Lingyuan Immortal

Chapter 929 The Ancient Echoes of the Mysterious Demon Realm
"Since this is the legacy of my ancestor Gonggong, how can we allow outsiders to easily encroach upon it?"

Gong Daosheng muttered to himself, his voice like shattered ice falling, clearly audible.

Despite his father's disdain, to him, this secluded paradise, sealed for tens of thousands of years, might just be harboring ancient treasures.

Even though the world changes, Gonggong should still have a share in the legacy.

The silver-bearded old man closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "You should take your men and go ahead. If you can stop that Hong family son outside the gate, that would be the best course of action. If you happen to miss him... then let this suspicious man be your vanguard."

"I will obey the clan leader's command!"

Hong Daosheng left immediately, his steps hurried, as if he were in a great hurry.

Now that his father had given him this opportunity, he absolutely could not allow Hong Wuyai to be the first to knock on the gate.

Furthermore, if we can intercept that Daoist Zeding in the distant sea, that Daoist will have nowhere to hide and will have no choice but to fight him.

When that time comes, he won't need to contend with that madwoman Gong Qingli; the facts will naturally reveal that destiny has ordained him...

……

The land of Tianchi is shrouded in a thousand layers of mist, with ten thousand starlight lanterns. At this moment, it is the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), and the clear moonlight of the moon palace begins to shine through.

Beneath the vast, dark sky, the moon hangs over the eaves, and frost settles on the glass; the palace's pearl lamps cast floating shadows on the jade-like walls.

Inside the majestic main hall, dozens of powerful members of the Feather Clan with snow-white wings entered one after another. Each of them exuded profound Daoist charm, and upon closer inspection, they were all at the fifth-order Dao Inquiry Realm.

However, at this moment, everyone's faces were filled with surprise and doubt. They gathered in groups of three or five around familiar clansmen, whispering in hushed tones, their eyes occasionally glancing at the empty main seat.

"Have you all sensed it? Why is there an aura emanating from our Feather Clan ancestors above the distant sea?"

"I don't know, wasn't that territory under the control of Gonggong? How could it be involved with our ancestors..."

Tens of thousands of years have passed, and as Yu Chengkong said, this long-forgotten story has long been buried in the river of time.

Half of the clansmen in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment. Only in the northeast corner of the crowd was there a young man with a ruddy complexion, but his eyebrows and hair were all white, and he looked old and decrepit. Hearing this, he sighed deeply, his lips moved slightly, but he still closed his eyes.

Before long, when the last sound of the crane-patterned jade chime faded away, nearly a hundred Daoist True Monarchs had gathered in the hall!
Logically speaking, the Feather Clan should be the most powerful clan in Guixu, but among the three major clans in Guixu, the Feather Clan's influence is even less than that of the Huangtai Family of Lingzhu Mountain.

There must be a reason for such an unusual event.

One can get a glimpse of the situation by observing the positions of the cultivators in the hall. Nearly a hundred cultivators are separated as if by an invisible barrier, each group forming three star clusters, maintaining a proper distance from one another.

It seems that if it weren't for the strange phenomenon today that alarmed the entire clan, these three lineages of cultivators would probably never have been able to gather together in a thousand years.

This centrifugal force is precisely the shackle that binds the Feathered Clan's path to the Ruins of Return...

After a short while, the hall suddenly fell silent. More than a hundred True Lords abruptly stopped talking, and their black-patterned cloud-patterned shoes turned towards the hall door.

Then an old man with white hair reaching his shoulders floated in, his flowing cloud-like wings unfurling like a curtain hanging from the sky, his crane cloak embroidered with silver threads shining with every step, and a spiritual mist arose wherever he passed.

The immortal Yu Shan, who described himself as a "free spirit" but had ruled the Feather Clan for three thousand years, now had a solemn expression on his brow that had not been seen for a century.

He walked through the center of the clan, and everyone who passed by made way for him and bowed to him.

