Outside the town of Xiadu, the Nuo masters of the Zhu clan were rapidly approaching under Zhu Hongyi's lead. Suddenly, a blue-robed youth flew in and landed at the head of the group.
"Stop, Hongyi," he said. "The peril ahead is beyond what any of you can imagine."
Zhu Hongyi halted her steps and said softly, "Young Master Zisang, there are cottages ahead, so people clearly live there. The Kunlun Ruins are profound and mysterious, with mountain gods guarding each grand peak and hidden dangers lurking everywhere. Why not find a local to act as our guide?"
This Young Master Zisang was the abbot of Wansui Temple, a prominent sect backed by the Zhu clan, and resided on Mount Song. Three thousand years ago, Wansui Temple had been world-renowned, boasting an ancient history and a profound heritage, but by this generation, only Young Master Zisang remained.
As abbot, he bore the heavy responsibility of reviving Wansui Temple. He knew full well that in this era, survival was nigh impossible without allying with a powerful faction.
Situated close to Shendu, it especially had to rely on powerful clans to grow strong.
Meanwhile, the Zhu clan of Shendu also sought an alliance with Wansui Temple to cultivate both Nuo techniques and qi, while latching onto the prestigious branch of the immortals behind the temple. Naturally, both sides hit it off at once.
Young Master Zisang said, "There haven't been any locals in Kunlun for a long time. The decree handed down by my sect's immortal master says that any local encountered in Kunlun is a trap: Enter no village; step into no town."
Just as Zhu Hongyi was about to speak, waves of rosy dawn light surged up from within the town of Xiadu. A terrifying aura permeated the air as the Heavenly Dao began to taint the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth all around, giving rise to decadent, seductive Dao sounds!
Zhu Hongyi's hair stood on end; only now did she realize his words were true.
Young Master Zisang's expression was grim as well. Though he knew there was a trap, he had not anticipated it would be so dreadful—they had actually deployed the Heavenly Dao Inextricable Array!
By now, the town of Xiadu had become a zone of absolute death, offering no chance of survival!
"B-broken?"
Young Master Zisang was so astonished that he stammered, struck speechless for a long moment. Had the Heavenly Dao Inextricable Array set up by the Heavenly Dao Crowd truly just been broken like that?
On another side, dozens of pairs of eyes were watching the town of Xiadu closely. At this sight, their jaws nearly dropped, their eyes bulging.
"This aura... Did some heavenly god intervene? It's far too tyrannical!"
"The Heavenly Dao Inextricable Array that our Patriarch warned us to beware of... was broken just like that? Who broke it? Who could possess such monstrous strength?"
A small boat drifted between two mountains. The man in the bamboo hat stood upon it, gazing from afar toward where the rainbow light surged skyward, and murmured, "A powerful yet chaotic god. In his prime, his might must have ranked among the upper tiers even among heavenly gods. Why did he fall into decline?"
He navigated the Kunlun mountains with extreme care, doing his best to avoid contact with anyone else, nor did he make contact with the mountain gods here, avoiding them whenever possible.
He knew that within these mountain ranges were others like him, all traveling alone and carefully concealing themselves.
Inside Xiadu, the townsfolk were equally shocked and enraged. Grabbing Heavenly Dao treasures one after another, they soared into the sky and charged toward the rainbow light.
Yet the next instant, a thick, massive tail swept across, crashing violently into them. It batted them dizzy and sent them tumbling in all directions like rain!
The townsfolk scrambled to their feet and looked up, but where could any trace of Xu Ying be found?
"He can't escape the Kunlun Mountains! Search the mountains!" The townsfolk dispersed in pursuit.
Rainbow light rushed past Xu Ying's eyes as countless radiant hues flashed around him and vanished. The next instant, everything settled into tranquility.
Xu Ying's feet touched solid ground. He found himself in an ancient divine palace. The palace's entrance lay nestled among snowy peaks, sealed by ice and snow. Inside was a bronze hall where a roaring furnace burned, making the place feel quite warm.
"You've finally awakened me! You've finally awakened me!"
The statue with a tiger's head, a human face, and nine tails was so excited that it scrambled all over the bronze hall, darting up and down, roaming between walls and vaulted ceiling, at times clambering up pillars and poking its head out from behind them.
Its voice was exceedingly heavy and grand, yet it sounded distant and aloft, as though speaking from far away.
The bronze bell whispered, "Ah Ying, this isn't his true body. He is merely directing his magic power into this statue. His true body is actually these nine mountains. It's the nine mountains speaking to us!"
