Chapter 1451
Chapter 1451 (Raw 1431):
For the past millennium, the Penglai Sea had remained hidden. People rarely came out. Many people had already forgotten about the Penglai Sea, not knowing what kind of place it was.
It was now the Martial Epoch. Forcefully cultivating Immortal Cultivation was definitely not the right path. Not only was it extremely difficult, but there was also no hope of becoming an Immortal. It was very tragic.
[TL Note: In case it gets confusing, the impression that I have is that Immortals are Immortal Cultivators who reached the point of escaping the six paths of reincarnation, or rather, since that is broken, reach the point of living forever as long as there is Immortal Qi. Since there are no more Immortal Tribulations in the Martial Epoch, no one can truly become a true Immortal.]
However, no one would overlook the strength of these Immortal Cultivators. They knew all sorts of strange Immortal Arts and strong Magic Skills. They also had various transforming Magic Treasures.
This resulted in Martial Cultivators suffering a lot when fighting Immortal Cultivators. If they could not close in on the Immortal Cultivators, they might even get played to death.
No one understood what this group of Immortal Cultivators was thinking in disappearing for a thousand years and suddenly reappearing in the golden age.
Furthermore, after their millennium-long absence, it was hard to judge how strong these Immortal Cultivators were.
Did they improve, or did they decline?
"Interesting. It looks like this group of Immortal Cultivators is really dying out. To think that two out of the three Immortal Venerates are here." Jiang Tian seemed to understand this group of Immortal Cultivators well. As he casually evaluated them, he did not show any respect for them at all.
Surprised, Xiao Chen asked, "Senior Jiang, why do you say this?"
"You don't know? That makes sense. Aside from some antiques, not many people know about this," Jiang Tian said indifferently.
Mu Yong, the hemp-robed old man, said, "I know a little about that. The Immortal Qi of the Penglai Sea has been decreasing. Hence, one thousand years ago, they locked themselves up in their small world.
"Based on today, they must have been driven into a dead end and are gambling it all on this."
Feng Xiao said, "Are the Immortal Cultivators strong?"
The hemp-robed old man thought for a while. Since they might end up interacting with this group of Immortal Cultivators, he explained, "Well, you could call them strong. An Immortal Venerate is as strong as a Ninth Heaven Martial Emperor and can contend with a Holy Master. However, once you get up close, even you can easily kill an Immortal Venerate.
"Without an Immortal's body, they cannot escape the six paths of reincarnation. They also do not have any truly powerful Magic Skills. This group of Immortal Cultivators cannot be compared to the Immortal Cultivators of the Immortal Epoch."
However, Xiao Chen vaguely felt that something was not quite right. Matters were probably not that simple.
The Penglai Sea was not as weak as the two of them made it out to be. Otherwise, the Immortal Cultivators would not have the courage to take in Xie Changtian, who was responsible for the Thunder Emperor Sang Mu's death.
However, these doubts were all secrets. It was not convenient for Xiao Chen to say them. He could only take things step by step.
"Look, there is a woman on the mountain!"
Just at this moment, someone in a nearby sea region suddenly shouted in shock, pointing at the summit of a mountain below the Mirage Immortal Palace.
When Xiao Chen's sharp senses picked this up this, he immediately took a look.
Indeed, there was a woman on the mountain. She wore white clothes and had long hair. Holding a sword in her hand, she was like an ethereal fairy, looking very refined. She gave off a pure aura, and her eyes sparkled like stars and gems.
The saying "a beauty so resplendent, it could topple the world" applied to this.
At this moment, the Mirage Immortal Palace had not arrived yet. How could there be someone at the summit of the mountain?
Such doubts arose in Xiao Chen's mind. However, when he looked at the hemp-robed old man, he noticed that the other party appeared calm.
"Is that a fairy?" Feng Xiao asked in somewhat of a daze.
The middle-aged couple and that swordsman were puzzled, as well as impressed, by this woman's appearance and aura.
"It is not a fairy. It is the female Sect Master of that sect from the Immemorial Era. Counting the other times I was here, this is my third time seeing her."
The hemp-robed old man added calmly, "This woman appears in different places every time. However, after we went in, I never saw her. It's extremely mysterious."
The moment this woman appeared, the two Immortal Venerates on the Immortal ship opened their eyes at the same time.
The three Immortal Venerates of the Penglai Sea were Immortal Venerate Yun Chen, Immortal Venerate Ming Yue, and the strongest Immortal Venerate, Tian Yi. Of the three, Immortal Venerate Yun Chen was famous for his alchemy.
Immortal Venerate Yun Chen's combat prowess was weaker, so he did not come on this trip. The ones who came were Ming Yue and Tian Yi, the other two Immortal Venerates.
When looking at the ethereal woman on the mountain peak, the two Immortal Venerates showed complicated expressions as if they knew this woman's origins.
At the same time, the Blood Clad Sect's Vice Sect Master also stared at that white-clad woman.
After some explanations, the many Martial Emperors who were here for the first time no longer found this white-clad woman strange.
They dismissed her as just an illusion.
Xiao Chen's senses were very sharp. As he looked at that white-clad woman, he had a strange feeling for some reason.
