Jian Chou caught the wine jar and held it in her hands, but ultimately didn’t drink.
She just stood outside the Star-Plucking Platform, watching Qu Zhengfeng drink.
Qu Zhengfeng seemed to have only said that one sentence, without really insisting she drink, just drinking his own wine by himself.
He drank from midnight until dawn.
When the sky brightened, the wine jar was empty.
His body carried the scent of wine, yet his eyes showed no signs of intoxication. Patting his hands and standing up, he said to her: “Let’s go.”
Everything that needed to be arranged had long been arranged.
At dawn, the cultivators from both Yashan and Xinghai had, under someone’s orders, assembled in orderly fashion atop Lingzhao Peak.
When Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng came around from the Yashan path, they saw everything clearly. She even spotted that little rascal Fang Xiaoxie from the new generation among the crowd.
This boy had originally gone to Mingri Xinghai with Sect Leader Zheng Yao, but unexpectedly had returned. First Elder Qi Boyuan, then all these Yashan disciples standing on Lingzhao Peak—to say there was nothing suspicious behind it all, even Jian Chou wouldn’t believe it.
Actually, when Qu Zhengfeng had suggested returning to Yashan, she had vaguely guessed something, but there weren’t enough revealed clues for her to be certain.
If she still couldn’t see through the situation by now, she would be too foolish.
“Does Kunwu know?”
Standing on the Yashan path halfway up the mountain, overlooking Lingzhao Peak and the spirited crowd below, Jian Chou remained silent for a long time before finally asking this question.
Qu Zhengfeng laughed and asked back: “Do you think Kunwu knows?”
Jian Chou thought to herself that it would be strange if they knew.
She sighed softly and finally stopped asking.
These ten-odd days while she had been comprehending the sword in Yashan’s armory, Qu Zhengfeng had obviously arranged external affairs properly. Even though he had defected from Yashan and was now the Sword Emperor of Mingri Xinghai, when it came to attacking the extreme region, everyone shared a common hatred for the enemy. So at least on the surface, his appearance at Yashan, even making some arrangements and deployments, wouldn’t pose much of a problem.
As for the truth…
If everyone kept their mouths shut, then it would be heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know—only outsiders, especially Kunwu, wouldn’t know.
Qu Zhengfeng waved his hand toward her without saying much more, directly leaping up from the Yashan path like ascending a heavenly ladder, heading toward the higher part of the mountain wall.
The higher part of the mountain wall was where that stone pavilion stood.
The stone pavilion led inward to a corridor penetrating through the mountain’s belly, connecting to the Moon-Embracing Hall located high on the front mountain, beneath which lay Yashan’s unspeakable secret.
Jian Chou’s face showed no surprise, nor did she immediately follow. Instead, she went down first to speak a few words with Elder Qi Boyuan standing nearby, understanding the situation from these past days and the upcoming plans. After receiving positive confirmation, she finally felt somewhat relieved.
Turning her head, she saw four hundred elite Yashan cultivators all watching her.
She then remembered the countless old and new swords she had seen in the armory while retrieving and comprehending the sword, and those brilliant endless falls like shooting stars, and her heart suddenly ached.
Every face before her was so vivid and alive.
They wore clean, neat robes. Whether handsome or ordinary, their eyes showed not a trace of fear. On the contrary, they all displayed firm resolve and courage.
Their bearing, like the swords in their hands, was magnificent as a rainbow.
Eleven cycles ago, had her master Fudao Shanren and Qu Zhengfeng, who had already defected from Yashan, looked upon these living faces with the same feelings and the same gaze as she did now?
Jian Chou’s eyes flickered.
Though her eyes still carried a layer of gloom, perhaps due to her sword comprehension from the past two days, they had improved considerably and could barely make out objects.
At this moment, she spoke solemnly to everyone: “The Sword Emperor and I will go ahead to scout the path. You will enter afterward. You must be extremely careful and never act rashly.”
This sentence was spoken with great gravity, and everyone could feel it.
Even Fang Xiaoxie, whose nature was quite unruly, was no exception.
They could all taste the concern hidden in these words. Their hearts were touched, and they all held their swords and bowed in unison, responding loudly: “Yes, Grand Master Uncle!”
The Mingri Xinghai cultivators nearby watched in silence.
