Chapter 781: The Penglai Celestial Mountain
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Qiong Qi Grand Sage could feel his heart sinking the moment the Luofu Holy Man started to speak as he had already guessed their plan.
With the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation, the Qiong Qi Grand Sage was confident that he could defeat the pitiful alliance between the Luofu Holy Man and the Vast Sea Swordmaster. The outcome would be the same even if the Vast Sea Swordmaster was channeling the power of the Sword Formation Of the Endless Oceans.
If the Luofu Holy Man channeled a magic formation of the same level as the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation, then it would be another story altogether.
However, under such circumstances, no matter how confident the Qiong Qi Grand Sage was, there was no way he could achieve victory in a short period of time. It was undeniable that he would be held back by the Luofu Holy Man and the Vast Sea Swordmaster.
On the other side, the outcome of the battle between Zhu Hongwu with his Great Heavenly Wheels against the Golden Roc Grand Sage was also hard to say.
The protective state of the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain also meant that it would be difficult for the Golden Cicada Master to emerge victorious without incurring the Power-Destroying Catastrophe to destroy the mountain.
At this point, the situation seemed a lot more balanced than before. This would undoubtedly to cause problems between the three great demons as they were temporarily aligned with each other in the first place. The moment the tides of the battlefield turned against them or they were no longer a hundred percent confident of victory, their brief alliance was bound to be affected.
This was a purely psychological phenomenon and had nothing to do with the intelligences of the three powerful demons. The simple reason was because the Ying Sea was not just occupied by them and the Great Zhou Empire, and third parties could enter the fray at any moment. Even though it was unlikely there was someone powerful enough to actually participate in the battle at this level, it did not mean that there were none.
This was the reason why the seemingly balanced battlefield was in actual fact disadvantageous for the Golden Cicada Master and the other demons.
Still, the arrow had already been nocked and they had no choice but to fire away. Similar to what the Golden Cicada Master said before, if they were to retreat at this moment, they would probably lose the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain along with the Penglai Celestial Mountain to the Great Zhou Empire.
Both sides entered tense stand-off. Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu were not too hasty to act as they harbored similar considerations. If they were able to force back the Golden Cicada Master and the other demons without doing anything, that would be the best-case scenario for the Great Zhou Empire. However, if they were to engage in a battle to the death, this would benefit the bystanders waiting for the perfect opportunity to enter the fray.
This was an especially important consideration as Liang Pan was still uncomfortable about Lin Feng’s mysterious actions and behavior back in the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain.
Inside the Two Elements Micro-Dust, Lin Feng suddenly laughed. The Great Zhou Empire had been forced to reveal their entire arsenal, and it was no wonder that they were not afraid to fight in two battlegrounds at the same time. It was apparent that they treated the reappearance of the three mountains as the fight for their continued sovereignty and supremacy.
Lin Feng had already predicted that the Great Zhou Empire were secretly going after the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain. The Fangzhang Celestial Mountain held substantial importance in Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu’s plan – not just for the convenience of searching for the Penglai Celestial Mountain, but also as a powerful force to fall back on.
The Great Zhou Empire was unable to bring the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain out of the Ying Sea and they would never have such a big appetite and risk taking on so many powerful individuals at the same time.
Even so, they had to align themselves with the Luofu Holy Man for help, and there must have had been a mutually beneficial exchange.
The Ying Sea was in the Divine Lands after all. The number of demons that could venture within was limited, and this was the reason why Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu were not afraid of standing off against the Golden Roc Grand Sage and the Golden Cicada Master without the Imperial Palace.
“No matter what, I have to thank Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu,” Lin Feng grinned. “Thank you, Golden Cicada Master and the Golden Roc Grand Sage.”
During the standoff, Lin Feng had taken the opportunity and departed the battlefield inside the Two Elements Micro-Dust. He followed the guidance of the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl and was far away from the battleground in no time.
With the positional guidance of the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl and when he was following the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain before, Lin Feng was confident that he was very near to the Penglai Celestial Mountain.
