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Chapter 254: Breaking the Mountain with a Sword
Under the gloomy sky, rain soaked the soil.

On the southwestern border between Zhongzhou and Fengzhou, near Yunzhou, in the undulating Shangnan Mountains, lighting artifacts made of embedded spirit stones continuously emit light, illuminating the mountains and forests.

The officials of the Imperial Observatory were currently in Wangyue Town, thirty miles to the west, along with various prominent families from nearby areas.

Such as the Shen family, Liu family, Tang family, Yu family, and Qiu family of Zhongzhou.

The group sat together, gazing towards the northeast, their faces solemn.

Since the beginning of spring this year, various strange phenomena have frequently occurred in Qingyun Tianxia. First, there was a month-long torrential rain, then the blood mist above Xuanhai, and then the sudden snow in the northern border.

While these strange phenomena were unsettling, what was truly terrifying was the evil species that subsequently appeared.

The first few evil creatures discovered were just a few that had been washed out by flash floods after a torrential rain.

However, since no ruins were opened, this matter still aroused alarm, so the Imperial Observatory searched and investigated again, and found corpse nests on the borders of various states.

Corpse den is a newly invented term that implies a place where evil beings gather.

The borders between the nine provinces are mostly surrounded by mountains. This is not a coincidence, but because during the era of wars among the human kingdoms, natural barriers were basically used as national borders.

It was in these deep mountains and old forests that countless evil creatures were unknowingly roaming about.

No one knows how they got here, nor when they appeared.

The most concentrated and numerous group of evil species was found in the Shangnan Mountains of Zhongzhou.

The supervisory department of the Imperial Observatory rushed over overnight. At that time, the supervisor, Mu Jing, was in Wangyue Town, discussing with the Zhongzhou aristocratic families how to deal with the situation.

The evil species only exhibit their bloodlust when they smell human scent, so for now they are merely wandering around the mountains and have not caused any consequences.

According to the decisions of the various large and small cultivation families in Zhongzhou, this thing must be killed as soon as possible; they will not allow these evil creatures to have any chance of entering the city.

The problem is that if such a large number of evil creatures are not killed in a short period of time, some of them will inevitably emerge from the valley because their ferocity has been activated.

The area surrounding the Shangnan Mountains is full of villages and farmland, and a large number of people will surely die or be injured because of the evil species.

The Director of the Imperial Observatory naturally did not want to see such a scene and suggested that they think of other ways, but after thinking it over, they found that many of the methods were difficult to implement.

In their view, if a powerful figure could intervene and suppress the demon directly in the mountains, it would certainly not be so troublesome.

But how could the reclusive patriarchs of each family be willing to easily take action over such a matter?

Of course, these prominent families in Zhongzhou wouldn't give them any other options.

After all, the longer this matter drags on, the higher the potential risks will be.

These aristocratic families were not actually all-powerful in Zhongzhou, but they were still registered as immortals. The Great Xia Dynasty was merely a tool for immortals to rule over mortals. Even if the Directorate of Immortals had the heart to protect the people, they could only obey orders.

"Actually, if there were a way to trap the evil species in the mountains and block the mountain road on the southwest side, they could be eliminated one by one. This approach would be the safest, but unfortunately, these powerful families do not consider the common people."

"Didn't you already know that cultivators don't care about mortals? Although we are officials of the Great Xia, the real masters are the immortals."

Upon hearing this, Supervisor Mu Jing of the Inspection Department fell silent, then said, "Before the operation begins, send people to seal off the outer perimeter of Shangnan Mountain to prevent too many evil creatures from escaping. That's all we can do."

Upon seeing this, the inspector from the Inspection Office looked troubled: "Sir, the Shangnan Mountain Range is too large, and we don't have enough manpower."

"I only said I'd try, not that I'd definitely say yes, but having a few fewer would always be much better..."

After finishing her sentence, Mu Jing added, "I suddenly understand what Brother Kuang meant when he said that before I left the capital."

The officers from the inspection department exchanged glances: "What did Lord Kuang say?"

“He said we were not there to eradicate the evil race, but to protect the people under the protection of the powerful families.”

“My lord, the young but rigid Quantis of the reception office is actually not a good thing.”

Meanwhile, countless disciples of the immortal sects gathered under the bright moonlight, intending to follow along and see what the commotion was about to happen.

Qiu Hanyue, the daughter of the Qiu family, was among them, along with several of her cousins. Tang Jingming, who had recovered after being injured at the Heavenly Dao Society, was also present.

After more than half a year of recuperation, Tang Jingming, who was already quite skilled, has now fully recovered.

