Xi Chiyao quickly caught wind of what Li Qingfeng did in Jiuyi City.
Even though Jiuyi City was not under the jurisdiction of West Imperial Palace, the palace had spies in the city.
Xi Chiyao happened to be with Ye Futian right now, so she shared the news with him immediately.
Xi Chiyao said, “Things played out as you predicted. While copies of the Deity Maps were being auctioned off at high prices, Li Qingfeng revealed another copy of the map directly to all the top forces internally. They planned to join forces to decipher the location of the ancient imperial celestial mountain. If those forces work together, they might decipher the map faster than West Imperial Palace.”
Ye Futian was not surprised by this news. If he were Li Qingfeng, he would also choose to do so after failing to get any reply from Daoist Monk Mu.
Ye Futian replied, “I have to trouble the cultivators of West Imperial Palace to work harder. Li Qingfeng and the others do not have the real Deity Map, but if they identify the location, things will become much harder for us. There will be a battle over the treasures. If we can decipher the location before them, then we can seize the teachings right away.”
“I have urged my men a few times. They should be reaching a breakthrough soon,” Xi Chiyao said.
Ye Futian nodded and said no more.
In the following days, the entire Jiuyi City was filled with all kinds of news about the Deity Map. Moreover, many duplicates of the Deity Map were circulated and made known to the public. The forces who got the copies of the Deity Map via auction knew that with their power alone, it was impossible for them to seize the treasures hidden in the ancient imperial celestial mountain. Therefore, they traded their copies of the Deity Map with others in secret and created a commotion. Their goal was to fish for any available profit in troubled waters.
As a result, copies of the Deity Map became readily available in Jiuyi City. The copies were spread around quickly, and in the end, almost everyone had a copy of the map.
However, even though many people had the map, ordinary forces couldn’t decipher the exact location of the ancient imperial celestial mountain. The two key forces competing were West Imperial Palace and Li Qingfeng and his allies.
The latter was formed from many forces; the former was the overlord of the West Sea Domain.
Although they were not in direct conflict, the race was on behind the scenes. They were competing to see who could decipher the Deity Map first.
Today, on the mountain peak, Xi Chiyao suddenly opened her eyes. She looked at Ye Futian, who was sitting cross-legged nearby and cultivating quietly.
“Renhuang Ye,” Xi Chiyao yelled over transmitted thoughts. Ye Futian opened his eyes and looked at her. He understood what she wanted to say with just a glance.
Ye Futian immediately got up, and the two of them took to the skies. They set off without any hesitation. Then, silhouettes flew up one after another and followed them.
After their group left, cultivators kept traversing the sky from different directions around Jiuyi City and pursuing them at extremely high speeds.
The people in front were cultivators of West Imperial Palace. The people behind were from the top forces who arrived in Jiuyi City. It was obvious that before this, some forces already had their eyes on Xi Chiyao.
“Renhuang Ye, I’ll share the location with you. You head there first,” Xi Chiyao told Ye Futian through transmitted thoughts. “There are people tailing us. You can get rid of them with your speed. Many of my cultivators are making their way over from West Imperial Palace. They might reach there before you. Please meet up with them after you arrive.”
“I’ll bring Goddess Chiyao along with me,” Ye Futian said. With a flash, he came up beside Xi Chiyao. He grabbed her arm and said, “Bringing you along will slow down my Celerity by a little. But we should still be fast enough to get rid of these people. The only downside is we will ditch your men here as well.”
“That’s fine,” Xi Chiyao replied. As soon as she gave consent, their bodies disappeared from their original spots right away.
Not long after Ye Futian and Xi Chiyao left Jiuyi City, in the Breeze Pavilion, Li Qingfeng and the others stood up from their seats frantically. Their eyes glittered with excitement as they stared at a point on the map.
“We have deciphered it,” announced Li Qingfeng.
The reason why Li Qingfeng and the top forces could decipher the location so fast was not because their alliances had better resources than West Imperial Palace. Instead, it was because Li Qingfeng had been studying the Deity Map even before it was made known to others. He had already made great progress in searching for the exact location corresponding to the mark labeled on the map.
If the Deity Map had not been stolen, Li Qingfeng would have deciphered the location sooner or later. However, things had escalated to where they were now. Therefore, with Li Qingfeng’s expertise and the aid of the various top forces, their alliance could unravel the secret so quickly.
“Let’s go.”
One by one, the cultivators took to the sky and traversed across space. Their speed was astonishing. Like shadows flashing past, they disappeared in an instant.
Countless people in Jiuyi City noticed that silhouettes took to the sky and left the Breeze Pavilion. The cultivators transformed into beams of flowing light.
“Such fast speed,” exclaimed someone.
“Who are they? And where are they heading?” someone asked.
“Could it be related to the Deity Map?”
The crowd in Jiuyi City felt their hearts tremble in excitement. Had the secret of the Deity Map been deciphered?
Li Qingfeng might have found the location labeled on the Deity Map. That might be why he took to the sky and left in a hurry.
On the side of a mountain path, Daoist Monk Mu raised his head and glanced in the direction where Li Qingfeng and his allies had headed. Then, he packed up his stall and moved up the mountain path.
