Chapter 273 - Thousand Summits Mountain

Jade Terrace Mountain plunged into chaos. Countless cultivators were teleported out of it, with One-dot Red, Su Zimu, and Zuoqiu Yang being the last ones to leave. Zuoqiu Yang’s chest was ripped open in five places and the wounds were oozing blood.

The Elders in charge of the teleportation were spitting blood on the ground. A disciple hastily ran up to the Elders of the league and said, “Elders, strange phenomena is taking place in the Forest of Illusory Moon. The Teleportation Formation that you left behind has collapsed. The four Elders in charge of the teleportation are seriously hurt!”

“What did you say?!” The Elders of the league were shocked.

“Elders…”

A disciple holding a geomantic compass in hand rushed up to them. “Grade 3, Grade 6, and Grade 7 districts have vanished from the map!”

“What?!” One of the Elders turned pale with fright. Another immediately said, “Tell the others to do a roll call at once and also investigate the disappearance of the three districts!”

No matter how long Murong Xian’er stared at the collapsed entrance of the Teleportation Formation, Xiao Chen was still nowhere to be seen. Her face was wet with tears. “Brother… Xiao Chen…”

Zi Mo was also beginning to worry but told her, “Stay calm. The kid will be fine.” He then walked up to Yu Yifeng and the rest and hit the latter hard on the head. “You’re the leader! Where’s your teammate? Why are you the only ones who came out?!” he chided.

Yu Yifeng didn’t dare to raise his head. He said in a low voice, “Junior Brother Xiao crushed our jade notes and stayed to fight Zuoqiu Yang…”

The roll call was completed two hours later. Only three cultivators were still in the forest: Xiao Chen of the Jade Qing Sect, Huangfu Xin’er of Heartless Palace, and Xiaoyue of the Thousand Feathers Sect. The reason for the vanishing of the three districts was a spatial collapse.

“Spa-spatial collapse…”

Murong Xian’er fainted.

An Elder went up to the platform and raised his hand, indicating everyone to be silent. He said loudly, “Stay calm, everyone. The Immortal’s Sword Assembly will be postponed to the three months later. We’ll commence the search and rescue operation now…”

The Daoist League of the Five Continents must provide a satisfactory explanation for the mishaps occurring in the Immortal’s Sword Assembly or they won’t be able to quell everyone’s dissatisfaction. More importantly, Xiao Chen and Huangfu Xin’er were rising stars among the youngsters while Xiaoyue was the heir of the Thousand Feathers Sect, an Ancient Immortal Clan. It would be disastrous if any of them got into trouble in the league.

Below the platform, the sound of discussion ripped through the crowd. “Nothing has ever happened in the Forest of Illusory Moon for thousands of years. Why now?”

“Could it be… because of that place…?”

“It’s a spatial collapse, you know! Not even cultivators in the Apotheosis Realm might be able to withstand it. I think there is a good chance that those three are already dead.”

In the crowd, an elderly man dressed in red couldn’t keep his sneer off his face. It was the Wan Gufeng of the Order of the Divine Fire. He muttered to himself, “This is fate. Fate, indeed!”

In the next three days, the Daoist League of the Five Continents put together a team of nearly two hundred professionals to search the Forest of Illusory Moon. The team included six cultivators in the Nirvana Realm and twenty or so cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm. The Immortals’ League also sent more than a hundred envoys to help.

A month came and went. Tianyuan City was now covered in snow. Many children built snowmen and lit firecrackers in front of their houses. The search and rescue operation had gone on for just as long in vain.

Li Muxue stood in front of the window, staring at the fluttering snowflakes in the air. In her hand was the jade note that Xiao Chen had given her back then.

Murong Xian’er was over at Zi Mo’s place, crying that she wanted to go and find Brother Xiao Chen.

The twelve ladies of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon had joined the search and rescue operation as well.

The Ling family had also hired more than ten people to enter the Forest of Illusory Moon. Of course, they were there to search for Xiao Chen, except they wouldn’t report anything if they found him. If Xiao Chen wasn’t dead, they would kill him and quietly move his body back.

Meanwhile, Qing Chen, Zi Mo, Fengxi, and Perfected Immortal Tai Yi were seated inside a small pavilion. In the middle of the pavilion was a silver-haired handsome man carrying a cyan sword case on his back. The case was decorated with the print of a cosmological scheme diagram and the words “Kunlun” in mystic script underneath.

The man was Tianyi Zi, the Sword Immortal of Kunlun. Though he looked young, he was actually more than six hundred years old. His seniority was the highest in the room.

The Kunlun Sect was also one of the Ancient Immortal Clans. Unlike the Thousand Feathers Sect, the members of Kunlun Sect essentially never roam around the world. Thus, many younger disciples of the Cultivation Realm had nearly forgotten about their existence.

“Tianyi Zi, what do you think the outcome of the spatial collapse will be?” Fengxi asked, frowning.

Tianyi Zi’s brows were deeply furrowed. “The spatial collapse will result in the disorientation of time and space. Those caught in it might be transported to another time. They could very likely be sent to the past or the future.”

