Chapter 296: Wild Forest
The matters surrounding the Zheng Family Old Ancestor have always been shrouded in mystery, with no one able to explain them clearly.
How did he open the Qiling Relic? What exactly did he do to produce the disordered flesh and blood? How did he hide for many years and then orchestrate a grand scheme of refining humans, seeking Immortals from all directions?
The matter of the Bu family was the same.
Why did they transform into Evil Seeds? Where did the main family of the Bu family go? All these things were like broken chains, with no cause and no effect.
People always become cautious when facing the unknown, unwilling to act rashly, fearing that they might not gain an Immortal fate but instead perish.
Thus, they deliberated repeatedly.
But this also depends on the situation.
For example, those whose Lifespan was nearing its end.
Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the cycles of the Heavenly Dao, and it has been so since ancient times.
At birth, people come naked, without a stitch of clothing; when old and sick, they curl their bodies like insects, silently awaiting their final end in the shadows.
However, cultivators in the Qingyun World have always resisted death, leading to the creation of various secret arts.
Some require damaging one's Origin, some can cause mental confusion, and even more extreme ones can only feign death to prolong Lifespan.
Such secret arts may not be better than facing death calmly; they are full of pain and hardship, but they are, after all, a glimmer of hope.
Because the longer one's Lifespan is prolonged, the more likely they are to break through and extend their Lifespan.
It's just that the Human Race has risen for a thousand years, and countless people have sought eternal life, but most have died while waiting, their souls returning to the Heavenly Dao.
And when an opportunity truly arises, even if the risk is immense, the elderly facing the end of their Lifespan will burst forth with an intense desire, even at any cost.
Because the desire to live is the greatest desire in this world, and it can unleash incredibly strong motivation, far surpassing hatred or kinship.
After all, even if one dies because of it, that is the predetermined outcome.
As for those who are not troubled by Lifespan concerns and remain cautious, when faced with an Immortal opportunity, they cannot remain indifferent observers; they will place their hopes on these elderly individuals whose Lifespan is nearing its end, closely observing them to gain insight.
Thus, from the incident of the Bu family to the Dongping Mountain Range, the gazes from various Immortal Sects have always been gathered behind those old people who were on the verge of death.
And now, they have entered the relic of the Great Wild Forest.
Whether the transformation of the Bu family members into Evil Seeds is related to the Great Wild Forest relic is debatable, but a Forbidden Land that has been inaccessible since ancient times now seems to have been liberated, which in itself is a major event.
At this time, the New Year had just passed, and the accumulated snow had not yet melted.
In the southeast of Qing Province, northwest of Yong Province, at the confluence of the Nu River and the Mist River, except for some evergreen trees and the pine forest in the southwest that brought some green, the surroundings were all a pristine white, with mountains dancing like silver snakes and plains like wax elephants, covering the entire riverbank.
Due to its distance from any city, this place only had a small stone town, where hundreds of Sect lived, crowded along the east bank of the Mist River.
Such a barren place naturally had no teahouses or taverns, only a single tea shed that relied on the Yong Province official road for business.
At dusk, as the sun set, the farmer running the tea shed emerged from his mud house behind him, carrying a steaming teapot to the shed, his mouth exhaling thick white mist that dissipated into the dark red sky.
“My—my humble shop is already dilapidated, and there isn’t much good tea.”
“I—I apologize for the poor hospitality.”
The farmer spoke, looking at the crowd gathered under his tea shed.
Since the first day of the New Year, people had been continuously arriving at their stone town, just like this group today, all dressed luxuriously and possessing a terrifying Aura that made people afraid to look directly at them.
He had never left the stone town and couldn't guess the identities of these people; he could only serve them carefully and cautiously.
And those people did not talk to him, their gazes cold and arrogant, as if they didn't see the farmer at all, but kept staring at the riverbank in front of them, constantly surveying.
The great river in winter surged ceaselessly, its muddy yellow waters carrying Crushed ice, roaring and crashing between the steep gorges.
The rolling waves in the middle of the river occasionally splashed white foam, which was instantly swallowed by the currents.
At the same time, a surge of water vapor rushed towards the bank, turning into bursts of white mist in the dry, cold weather.
The people in the tea shed finished their tea, then rose one after another and walked along the riverbank downstream, their spiritual light flickering as they passed a mountain pass like the wind, flying through the Void Realm towards the southwest.
Looking down from above the Void Realm, the entire forest sea, with the undulations of the morning mist, resembled solidified dark green waves.
And the mist within it was not a uniform milky color, but was torn into wisps by countless tree crowns, intertwining into translucent gauze curtains at the tips of the fir trees.