Xu Ying gave a slight nod. He had noticed it as well; Lu Wu's voice sounded distant because the mountains were simply too vast, lending his voice a heavy, resonant reverberation.
"After the last war ended, I slept for far too long. I am a god of Kunlun. I need the Undying People to call my name before my divine power can awaken."
The statue of Lu Wu suddenly leapt into the furnace, bathing in the fire, and called out to Xu Ying through the flames, "Does that mean you are one of the Undying People?"
Xu Ying stepped forward and replied, "I don't know whether I am one of the Undying People, but I've lived for more than twenty thousand years, and some call me an ageless immortal."
"Then you are an Undying Person."
Before Xu Ying could reach it, Lu Wu had already left the furnace and arrived inside a shrine alcove. Flames suddenly flared within the shrine, golden talismans fluttering around him in the fire.
"What is your name?" Lu Wu asked.
"Xu Ying."
Lu Wu cocked his head, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "Never heard of it. Or perhaps I heard it before, but I was wounded too severely in the last war; my divine power was shattered."
Rage tinged his voice. Leaping from the shrine, he stood upright on two hind legs, unsheathed his tiger claws, and moved at lightning speed through the bronze hall. He fought like a human yet possessed the claws and fangs of a beast, battering the hall until winds howled and tempestuous turmoil shook the interior.
His tails were like nine arms; combined with his original limbs, he had as many as eleven arms and tails, his combat fierce and dazzling to behold.
"I fought them just like this! I put my life on the line just like this! But there were too many of them, surging in like a tide! I killed, and killed again, until they shattered my divine power, until they crushed my will..."
Lu Wu leaped into the air and vanished without a trace.
While Xu Ying was searching for him, he spotted the god crouching in the furnace fire again, holding his chin with two tiger paws. Across the flames, he said faintly, "My consciousness went through an eternity before finally piecing itself back together, but I lost much of my divine power and memories. I kept waiting for someone to awaken me. After waiting for so long, I finally waited until another of the Undying People arrived, but she didn't know my name."
Xu Ying's heart pounded wildly. His throat went dry, and he asked, "Besides me, there's another Undying Person?"
"Yes, a young woman. She passed through my mountain range. I connected my consciousness with hers and asked her my name, but she didn't know it."
He squatted, shaking his head in the flames, and said, "I kept waiting, and finally you arrived. You remembered my name! You called out my name, waking me from my slumber! I—"
"I am the god at the foot of Mount Kunlun, master of the nine sacred mountains, the faith of all people! I guard the mountain gates for the Great Emperor!"
His voice was resonant as he stood proudly in the fire, showing off his handsome fur and tails to Xu Ying. "I possess an ancient history, unfathomable majesty, and supreme divine power! You may touch my tails. Mmh, careful not to burn your hands."
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi stepped forward. Xu Ying stroked his tail and remarked in surprise, "It's so soft."
Yuan Qi smoothed down Lu Wu's fluffy tail with his own snake tail, equally astonished. "It really is soft!"
The bronze bell and the purple immortal plant flew out, eager to get their turn, but Lu Wu cast a disdainful glance at them. "Shoo, go away. Don't mess up my fur."
The bronze bell and the purple immortal plant felt terribly aggrieved.
Xu Ying inquired, "Those townsfolk from Xiadu just now—what is their background? Why were they ruthlessly slaughtering the Undying People?"
Lu Wu replied, "They are hounds kept by heavenly gods, a bunch of Qi Refiners who cultivate the Heavenly Dao. They came here under Heaven's orders to capture the Undying People."
He racked his brains, but simply couldn't recall the past, murmuring, "Back then, something terrible happened here."
Xu Ying waited for him to go on, but Lu Wu fell silent, his memories clearly still unrecovered.
Yuan Qi whispered, "Ah Ying, this mountain god seems a bit unreliable."
Xu Ying nodded secretly.
Lu Wu said, "You awakened me. As a reward, I can grant you one wish."
Hope surfaced in Xu Ying's eyes. "May the High God tell me of my past and origins?"
Lu Wu was silent for a moment, then replied, "My body was mangled and my consciousness shattered by enemies. I even needed you to call out my name before my divine power could awaken; how could I possibly know your origins? Pick another one."
Xu Ying felt somewhat disappointed. "I want to know where Xujiaping is."
Lu Wu pondered hard. "There is such a place. I vaguely recall people from Xujiaping greeting me when descending the mountain. They seemed to live on the sacred mountain, but I can't remember the exact path... Do you have enemies you want dead? I can help you wipe out your enemies."
