Lu Zhou looked at Shang Zhang, who was disguised as a young attendant. He understood Shang Zhang’s meaning so he shook his head and said, “You’ve misunderstood.”
Before Lu Zhou could say another word, Little Yuan’er ran over and hugged his arm before she said excitedly, “Master! So you’re the Unholy One?! Master, why didn’t you say so earlier? Master, you hid it from me for such a long time!”
Little Yuan’er’s heart was filled with surprise and joy. Her expression was not bitter, but it was one of excitement as she thought to herself, “My master is the Unholy One! My master is actually the legendary Unholy One who shook the world and dominated the Great Void! I’m so happy!”
“…”
Lu Zhou frowned and said in a low voice, “Be serious.”
Little Yuan’er stopped talking immediately and took a step back. Then, she straightened her back. She looked graceful and elegant, in the prime of her youth. Now that she had grown up, it was not very appropriate for her to be as mischievous and unrestrained as she was in the past.
Then, Lu Zhou looked at Shang Zhang and shook his head as he said, “I’m not the master of Grand Mystic Mountain.”
Shang Zhang was perplexed. “You’re not?”
“I obtained the Hourglass of Time from Yue Qi and the divine mark robe from the mausoleum of the Emperor Emeritus in the green lotus domain,” Lu Zhou said with a sigh, “The Unholy One was indeed legendary and powerful, leaving many stories about him behind. What a pity…”
Xuanyi thought that it would be troublesome for Lu Zhou now that Lu Zhou was forced to reveal his identity to deal with the troublesome ancient creature. Hence, he also helped Lu Zhou to deny it. He said, “That’s right. Perhaps, we were mistaken.”
‘Mistaken?’
Little Yuan’er and Conch looked at their master innocently.
Shang Zhang only nodded slightly and did not dwell on the topic. In fact, the scenes of the two avatars were still in his mind. He really wanted to ask about the avatars but held back in the end. Finally, he said, “If the old sir said it’s a misunderstanding, then it must be a misunderstanding.”
Shang Zhang’s eyes were without ripples, and his face was expressionless. It was difficult to guess what he was thinking at this moment.
Lu Zhou was too lazy to explain any further. Moreover, no one would believe him even if he told the truth. They were all like thousand-year-old foxes so they would not easily believe him even if he told the truth.
Finally, Xuanyi said, “Let’s go.”
Everyone nodded.
Suddenly, Lu Zhou called out, “Wait.”
Everyone looked at Lu Zhou in confusion. ‘Is there anything else?’
Swoosh!
Lu Zhou waved his hand.
Unnamed flew back and forth, slicing up the ancient Frost Dragon. It was indeed worthy of being a void-grade weapon. Even the ancient Frost Dragon’s body with extremely tough hide could not stop it.
After Unnamed flew back to Lu Zhou’s hand, he waved his hand.
A crystal-clear divine soul pearl flew out from the ancient Frost Dragon’s corpse.
Xuanyi’s eyes brightened upon seeing this. He said, “I almost forgot about the divine soul pearl! Congratulations, Pavilion Master Lu, on obtaining a treasure!”
Xuanyi and Shang Zhang were already supreme beings so they did not have any use for divine soul pearls. Even then, when they saw the dazzling divine soul pearl, they could not help but feel envious. Even if they could not use it, they could give it to those who needed it.
After putting away the divine soul pearl, Lu Zhou walked to the ripples in the void.
Little Yuan’er looked at the enormous corpse of the ancient Frost Dragon and asked, “Master,why don’t we pull out its tendons to make a robe?”
Xuanyi said with a smile, “That’s a good idea, but it’s not an easy task. This ancient Frost Dragon has been dead for 100,000 years. Its tendons are all shriveled up now and lack elasticity. Perhaps, they can be made into protective nets for the city; they don’t necessarily have to be used to make a robe. You’ll have to find a tailor with a very high cultivation as soon as possible to weave the tendons into a net. Do you know how to knit?”
Little Yuan’er shook her head. “No.”
“Then, don’t even think about it.”
Everyone walked toward the ripples in the air.
Whoosh!
The five of them vanished from sight immediately.
In the next second, they appeared at the foot of the mountain in the middle of the eight mountains. Mountains surrounded them in all directions, towering into the clouds. The eight mountains were the strongest defenses of the main mountain. Together, nine of them towered over the land.
For a long time, everyone looked at the indescribable scenery silently for a moment.
Lu Zhou looked at the steps of the main mountain. It snaked up from the bottom to the peak into the clouds.
The rivers around the mountains surged. The valleys were like tombs, a remnant from the past. The birds flew high, and the lonely clouds hung in the sky.
Fragmented and disjointed scenes kept flashing in Lu Zhou’s mind, but he could not make sense of them or piece them together to form a complete scene. However, his instincts told him that they were related to Grand Mystic Mountain.
Shang Zhang was the first to speak, breaking the silence. “Let’s go up.”
Lu Zhou regained his senses and nodded. “Keep up.”
Xuanyi walked quickly. After walking up more than ten steps, he realized no one was following him. He turned around and discovered the other four people were looking at him strangely. He asked, “What’s wrong?”
The other four people’s expressions were as though they were looking at a fool.
“You’re Emperor Xuanyi, the Hall Master of Xuanyi Palace. Your cultivation should be very high,” Little Yuan’er said before she leaped up and flew toward the peak like a lark.
Following that, the other three flew up as well.
