https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-468-Fishing-for-Trouble-The-Fangcun-Mountain-of-Xiniu-Hezhou-Part-1-/12968833/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-469-Moon-Embrace-Sect-Breakthrough-Tribulation-Arises-Part-1-/12968835/
Chapter 468: Fishing for Trouble! The Fangcun Mountain of Xiniu Hezhou? (Part 2)
Chapter 468: Fishing for Trouble! The Fangcun Mountain of Xiniu Hezhou? (Part 2)
"
"What's different?"
"After Ascension..."
Ji Chitong stated matter-of-factly, "Although I don't know what others experience after ascending, it certainly wouldn't be like this, right?"
"Especially right after ascending, who wouldn't be cautious and careful to ensure survival?"
"Like you guys, charging in recklessly and even killing Upper World Immortals..."
"I doubt there have been many like that throughout history."
"What are Immortals anyway?"
Long Ao Jiao, who hadn't taken action, hummed, "Mere Immortals, if it wasn't for the fact that they disgusted me earlier, I wouldn't have bothered to take action..."
"I can't even be bothered to kill them."
"They're not even worth dirtying my hands."
He shook his head in disdain.
Mere Immortals, they're nothing! A few years ago, he could fight True Immortals, and now, only a Golden Immortal would be worthy of his attention!
Hmph!
They're nothing!
During their conversation...
These 'mountain bandits' had already been captured.
Two of them were killed.
One of the killed bandits was directly turned into ashes by Wang Teng, that unlucky fellow!
The remaining two were still alive, but only barely.
They were tightly sealed by Fan Jianqiang, who appeared to be working hard but was actually slacking off the entire time, using various arrays and sealing techniques to bind them tightly like zongzi (rice dumplings).
"These things aren't worth feeling sorry for."
Lin Fan took a glance and said, "Just extract their souls directly, and try to preserve information related to the Immortal World, maps, and the like."
"The others can loot their belongings."
"What does looting mean?" Chen Bei asked curiously.
Fan Jianqiang smiled, "It's cleaning up the spoils of war."
"Come, I'll teach you."
They immediately started taking action.
Long Ao Jiao didn't move, merely pursing her lips, "It's just a few Immortals, why be so cautious?"
"It's not just about being cautious." Lin Fan smiled, "We still need to get the people out, right?"
"If we all went together, they wouldn't even show themselves. So, we still need to lure them out."
"..."
"After all, only you, with your unparalleled beauty, are most suitable to be the bait, right?"
Long Ao Jiao's lips curved up immediately.
But she quickly feigned nonchalance, "Nonsense!"
"Who can compare to me when it comes to them?
"Next time, when these people appear, we'll just take action directly. I hate acting with them!"
"Hmph!"
She hummed as she went to select the spoils of war.
After all, they were all from the Lower World, and things from the Upper World were rare for them, so Long Ao Jiao naturally had to prepare something for herself.
First, it was 'Spirit Stones'.
The Spirit Stones in the Immortal World were of a higher grade than the 'Origin Stones' in the Immortal Martial Continent.
If you go higher, you get Immortal Crystals! But even in the Immortal World, Immortal Crystals are rare and valuable, so these 'bandits' who had fallen to the point of being mountain bandits naturally didn't have any.
There were some Spirit Stones, though.
The five of them together had nearly two thousand.
Dividing them up, each person didn't get much.
Apart from that, there were also cultivation techniques, secret techniques, and 'manuals', but unfortunately, everyone just glanced at them and then burned them with a fire.
What kind of stuff is this! It's not even worth looking at.
And they call themselves Immortal World cultivation techniques.
This kind of common trash isn't even as good as the basic cultivation techniques they themselves practice.
They're nothing!
As for treasures, they were still decent.
At least they were 'Imperial Armaments'.
In the Lower World, they were called Imperial Armaments, but in the Upper World... they were only slightly better than common ones.
But anyone who had reached the Immortal level could usually obtain one or two ordinary Imperial Armaments, which were also ordinary Immortal artifacts.
They still had their uses, of course.
Aside from that, there weren't many other items.
Soon...
The soul extraction was complete.
Qin Yu, who was in charge of soul extraction, spoke softly, "According to their knowledge, this place is the northwestern part of the West Bull Prosperous Continent, called the Qinbei Plateau."