The crowd rushed down, their surging Spiritual Qi tearing through layers of mist, disappearing into the mountain forest.
The farmer running the tea shed was currently crouching to the left of the shed, looking up with squinted eyes, only catching a glimpse of their ascending figures before quickly retracting his gaze.
Flying into the sky and burrowing into the earth, moving through the Void Realm—those were Immortals, undoubtedly.
Every autumn, he would meet government officials who came to collect taxes, saying it was to honor the Immortals and ensure favorable weather for the world.
Day after day, year after year, he had given almost half of his life's earnings, but this was the first time he had seen the Immortals of legend.
He hurried into the courtyard, seeing his wife looking out with worried eyes, and couldn't help but frown, quietly telling her to quickly go inside.
For several days thereafter, no one else came, but the people of Stone Town continued to speak in hushed tones and walk with their heads down.
Because those Immortals had entered the Great Wild Forest behind them and had not yet emerged, but they all knew those people were inside.
These Mortals didn't know what the Immortal masters were doing, but they knew that since so many important figures were visiting this poor, remote place, something was surely about to happen.
At the same time, in the deeply misty mountain forest, countless cultivators continued to travel westward through the Great Wild Forest.
Stepping over decaying branches and fallen leaves, they gradually saw a black outline emerge from the mist.
As they drew closer, pushing aside the mist that enveloped their vision, they saw a magnificent black mountain standing in a dead silence.
This was an extremely peculiar high mountain, entirely smooth, unlike other mountains that would have independent rocks hanging from their bodies; instead, its layers were stacked without any gaps.
Looking up from the foot of the mountain, the dark high mountain resembled a towering, precarious shadow, giving people an invisible sense of oppression.
And not far from this mountain, many figures were already standing, quietly staring at the movements around them.
Rumble—on nights when muffled thunder rumbled, as the dense night descended, the downstream of the Mist River was shrouded in darkness.
Especially the Great Wild Forest, where the mist covered the sky and blocked out daylight, now accentuated a dead silence.
Near the mountain, countless people hid in the night, sitting or standing, intently staring at a circular valley.
The old man who came from the Dongping Mountain Range had entered this valley long ago, and now, several days later, no one had returned.
What was inside, whether the people who entered were dead or safe—no one knew any of these things.
To investigate the situation, they later sent Disciples inside, but they too vanished without a trace, like mud oxen entering the sea.
Such a result made them even more hesitant to act rashly, forcing them to remain on standby here.
And as they observed, figures with white hair and beards would occasionally appear in the night mist, flying back and forth around the circular valley, their golden eyes frequently flashing in the darkness as they constantly peered inside.
These people were their Elders, and also the Elders of the various Immortal Sects.
More precisely, they should be the great cultivators of the main branches of the Immortal Sects, such as the Shang Family, the Huo Family, the Yan Family, and the Chen Family.
Unlike the Qiling incident, where Sect gathered and all sides besieged.
That time, because the Evil Seed roared out and startled all directions, the Qiling incident was exposed in broad daylight.
But this time, the major Immortal Sects were acting secretly, completely sealing off the news.
On one hand, the scene of the Zheng Family Old Ancestor refining cultivators still haunted many people; on the other hand, if there truly was an Immortal opportunity, then the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
In the latter half of the night, dark clouds obscured the sun, and the Great Wild Forest was even more pitch black.
Above the sky, muffled thunder occasionally rumbled intermittently from behind the clouds.
The cultivators present, having not received any results today, had long since entered meditation and rest.
But as another muffled thunder exploded behind the clouds, some people who had been meditating for a long time slowly opened their eyes, looking towards the black mountain, a golden glint gradually appearing in their eyes.
Not long after, in the deepest part of the circular valley, a young Shang Family Disciple emerged from the mountain.
His outer robe had been removed and was now clutched in his arms, and he walked out with a panicked expression.
To avoid disturbing the surroundings, he did not use Spiritual Qi, intending to follow the shadows down the mountain, but when he reached the mountain pass and saw the golden eyes constantly lighting up in the forest, his heart still trembled involuntarily.
Boom!
A dazzling beam of fire light exploded in the sky.
The Shang Family Disciple saw an iron saber, imbued with raging flames, descend from the sky, its scorching Saber Qi directly tearing apart the stillness of the place.
And after that Saber Qi, a figure appeared in the Void Realm, radiating a powerful Aura, a hint of crimson greed flashing in his golden eyes.
But at this moment, a magnificent Sword Qi suddenly pierced through the forest.
The Sword Intent, like surging waves, directly snapped the ancient trees in its path, colliding fiercely with the fiery iron saber, and the intense Qi instantly transformed into a roaring gale that swept through the forest.
