After returning to the village, start chasing the mountain from binding Emei

Chapter 966 The Barrier in the Mountains, the Strange Rift Valley!

"Since I gained sentience, I have never been to this mountain. Our king also forbids us from approaching it. Our king has been inside, and according to him, the pressure inside is several times greater than outside. Moreover, mist often rises in the mountain, and the mist is poisonous. Inhaling it will disturb one's mind. Those with low cultivation levels will find it easy to go up the mountain but difficult to come down..."

Do you know the origin of the mountain's protective barriers?

"It has always been so. It must have been left behind by some great being. Even our king doesn't know the reason."

Are there any ferocious beasts in the mountains?

"I've never seen anything like it before. However, this mountain is over a hundred feet high and stretches for dozens of miles. I imagine there must be some ferocious beasts here. Occasionally, I can hear beast roars coming from the mountain, but their auras aren't very strong; the Creation Realm is the highest they can reach..."

The white crocodile told Chen Yang everything it knew.

After asking around, Chen Yang got a general understanding of the situation.

He looked out at the distant mountains.

The feeling of being stared at that I had before has disappeared.

Could it be that what I thought before was just my imagination?
Or perhaps, he was simply being watched by the White Crocodile King?
This mountain is indeed strange.

There are restrictions on the mountain. No matter what the reason for their existence, it is impossible to fly over them. The only way is to slowly climb over them on foot.

The valley where the Udumbara flower grows is behind Mount Hokho; you either have to climb over it or go around it.

Taking a detour would likely add hundreds of miles of mountain road and delay the journey by at least a day.

"My lord, may I...may I leave now?"

At this moment, the white crocodile asked tremblingly.

"Let's go, leave this river area, and don't come back." Chen Yang said calmly without turning his head.

"Yes!"

The white crocodile, feeling as if it had been granted a pardon, responded with a sound of agreement and quickly turned its head to dive into the water.

"Shh!"

Just then, a flash of sword light appeared.

A splash of blood erupted on the water's surface as the white crocodile's carcass floated to the surface, broken in two.

Chen Yang turned around, saw this scene, paused slightly, and turned his gaze to Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan chuckled dryly, "Wildfire cannot burn it all, the spring breeze will bring it back to life. If we let it go, and Danyangzi finds out, it might expose our whereabouts. Besides, we've already killed so many of its kind..."

Chen Yang paused.

Sure enough, I am still kind-hearted and have compassion, unlike that beast Mo Yuan.

The cultivation world is so cruel; it's either you die or I die. Today I'm kind enough to spare your life, but perhaps this good fortune will come back to haunt me someday.

Good deeds don't always guarantee good results.

Although Chen Yang didn't take the white crocodile seriously and didn't think it would have any future dealings with him, who can really say what the future holds?
He shook his head and ultimately said nothing, tacitly agreeing with Mo Yuan's actions.

While he was still in a daze, Mo Yuan had already extracted the inner core of the white crocodile, the process was incredibly skillful.

"Let's go up the mountain."

Without a word, Chen Yang waved his hand and led Mo Yuan back towards Mount Bei'e.

After much deliberation, he decided to cross the mountain directly.

With a swarm of bone-eating beetles leading the way, we can cross the mountain via a rift valley halfway up the mountain in a maximum of two hours, which is much shorter than taking a detour.

……

Soon, the man and the rat arrived at the foot of the mountain.

They both looked up at the same time.

Mo Yuan said, "Actually, taking a detour is also an option; it would just add an extra day to the journey."

The mountain has a restriction on its vegetation, which makes it seem rather strange. Although neither the man nor the rat is afraid, they still hesitate a little when it comes to actually climbing the mountain.

Chen Yang asked, "Won't we avoid any danger by taking a detour?"

"That's true!"

Mo Yuan smiled sullenly.

Danger isn't just on the mountain; it's everywhere in this hidden realm. The more miles you travel, the greater the chance of encountering danger.

Without further hesitation, the man and the rat darted straight into the woods.

There are no roads on this mountain; you have to walk the whole way.

Knowing beforehand that there was something wrong with the mountain, Chen Yang was naturally extra careful. On the one hand, he sent the bone-eating beetle swarm to scout ahead, and on the other hand, he tried to conceal his presence and use radar to cover the surrounding area to give early warnings.

