Where Immortals Once Walked

“That’s right. While we’re inside, we share the snail toad’s field of vision through these doors. Whatever it sees, we can see too.” Dong Rui patted the window. “These windows let us observe the three directions behind us, so there are no blind spots on any side.”

He Lingchuan kept saying how interesting it was. He had spent more than two months hunting the snail toad, yet this was his first time entering “Snail Dwelling.” So this is how magical artifacts made by the ancient immortals are used?

“Wait, that’s not right. Didn’t the snail toad swallow an entire granary full of self-heal herbs in Zhitian Township?” He Lingchuan looked left and right. “This room’s too small. It doesn’t look like it can hold that much.”

“You’re seriously underestimating the methods of ancient immortals.” Dong Rui chuckled. “Who told you Snail Dwelling only has one little room? There are several more rooms of various sizes in the back. It’s just that Xi Yunhe’s men used to process their prey in there, so it’s filthy and always reeks of blood. I can’t be bothered to go in.”

As they spoke, the snail toad had already plunged underground, beginning tonight’s journey.

Rain had fallen across Lingxu City today, making travel easier for it. Near Fleeting Thoughts Manor, there had only been a brief burst of heavy rain, but in central and northern Lingxu City, the downpour had continued for more than an hour, soaking the earth thoroughly.

Only when the ground was damp could the snail toad travel long distances underground.

Otherwise, if it had been used to carry Dong Rui away at the last minute, it would not have been able to go far—perhaps a kilometer or two at most.

There was nothing much to see underground but darkness. They only knew that the snail toad moved extremely fast, far faster than a fine horse, and it did not need to twist and turn along streets. This was a stark contrast to its slow, lumbering movements aboveground.

The marvels of ancient immortal treasures were already difficult for people today to imagine or understand.

He Lingchuan thought, if spirit qi in the mortal realm becomes abundant again, what would happen? Would the glorious days of the Ancient Era return?

For the past three thousand years, cultivators had lifted their heads and yearned for that day, but none had ever waited long enough to see such a magnificent age arrive or return.

Well, to be fair, how could such a thing come just by waiting?

He did not feel as though he had been lost in thought for very long before the view outside the window changed. The snail toad had surfaced.

The two of them left the little room and climbed out of the snail shell. Tonight, the clouds were thick, and the sky was dim. The dense forest was even darker, with only the plants rustling in the wind.

Now and then came the cry of an owl, at times near, other times far.

This was the forest on the outskirts of Mount Xu, closer to Tianji Peak. The Heavenly Palace’s guard camp was stationed below Tianshu Peak, far from the two of them.

The mountains were hidden in the dark, revealing only faint outlines. And deep within those mountains lay the most powerful seat of authority beneath heaven. Even here in the wild woods, surrounded only by cold wind and light rain, Dong Rui still unconsciously lowered his voice. “As you requested, this spot is only about 2,600 meters from Tianji Peak.”

Ahead lay the territory of Mount Xu’s guardian spirit. The snail toad could not approach too closely.

As soon as it surfaced, it shrank. Dong Rui put it in his bundle and carried it on his back.

“Why are you whispering? Are you here to rob someone?” He Lingchuan patted the mirror on his chest. “Juju, I’m entering from the southern forest of Tianji Peak. Where should we meet?”

Juju’s voice sounded at once, “The south? Hm... Find me at White Cave beside Lingzhi Forest.”

Back when the Grand Return Sect had still been an immortal sect, countless spirit herbs had been planted in the mountains. Lingzhi Forest had merely been the name of one immortal field among many, and it had been named after the lingzhi mushrooms that were grown there. However, after the Middle Era, spirit herbs gradually became scarce, and only high-altitude regions still held traces of them. At Mount Xu’s current elevation, no spirit herbs could grow anymore, and Lingzhi Forest had turned into a fixed sightseeing stop for visitors.

He Lingchuan had been to Tianji Peak twice and roughly knew where Lingzhi Forest was. At worst, the Soul-Stealing Mirror was patting its chest and insisting it could navigate the way.

The two put on masks and slipped into the mountains under the cover of night.

About fifteen minutes later.

Juju asked, “Are you there yet?”

“Not yet.”

Another fifteen minutes passed, and Juju asked again, “Are you there now?”

“Cough, still not yet.”

Juju did not understand. “How are you this slow? Even a snail would have crawled here by now!”

“I think we took a wrong turn.” The first two times he had come, he had walked along mountain ridges. This time, they had to climb through ravines and gullies. Looking down from the mountain and traveling from below were two entirely different things.

Moreover, there was no moon tonight. Every mountain hollow looked the same, creating a natural ghost wall.

Dong Rui was complaining, “I told you to take the left path, but you wouldn’t believe me!”

Juju: “...”

Just then, from the corner of his eye, He Lingchuan noticed a streak of fire drifting across the mountainside.

It looked like a huge fire creature, more than ten meters tall.

The strange thing was that even though its entire body blazed with flames, the surrounding trees did not catch fire, and not even the leaves were singed black.

This was the power that protected the mountain forest. So long as it did not wish to, it would not burn the mountain or destroy the woods.

He Lingchuan quickly said, “One of your avatars just passed halfway up the mountain, right above us.”

The big fire creature immediately paused and looked left and right like a person, then it spotted He Lingchuan. Afterward, it slid all the way down the cliff face and stopped before the two of them.

“Follow me.” Juju’s irritated voice came from the fire figure. “You’ve been circling for ages, but this place doesn’t even count as Mount Xu territory!”

Otherwise, it would have known the moment they entered the mountain.

He Lingchuan shrugged and followed it with Dong Rui.