After a short period of travelling, the Golden Pearl started to flicker with purple light with an unprecedented radiance.
Lin Feng felt his spirits lift and exclaimed, “Found it!”
He pierced through the layers of clouds and mist and easily overcame a few powerful illusions before he found himself in a patch of black sea. As if it was levitating in midair, sprawling and immense, with raging tides and terrifying tsunamis that surrounded it at the center of the black sea – a celestial mountain!
“That’s the Penglai Celestial Mountain?” Lin Feng sized it up. The Penglai Celestial Mountain was a lot smaller than the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain but slightly larger than the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain and had a circumference of roughly five thousand miles.
The black-colored waters surrounding the mountain was known in the legends as the Dark Sea, and was also known as the Vast Black Sea. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the immense Dark Sea had boundaries and formed a circular shape in the ocean. From far away, the Dark Sea looked like the midsection of a sphere.
It was visually similar to Mount Yujing and the Yin-Yang Sea.
Even though the color looked physically similar, the nature of the Yin-Yang Sea was completely different from that of the Dark Sea. The black waters of the Yin-Yang Sea were the result of the concentration of energies of extreme Yin, darkness and coldness which materialized to form a spiritual sea of sorts.
The Dark Sea was more like the Void Battleground, a vast and endless ocean that simply existed in the void.
Lin Feng was not too hasty to act. He waitied for the circumstances of the deadlock between Liang Pan and the Golden Cicada Master to change.
He waited until both parties had reached the climax of their battle before he carried out the next step of his plan.
Lin Feng knew he had to be swift in his execution. Breaking through the Dark Sea would undoubtedly attract the unwanted attentions of the Golden Cicada Master and Liang Pan and the others. This was especially so for Liang Pan as he was in control of the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain due to the mystical connections between the three magical mountains. It was highly likely that Liang Pan would be the first to detect the sudden change in the situation over such a short distance.
He withdrew the Two Elements Micro-Dust and the Original Ancient Skyrider’s colossal body shimmered into existence once again. He pointed towards the Vast Black Sea and a stream of black-colored liquid that was similar to that of the Dark Sea streamed out of his fingers and surged towards the Vast Black Sea.
In his journey to the Southern regions of the Ying Sea, Lin Feng had defeated and killed a great many space monsters. Space Monsters were unique to the Ying Sea, and they typically attempted to deceive the adventurers into an illusion before they sapped the spiritual energies of the dead cultivators as nutrients for themselves.
Lin Feng managed to discover from the Red Dragon King that the Purple Sea Dragon King had refined the blood of space monsters to break the barrier of the Dark Sea – this stream of black liquid was forged from the blood of space monsters.
This piece of news was reliable as the blood of the space monsters formed a stream of water that pierced through the black waters of the Dark Sea like a hot knife on butter.
It was a spectacular sight. The deep gash appeared between the raging tides of ocean water and opened up a thin hole. The rolling waters were unable to fill up the space as if there was an invisible barrier blocking them.
At the same time, Lin Feng could feel something changing in the battle between Liang Pan and the demons. The violent trembling of spiritual energies abruptly stopped at the same time, as if they were frozen in place.
In the next moment, multiple streaks of hostile energies surged across the void and concentrated towards the Penglai Celestial Mountain.
The scared barrier of the Vast Black Sea had been broken. It did not seem like much, but it was enough to disturb the flow of spiritual energy around the mountain and immediately exposed the exact location of the Penglai Celestial Mountain as Liang Pan and the others detected it instantaneously.
Lin Feng completely disregarded the arriving parties as he rocketed through the pathway he had just opened and into the Penglai Celestial Mountain.
The composition of the Penglai Celestial Mountain was similar to the Yingzhou and the Fangzhang Celestial Mountains. There were all kinds of spiritual herbs and plants on the surface and the tranquil springs and waterfalls made it appear like a saintly paradise.
However, the most prominent feature of the mountain was a great hall located at the summit of the mountain. Multiple courtyards and pavilions clustered together and resembled a holy royal palace.