The forest was dense and dark, and all around was quiet. Chen Yang and Mo Yuan could only hear each other's breathing.

The vast forest was eerily deserted, without a single bird, beast, or insect.

The higher Chen Yang climbed, the stronger the mountain's restrictive power became, and his steps grew heavier, as if he had entered a gravity field.

Ascending no more than a hundred meters, the gravity probably increases five or six times. If an ordinary person were to come up, they would probably be crushed to the ground.

Chen Yang's physique was strong, so this slight increase in gravity was nothing to him; he only felt slightly uncomfortable.

Mo Yuan's physique was stronger, so he could easily handle it.

“The power of the laws must be the work of a celestial being. Why would they set up such a restriction on this mountain? Could it be that there is a celestial abode in this mountain?” Mo Yuan followed closely beside Chen Yang.

Chen Yang remained noncommittal, "Aren't you a top-notch treasure hunter? Why don't you give it a try and see if you can find any clues!"

"Uh, hehe..."

Mo Yuan chuckled dryly, "I was just saying that casually. My treasure-hunting skills only come in handy when there's a certain aura of treasure. This mountain only has restrictions, no such aura. Even if I wanted to find it, it would be like a skilled cook trying to cook without rice..."

It had been sniffing around the place the whole way, and if it had discovered anything, it would have spoken up long ago.

Chen Yang shook his head and didn't say anything more.

The restrictions on the mountain could not exist without a reason; they must have their origins. As for whether there is a celestial abode there, that's hard to say.

If the cave dwelling of a Celestial Realm expert is protected and concealed by restrictions, how could they easily find it?

Chen Yang was luckier, but this secret realm wasn't opened for him; it's impossible for opportunities to open up to him everywhere.

Mo Yuan said, "Actually, if there really is a celestial abode in these mountains, it wouldn't be too difficult for me to find its location."

"Oh? What's your insight?" Chen Yang asked.

Mo Yuan said, "Such a large-scale restriction must require an enormous amount of energy to maintain. In my opinion, this restriction is mostly powered by the energy of the earth's veins. If we can figure out the direction of the earth's veins in this mountain, and give me more time to analyze it, it's possible to find the center of the restriction based on the flow of the earth's vein energy..."

"However, the workload is quite massive. With my current cultivation level, it would take me a considerable amount of time to complete this task by myself; ten days to half a month would be considered a minimum..."

……

"The flow of the earth's veins?"

The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart.

The system just rewarded him with a "Map of the Distribution of Water Veins in the Bailong River," could it be for this purpose?
A map appeared out of nowhere in Chen Yang's mind.

Slowly unfold.

On the pitch-black scroll, a long river is outlined, flowing dynamically like white mist.

It looks somewhat like a satellite cloud image, with the entire river running through the whole map.

This must be the Bailong River.

The flowing, white mist-like substance should represent the distribution and flow of energy from the water veins.

Among these white mists, there are many red dots, as well as slightly larger red crosses and even larger red question marks.

Chen Yang's eyes brightened slightly.

Having previously seen the map of the Eight-Sided Mountain Underground Palace, he could roughly understand the meaning of these markings.

The presence of red dots likely indicates that the spirit beasts in the river have reached a certain level of power.

The red cross represents the realm of creation.

The red question mark represents the existence of the Dao True Realm.

……

There are nine red question marks in the vast river section, basically one every so often.

In other words, there are still nine beings in the Bailong River who have reached the Dao True Realm.

Adding the White Crocodile King, which Chen Yang had already killed, there were ten Dao True Beasts.

The hidden paradise is indeed a place that nourishes the body.

There is a small red arrow marking a blank space not far from the river on the map.

That must be Chen Yang's current location.

It's a pity that the direction of the mountains wasn't marked; otherwise, it could be used as a real-time map of the secret realm.

The watercourses flowed from east to west, constantly changing, as Chen Yang studied them as he walked up the mountain.

By observing the markings on the map, one can not only see the distribution of mythical beasts in the Bailong River, but also intuitively see the energy pathways of the water veins.

It's immediately clear where the concentration is high and where it's low.

