As the power of the Human Mountain gradually dissipated, Lei Mingtian was seen lying on the ground with his bones broken as blood bled profusely. One attack and he was already heavily injured!
He wanted Chu Kuangren to pay for what he did, but never once did he think that he would be beaten to death for not being able to withstand a few moves from his opponent.
Lei Mingtian’s protector had a terrible look on his face when he immediately appeared before him. Standing guard in front of Lei Mingtian, that protector glared at Chu Kuangren with caution.
Deep down, he was very shocked too.
He figured that Chu Kuangren was a formidable one, but he did not expect him to be so terrifyingly strong that a few moves of his would beat Lei Mingtian into a pulp. Moreover, Chu Kuangren did not even have to resort to using his specialized sword techniques at all.
‘This person is too horrifying!’
‘Even some of the elder Honorables might not possess a combat power like his.’
The other cultivators were also horrified, especially the sky-prides’ respective protectors. Although they were glad to witness Lei Mingtian’s disgraceful loss, they were even more terrified at Chu Kuangren’s current strength.
How could their sky-prides possibly hope to match with an existence like his?
It was impossible to compete!
At that moment, clusters of clouds started to gather and a little Daoist boy in Daoist robes, whose hair was tied up in a bun, was slowly approaching them.
The cultivation level of that Daoist boy did not seem high. He was only at Paradise Realm, yet his body was radiating brilliantly from the valuable items that he wore, and even the whisk he held was an extremely rare Sage Weapon.
Everyone’s eyes could not help but light up when they saw that kid, wishing that they could just relieve that boy of all those valuable treasures for their taking. However, the words that little Daoist boy spoke next made everyone give up on that notion.
“My teacher is already waiting inside. Everyone, please follow after me.”
The little Daoist boy said to the crowd.
It was not hard to guess who the teacher of that little Daoist boy was the Sage of the Whitelock Mountain unless they were a fool.
That little Daoist boy was one of the Sage’s followers.
Everyone then followed the little Daoist boy into the depths of the Whitelock Mountain, and Chu Kuangren did the same as well. He did not even take another look at Lei Mingtian who was on brink of death. To him, that person was just like any other stone by the roadside.
If one got in his way, all Chu Kuangren would need to do was kick it away.
No one would take a fight with a stone that seriously.
Not far away, Ao Chang, Lin Batian, and the others could not help but feel sympathetic at that sight, seeing that they used to be on the same boat as well.
The only reason they were able to live was not that Chu Kuangren could not kill them, nor was it because Chu Kuangren feared that he would spark a war between the orthodoxies.
Instead, it was because they were of no importance to Chu Kuangren. Whether Chu Kuangren would kill them or not was totally dependent on his mood at the time.
Thinking of that, the few of them looked at each other with sorrow-filled hearts.
The most gruesome blow one could ever experience in this world would be to treat another person as a lifelong opponent yet the opponent never saw them as a threat at all.
Compared to death, something like that was more unbearable especially to sky-prides like Ao Chang and Yuanhong.
…
The group of people eventually followed the little Daoist boy into the depths of the mountain range.
However, they soon noticed that something was wrong. The deeper they went, the heavier their feet felt. It was as if a mountain was weighing upon their backs, making it incredibly hard for them to continue further.
Some of the Honorables who had come here before were not surprised by that occurrence though.
“We’re in the vicinity of the Thousand Mountain Formation, so that’s expected.”
One of the Honorables whispered.
“What is the Thousand Mountain Formation?” One of the confused cultivators asked.
“The Thousand Mountain Formation is a spell cast by the Sage. Those who wished to hear the Sage’s Daoist teachings must first be able to walk through this spell!”
“You’re right, the vicinity of the Thousand Mountain Formation is only a thousand feet. However, with every foot we pass, an extra mountain force will weigh down on us, thus the name Thousand Mountain Formation. Even an Honorable will find it hard to walk through this spell easily.”
Another Honorable who came here before explained.
Some of the cultivators looked curiously at the little Daoist boy who was casually hopping about and said, “Then why is nothing happening to him then? He’s only in the Paradise Realm after all.”
“Nonsense, that kid is one of the Sage’s people, so of course, the Thousand Mountain Formation will not have any effect on him.”
