"Repeatedly?" He Lingchuan was immediately on guard at the word. "It didn't draw any attention from the Heavenly Palace, did it?"
"Where would they find the time or inclination?" Juju chuckled. "The two principal culprits in the elixir of immortality case are both on Tianshu Peak."
He Lingchuan gave a slight sneer. "National Preceptor Qingyang and Nian Zanli?"
"The very ones," Juju said. "Ever since being brought in under escort, National Preceptor Qingyang hasn't uttered a single word. That man named Nian, on the other hand, has been screaming himself hoarse."
He Lingchuan wondered, "Didn't you say you couldn't hear what goes on during the interrogations?"
"That's inside the Yang Palace and Zhaixing Tower. But during the several times he was escorted outside, he was bellowing about how wronged he was, claiming he'd been framed. Once, even visitors outside Zhaixing Tower overheard him. Because of that, every time he's brought out now, his mouth is gagged."
He Lingchuan chuckled. "Framed? The Heavenly Palace hardly likes hearing that."
Nian Zanli had no idea who had truly set him up, which was why he was still so full of bluster, clinging to delusions of having his name cleared. National Preceptor Qingyang, by contrast, understood the causes and consequences all too clearly, and thus made no pointless protests.
Before long, they climbed to their destination.
This wild peak sat roughly a hundred-odd zhang away from Kaiyang Peak, its summit crowned with woods denser than Dong Rui's hair. Tonight, the moon was dark and the wind fierce; as long as Juju did not ignite any flames, the mortal sentries on Kaiyang Peak would scarcely notice any movement here.
"A roost of bat demons flew past half a quarter of an hour ago. You'd better finish the job before they come back." Juju handed him two stone eggs. "Here's the fire-seed you asked for."
These were two chunks of pitch-black, rock-hard stone, as round and large as hen's eggs, but with bark-like cracked surfaces through which red light flowed.
Since Juju could not accompany him into the sky, it provided him with this pair of trump cards, claiming that unleashing them in a dire crisis could save his life.
The mountain forest after the rain smelled exceptionally crisp and clean. He Lingchuan drew a deep breath to invigorate his mind, then set the bat puppet onto the ground and whispered an order: "Expand!"
The demon bat puppet was obedient; with a single shift, it swelled into a massive creature.
Not daring to waste any time, He Lingchuan leaped onto the demon puppet's back and tapped its flank with the toe of his foot. The giant bat spread its wings, launched itself from the peak, and glided into flight.
Over the past few days, he had dragged Dong Rui out to the outskirts to drill repeatedly in flying, riding, and leaping techniques. Even if the puppet wasn't yet an extension of his own limbs, it could at least comprehend his commands and execute the required maneuvers without delay.
Naturally, before embarking on this operation, he had already run meticulous calculations. The formation core of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation should currently hover in the night sky directly above Juju's head, with a margin of error of no more than three zhang.
He Lingchuan steered the demon puppet in a preliminary circuit, using the turbulent air currents to verify the core's true position.
After being swept aside twice, he could essentially confirm that his estimate was correct.
As for why Juju could never locate such a massive formation core whenever it drifted over Mount Xu in autumn and winter, the first reason was that it was cocooned in turbulence, and the airspace above Mount Xu was naturally prone to chaotic currents. The second reason was that its location shifted constantly: today it might hover over Kaiyang Peak, and tomorrow it might move above Tianshu Peak. Without knowing its operating pattern, one could never pin down its specific position.
At this moment, Juju's avatar perched on his shoulder cautioned, "If you keep wandering aimlessly, you'll draw attention."
Dong Rui's demon puppet was large enough to carry a rider, making it quite sizable. Moreover, the airspace above Mount Xu was not as empty as it appeared, with avian demons passing through at frequent intervals.
"Understood." He Lingchuan signaled the demon puppet to ascend until it flew five zhang directly above the formation core.
Two zhang below that lay the turbulence barrier.
He retrieved an object from his storage ring, flicked his wrist, and flung it straight down.
The moment the object emerged, the demon puppet's body abruptly sank, plummeting uncontrollably.
Fortunately, the item fell away rapidly, and within the next second the demon puppet slipped out of its radius of influence, beating its wings to regain altitude. Having drilled this sequence many times beforehand, it handled the drop calmly and did not shriek in panic.
What He Lingchuan had thrown down was a ghost shadow cicada slough.
To be precise, it was a ghost shadow cicada slough coated in Wind-Fixing Pearl dust and packed with two grains of volcanic rock grit—handiwork he had prepared well before setting out.
A ghost shadow cicada slough was extraordinarily light, virtually weightless, and liable to blow away with the slightest breeze. But once coated with Wind-Fixing Pearl dust, it would remain unaffected by wind for at least an hour, ensuring a dead-straight descent.
Even the howling, turbulent currents shielding the formation core could not divert its path.
With the throw complete, He Lingchuan pulled the demon puppet higher while asking Juju, "How is it? Did it make it in?"
"Hold on, hold on. That thing of yours is too light, it's still drifting..." Juju sounded tense as well. "All right, it landed!"
Its slightly excited voice reached He Lingchuan's ear through the avatar. "It stopped dead in midair. I think it entered the core!"
Juju could sense the state of the volcanic grit. Because it remained entirely motionless in midair, it had clearly breached the defensive ward and entered the formation core's interior.
The defensive ward had indeed ignored something so miniscule and weightless.
Under normal circumstances, of course, cicada sloughs and other floating debris were blown away by the turbulence, making entry virtually impossible.
The first step of the infiltration had succeeded.
"Hurry up," the mountain spirit could not help urging. "I think I see a bird of prey flying in from the southeast."
