Novel Full Chapter 2788 - Danger Lurks on All Sides, a Snake in the Grass
Chapter 2788 – Danger Lurks on All Sides, a Snake in the Grass
At noon, the entrance to the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone appeared in the sea of clouds above Qingpu Mountain.
The entrance looked like a giant, mysterious celestial gate. It was condensed out of the natural order of time and space.
Those cultivators carrying Nine Luminaries Medallions entered, bringing their Dao Protectors with them.
Su Yi, Mo Lanhe, and Fu Lingyun set off, too.
Bu Meng watched them fade away, then let out a long sigh. He didn’t care how much good fortune Li Muchen and Fu Lingyun acquired; he’d be happy so long as they made it back alive.
In truth, he wasn’t really that worried that they’d die. If Unfettered Realm cultivators met with lethal danger in the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone, all they had to do was circulate the power of their Nine Luminaries Medallions, and they’d teleport away instantly.
But the medallions didn’t work for those above the Unfettered Realm.
That meant that in the face of danger, the Unfettered Realm juniors might live, but their Dao Protectors were almost certainly doomed!
An hour later, the entrance to the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone vanished. However, neither the higher-ups of the Literati continent nor the experts of the Five Great Continents left. All of them remained to wait for their juniors’ return.
……
Lu Hongpao sat in a tavern, drinking with relish as she listened to Lian Luo’s latest report.
“Experts of Limitless Palace, Sevendeaths Court, the Court of the Southern Heavens, and Eternal Lightning Court were all in attendance, but aside from the ol’ Kun Peng and a few others, there was no one noteworthy in attendance.
“As for the Heavenly Monarch factions of the Five Great Continents? I checked all of their representatives and discovered no problems.”
Here, Lu Hongpao interrupted him. “Were there any problems with the Heart-Tempering Sword House?”
Lian Luo shook his head. “No.”
Lu Hongpao drew her finger through the air, and a scroll unfurled across the table.
It depicted the scenery of Qingpu Mountain, including all of the gathered experts of the Literati Continent, the four Heavenly Sovereign factions, and the various Heavenly Monarch factions of the Five Great Continents.
Lu Hongpao scanned them all. Her gaze paused on Su Yi for the barest of moments before she continued scanning the others.
“Who is Yang Lingxiao’s Dao Protector?” Lu Hongpao pointed to a man in gray. The man’s temples were graying, and he looked thin and elegant. He stood with his hands behind his back, and there was nothing outwardly noteworthy about him at all.
“That’s the High Elder of the Great Yin Divine Race, Shang Wuhui,” said Lian Luo. “He’s an old-timer whose Heavenly Fate Realm cultivation has stagnated for a long, long time. Problems arose in his heart years ago, but the Malevolent Sword Venerate intervened, saving him from disaster.
“He apparently requested this assignment as Yang Lingxiao’s Dao Protector. He obviously has no intention of returning alive.”
There were numerous factions subordinate to the Heart-Tempering Sword House. The progenitors of both the Great Yin Divine Race and the Qilin Race had once been Jiang Wuchen’s generals.
“Is there a problem with him, Master?” Lian Luo was a bit confused.
Those who went into the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone as Dao Protectors were doomed never to return. Thus, neither the Heavenly Sovereign nor the Heavenly Monarch factions would send their own experts. They’d instead select reliable old-timers from their subordinate factions for this suicide mission.
Yang Lingxiao’s guardian, Shang Wuhui, was a perfect example of this.
“Yang Lingxiao met Su Yi in the Blue Peak Continent and traveled with him for a time as their prisoner. He’s interacted with both Su Yi and Pu Xuan.
“His presence here might just be a coincidence, but it’s likely to lead to unexpected developments.” Lu Hongpao rubbed her forehead. “As I’m sure you know, it was Jiang Wuchen who first discovered the Nine Luminaries Battlefield. As his heart devil, the Malevolent Sword Venerate knows the place like the back of his hand.
“If the Malevolent Sword Venerate seizes this opportunity to try something, it’ll present a lethal threat to Su Yi. That’s what I’m most worried about.”
Lian Luo’s pupils constricted. “Master, His Excellency Su has been living under a pseudonym for three years. Even if the Malevolent Sword Venerate learned about His Excellency Su from Yang Lingxiao, how could he possibly have predicted that His Excellency Su would go to the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone?”
Lu Hongpao drew her fingertip through the air, and the scroll vanished. Only then did she respond, “Su Yi has many enemies in the Eternal Heavens Domain, but the Malevolent Sword Venerate has by far the best odds of finding him first. No one else can compare!”
Lian Luo’s heart shook, but he vaguely understood. The Malevolent Sword Venerate was, after all, the incarnation of Jiang Wuchen’s negative karma, while Su Yi was Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation!
That meant that an unfathomable connection existed between Su Yi and the Malevolent Sword Venerate.
“Master, with you here, the Malevolent Sword Venerate couldn’t possibly stir up any real waves,” said Lian Luo.
Lu Hongpao took out the jug Su Yi had given her and was just about to take a sip of wine when she paused to slosh the jug. Little remained.
In the end, she decided against it and put the jug away.
She rested her head in her hands and gazed out of the restaurant. “If it were just the Malevolent Sword Venerate, there indeed wouldn’t be any cause for undue concern, but don’t forget that he’s on good terms with Heavenly Sovereign Wen of Limitless Palace and Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang of Sevendeaths Court.”
Lian Luo instantly understood. “You mean that the representatives of Limitless Palace and Sevendeaths Court are likely hiding something from us? Something that presents a major variable?”
