Chapter 309: The a.s.sembly
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It had already been four days, and the monsters that came das.h.i.+ng out from s.h.i.+wan Mountain grew stronger and stronger. They were no longer the hideous evil creatures with pointy fangs and sharp claws, but were malicious creatures that inherently possessed magic on their bodies; ones that would only be seen in ancient legends.
The cultivators too could not tell how many cycles they had exchanged. Almost everyone’s expression was dimmed; the amount of injuries and fatalities too gradually increased. Little Chi Maojiu and Wen Leyang had yet to wake up; they appeared to be comfortable and in peace, each sleeping deeper and sounder than one another.
Following the dwarf Taoist priest’s order, four thousand cultivators leaped out, and took the place of the previous group of companions.
Tu Mi looked at the breach in hatred and retracted her treasured weapon. She brought along her people as they fell back, and walked in front of the dwarf Taoist priest. She then asked in a lowered voice, “At this rate, how long do you think we can last?”
The dwarf Taoist priest’s face revealed a forced smile, “Another three to four days with great effort; I can’t predict any much longer than that. The crowd is already not working as hard as before; they are all thinking of conserving some actual power, so they can defend themselves when the place is destroyed.”
Tu Mi gave out a ‘bah’. She was about to exclaim in rage, but soon after, she shook her head while laughing, “It’s only human nature in this situation. They are able to behave as such now; it’s not considered an easy task.
Meanwhile, the cultivators who had just taken position suddenly screamed out in surprise. The monsters that had never stopped flowing all along for the past few days were akin to a mighty torrent that was suddenly barred by a giant water lock. The monsters suddenly stopped attacking without a sign. It only took a short moment for all the shadows and forms to disappear suddenly.
After that moment of shock and astonishment, the eyes of every cultivator were burning with wild joy. Everyone shared the same thoughts – the reinforcement had arrived!
The dwarf Taoist priest’s face was filled with surprise and joy as well. He looked at Tu Mi and was about to say something when the sound of an extremely suffocating bang echoed from in between the heaven and earth.
The air from the border of the place of the outer fringe surged into a pool of ripples out of nowhere The air was rippling in an obvious manner and had spread across the entire stretch of sky and land in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The m.u.f.fled loud noise was heard continuously. It did not sound rushed, but instead, sounded a little slow, yet every sound that was heard was in sync with the crowd’s heartbeat – so slow that it was suffocating! The place of the outer fringe was akin to a gigantic soap bubble, and there was something on the outside that was knocking against the soap bubble over and over again.
Everyone stood gazing at one another. Within their gazes, they could read fear, that dash of surprise and the joy that was washed away into nothingness, under the layered airwave ripples!
The dwarf Taoist priest was the first one to react to the situation. He waved his hand and brandished his flying sword. The moment he launched an attack, the Qilian disciples immediately gathered forward. There were thousands of treasured weapons suspended in the sky, but that Red-colored Sword Formation was like a wound lying across the heaven and earth. It was the most striking to the eyes and most dreadful to the mind.
The Taoist priest issued an order in a lowered voice, “This feels queer. It may not necessarily be reinforcement, everyone…” Before he could finish his sentence, the final m.u.f.fled sound surged skywards. The entire place of the outer fringe jumped up ferociously, and shook so hard the cultivators were toppling to the side.
A dozen streaks of fissures appeared in the air out of nowhere, akin to an earthworm with its tail cut off. The fissures twisted its bodies with great effort, and spread out in all directions towards the entrance to the place of the outer fringe. The dwarf Taoist priest’s face suddenly turned ghastly pale and was almost shouting in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “They are trying to widen the entrance!”
Before his voice died away, the sound of strange beast’s roaring and humming was heard from an unseen world. The monsters’ mighty torrent that had only stopped for a moment, started surging once again while the entrance of the place of the outer fringe was wider than before, by more than ten times! The creature that was surging at the front, was a filthy evil spirit with hard skin and armor that possessed rare magic!
Xing Gu, appeared in a form almost like a rabbit – pure white and adorable, yet it had four unusually strong and thick hooves. The sound of its footsteps was heavier than a wild elephant. Every step it took would certainly cause a giant rock to fall from the sky.
Jie Huang, that appeared no different from a slightly larger locust, fancied shaking its wings to hum in joy. The sound of its singing was sharp enough to crack giant rocks. When it moved, it travelled in groups of thousands. Where the sound of loud bangs was heard, the heaven collapsed and the earth sank.