As he ascended to the main seat, a beautiful young woman in a plain white dress with wide sleeves suddenly frowned, glanced back, and hurriedly asked a member of her clan, "Where did Yu Chengkong go?"

"I don't know." The man shook his head and added, "I haven't seen him in a long time."

The young woman's brows furrowed more and more, sensing that something was amiss.

In the past, when nothing was happening, Yu Chengkong would cause all sorts of trouble, so why has he disappeared now?

Her delicate hand unconsciously touched the silk brocade covering her heart, and the pearl-studded buttons on her lapel suddenly flashed with a cold light.

"Could it be..."

She suddenly turned and looked out of the palace, her gaze piercing through the layers of clouds, reaching the horizon of the Ruins of Return barrier, which glowed with a ghostly blue light...

……

In the dark and mysterious abyss.

The entrance vortex expanded rapidly, and the surrounding air currents surged like a thousand horses galloping. Hong Wuyai stood alone at the forefront of the storm, his black robes fluttering in the wind, and all he could hear was the howling wind that pierced through the clouds and split rocks.

The void passage was clearly wide enough for cultivators to pass through, yet he remained steadfast in his agreement and did not overstep the bounds.

Suddenly, his senses stirred, and he turned around abruptly. He saw two streaks of blue and white light breaking through the air and arriving before their voices could be heard. They were Chen Mu and Yu Chengkong.

"Brother Hong, has something gone wrong?"

Before the person even landed, Yu Chengkong had already urgently activated his true energy to transmit a message.

According to their calculations, even if the Gonggong clan discovered their journey, it would take them quite a while to find this place, which would be enough time for them to return successfully from the Small Realm Cave.

But right now...

He looked up at the dark blue pillar of light that stretched from the sky to the earth. It was clearly a beacon of enlightenment that reached the heavens and the earth, continuously transmitting directional information to the outside world.

A dark glint flashed in Hong Wuyai's eyes, but his face remained impassive: "I was too hasty, and the spiritual energy tide is ever-changing, so I ultimately failed to suppress it..."

Yu Chengkong, unsuspecting of any trickery, sighed heavily upon hearing this, but in an instant, his gaze became fixed intently on the distorted void vortex, his hands already forming a tribulation-avoiding incantation within his sleeves: "Further words are useless, and delay may lead to unforeseen changes. You two should enter the realm quickly?"

Everything that needed to be said had already been said before we arrived. Now the entrance is right in front of us, and all that's left is to take that final step.

Hong Wuyai had been waiting for a long time. After taking a deep breath, he took the lead and transformed into a stream of light, disappearing into the vortex.

Without pausing, Yu Chengkong nodded to Chen Mu and followed closely behind.

After the two figures completely disappeared, Chen Mu remained in place, lost in thought.

Just as Hong Wuyai turned around, he clearly sensed a momentary stagnation in the other party's aura.

However, this anomaly doesn't seem to be directed at external enemies; rather, it seems... to conceal unspoken words.

After pondering for a few moments, he stopped thinking about it, silently raised his guard, and then also slipped into it...

The void vortex did not cause the expected reversal of heaven and earth. Chen Mu casually pushed open the curtain and took half a step forward. His whole body was suddenly covered with an icy coldness, and in an instant, the solid touch came from the soles of his feet.

This effortless method of breaking through boundaries is like a master painter lifting the scroll of rice paper and stepping directly into another world of ink and wash painting.

"Wow—"

The salty, ancient tide, carrying the essence of water, rushed towards me, and the ripple-like water barrier behind me slowly closed up.

Chen Mu looked up and saw the gnarled iron trunk piercing the sky, the ancient trees intertwined like jade pillars supporting the heavens, and the umbrella-like canopies extending in layers, cutting the sunlight into fine gold foil.

A deep blue mist floated in the forest, and dewdrops hanging from fern leaves condensed into black pearls, swirling with colorful patterns in the dappled sunlight.

In the utter silence, even the presence of Yu Hong and his companion vanished without a trace.

