Chapter 493: Under the Heavens (2)

“In other words, including the sect master, there are three great cultivators in the Vital Energy Sect?” asked Lu Sheng.

“…That’s how it seems on the surface. The plain folk only knows that the seven Peak Masters are of the Nascent Soul tier. However, only cultivators of the same tier such as I have heard some insider information about the Vital Energy Sect. More importantly, the Vital Energy Sect even has some connections to the Higher Realms,” Liu’er continued.

“Higher Realms?” Lu Sheng immediately slowed down. His eyes revealed that he was puzzled.

“Yes, the Higher Realms is what we call the Land of the Immortals. However, their connection with it is faint and minor at best. In the recent thousand years, the boundary between the Human World and the Immortal World has grown stronger. Even if a great cultivator wants to break through this boundary, he’d have to go through many troubles. He must either borrow strength from others or work together with other forces,” explained Liu’er solemnly. “In today’s world, there are only two sects that have maintained connections with the Higher Realms. One of them is the Vital Energy Sect, and the other is the Devil Path…”

“Interesting.” Lu Sheng had initially thought that this trip would end in him pushing over the Vital Energy Sect. He did not expect there to be so many interesting things for him to learn.

He was too powerful.

After he became a great cultivator of the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier, his supernatural power was almost 10,000 times greater than that of an ordinary great cultivator!

What concept was that?

There were not even 10,000 great cultivators in the world. 10,000 aside, it was impossible for there to be thousands or even hundreds of great cultivators. Great cultivators were not as common as Chinese cabbage; they were peak experts equivalent to the tier of Divine Lord Divine Intellect.

The Vital Energy Sect was already regarded as the most powerful sect, yet they only had a few great cultivators. If the other sects could have even one great cultivator among their ranks, they would be able to become overlords of the central plains and claim a portion of its resources for themselves.

“In the world today, those who can be mentioned in the same breath as you are the Vital Energy Sect’s sect master and the Devil Path Earth King Hall’s mysterious hall master. These two deserve their reputation of being peak existences. The great battle between the Righteous and Devil Path and the large-scale arrival of the Ancient Demon before this have been foiled by the Vital Energy Sect’s sect master. He closed the Ten Thousand Devil School, and stopped the Earth King Hall’s master’s plan on the eve of complete success,” Liu’er explained.

“Is that so?” Lu Sheng gave a faint, noncommittal smile. He was the current master of the four seas, and his supernatural power could drown out the heavens and destroy the earth. He was unrivalled. It was still unknown if there could be anyone in the world who could be mentioned in the same breath as himself.

He believed that even a Primordial Spirit elite who was on a higher tier than him would not be more powerful.

“Our objective today is to get an explanation from the Vital Energy Sect. When they were spreading their wings all those years ago, they had forced me to flee overseas. Hence, this time, I want compensation from them, and also an explanation,” said Lu Sheng calmly.

Liu’er was hesitant. She was unsure what extent Lu Sheng would go to. “But, Sect Master, with just the two of us… isn’t it slightly inappropriate for us to storm the Vital Energy Sect’s main branch, the Swaying Gold Mountains?”

“That’s alright.” Lu Sheng smiled. “You may continue your explanation.”

Liu’er nodded, no longer questioning him. To her, Li Sheng had always been a person who did things with a plan in mind.

“If…”—she paused slightly—”if we really take the Swaying Gold Mountain on as our opponent, we must first break through the Swaying Gold Mountain’s Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation. It’s a protective formation around the mountain that acts like a maze formation. However, this formation has actually surpassed the limits of the entire Human World. It’s said to be a peak formation gifted by the immortals of the Higher Realms. It’s a formation that can even touch upon the mysterious Space-time Art.

“After we break through the formation, we’ll have to face the Twelve Goldwater Laws. It’s a special method laid out by the seven Peak Masters; everything under the sun is contained within it. I was fortunate enough to witness a person charge at the mountain once…” Liu’er shook her head slightly. She was still filled with lingering fear even now.

“In other words, even with my current strength, you’re skeptical as to whether I’m able to survive these Twelve Laws?” Lu Sheng asked with slightly raised eyebrows.