It was an eagle-owl. While not as large as the demon puppet, its wingspan still measured two zhang.
Evidently, it had sensed something amiss and was approaching to investigate.
"Juju, light up the airflow!" He Lingchuan took a deep breath and shook the silver bracelet on his wrist. "Whether I live or die rests on you!"
From this moment on, the Mount Xu Plan had officially commenced. There was no turning back.
"Here it comes!" The rock-and-fire monster vanished from the peak in a single stride, resurfacing on a knoll fifteen zhang away.
By now, it stood diagonally beneath the formation core.
Immediately afterward, Juju conjured fireball after fireball, hurling them toward the formation core in rapid succession!
It was still suppressed by the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation, incapable of attacking the mountain's structures, arrays, or garrison. Yet this action was no attack, for as the fireballs drew close to the core, they abruptly burst into a sky full of sparks!
To put it simply, they were nothing more than countless fiery embers. Incapable of burning even a mortal flesh-wound, what offensive force could they possess against a grand formation? At most, they would crumble into speckles of black gravel in the end.
Yet as they drifted with the howling wind, the currents fed the flames and made them blaze brighter and redder, resembling a colossal barrage of fireworks detonating in midair.
It was not firing incendiary shells—it was firing salutes!
With such brilliance, there was no way to hide from the peak's guards, or even the lookouts stationed atop distant Zhaixing Tower!
All the long preparations over the past few days, all the covert infiltration under cover of night, had been orchestrated solely for this one decisive strike.
Even Dong Rui, watching from the outer perimeter of Mount Xu, held his breath as he looked up into the night sky.
The surroundings were ablaze with light; nothing could be concealed now. Having reached this juncture, He Lingchuan had left himself no retreat.
Steering the demon puppet, he pitched forward into a vertical dive straight toward the formation core!
Though the turbulent currents were ordinarily invisible, their width and contour had been completely traced out by Juju's bursting sparks. He Lingchuan had only to watch the swirling drift of the embers to discern the currents' outline and thickness.
Mount Xu's night sky had not witnessed so magnificent a spectacle in an age. It was nothing short of an open broadcast to the Heavenly Palace:
*Something is wrong here!*
He Lingchuan drew a deep breath. Only when the sparks drew right before his eyes—close enough that they seemed poised to scorch his pupils—did he take a half-step forward on his mount and leap into the void!
Beneath him lay a sea of radiant brilliance, nearly blinding in its intensity.
His leap traced a flawless arc, as though plunging into an ocean of crimson starlight, wild and perilous.
Yet reality was far from romantic. The distance and velocity of this leap were the result of painstaking calculations and dozens of rehearsals.
The demon puppet banked and flew away.
The next instant, He Lingchuan produced the Wind-Fixing Pearl.
The moment the pearl appeared, the turbulence barrier could no longer hinder him.
He Lingchuan plummeted toward the core like an artillery shell.
The bursting firelight illuminated the night sky, revealing his steady, rock-firm gaze behind the mask.
At this moment, he returned once more to that state devoid of grief or joy, his mind utterly clear.
All anxiety, fear, and hesitation were mere stumbling blocks. What he needed now was the precision of an atomic clock.
Such a bold action naturally could not escape the eyes of onlookers.
Juju had not been this tense in years; the glow seeping from its joints turned blazing white. Dong Rui, watching from afar, widened his eyes until they were completely round, not daring to draw a breath.
Directly beneath the turbulence barrier lay the defensive ward. According to Juju's prior assessments, this ward was exceptionally formidable. If a living person like He Lingchuan were to slam into it head-on, he would likely be incinerated into a lump of charcoal in an instant!
A formation laid down personally by celestial gods possessed unquestionable might.
Plunging with the Wind-Fixing Pearl, He Lingchuan had to calculate his velocity with absolute precision. A second too late, and the formation would blast his soul to fragments; a second too early, and before he reached the effective range of Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach, he would be unable to swap places, leaving him equally scorched to a crisp by the formation!
Too fast or too slow meant death. It demanded absolute, unerring accuracy!
He Lingchuan had practiced dozens of times for this leap. Yet Dong Rui, asking himself honestly, knew that had he been tasked with such a feat at this very moment, sheer terror would have left his limbs trembling and his body drenched in cold sweat.
A hair's breadth separated life from death.
Before everyone's watching eyes, He Lingchuan's silhouette vanished into thin air.
A living, breathing human being was simply gone.
Dong Rui did not dare blink, terrified that He Lingchuan had detonated into a mist of blood.
Yet with crimson sparks darting wildly across the sky, no one could tell whether so tragic an end had truly come to pass.
He Lingchuan had simply vanished. Juju also ceased its fireworks, and silence returned once more to the night sky.
Of course, every witness understood that this quiet was purely superficial.
Immediately afterward, hurried chimes came from the distance—*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*—
Resounding across the sky above Mount Xu.
Zhaixing Tower had tolled the great bell, both to alert all guards to repel an intruder and to suppress Juju, summoning it for interrogation.
After all, those dozen-odd successive fireballs were far too conspicuous, and Juju's actions unmistakably declared:
It had completely discerned the location of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation's core!
That was what alarmed the Heavenly Palace most of all.
The moment the bell tolled, Juju clutched its neck and cried out in agony. Rocks cascaded from its body, igniting all the vegetation around it.
At a time like this, it had no leisure to preserve the woods.
With the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation still active, the ringing bell exerted immense suppressing force through the collar around Juju's neck. The Heavenly Palace's summons was a command it could not defy.
The mountain spirit burrowed into the earth, traversing a vast distance, and reappeared before Zhaixing Tower in the blink of an eye!
Chapter 683