“You’re not so stupid after all,” Lu Hongpao said with a nod. “We’ve got to plan for the worst. Only then can we keep the situation fully under control.
“I dare say with certainty that if the Malevolent Sword Venerate is planning something, there are variables hidden in the ranks of all four participating Heavenly Sovereign factions, and the Heavenly Monarch factions of the Five Great Continents!
“If that’s the case, my good brother’s situation will be incomparably dangerous.” Lian Luo frowned. “And that would be truly troublesome.”
That would mean that, aside from the factions native to the Literati Continent, every participating faction was secretly after Su Yi. How terrifying would that be?
The most troublesome part was that neither Lian Luo nor Lu Hongpao would be able to intervene.
But against Lian Luo’s expectations, Lu Hongpao smiled, and her eyes lit up. “This is how it should be!”
She took out the jug of wine that Su Yi gave her. In the end, she couldn’t resist taking a sip before letting out a long sigh.
“Three years ago, when I suggested this course of action to my good brother, I already anticipated this,” Lu Hongpao said casually. “Now I just have to wait and see whether or not he can overcome it.”
Lian Luo looked stunned. He grimaced. “Your subordinate’s heart quivers at the mere thought of it. I’m overcome with anxiety, and I’m a Heavenly Monarch. His Excellency Su is still just in the Unfettered Realm. What if…”
Lu Hongpau laughed coldly. “You’re mistaken. You cannot judge my good brother by his cultivation base! If he can take it, I’ll fully consider him my good brother going forward.
“If he can’t, I’ll just take him for Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation. I’ll look after him, and make sure he lives well, but I’ll no longer pour my heart into helping him!”
Lu Hongpao paused, her gaze full of determination. “I won’t care even if he blames me or hates me for it. After all, if he can’t even handle something like this, how can he even think of getting revenge or reclaiming what’s rightfully his? And how can he think of contending with Heavenly Sovereigns? If he can’t cut it, better to let this knock some sense into him now than to let his enemies kill him later.”
Lian Luo fell briefly silent, then nodded. Can Su Yi really overcome this trial? And can he really acquire the Nine Luminaries Edict?
All I know is, his performance will determine how Master treats him going forward!
……
The Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone was indeed an ancient battlefield leftover from the Devastation. But it was incomparably enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Shattered stars hung overhead, and the ground was barren and littered with criss-crossing gashes. The corpses of countless stars lay strewn across the ground, like countless graves dotting the abandoned, devastated landscape. The primeval air of an ancient battlefield hung over the entire area.
Jiang Wuchen was the first to discover the Nine Luminaries Battlefield one million years ago. A new group of cultivators had visited once every thousand years ever since.
Danger lurked on every corner here. It was incomparably dangerous, full of all manner of disasters and misfortune.
The scariest of these were the Star-Annihilation Gales. These baleful winds blew across the battlefield year-round. Rumor had it that they were the remnant source energies of shattered Daos.
When these winds swept past a cultivator, it was like death by a thousand cuts. The unfortunate victim’s body was reduced to an indistinct puddle of meat, while their soul scattered into ash. Not even Unfettered Realm Eternals dared to face it head-on. If they did, they’d suffer heavy injuries or even die.
The Star-Annihilation Gales aside, there were numerous other strange calamities, like Baleful Earth Tribulation Light, the vengeful souls of Heavenly Monarchs, Heart-Severing Blood Lightning, and so on.
The vengeful souls of Heavenly Monarchs were, as the name implied, manifested from the souls of the Heavenly Monarchs who’d died in the Nine Luminaries Battlefield! It was common knowledge that Dao Protectors who entered the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone never returned. When they died here, their flesh, blood, souls, and power of the Grand Dao could easily give rise to malevolent spirits!
Did any of the Dao Protectors trapped in the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone survive? Perhaps, but it was rare.
No matter how strong a Heavenly Monarch was, the Nine Luminaries Battlefield was devoid of life and spiritual energy and full of all manner of perils. In truth, not even those with Nine Luminaries Medallions could always escape alive. After all, in the face of life and death, there was no guarantee that they’d activate the medallions in time. If they didn’t, they were doomed.
The ground lay in ruin, covered in criss-crossing gashes that had developed into startling, deep ravines. Star Annihilation Gales blew past, stirring up clouds of dust, the sound as unsettling as the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves.
Beneath a massive Star Grave, Mo Lanhe took out a bronze mirror, which transformed into a hundred-foot-wide formation that protected Su Yi and Fu Lingyun.
When the wind blew toward them, it slammed into the formation like a sword, creating a massive boom on impact. The entire formation shook.
Mo Lanhe’s expression was grim. There was no denying that they’d gotten unlucky. They’d only just entered the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone, but they’d already run into misfortune.
The Star Annihilation Gales were too fast and too terrifying, like a windstorm sweeping through the nine heavens, plunging all of creation into darkness akin to an eternal night.
When they gazed at their surroundings, everything was misty and indistinct. They’d only just gotten here, yet they’d encountered a natural disaster of this level. Who knew what dangers they’d encounter on the road ahead? All of this made Mo Lanhe’s heart sink.
He turned to look, then saw that Li Muchen was as calm as if this had nothing to do with him. He was just sitting there, drinking and examining a Falling Star Stone.
Fu Lingyun’s beautiful eyes lit up. Her head rested in her hands as she watched from the sidelines.
It seemed the two of them weren’t the least bit afraid of the danger.
Mo Lanhe sighed to himself. I’ll just have to worry in their stead. I came here knowing it would cost my life. As their Dao Protector, is it not my job to protect them?