When Grand Immortal Xu heard their conversation, he callously looked at the two through the light barrier and resentfully said, “How about you deal with the monsters right in front of us first? The treasure will be a dream otherwise.”
Old Devil Qian coldly chuckled, “So you must be Brother Xu? I have no interest in risking mutual destruction before I even lay my eyes on the treasure. I reckon even if we were to join together, we would be hard pressed in the face of those three.”
“What does Brother Qian mean?” Although their factions always had good relations, Grand Immortal Xu’s expression sank.
The white silhouette indifferently continued, “Since they had remained hidden while Fellow Daoist Ye and I were in fierce combat, they should have an objective in mind. If they truly don’t mean us harm, it would be an optimal opportunity to take action.”
The Nightfiend’s eyes glinted green and he calmly said, “It’s good that you understand. Since we are no longer hidden, we may as well say that we are after a few items in Kunwu Hall. We have no intention of taking action until we gather them.”
The horned woman and the Lion Hawk silently stood at his side.
Like Old Devil Qian, Grand Immortal Xu also had no wish to stake his life for naught. With some thought, relaxed and he said, “The Saintess and I have no interest in the treasures ahead. We only care about some items that Youngster Han has on him, and we are fully driven to acquire them. Of course, if we find the Ghost Sifting Banner, we will return it to your sect.”
Ge Tianhao casually said, “In that case, we don’t need to fight here. Let’s first join forces and break the restriction, or there will be more coming. If we allow an outsider to acquire the treasure, it would make us a laughingstock.”
All those present were greatly experienced and lived for many years; none of them had any intention of letting someone play them for a fool. As such, they quickly came to a temporary agreement.
Although the truce was likely to collapse when they arrived inside Kunwu Hall, it was better than massacring each other before the treasure was even in sight.
“Since nobody has any objections, let’s begin.” Old Devil Qian let out a strange laugh and his white silhouette waved its sleeves, turning them into two huge pythons that charged straight towards the barrier.
The square-faced cultivator also pointed to the two flying swords revolving around him and had them slice through the air.
As for the three beasts and the party of cultivators outside the barrier, they exchanged a wary look before setting off on attacking the barrier.
With bright flashes and waves of demonic Qi, the sound of explosions filled the air around them.
An emerald-green figure concealed as a pillar in the stone forest muttered, “Tch tch, I didn’t expect that the fiery Old Devil Qian would join hands with the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the other beasts. When I encounter that old devil in the future, I will have to be careful so he doesn’t scheme against me.”
A green silhouette at the side snorted and bluntly said, “With your current cultivation, he has no need to scheme against you. If his Unbroken Cinque Devils were to charge at you, you’d have no way to avoid them.”
These two were the elders of the Immortal Form Sect.
“Senior Martial Sister, it’s not like I don’t have a method to deal with him,” the young woman spoke with a pout.
Lady Mu coldly laughed, “An early-Nascent Soul cultivator like you actually thinks they can ‘deal’ with a late-stage cultivator? Let alone you, even I wouldn’t be able to defend myself against him. Our sect’s abilities aren’t good for direct confrontations. But if I had a drop of his blood, I reckon I could gravely injure him with a curse.”
The young woman resentfully said, “Our sect’s secret techniques are no less inferior to the great ten. If it weren’t for the rules established by our previous generations, we could’ve greatly expanded and possibly developed a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Then we would had nothing to fear from those like Old Devil Qian.”
Lady Mu sighed and said, “The founder of our sect was a descendant of the three masters of Kunwu. Originally, the sect was established near the seal to guard over it. But after tens of thousands of years, this matter had become forgotten. If it weren’t for that message we acquired from Elder Xiang, we wouldn’t have investigated the founding records of our sect and would remain ignorant on the matters of the seal. Neither would we have any reason to enter such a dangerous place.”
The young woman then mentioned, “Speaking of Old Devil Qian, I suppose we should pay more attention to that youth who uses Divine Devilbane Lightning. He has a fan of great power and forced even a late-Nascent Soul cultivator to withdraw. If it’s used inside the seal, its might should be even greater. It is without a doubt a replica of the illustrious Sevenflame Fan.”
