Xu Ying's heart surged with emotion. Not long ago, when he met Granny Meng and walked the Wangxiang Platform again, he had glimpsed this very snow mountain from afar!
"My home really is nearby!"
His hands trembled with excitement as he paced back and forth atop Yuan Qi's head.
Yuan Qi flew toward the mountains when sudden wind and snow lashed against them. The tempest grew fiercer by the moment, buffeting the sword qi surrounding Yuan Qi until his flight slowed to a crawl.
Thunder rumbled amidst the snowstorm, booming louder the closer they drew to the massive snow mountain.
Xu Ying even caught the scent of smoke, reminiscent of the incense smoke qi of deities. Taken aback, he suddenly realized the truth: "Seventh Master, this mountain is alive! People have worshipped this mountain, venerating it as a god! We have barged into its incense smoke qi!"
Those words struck terror into Yuan Qi's heart.
If the mountain was worshipped as a deity, and the blizzard itself was the incense smoke qi encircling it, just how immense was this mountain's magical power?
At that moment, other Qi Refiners and Nuo masters also unleashed their divine abilities or raised their magical treasures, taking to the air and charging into the snow mountain in an attempt to push through the blizzard.
"Turn back!" Yuan Qi shouted at them. "Turn back, quickly!"
Even if those Qi Refiners and Nuo masters heard his warning, they paid it no heed whatsoever, continuing to fly into the mountain in an effort to cross over along its flanks.
Many unleashed divine abilities and raised magical treasures to resist the blizzard. There were also disciples of ancient, venerable sects riding in black dragon carriages; two exceptionally powerful black dragons pulled one such vehicle, adorned with various treasures, as it soared into the blizzard.
Seeing this, Yuan Qi wasted no more breath trying to persuade them. He immediately swung around and flew outward with all his might, using his sword qi to cleave through layers of wind and snow in an attempt to escape the reach of the snow mountain's incense smoke qi.
Xu Ying looked back and shouted at the crowd, "Do not attack the snow mountain's blizzard, or you'll risk angering it! Come back, now!"
"Young Master Gu, that is Xu Ying, known as the ageless immortal."
Beside the black dragon carriage, a Nuo immortal of the Gao clan addressed the youth inside: "Back then, he mastered various Qi Refinement techniques, combined them with Nuo arts, and wreaked havoc across Shendu, completely unmatched among the younger generation."
Young Master Gu inside the carriage was dressed in sumptuous robes and impeccably groomed. He glanced back at Xu Ying and remarked, "I didn't expect him to survive, let alone cultivate such respectable skill."
The Gao clan Nuo immortal said, "He is nothing compared to you, Young Master Gu. Back then, we were grasping at straws, thinking he could help us decipher immortal Qi Refinement arts, which was why we indulged him. But now, immortal sects across Shenzhou have reappeared in the world. The great clans have joined forces with the sects, pooling resources and complementing each other's strengths. Xu Ying's meager accomplishments are hardly anything special anymore."
Young Master Gu chuckled. "The Gao clan's scions join our Wuji Sect to learn Qi gathering and refinement, while I can learn the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body and Nuo arts through the Gao clan. An alliance between clans and sects is the true way to survive in this chaotic era."
As he spoke, the snowstorm intensified. The black dragons exhaled long streams of flame, melting the ice and snow ahead. Many others raised magical treasures to sweep the blizzard aside, completely disregarding Xu Ying and Yuan Qi's warnings.
Suddenly, the blizzard turned violent. The sword qi around Yuan Qi shattered with sharp crackles, and the howling gale blew so hard that the giant serpent could not even maintain his balance, whipped helplessly into midair!
The snowflakes in the wind grew razor-sharp, whirling with shrill hisses that sliced open Yuan Qi's scales and drew streams of blood!
In the blink of an eye, dozens of the Qi Refiners and Nuo masters from before were torn to pieces by the blizzard!
This unimaginably immense snow mountain had abruptly turned lethally dangerous, as though determined to shred every last one of them!
The bronze bell swiftly spun into the air, expanding as it inverted over Yuan Qi and Xu Ying to shield them, fighting to break out.
Yet in the next breath, countless snowflakes struck its surface with deafening clangs. Patterns of various Dao images surfaced along the bell's walls, flickering erratically.
Unable to steady itself, the bronze bell was swept up by the gale, carrying Xu Ying and Yuan Qi tumbling through the tempest toward an unknown destination.