Cui Ran, the three-eyed golden bird, travelled like the wind. Although it was timid as a mouse, its gaze on the other hand, was intense. Everyone who gazed into its eyes, would immediately go mad, no matter how profound their cultivation base was.
The flying sand and rolling pebbles, the demonic aura and ghost shadows, as well as the blood mist and evil paths… The thick fishy stench was almost solid, as it engulfed the sky and the land. The crystal clear blue sky turned dim and devoid of light in the blink of an eye! At this moment, the cultivators in the place of the outer fringe finally could no longer stay united with the same morality. Some cowardly people could not suppress the fear and dejection in their hearts. They turned around and ran towards the depth of the place of the outer fringe.
When one person ran away, two more became panic-stricken. When two people became panic-stricken, four more would shuffle their feet in secret… The fear on the battleground was akin to a plague that spread out as it pleased in a flash. More and more people were running away. The dwarf Taoist priest flew into a rage; his flying sword was guiding the Sword Formation in midair to spin around. The s.h.i.+mmering red glow felt cold yet sharp. He wanted to execute the deserters, yet in the end, the Qilian Sword Formation still changed its direction, rippling with vigorous and enchanting flames. The sword formation surged towards those turbulent wave-like monsters at the entrance, while the Taoist priest stomped his foot ferociously. He reprimanded unwillingly, “My fellow boys, we are not strong enough…”
Before he managed to exclaim fully, Tu Mi grabbed a handful of him. The fat woman seemed to have known that this would happen. There was not too much panic and rage that could be seen in her expression. She chuckled and spoke, “Taoist master, we can’t guard the exit anymore. Let’s fall back then! Once we have arrived at the depth of the place of the outer fringe, we shall deal with this group of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds once again!”
As she was saying that, Tu Mi whistled. The World Sect’s master cultivators rapidly gathered forward, and joined the Qilian disciples. They picked Wen Leyang and Chi Maojiu up, who were still sound asleep, while they waved about their treasured weapons to ward off other cultivators. They then ran towards the depth of the place of the outer fringe.
The moment the monsters dashed into the place, they transformed from the monstrous waves into a dozen mighty torrents that spread out towards all directions. When the mighty torrents pa.s.sed through flesh, resulting in blood spurting haphazardly, the agonizing cries of the cultivators before they met death, shook through the entire sky!
All the master cultivators who were gathered in the place of the outer fringe, with a large number and manpower of thousands of men, had occupied the topographical advantage. However, before the s.h.i.+wan Mountain’s monsters, they only managed to withstand four days…
At the same time, the place of the outer fringe’s entrance fell. Nine Peaks Mountain’s Wen family village too suddenly turned chaotic. There were four people who stumbled and fell all the way; they ran up to the mountain from the foothill in a disheveled manner. The first words of the person who was das.h.i.+ng at the front upon entering the village was, “I cultivate in The Thousand Miles Of River with the Moon Over Cloudless in the Clear Sky Clear Mind and Clear Heart Divine-Destroying Art Of Sword. It has its own wonder…”
After the place of the outer fringe vanished, Zhui Zi, who was tracking Red Pot, rushed back to the Nine Peaks Mountain. She was a.s.suming personal command in the village at this moment.
Recently, Qinling Mountains, Crow Ridge and Seven Maidens Mountain were attacked at almost the same time. These three occurrences were all caused by the magic formations created using the treasured weapons owned by the ‘evil soul version’ of Red Pot. The three magic formations were launched simultaneously. Zhui Zi could not cope all by herself, and in the end, she only managed to prevent the disaster of peris.h.i.+ng, that would befall the two families of Miao and Luo.
While Red Pot too seized the opportunity to escape during the chaos, it managed to rid itself of Zhui Zi’s tracking.
Those two families’ master cultivators who came rus.h.i.+ng over as reinforcement, had all returned to their sects by now.
Zhui Zi left the house in a flash. Her expression carried some surprise in the midst of panic. She shouted sternly, “Where’s Wen Leyang?”
Nineteen kept her words as promised. She released the four persons Ji Fei, Shui Jing, the child and the blind man back to the Nine Peaks Mountain, but she would never have expected that although the old monk’s cultivation base was shallow, his cultivation method had its wonders. It was not difficult to kill him, but the attempt to erase his memories was impossible in the hands of Kong Nuer!
Since the old monk did not lose his memories, the secret from the place of the outer fringe could not be hidden from the people of Nine Peaks Mountain anymore.
