Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 370 Holy Mountain
Dragon Cliff is located roughly in the center of the entire Demon Realm, slightly to the north.

The Holy Mountain is located in the eastern part of the Demon Realm.

Therefore, when Ye Tinglan attacked the Holy Mountain, it was because the Holy Mountain was closer to the East Sea.

On the contrary, Longya is quite far from the sacred mountain, a distance of several thousand miles.

Long Qinghuang carried one in each hand, making all three of them uncomfortable. They had been carried like this when they returned north from the army, and Lu Xingzhou hadn't dared to say anything then, but now that things had progressed, he dared to speak up: "Um... even though we fly slowly, do we really need to rush like this? Let us fly slowly."

Long Qinghuang said, "There's no time to lose, why waste time on the road?"

Lu Xingzhou tried saying, "Then let's try a different method, instead of carrying it like this?"

Long Qinghuang smiled enigmatically: "What method did Ye Tinglan use to take you to the East Sea?"

Holding her, burying my head in her fragrant, soft embrace, it felt so comfortable.

Is this something to brag about?

Lu Xingzhou said very tactfully, "Of course, Miss Long can do some things that are not suitable for you, sir."

He originally intended to trick her into holding him, but the dragon girl's thought process was a bit different. After a moment of silence, she actually sighed and said, "You just want to ride a dragon."

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

At least that's not what I'm thinking right now.

Is riding a dragon as comfortable as nestling in a beautiful woman's arms? Even if you want to ride a dragon, you want that kind of riding, right?

They thought the dragon maiden would be angry because of the misunderstanding, but for some reason, she said, "Alright, my true form is actually faster too. Are you ready?"

A dragon's roar resounded throughout the heavens and earth, and a golden dragon tens of feet long soared into the clouds.

Lu Xingzhou held A Nuo in his arms, looking at the huge dragon eye in front of him. She was weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Who said riding a dragon is fun? I almost had a heart attack from the fright.

At this moment, Lord Lu understood Lord Ye deeply.

Seemingly sensing their fear, a hint of mockery flashed in the dragon's eyes: "Come on up."

Lu Xingzhou carefully carried A Nuo and sat her on the dragon's back. It was hardly riding; it was more like sitting on the deck of an airship. The vast, flat surface was so spacious that any one of the dragon's scales looked like a bed, enough for someone to lie down and sleep on.

Therefore, there was actually no psychological experience of conquering and riding a dragon. Sure enough, when the size difference reached a certain level, it triggered a qualitative change, and the feeling was different.

Long Qinghuang seemed to know what he was thinking and said leisurely, "Be content, Lu Xingzhou. You two swindlers are already the only beings in this world who use me as a means of transportation."

Ah Nuo: "...If there are lice on your back, sister, do they count?"

The dragon's body trembled slightly, almost wanting to throw the thing off: "How could I possibly have lice on me? Do you think I'm some mud monkey?"

Lu Xingzhou wanted to argue, saying that there should still be invisible microorganisms, but then he thought that the Great Demon of Myriad Phenomena might not exist, so he remained silent.

The golden dragon soared through the clouds at an even faster speed than before. Compared to airships, without wind shields or similar features, the strong winds were unbearable. Fortunately, the master and apprentice were now flying Cloud-Soaring level beings, so this was not a problem for them.

After overcoming the initial shock, Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin and began to contemplate philosophy.

With such a huge size difference, I don't feel the sense of conquest from riding a dragon. What if I had transformation magic or something and could become a giant?

The Tianyao Holy Land possesses an expansion technique, which the Master used to inflate the threshold pit of Anuo.

Can this be used on people?
Lu Xingzhou painstakingly searched for the technique in the hidden corners of the Tianyao Holy Land's scriptures he had memorized, and then secretly tested it on himself.

no response.

After all, this belongs to Taoist cultivation techniques, and Lu Xingzhou's Taoist cultivation level has not yet reached a high enough level to be effective on people. Even if he were to be effective, he could only expand his power slightly.

Lu Xingzhou also secretly tried targeting a specific area; even a slight swelling was quite powerful...

As a result, his experiment was discovered by Long Qinghuang, who was both annoyed and amused: "Lu Xingzhou..."

"what?"

"You're so cute, I want to kiss you."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

No, if you kiss me like this, I might lose my head.

Long Qinghuang didn't really want to kiss him, and casually said, "You really want to ride me? Then you need to practice the 'Opening Heaven Technique' even more. The way of transformation of the demon race's physical body is all in it. If you cultivate it to a deep level, it is not impossible to become a model of heaven and earth."

Lu Xingzhou's heart skipped a beat.

The laws of heaven and earth.

In this world where the highest power is only the myriad manifestations of radiant light, hearing such a supernatural term feels somewhat unreal. It seems my expectations for this body-tempering method were too low. Was this the kind of technique Long Qinghuang was teaching A'nuo? Or was this technique just hype? If it could truly transform heaven and earth, what would humans be able to do against demons…?

Sure enough, Long Qinghuang said, "Our cultivation method is also incomplete. This is an incomplete version. Otherwise, I wouldn't be stuck at this level. The famous Huangji Jingshi Jing and Tianyao Xuanyue from the human side also have their shortcomings. They should be improved from the incomplete ancient cultivation methods into a seemingly complete cultivation method, but in reality, the upper limit is not high. Otherwise, Ye Tinglan should have already seen the vastness of Qian Yuan. Why would he be stuck in the mortal world?"

Therefore, Little White Hair is the one who points directly to the core essence: there are no good martial arts techniques in this world.