The other Qi Refiners and Nuo masters suffered just as badly. Suddenly, golden bells hanging from the four corners of the black dragon carriage chimed crisply, radiating soundwaves in all directions that forced the snowstorm back.
Those golden bells were clearly extraordinary treasures—artifacts only Qi Refiners at the Ascension stage could forge. Arrayed in a set of four, their combined power was barely weaker than that of the bronze bell.
The Gao clan Nuo immortal, Gao Shiqing, also took action, quelling the wind and snow to aid those Qi Refiners and Nuo masters.
Yuan Qi shrank in size and hid on Xu Ying's shoulder, shivering violently. "Lord Bell, run! These people are walking to their own doom, we can't save them! I'm about to freeze solid!"
As a serpent, even slightly cold weather would lull him into torpor, and the temperature here was plunging ever lower. If Jin Buyi were around, he could have warmed himself by the solar divine fire, even if the aroma smelled a bit appetizing.
Battered by the fierce wind and blinding snow, the bronze bell lost all sense of direction. Endless white stretched all around, yet the sky grew steadily darker.
Within the howling gale, the snowflakes grew ever more powerful. Innumerable runes surfaced across the bronze bell, forming a thick barrier of light that took the shape of an even larger bell to block the storm.
Yet in the next instant, the barrier shattered like glass.
On the other side, the company of Nuo masters and Qi Refiners met with disaster. Heavy casualties mounted; many were ripped to shreds by the blizzard, while others froze into ice statues the moment the arctic wind touched them, shattering to pieces a breath later!
Even the two black dragons were injured by the wind and snow, drenched in blood that froze into icicles and pierced their own bodies!
Seeing this, Young Master Gu of the Wuji Sect panicked slightly. He hurriedly produced a golden-seal immortal talisman and slapped it onto the carriage, causing its power to erupt and cleave through the storm.
Amidst the blizzard, everyone became separated. Disoriented in every direction, unable to tell east from west or up from down, they could only hear the occasional bloodcurdling scream as another life was extinguished.
The bronze bell could hold out no longer and unleashed its full might. Dao images of myriad beings and all creation whirled into motion, accompanied by a resounding clang that swept away the hurricane and the countless snowflakes in one blow.
Abruptly, all went calm, as though the blizzard had vanished in an instant.
"This is bad!" Xu Ying cried in alarm. "Lord Bell, watch out!"
The bronze bell descended, inverting as layer upon layer of light barriers spread outward. It even channeled the six-character immortal script of Mount Emei's Grand Supreme Immortal Scripture of the Golden Casket, causing the bell to appear as though suspended in boundless, limitless void.
Its true spirit was tranquil, vacant, and luminous.
The six immortal paths were manifested to their fullest extent, leaving Yuan Qi with bulging eyes, filled with envy and jealousy alike.
As the bronze bell braced itself, Xu Ying suddenly caught the pungent scent of incense smoke qi and cried out, "Lord Bell, look out!"
A gale struck, accompanied by an avalanche of ice and snow howling toward them. The bronze bell felt its connection to the heaven-and-earth yuan qi and the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth severed in an instant, and in the next breath, the hurricane blew it straight out of its boundless void state.
Boom!
Countless chunks of ice and snow slammed into the bronze bell, obliterating every layer of the light barrier. With a deafening clang, the bell was sent tumbling and rolling uncontrollably under the crushing force, hurtling toward parts unknown.
Inside the bell, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were thrown violently back and forth, nearly pitched right out of its opening, their hearts pounding in terror.
It had been a long time since they felt such dread. The bronze bell was already one of the rarest treasures under heaven, a weapon of offense and defense combined; aside from immortal artifacts, very few magical treasures could surpass it in power.
Furthermore, ever since Zhu Chanchan reforged the bronze bell, its comprehension had grown significantly. It had comprehended the Grand Supreme Immortal Scripture of the Golden Casket, grasped sealing runes, and brazenly freeloaded off the immortal qi of the Immortal Sword Siwuxie.
Possessing its own spirituality, its power continued to grow stronger by the day. Its strength was already rivaling that of a top-tier Ascension-stage Qi Refiner.
Yet the blizzard of this snow mountain had breached its defenses time and again. One could only imagine how terrifying and profound the incense smoke qi accumulated by this sacred mountain truly was!
The power of this snow mountain is probably even deeper than the incense smoke qi of a primordial heavenly god!
Just as Xu Ying thought this, the bronze bell struck something, clanging loudly as it ricocheted back and forth.