With the fire creature leading the way, their pace became several times faster. This was one of Juju’s avatars, released to patrol the mountain at night so its perception would not occasionally be deceived. Mount Xu was not open to the outside world at night, and one of the local guardian spirit’s duties was to drive out or capture intruders.

Without its support, sneaking up the mountain at night would have been as difficult as ascending the heavens for He Lingchuan.

When they passed a few low peaks, the fire creature asked them to proceed carefully, because Heavenly Palace guards were stationed on the peaks and would routinely glance down.

Clearly, even the Heavenly Palace did not dare entrust all defensive work entirely to Juju.

They walked for another half hour like this. Only after the two of them were covered in dew, their shoes caked with mossy mud, and they had turned through a narrow path did the view ahead suddenly open up.

A wide mountain valley spread before them.

They had finally made it to Lingzhi Forest.

Two thousand years ago, this place had been filled with lingzhi mushrooms and all kinds of immortal herbs. Ginseng children and immortal lingzhi horses had run wildly through the valley and hollows.

Now, it was just a wasteland. Aside from wild grass, wild mushrooms, and a few crayfish, there was nothing.

There was a cave beside the mountain, with white rock at its entrance.

The fire creature withdrew here and went elsewhere to continue patrolling. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui continued forward, hugging the wall as they slipped into the cave.

To humans, this was a dead cave, ending in at most two hundred steps, but there were countless cracks in the rock walls.

As soon as He Lingchuan stepped inside, more than a dozen clusters of flame “squeezed” out from the stone crevices. After falling to the ground, they assembled again, forming the enormous rock-fire aberrant creature.

Today, it had taken a half-human form. Its upper body resembled a human’s, while everything below its waist was just a mass of flame.

He Lingchuan turned to Dong Rui and said, “This is Mount Xu’s guardian spirit, Juju.”

In truth, many visitors wandering Mount Xu came because of the legends about the rock-fire aberrant creature, but very few were lucky enough to see it. Lord Juju had no interest in living humans it could not eat.

The point He Lingchuan found most amusing was that no matter whether one visitor came or two, Juju’s appearance was always grand and dramatic. It had to seize the upper hand in sheer presence first.

Even from this distance, Dong Rui felt the air around him burning hot, and the hair on his forehead began to curl.

He Lingchuan introduced him to Juju. “This is my friend, and also my helper.”

Since both sides were face-to-face now, Juju said mockingly, “We’re already cooperating, yet you’re still unwilling to show me your real face?” Earlier, this bastard had thrown my avatar into a soul land without revealing his face, keeping everything to long-distance conversation. Today, we arranged to meet in person, yet he’s still wearing a mask. He’s truly as timid as a mouse.

The masks the two wore could block even spiritual sense, and it could not see through them.

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “This is mutual protection!”

Juju snorted. “Have you calculated the position of the array eye?”

“Naturally. That’s why we’re here to test things.”

“Come with me.” Juju turned and walked deeper into the cave.

Only under the light of the fire around its body did the two men realize there was a large crack deep inside the cave. It could hardly be called a path at all, and they had to use both hands and feet to get through.

Neither of them was fat, so they could just barely squeeze inside.

Fortunately, once they squeezed in, the gap between the rocks widened. Both also had cultivation, so they climbed rocks and grabbed roots, ascending more than 160 meters before leaping onto a platform.

From there upward, there was already a tourist plank path they could use.

Of course, Heavenly Palace guards occasionally came to patrol, but with the local snake shielding them, He Lingchuan did not run into them even once.

Before long, they abandoned the main path again and climbed to a wild mountain peak opposite Tianji Peak.

To avoid being too conspicuous, Juju actually compressed its body to half a person’s height and withdrew the flames covering its body. It looked like a burning chunk of charcoal. Only a few support points at its joints and neck glowed red, while the rest resembled scorched rock after a fire.

Once it hid among the dense trees and shrubs, the guards on the opposite mountain peak could no longer see it.

Of course, having to sneak around like this on its own territory was all because of these two stowaways. Juju urged, “Hurry up and start!”

This thing’s already been here for several thousand years, and now it’s the one in a hurry? He Lingchuan ignored it and said to Dong Rui, “I’ll point out the direction for you. If there were stars tonight, it would be flying toward the Tianxuan Star[1].” With that, he lifted his hand and pointed. “Send the bat puppet up.”

Dong Rui knew the nine stars of the Big Dipper, but the clouds were so thick tonight that nothing could be seen in the sky. He could only rely on He Lingchuan’s positioning. Immediately, his shoulder sank, and the bat monster puppet flapped its wings and rose.

He Lingchuan had originally hoped it could keep this inconspicuous size and appearance. Mount Xu had plenty of bats flying low and circling after the rain, so a monster puppet mixed among them would not attract notice.

But even though there was still a bit of dim light in the sky, once the monster puppet rose thirty meters, He Lingchuan could no longer see it, even with his eyesight fully focused.

It was way too damn small, and the thing itself was black!

“Make it a bit bigger!”

Once the monster puppet became about the size of a dog, He Lingchuan could finally see it in the night sky.

“Left... up... right, no, left!”

“Fly down about sixty meters and take a look.”

Dong Rui said, “There’s nothing there.” It’s just a wide-open patch of empty sky.

“What’s the rush?” He Lingchuan silently calculated using the formula Principal Xu Shichu had given him. “A little farther left. Mm, yes, keep going left! Ah, no, it’s about to crash into the mountain peak.”

Xu Shichu was indeed reliable. Two days earlier, he had given the shared formula to Sun Fuling, who had brought it back and handed it to He Lingchuan.

1. This is Merak or Beta Ursae Majoris. ☜