Chapter 1373: No Trace of Immortals on the Ethereal Immortal Mountain
At this moment, on the plaza behind Little Bamboo Peak, the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Malevolent Spirit Sect were all staring at the stone stele, their faces uncharacteristically grave.
On the stele, the child’s small face had appeared. It had lost its usual arrogance and was instead filled with terror. With a trembling voice, it was rapidly explaining the situation to Mo Qing and the others.
“You’re saying you can no longer sense the Secret Realm?”
After receiving confirmation, Mo Qing’s face was filled with shock.
It was Wei Zhongran who had first received the Heavenly Stele’s voice transmission. This matter was too significant, so Wei Zhongran had immediately notified all the Nascent Soul cultivators the moment he received the news.
Mo Qing’s cultivation had already advanced to the Mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm. His scholarly demeanor was now complemented by the air of an immortal, but at this moment, his face was terrifyingly grim.
“Yes… yes, Ancestor. Just… just half a tea’s time ago, the passage connecting to my divine sense suddenly trembled. I… I thought it was a demonic cultivator from the Secret Realm trying to get out.”
“So… so I tried to sense their intention, but… but I found that the Secret Realm at the other end of the passage was… was gone!”
On the Heavenly Stele, the child’s face had long lost its usual arrogance and was filled with fear.
He was in charge of guarding the passage here, so how could the Secret Realm suddenly disappear today? The key was that he couldn’t provide a single clue.
He could imagine how miserable his future would be. These cultivators, who killed as easily as scything grass, might just annihilate him in a fit of rage. Even if he wanted to live, it would be useless.
“Release all the restrictions on the passage!”
Extreme coldness appeared on Mo Qing’s face. The Secret Realm was too important to them. If they lost control of it, where would they find so many rare herbs in the future?
The sect’s disciples would also lose a crucial place for their trials. But what he feared more was the Secret Realm falling into the hands of “others.”
Although there was a fifth-rank demonic beast inside, that beast had been dormant for too long. It hadn’t even appeared during the great war between the two realms, so it might have already passed away.
If a Spirit Transformation cultivator were to act, the remaining fourth-rank demonic beasts in the Secret Realm might not be able to defend it, even with the advantage of terrain and time.
“Senior Brother, do you suspect the other three sects are behind this?”
As Mo Qing gave his grim command, Wei Zhongran’s voice sounded from the side.
His words represented the thoughts of the others as well. There were only two entrances to the Secret Realm: the Ten-Pace Courtyard and here.
Could a Spirit Transformation cultivator have entered the Secret Realm through the Ten-Pace Courtyard and destroyed the passage here?
“If it’s possible, only our four sects could have done it,” Mo Qing said, his tone icy.
Li Wuyi and the other newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivators just listened quietly to their conversation, only occasionally exchanging glances.
As they spoke, a seven-colored light appeared on the stone stele.
Soon, without needing Mo Qing and the others to form hand seals, a ten-foot-wide passage of black and white appeared on the stele’s surface. A vortex swirled within the passage.
This vortex was a teleportation passage. Therefore, even a Divine Sense probe couldn’t detect the situation on the other side. Someone had to go in.
“I’ll go in and investigate. Zhongran, you and the others stand guard here and be ready to provide support.”
Mo Qing turned to look at Wei Zhongran and spoke briefly. Given their connection through Dacen, their way of addressing each other was somewhat unique.
Then, before Wei Zhongran and the others could reply, he had already taken a step inside.
Mo Qing was now the only Nascent Soul ancestor of the previous generation in the Malevolent Spirit Sect. It was his duty to take responsibility, and he certainly wouldn’t let the junior Nascent Soul cultivators take the risk.
In his view, Wei Zhongran was currently the strongest combatant in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and Mo Qing didn’t want anything to happen to him. He was not at ease letting anyone else go in to investigate.
However, this was all his own speculation. In truth, even after Li Wuyi and Baili Yuan had successfully formed their Nascent Souls, they had not truly fought against anyone.
As for dual dharma-body cultivators like Zhao Min and Gong Chenying, who possessed top-tier cultivation methods in this realm, their true combat strength might not necessarily be inferior to Wei Zhongran’s.
It was just that in recent years, no one had dared to provoke the Malevolent Spirit Sect, so the Nascent Soul cultivators had not had any major battles.
Seeing this, Wei Zhongran wanted to stop him but was too late. He could only give a wry smile.
Ever since this Senior Brother Mo had advanced to the Mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm, he had spent less time in seclusion and had taken the initiative to shoulder the main responsibilities of the sect, allowing the other Nascent Soul cultivators to focus on their cultivation.
As one Nascent Soul cultivator after another emerged in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, Mo Qing also knew that the day he would leave the sect to search for an ascension node was not far off.
Inside the passage, after taking a step in, Mo Qing did not feel the familiar teleportation force of the past. His Divine Sense instantly spread out in all directions, but in his heart, he was already quite certain that what the Heavenly Stele had said was true.
There was no teleportation force, which meant the teleportation formation had been destroyed. Since there was no problem on his side, it meant the teleportation node on the other side had disappeared, disrupting the operation of the entire teleportation formation.
But the other party had destroyed it too easily. The other end was still guarded by demonic cultivators. If someone wanted to tamper with the teleportation passage, there would surely be a huge commotion.
Even in the worst-case scenario where the demonic cultivators colluded with others, how could the Heavenly Stele on this side only feel a jolt to its divine sense before instantly losing all connection?
Unless someone had already tampered with it long ago, slowly and quietly infiltrating the formation before succeeding in one fell swoop.