Though their Sword Emperor came from Yashan, and they had seen Yashan cultivators before, standing here truly on the legendary Lingzhao Peak with the thousand-ren cliff before their eyes, then hearing this voice that pierced the clouds with supreme dignity, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of inferiority and irrepressible boiling blood.
This was Yashan.
Hearing this, Jian Chou slowly smiled.
She turned and looked up to see Qu Zhengfeng standing in the high stone pavilion watching below, apparently waiting for her.
So she said nothing more and leaped up to the stone pavilion.
Neither spoke as they passed through the corridor from the stone pavilion to the Moon-Embracing Hall. With a sinking thought, they entered that underground space beneath Yashan.
Jian Chou had been here when she returned from the extreme region, so it wasn’t unfamiliar now.
Qu Zhengfeng had spent many years at Yashan and had come here multiple times, so he was naturally even more familiar.
The humid space was quite spacious, with stalactites hanging down from the high dome in various strange shapes.
In the very center stood a high circular platform.
Embedded in the platform was a huge bronze mirror, upon which sat an ancient skeleton.
When Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng arrived, the skeleton began to flash with dark light. After a moment, it grew sinews and flesh, becoming a withered old man who said to them: “Finally, you’ve come.”
His gaze first fell on Qu Zhengfeng, looking for a long time.
Then it fell on Jian Chou, staring at that half-inch thin blood mark on her brow for a long while before finally laughing and saying three times: “Good, good, good!”
“I pay respects to Old Ancestor.”
Jian Chou performed a bow.
Qu Zhengfeng stood without moving.
The Old Ancestor didn’t seem to mind, only saying: “During the Yin-Yang Boundary war eleven cycles ago, that old fellow Fudao pretended to destroy the mirror while actually secretly digging out this Heaven-Covering Mirror from the eighteen layers of hell and bringing it back to Yashan. At the time, it was just prepared for emergencies. After all, the method to activate this mirror had long been lost—the extreme region didn’t know it, and Shijiu Zhou didn’t know it either. Who would have thought that eleven cycles later, first the ‘Nine Curves River Map’ appeared in the world, then Fellow Daoist Fu visited, and we accidentally obtained the activation method. Thus, this idle chess piece has actually come to life. This journey deep into the extreme region will be unpredictably dangerous. You two must be extremely careful.”
One could imagine what this plan entailed, and though Qu Zhengfeng hadn’t spoken of it, Jian Chou had already learned everything thoroughly from Qi Boyuan.
They could launch surprise attacks on the snow region, and they could also launch surprise attacks on the extreme region.
The frontal battlefield was at Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate, where the main forces of Shijiu Zhou would hold the line. However, during that Yin-Yang Boundary war eleven cycles ago, Yashan had suffered heavy losses and inevitably couldn’t trust those sanctimonious “fellow Daoists” with their human appearances but dog-like nature, so they had prepared backup plans early on.
This Heaven-Covering Mirror was legendarily a passage left by the Great Venerable Pangu when he opened heaven and earth and created reincarnation, originally set within the extreme region. Later, when the activation method was lost, it gradually lost its purpose.
Jian Chou knew the origins of this mirror all because of Fu Chaosheng.
This great mayfly demon had lurked in the extreme region for decades, investigating reincarnation matters and turning through all the texts in the Eight Directions Yama Halls before learning these fragments of information. He had even brought back that thin golden leaf to show her.
So at that time, she had speculated whether this Heaven-Covering Mirror might serve some unexpected purpose, and now it had indeed been proven correct.
Once bitten by a snake, one fears wells for ten years.
Yashan and Kunwu had long been united in appearance but divided in spirit, harmonious on the surface but discordant at heart.
The extreme region must be fought, the revenge for Yashan’s thousand cultivators from eleven cycles ago must be taken, and the knife from behind must also be guarded against.
As the saying goes, one gains wisdom from a setback. The current Yashan was deeply scheming.
They had been calculated against and harmed in the past only because of complete trust, never expecting their allies to have problems one after another. Now that they were wary within, if anyone wanted to play schemes and tricks again, Yashan was never weak compared to others.
So the plan was to deceive heaven and cross the sea.
They had specifically kept many people behind, assembling today to go directly to the extreme region through the Heaven-Covering Mirror.
