappeared into the formation without a trace.
Right after, many of the cultivators that wished to observe them looked at each other in dismay.
Inside the restriction, Master Sable sighed and smiled to Daoist Sevenwonders, “Fortunately, you made haste. I fear I wouldn’t have been able to ward them off much longer. Your reputation should strike them with fear.”
The middle-aged scholar put on an insincere smile and said, “Do you wish to yell my name to those outside?”
Master Sable dryly laughed, “Perish the thought.”
“Alright, let’s get back to the matter at hand,” Sevenwonders frowned and said, “These orders are not something we can simply disobey. On the way, I heard that the Yin Sifting Sect already managed to enter. Did you let them in because Old Devil Qian be among them?”
“Before I came, Old Devil Qian and a few vagrant cultivators had already entered. Later on, some Yin Sifting Sect and a few Endless Sky Temple cultivators entered as well with one of their grand immortals in tow. At the time, I hadn’t known the grave importance of the seal and wasn’t resolved to block them.”
Sevenwonders snorted and gloomily said, “I didn’t expect the Ye Clan to use their Divine Spirit Treasure replica as a diversion, and use the opportunity to come here and seize genuine Divine Spirit Treasures. If it weren’t for the spies we placed in their ranks long ago, we would’ve been entirely in the dark.”
Master Sable sighed, “It is a pity. The Ye Clan had kept a close watch over their plans. Although our informants had known of this some time ago, they didn’t have an opportunity to report it. They were only able to destroy a few of their spell formations before escaping. Had we discovered this information earlier, we would’ve never given them the opportunity in the first place. What’s the worth of a Divine Spirit Treasure if the incarnation of the ancient devil ancestor is released? There will be nothing that can be done if we allow it. Given how long its been since Old Devil Qian had entered, he should’ve already found the site where the devil was sealed.”
“He isn’t a fool. He won’t do something that won’t benefit himself. However, those Endless Sky Cultivators are another story. They aren’t from the Great Jin.”
“Oh? I heard that your sect had a relations.h.i.+p with the Endless Sky Temple. I didn’t expect you’d be wary of them.”
“What relations.h.i.+p? We merely conduct deals in our own interest,” Sevenwonders indifferently replied. “How can a seal placed by the ancients be so easily broken? So long as they hadn’t yet dissolved the Elder Devil’s restrictions, we should be able to stop their rampant actions. And even if the Elder Devil incarnation escapes, it will have been greatly weakened after spending so many years imprisoned. With the five Devil Restriction Bands I’ve brought along, we should be able to subdue it.”
“The Devil Restricting Bands? Those ancient artifact pa.s.sed down from the Spirit Realm?” Master Sable’s eyes lit up at the mention of it.
Sevenwonders coldly smiled, “That’s right. When the Elder Devils invaded our world, the cultivators from the spirit realm brought along a treasure specifically meant to deal with the high-grade Elder Devils. With the five Devil Suppression Bands, even the incarnation of the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor will be helpless.”
Master Sable’s expression calmed and he said, “That will be good. I was originally worried that the trip would prove dangerous. I didn’t expect you would be able to find these treasures.”
“Who said that I found them? These bands were given to me from the same person who gave me my orders. The one from the High Zenith Sect didn’t send you a treasure to deal with them?” The scholar shot a doubtful glance at the old man.
“When I left, I was particularly busy and hadn’t the time to prepare anything. However, I did bring the Heavenbound Blade. I should be able to offer some a.s.sistance,” Master Sable said with a wry smile.
Sevenwonders nodded, “That treasure will be suitable enough.”
“However, there is something I still don’t understand. Why are we prevented from taking the devil’s life unless it’s absolutely necessary? Why would they want us to seal it again, so it can break out again in the future?”
Sevenwonders pondered for a moment and seriously replied, “Who knows, the ancient cultivators hadn’t killed the devil either. There should be some extraordinary circ.u.mstances behind this. Let’s just follow our orders.”
Master Sable pensively nodded and then glanced in the direction of the seal’s opening, “It is as you say! Let’s save ourselves the trouble and not be so meddlesome. Did Brother Sevenwonders come here on the Flying Tortoise Chariot? Let’s hurry inside.”
Sevenwonders chuckled and shook his sleeve, summoning a ball of light. It circled around them before ma.s.sively expanding in size, turning into a ten-meter-long chariot. It appeared similar to a huge tortoise sh.e.l.l.
Soon after, Master Sable and Sevenwonders gave orders to the cultivators accompanying them, and the two entered the carriage in the blur before shooting into the seal’s opening in a streak of black.
...
The Great Pillar Mountain Range was one of the four grand spirit veins in the Great Jin. It belonged to the Righteous Dao’s number one sect: the High Zenith Sect.
Apart from the Heavenly Devil Sect and the Myriad Demon Valley, no other faction on the continent could compete in terms of power. This resulted in over a hundred various spirit mountains falling under the control of the High Zenith Sect.
Ice Soul Valley was a unremarkably small place among these mountains.
It was entirely lacking in spiritual Qi and bone-chilling Yin winds haunted the location, coating the valley walls in an icy sheet year long.
This place of seemingly little value was actually one of the forbidden areas of the High Zenith Sect that few knew of.
What was particularly mysterious was the illusion formation concealing the valley entrance. Outside from these few restrictions, there were no cultivators standing guard.
In truth, no one had dared to step foot near the place for several hundred years. Even the high ranking elders of the sect didn’t dare to step inside. They merely stood outside and spoke towards the valley with a respectful tone.
Right around when, Daoist Sevenwonders and Master Sable both entered Kunwu Mountain, a grey-robed old man with a sickly appearance appeared outside the valley.
He glanced at the illusion formation at the entrance with ridicule and let out a cough, then flying inside in a streak of green light.
A short moment later, he appeared at the end of the valley and coldly looked at the huge ice wall in front of him with his face sank. He spoke with a soft cold voice, “Old Ghost Bai, I know you’re here. There is no need to hide from visitors in your coffin!”
Soon, his words were repeated with deafening echoes throughout the valley.
The ice walls quaked without end as if they were on the verge of collapse.
The grey-robed old man didn’t seem perturbed by this and narrowed his eyes as he stood in front of the ice wall.