Xuanyi: “?”
‘Everyone thinks I’m a fool, but I laugh at them for not knowing better. This is teacher’s territory. How can I just blindly fly up? Isn’t that disrespectful?’
Xuanyi looked up at the countless steps that lead to the peak. Then, he shook his head and thought to himself, ‘Forget it.’
Then, Xuanyi flashed and vanished into thin air.
…
At the peak of Grand Mystic Mountain, five steps led to the flat ground; ten steps led to a pavilion; 100 steps led to a hall.
There were several mysterious halls hovering in the clouds as well.
These ancient buildings had existed for a long time. Some of the buildings had partially collapsed, bearing the mark of time. The green bricks and tiles were broken and weathered. Spider webs hung everywhere. Nonetheless, they still could not rob this place of its glory.
Apart from the ancient formation, there was no other defense in this place that had been abandoned for many years.
At this moment, Shang Zhang said, “This place was once the center of the Great Void, and it was revered by tens of thousands of people. That person built the grandest mountain here.”
Everyone nodded as they listened to these words.
“Alas, it’s now just a remnant of the past. If it weren’t for the ancient formation, the nine mountains would’ve collapsed,” Shang Zhang continued to say after he sighed, “Grand Mystic Mountain is mysterious. It plunders the fortunes of heaven and earth and holds a large amount of mysterious power. There are very few people who can enter this place.”
Indeed, it was not easy to come to this place. First, they had to travel the Netherworld Road. Then, they had to defeat the ancient Frost Dragon.
Little Yuan’er said with a suspicious expression, “Little attendant, I really feel that you’re not simple. How do you know so much?”
Shang Zhang only smiled and did not say anything.
At this moment, Xuanyi asked, “May I ask why Pavilion Master Lu wants to come to this place?”
Lu Zhou did not reply to the question. Instead, he said, “Don’t wander too far away. I’m going to the Grand Mystic Hall to have a look.”
Following that, Lu Zhou flew toward the Grand Mystic Hall that hovered in the air.
When Lu Zhou drew close to the Grand Mystic Hall, countless energy swords appeared between heaven and earth. They circled around the nine mountains and flew in all directions.
“Don’t worry about the hall’s sword formation.”
Lu Zhou flashed and appeared at the entrance of the Grand Mystic Hall.
The other four stayed on the peak and looked around.
The flying energy swords did not attack them and only flew around in neat formations. It was a rather pleasing sight.
“Let’s wait,” Xuanyi said before he sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes to meditate.
…
In front of the Grand Mystic Hall, Lu Zhou stepped on the broken and discolored tiles as scene after scene appeared in his mind again.
He saw countless cultivators fighting fiercely, and he saw them fall. The blood that had disappeared with the passage of time flowed between the cracks in the tiles. This place was once filled with corpses. Now, only a few weapons that withstood the erosion of time remained.
Lu Zhou walked unhurriedly toward the Grand Mystic Hall. The plaque at the entrance was slanted. The words ‘Grand Mystic Hall’ on the plaque had long disappeared.
He looked to the sides and saw runes carved on the pillars to protect the hall. However, time had weakened the runes greatly.
The wind continued to blow. It sounded as though the nine mountains were crying and complaining about how they had waited for the arrival of this day for 100,000 years. They were like old friends, talking about the past 100,000 years.
Sorrow and excitement hung in the air.
Lu Zhou collected his thoughts and stepped over the threshold of the Grand Mystic Hall.
Following that, a creaking noise sounded. Then, a sound that Lu Zhou had not heard for a long time rang in his mind.
“Ding! Mission; Return to the Grand Mystic Hall; completed. The lifespan that should belong to you will be returned to you soon.”
Buzz!
The Grand Mystic Hall began to tremble at this moment.
Lu Zhou looked up suspiciously. “Is the Grand Mystic Hall going to collapse?”
It was as though now that the mission had been completed, the Grand Mystic Hall was going to collapse, returning to heaven and earth.
Lu Zhou flashed to the center of the hall as scenes appeared in his mind again. This time, they were woven into one coherent scene.
At this moment, the nine mountains began to tremble.
“Formation?”
Lu Zhou looked around before he raised his hand. “Let’s give it a try.”
He silently recited the mantra from the Heavenly Writing and released the divine Dao power from his palm.
The divine Dao power swept out like a flood, covering the entire Grand Mystic Mountain.
Runes lit up one after another before a beam of light soared up into the sky.
…
At the same time, Shang Zhang, Xuanyi, Little Yuan’er, and Conch raised their heads at the same time and looked at the huge beam of light.
Following that, a miraculous scene appeared before them.
With the Grand Mystic Hall in the center, a huge whirlpool formed in the sky above the nine mountains. Then, the vitality energy in the nine mountains surged toward the Grand Mystic Hall.
At the same time, the countless flying energy swords circled the nine mountains frantically as though they were welcoming the return of their master.
…
The surging vitality energy surged into Lu Zhou’s body through the beam of light.
100 years, 1,000 years, 10,000 years…
Lu Zhou’s lifespan continued to increase as he looked at the beam of light in disbelief.
At this time, the debris and rubble in the hall began to float up. As the vitality energy increased, they were reduced to dust and scattered in the air.
The skin of the old furniture and objects in the hall began to peel off before they began to break. Following that, they were also reduced to dust.
The Grand Mystic Hall continued to tremble even more violently.
Everyone looked at the Grand Mystic Hall in surprise.
