Chapter 627 - 564: Yun Qianshan

Chapter 627: Chapter 564: Yun Qianshan

"Three hundred and eight."

Before the stone stele, Chu Mu gazed up at the monolith that shot toward the heavens like a sword.

In just a few days—less than a single day by the reckoning of the Desert Sea Heaven and Earth—the once-blank surface of this pure white stone stele was now inscribed with three hundred and eight names.

Among those names, a considerable number had already matured their "Scorpion Eggs" and entered Purifying Soul Mountain.

Chu Mu lowered his head and glanced at the glaring crimson on his wrist.

In a place where hundreds of Tier Three Golden Core Cultivators had gathered, the so-called Sand-tailed Scorpion Tide naturally posed little threat.

After several days, his "Scorpion Egg" had also matured as a matter of course.

The glaring crimson mark on his arm had become somewhat rounded and translucent, and its scorpion shape was growing ever more lifelike.

At a glance, it looked as if it were alive.

But upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem to be just a scorpion’s form; it was as if it were ever-changing, without a fixed shape.

This fact was also reflected with extreme clarity on the stone stele.

After his name, the mysterious phrase ’Scorpion Egg Matured’ was clearly marked.

The process was no different from what he had witnessed before. With a flicker of faint white light, a palm-sized, pure white Jade Talisman materialized, hovering over Chu Mu’s palm.

With the appearance of the Jade Talisman, the sensation of being guided clearly descended upon him once again.

And the direction it guided him toward was, unmistakably, the mountain before him... Purifying Soul Mountain.

It was as if a voice was ceaselessly urging him to step onto this mountain and fulfill his mission.

"I’ll be going on ahead then."

Chu Mu closed his hand, grasping the Jade Talisman. He glanced at Qin Zhaoxue beside him, uttered his words, and took a step forward.

A gateway materialized before him at just the right moment.

Over the past few days, the existence of these gateways was, naturally, no longer a secret.

Many Trial Takers had even tried to enter gateways belonging to others, but without exception, all were blocked.

Each gateway seemed to be exclusively for its corresponding Trial Taker.

Even snatching the Jade Talisman made it no more possible to cross the threshold.

Chu Mu no longer hesitated. With a single step, he entered the Array Prohibition Gate.

To Chu Mu’s surprise, stepping through revealed nothing unusual; it was as if he had truly just walked through a door.

And beyond the door...

Chu Mu surveyed the scene before him, clearly taken aback.

Auspicious clouds swirled, immortal cranes danced in the air, and surging Spiritual Qi, so dense it formed a mist, flowed between the mountains, occasionally manifesting as various wondrous phenomena.

Amid the clouds and mist, rugged mountain ranges stretched on, with pavilions and towers built into their slopes. One could even clearly see Cultivators in Standardized Robes moving about between the peaks.

Some sat cross-legged upon the clouds, practicing their Breathing. Others practiced Magical Techniques and Divine Techniques on treacherous peaks. There were even those who zipped by on flying swords, riding the clouds and mist.

It seemed that Purifying Soul Mountain was just as he had glimpsed it from the Desert Sea: the grounds of a great Immortal Sect, the headquarters of a major power.

’But why are there so many... Cultivators here?’

’Are they all Trial Takers?’

Chu Mu was having trouble processing it all.

"Junior Brother, this must be your first time on Purifying Soul Mountain, isn’t it?"

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded from the side.

Chu Mu instinctively looked over with caution. In a pavilion not far away, a middle-aged man in white robes stood gracefully, looking at him with a gentle smile.

The aura of his Golden Core Perfection Cultivation was also completely unconcealed.

"And you are...?"

Chu Mu hesitated.

"It’s normal that you don’t recognize me, Junior Brother. I am from the lineage of Hidden Mountain’s Grand Elder, a disciple of Elder Huan Yun. My name is Yun Qianshan."

"After the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother was suppressed by the senior from the Upper Realm, I received a Decree from the Celestial Palace’s Elder Pavilion to stand guard at Purifying Soul Mountain. It’s been nearly eight hundred years."

"Eight hundred years ago, I imagine you hadn’t even joined our Celestial Palace yet, had you, Junior Brother?"

Yun Qianshan maintained a warm, gentle smile as he spoke slowly. There was nothing in his words to cause aversion or vigilance; on the contrary, they had a strange way of putting one at ease.

Though a storm was raging in Chu Mu’s heart once more, his expression grew even calmer. He pondered for a moment before posing a question in return:

"Then how can you be so certain this is my first time entering Purifying Soul Mountain, Senior Brother?"

"Hahaha..."

Yun Qianshan laughed heartily. "Ever since Purifying Soul Mountain was established, I have been stationed here. The roster of all disciples who enter the mountain is in my hands. Furthermore, I personally welcome every Golden Core disciple of our sect who comes here. How could I not know if this is your first time, Junior Brother?"

"Come, there’s no rush for the Soul Purification. Let me first arrange a place for you to stay and rest for a while."

"The key to Soul Purification is comprehending your true heart and using your spirit to cleanse it, thus eradicating the problem for good. This requires you to rest and recuperate well, Junior Brother."

"Excessive killing leaves the mind agitated. For Soul Purification, this is entirely harmful and has no benefits."

Chu Mu gave a slight nod and said no more.

’The situation is unclear. The more one says, the more one risks a mistake.’

’Since this is how things are, I might as well go with the flow.’

He silently followed by Yun Qianshan’s side. In contrast to his own reticence, Yun Qianshan was quite talkative.

As the two of them ascended the Jade Stone steps up the mountain, Yun Qianshan acted every bit the host, eloquently introducing each place they passed.

From mountain peaks to grand halls, even down to a single step or a giant boulder, he seemed to have a story for everything.

"Back in the day, when this Purifying Soul Mountain was first established, it was truly destitute. There was nothing here."

"I came here with Elder Wen Hua, but as soon as he arrived, he acted like an absentee boss, and every single matter on Purifying Soul Mountain, big or small, fell on my shoulders."

"After centuries of painstaking effort, I finally managed to build this Purifying Soul Mountain in this barren, impoverished land."

Yun Qianshan was introducing things with a smile, but as he spoke, his smile faded and he suddenly grew somber, as if he had found a suitable person to confide in:

"To be honest with you, Junior Brother, I had a mishap in my Cultivation some years ago. My state of mind is flawed, so I cannot purify the Scorpion Egg."

"All these years, I could only watch as my fellow brothers entered this Purifying Soul Mountain one after another, rushing to their doom..."

"Watching them fall, one by one... like moths to a flame..."

Chu Mu remained silent, a heavy feeling growing in his heart.

These dispiriting words came from the mouth of a Golden Core Cultivator who had been guarding Purifying Soul Mountain for hundreds of years.

It was not hard to imagine, then, after eight hundred years on Purifying Soul Mountain, just what mountains of white bones and scattered souls lay behind that phrase ’rushing to their doom’.

Yun Qianshan seemed completely oblivious to the change in Chu Mu’s expression, continuing in that same dispirited and desperate tone to slowly recount the eight hundred years of terror on Purifying Soul Mountain.

Every word, every sentence, vividly wove one cruel, despairing reality after another.

An overwhelming despair, carried in those words, seemed to completely envelop Chu Mu...

...