Zhui Zi inquired until she could understand what had happened. She then asked the old monk immediately, “Do you know which part of s.h.i.+wan Mountain they are at?”
The five-element demon aside, those descendants of the heaven’s cone nails could have very much been top sword immortals. If they were to intentionally hide their tracks, anyone would find it difficult to locate them in the middle of a vast mountain. Nineteen was extremely meticulous in managing her tasks, and by the time Ji Fei and the rest had woken up, they were arranged in a row as they lay in a guesthouse of Shanghai. Even so, the old monk retained his memories. It was no easy task to find the descendants of the heaven’s cone nails’ stronghold in s.h.i.+wan Mountain either.
Meanwhile the fat monk sn.i.g.g.e.red, “The monk cultivates in the Musical Divine Lotus Sect Suit of Armor…” Before he could finish the last part of his sentence, he was frozen by Zhui Zi’s gaze.
The old monk, Ji Fei, hastily interrupted, “The fat monk’s cultivation method has a rare art of spirit-searching. Once it is launched, no cultivator is capable of hiding from it!”
The moment the fat monk Shui Jing left the place of the outer fringe, he took the risk to feign a struggle and exploded his Buddhist prayer bead. He then launched the supernatural power of spirit-searching. As long as he returned to the s.h.i.+wan Mountain, he would be able to locate the enemy’s hiding ground.
The two monks explained the incident by continuing each other’s sentences. First Uncle Wen Tunhai brought along Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen as they walked over, “We shall go together!”
Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen too found out that little Taiyang was bullied by someone out there. The silly uncles were not intelligent, yet their words of ‘Whoever dares to bully our Taiyang (Sun), will be beaten by me until his intestines come out!” Back in those days, they still remembered it all along.
Zhui Zi smiled gracefully. She did not reject them; they immediately departed…
On Mount Putuo’s Buddha Peak, Mumu was scared out of her wits. She guided her zombie as she followed Chang Li to search for clues about the place of the outer fringe without a purpose, when her cell phone suddenly rang. A moment later, Mumu was both surprised and joyous. She exclaimed to Chang Li in a trembling voice, “They have found Wen Leyang’s whereabouts!”
In the Qinling Mountains’ dragon vein Yin’s eye, the color of Hanba Fifth Brother’s face was dimmed and malevolent. He had been spending the past one month clearing the ruins. The mountain was changing under the huge earthquake’s influence, while the corpse-forming land was naturally destroyed into nothingness. Apart from that, there was one more matter that worried him – the demon figurines that he stored in the house had all disappeared without a trace! Little Five was pondering over how to console her father’s rage, when Hanba gave out a ‘huh’. He turned over his hand and brandished the wooden bell that was used by the few demon immortals to transmit messages. He placed it next to his ear and listened carefully before lifting Little Five at one go, “We’re leaving!”
Over a thousand Kunlun Sect’s disciples had completely received the embodiment of true water. They had just returned to the Yuxu Palace from the highland earlier, and were bustling about and cleaning the palace, when the voice of little supreme leader, Liu Zheng, echoed from the audience hall, “The Qing-named generation disciples are to stay behind and guard the sect, while the rest of the disciples are to follow me to set out on a journey…”
On Eyangshan Mountain, it was unknown why the little fat boy, Ah Dan, was having a temper tantrum. Throughout the whole day, the disciples outside could hear Ah Dan crying and making a fuss in the supreme leader’s room. Their conversation also echoed from the room instinctively.
San Wei’s voice was filled with helplessness, “Why did I formally acknowledge you as my disciple!?”
Ah Dan muttered as he sobbed, “I’m the G.o.d level body, while you are the split body… I’ll risk my life to fight you if you don’t follow me to save them…”
In the Temple of Great Mercy, the little stuttering Hope Voice raised the cellphone in his hand. He was panic-stricken as he dashed into the abbot’s meditation room, “Wen… Wen, Leyang… place of the outer fringe, place of the outer fringe!”
On the highland, the head lama Rangjung inhaled a deep breath, before blowing the bone flute unexpectedly…
Every single one of World Sect’s master cultivators had received the Rainbow’s oracle. They set out for the journey within a night…
The siblings, Pig Cat Red Army were sitting together. Their conversation was about the recent mystery of the cultivation world revolving around the hottest topic, ‘Disappearance of the Place of the Outer Fringe’. Red Grandaunt received a text message; she read it three times and suddenly jumped up – even her wrinkles were flooded with excitement, “A thrilling show! A thrilling show!” Her fingers were akin to flying, as she immediately forwarded the message in a large batch…
Xiao Sha was addicted to the game of Happy Farm recently, and was stealing vegetables all day long to the point of dizziness. When he was strolling in Fei Fei’s farm on this day, Old Gu suddenly walked into his office and asked in exasperation, “What’s going on? The Mountain Sect and World Sect, the rogue cultivators and obscure cultivators, the fat monk and old monk are all heading towards the southwest. What are they doing there?”