"The Qinbei Plateau is vast and sparsely populated, with thinner Immortal Qi, but there are a few places that can only be reached through the Qinbei Plateau, so it's also a necessary route."
"They were ambushing here to find suitable targets to rob."
"As for knowledge of the Immortal World, maps, and such..."
Qin Yu frowned slightly, "They only know about the Upper World's Three Thousand Continents, but they've never left the West Bull Prosperous Continent. Because each continent in the Upper World's Three Thousand Continents is too vast, even if they are Immortals, unless necessary or for long-distance travel, it's difficult for them to leave a continent."
"They are quite familiar with the area near the Qinbei Plateau in the West Bull Prosperous Continent..."
Qin Yu explained in detail.
Everyone frowned slightly.
It wasn't completely useless, but it wasn't that useful either...
You could say it was better than nothing.
"Draw the map then." Lin Fan contemplated, "Draw as much as they know, and we can slowly fill in the gaps when we encounter others in the future."
"Don't be discouraged, everyone."
"At least we've made a good start and now we know where we are."
"Keep up the good work!"
"..."
Qin Yu once again became busy.
But Lin Fan fell into deep thought.
Damn it...
West Bull Prosperous Continent?
This...
Something feels off!
Although the Red-Haired Monster didn't list all the names of the Upper World's Three Thousand Continents, is there a continent called West Bull Prosperous Continent among them? Probably not, right?!
And if this West Bull Prosperous Continent is indeed the one he's thinking of...
Hiss! Could it be that the Grape Ancestor will suddenly appear?
No way, right?
Where is the West Bull Prosperous Continent? If you ask Lin Fan to explain, he might not be able to, but he clearly remembers that Fathom Mountain is located in the West Bull Prosperous Continent, at least the name is correct! What kind of mountain is Fathom Mountain?
The Crooked Moon Three Stars Cave is located on Fathom Mountain! The full name is West Bull Prosperous Continent, Fathom Mountain, Crooked Moon Three Stars Cave.
Inside the cave, there is an ancestor named...
Grape Ancestor!
Grape Ancestor!
"I hope it's not real."
"Otherwise..."
Lin Fan muttered to himself, "This damn thing, isn't it like we've stumbled into the Journey to the West Tribulation era?"
"But, that's not right."
"If it's really like this, then who is intruding on whom?"
"It's really giving me a headache!"
Lin Fan was speechless.
He looked at Fan Jianqiang, but found this guy squatting on the ground, drawing and writing, seemingly also very troubled.
"..."
...
In the following days, Lin Fan and his group continued their fishing expedition.
They reaped a bountiful harvest!
Spirit Stones, cultivation techniques, and the like need not be mentioned.
Even the most basic Immortal Weapons were now in everyone's hands, and some had more than one.
The map had also been largely completed; except for a small number of dangerous and less-traveled areas, most of the West Bull Prosperous Continent had been filled in.
At the same time, they learned that the West Bull Prosperous Continent was in a mess! It used to be under the command of the Buddhist Sect.
But for some unknown reason, in recent years, the Buddhist Sect seemed to have internal issues, and they kept retreating. Originally, the Buddhist Sect occupied nearly a hundred continents, but now, more than half of them have been 'abandoned'.
This led to the West Bull Prosperous Continent not only lacking the protection of a top-tier power from the Immortal World, but also becoming extremely chaotic.
Mountain bandits were everywhere! Although after the Buddhist Sect retreated, many other forces wanted to get involved...
But how easy is it to control such a vast continent?
In simple terms,
The current West Bull Prosperous Continent is an era of 'warlord chaos'.
While the warlords fight, there are also numerous large and small forces that are content to stay in their own corners, developing on their own... As for whether they will eventually be unified by a major power or remain autonomous, it is currently unknown.
"It's giving me a headache."
Lin Fan rubbed his forehead.
"How did we get involved with the Buddhist Sect again?"
Although the Buddhist Sect had retreated, Lin Fan didn't have a shred of goodwill towards them.
It was only because of the Buddhist Sect's Gatling Bodhisattva, who was Lin Fan's 'good brother', that he didn't want to completely sever ties with them.