These disciples of the immortal sects all had the desire to take action, especially since the Heavenly Dao Society's affairs had a far-reaching impact, giving them a sense that "I could do it too."

However, the evil seeds are not like wooden stakes that stand still and let people chop them down. Two years ago, when a large number of evil seeds emerged from the ruins, it still seems like yesterday to many people, and even a slight recollection of it makes them tremble with fear.

Therefore, these noble sons would only venture deep into the mountains; their only interest was clearing out the edges.

While everyone was chatting, a group of disciples from the Heavenly Academy dressed in white arrived.

Leading the group was Liu Qichen, a member of the Liu family from Zhongzhou. They had been invited by the Sixianjian to cleanse the evil spirits, and their arrival immediately attracted attention.

The person he was looking at was Tang Minghao from the Tang family, and Tang Minghao was also looking at him.

Although Liu Qichen was born in Zhongzhou and had some kinship with many people there, he was not actually familiar with Tang Minghao.

However, it's not surprising that he made eye contact with Tang Minghao as soon as he arrived, since they had both lost to the same person before.

In the Heavenly Dao Tournament preliminary rounds, Liu Qichen, clad in the Fusion Dao Realm robes, was defeated by Ji You's three sword strikes, while Tang Minghao was seriously injured by Ji You.

"It is said that recently, people have started to emerge from the sacred land of the sages, and some have even broken through to the next realm as soon as they came out."

"I've also heard that Chen Luo of the Chen Clan has entered the Yingtian Realm. He truly deserves to be a direct disciple of the Immortal Sect."

"Have you heard about Ji You's situation?"

“Of course we know. Those who returned from the Holy Land of the Sages spread the word that Ji You had stayed there for more than half a year and was still only at the Profound Realm, without making any progress.”

"I never expected it to be like this. It's really strange, considering how powerful the Heavenly Dao is..."

"Perhaps it's a limitation of talent, but eventually, one will encounter a bottleneck."

"Has Ji You come out yet?"

"The others have come out, but he doesn't seem to have. He probably wants to wait until he merges with the Dao before coming out. If it were me, I would probably make the same choice."

In the dim blue light of the night, the young noblemen waiting to join the fun discussed amongst themselves.

Many things have happened in Qingyun Tianxia in the past six months, diverting everyone's attention. However, with the emergence of a prodigy from the Holy Land of the Sages, much attention has once again turned back to the area.

The Chen family members were the first to leave the sacred land of their ancestors, and Chen Luo's breakthrough and entry into Yingtian is truly awe-inspiring.

Because Chen Luo was the youngest among the disciples, but he entered Yingtian quite quickly.

However, it wasn't him who spread the rumor that Ji You was still in the Tongxuan Realm. In fact, after the Chen siblings came out, they didn't mention Ji You at all. After returning to the sect, they read a lot of records about body refinement.

The real news that Ji You was still in the Tongxuan realm came from those who came out later.

This matter is actually questionable, because many people don't really believe it.

Back then, Ji You's sword swept across all directions with unstoppable force. In everyone's eyes, such a performance should have been enough to reach the Dao Integration stage even outside, let alone after being in the Holy Land of the Sages for a full eight or nine months.

But if everyone who came out afterward said the same thing, then it certainly wasn't just made up.

As a result, some people began to mention the limitations of talent.

The path of cultivation is incredibly mysterious. It is not uncommon for many who cultivate very quickly in the early stages to become just another ordinary person once they reach the stage of enlightenment.

Tang Minghao actually knew about this, and he felt a bit sarcastic about it.

In his view, Ji You had simply wasted an opportunity to enter the Holy Land of the Sages. If it were him, he could have entered the Holy Land of the Sages and cultivated for half a year and at least reached the middle stage of the Dao Integration Realm.

Amid the murmurs, some people also turned their gaze to Qiu Hanyue, the daughter of the Qiu family.

Everyone knows that Qiu Hanyue was originally going to marry Ji You. Although it ended abruptly, in everyone's hearts, she was still someone who had a relationship with Ji You.

Qiu Hanyue noticed that everyone was looking at him, and he knew why, but he didn't say anything.

In fact, after returning from the Heavenly Dao Gathering, she did remain silent for a long time because of Ji You's unstoppable momentum in taking the top spot on the Profound Realm ranking.

Women are always drawn to strength; having witnessed that man suppress the entire region, it would be a lie to say she hadn't harbored any longing for him.

At that time, her family arranged for her to meet other talented young men, but even though those men came from respectable families, she lost interest.

