"That's right. Standing inside the room, we share the snail-toad's field of vision. Whatever it sees, we see." Dong Rui patted the window. "These windows let us look out in the other three directions, so there are no blind spots on all four sides."
He Lingchuan remarked repeatedly how fascinating it was. He had pursued the snail-toad for more than two months, yet this was his first time setting foot inside the "Snail Dwelling." So this was how an ancient immortal's magic artifact worked?
"Wait, that doesn't add up. Didn't the snail-toad swallow an entire granary in Zhitian Township full of prunella spikes?" He Lingchuan glanced around. "This room is too small. It doesn't look like it could hold nearly that much."
"You underestimate the methods of ancient immortals," Dong Rui scoffed. "Who told you the Snail Dwelling has only one little room? There are several more behind this one, large and small. It's just that Xi Yunhe's men used to butcher and process their prey back there, leaving it filthy with a lingering stench of blood, so I couldn't be bothered to go in."
As they spoke, the snail-toad plunged headfirst into the earth, embarking on tonight's journey.
Widespread rain had fallen over Lingxu City today, greatly facilitating its subterranean movement. Near Pianxiang Villa, there had only been a brief shower, but the central and northern parts of the city had seen heavy downpours lasting for over an hour, soaking the earth through and through.
Only when the soil was moist could the snail-toad travel long distances underground.
Otherwise, making an impromptu getaway with Dong Rui would not get them very far—a few li at most.
It was pitch black underground with nothing to see, but one could tell the snail-toad was moving at breakneck speed, far outpacing a fine steed. Moreover, it had no need to twist and turn around obstacles, creating a sharp contrast to its sluggish pace on the surface.
The wondrous nature of an ancient immortal treasure was something people of today could scarcely imagine or comprehend.
He Lingchuan wondered: if spiritual energy became abundant in the mortal realm once more, what would happen? Would the glorious days of antiquity return?
Over the past three millennia, cultivators had waited eagerly, yet that magnificent age had never materialized.
Indeed, how could mere waiting ever bring it about?
Before he had spent much time lost in thought, a change appeared outside the window—the snail-toad was surfacing.
The two stepped out of the small room and crawled out from the snail shell. Tonight the cloud cover was thick and the skylight faint; the dense woods were pitch-black, save for the rustle of foliage in the wind.
Now and then an owl hooted, echoing near and far.
These were the wooded hills on Mount Xu's outer periphery, closer to Tianji Peak. The Heavenly Palace garrison was stationed at the foot of Tianshu Peak, far from where they stood.
The mountains lay veiled in darkness, revealing only faint silhouettes. And deep within those mountains resided the greatest power under heaven. Even out here in the wilderness, surrounded only by bleak wind and light drizzle, Dong Rui instinctively lowered his voice: "As you requested, this spot is only eight hundred zhang from Tianji Peak."
Ahead lay the domain of Mount Xu's mountain spirit; the snail-toad dared not approach carelessly.
Upon surfacing, it shrank in size. Dong Rui packed it into a bundle and slung it across his back.
"Why whisper so quietly? Are you a thief?" He Lingchuan patted the mirror against his chest. "Juju, I'm entering the woods south of Tianji Peak. Where should we meet?"
"The south? Hmm—" Juju's voice answered at once. "Find me at the White Cave beside the Lingzhi Woods."
Back when the Dahuan Sect was still an immortal sect, countless spirit herbs were cultivated across the mountain, and the Lingzhi Woods was merely the name of one immortal field. But after the Middle Ancient era, spirit herbs grew scarce, to be found only at high altitudes. A mountain of Mount Xu's elevation could no longer yield spirit herbs, and the Lingzhi Woods had become a standard tourist sightseeing spot.
He Lingchuan had visited Tianji Peak twice and had a general idea of where the Lingzhi Woods were. If all else failed, the soul-snatching mirror had thumped its chest claiming it knew the way and could navigate.
Donning their masks, the two set off into the mountain under cover of night.
The masks had been specially crafted by the Master of Songyang Mansion himself, capable of blocking divine sense probes.
A quarter of an hour later.
Juju asked, "Are you there yet?"
"Not yet."
Another quarter of an hour passed, and Juju asked again, "There yet?"
"Ahem, still not there."
Juju was baffled. "Why so slow? Even a snail would have crawled here by now!"
"Seems we took a wrong turn." The first two times, he had walked along the mountain ridges, but this time they had to scramble through the ravines. Looking down from above and trekking from below were two entirely different matters.
Besides, there was no moon tonight, and the mountain gullies all looked identical—a natural maze that kept them walking in circles.
Dong Rui grumbled, "I told you earlier to take the left path, but you refused to listen!"
Juju: "..."
Right then, He Lingchuan caught sight of a flicker of fire drifting halfway up the mountain out of the corner of his eye.
It looked like a massive fire monster, over three zhang tall.
Remarkably, though blazing flames engulfed its entire body, the surrounding trees did not catch fire, and not a single leaf was scorched black.
Such was the power to protect the mountain forest; so long as it willed it, it would not burn the woods or destroy the groves.
He Lingchuan called out at once, "One of your avatars just passed halfway up the mountain, right above us."
The great fire monster halted instantly, looking left and right like a human before spotting He Lingchuan. It then slid swiftly down the rock face and stopped in front of the pair.
"Follow me," Juju's irritated voice echoed from the fiery figure. "You've been wandering in circles for ages—this place isn't even part of Mount Xu's territory!"
Otherwise, the moment they set foot in the mountain, it would have known immediately.