To be linked with the Buddhist Sect right from the start...
Moreover, he didn't believe the Buddhist Sect would just give up their territory so easily. Territory, to the Buddhist Sect, represented faith!
Could they really give it up? Perhaps they're facing internal troubles! Once they resolve their issues, they'll definitely come back.
So...
Lin Fan was hesitant for a simple reason: the current West Bull Prosperous Continent was too suitable for the Moon Embrace Sect to establish their sect and gradually develop! With no dominant power to unify the world, the complex web of large and small forces provided the perfect environment for the Moon Embrace Sect to survive and grow! He even considered finding an unclaimed land and starting right away, setting up the Moon Embrace Sect's banner in the Upper World.
But the thought of the damn Buddhist Sect made him hesitate.
...
Taking advantage of everyone's focus on cleaning up the battlefield, Lin Fan pulled Fan Jianqiang aside, "What do you think?"
"..."
Fan Jianqiang blinked, "Me... Should I use QuickPlay?"
"Are you giving me a secret signal?" Lin Fan laughed.
"Isn't this a secret signal?" Fan Jianqiang looked innocent.
"Don't act dumb."
Lin Fan was speechless, "I'm asking for your thoughts on the West Bull Prosperous Continent and our Moon Embrace Sect's location."
Fan Jianqiang said, "For this, I'll follow your lead, Master."
Lin Fan: "..."
"You little..."
He sighed, "As for the West Bull Prosperous Continent right now, it's undoubtedly a great environment for the Moon Embrace Sect's development."
"But the matter involves the Buddhist Sect."
"And, it's called the West Bull Prosperous Continent, which always makes me feel uneasy."
"If you're bringing this up, I won't be able to sleep." Fan Jianqiang's eyes darted, "We're all a bit anxious because we don't understand the situation of the Three Thousand Continents, and we're unsure about future developments..."
"Damn it!"
Lin Fan suddenly slapped his thigh, "If we're worried, let's go confirm it ourselves!"
"There's only one Heavenly Mechanism Tower in the West Bull Prosperous Continent, and it's in the central region. It's too far from our current location, but..."
Lin Fan took out the 'map', his eyes gleaming, "According to the 'Journey to the West', the location of Fathom Mountain is not far from where we are now."
"..."
"Master, do you mean we should go take a look at Fathom Mountain?"
"Yes!"
Lin Fan nodded, "Since the unknown makes us anxious, why don't we turn the unknown into the known?"
"The changes in the Buddhist Sect and the West Bull Prosperous Continent, no matter how you look at it, seem to indicate an impending Journey to the West Tribulation era.
"As long as we go to the location of Fathom Mountain and find this 'Fathom Mountain', and then confirm it, we'll know if there's a Journey to the West Tribulation plot.
"No, we're going to develop in the West Bull Prosperous Continent."
"If there is, then let's temporarily leave this place of right and wrong..."
Lin Fan made a decision.
Mainly, he really didn't want to get involved in the Journey to the West Tribulation.
This thing...
There's no benefit to it!
It's also troublesome as hell. Once you get involved, you'll inevitably get into trouble.
After all, who doesn't know that the entire journey to the west is actually just a play?
In some places, they don't even bother acting...
Wild demons are directly killed.
Those with connections, they're just here for the gold~
For example, the cow of the Venerable Laozi, tsk tsk tsk...
That cow really understands human affairs, and all those strange demons, monsters, and immortals, it collected all their treasures, except for the pagoda of Pagoda Tower Li Heavenly King, which it stubbornly refused to take.
Why?
Because Pagoda Tower Li Heavenly King has a son named Nezha.
This old man was particularly unkind to his son, and on several occasions, he tried to put Nezha to death, even destroying his chances of resurrection and rebirth, so Nezha and he were almost irreconcilable.
After his resurrection, Nezha always wanted to kill this old man.
When Tai Yi found out, he reluctantly let Nezha acknowledge the Ling Long Pagoda as his foster father~
As long as the pagoda was in his hand, Nezha couldn't kill the old man.
So...
From then on, the old man carried the pagoda with him every day, gradually earning the name Pagoda Tower Li Heavenly King.
If the old cow had taken the pagoda...
Pagoda Tower Li Heavenly King would probably have been killed by Nezha on the spot.