Some of the cultivators soon noticed that surges of Daoist Rhyme were emanating from the whisk that the little Daoist boy held, which helped him to repel the effects of the Thousand Mountain Formation.
The Thousand Mountain Formation was only but a thousand feet long. For most of the cultivators, a thousand feet would not be a trouble for them to traverse as most could walk that distance in a short while. However, most of them now found it difficult to even move an inch.
Some of the cultivators who had insufficient strength immediately laid flat on the ground the moment they stepped into the Thousand Mountain Formation. Even moving a finger was hard under that immense weight.
Most of the cultivators who could move under that weight were mostly in Paradise Realm and above. However, even they found it extremely difficult to walk through as they were exhausting their spiritual power.
The most annoying thing was the little Daoist boy who was leading everyone on the path. It did not matter that he was not affected by the Thousand Mountain Formation, but it was the way he fooled around. He was either constantly chasing butterflies or squatting down to look at insects and flowers along the way.
After an hour, the group had only walked two hundred feet. One thing to note was that they expanded their spiritual power every second they were under the effects of the Thousand Mountain Formation.
“Hey Daoist kid, can you go a bit faster?”
One of the cultivators could not help but said out loud.
Without even turning his head around, the little Daoist boy replied, “Why the hurry? The path ahead is more difficult. Just stop if you can’t take it.”
The additional mountain weight would be added with every foot traversed under the Thousand Mountain Formation. They were not even halfway there yet, so if they could not hold on now, the path ahead would even be more difficult for them further on.
Everyone felt helpless upon hearing that.
The words spoken were true. If they were to exhaust their spiritual power, the path ahead would be even harder for them to walk through.
“Eh, it’s a phoenix-tailed butterfly.”
At that time, the little Daoist boy suddenly exclaimed when he saw a golden butterfly and he immediately chased after it. Even though the butterfly soon flew away, the little Daoist boy did not stop with his chase.
That phoenix-tailed butterfly flew around before it eventually landed on a slender white finger.
When the little Daoist boy looked over, he was amazed to see that the phoenix-tailed butterfly had landed on Chu Kuangren’s finger without him doing anything.
Chu Kuangren smiled gently as he moved the butterfly that was on the tip of his finger towards the little Daoist boy. However, the little boy did nothing but stared at him in a daze.
“Better be quick, kid. The butterfly will fly away if you don’t get it in time.”
Chu Kuangren said.
Only then did the little Daoist boy return to his senses and he immediately cupped the butterfly with both his hands. He released it after he had taken a closer look.
Then, he looked at Chu Kuangren and said, “Big brother, you look very handsome. Even my teacher is not as good-looking as you.”
“Little boy, the Sage is going to teach us about Daoism soon, so we can’t let him wait any longer right? Can we please move on a bit faster?” Chu Kuangren chuckled.
“Alright, big brother. You need to watch yourself alright? The path ahead is very hard to go through. If you feel like you cannot continue, just hold on to my hand. With this whisk that my teacher gave me, this spell won’t have any effect on you anymore.”
The little Daoist boy said happily. He even went as far as to provide a backup plan for Chu Kuangren in front of everyone.
That made many cultivators’ mouths twitch as they felt a sense of jealousy build up within them.
‘Godd*mn it, the good looking one always gets the best treatment I see.’
“D*mn it, Chu Kuangren’s looks are just too bewitching, even kids can’t resist him it seems,” one of the cultivators lamented.
In fact, not only did the little Daoist boy think that Chu Kuangren was good-looking, but he was more mesmerized by his Banished Immortal Aura instead. The little Daoist boy was pure and innocent by nature, so he would instinctively be attracted to energies that made him feel comfortable.
Just like how the butterfly had approached Chu Kuangren.
The little Daoist boy soon hastened his pace as the others followed behind him and soon, they had made it through most of the Thousand Mountain Formation. However, as the power of the spell became stronger the more they traversed, more and more people found themselves no longer able to move on.
In the end, only a little less than five thousand people managed to go through the Thousand Mountain Formation and arrived at the Sage’s palace.
However, one must not mistake the five thousand people for a large crowd. After all, the Sage’s Daoist teaching had originally attracted hundreds of thousands of cultivators to Whitelock Mountain, yet only less than five thousand people had managed to go through the Thousand Mountain Formation. That was less than one percent of the original crowd that came.
