When Hua Tianqi heard Old Man Fu give him a general explanation, he felt quite astonished, saying, “So it turned out that Fellow Daoist Han is from the Heavenly South. We see very few of your people here. But regardless of what has happened, since you killed the Yin Sifting Sect Elder and acquired his Ghost Sifting Banner, this is not a matter that can be so easily resolved.”
The others were also thrown into an uproar and examined Han Li with a curious gaze. To the cultivators of the Great Jin, they knew the Heavenly South to be some unremarkable place far away. For such a person to appear before them, and provoke the Yin Sifting Sect, aroused great curiosity.
“I was merely protecting myself,” Han Li calmly elaborated, “If it weren’t for their elder taking the initiative to stir up trouble, I wouldn’t be involved in this mess.”
The large man from the group of vagrant cultivatiourss anxiously said, “Enough! In any case, you three have already stayed here for some time and should know where we are, right?”
Han Li’s eyes shifted and he calmly answered, “Of course, this is the legendary Kunwu Mountain!”
“Kunwu Mountain?” The newly arrived were briefly stunned before cheering with joy. Even Old Devil Qian was surprised.
As the Sacred Poison Sect Elders already knew this, they simply exchanged a glance.
Their grand elder, Hua Tianqi, then rubbed his chin and turned to look at the white silhouettes, “It also stands to mention that there are people who have arrived ahead of us. We neither know their number, nor their strength. But since they were able to open such a large seal, they should be quite powerful. Brother Qian, regardless of whatever conflict you have with Fellow Daoist Han, it is not the time to be fighting. Wouldn’t it be better for us to join hands and expel the other group from the mountain? Afterwards, we can divide the treasures Kunwu Mountain provides among ourselves. You can then resolve your grievances with Fellow Daoist Han.”
“Join hands?” Old Devil Qian grew silent as he pondered.
As for Master Scatterwind and his four companions, their hearts stirred and they began to speak amongst themselves through voice transmission.
Under the circumstances, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi sighed. Although they were confident that they could contend against Old Devil Qian together, they found themselves in an incredibly awkward situation where their hands were tied.
Han Li unconsciously frowned and inwardly sighed. It seemed he would have to find another opportunity to gain the method to dissolving the Soul Seal Curse.
With that thought, he took a look at where the cultivators had emerged and asked, “Fellow Daoist Hua, what is the damage to the opening of the seal after that explosion. Can we still leave?”
Hua Tianqi sighed and said, “How about you take a look for yourself? It might be different later on, but the passageway is definitely blocked for the near future.”
Han Li pursed his lips and after some hesitation, flew directly over to the light screen and disappeared into it.
Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu quickly turned their attention over to it.
A short moment later, he emerged from the screen of light with a sullen expression. He looked over to his two companions and shook his head, “It’s true, the passageway is blocked, but it will restore itself eventually. For now, let’s explore deeper up the mountain.”
The following events were simple. Despite the Old Devil Qian’s great arrogance, he knew that it was the wrong place to settle matters. This was a prime opportunity to acquire grand treasures and he didn’t wish to return empty-handed. As such, he was forced to let go of Han Li for the time being.
As for the temporary alliance, they all considered it for a moment before all agreeing to it.
With everyone on board, Hua Tianqi shouted, “Together, we’ll be able to match whoever is ahead of us, even if they are cultivators from the ten great sects. Let us set off before the other party can acquire the treasures first.” Then, he led the way up the stone steps,
Old Devil Qian coldly snorted and his five devils joined together before following after them.
Han Li and company silently flew up the stairs as well.
…
The Ye Clan members were currently standing in front of the white jade plaza.
It spanned over a fifth of a kilometer and was crafted from beautiful jade. There were pillars all around that were over thirty meters tall. Each jade pillar was masterfully engraved with rare, life-like spirit beasts.
However, they weren’t looking at these pillars at all, but at the other end of the plaza.
It was there where the stone steps emerged and huge jade tablets was erected in front of them, containing the names of various locations such as Fortune Cloud Hall and Gold Stone Pavilion. They were all lost in thought as they stared at them.
A cultivator from the crowd spoke up, “There are only three places that we will most likely find the Divine Spirit Treasures. The centermost of these is Kunwu Hall. The Spirit Treasure Pavilion is close by it and the location farthest away is the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”
The scholar and eccentric said nothing and simply remained lost in thought.
The cultivator added on, “Kunwu Hall is certain to be at the heart of the mountain. And given the name of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, it is obviously where the ancient cultivators kept their treasures. It wouldn’t be odd for the treasures to be there. As for the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, that should be where they imprisoned devils. Under the strange circumstances of the mountain sealing, it is very likely that the Divine Spirit Treasures are being kept there. After all, they would’ve used the power of the treasures to suppress these devils.”
The scholar eventually grunted and said, “Well said. I also feel that the Divine Spirit Treasures should be placed in one of these three areas. However, we do not have the power to look at every location, so we’ll have to choose one of two places.”
“Which two?” The eccentric hesitantly asked.
The scholar paused before answering, “The Spirit Treasure Pavilion and the Devil Suppressing Pagoda!”
The eccentric shook his head and said, “Those two? I feel like Kunwu Hall should be a more likely choice than the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”
The scholar chuckled and calmly explained, “The Spirit Treasure Hall should most likely net us some treasures even if we don’t manage to acquire the Divine Spirit Treasures. Kunwu Hall is far too obvious a choice, and would be lathered in traps and restrictions. Since the mountain was sealed, I believe that the two treasures would have no purpose being enshrined at Kunwu Hall. It is more likely being used to suppress some sort of unspeakable demon in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”
The eccentric eventually shook his head, “That does sound reasonable, but I do believe we should still have a deep look at Kunwu Hall on the merit that it is the core building of the mountain.”
The scholar wryly smiled and said, “I understand your words, but we only have so many people. It is too difficult to split into two groups, let alone three.”
The others began to discuss their plan of action with a few members each finding the other side more reasonable. For a time, a conclusion couldn't be formed.
When the eccentric saw this stalemate, an odd expression appeared on his face and he proposed, “Our group consists of nine members. How about we each take three to explore both the Spirit Treasure Pavilion and the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. As for the last one, they will be an elder particularly skilled in movement techniques, and will be sent to make a trip to Kunwu Hall. If they find any problems, they will turn back and we will be notified of what happened. Then if either of us finish our journey smoothly, we can make the journey to Kunwu Hall.”
“That… will be fine. Let’s do that then! However, since this elder will be alone, they will be a target of the Lion Hawk and the Silver-winged Nightfiend. We’ll have to give them the Overflowing Sky Bracelet," the scholar said.
“With that treasure, they should be able to protect themselves from any danger they could encounter.” The eccentric nodded and raised no objections.
They then promptly split their numbers and each headed in different ways. The disguised Elder Devil followed after the eccentric, and the square-faced middle-aged man was chosen to explore Kunwu Hall. It came as no surprise as the square-faced cultivator had the third highest cultivation in the group.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the scholar agreed and offered the bone-white bracelet to him. He warned, “Every activation of the Overflowing Sky Bracelet requires the use of your blood essence. Do not use it lightly.”
“Don’t worry, I am well aware.” The square-faced cultivator accepted the bracelet with a solemn expression.
The eccentric spoke, “It is said that the Devil Suppressing Pagoda is specialized in restraining vicious ghosts, demons, devils, and other such existences. I don’t know if there are any that are still there, but I will still be heading over there.”
The scholar chuckled and agreed in passing, “It seems we had the same idea. I was originally quite interested in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, but since Seventh Uncle said it first, I won’t raise any objections. I’ll bring these three to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.”
