The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

Yang Qingyuan rested for a night until his magical power returned to its peak. Then, he took Han Yunzhi, rode the red demon wolf, and headed straight for the central ring mountain range.

Perhaps because the disciples of the seven major sects were all waiting for the restrictions on the ring mountain range to be lifted, the two of them encountered no obstacles along the way.

About an incense stick's time later, the two left the garden and came to a dense forest composed of towering trees, where they stopped to look around.

On the other side of the dense forest, a thick fog shrouded everything, so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The thick fog was so dense that it blocked out the sun and the sky, and you couldn't see anything in it from the outside.

"We've arrived." Han Yunzhi's face lit up with joy. She released a white eagle into the sky to keep watch and said, "It seems the cultivator who possesses the Moon Sun Pearl hasn't arrived yet."

"We need to wait a little longer."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan released the two-headed duck and had it perch on the treetop of the towering tree to monitor the surrounding movements.

Immediately afterwards, he took out the yellow silk umbrella and offered it up.

The yellow parasol spun around, emitting a hazy yellow glow that enveloped Yang Qingyuan and Han Yunzhi.

The next moment, the yellow glow gradually faded, blending into the surrounding environment, causing Yang Qingyuan and Han Yunzhi to disappear into thin air on the grass.

"This yellow umbrella is far more effective at concealing one's presence than even a basic concealment technique." Han Yunzhi used her beast-taming technique to share her vision with the white eagle in the sky and found that she couldn't see through the yellow umbrella's disguise at all, which surprised her greatly.

The Yellow Silk Umbrella is indeed very effective at concealing one's presence and can also isolate internal and external sounds. Only a demon beast with special demonic eyes, such as the Double-Headed Duck, can detect the presence of the Yellow Silk Umbrella.

After waiting for about an hour, Yang Qingyuan and Han Yunzhi suddenly sensed a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation coming from the southwest direction of the dense forest.

The two exchanged a glance, then both looked towards the southwest of the dense forest.

A white beam of light shot into the sky from the southwest horizon, piercing the clouds, and then condensed into a huge white sphere of light high in the sky.

The ball of light appeared, but within a few breaths it twisted and deformed, and then exploded with a deafening roar, turning into countless white light spots that fell into the mist below, like a torrential downpour.

When this thick sea of ​​fog touched the white light, it began to churn violently and was continuously dissolved.

In the blink of an eye, the dense fog disappeared, revealing the view inside.

"Is this the ring mountain range on the second level of the central area?" Han Yunzhi was stunned by what she saw under the sea of ​​mist.

Beyond the sea of ​​fog, a colossal mountain range rose into the clouds.

The mountain range has no visible peak; it is covered with densely packed, strangely shaped rocks and towering trees. You can vaguely see some man-made structures, such as stone houses, built in the forest.

Meanwhile, the roars of monstrous beasts echoed from the depths of the mountains, one after another, sending chills down one's spine.

"It seems that this mountain range is indeed as the legends describe, inhabited by a large number of demonic beasts." Han Yunzhi's face paled and her delicate body trembled slightly when she heard the roars of these demonic beasts.

Yang Qingyuan flipped through the map again and said, "Let's go. There happens to be a stone house at the foot of the ring mountain that stores the Blazing Sun Flower."

Upon hearing the words "Blazing Sun Flower," Han Yunzhi's eyes gradually hardened. She summoned a red demon wolf, which carried the two of them as they sped towards the massive mountain range.

Not long after the two left, a dark-skinned, unremarkable-looking young man arrived outside the dense forest; it was Han Li.

Han Li looked around and, after confirming there was no danger, chose a direction and hurried on his way.

Immediately afterward, another burly man carrying a giant sword arrived at the edge of the dense forest. After pausing briefly, he headed towards the ring mountain range, looking completely fearless.

After that, another group of handsome men and beautiful women dressed in white robes of the Hidden Moon Sect arrived, totaling thirteen people.

The sheer number of disciples from the Hidden Moon Sect acting together terrified any passing cultivators, who fled in panic.

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect stood outside the dense forest, all scrutinizing the crater.

