Chapter 28: One Year, Arriving at the Foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain

Time trickled away, bit by bit.

One day, two days… one month, two months… like a white colt fleeting past a crack, in the blink of an eye, months had passed.

A single year of time was nothing more than a single blink to a Nascent Soul cultivator like Jiuyou. He sat cross-legged within the cave, ghostly cyan mist gathering and dispersing around him, his aura as steady as an abyss, as if completely cut off from the chaos of the outside world.

But throughout that year, Canfeng had been busier than ever, his feet barely touching the ground.

He had captured over thirty Foundation-Establishing cultivators, plus a few Early Golden Core ones, planting Soul Restrictions in all of them. He commanded this group to scour the area for spiritual herbs across several thousand li in every direction.

Those cultivators, bound by the Divine Sense Restrictive Spell, had their lives hanging by a single thought from him. They dared not slack off in the slightest and obediently worked their fingers to the bone for him.

After a year of this, Jiuyou had accumulated quite a stash of spiritual herbs.

They were a wide variety of types and ages: the youngest were barely a hundred years old, while the oldest were nearly a millennium. Among them were all sorts of special spiritual grasses for aiding cultivation, healing wounds, and restoring magical power—some of which had long since gone extinct in the outside world.

Jiuyou gathered all these herbs into a specially-made Storage Pouch to prevent their medicinal potency from fading.

But he did not set up a separate growing chamber inside the cave to accelerate their growth.

After all, more than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators had entered the Heavenly Abyss Mountain secret realm, and no one knew if someone was spying from the shadows. Even if no one was, he wasn’t about to risk it. Better safe than sorry.

One misstep could lead to a thousand-mile fall.

He had lived over eight hundred years, and he knew that lesson all too well.

Time passed until the tenth month.

That day, Jiuyou suddenly opened his eyes.

A mere ten months in seclusion wouldn’t noticeably increase his cultivation level. But counting the days, only two months remained until the teleportation array would activate. He needed to get to the foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain ahead of time, or he might miss the window.

He took out a Communication Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch, muttered a few words into it, and a flash of light surged across the jade before the message was sent.

Before long, Canfeng’s figure appeared at the mouth of the cave.

Unlike usual, the twenty or so cultivators who always followed him around were nowhere to be seen this time.

They had been planted with the Divine Sense Restrictive Spell, their lives hanging by Canfeng’s whim. Since they were leaving, those cultivators had no value left aside from their souls. Their fate was easy to imagine.

“Ancestor, everything’s been cleaned up. Here are the spiritual herbs collected this month.”

Canfeng walked up quite eagerly, took a Storage Pouch from his waist, and levitated it with his magic power, slowly offering it to Jiuyou.

Jiuyou took the Storage Pouch, a ghostly light flashing in his eyes as his Divine Sense probed inside for a rough scan. Then he nodded with satisfaction and tucked the pouch into his sleeve.

“Let’s go. It’s time to meet your senior uncles.”

He paused, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth, revealing a meaningful smirk.

“And… heh heh.”

“Understood, Ancestor.”

Canfeng replied respectfully, a hint of anticipation stirring in his heart.

With that, two streaks of ghostly cyan light shot into the sky, tearing through the air as they sped toward the foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain.

Two months later.

A towering, colossal mountain suddenly came into view on the horizon.

The entire peak shimmered faintly with a riot of colorful light, its summit invisible and its ends endless. It was so massive it defied imagination; even just the foot alone spanned tens of millions of li at the very least.

Upon the mountain, various wonders and strange phenomena could be seen intertwining and tangling together.

Rolling thunder, raging flames, howling gales, and endless blizzards—four completely different natural phenomena coexisted on the same mountain, clashing with each other and unleashing a terrifying pressure that made one’s heart quake. A majestic, overwhelming aura cascaded down the mountain, inspiring fear and deterring anyone from drawing near.

“Whoa… Ancestor, is this Heavenly Abyss Mountain?”

Canfeng’s eyes lit up, his gaze darting around as he took everything in, his face full of awe.

“It’s absolutely beautiful here…”

Jiuyou’s gaze flickered, a flash of wonder passing through his aged eyes before he regained his composure.

“The ancient texts have recorded it, and I’d braced myself for it, but seeing it with my own eyes is truly breathtaking.”

He muttered quietly under his breath, but his eyes were secretly scanning the surroundings—this place was the foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain, and more and more cultivators were gathering. He needed to stay sharp.

“Dao-Friend Jiuyou—”

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from the distance.

Jiuyou looked up and saw four figures far away. It wasn’t Blood Sea True Person and his group, but Wei Kun, Zhong Huo, Dan Xuanzi, and the Golden Core cultivator who had been gravely wounded before and had now mostly recovered.

“Three elders, it’s good to see you all well.”

Jiuyou stepped forward, cupping his fists toward Wei Kun and Zhong Huo, then gave a slight nod to Dan Xuanzi. His manner was neither servile nor overbearing, showing proper respect without being overly warm.