“Catch him.”
“Don’t harm him, leave him alive!”
As someone made the first move, others in the raging forest drew their sabers, and roaring Saber Qi, following the thick mist, struck down with a crash, directly towards the mountain pass.
In that instant, a long spear, like a silver Dragon, broke through the wind, shattering the sharp Qi.
The wielder of this spear was an elderly man with a middle-aged appearance, from the Asked the Dao Sect, and the person who had just returned from the mountain was his nephew of the same clan.
He was extremely close to the mountain pass; as he thrust his spear, he forcefully waved his hand to grab his nephew, intending to take him away.
But just as he was about to seize him, a sharp finger-light directly pierced his left shoulder, tearing fiercely at the flesh of his shoulder, and a cry of pain instantly echoed from the forest.
At this moment, an elderly man with white hair and beard flew over, his wide Immortal robe billowing in the wind, while the silver light at his fingertips once again rose sharply.
There is an ancient saying in Qingyun, which states that when a mantis stalks a cicada, there is always a oriole behind.
Boom!
Magnificent spells roared through the mountain forest, and countless figures began to rush forward rapidly.
Since entering the Great Wild Forest, several Elders and a few Disciples had already entered the mountain, and they had waited outside for countless days and nights, finally waiting for a returnee; how could they allow him to slip away from their grasp?
Thus, the constantly exploding Aura during the collisions instantly filled the mountain forest, and the powerful Qi, like a pair of large hands, directly tore a long, narrow opening in the thick mist of the mountain forest from its center.
The people of Stone City had long heard the roaring explosions from the Great Wild Forest, initially thinking it was spring thunder.
But as flames rose from the distant mountain forest and countless Immortal lights splashed during collisions, they began to realize that it was the Immortal masters in the mountain unleashing their power, so they hid in their homes, not daring to show their faces.
Of course, during their hiding, some people, unable to resist their curiosity, peeked through various window cracks.
They had supported Immortals for most of their lives, so they couldn't help but want to know what those Immortals were truly like.
And when they saw a monstrous Saber Qi rising like a bright moon under the sky, causing countless towering ancient trees to collapse with a crash, their faces instantly turned pale, and their bodies trembled even more violently.
“Daddy—”
“Hide well, don’t make a sound.”
The Shang Family Disciple who returned from the mountain was no ordinary person; at this moment, he had taken advantage of the chaotic battle to fly into the Void Realm, rushing out of the mountain forest.
The surging Mist River, even at night, continued its relentless flow; the Shang Family Disciple rushed past the turbulent river mouth, and before he reached the bank, a large hand slapped him down fiercely from the sky.
This palm strike carried no Killing Intent whatsoever, and its Qi was even soft, clearly intended to preserve his life.
The Shang Family Disciple fell into the river, but the moment he sank into the water, he immediately flipped and leaped from the rapid river surface, Spiritual Qi splashing water as he turned and sped away.
The old man who had struck with his palm originally wanted to repeat the move, but as soon as he looked up, he saw countless towering figures flying towards him, and a terrifying pressure descended like a mountain, forcing him to raise his arm to block.
Boom!
A pair of large palms, like an overcast sky, fiercely tore apart the incoming Saber Qi.
But in the next instant, he was tightly locked by a silver spear to his chest, forcing him to flip his palm and retreat.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Shang Family Disciple soared from the great river, but before he could escape far, dozens more figures approached him, their Qi roaring.
Helpless, he could only change direction and return to the Great Wild Forest, his Spiritual Qi continuously surging as he sped through the dark mountain forest.
But at this moment, a sudden whooshing sound came.
The Shang Family Disciple instantly felt a sharp pain, cried out, and immediately fell to his knees with a thud.
An arrow, imbued with Spiritual Qi, had just whistled through the air, piercing his calf and pinning him firmly to the ground, making it impossible for him to break free.
And just as he fell to the ground, his outer robe, which had been holding something, flew directly away, scattering its contents onto the ground.
Countless powerful cultivators with immense Aura now returned to the mountain forest, looking at the items scattered on the ground.
These were two egg-sized fruits, with a transparent, gelatinous exterior, and a fiery red substance constantly surging within them.
With the impact of landing, the fruits continuously emitted waves of fiery red light, exuding an enticing Aura, appearing exceptionally dazzling in the night.
For a moment, the surging Aura around everyone began to climb steadily, and Killing Intent gradually condensed into a powerful gale.
Just then, a sudden sound came from afar, as if cloth was sweeping across the ground full of bushes.
Everyone looked sideways and saw another Disciple who had been sent in earlier, approaching cautiously from the valley, just like the Shang Family Disciple.