This was undoubtedly a risky military strategy that only those with courage would dare attempt.
What was needed was bold heart and careful planning.
The people were cultivators from both Yashan and Xinghai, and naturally Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng would go ahead to scout.
After hearing the Old Ancestor’s instructions, both nodded.
Then the Old Ancestor’s finger, long-nailed and withered like a tree branch, pointed at a certain position on the bronze mirror.
Both Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng stepped forward.
The Old Ancestor was a human essence—no, skeleton essence—who had maintained this form for who knows how many years, having witnessed countless storms. Though what was about to happen would certainly shock all of Shijiu Zhou in the future, his wrinkled brows and eyes showed no fluctuation.
Closing his eyes, he said nothing more.
That withered finger gently lowered and pressed upon the bronze mirror, while his mouth produced completely incomprehensible syllables, extremely awkward and difficult to pronounce.
After a moment, the entire Heaven-Covering Mirror trembled with a “buzz,” and dust accumulated over the years rose up, floating like demons.
The golden light flowing on the mirror surface also instantly overflowed.
When vague spatial fluctuations came, within this underground space actually came the sound of shrill ghost cries, and from the golden light emerged endless ghostly shadows, entwining around the two people.
Jian Chou quietly pressed her hand on the sword in her palm.
Qu Zhengfeng also tensed his body, not daring to be careless.
At the moment when the ghostly shadows almost swallowed both people, the Old Ancestor’s tightly closed eyes suddenly opened wide, while his mouth let out a stern shout: “Ten thousand ghosts open the way!”
“Boom!”
It was like a thunderbolt striking down from heaven!
Jian Chou only felt her entire soul being shocked by this stern shout. The howling thick black ghostly shadows, like a storm, wrapped around her, pulled her, and tore at her.
Heaven and earth spun!
The next moment, all the illusions of entering a whirlpool receded from her body like a tide. Suddenly feeling wind—bitter and piercing, yet hiding a few traces of dry, bloody scent.
Her feet touched solid ground. Opening her eyes, heaven and earth had changed.
The place they had been transmitted to through the Heaven-Covering Mirror was none other than the Eighteenth Layer of Hell that Jian Chou had once visited when participating in the Cauldron Competition!
That ancient sacrificial altar!
In front was a wild plain with towering ancient trees that had all lost their vitality, entangled with withered vines, becoming a forest of dead wood. Behind was a desolate and grand ruin where cities had once stood, now silent and dust-covered.
The altar platform bore uneven marks. When Jian Chou first saw it, she had felt that something had originally been here, only to be forcibly dug out later. Now thinking about it, she completely understood—what had been dug out was precisely the Heaven-Covering Mirror!
So coming from Yashan, they had landed exactly here.
Both knew they were now in dangerous territory, so they had already concealed their auras during transmission, fearing the wrong transmission location would expose them too early. But their worry seemed unnecessary.
This once-lively Cauldron Competition ground now appeared completely ravaged. The massive ruins in the distance had collapsed everywhere, and the ground still bore a palm print so large it almost covered half of the Eighteenth Layer of Hell, with depths reaching a thousand feet!
Through the years, the palm print had grown full of sparse grass.
Jian Chou looked toward Qu Zhengfeng and saw him gazing at that huge, terrifying palm print from afar, so she also turned to look.
In this instant, all past storms swept through the depths of her mind. Vaguely echoing in her ears was the wild boast she had made after forcibly exchanging palms with Lord Qin Guang that day—
“Ghost Axe remains temporarily in the extreme region. In the future, Yashan disciple Jian Chou will retrieve it again!”
So she laughed once.
At the same time, her distant gaze also discovered two figures sneaking and hiding in the city ruins in the distance—one with a big round head, one with a small pointed head, actually seeming familiar.
Jian Chou suddenly thought of something, her expression slightly strange.
Qu Zhengfeng first heard her laugh, not yet having thought about what kind of person could leave such a terrifying palm print on this Eighteenth Layer of Hell. Seeing her expression was wrong, he asked: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really, just…” Jian Chou truly couldn’t describe what she felt in her heart. She looked back at Qu Zhengfeng, her face carrying some indescribable strangeness, and actually half-jokingly said, “Your Majesty the Sword Emperor, here, this counts as my territory.”