Wei Kun returned the gesture with a smile, his gaze lingering on Jiuyou for a moment, a glint of goodwill in his eyes.

“Dao-Friend Jiuyou has had a fruitful year. Your aura seems even more composed than before.”

“Elder Wei flatters me. I only gathered a few herbs in the secret realm—nothing worth mentioning.”

Jiuyou replied casually without saying much more. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they joined forces and flew together toward the teleportation array at the foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain.

Along the way, Canfeng obediently stayed close behind Jiuyou, occasionally sneaking glances at Dan Xuanzi, making his own calculations in his mind. This alchemy master was someone the entire Demonic Path Alliance was eager to befriend. For his own ancestor to have struck up a connection with him was truly impressive.

At the foot of Heavenly Abyss Mountain, where the teleportation arrays stood.

This was an open plaza, paved entirely with massive slabs of lapis lazuli, smooth as a mirror and faintly shimmering with spiritual light. Across the plaza, over a hundred teleportation arrays were arranged in neat rows, each one exuding a faint spatial ripple.

Around the plaza, a considerable number of cultivators had already gathered.

They formed groups of two or three, claiming their own corners, keeping a subtle distance between each other.

Not long after Jiuyou and his group arrived, a sharp sound of tearing air came from afar.

Several blood-red streaks of light tore across the sky, fast as shooting stars, arriving in the blink of an eye. The streaks faded, revealing four figures—Blood Sea True Person, the Blood Withered old monk, Senior Blood Vine, and Xie Yunqing.

Blood Sea True Person wore the same unflappable expression as always, blood qi swirling around him, with Xie Yunqing standing obediently behind him. The Blood Withered old monk had his hands clasped together, his face calm. Senior Blood Vine was looking around, his gaze sweeping through the crowd.

“Brother Jiuyou, you’re finally here.”

Senior Blood Vine chuckled, about to step forward and exchange pleasantries, when his gaze suddenly froze, landing on Wei Kun and Zhong Huo beside Jiuyou. Surprise flickered in his eyes.

“These… these two are?”

Jiuyou smiled faintly and introduced them unhurriedly.

“These two are Elder Wei Kun and Elder Zhong Huo from Endless Island, both Nascent Soul cultivators. This is Blood Sea True Person, Great Elder of the Demon Sea Sect; this is Elder Blood Withered; and this is Senior Blood Vine, Lord of Ten Thousand Blood Island.”

Wei Kun and Blood Sea True Person exchanged cupped fist salutes, sizing each other up briefly.

Blood Sea True Person’s gaze appeared steady, but a glimmer of surprise flashed in his eyes. He gave a slight nod.

“Endless Island!? I never expected Brother Jiuyou to be acquainted with two Supreme Elders of Endless Island! Wonderful, wonderful.”

“I’ve long admired your island’s reputation. To meet two elders today is a great honor.”

Wei Kun returned the courtesy politely.

“Dao-Friend Blood Sea is too kind. The Demon Sea Sect’s Blood Kun Great Technique shakes the Abyssal Sea—Wei has long heard of it.”

Senior Blood Vine stood to the side, the surprise still lingering on his face. He glanced at Wei Kun and his junior brother, then back at Jiuyou, secretly grumbling to himself—this old ghost Jiuyou really played his cards close to his chest.

First, he’d won over Blood Sea True Person and the Blood Withered old monk, and now he’d somehow hooked up with Endless Island, suddenly adding two more Nascent Soul combatants. Including himself, this group now had six Nascent Soul cultivators, and two of them were Mid-Nascent Soul!

With a lineup like this, they were one of the top-tier treasure-hunting groups out there.

Senior Blood Vine’s emotions were a jumble of mixed feelings, but his face betrayed nothing, only letting out two low chuckles.

“Brother Jiuyou is truly extraordinary. Over these past dozen years, you’ve made no shortage of connections. And even Endless Island is in your network—those are the junior brothers of Grand Elder Gu, a Late Nascent Soul cultivator! It’s truly enviable.”

Jiuyou gave a faint smile but didn’t respond.

He knew full well that these people had gathered together only because they each wanted something. Today’s allies might be tomorrow’s enemies. But in the murky waters of Heavenly Abyss Mountain, the more people you had, the more confident you could be.

Blood Sea True Person swept his gaze over the group and spoke in a deep voice.

“Since everyone is here, let’s discuss our plan for entering the mountain.”

Everyone nodded and gathered around.

Blood Sea True Person pointed toward the towering mountain in the distance and was about to speak.

Suddenly, Jiuyou’s Divine Sense twitched, as if sensing something. His gaze discreetly slipped past the group and fixed on a remote corner in the distance.

There, a sallow, gaunt middle-aged man was standing.

He was an Early Golden Core cultivator, dressed plainly, blending in among the crowd as utterly unremarkable. But Jiuyou’s eyes locked onto him with unwavering intensity, a trace of coldness flashing through his murky old eyes.

The middle-aged man scanned the surroundings, then, after a moment, turned and disappeared into the crowd.

A slow smile spread across Jiuyou’s lips, curving into a chillingly meaningful smirk.

“Found you…”