“That’s indeed the case, Sect Master. Naturally, you’re powerful, but the Twelve Laws are powerful as well. The two of you are at a level I can’t even touch upon. Hence… I can’t determine who’s going to win…” Liu’er answered honestly.

“That’s alright. What comes afterward?” Lu Sheng smiled.

“Then, there’s the Seven Peaks. Each of them are independent units. Because of the formation, if we want to reach the highest point, Name Hall, we must pass through every single bedrock of every Peak until the very end. That’s all I know,” Liu’er said, and stopped talking.

“That’s alright. I’ll try it out myself for the later stages.” Lu Sheng suddenly stopped and looked before him.

The gradient of the forest increased before them. It was already at the gradient that called for a hike. Without them noticing, the forest was already filled with white mist.

The mist turned and swirled as if something was approaching them.

“I was unaware that True Lord Fu Hai would grace me with his presence. Please forgive me for not going out to meet you.” A blurry silhouette of a Taoist was formed by the white mist. The Taoist walked slowly out of the mist and bowed toward Lu Sheng and Liu’er from afar.

“The name’s Lu Shan. Hall master of the Bright Sword Hall under the Vital Energy Sect’s First Peak.”

Lu Sheng scrutinized the thick white mist. “I gather that the Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation has already been activated?”

“Sect Master, since you know that already, why do you ask for trouble still? The Swaying Gold Mountain’s Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation has never been broken since its activation a few hundred years ago. Even if you’ve reached the Nascent Soul tier and became a True Lord, it’s impossible for you to bypass this formation,” Taoist Lu Shan said with a smile.

Lu Sheng did not even look at him. Instead, he felt the flow of the Spirit Qi in the entire formation in detail. His Divine Lord’s spirit possessed a deceptive nature unique to Heavenly Devils. This deceptive nature was referred to as the ability to distort reality by the Heavenly Devils, and was a terrifying ability that could even deceive nature itself. It was not something that could be impeded by this simple formation.

In no time, Lu Sheng’s spirit had already gotten a grasp of the Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation’s key points.

“The reason I’m making this journey is to get an explanation for the matter that happened a few decades ago. I was forced by your elites to flee overseas. I ask that you send someone in charge here to give me such an explanation.” Lu Sheng was in no hurry to attack. He merely stated his intentions with a naturally calm expression.

“There’s no need for that. Our elders, the Peak Masters, are all in secluded cultivation for now. If there’s nothing important, I’ll ask that you see yourself out, Sect Master, so as not to break the peace we have.” The misty Taoist implied a threat with his words.

“Preposterous!” Liu’er suddenly made a move from the side. She waved an arm, and a spot of scarlet light shot out. However, the strange thing was that the spot of light had barely flown ten meters when it suddenly vanished in the air.

Liu’er paled. She immediately felt that the scarlet light which she unleashed had broken free of her control. It felt as if her flesh was cut down from her own body.

“Nascent Soul True Lord? You must be Senior Liu, Mount Qi’s chief, right? There were rumors that said Mount Qi has formed an alliance with the Four Seas Sect. Seems like the rumors were true,” the misty Taoist said with astonishment.

“However, I’ll still advise you not to waste your efforts, Senior Liu. The range of this Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation is wide, it encompasses the entire mountain. Moreover, there are 21 sets of formations nested within it. Among them, there is a handful that definitely can’t be broken by anyone. The two of you aside, even if you rallied a few more Godly Lords, it’s impossible to break through this mountain’s protective formation.”

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“What a shameless boast.” Liu’er wanted to display her strength, and so scattered a handful of light-yellow spots with a wave of her arm. They were a handful of unknown small-sized seeds.

When these seeds were scattered, they instantly dispersed into the mist. They seemed to be intelligent beings.

“Pcchht!”

The light-yellow seeds grew. They split and cracked open in midair, giving way to emerald green branches and leaves. Then, they blossomed, wilted, and fell…

In a short span of time, the seeds seemed to have experienced the entire life cycle of a plant. However, throughout this process, the mist around them seemed to be swallowed by a whale as it was quickly devoured by the seeds.

