A few days later.
Fang Yuan followed Hong Ling and the rest into the Agonizing Eagle Gorge.
Hong Ling exchanged glances with Yuan Wu and Qing Meng and then turned her head to comfort him. “Sigh… Junior Brother, you are really unlucky. You caught a spy, but he died of his injuries…”
“I never thought that a cultivator would have such a weak constitution that he would die after bleeding a little…” Fang Yuan sighed as well but was on his guard in his heart. Hei Jue’s death must be because of these three! Looks like they don’t want me to complete the mission! But I’m sure they won’t dare to go against the rules of the Holy Mountain to kill me. So… do they want to send me into some dangerous place for others to finish me off?
After becoming Mo He’s disciple, he had naturally left a blood jade on the Holy Mountain.
If he died and the image sent back was of his seniors killing him, it might just alarm the Immortal Patriarchs!
Therefore, these three either had to plot something that seemed like there was no foul play, resort to external forces, or send him somewhere that could isolate the blood jade!
“Danger is aplenty in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, but it’s also where cultivators are most likely to hide!” Qing Meng was like a real senior brother now, explaining everything in detail to Fang Yuan. “There are many mysterious realms in this gorge!”
“Mysterious realms? I haven’t heard about it before!” Fang Yuan replied with glee.
“How do you think this Agonizing Eagle Gorge formed?” Qing Meng asked with a small smile. “I read in an ancient book that it was created through a battle between two unfathomably strong existences. One of them used his saber and split open the Agonizing Eagle Gorge! This is why the void here isn’t stable and is affected by nomological power, creating many mysterious realms… Businessmen who go through here dare not go too close.”
“Is it very dangerous in these mysterious realms?”
“Not necessarily. There might be some inheritance and treasures, but there are definitely more dangers than anything else, especially since some of the mysterious realms aren’t stable and could explode at any time… That power, perhaps even the Immortal Patriarchs might…” Yuan Wu interjected.
“So… you think that cultivation sect might be hiding within a mysterious realm?” Fang Yuan guessed.
“That’s right. That’s why we need to search one by one!” Hong Ling replied with a smile.
Yet she was thinking silently in her heart. The people we notified should be arriving soon. Anyway, we can’t be involved in this matter! It’s not a bad idea to start in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge!
At this point, she said, “It’s getting late. Let’s rest here first and continue tomorrow.”
“All right!” Fang Yuan looked around at the surroundings. The mountains were beautiful, and the river was clean, a great place to bury bones. He nodded.
“I’ll set up a defense array. I recently obtained a set of array flags!” Qing Meng immediately jumped out and took the initiative to stick the small red flags all around them.
A misty array formed, isolating the inside from the outside.
“This is… Small Restriction Origin Banner?” Gold Ingot’s surprised voice came from the white jade ring.
“Do you recognize this array?” Fang Yuan asked secretly without betraying his emotions.
“Hmm, the defense of this banner is common, but it’s most famous for being able to block some information transmissions. Some immortal cave abodes like to use this!”
“What about the blood jade’s transmission?”
“It can be blocked. They don’t have good intentions. Be careful!”
“Looks like they really can’t wait.”
…
Fang Yuan sneered in his heart and sat cross-legged to rest.
In his view, the mysterious realms in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge were just spatial distortions. They could help in his enlightenment and comprehension of the Illusion Realm’s nomological laws.
Since the three of them mentioned it, he started sensing the Saber Qi within this Agonizing Eagle Gorge.
The might of a saber could actually make permanent changes to the terrain. The person who did this clearly surpassed Immortal!
“If my senses are right, the one who created this Agonizing Eagle Gorge must have comprehended the Saber Great Dao and transcended Immortal! Does… an Immortal have to comprehend a complete Great Dao if they want to break through?!”
He felt as though he gained some enlightenment.
“Look, that Fang Yuan is actually starting to cultivate. He isn’t worried about us at all…”
The three of them hid in a corner and started to converse quietly. “Naive!”
“Well… as someone from the Holy Mountain, I really don’t want to hurt him. Unfortunately, we can’t go against Master’s orders!” Qing Meng sighed. “Send the signal!”
Yuan Wu went out of the array silently and came back a moment later. “They’ll be here in the middle of the night and have five Primordial Core Fey beasts attack!”
“We might have the Small Restriction Origin Banner, but we have to be on our guard in case fragments were to travel back. We can’t be suspected…”
…
They were naturally more enthusiastic toward Fang Yuan after they were done discussing their foul plan.
Fang Yuan accepted it.
He was afraid of no one as long as they were not an Immortal and did not mind playing along with these three.
“Junior Brother, rest assured. A Golden Pill Venerable is the highest among these cultivators…”
Hong Ling had no idea that Fang Yuan had already dealt with a Golden Pill Venerable. She continued in a relaxed manner, “Also… they rarely dare to fight with us since the Hundred Thousand Mountains is our territory!”