Fortunately, she didn't expect her husband to be particularly powerful; she only hoped to marry into a stable and respectable family. So, this feeling only lasted a few months before she managed to process it through self-consolation.

As the outside world says, an individual's strength is ultimately no match for that of a powerful family.

She had heard about Ji You's failure to break through his cultivation level after entering the sacred land of the ancients a few days ago.

For her, this was not a bad thing; at least he hadn't become that strong, so he wouldn't cause her those feelings to fluctuate.

Just then, a squad of surveillance personnel with long swords at their waists hurried over under the cover of night.

Upon seeing this, many heads of powerful families and officials from the supervisory office turned to look at them.

"Have you found out how many evil creatures are in the mountains?"

"There are estimated to be over a hundred, but the valley is secluded and difficult to see clearly in the darkness. We're also afraid that our presence might trigger their ferocity, so we haven't dared to get too close. This is just an estimate." "With so many, it looks like it's going to be a fierce battle..."

Under the bright silver light, the Supervisory Office of the Celestial Administration, with the cooperation of the Central Plains aristocratic families, led a small team mobilized by the Zhenbei Army into the mountains.

The Shangnan Mountains are densely vegetated and have extremely high humidity.

As the group of over a hundred entered the forest, the murderous aura under the cover of darkness gradually began to gather, and an icy mountain wind was stirred up.

In fact, their nerves were slightly tense at this moment, especially the younger ones, who unconsciously slowed down their pace after entering the mountains.

The evil species indeed lacks thought, but their physical bodies are extremely robust, and once their ferocity is unleashed, their speed and agility far surpass those of humans.

Most importantly, these inanimate objects are not afraid of death; their sole purpose is to devour people. Even when injured, they will not stop fighting, making them even more terrifying.

After venturing deep into the Shangnan Mountains, the group decided to begin clearing out the evil species along the ridge. This would both limit their movement by utilizing the terrain and prevent a large number of them from escaping the Shangnan Mountains in the chaos.

However, things rarely go as smoothly as expected. As a bloody smell wafted by, a whooshing sound suddenly appeared in the valley.

Before the group could prepare, the once quiet Shangnan Mountains suddenly began to stir.

The group, who were about to ascend the mountain, were suddenly startled and drew their swords. In their sight, they saw the figure of the evil spirit running wildly outwards, its murderous aura instantly filling the entire mountain path.

The sudden and unexpected impact caused everyone's expression to change drastically.

The first to react were the small squad from the Zhenbei Army, who drew their swords the instant the evil seed charged out.

"What happened?"

"woodcutter……"

"?!"

"The ferocity of the evil species has been awakened, and it is rushing out of the mountains."

The cultivators sent by the Zhongzhou aristocratic families reacted quickly, and immediately attacked when they saw that things were not going well. Some of them with higher cultivation levels were already caught in the crossfire.

Those young men who had come to watch the spectacle were the most panicked, especially the young ladies who were eager to get married. Their only thought was to watch, but when they saw the evil seed suddenly appear in front of them, their faces turned pale instantly.

Sonorous!

A steel blade cleaved down, colliding with the withered flesh, and sparks flew everywhere.

But on the other side, a dry, black hand, as sharp as a withered branch, came flying through the wind and pierced the chest of a soldier from the Zhenbei Army with a soft thud.

In the blink of an eye, the stench of blood had already begun to spread.

As their skirts fluttered, Qiu Hanyue and her sisters turned pale, completely losing their desire to join in the fun. They began to flee in panic, but during their escape, a demonic creature was swooping down from the hillside.

These young ladies from noble families, who didn't have much cultivation to begin with, had no ability to deal with risks. Upon seeing this scene, they instantly let out a scream.

Fortunately, she was located very close to the group from the Heavenly Academy. With Liu Qichen and the others making swift moves, the evil seed was instantly cut in half and sent flying.

To everyone's alarm, the Heavenly Academy disciples' swords failed to truly pierce the body of the evil creature.

After the evil seed was severed and fell to the ground, it immediately pounced again, its ferocious face causing Qiu Hanyue to lose her composure.

Fortunately, the elders sent by those families were no pushovers. They had fought against the Zhenbei Army for many years and were not to be underestimated. They cut down the evil race's advance in an instant.

The problem is that evil species are still emerging one after another.

The reconnaissance team dispatched by the Inspectorate said there were an estimated hundred in the mountains, but the exact number was unknown. The key was that these creatures had incredibly tough skin and bones, and could not be killed in an instant.

Soon, these hard-to-kill evil creatures will overwhelm the entire mountain path.