For a time, the mist in an area of 10,000 meters around them was sucked away by the seeds. The formation around them relied heavily on the mist. Now, it seemed as if an opening had been made.

“Mountain Chief, don’t you know that the most common Arts used against the Swaying Gold Mountain are those used to deal with mist?” said the misty Taoist with a smile. He stood where he was, not even budging an inch. He did not even seem to mind the seeds sucking away at him. However, his voice still reached them in layers through the air.

Liu’er had a sour expression. She had initially thought that she could at least break a couple of the minor formations nested within the great formation, which she could not break, but she did not expect herself to be powerless to break even a single minor formation. She had embarrassed herself in front of the sect master.

“You…” Her deep black eyes glinted with hints of killing intent. She placed her hand lightly on the black crystal pendant on her chest, about to tug it off.

…..

“What do you guys make of this?” Inside the Name Hall, the Vital Energy Sect’s sect master and several Peak Masters who had stayed to discuss some matters had already noticed the intruding duo.

“The Four Seas Sect’s sect master is quite powerful. Although he’s just recently achieved the Nascent Soul tier, it’s possible that he’s cultivated some secret Art that conceals his aura. The Mount Qi’s chief, on the other hand…” Sima Zhun shook his head slightly, and smiled without saying anything.

The others knew what he meant. A great demon such as the Mount Qi’s chief who only knew how to act out of instinct was not considered as a contemporary by them. They would not even refer to such demons as True Lords.

“Alas, we haven’t divined the fate of this person when we set things up on our part. He’s but an Early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, an ordinary True Lord. He won’t be able to make great waves,” said the sect master with a smile. “Alright, let’s ignore them. The First Peak will make them retreat after they face the difficulties. Let’s continue our discussion on that matter.”

….

Blood dripped down slowly from Liu’er’s hand.

A black fang had stabbed into her wrist. She had attacked with her full strength and launched her Clear Light Thousand Poison Nail. That was one of her most powerful trump cards. However, she did not expect her hidden trump to sneak up on her from behind.

Caught off guard, she suffered an injury.

“It’s useless,” said the misty Taoist with a light chuckle. “I’m telling you that it’s best for you to return where you came from. If you’re not a formation grandmaster, you won’t even be able to find the entrance to the Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation. Your efforts shall be in vain.”

Liu’er turned and looked at Lu Sheng. He appeared calm.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know anything about formations.” He took a step forward. “But, although I know nothing about formations, I’m strong enough.”

Liu’er did not understand why he would say such things. The issue at hand was not their strength. If they could not even locate the entrance and their target, it would be useless even if they had strength on their side…

Lu Sheng seemed to have read her mind. He smiled.

“Liu’er, if you wanted to destroy a box that’s hard to find inside a mountain forest, what would you do?”

Liu’er muttered, “I’ll use a searching skill to find it and then destroy it.”

“Wrong.” Lu Sheng raised a finger. “A real expert won’t need to go and search for it… instead…

“He’ll destroy the box along with the entire mountain!”

“Rumble!”

A gigantic black cloud vortex suddenly spread out in the skies. A huge volume of water vapor surged toward them from all directions.

The sky seemed to have been covered by a black screen as it instantly darkened. The gigantic dark cloud swirled slowly with Lu Sheng’s location as the center.

“For an expert that’s powerful enough, finding a box would take two hours. On the other hand, destroying a mountain… actually takes the same amount of time as destroying a box. All it takes is…” Lu Sheng spread out his arms slightly.

“…one second.”

“Buzz!”

His eyes instantly flashed with a blinding blue light. 500 kilometers of the sky above the Swaying Gold Mountain were completely covered in a deep blue color.

“Overturn the sea!”

There was a low shout.

“Rumble!” Seawater that seemed to cover the skies poured down in an instant, and crashed with a loud boom into the Swaying Gold Mountain’s Formation.

Ceaseless seawater poured down in torrents onto the entire mountain range with a loud boom.

The mountains wailed, the earth trembled… Countless lives were crying out in pain and wailing in sadness amid the torrent.

Under the bombardment of a hundred million tons of seawater, the Cyclone Nine Tripod Cauldrons Formation had not even spread out when it was ended. With a loud rumble, it turned into golden light and was scattered.