“That’s true…” Fang Yuan’s smile was a little awkward as he thought of Venerable Liu He.
This cultivator’s performance was obviously weird. He probably still had a huge network behind him.
Is my luck so good that I hit the jackpot in my first investigative mission? Fang Yuan looked strangely at the three in the Primordial Core realm next to him. In that case, are they here to kill me or here to help to prevent disaster from befalling me?
…
“I followed it all the way to this place. This must be it!”
An elder in purple-gold robes appeared above the Small Restriction Origin Banner Array just as Fang Yuan and the rest were having dinner.
He did not rely on the power of a magic artifact as he stood in the sky, possessing the aura of an expert.
Flying with his physical body, he was an expert at the Apotheosis realm!
At this realm, he would be the envy of many, even in the Holy Mountain! A life-long target for many barbarians.
The survival rate of the lightning tribulation was insignificant to say the least!
Cultivating to the Apotheosis realm meant having a lifespan of a thousand years, which was more than ten times that of ordinary mortals and enough to satisfy many cultivators.
They might yearn for immortality, but that terrifying lightning tribulation was enough to stop most of them at the peak of the Apotheosis realm.
“According to the spies, four Holy Mountain envoys appeared in the Eagle tribe… Three of them are at the Primordial Core realm. They should be the ones who attacked Liu He for him to die!”
This Apotheosis realm powerhouse would never have thought that Liu He perished in the hands of someone at the Materialization realm, thus the conclusion. “A mere Small Restriction Origin Banner Array wants to stop me?”
He grinned and struck out his palm.
The Qi of Heaven and Earth surged and transformed into an angry dragon that slammed on the array.
Rumble!
The array burst. The three of them merrily eating were shocked. “Apo-apotheosis realm cultivator!?”
“Dare to kill my disciple, die!”
The elder in the purple-gold robes sneered and flipped his hand.
Nine golden dragons growled and snarled as they attacked.
Roar Roar!
The ground was raging as the golden dragon danced in the air.
Fang Yuan, Qing Meng, and Yuan Wu flickered and rushed out of the attack range.
“So strong. Junior Sister Hong Ling died in just one move…” Qing Meng’s eyes were nearly bulging out. “This person must be a Nascent Soul cultivator, comparable to our Apotheosis realm!”
“All because of you…” Yuan Wu’s red eyes stared at Fang Yuan, as though he would attack him the next moment.
“Oh?” Fang Yuan asked innocently, “Why are you blaming me?”
“Let’s not talk about this now. Escape!” Qing Meng saw the Nascent Soul old man’s gaze sweep toward them and shouted in fear, “Split up!”
He felt very aggrieved inside.
A Nascent Soul stage cultivator was absolutely someone high-level in the sects of the outside world.
Why would such a person do something that involved life and death?
“Go!”
A cloud appeared around Fang Yuan, bringing him away from this place. He controlled his speed to be similar to the two Primordial Core cultivators.
“Someone at Foundation Establishment can unexpectedly achieve such speed while escaping. Not bad!” The Nascent Soul cultivator was surprised. He chased after Yuan Wu.
He patted the spirit beast bag around his waist as he chased. Two winged Fey beasts appeared, howling and chasing after Fang Yuan and Qing Meng.
“A Primordial Core realm Fey beast!” Qing Meng’s face showed a hint of despair. “I must not be distracted by it. If not, that old man will come after me once he’s done with Yuan Wu!”
He would kill in the same order if it were him, from strong to weak.
His eyes widened the next moment.
A fog cloud was actually flying quickly toward him with a winged Fey wolf behind it.
“Fang Yuan, are you trying to kill me?”
Qing Meng turned, but Fang Yuan also followed.
“Senior Brother, I thought of a good place to escape to. Right in front!”
Qing Meng looked up. A colorful brilliance appeared across the surface of a lake.
“Mysterious realm? It’s a good place to avoid the Nascent Soul cultivator’s spiritual will, provided we deal with the two Fey wolves first!”
He hesitated no longer and entered into the brilliance.
Fang Yuan followed suit.
Suddenly, space warped, showing a place more than sixteen acres large with overgrown weeds and without much Qi of Heaven and Earth.
“It’s a barren mysterious realm! What luck!”
Qing Meng nodded and looked at the two Fey wolves that rushed in. “Just nice. Let’s kill them first, and then we should be able to hide for some time.”
They had called for help when they met with the attack earlier, but the reinforcements would not arrive so quickly.
However, there was a secret in Qing Meng’s heart. In a short while, the five Primordial Core Fey beast would arrive. They should be able to attract attention away from him, maybe even scare the enemy away. He would be a chance of survival then!