Perfected Immortal Qing Chen frowned. “Can you please elaborate, Perfected Immortal Tianyi Zi?”

Tianyi Zi replied, “If a person is sent to the past, he’ll vanish from his original timeline forever. There might also be two of the same person existing at the same time in the past. If a person is sent to the future, every one of us here will forget about him and will only meet him in the future.”

Everyone frowned. Seeing as they could still remember Xiao Chen and the rest, it meant that they weren’t sent to the future. Tianyi Zi continued, “There’s another possibility other than the disorientation of time. If a person has a magic treasure or some other trick up his sleeve, he might be transported to another location during the spatial collapse. This is the best-case scenario.”

Of course, that scenario was everyone’s ideal scenario. Another seven days passed. Tianyuan City remained shrouded in fluttering snow. Seven hundred miles to the west of the city was the Forest of Illusory Moon.

The forest also covered a continuous snow mountain range, where the icecaps remained all year round. It was called the Thousand Summits Mountain for its numerous peaks and endless mountains that spanned across several large and small states.

Many smaller sects established themselves under the Thousand Summits Mountain. They remained obscure, unlike large sects that everyone knew of, like the Xianyong Sect, Jade Qing Sect, and Divine Mist Sect. Wang Luo was a Foundation Building Realm disciple of one of these small sects.

This was his tenth day on the Thousand Summits Mountain. Standing amidst the snowstorm, he was like a lost traveler. The rain of snow swiftly covered the trail of footprints he left behind.

However, there was a joyous and hopeful smile on his face. He clutched the brocaded pouch on his waist and muttered to himself, “With this Snow Demon Internal Elixir, I’ll definitely be able to enter the Lv 7 of the Foundation Building Realm. Junior Sister won’t look down on me anymore. Hehe…”

The Internal Elixir was something he fought with his life for when he encountered a Snow Demon two days ago. He looked at the endless summits. “I’m bringing back a snow lotus herb for Junior Sister. If she’s happy enough, she might just agree to marry me. I’ll bring up the marriage with Master when I get back. Hehe…”

Wang Luo hailed from an impoverished family. His parents were killed by a village tyrant who colluded with the authorities. Fortunately for him, the Leader of the Ziyang Sect brought him back to the sect. Still, his talent was just average and he dithered in the mid-stage of the Foundation Building Realm for the past ten more years.

Even so, he dreamed of marrying the Sect Leader’s daughter, Zi Sha. Little did he imagine that she wouldn’t even give him the time of the day. She had sent him on an errand to find the snow lotus herb as an excuse to send him away. To be frank, she would rather he died on the mountain lest he should bring her any more trouble in the future.

Wang Luo reached the summit of the mountain after four hours. He nearly slipped and fell off the precipice several times but he ultimately managed to grab the snow lotus herb that was swaying gently in the cold wind.

“Hehe, Junior Sister Zi Sha. Wait for me. I’m coming back…”

On his way down the mountain, he was filled with delusions about the future. Suddenly, a peal of mocking laughter rang out behind him. “Junior Brother Wang.”

Wang Luo’s expression turned solemn and he immediately spun around. He raised his guard the moment he saw the man in white in front of him. “Mo Hengyu! Why are you following me?”

The handsome man was his Eldest Senior Brother who had entered the peak of the Foundation Building Realm. No one in the sect dared to defy him. Mo Hengyu chuckled and said, “Give me the demon’s pill and snow lotus herb.”

Wang Luo tightened his grip over his bosom. “I nearly lost my life for this! Why should I give it to you?”

“Because I’m your Eldest Senior Brother!” Mo Hengyu narrowed his eyes and walked over to him.

Wang Luo immediately retreated. Under the weight of the peak of the Foundation Building Realm aura, even breathing felt stunted. He said in a trembling voice, “What, what are you trying to do? I’ll give it to you, alright?!” He then tossed Mo Hengyu the case holding the snow lotus herb and the pouch.

Mo Hengyu chuckled. “That’s what I want to hear. But you must keep this to yourself. In particular, you mustn’t let Junior Sister Zi Sha and Master find out.”

His Eldest Senior Brother was so much stronger than him that Wang Luo had no choice but to endure this injustice. He swore that he would one day trample Mo Hengyu under his feet. He said earnestly, “I’ll keep this a secret…”

Before he could finish, he felt a chill in the pit of his stomach. Blood began pouring out of his wound. “Mo Hengyu, you…”

Mo Hengyu retrieved his sword and flashed him a cold smile. “Only the dead won’t talk. I can’t believe rubbish like you think you can marry my Junior Sister Zi Sha. Don’t worry. They’ll find your body in a few days…”

Wang Luo crashed to the ground. He stared as Mo Hengyu left, his eyes filled with resentment. His blood had dyed the snow around him red. The moment before death approached, he was still muttering his Junior Sister’s name.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the summit, a pale-looking youngster collapsed amid the snow. The snow and wind had nearly concealed him in white. Next to him was a leopard cat with a Lingzhi plant growing out of its head.

Suddenly, the youngster sat up and yelled, “Xin’er! Xin’er!”

The youngster was Xiao Chen. His yelling woke Zhiluan up. “Meow! Did this great one die?”