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but say, "Logically speaking, cultivation methods should be improved generation after generation, and modern people should be better than ancient people. Why is the ancient method stronger? Is it because what modern people have learned is incomplete?"

"Yes, it's not only incomplete, but also severely incomplete. All the advanced techniques are lost. How can it surpass the ancient ones? After all, a genius who can innovate from fragments and deduce higher-level techniques on their own is one that might not be found even once every tens of thousands of years."

Lu Xingzhou nodded. He was quite a genius himself, but as for deduce the entire Yin-Yang Ultimate Intent Technique from only half of it, he was sorry, he couldn't do it. He was still thinking about finding the complete text, wasn't he...?

Long Qinghuang said, "Why are people so obsessed with exploring ancient ruins? It's because only in ancient ruins can we find something complete and more fundamental. For example, yours is quite different from others."

Lu Xingzhou paused for a moment: "I only have half a piece too."

"Others' pieces are cut horizontally in half, missing the top half. Yours are cut vertically in half, missing the other half. Do you know the difference?" Long Qinghuang said leisurely, "Although the result is the same, both are unable to reach higher levels due to the missing parts, if you are talented enough, you might actually be able to complete the other half, break through the barrier, and have a greater advantage than others."

Lu Xingzhou's heart stirred slightly; this explanation was quite interesting. After all, his own cultivation technique was directly derived from what the ancient cultivator Mohe was practicing.

"So, when others explore ancient ruins, have they never found anything complete, or anything similar to mine?"

"There are some, but they're not high-quality... Do you think top-grade or higher cultivation techniques are as common as cabbage? I haven't seen one that's both high-quality and complete enough."

Lu Xingzhou frowned, still feeling that something was wrong.

In the tens of thousands of years of cultivation in the human world, there are countless people with great fortune, but I have never seen one.
Doesn't this feel a bit like being maliciously manipulated, a forced separation?

Could it be that the reason the people of the ancient world were isolated from the human world was not because they were afraid that the people would come to the human world and cause trouble, but rather because they were afraid that the people of the world would obtain more complete cultivation techniques from them?

Back in the Maha Cave, the person who was poisoned to death looked like a general who had come to arrest people. He was originally acquainted with Maha, and tried to be polite before resorting to force, but was poisoned.

If that's the case, then all the previously strange logic becomes more understandable; all that's missing is a character's motivation for doing so.

Sensing his silence, Long Qinghuang asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh...you mean the sacred mountain is related to your ancestors? Is it possible to communicate with them?"

"Yes, you can receive the will of your ancestors through prayer occasionally, but it's quite rare."

"Should we prevent them from granting us a more complete method of practice?"

“A fragmented will can’t possibly transmit this…” Long Qinghuang sighed, “It would be good enough if we could even solve this reproduction problem…”

Lu Xingzhou frowned and fell completely silent.

The outline of the holy mountain has already appeared on the distant horizon.

Unlike the solitary and precipitous Dragon Cliff, the Sacred Mountain is more like a sacred and blessed land for humankind. From afar, one can see cranes and white deer roaming about, ethereal music drifting by, clear streams flowing, and chanting Buddhist hymns, cleansing the soul.

There is a magnificent temple on the mountaintop. The temple is very new because the original ancient temple was burned down by Ye Tinglan.

Yes, sacred mountains are generally associated with religion, and this religion is Buddhism. Lu Xingzhou had a premonition when he first saw the temple in the Lion Clan's border town, and now it has been confirmed.

The lush greenery in the mountains consisted mostly of trees planted ten years ago, with few truly ancient ones. Occasionally, one could see charred ancient trees, charred but not dead, stubbornly surviving and gradually recovering. This scene diminished half of the awe-inspiring power of the temple's chanting; one wondered if the demons, upon seeing it, would feel an even greater sense of history and reverence?

In short, from Lu Xingzhou's perspective, every glance revealed the results of Ye Tinglan's battle ten years ago... I am truly proud of you, sir.

However, Lu Xingzhou was unaware that the part of the mountain he saw was set on fire by Yuan Muyu, and he was mistaken about who he was looking for.

It is said that Xiao Kui is more than ten years old. It is unknown whether she transformed into human form and went to Dragon Cliff ten years ago, or whether she survived the fire in Holy Mountain ten years ago and later became a spirit. If it is the latter, then Xiao Kui is truly blessed.

The golden dragon landed outside the mountain and did not rush into it, as if to show the greatest respect to the sacred mountain.

Long Qinghuang transformed back into human form, still clad in a shimmering golden imperial robe, and stood at the foot of the mountain: "Any objections to walking up the mountain?"

The implication was that if Lu Xingzhou didn't want to leave, she could take him with her.

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "It's good to take a walk. It's a way to show some sincerity when you're paying respects to Buddha."

Long Qinghuang nodded. Her thousand years of respect for the Holy Mountain made it difficult for her to regard the other party as an enemy for the time being. It would be best if Lu Xingzhou was willing to be understanding.

The three of them began their ascent up the mountain, and soon they saw the mountain gate at the foot of the mountain. Several monks, who were there to greet guests, were shocked to see Long Qinghuang arrive: "Your Majesty? Why has Your Majesty suddenly come here..."

Before Long Qinghuang could speak, Lu Xingzhou said first: "I've heard that praying to Buddha is effective. We've come to pray for a harmonious marriage. Master, could you please guide us to which temple we should pray to?"

Long Qinghuang's eyes immediately curved into crescent moons.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: I updated a lot a few days ago and I feel really tired. I'll take a break for the next couple of days and update again when I'm ready.

(End of this chapter)