One of the female disciples, who bore a resemblance to Zhao Xiaofeng, one of the Twin Beauties of the Moon, pondered for a moment before speaking to a young girl in the crowd, "Master, my sister has not yet arrived. Could we wait a little longer?"

It turned out that this female cultivator was none other than the other one of the Twin Beauties of the Hidden Moon, namely Duobao Nu.

Duobao Nu should have died under Feng Yue's "Golden Blade" talisman, but because Yang Qingyuan killed Feng Yue, she was spared.

As for the girl in white in the middle of the crowd, she was Nangong Wan, the Core Formation Elder of the Hidden Moon Sect.

Upon hearing Duobao Nu's words, Nangong Wan frowned slightly and replied, "The exact location of that treasure is still unknown and requires a lot of time to search. We simply cannot linger here."

"You don't need to worry about your sister either."

"Didn't Senior Sister Zhao bestow several protective treasures upon you two sisters?"

"With these treasures, your sister is virtually unmatched in this blood-red forbidden land, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Let's keep going and meet up with her when we reach the crater."

Hearing this, Duobao Nu dared not object and followed the Yanyue Sect's group straight towards the ring mountain...

At this moment, Yang Qingyuan and Han Yunzhi were lying on a hillside, silently watching a fierce battle unfold on the grassland ahead.

A simple, old-fashioned black stone house stood alone on the grass in front of them.

In front of the black stone house lay the corpses of two blue peacock monsters.

Both beasts were high-level level one demonic beasts, comparable to cultivators at the tenth level of Qi Refining, and their strength was not weak, but now they were a bloody mess.

In front of the corpse, a middle-aged disciple of Huangfeng Valley, dressed in a yellow silk robe, was fighting three disciples of Ling Shou Shan, dressed in green robes, against one of them.

All four were at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, and were all elite disciples.

Meanwhile, the three cultivators from Spirit Beast Mountain each commanded a swarm of yellow poisonous bees, a swarm of red flying ants, two emerald green poisonous snakes, and three red-backed demon wolves to surround the lone Yellow Maple Valley disciple.

As for the middle-aged cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley, he wielded a golden calligraphy brush and a jade book-like artifact.

Once activated, this golden pen and jade calligraphy artifact scattered a large number of golden runes, killing the beasts so much that they dared not approach.

"Chen Qiaotian, how could it be him?" Yang Qingyuan recognized the middle-aged cultivator's face and realized that he was Chen Qiaoqian's older brother.

Han Yunzhi, standing nearby, also changed her expression upon seeing the three disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain. Pointing to one of the ugly-looking men, she introduced him, "Brother Yang, this leader is called Zhong Wu. His strength ranks among the top three of the Qi Refining stage disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain."

Yang Qingyuan followed Han Yunzhi's fingertips and locked his gaze on Zhong Wu in the crowd.

The man was of medium build, with uneven eyes and a face covered in black freckles. He appeared to be around forty years old and carried seven or eight spirit pet pouches of different sizes.

Han Yunzhi continued, "Brother Yang, did you see the two winged flying snakes next to him?"

"This snake is a flying snake from the desolate mountains. Don't be fooled by its low rank of only level one; its venom can kill even a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"They outnumber us right now, so let's abandon the Blazing Sunflower in the stone house and go somewhere else."

Han Yunzhi seemed quite afraid of Zhong Wu and quickly advised Yang Qingyuan to find another place.

At this moment, Chen Qiaotian, due to excessive consumption of magical power, turned pale and gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, becoming extremely anxious.

"You surnamed Chen, you're definitely going to die this time." Zhong Wu crossed his arms, grinned maliciously, and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you die too easily. I'll make you feel the pain of ten thousand insects gnawing at your heart."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Qiaotian sensed that the attraction spell planted by the sect had activated. Grasping at this last straw, he hurriedly called out, "Which fellow disciple has arrived?"

"My name is Chen Qiaotian of the Chen family. I hope my fellow disciples will lend a helping hand. I will repay you handsomely after we leave the Crimson Forbidden Land!"

Upon seeing the golden pen and jade calligraphy artifact wielded by Chen Qiaotian, which seemed to be related to Confucianism, Yang Qingyuan hesitated for a moment before getting up and walking down the hillside towards the stone house...