Chen Mu's mind raced, and after a moment's thought, he understood the cause: the chaotic void currents during the boundary break must have thrown them into different locations. He didn't rush to search, but instead spread his divine sense like a spider web, probing the surroundings.

To his surprise, his usually infallible spiritual senses were now trapped in a deep abyss.

After a moment of careful observation, one discovers that it is precisely because of the ethereal blue mist floating in the forest.

Chen Mu's heart stirred, and he waved his hand to gather a handful of mist to look at it, and couldn't help but nod slightly.

This mist is actually a rather rich water essence. Such a condensed and pure water element can only be condensed by ancient divine birds after ten thousand years of breathing.

Instead, it was about what kind of divine bird it was. It was obvious that it was the Blue Duck, a divine bird of the water, since this place was originally created specifically for raising Blue Ducks.

Now, tens of thousands of years have passed, and we wonder to what extent the blue ducks have multiplied.

With this in mind, Chen Mu set off, not daring to take flight rashly. He simply followed the path shrouded in a deep blue mist, hoping to encounter the main character of this journey.

Walking alone through the dark forest, the only sounds were the mournful rustling of withered branches and leaves under my boots, and a fierce wind swept through the woods, making the gnarled branches dance wildly like thousands of ghostly hands...

This feeling isn't pleasant, especially when you're in unfamiliar territory; it can easily create a creepy, eerie atmosphere.

Fortunately, after walking for about half a cup of tea's time, a sound of tearing silk suddenly broke through the air.

Chen Mu listened intently and discerned that it was the sharp sound of feathers tearing through the gale, and also a rather unique roar, which sounded like Kunlun jade shattering or a Kui ox treading on waves, deep and heavy, unlike the sound that a divine bird could make.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and with a light touch of his toes on the green rock, his body instantly veered towards the source of the sound like a fish wagging its tail.

The sounds grew clearer and clearer. In addition to the two sounds he had just heard, he also heard the cry of a real divine bird, which sounded like a jade flute piercing through the clouds and splitting rocks, yet also like a leaf trembling in the wind, with a hint of fear in it.

But the more this was the case, the more curious Chen Mu became about the roar. Was there something in the small world he had created specifically for raising blue ducks that made him feel terrified?
He quickened his pace, and finally, after passing a blue stone, a scene appeared within his spiritual senses.

A nine-foot-tall divine bird with shimmering blue and white feathers twirled and tumbled in the air, its clear cries echoing as it nimbly soared up and down, turned left and right, trying to shake off the dark aura behind it.

No matter how it tried to dodge, the Xuan Qi relentlessly pursued it like a shadow clinging to its body.

It's not that the Xuan Qi flies faster than the divine bird, but rather that whenever the Blue Duck flaps its wings and flies away, the Xuan Qi uses some mysterious spatial folding technique to traverse hundreds of feet, much like the teleportation ability of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

If it weren't for the natural barrier formed by the towering ancient trees surrounding the bird, which repeatedly slowed down the flow of mystical energy, this strange creature would probably have already swallowed the divine bird whole.

At this moment, Chen Mu, who had rushed over, held his breath and stared intently. He saw that although the nine-foot-tall blue duck had shimmering wings, the demonic energy fluctuations around it were only at the third level, barely comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.

When Chen Mu looked closely at the Xuan Qi, his breath hitched.

It was a strange monster, three zhang long, resembling a dragon but not quite.

Its entire body is covered with translucent scales, and chaotic nebulae flow inside. Its unusually large dragon head has five-colored mane, seven bright white bone spikes protrude from its back, and its tail dissipates like clouds, as if half of it is present here and half of it is hidden in the void...

Chen Mu was taken aback. Even with his extensive knowledge, he had never seen such a monster before.

"Fellow Daoist Chen?"

Just as he was lost in thought, Hong Wuyai arrived following the sound, but he was also stunned when he saw the strange monster under the mysterious energy.

Chen Mu turned around and asked, "Fellow Daoist Hong, you have lived in Guixu for a long time. Have you ever seen such a strange and bizarre thing?"