Extraordinarily refined and exceptionally beautiful. Since she was not a fairy, she could only be a devil.
However, this was just Xiao Chen's opinion. Furthermore, the hemp-robed old man said that they would not meet this woman, so there was no need to dwell on this.
The fog covering the end of the ocean suddenly vanished. All the mountains and rivers around the Mirage Immortal Palace appeared clearly before everyone.
This feeling was very mysterious. It was like this Mirage Immortal Palace had always been there, just covered by the fog.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The people of the various Holy Lands immediately flew towards the Mirage Immortal Palace in groups. When they were approaching the mountains, their figures suddenly vanished without a trace.
The hemp-robed old man did not find this strange. He explained that they had already entered the place where the Mirage Immortal Palace was.
"This is the jade strip that Senior Jiang made himself. Please refine them. Otherwise, we will be sent to separate places after we enter. With this jade strip, we will be able to enter together. The various Holy Lands did this too."
Xiao Chen received the jade strip and did as told. After refining it, he felt the auras of all seven of them appear as if they were tightly fused.
"Let's go!"
When everyone had refined their jade strip, the hemp-robed old man was the first to fly up. The others quickly followed behind. Xiao Chen was the last, trailing them unhurriedly. As the scene of the mountains and rivers got closer, it suddenly vanished.
The world spun, and then the Cycle Throne landed on the ground. Immediately after that, Xiao Chen heard strong winds. After checking out the surroundings, he discovered himself on the summit of a mountain.
On the other mountains, there were some people at the summits as well.
However, there were also people who had not appeared on a summit. Instead, they turned up on the valley floor. The valley surrounded by the group of mountains was incredibly vast with a convoluted landscape.
Furthermore, it seemed like there were some mysteries behind this; it was not as simple as it appeared from the mountain summit. The Mirage Immortal Palace waited quietly in the middle of the valley.
The hemp-robed old man said indifferently, "We are pretty lucky. We did not get sent to the bottom of the valley. The Heavenly Profound Sect that occupied this place during the Immemorial Era excelled at the Yinyang Illusionary Technique. Every restriction here was fused with the Yinyang Illusionary Technique. Reality and falsehood are mixed together, catching people off guard. It's extremely strange.
"If we were sent directly to the bottom of the valley, the inexperienced people would quickly come in contact with the restrictions and die."
Mu Yong's words scared everyone but also raised doubts. Just at this moment, sharp, miserable cries came from the valley floor, scaring them further.
No one dared to underestimate Mu Yong's words anymore; they all moved back to stand behind Senior Jiang.
Jiang Tian laughed and said, "Don't be scared by Old Man Mu. Before we enter the Mirage Immortal Palace, I can still protect you all. Come, let's go down the mountain."
The Mirage Immortal Palace in the valley appeared to be very close. However, due to the bloody examples shown to them, no one foolishly suggested flying over.
Jiang Tian headed down exceptionally cautiously, stopping every few steps. The black-clad swordsman in the team kept muttering to himself, clearly unhappy with their speed.
"Senior Jiang, can we move faster? At this rate, we will probably take a month to arrive at the Mirage Immortal Palace. Before we even reach the foot of the mountain, we will be sent out."
After walking for a while more, the black-clad swordsman finally voiced his dissatisfaction.
This place would be open for only one month. As long as they did not die within the month, they would be sent out. Although the black-clad swordsman's words were exaggerated, Jiang Tian's speed was indeed rather slow.
Xiao Chen did not say anything. He sensed that they already passed at least six illusionary formations so far. Furthermore, the surrounding geography kept changing with every step.
This mountain gave him the feeling of a living creature. In geomancy terms, this was a Spirit Communicator Mountain. If it was a natural formation, it would be fine; it would be an Immortal Mountain.
However, if it was refined by someone, it would be a genuine Ghost Mountain.
Hence, even if Xiao Chen was dissatisfied with Jiang Tian's speed, he would not have any complaints about it. After all, he could be considered at least half a Geomaster and could understand the principle behind this.
"Haha! In that case, please go ahead." Jiang Tian merely waved the swordsman on without getting angry.
The black-clad swordsman seemed to have long been upset with Jiang Tian's attitude. He growled, "Fine, I'll go ahead. I am a Seventh Heaven Sovereign Martial Emperor. It is just a mountain road. Do you think I can't walk on one?"
"Brother Wen, don't be rash!" The hemp-robed old man tried to defuse the situation.
However, the black-clad swordsman had already raised his foot and walked past Jiang Tian. Mu Yong could not stop him in time.
One step, two steps, three steps…ten steps. Soon, the black-clad swordsman had taken ten steps. He turned his head back and said with a smile, "I told you that I'd be fine. To think you made things appear so mysterious! What do you say to this now?!"
However, when the black-clad swordsman saw the expressions of Jiang Tian, Feng Xiao, the hemp-robed old man, and the others, he felt something was wrong. They all showed horror and graveness on their faces.
Actually, the black-clad swordsman was just blowing off steam. He would not really go far; he just wanted to prove that they could proceed at a faster pace.
However, when the black-clad swordsman looked down, he paled. The footprints of his ten steps were all bloody, looking very eye-catching.