He peered outside, but darkness reigned supreme, with nothing visible save the raging wind and snow. Suddenly, the blizzard coalesced into a colossal face that opened a gaping mouth, unleashing an earth-shattering roar!
Blood seeped from Xu Ying's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Yuan Qi's qi and blood were thrown into chaos, his bones dislocated. The bronze bell buzzed with heavy reverberations as it plummeted toward an even darker, unknown abyss.
Outside, the blizzard raged with greater ferocity, and another colossal face surged toward them!
Gritting his teeth, Xu Ying circulated his Golden Core and stepped to the rim of the bronze bell. Gathering a streak of sword qi, he prepared to thrust it toward the face.
The massive snow mountain blotted out the sky and sun. Given his cultivation and strength, he could not hope to rival even a ten-thousandth of this snow mountain, but with life and death on the line, he had no room to hesitate.
Driving his sword qi, he performed the Dao Character Art. Sword light pierced into the darkness to meet that face, yet in the very next instant, his sword qi shattered continuously against the wind and snow.
Xu Ying gritted his teeth and circulated the Eight Methods of the God of War, assuming the opening stance of the Dao-Returning Method for a desperate final stand.
As the blizzard face bore down upon them, its eyes suddenly seemed to roll, focusing upon Xu Ying at the mouth of the bell.
Whoosh—
Wind and snow rushed against them, yet devoid of their previous terrifying ferocity; they merely brushed past him and the bronze bell.
At that moment, the sky gradually brightened. The snow had actually ceased, and the howling wind died down considerably. With a heavy clang, the bronze bell struck a nearby boulder, rolling several times before finally coming to a halt.
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi slid out from inside the bell, still reeling in shock. Looking around, they realized that the blizzard had carried them to the far side of the great snow mountain at some point. A succession of sacred mountains met their eyes, bathed in the morning sun and the radiant reflection of the snow mountain, gleaming with countless rays of light.
"What happened just now? Why did the blizzard stop?" Yuan Qi asked, still in a daze.
In the distance, Young Master Gu's carriage also rolled out from the blizzard. Covered in blood, the Nuo immortal Gao Shiqing fought his way out as well. However, out of their company of over a hundred people, only the two of them had survived, in a truly wretched state.
With lingering dread, the two looked back at the great snow mountain behind them.
Xu Ying was also gazing at that snow mountain. Like an indomitable titan standing between heaven and earth, it barred the entrance to the Kunlun Ruins; anyone wishing to enter had to scale it.
Yet swept along by the blizzard, they had unexpectedly breached the gateway into the Kunlun Ruins.
"This snow mountain attained spiritual consciousness and became holy. Its magic power is boundless, on par with a heavenly god," Xu Ying said quietly. "If ascension into the Heavenly Dao world were still possible, it could probably ascend to become a primordial heavenly god."
The bronze bell floated up and looked across the mountains. The Kunlun Ruins stretched boundless and vast, with sacred mountains comparable to the snow mountain standing like a forest. At a complete loss, it murmured, "Ah Ying, which one is the sacred mountain of Kunlun?"
Just then, a gust of wind blew from behind them, kicking up a trail of snow that pointed toward a peak nestled amidst the myriad mountains.
That mountain was surrounded by peaks, its summit barely taller than the others. Bathed in sunlight, the peak seemed slightly translucent, gleaming with the luster of jade—it was indeed a Jade Mountain.
The trail of snow dispersed.
Xu Ying felt a subtle stir in his heart. Turning around, he bowed slightly to the great snow mountain. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for your guidance."
Pointing toward that Jade Mountain, he said in a solemn voice, "We shall head there."
They set out at once toward the Jade Mountain.
This time, they dared not take flight lightly, fearful of provoking the wrath of the mountains.
Sacred mountains filled the Kunlun Ruins, and here, they were sacred mountains in the truest sense. Every mountain was a deity endowed with tremendous magic power, capable of deciding the life and death of any climber.
Even if you were an Ascension-stage Qi Refiner or a Nuo immortal, surviving here would be extraordinarily difficult.
Snow mist swirled atop the great snow mountain, forming a face that slid down the slopes and gradually coalesced into an icy maiden. She gazed wistfully in the direction Xu Ying and the others had gone.
"You have returned."
"After forty-eight thousand years, you have returned to the sacred mountain for the first time."
Sensing something, Xu Ying turned his head. Amidst the vast expanse of snow, he faintly glimpsed a woman in white robes and a white dress, but in the next instant, she vanished from his sight.
Chapter 225