Seeing Xu Ying look even more disappointed, he quickly added, "You can make a third wish."
Xu Ying asked, "Where did that young woman of the Undying People go?"
Lu Wu blinked and asked, "Do you have any enemies or anything? I'm good at fighting. I'm very strong! Oh, by the way, do you need treasures? My mountains are rich in gold and jade, top-notch materials for refining treasures! Ordinary people can't obtain a single piece even if they beg for it!"
Xu Ying's face darkened. "So you don't know where that Undying young woman went either?"
Lu Wu faltered, "If she passes through my mountains again, I will definitely sense her. Do you want berries that prolong life? Or strange fish that cure all ailments? My mountains have them all!"
Xu Ying was thoroughly disappointed.
Lu Wu hurriedly said, "I can fight for you. Fighting is what I'm best at. If you run into a fight, just call my name, and I'll be there right away!"
Utterly disappointed, Xu Ying shook his head. "Anyone can fight."
Lu Wu said excitedly, "I'm exceptionally good at fighting!"
Xu Ying shook his head. "Please trouble yourself, High God, to send us on our way. We still need to continue toward the sacred mountain of Kunlun."
Seeing this, Lu Wu could only say, "I'm really exceptionally powerful. When the great war broke out back then, I mowed them down like grass..."
Suddenly, a streak of rainbow light flashed, sweeping up Xu Ying, Yuan Qi, and the others. It whistled out of the mountains and carried them past the nine towering peaks of the Kunlun Ruins.
Touching down, Xu Ying looked back to find the nine precipitous peaks already behind them, saving who knew how much travel time.
He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Seventh Master, Lu Wu may be unreliable, but he's exceedingly fast. If I'd known, I would have asked him to send us straight to the sacred mountain of Kunlun."
Just then, several figures emerged from the dense forest, each holding an oddly shaped Heavenly Dao treasure. They were none other than the townsfolk from Xiadu!
Yuan Qi's expression shifted slightly. He whispered, "Ah Ying, why don't we test whether Lu Wu's words were true?"
Xu Ying composed himself and called out, "High God Lu Wu!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a golden beam composed of countless golden talismans descended from the sky. Touching the ground, it turned into the statue with a tiger's head, a human face, and nine tails. It charged forth like lightning, swiping a claw that tore one of the slow-to-react Heavenly Dao followers to shreds along with his treasure. In a flash, it appeared before another, pulverizing his head and upper body with a single punch, and then whipped out a kick, snapping a third in half at the waist!
*Swish!*
The nine tails behind him shot out, dancing across the sky before stabbing into the dense forest with a flurry of whooshes, piercing straight through the physical bodies and Primordial Spirits of the rushing Heavenly Dao followers and lifting their corpses into midair!
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were dumbstruck, staring blankly at this god of slaughter.
The one attacking was merely High God Lu Wu's statue, not his true body. His true body was nine great mountains; had his true body moved, what an unimaginable terror it would have been!
"With Lu Wu's promise, whom do I need to fear in the Kunlun Ruins?"
Xu Ying was both surprised and overjoyed. "Seventh Master, Lord Bell, Lord Grass, from this day forth, I am Lord Ying! I can walk swaggeringly across the Kunlun Ruins!"
Yuan Qi, the bronze bell, and the grave grass couldn't help but look at him with newfound awe. The purple immortal plant hastily kneaded his shoulders and pounded his back, while Yuan Qi flattered him, "Lord Ying's face seems to have grown much fairer."
The bronze bell hurriedly shook and struck itself, ringing out, "I'll refresh Lord Ying's spirits... No, this is definitely not a death knell! Shut up, you stupid snake! If you say the death knell tolls for Lord Ying one more time, I'll smash your snout!"
As Xu Ying basked in his pride, Lu Wu suddenly exclaimed, "Huh, I sense that Undying Person! She's come to the Kunlun Ruins too!"
Xu Ying was overjoyed and startled. "Where is she?"
Lu Wu raised a tiger paw and pointed in a direction. "Thirty li from here."
Without another word, Xu Ying sprinted in that direction like the wind.
Lu Wu watched him depart into the distance and murmured to himself, "Now I can be considered to have granted him one wish, right? Since the wish is fulfilled, I don't have to answer the next time he calls."
He hopped and skipped cheerfully away.
"Come to think of it, the name Xu Ying really does sound familiar. Seems very import... Ah, that doesn't matter! What matters is that I've finally awakened! Mountains, your god has returned!"
Chapter 230