Xiao Sha took out the map in a great bustle and searched towards the southwest direction for a long while. In the end, he spoke softly, “s.h.i.+wan… Mountain?”
s.h.i.+wan Mountain!
Some were there because of their close connection to the Wen family, while the rest were there because their disciples too disappeared in the place of the outer fringe. Others were there to join the fun, while the rest were trying to take advantage of the situation. Regardless, the cultivators of the worlds were already moving after receiving the news this time! The scale of this event was unprecedented since the ancient times; it was stronger by many times as compared to Mount Hua’s meeting four years ago…
The descendants of the heaven’s cone nails who were in charge of guarding the peripheral area too discovered unusual movements; they continuously transmitted the information back to the five-element demon and the descendants of the heaven’s cone nail.
The three people, Shudou, Sir Rust and Hot Immortal Aunt were almost beaten to death by Wen Leyang earlier, and were recuperating after they consumed the Centipede Gra.s.s. They were utterly unaware of the situation that was taking place outside. Nineteen was slightly restless. Even though she did not understand what was happening, she could make a wild guess, that the matter was stirring up such a big trouble. She was afraid that this was related to her releasing Ji Fei and Shui Jing on her own accord.
Ever since the five-element demon appeared, he had been acting innocent, but when he was executing Kong Nuer’s order, he was very loyal. Occasionally, when he made a display of his skills, he could only be described as startling the world, despite being not fully awake. However, his reaction was always slower than the others. His mentality was child-like; he would frequently perform pranks that render the sword immortals at a loss of whether to cry or to laugh.
After the demon received the news, not only was he not shocked or panicked, he was rather joyous. He said to Nineteen with a smile, “What’s the point of worrying? There are too little cultivators here. The best thing is for every single person in the entire world, including cows and horses, bugs and birds, to come looking for us. Only then, it will be fun… Anyhow, they will not be able to find us!” As he was saying that, he covered his mouth and laughed.
Nineteen’s face was plastered with a feigned smile. She shook her head and spoke, “It’s naturally the best if they fail at finding us, but in case they do, it will be troublesome!”
The demon pondered for a long while, before looking towards Full Moon absent-mindedly, “Why would it be troublesome?”
Nineteen and the rest of the three inferiors had almost never left the demon by so much as half an inch, for the past four years. They had since grown used to his seemingly wild behavior, “Amongst these people, there are a few demon immortals with a cultivation base that triumphs over us. Liu Zheng and San Wei’s split body are sword immortals too. There are also the few prominent and outstanding Tuo Xie’s disciples…”
Full Moon was also pouting his lips from the side, “Let alone a few top cultivators, even if those small characters were to truly look for us in an attempt to fight, we are no match for them too!”
The demon was even more puzzled. He stretched out his metal element fingers and scratched noisily against his wood element head. Every scratch had cut into five streaks of grotesque wounds, but soon after, his skin healed in a very obvious manner, “Why are they looking for all of you for a fight?”
Full Moon scoffed, “They aren’t only looking for us, they’re also looking for you to fight against!”
The few descendants of moon cone nail explained for a long while, before the demon finally understood that the countless cultivators who were coming to s.h.i.+wan Mountain were not here to play hide-and-seek with him. At least half of them were here to fight him.
The five-element demon’s face was finally filled with rage, “How many of their people have I killed?”
Nineteen was slightly more intelligent than her other three brothers. She helped to decipher the demon’s words, “I’ll kill them! How many of their people are there?”
Full Moon was at a loss of whether to cry or laugh, “You do know how to simplify the matter well! There are so many of them that they’re almost innumerable. They also cannot be killed off completely…”
The demon suddenly laughed. He was joyous and also proud, “What are you afraid of? If the worse comes to worst, we shall burrow into the place of the outer fringe, and see who amongst them dares to enter!” Upon saying that, he added, “Anyhow, I’m going to burrow into the place sooner or later!”
The four descendants of moon cone nail were startled. Full Moon’s fat face was laden with shock, “Why do you want to burrow into the place?”