Hong Wuyai pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Never heard of such a thing."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mu frowned slightly and was about to speak when the other party preempted him:
"Fellow Daoist Chen arrived here first. Did you see any trace of Fellow Daoist Yu?"

Chen Mu also shook his head, his gaze sweeping across the forest like lightning, and said, "This dense forest is only about a hundred miles in size. If Fellow Daoist Yu has truly been teleported here, he should come here soon following the sound."

As they were talking, the battle situation at the front suddenly changed.

The demonic creature, clearly possessing intelligence, gathered its strength for a moment before suddenly using teleportation to cut off the blue duck's retreat.

The blue duck was greatly alarmed and hurriedly flapped its wings to soar into the sky, but it was too late to change direction. Although it temporarily escaped the calamity, its tail feathers were already tainted with profound energy.

In an instant, the frost feathers melted into the flames like snow, and under the erosion of the profound energy, an eerie gray haze appeared on the mottled areas.

The blue duck's long cry was filled with pain, and its soaring momentum faltered slightly as the demon, enveloped in profound energy, approached once more.

Knowing that it would not be able to keep running away, it turned its pupils and stopped, stretching its neck and letting out a long cry.

The spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred feet immediately boiled like a cauldron, and with a flap of its wings, thousands of cold currents surged forth, actually condensing into an inverted celestial river in the void.

However, the demonic creature with mysterious energy advanced instead of retreating, its five-colored mane fluttering like banners beside its dragon head, especially the water within it, which was particularly dazzling.

Its enormous mouth gaped open, and its abdominal cavity seemed to contain an invisible vortex, which swallowed the vast Milky Way in an instant.

The satiated monster let out a low growl, and wisps of cold air seeped from the gaps in its scales, which instantly transformed into a chilling killing intent as it pounced forward.

Blue Fly was terrified, its feathers standing on end. It had clearly not expected that the demon formed from Xuan Qi could withstand its killing move unscathed.

It disregarded everything else and fled in a panic, its mournful cries shaking the leaves of the forest.

The mysterious energy swirling around its tail feathers was like a persistent carbuncle, slowing down its escape. Despite dashing left and right through the dense forest, it could never shake off the demon behind it.

Seeing that the demonic claws of the Xuanqi had touched the tail feathers of the blue duck, Chen Mu's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Just as he was about to activate his true essence, he suddenly sensed something and quietly concealed the fluctuations of spiritual energy around him.

At the same moment, Hong Wuyai raised his eyebrows slightly, his gaze shooting like lightning towards the ancient grove of trees in the southeast.

"laugh--"

With a sudden whooshing sound, a bronze arrowhead, carrying the force of wind and thunder, pierced through the gap in the forest.

The beast patterns engraved on the arrow shaft then emitted a ghostly light, actually carrying the demonic creature far away and pinning it firmly to the dragon-shaped wood three zhang away.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Before the demon could struggle, three more cold beams arrived in quick succession, precisely piercing its three vital points: the crown of its head, the sea of ​​qi, and the gate of life.

The arrowhead seemed to have been used in some way to cut off life force. In just a moment, the demonic creature with profound energy died with a mournful cry, its body limp like a snake.

Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he sensed the yin and yang energies on the arrowhead...

"Crash..."

At this moment, the sound of rustling leaves came from deep in the dense forest, and more than ten burly men dressed in extremely simple clothes, their bodies wrapped in burlap, filed out one after another.

They naturally noticed Chen Mu and his companion, but aside from a slightly questioning look in their eyes, they did not make any rash moves.

A short-bearded, burly man, clearly the leader, stepped forward and led the group to kneel on one knee and bow to Lan Fu with his hand on his chest.

After his people had gathered up the remains of the demon, he stood up, gripped the bone knife at his waist, and looked at Chen Mu and the other man with cold eyes. His voice boomed as he asked, "What tribe are you from? Why did you stand idly by when the sacred bird was in danger?"

……

(End of this chapter)