Chapter 2057 - 2056: Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard

Chapter 2057: Chapter 2056: Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard

"Heh, Feng Yang Lord, you’ve thought things through quite thoroughly, but you don’t actually believe that something everyone can think of is something our Fox Clan would fail to foresee, do you?"

The Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan let out a soft laugh.

"Oh."

"If Feng Yang Lord has this spare time, it would be better spent thinking carefully about your own path. The Fire Phoenix Clan is a taboo in the Candle Dragon Demon Country. With the great war imminent, that Lion Commander is only tolerating your existence for now."

"You wish to restore the status of the Fire Phoenix Clan, heh, leaving aside whether the Candle Dragon Demon Emperor would consent, even whether the Eight Tribes of the Demon Country would be willing to allow the Fire Phoenix Clan to reappear is a question worth pondering."

The Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan curled her lips, turning Li Feng’s jab back on him.

"If the Candle Dragon Demon Country cannot tolerate me, do you think Qingqiu would be able to?"

"That will depend on how Feng Yang Lord chooses."

Their words were laced with hidden barbs as they exchanged a few rounds. Li Feng did not continue, and the Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan also seemed content to let the matter rest. The two stopped talking, until the mountains ahead rose and fell and they stepped into the Boundary Mountain Range.

This mountain range stretches across the Southwest outskirts of Ancestor Dragon City; to the east of the range lies the sheer cliff of First Line Pass, as though the Dragon’s head had been chopped off, and beyond it the Abyss Rift Valley.

Extending to the Southwest, the mountains spread out in multiple ridgelines. At the narrowest point near First Line Pass, the range is scarcely ten li wide, but after winding around for several hundred li, the mountains before them have broadened to over a hundred kilometers, towering peaks layered one after another, wreathed in mist.

The only thing somewhat better than First Line Pass is that the mountains there are so perilously steep they are like ten-thousand-ren knives’ edges, almost impossible to climb; whereas here, though the ridges are stacked high, there are numerous river valleys and mountain ravines between them, the terrain far more expansive and also easier to conceal one’s tracks.

Choosing to detour here is indeed a sound choice.

Of course, this vast range that spans the Southwest is not without danger. Within these great mountains dwell many Mountain Masters and Lords of the Rivers, much like Overlord-level Lords who each occupy their own territory upon the wastelands.

These Mountain Masters and Lords of the Rivers are mostly Spiritual Beasts whose Spiritual Wisdom has awakened. If one traces back far enough, these mountain overlords had some kinship with the Demon Clan countless millennia ago, for the Demon Clan was once a branch of the Spiritual Beasts, only that the two evolved along different paths.

It is much like how humans evolved from apes, yet some species of the Ape Clan still retain the physical traits of their simian ancestors.

The overlords of these mountains and rivers possess Spiritual Wisdom no inferior to the Demon Clan, and their strength is likewise formidable. The powerful among them are sufficient to rival a Demon King; even the lesser ones are comparable to a Demon General.

Moreover, a Lord of the Mountain is not a lone commander. When faced with an external force, these Mountain Masters and Lords of the Rivers will gather together to resist. Though they cannot compare to the great powers of Ancestor Dragon City and the Demon Clan, dwelling in the forests and peaks, they can still eke out survival within the cracks.

After all, to forcibly clear them out would lead to mutual destruction and inevitably cause heavy losses. If driven too hard, these Mountain Masters and Lords of the Rivers might even defect to the opposing side, which would be a net loss.

Several roc birds flew into a mountain valley; on both sides, green peaks towered, lush forests covering them, mist coiling around the mid-slopes, and below there came the faint murmur of flowing water.

The Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan rode her roc through the mountains. Clearly, this was not her first time here. After circling seven or eight peaks, the roc broke through a swirl of watery mist and vapors, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a valley nestled among the mountains, the slopes covered in blossoms like a sea of flowers. As the roc swept over, countless petals were stirred up. In the center of this floral sea stood a small peak less than a hundred meters high; called a peak, it looked more like a great boulder rammed upside-down into the heart of the valley.

The summit of this peak resembled the shape of the Mediterranean Sea, chopped flat by human hands. On either side there were broken stone pillars and walls, as though structures had once stood here.

The roc flew straight to the space above this platform. The Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan said mildly, "We’ve arrived." With that, she turned and jumped directly down from midair, drifting like a falling leaf to land upon the summit platform.

Li Feng cast a glance at the mountaintop below, then leapt down after her. The impact kicked up dust under his feet. The two Lion Kings and the five Commanders under Li Feng likewise landed and began to survey their surroundings.

Li Feng swept his gaze over the summit and the dust settled upon the ground. This place likely hadn’t seen a visitor in untold years.

Li Feng frowned, but kept his expression composed.

Seeing that Li Feng did not take the initiative to ask, the Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan turned and spoke on her own: "Feng Yang Lord, do you know what place this is?"

"I do not."

The Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan smiled sweetly; the seductive loveliness on her foxy face was enough to make hearts pound wildly—worthy indeed of the naturally alluring Fox Clan.

"Once, there was a game played here. The two players: on one side, a Great Sage of our Fox Clan, and on the other, a man of Ancestor Dragon City known as the Ghost Commander."

"Over two hundred years ago, the two of them fought a peak confrontation here. In that match, our Fox Clan’s Great Sage used the Heavenly Mechanism as the board, the common lives of the world as pieces, to decide the intertwined Vitality of our Demon Clan and the human beings of Ancestor Dragon."

"That game was, in truth, without suspense. After hundreds of years of our Fox Clan’s arrangements, combined with the full mobilization of the Demon Clan’s four countries and six secret lands, Ancestor Dragon City should have had not even a single thread of Vitality. Yet that Ghost Commander was dazzlingly brilliant, and by sacrificing himself, bought that single thread of Vitality."

"Half a step to defeating Heaven."

"After that game of Heavenly Mechanism, our clan’s Great Sage said the Human Clan’s Vitality had not been severed, and thus we withdrew our troops and made peace."

Li Feng listened to the Holy Daughter of the Fox Clan narrate, but he knew nothing of these hidden secrets. If Sikong Yu were here, he might at least have someone to ask.

It was said that the reversal of that battle more than two centuries ago was due to two peerless Commanders of Ancestor Dragon City, both stunning beyond compare. One was the current head of Nine Layers Mountain, Wei Wu; as for the other, he seemed to have died long ago, and very little is known about him.