Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The sky at Yin Mountain was gloomy, though it was not completely dark. It was as though a layer of poorly-made colored glass had covered the sky, shielding the sun, the moon, and the stars from one’s sight.

The ground was cold and dry. It seemed solid and impervious to external forces.

Shen Lian wiped his eyelids and his eyes immediately brightened. He could see the source of the congregation of Yin Qi was at the waist of the mountain. The area was shrouded by a thin layer of mist, and it was not clear what was within it.

Shen Lian knew that the sacred site of Buddhism, Da Ming Wang Temple was hiding beneath the mist.

Half a year ago, an almighty had transcended beyond the mortal world here.

Shen Lian was going at a steady pace. Yin Mountain was mysterious, and Da Ming Wang Temple did not monopolize the area. Allegedly, there was another sacred site of Buddhism at the deepest part of Yin Mountain. However, no one knew where it was, what its name was, and what kind of almighties had appeared there before.

The sky far away started to change. Shen Lian could see the army troop formed by thirteen people, and they were flying towards Shen Lian’s direction. All of them were riding on black horses. There were blood stains on the furs; a clear sign that they had been killing their way here.

The riders of the black horses were equipped with armors, and the armors were imprinted with complicated marks. Shen Lian could see all of these with his empowered eyes.

These demonic soldiers were manifestations of dead souls. They were a combination of resentful thoughts, evil thoughts, and the evil Qi of Huang River. They represented death.

Shen Lian was in deep thoughts – Da Ming Wang Temple was not far away, how did these demonic soldiers of Huang River get here? Were they not afraid of incurring the wrath of Da Ming Wang Temple and the consequences that followed?

The demonic soldiers were closing in and Shen Lian did not have much time left to ponder on this. The demonic soldiers would attack any living creatures made out of blood and flesh, and they would not bother with talking.

Shen Lian spread his palms and a fireball appeared. The bright red flames were jarring. With a gentle toss, the fireball was in the air. It collided with the incoming demonic soldiers, and the soldiers who held long spears in their hands were set on fire in an instant. Within seconds, they had all turned into ashes. There seemed to be some remnants of armors and weapons that were getting closer to Shen Lian from above, but they were all vibrated away by intangible force.

Shen Lian did not give it another look; despite the appearance of the demonic soldiers of Huang River was strange, but the incident did not deserve his curiosity. After all, there would be an endless supply of demonic soldiers so long as there were dead people, Huang River, and the secret techniques of Underworld Demon Sect.

The demonic soldiers seemed to be a small patrol troop. After quite some time, there was no demonic soldier anymore.

At that moment, Shen Lian had hiked up the mountain ahead and was getting closer to the mist.

There were not a lot of plants at Yin Mountain. Those that survived were definitely of a precious breed, and the chances of them being found by the roadside were infinitely low. Shen Lian did not discover anything notable.

If anything, the rocks of Yin Mountain might be of some use. After all these years of being amidst the Yin Qi, the rocks were capable of cooling a room down during the hottest summer. It would prove useful at the princes and marquises’ manors. However, prolonged exposure must be avoided. Otherwise, one would be fraught with sickness.

Though, the rocks at Yin Mountain were extremely hard. It would not be easy to extract them.

However, a huge portion of rocks had collapsed from the mountain. It seemed that they were impacted by considerable force. With a wave of his hand, Shen Lian hit hard on the wall. However, the damage he caused was merely a tiny crack.

This showed that his force was focused, and it also showed the hardness of the rocks of Yin Mountain. The rocks were comparable to the finest of steel in the human realm.

As he got closer to the peak, he noticed more and more damages. There must have been an intense battle here.

When Shen Lian had entered into the mist, he heard a loud sound that was louder than thunder.

This was the aftermath of the battle, and the residual vibrations from the battle could still be detected amidst the mist.

Shen Lian was shocked and he wondered what had happened here.

Out of a sudden, he detected danger. A monster with the head of a cow and the body of a man appeared, and he charged at Shen Lian with a steel fork. This time around, he had absorbed much of the mist and turned it into his own power.

The tip of the steel fork was extremely sharp. The sound of friction could be heard when it was drawn across the air; it was as though space had turned into a piece of paper and a hole was created there by it.

Shen Lian cleansed himself of distracting thoughts and let the steel fork pierce through his chest.

The monster with the head of a cow and the body of a man disappeared.

Shen Lian took another step forward and was met with a little hill that blocked his way. The hill was filled with sharp knives with their sharp tip pointing upwards. A wave of mist blew past and was turned into half immediately.

The knives were significantly sharper than the steel fork earlier.

The sight of the mountain of knives would make those who were faint-hearted faint on the spot. Even the best cultivators would choose to fly over the mountain of knives instead of walking past it.

Shen Lian fished out a paper crane and tossed it up in the air. It was inflated and turned into a real white crane. The crane flapped its wings and flew towards the mountain of knives hesitantly. When it was halfway through, it fell down immediately.

Shen Lian did not feel any spiritual vibration this time, and he could not tell what was the trick being used.

He thought about it for a while. In the end, he stepped right into the mountain of knives. The knives cut into his skin, sending sharp pain up to his bier. The pain was clear.

Each knife was followed by another; his blood and flesh splattered all over.

Moreover, the knives were not static. They were whirring gently and rotated within his blood and flesh. Once in a while, they would extend themselves and shaved off a great portion of his flesh, rendering his white bones were visible.

Shen Lian remained calm. He was not bothered by the extreme pain and suffering that most humans could not bear.

Slowly, he made his way to the peak of the hill. The knives retracted themselves into the sand as though they were earthworms.

His injuries started healing at an impressive speed. Only light scars were left behind – the proof that he had suffered through extreme pain.

Shen Lian wondered if there would be a sea of fire following the mountain of knives. He also wondered if all of the ascetic monks in Da Wang Temple including Huike had gone through this, or maybe worse.

He had always found ascetic practices to be pointless, even though he had pulled through fifteen years of suffering in the River of Spirits.

The pain earlier was real, and the injuries were not.

However, to most mortals, real pain would make them lose their breaths and their lives.

Most cultivators would not be able to make it through the pain brought forth by the mountain of knives.

What greeted Shen Lian next was not a sea of fire, but the Golden Path. It was a path made of gold, and it was flanked by nameless trees that gave off a strange scent.

He walked on the Golden Path and noticed how small the leaves on the trees were. The trunks were covered with a translucent layer of rubber-like material, which was the source of the scent. The scent filled Shen Lian’s nose and mouth.

The scent was comforting and was even better than the scent of flower blossoms.

After the painful journey through the mountain of knives, he felt as though he had reached the Heavens.

The strange scent soothed his pain, and the Golden Path was filled with a comforting spiritual force that oozed up the Yongquan Point located at the bottom of his feet. He felt refreshed.