If Pagoda Tower Li Heavenly King died, wouldn't this matter be over? The old cow couldn't complete its mission~
So...
Tsk tsk tsk.
These broken affairs, and this is just one of the tribulations.
Other tribulations are also mostly about human affairs, and they're troublesome as hell.
Just thinking about it made Lin Fan's head hurt, so how could he possibly get involved willingly?
So...
He needed to go and see first.
If there really is the Crooked Moon Three Stars Cave and Grape Old Ancestor, then they should hurry and leave.
If not...
Then there's no Journey to the West Tribulation, and they can develop well in the West Bull Prosperous Continent.
After listening to Lin Fan's thoughts, Fan Jianqiang also found it reasonable, and pouted, dragging his buttocks on the ground for a while, "According to..."
"Fathom Mountain seems to be not too far from us."
"What else? Am I talking nonsense?"
Lin Fan said impatiently, "Let's go, let's go and take a look at that area."
......
They changed their route.
However, apart from Lin Fan and Fan Jianqiang, no one else knew why they changed course, nor did they know their destination.
Some things weren't something Lin Fan wanted to hide, but as a traverser... it's best not to ask too many questions.
Explaining would be troublesome.
It's better to just do it without saying too much.
......
Upon reaching the area, Lin Fan and Fan Jianqiang began to pay attention.
Lin Fan's divine sense was very strong, especially after sharing the strength of all his disciples, his divine sense was astonishing, comparable to a Golden Immortal!
With a sweep of his divine sense, he could cover a large area.
Therefore, he could instantly know whether there was a place resembling Fathom Mountain in the nearby region.
In this area, Lin Fan and his group wandered for seven or eight days.
They even encountered three 'robberies'.
Just as Lin Fan was about to give up...
Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched.
A mountain that made his lips twitch slightly came into the range of his divine sense...
At this moment, it was night.
The Tai Yin Star in the Immortal World looked like a crescent moon, shedding silver light.
From Lin Fan's perspective...
The mountain's waist and above, below the peak, had several 'caves' that were lit up from front to back.
And the silvery white moonlight shone through the caves...
This part of the moonlight just happened to project a crooked 'heart' character onto the ground.
The crescent moon formed the main body, and the other three cave entrances corresponded to the 'three drops of water'.
Although it was crooked and a bit abstract.
But at this very moment...
It really was a 'heart' character!
Lin Fan slapped his forehead.
He couldn't help but curse in his heart.
"Is there really Fathom Mountain???"
Lin Fan couldn't remember where he had heard about it.
"Crooked Moon Three Stars Cave" was actually a word puzzle, where the crooked moon and three stars combined to form a 'heart' character, hinting that this place was a retreat for nurturing the mind and cultivating immortality.
It was a Cavern Heaven and Blessed Land!
"!!!"
Seeing Lin Fan's unnatural expression, Fan Jianqiang approached and whispered, "Master."
"Is there something you've discovered?"
Lin Fan suppressed the urge to turn around and leave, and nodded lightly, "There's a bit of a discovery, let's go and take a look."
He led the way.
This time, he didn't play any fishing enforcement tricks but followed his divine sense's guidance.
When they arrived, the sky was already bright.
The 'heart' projection naturally disappeared.
Looking at the towering mountain and the several peculiar, transparent caves on its peak, Fan Jianqiang also fell silent.
"The place... seems to be this place, but there's no one here?"
"What place?" Long Ao Jiao looked around but couldn't understand what they were talking about. "What are you guys talking about?"
"We've long discovered that you two master and disciple have been acting suspiciously."
"What haven't you told us?!"
Fan Jianqiang scratched his head, "Nothing, we just want to find a suitable place to establish our Mountain Gate and start our own sect."
"Is this place suitable?"
Long Ao Jiao didn't doubt him, but after carefully examining the area, she frowned and said, "The place is not bad, and it should be quite close to Tai Yin Star, which is indeed a good location for your Moon Embrace Sect."
"What a pity."
"What's the pity?"
"It's not a Cavern Heaven and Blessed Land, the immortal aura isn't dense enough."
Long Ao Jiao pointed to the mountains and rivers, expressing her disappointment.
(End of Chapter)
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