Now that everyone is crowded in the mountain path, they are the ones facing the prospect of being gathered and strangled.

Tang Jingming had already killed three evil corpses, but his hand bones were beginning to ache.

"They're too difficult to kill. I reckon if there are any more, people will definitely die. Retreat!"

“The evil seed has already been induced to have evil nature. With this withdrawal, the evil seed will inevitably break out of the Shangnan Mountains.”

Although they are working together to eradicate the evil species, their different stances will inevitably lead to different decisions on this matter.

The officials of the Immortal Guard still wanted to give it a try. Even if they couldn't completely eradicate the evil species in the mountains, they still wanted to prevent them from escaping from Shangnan Mountain.

The most negative factor affecting combat effectiveness is actually the lack of unity among the people.

These prominent families of Zhongzhou planned to evacuate first and then deal with the matter later, so the existence of the Sixianjian and Zhenbeijun would be completely meaningless.

However, amidst this chaotic battle, as one dried corpse after another fell to the ground, the number of evil creatures rushing in suddenly decreased.

After a quick glance at the corpses, there were about twenty on the ground.

Mu Jing abruptly sheathed her sword and couldn't help but look ahead along the mountain path. Suddenly, she felt a vigorous aura pouring out from the mountain, pressing down on the wild grass in the forest.

Just then, a sword aura condensed in the air suddenly rose up, brighter than moonlight.

The cultivators gathered in the mountain path all felt a vast sense of oppression, as if a tidal wave was rushing down the mountain path.

The next instant, the sword energy that rose from the deep mountains crashed down in front of everyone. Its extremely sharp aura made everyone feel a sense of suffocation, and even the divine senses that were subconsciously released felt a needle-like pain.

Boom!

The moment the sword fell, the mountains seemed to tremble.

Those souls that failed to retract in time also trembled, as if struck by a blow to the head.

Then came a violent tremor, accompanied by a huge rumble of collapse, which made even the sand beneath everyone's feet jump.

The group instantly channeled their spiritual energy to block the surging dust waves from the forest.

After a long silence, the roars of the evil creatures still echoed through the night in the mountains and forests, but no more evil creatures rushed out along the mountain path.

The crowd stood there stunned for a long time before they couldn't help but look at each other, a hint of astonishment flashing in their eyes.

"A powerful being in the mountains has intervened to help?!"

"It must be..."

"But... there seem to be more evil beings ahead."

After standing still for a long time, confirming that no evil seed had suddenly appeared, the inspectors began to walk towards the hillside.

Regardless of which expert offered assistance, they should take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate the situation in the mountains.

The cultivators from Zhongzhou couldn't help but follow, along with the young masters from noble families who had been terrified earlier.

They had lost all curiosity, but they didn't leave because they were too frightened to return alone from the dark forest.

Along the road were a large number of the corpses of evil creatures, cut in half at the waist, numbering more than a dozen.

The cut was smooth, and the sharp sword energy still lingered.

Among the prominent families of Zhongzhou, there was a skilled swordsman who, upon examining the cuts on the corpses, remarked, "It was severed by a single sword strike; the sword energy is incredibly sharp."

"A sword?"

"All evil species possess only one sword; this is a master swordsman."

Amid the discussions, the group continued up the slope, and when they reached the top, they suddenly saw a mountain range that had been cut off.

It was a low peak on the south side, with its broken peak plunging into the valley, blocking the entire mountain path.

All the evil creatures in the valley were trapped inside, their ferocious cries echoing, but they had no way out.

In fact, this was the plan that the Directorate of Immortals had previously devised: to block the South Mountain Road, trapping all these evil creatures in the mountains, and then annihilating them.

This is not very meaningful; it only prevents the evil species from escaping the mountains and harming the people.

However, most of those who cared about these things were from the Sixianjian (Immortal Supervisory Office), while the others' attention was focused on the flattened mountain peak.

Beneath the broken mountain and the silver moon stood a figure, a young man, slightly panting in the moonlight, the long sword in his hand still chiming, and the blood energy in his body seemed to be boiling.

Liu Qichen slightly opened his mouth: "Ji You..."

When they could see the person's appearance clearly by the moonlight, everyone froze on the hillside, as if they were rooted to the spot, unable to recover for a long time.

With a single sword strike, half a mountain peak was cleaved off, severing the entire mountain path and trapping all the evil creatures.

Everyone assumed that a powerful figure would come to their aid, but no one expected that it would be him in the mountains.

In fact, even if they saw it with their own eyes, they were still somewhat hesitant to recognize him, because the oppressive aura made it hard for them to believe that it came from him.

(End of this chapter)