Chen Yang glanced around and noticed that the water vein energy was concentrated in areas where Dao True Realm spirit beasts were active, and it was significantly denser than in other places.

Including the spot where they had just crossed the river, the habitat of the White Crocodile King, the water vein energy was obviously very dense, even forming a sizable whirlpool.

This distribution map is good.

Locations with a significant concentration of water vein energy are bound to nurture invaluable natural treasures, even without powerful aquatic beasts inhabiting them.

Once I get my hands on the Udumbara flower, if I have nothing else to do, I can come and explore the Bailong River.

Although he wouldn't provoke the beasts unless they provoked him, Chen Yang didn't intend to do anything to these spirit beasts. However, he wanted to at least get more rewards from their encyclopedia entries. Besides, these were all valuable experience packs.

"This is..." Chen Yang's gaze fell on the water vein map, as if he had made some kind of unusual discovery.

The water vein energy on the map not only follows the river channel, but also constantly spreads to the sides.

If I'm not mistaken, at the location of the White Crocodile King's habitat, a tributary flows out from the riverbed and then disperses towards the direction of Bei'e Mountain.

However, it didn't disperse much; the white mist was faint and indistinct, too thin to see clearly.

Chen Yang's eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyebrows twitched.

Earth veins and water veins are often complementary and interdependent.

Although the restrictions in this mountain do not draw energy from the water veins of the Bailong River, if they rely on the earth vein energy of Bei'e Mountain to maintain their operation, then the water vein energy passing through this area will likely be affected as well.

Energy always tends to move from high concentration to low concentration. When the energy of the earth veins is consumed, it will naturally draw in the energy of the water veins.

As seen on the map, the watercourses of the Bailong River do affect the geological features of Bei'e Mountain.

Once you understand the direction of the water veins, you can naturally understand the direction of the meridians.

The water vein energy shown on the map near Chen Yang, although very thin, still exists to some extent, but it flickers and requires some eyesight to see.

Chen Yang was multitasking, climbing the mountain while carefully studying the energy flow of the sparse water veins nearby.

Finding out the specific direction and using the water veins to determine the distribution of the earth veins in order to find the central location where the earth veins converge in this mountain is quite difficult.

After watching for a long time, he could only see some fragmented images, and Chen Yang felt his head was getting a little swollen.

It's a pity we can't take out this map, otherwise we would have given Mo Yuan a lot of trouble.

……

Half an hour later, Chen Yang arrived halfway up the mountain and found a crack in the ridge under a black rock cliff.

The crack is about ten meters wide, giving the impression that the entire mountain has been broken in two, with cliffs hundreds of meters high on both sides.

The mountain wind whistled out through the crack.

Standing outside the valley entrance, Chen Yang's clothes fluttered in the wind.

He had deployed bone-eating beetles all around him, and they had also scouted the valley beforehand. There was a straight path about two miles long in this rift valley. Passing through the valley would lead to the north side of the mountain, where one could then take a direct route down the mountain.

The swarm of insects did not detect any danger; however, the valley was also subject to a restrictive effect.

In addition to stronger gravity, the flight cannot exceed three zhang above the ground. Furthermore, the restrictive force field inside also suppresses the primordial spirit.

However, this suppression was nothing to Chen Yang.

If bone-eating beetles can get through, there's no reason why he can't.

I checked the time; it was exactly four o'clock in the afternoon.

They could easily get down the mountain before dark. This mountain is eerie, and Chen Yang had no intention of spending the night there.

……

The man and the mouse walked straight into the valley.

The terrain inside was flat, with many pebbles scattered on the ground. Apart from the occasional strong wind that made the air swirl and groan in the valley, there was nothing unusual.

Both sides are high cliffs, covered with black stones, barren of any vegetation.

"It's deathly silent. There aren't even any birds, beasts, or insects, not even a decent blade of grass. This place is really strange." Mo Yuan looked around warily.

Chen Yang was also using radar to monitor everything in the vicinity.

The gravity inside the valley is more than ten times that outside, but it is insignificant to Chen Yang.

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, and the primordial spirit was under considerable suppression. The mental power was also distorted by the restrictive force field. Although the radar was working normally, the image flickered from time to time.

"Never mind anything else, just get out of here."