Indeed, when he carefully scanned with his Divine Sense, he found that the teleportation formation here could not operate at all. The entire formation was already incomplete…
When Mo Qing emerged, the faces of the others outside were filled with anxiety. The moment they saw his figure appear, Wei Zhongran hurriedly asked.
“How is it?”
“You can all go in and see for yourselves. The node at the other end of the teleportation formation has disappeared. I carefully inspected the formation and the inside of the passage, and there are no signs of damage on this side…”
Not long after, Wei Zhongran directly teleported away from the Malevolent Spirit Sect, heading in the direction of the Ten-Pace Courtyard!
Half a month later, before Wei Zhongran had returned, the Malevolent Spirit Sect received a visit from a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Ten-Pace Courtyard.
The visitor was aggressive. He had also teleported all the way, and finally, with sword qi surging uncontrollably around him, he flew to the Malevolent Spirit Sect, looking as if he was there to demand an explanation.
The intention of this Ten-Pace Courtyard sword cultivator was to question whether the Malevolent Spirit Sect had a Spirit Transformation cultivator who entered the Secret Realm and destroyed the passage leading to the Ten-Pace Courtyard.
Moreover, the other party had already notified the other two sects. He expected that Nascent Soul cultivators from the Jingtu Sect and the Supreme Mystery Teachings would arrive soon.
This made Mo Qing’s expression even uglier. He thought the other party was making a false counter-accusation. In the end, he let the other party personally enter their own passage, and then it was his turn to start interrogating…
This matter dragged on until Wei Zhongran returned, and the four sects were still unable to find the cause. Eventually, it even alerted the long-secluded Spirit Transformation cultivators, but they too could not find the reason.
From that point on, the Secret Realm that had nurtured the four sects for countless years vanished mysteriously forever…
However, among all the Nascent Soul cultivators of the four sects, there was one person who had a faint suspicion. That person was Zhao Min.
Because, just a few days before the Secret Realm disappeared, a voice had suddenly sounded in her mind. It was a voice she never would have dreamed of hearing.
Afterward, that person had silently and without a trace breached the Malevolent Spirit Sect’s grand formation, Little Bamboo Peak’s protective formation, and the formation restrictions of her own bamboo courtyard, appearing in her residence.
And no one in the sect had noticed!
He was a young Daoist in a yellow robe. When Zhao Min received the voice transmission and went into the courtyard, she saw him holding a snow-white horsetail whisk, smiling at her.
This shocked Zhao Min beyond words. That person was none other than the yellow-robed Daoist who had helped her and Li Yan leave the Forsaken Continent back then.
For a moment, Zhao Min was in a daze, wondering why he would appear here.
The yellow-robed Daoist just smiled at her. When she came to her senses, Zhao Min hurriedly bowed deeply.
“Junior pays her respects to Senior!”
Back then, the two Spirit Transformation old demons of the Sacred Demon Palace couldn’t even stand against him. In the end, they didn’t even dare to make a move. What terrifying level had his cultivation reached?
Therefore, Zhao Min was not surprised at all that no one in the Malevolent Spirit Sect could detect his presence.
Given his past kindness, although Zhao Min was surprised by his arrival, she did not think he came with malicious intent. The yellow-robed Daoist could probably destroy the entire sect with a wave of his hand.
At the same time, a flicker of hope suddenly ignited in her heart.
Sure enough, the yellow-robed Daoist gently raised his hand, lifting her from her bow.
“Where is Li Yan? Why is his aura not here?” The yellow-robed Daoist didn’t waste any words and asked directly.
A trace of excitement appeared on Zhao Min’s usually icy face.
She didn’t understand why the yellow-robed Daoist was so concerned about Li Yan, but with the existence of such a person, she felt like a drowning person suddenly grasping a straw.
“Senior, my husband left the Desolate Moon Continent sixty years ago and went to the Wind God Continent…”
With great respect, Zhao Min recounted in detail what had happened to Li Yan on the Wind God Continent. The yellow-robed Daoist’s frown deepened as he listened.
After Zhao Min finished speaking, he remained silent for a dozen breaths before slowly speaking.
“He disappeared into the void near the Tianli Clan’s territory. Are you absolutely certain about this?”
“This junior is certain. Senior Sister Ying saw it with her own eyes!”
At this point, the yellow-robed Daoist had also learned of Gong Chenying’s existence. In Zhao Min’s account, Li Yan had also married her on the Wind God Continent; she was Li Yan’s other Dao Companion.
After hearing this, he nodded.
“And what of the Sword-Washing Sect now?”
When he said this, his voice was terrifyingly calm, giving one the feeling of a gathering storm.
“It has been destroyed. There may still be some disciples scattered about!” Zhao Min replied.
Gong Chenying had told her all of this in detail. The Sword-Washing Sect’s initial assassinations had also caused heavy casualties to the Tianli Clan. It was only before Gong Chenying and the others left that things had returned to normal.
“Oh? There are still some left, sword cultivators, are they…” the yellow-robed Daoist said, as if muttering to himself.
He then looked up again, and his Divine Sense swiftly spread out. A moment later, he spoke to Zhao Min again.
“Alright, I understand the situation. For Li Yan’s sake, I will not erase your memory. Remember, do not tell anyone that I came looking for you.”
“Otherwise, if you attract disaster, not only your Malevolent Spirit Sect but the entire Desolate Moon Continent will not be able to bear the consequences. I will go and find Li Yan. If he is still alive, I will bring him back as soon as possible.”
Having said this, the yellow-robed Daoist paused. With a wave of his large sleeve, several streaks of light flashed from his palm.