“It definitely is a replica, but I can’t say if it is that of the Sevenflame Fan. His appearance is unfamiliar, but he possesses great power and the ability to use lightning movement. He is certainly unordinary. However, he doesn’t seem to be from the Great Jin, nor is he affiliated with the Ye Clan. No matter, we don’t need to pay him much heed. More importantly, Elder Xiang should’ve long entered the mountain,” Lady Mu puzzlingly said, “Why hasn’t he appeared to block them yet? Someone of his abilities should be able to easily restrain them.”
The young woman hesitantly said, “Perhaps Senior had other important areas to deal with, like the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. That place is of utmost importance.”
Lady Mu gloomily shook her head, “Impossible, the Devil Suppressing Pagoda might be the formation core of the mountain’s seal, but to reinforce it, he would first need to acquire the Dragon Call Crest from Kunwu Hall. Given how powerful Senior Xiang is, why wouldn’t he head here first?”
“Does Senior Martial Sister mean to say that something happened to Senior Xiang? With his cultivation, there couldn't be anyone in this world that could harm him. Could someone have trapped him?” The young woman’s face paled when she finished speaking.
Lady Mu’s expression shifted but she forced a smile, “That isn’t very likely. The first few restrictions were already destroyed. If he was trapped, he should’ve already been broken free. It must be that there actually is something that has delayed him from entering the mountain.”
“I hope that’s the case. Anyways, we’ll still have to follow behind these people and see if we can acquire the Dragon Call Crest first. Apart from that, only the Heavencrystal Stele would be able to strengthen the seal, but our ancestors hadn’t passed its location onto us. If we had it, we wouldn’t need to take the risk of following them.” The young woman finished her words with a trace of resentment.
“You should know that the Heavencrystal Stele was only planned as a backup. Its whereabouts were only passed down by a line of the Kunwu Elders’ descendants. In fear that something would happen to those possessing this information, they created another method to control the mountain’s seal. It was said that the stele was concealed in an unexpected place, and those who knew would be able to find it. With a hidden and open method prepared, the ancient cultivators had clearly put much effort into this restriction.”
The young woman frowned, “What were the three masters of Kunwu thinking? To leave behind such a great disaster for us... why hadn’t they beheaded this person instead of taking up such great effort to seal a spirit mountain from the mortal realm?”
Lady Mu hesitated for a moment and said, “The records also mentioned the reason for this. It seems the identity of this person was very special, involving a matter related to the higher realms. As a result, none of them dared to harm it and could only seal the mountain.”
“So it was like that. It is no wonder why their actions had been constrained. However, just how high is this person’s cultivation?” the young woman curiously inquired. “When Elder Xiang made mention, he appeared nervous. This is the only time we’ve seen that old eccentric restless in the long time that we’ve known him.”
Lady Mu glanced at her, and annoyedly answered, “There is no point in thinking about it when we could be killed with a twirl of its finger.”
“So it was like that...” The young woman drew with a helpless tone.
“And you’ve brought the Four Skies Ruler, yes? We will have to rely on it to fight for the Dragon Call Emblem.”
The young woman rolled her eyes and smiled, “Senior Martial Sister has reminded too many times already. How could I have forgotten our sect’s signature treasure? But it is a pity that your cultivation art is unsuitable with it, or it’d be a better fit for you. Senior Martial Sister said that one of the two Divine Spirit Treasures used to suppress this person was the Eight Spirit Ruler, the treasure that the Four Skies Ruler is a replica of. I hope that we will be able to see it.”
“The Eight Spirit Ruler and the Black Wind Flag. I also...” Lady Mu’s line of thought was interrupted when she suddenly turned her attention back to the barrier. With a stiff expression, she said, “Old Devil Qian and the others had broken through. Let’s hurry.” The young woman’s heart trembled and she raised her head. She caught sight of them breaking through the light barrier and heading up the mountain gate.