Chapter 298: First Glimpse of the Thousand Demon Cave
Chapter 298: First Glimpse of the Thousand Demon Cave
Under everyone's gaze, Tang Yuan briefly assessed the situation before taking off with the Great Qian and the others, soaring across the sky towards the north.
The remaining cultivators on the street wore varied expressions.
In an instant, everyone sprang into action.
"According to the rules, we should wait at least half a day for the Great Qian group to leave before we follow," Xu Wanyun explained to Shen Yi as she adjusted her emotions, holding onto her possibly outdated messages. "What comes next is an exchange of treasures among cultivators and final preparations... The main objective of the Immortal's Gate and Great Qian is the longevity fruit, and with them attracting the attention of demons, it's the perfect opportunity for us to scoop up any leftovers."
"Let's go," Shen Yi said after a brief pause, summoning his Dao Infant. His entire being was enveloped in a surge of aged wood's pure Qi.
Soon after, he took off in pursuit.
Those few Mixed Yuan Sect masters were meant to be used for exchanging incense offerings. If not necessary, it was best not to lose them to the outside world.
"Hey! Those are Great Qian's rules," Xu Wanyun said helplessly. The extremely powerful forces had already been quite tolerant, implicitly allowing other cultivators to tag along and scavenge for scraps.
Shen Yi's actions might offend Great Qian.
Moreover... the plan was to let the people of Great Qian take the brunt of any potential danger. By following so closely, if Tang Yuan and the others were ambushed, there was a risk that it would implicate the three of them as well.
"Auntie, hurry up," A Qing urged, believing that Shen Ge had his own plans.
"I'm too lazy to deal with you," Xu Wanyun said, rolling her eyes at her. She then summoned a wooden boat with a wave of her hand.
The three of them soon left the range of the Demon Suppressing City.
The vista before them remained one of lush green mountains and clear waters.
Shen Yi flew calmly through the air, aided by the Golden Eagle God's passage, ensuring that they wouldn't fall behind.
He was just a bit perplexed.
Looking ahead, there was no sign of any demon cave.
"The teleportation array is up ahead," Xu Wanyun caught up and said softly, "Don't you find it absurd? A group of demons and monsters living better lives than those on Wutong Mountain, and to visit their turf, we have to use such means as if we're paying a visit to an immortal sect."
"Since that's the case, why don't the demons just shut down the array?" Shen Yi wondered.
If the Thousand Demon Cave was truly as luxurious as described, how could they tolerate cultivators coming and going freely on their turf?
"That's something you don't know about," Xu Wanyun said, raising an eyebrow. "According to the records in my family's texts, the entire protective sect array of the Thousand Demon Cave is controlled by Wutong Mountain."
"Isn't that bizarre!"
She clicked her tongue in amazement, "In fact, according to my elders' judgment, the location of Wutong Mountain and the Thousand Demon Cave, based on our usual method of building arrays, is particularly similar to an outer and inner sect."
"And Great Qian is like the ordinary forces dwelling at the foot of the mountain..."
"This entire place is like a massive immortal sect!"
Hearing this, A Qing sighed and said helplessly, "Auntie is just repeating the wild guesses of our elders. There's no basis for any of this. How could there possibly be such a huge array in this world?"
Obviously, in the eyes of someone who seriously studied arrays like her, Auntie was the type to listen to a little information and then start bragging.
"Immortal sect..." Shen Yi suddenly recalled Zhu Shi Xiong's words.
What Xu Wanyun said this time might not be mere words.
Could it be that the Thousand Demon Cave used to belong to Wutong Mountain, but the cultivators were driven out by the demons?
That didn't make sense either.
If they could forcefully take over the area despite the array, the power gap must be enormous. Why would the demons leave the cultivators alive and allow them to oppose them from outside?
The white jade pillars were covered in cracks, as if they had endured endless years, and the carvings of dragons and phoenixes upon them were already broken and battered, with only large pits remaining where their eyes should have been, lifeless and dull.
The spot where a plaque should have hung at the top was now empty.
The group had come here many times before.
They no longer felt the awe they once did.
Tang Yuan strode towards the archway and casually glanced back.
"Nowadays, wandering cultivators are much bolder than we were back then." He shook his head with a slight smile.
"With scarce resources, there's no other path forward."
The masters of the Great Qian Sect deeply agreed and turned back as well. Outside this archway, the Mixed Yuan Realm was the limit.
If they wanted to further their cultivation, they had to enter the Thousand Demon Cave.
As long as they could venture in and come out alive, a few hundred years later, perhaps a new powerful force would emerge.
For example, the Great Qian's 23-style golden body technique was discovered within.
And yet, such precious things were merely part of a collection, gathering dust among miscellaneous books in the caves of those cultivators.
It wasn't sad to risk one's life for the sake of one's future.
What was truly sad was their situation, doing errands for others and enduring humiliation.
Fortunately, this time they had Senior Tang leading them, so they didn't have to deal with the miscellaneous bunch from Xuan Guang Cave.
"Are you all ready?"
Tang Yuan asked one last time as he stood beneath the archway.
"We can only leave it to fate." The group responded with bitter smiles.
"..." Tang Yuan withdrew his gaze and didn't say anything further.
This group of Great Qian Sect masters had clearly lost their spirit, which also indirectly proved that the mighty sect that once occupied the Jiuzhou land no longer had any chance of rising again.
It was a little regrettable, but it had nothing to do with him.
With that thought, he stepped into the archway and his figure seemed to ripple like water, disappearing from sight.
After the group had vanished...
Soon, Shen Yi also descended from the sky with Xu Wanyun and A Qing. He, too, stepped through the archway.
Unlike the last time they entered a cave mansion and felt nauseous,
Shen Yi didn't even have time to react before a new world appeared before him.
The greeting hall, as large as a small mountain, was half-collapsed and covered in dense vegetation. The remains of the grand hall seemed to have been searched countless times, making it look even more desolate and lonely.
"Such abundant heavenly energy," Xu Wanyun exclaimed, her eyes widening instinctively, but someone tugged on her sleeve.
She turned to see Shen Yi donning a black cloak and holding a Concealment Array Plate, while A Qing had also concealed her presence thoroughly.
Xu Wanyun immediately understood and followed suit.
Then she said, "They must have received news about the opening of a cave mansion. We can take this opportunity to search for other things in the Thousand Demon Cave... Tsk, the Thousand Mountains and Myriad Caves are indeed real!"
Shen Yi looked beyond the greeting hall to the endless verdant mountains in the distance.
He slowly shook his head and said, "Let's catch up with them."
"Ah?" Xu Wanyun was taken aback. Weren't they here to search for spiritual roots?
"Big Brother Shen only wants the best."
A Qing understood Shen Yi better. Instead of searching through the wilderness for leftovers that had been picked through countless times by other cultivators, it was definitely more efficient to go straight for the items that everyone was vying for.
(End of Chapter)
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