At the same time, he took out an item. His will seeped into it, and he recorded a message in the item. It was a treasure used for communication. Daoist Monk Mu utilized it to keep in touch with Ye Futian. He told Ye Futian what had happened here and asked him to be on his guard.
Daoist Monk Mu stole the Deity Map and searched for the ancient imperial celestial mountain for years. Unfortunately, he would most likely miss out on the adventure this time.
However, he was fine with it. Currently, Ye Futian was working with West Imperial Palace. It would be sufficient as long as Ye Futian could achieve his goal. After that, Ye Futian would surely help Daoist Monk Mu to improve his alchemy skill.
Right now, Daoist Monk Mu also had his own mission to carry out.
Step by step, he advanced upwards, following the mountain path. His speed was not fast. It took a while before he arrived at the Breeze Pavilion.
The Breeze Pavilion was very lively at the moment. Everyone broke into chatter. Many people looked far into the distance. They were still immersed in awe after the Pavilion Master left. They hoped that he would succeed.
However, it was rather difficult.
Voices of discussion rose from all around. Daoist Monk Mu quietly listened to all of this. He then looked up at the sky and mumbled, “It is almost time.”
Li Qingfeng’s group had already left for some time. They couldn’t rush back. It would cause Li Qingfeng despair if he had to return and waste the time his group had already spent on the road. They were now heading over to intercept the other groups from seizing the treasures of the ancient imperial celestial mountain.
Rumble. A terrifying pressure enveloped the Breeze Pavilion. Daoist Monk Mu walked step by step towards the pavilion. In an instant, the various cultivators in the pavilion felt their hearts tremble. They retracted their gazes and looked towards the figure who was slowly walking towards them.
It was Daoist Monk Mu!
“Li Qingfeng took everything I owned. I can only seek the Breeze Pavilion for reimbursement. Apologies for the offense,” said Daoist Monk Mu.
This time, he was taking things by force!
How could he let such an opportunity slip past him? This time, he would pillage the Breeze Pavilion clean.
…
In a corner of the vast and endless West Sea, there were many islands. All the islands were barren and had no signs of humans ever landing on them. The Worldly Spiritual Qi in this area seemed to be missing and was extremely thin. It was extremely unsuitable for cultivation. Even demonic beasts of the sea did not want to make their homes around this area.
At that moment, a group of people arrived in this region. Their spiritual wills enveloped the domain, but they still could not detect anything out of the ordinary.
These early birds were cultivators from West Imperial Palace. They opened up the final map and then glanced around at the surrounding region. The celestial mountain should be in this part of the sea. There was no error with their deduction. It was just that this region appeared too normal and appeared to be just a little corner of the endless West Sea. Few people would venture to this location.
At that moment, another two silhouettes suddenly descended upon the area. This caused the crowd’s expressions to turn slightly stern. However, when they made out who had arrived, they retracted their auras.
“Chiyao,” someone called out. The two people who had arrived were Ye Futian and Xi Chiyao.
Ye Futian glanced around at the surroundings. His spiritual will enveloped this part of the sea. A strange look flashed past in his eyes as he said, “This area actually appears so normal. The Worldly Spiritual Qi in this area is extremely thin, and there are no traces of humans around. No wonder no one noticed this place.”
Was this the location marked on the Deity Map?
He glanced at Xi Chiyao. She nodded slightly at him. Ye Futian did not say anymore. He took out the true Deity Map, and his spiritual will seeped into it. The Deity Map instantly emitted a bright light, and a projection of a region of the sea appeared.
Ye Futian shifted his thoughts, and the Deity Map immediately expanded frenziedly. It blocked out the sun and covered this part of the sea.
Xi Chiyao looked up at the projection of the sea shown on the Deity Map as her heart trembled slightly. This projection actually matched the region of the sea before their eyes. The only difference was that the islands on the map were like enchanted islands, but they appeared extremely ordinary in reality.
Buzz. Beneath the Deity Map, Flames of the Way emerged. In an instant, the Deity Map was lit by a frightening divine halo of flame. It was as though the map was made of flame. Beams of divine light shone down and pointed towards the surrounding islands. The light covered the sea directly.
Ye Futian’s group quietly watched as this miraculous scene played out. The sea was boiling. The divine flames released from the Deity Map landed on the surrounding islands and set them ablaze. Even some islands that had been lost to the passage of time also appeared as islands of flame.
A frightening sizzling sound could be heard as the seawater boiled. This part of the sea evaporated. Beneath the dried-up sea, countless patterns of flame lit up and resonated with the Deity Map in the sky. As the patterns appeared, a seal was unlocked in this part of the sea with unfathomable depth. An intense rumble could be heard, and the sea parted in the middle.
Deity Mist appeared. An extremely thick Worldly Spiritual Qi spread outwards, emanating from the bottom of the sea.
A celestial mountain appeared at the bottom of the dried-up sea, causing the surrounding sea to roar violently.
No wonder the Worldly Spiritual Qi here was so thin; it had been completely consumed. Ye Futian thought to himself when he saw this scene. Their hearts were beating fast. A celestial mountain was sealed within this part of the sea. How powerful was the person who managed to do this?
As the Deity Mist spread out, the celestial mountain emerged from the sea. It grew larger, as though what had appeared before was merely the tip of the celestial mountain.
Ye Futian and the others retreated upwards. The mountain continued to rise. From under the sea, a celestial mountain rose up!