At this moment, Lin Feng felt his heart skip a beat as he felt as if something from inside the royal palace was staring at him.
Before he even got near the palace, a ray of purple light shot out and came straight for the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl between the eyes of the Original Ancient Skyrider.
More accurately put, the ray of purple light was targeting Big Luo’s soul inside the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl.
Big Luo watched the ray of purple light surge towards him with apprehension. However, he felt a certain warmth that came from the bottom of his heart, and the complicated mix of emotions made him a little disoriented.
Lin Feng could tell that this ray of purple light did not intend to hurt Big Luo. Instead, it was trying to establish a connection, as if to determine his identity.
He did nothing to stop the incoming ray of purple light but simply stopped in his tracks and absorbed the ray of light into his body.
The ray of purple light entered the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl and circled around inside it before it swept up the Original Ancient Skyrider and the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl and brought them both into the great hall.
Lin Feng’s eyes closed into slits once he entered the great hall as he realized that there was an enormous purple-colored light shadow sitting on top of the throne.
It had physical characteristics and features that resembled that of a human, but there were purple light patterns riddled all over his body as if they were etched onto his skin. The hair on his head was a patch of silver-white, and it extended down his body from his spine all the way to his tailbone.
He had a long furry tail that was drifting behind his body and three curved horns grew out from his forehead with mystical glyphs engraved onto every single one.
It was a beast of Hades, just like Big Luo.
There was an unspeakable aura of dominance surrounding this mystical beast, as if it was born to be a dictator of Heaven and Earth and all beings within.
It was not even a real person – the purple light shadow was enough to petrify onlookers with such an overbearing aura.
Lin Feng nodded his head slowly. “One of the three most powerful demons in the history of the Grand Celestial World, the most powerful being of the Modern Age and a demonic emperor that once reigned supreme – the Hades Emperor, the Heavenly Sea Hades. Impressive, impressive.”
By observing the light shadow, Lin Feng immediately understood that the Penglai Celestial Mountain had ended up in the hands of the Hades Emperor a few thousand years ago, way before the Great Zhou Empire had even set foot upon the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain.
However, this secret was only known to the Hades Emperor and unbeknownst to the outside world and he never leaked a single ounce of information in his lifetime. When he met his demise in the two war of the worlds, he ended up carrying this secret into the grave.
The eyes of the Hades Emperor flashed with purple radiance as he stared at the Original Ancient Skyrider and the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl before his gaze finally landed upon Big Luo.
This light shadow did not have an independent will or intelligence, but Big Luo felt as if the mouth of the light shadow curled into a faint smile.
Lin Feng extended his consciousness into the purple light shadow. “No remnant soul memories, no essence of blood and no trace of the demonic true spirit… this is purely a remnant of his demonic powers. Under such circumstances, no matter how powerful he was before he died, he cannot return to life.”
Once he was sure it was safe, Lin Feng decided to send the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl directly into the Hades Emperor’s light shadow.
In the next moment, purple light burst out and lit up the entire great hall as countless glyphs flowing with purple light blanketed the entire Penglai Celestial Mountain.
However, a voice rang out from behind him on the mountain. “Indeed – the Penglai Celestial Mountain was in the hands of the Hades Emperor all along.”
The grey-clothed young monk appeared in the space above the great hall – it was the Golden Cicada Master.
Lin Feng watched him in silence. The Golden Cicada Master had an equally calm expression as he retrieved a jade earring-like object with his right hand. “Well met, leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. This must be a physical spell body of yours?”
“I had the luck of excavating somewhere that belonged to the Hades’ Emperor and found this jade earring inside. This is the reason why I am faster than Liang Pan, even though he has the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain.”
“However, time is of the essence. Liang Pan and the Golden Roc Grand Sage and the others must be arriving pretty soon, and that means I have no time to chat idly with you. If I let you assimilate and control the Penglai Celestial Mountain, it will be difficult for me to take it from you in a short period of time. I guess I have to make it quick, so do forgive me if I end up offending you in some way.”