Chen Yang unconsciously quickened his pace and hurried forward.

Mo Yuan also shut his mouth. Everyone knew this place was eerie, so naturally they should leave as soon as possible.

In just a few breaths, Chen Yang was able to see the gap ahead, even though the distance was only two miles.

"call!"

However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

A strong gust of wind came towards me.

The blowing sand and gravel almost blinded Chen Yang.

The next second, Chen Yang saw a large cloud of white mist gushing in from the direction of the valley entrance.

The white mist churned and moved very fast, as if something was hidden inside.

Chen Yang instinctively stopped.

The radar didn't transmit any information, but the white fog rushing towards him gave him a sense of danger.

Poisonous fog!

Chen Yang suddenly remembered what the white crocodile had said about the poisonous mist that could bewitch the mind.

"Hold your breath!"

Chen Yang gave a low shout and entered a breath-holding state before the poisonous fog got close.

The effects of the breath-holding pill can last for three hours, and the effects in his body have not yet worn off.

"Rush over."

Chen Yang hesitated only briefly, but instead of dodging, he rushed straight into the thick fog.

At this point, I'm only fifty or sixty meters from the exit. No matter how potent the poisonous fog is, if I hold my breath, it shouldn't be able to harm me. Once I break through this rift valley, I'll reach the north side of the mountain, and then I can simply descend.

Mo Yuan didn't hesitate either, following closely behind Chen Yang and quickly disappearing into the thick fog.

A man and a mouse, running wildly.

A white mist enveloped everything, leaving the surroundings a vast expanse of white.

While holding his breath, Chen Yang didn't know what the thick fog smelled like; he only felt as if a white barrier had been drawn over his face, making it impossible to see his own hand in front of his face.

"wrong!"

After running for more than a minute, Chen Yang suddenly stopped.

Mo Yuan, who was behind him, almost bumped into him.

Chen Yang's expression was serious.

The exit was only a few dozen meters away from him; at his speed, he could have covered those few dozen meters in a minute.

Although the white fog obscured the view, the path underfoot was still flat and pebbly, indicating that they had not left the rift valley.

The radar detected a straight road ahead.

"Go back!"

Mo Yuan also noticed the anomaly, and the man and the rat immediately turned around and ran back.

"stop!"

After running for two minutes, Chen Yang called for a stop again.

This passage is only about a kilometer long. At their speed, two minutes is enough for them to cross it.

"It seems we're trapped!" Chen Yang said.

Mo Yuan said, "This fog is indeed strange. What should we do now?"

Faced with this situation, Chen Yang was momentarily stunned.

Although the white mist strangely trapped them, Chen Yang did not sense any danger.

Although the white crocodile said that the white mist was poisonous and could cloud one's mind, he was holding his breath and hadn't inhaled a single breath. He shouldn't be poisoned, right?

"Let's wait and see if the fog will clear!"

Chen Yang transmitted his voice and said, "At the moment, there doesn't seem to be any other way."

The man and the mouse simply sat down on the spot, but did not let their guard down.

Chen Yang wasn't sure whether the appearance of the white mist was a natural phenomenon or driven by some force behind it.

If it's a natural phenomenon, then they're just unlucky to have encountered the white fog. If they wait a while, the fog might dissipate.

But if some force is driving them from behind, it proves that something wants to keep them here, and danger is bound to follow.

……

Time passed by minute by minute.

The white mist showed no signs of dissipating, and Chen Yang took another breath-holding pill to prolong his life for another three hours.

Mo Yuan was alright. Although his cultivation level had decreased, his physique was still at the late stage of the Dao True Realm, and holding his breath and practicing embryonic breathing was very easy for him.

During this time, Chen Yang also tried to walk along the mountain wall to the top of the mountain, but it was the same. This world of white mist seemed endless and he could not reach the end at all.

Fortunately, it was just fog blocking the road, and nothing else happened.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened.

The white fog finally showed signs of dissipating.

A mountain breeze blew by, and the white barrier in front of us was lifted, the fog disappearing like the tide.

They do not know where they came from, nor where they are going.

It was already night, and the surroundings were completely dark and eerily quiet.

At this moment, Chen Yang's expression did not relax; instead, it became even more serious.

(End of this chapter)