He Lingchuan shrugged and fell into step behind it alongside Dong Rui.
With the fire monster leading the way, their pace quickened several times over. This was an avatar Juju sent out on nighttime patrols to prevent its senses from occasionally being deceived. Mount Xu was closed to outsiders at night, and one of the local mountain spirit's duties was to drive away or capture intruders.
Without its cooperation, He Lingchuan's chances of slipping quietly up the mountain at night would have been virtually nonexistent.
Passing by several low peaks, the fire monster instructed them to proceed with caution, as Heavenly Palace guards were stationed on the heights and would peer down as a matter of routine.
Evidently, the Heavenly Palace did not dare entrust its security entirely to Juju.
After another half an hour of walking, thoroughly soaked in dew and caked in mossy mud, they turned past a narrow path, and the view suddenly opened up before them—
A vast, sprawling valley.
They had arrived at the Lingzhi Woods.
Two thousand years ago, this place had been lush with lingzhi and various immortal herbs, with ginseng children and zhima running wild all over the valleys.
Now, it was just a barren expanse of wild grass, wild mushrooms, and a few crayfish, with nothing else to show for itself.
Near the mountainside sat a cave, its entrance framed by white rock.
The fire monster withdrew here to resume its patrols elsewhere. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui pressed forward, hugging the rock wall as they slipped into the cave.
For humans, it was a dead end that terminated after at most two hundred paces, though the rock walls were riddled with countless crevices.
Just as He Lingchuan walked in, over a dozen balls of blazing fire squeezed out from the rock fissures, merging together upon hitting the ground into a massive rock-fire monster.
Today it took a semi-humanoid shape—its upper body resembled a man, while everything below the waist was a swirling mass of raging flames.
He Lingchuan turned to Dong Rui and said, "This is the mountain spirit of Mount Xu, Juju."
In truth, many travelers roamed Mount Xu drawn by legends of the rock-fire monster, but fortunate souls who actually saw it were exceedingly rare. Lord Juju held no interest in living beings it could not eat.
What He Lingchuan found most amusing was that whether one guest came or two, Juju always made a grand entrance, intent on establishing dominance through sheer presence.
Even from this distance, Dong Rui felt the surrounding air turn scorching hot, the strands of hair on his forehead beginning to curl.
He Lingchuan introduced him: "This is my friend, and my helper."
Now that they were face-to-face, Juju mocked him, "We're already partners, yet you're still unwilling to show your true face?" Earlier, this fellow had tossed its avatar into the realm of souls and communicated only over distance without showing himself; today, having agreed to meet in person, he was actually still wearing a mask. Timid as a mouse.
The masks worn by these two also possessed the power to block divine sense, preventing it from seeing through them.
He Lingchuan smiled. "This is mutual protection!"
Juju snorted. "Have you calculated the position of the formation core yet?"
"Of course. Isn't that why we're here to run a test on-site?"
"Follow me." Juju turned and walked deeper into the cave.
Illuminated by the flames radiating from its body, the two discovered a large crack deep inside the cavern. It could hardly be called a path, requiring hands and feet alike.
Neither of them was stout, allowing them to barely squeeze through.
Fortunately, once inside, the gap between the rocks widened. Both were cultivators with formidable skill; grabbing onto roots and scaling the rock face, they ascended over fifty zhang before leaping onto a platform.
From here onward, established tourist walkways were available to use.
Naturally, Heavenly Palace guards patrolled from time to time, but under the protection of the local power, He Lingchuan didn't cross paths with them once.
Before long, they abandoned the main path and climbed up an untamed hill facing Tianji Peak.
To avoid drawing unwanted attention, Juju shrank its form down to half a person's height and withdrew its flames. It looked like a glowing chunk of charcoal, with red light gleaming only from its joints, neck, and a few key fulcrums, while the rest resembled charred, pitch-black rock.
Hidden within the dense trees and shrubs like this, the guards on the opposite peak couldn't spot it.
Of course, having to sneak around so furtively on its own turf was all for the sake of these two trespassers. Juju urged, "Hurry up and start!"
This creature had dwelt in these mountains for thousands of years, yet now it was suddenly in a rush? He Lingchuan ignored it and said to Dong Rui, "I'll point out the direction. If there were stars tonight, it should fly toward the Tianxuan Star." With that, he pointed into the sky. "Send the bat puppet up."
Dong Rui recognized the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper, but with such thick clouds tonight, the heavens were completely obscured, leaving him to rely entirely on He Lingchuan's bearings. Dropping his shoulder, the bat demon puppet fluttered its wings and took flight.
He Lingchuan had originally hoped it would maintain this inconspicuous size and appearance. Rain had just fallen, and Mount Xu already had plenty of bats circling low; the demon puppet blended in seamlessly among them without drawing attention.
Yet even with faint light lingering in the night sky, once the puppet flew up ten zhang, He Lingchuan could no longer spot it even by straining his vision.
It was simply too damned small, and black to boot!
"Make it one size bigger!"
Once the demon puppet grew to the size of a dog, He Lingchuan could finally see it in the night sky.
"To the left... up... to the right—no, left!"
"Fly down about twenty zhang and check."
Dong Rui said, "There's nothing here." Just an empty patch of sky.
"What's the rush?" Following the congruence formulas provided by Headmaster Xu Shichu, He Lingchuan calculated silently in his head. "A little more to the left... yes, keep going left! Wait, no, it's about to crash into the mountain peak!"
Xu Shichu was indeed a man of his word; two days ago, he had Sun Fuling bring the congruence formulas back and deliver them into He Lingchuan's hands.
Chapter 669