Chapter 5: Deep in the Mountains

Outside Nanwu Mountain, upon hearing the news that the Su family had sealed off the mountain, the expressions of the cultivators present changed instantly. A few scattered cultivators attempted to move forward, but as soon as they approached, the chilling wind at the mountain’s entrance forced them to retreat several steps. It was clear that advancing any further was impossible.

The scattered cultivators all turned their gaze toward the figure managing the spirit boat’s screen.

An elderly man with white hair wore coarse cloth garments, two wine flasks hanging at his waist. His hair was disheveled, his face weathered and dull, and his eyes murky and unclear. After finishing his tasks, he leaned against the screen, sipping wine to regain his spirit, appearing completely indifferent to his surroundings.

“Stop, don’t go forward. That’s the Su family’s guardian of the boat.”

Upon hearing the guardian’s reputation, the scattered cultivators halted their steps.

The Su family’s spirit boats were renowned throughout the Southern Realm of the Eastern Continent, famed not only for their talismanic formations but even more so for their boat-crafting techniques. Each spirit boat was forged with the accumulated efforts of generations of the Su family, considered the finest vessels in the Eastern Continent. It was said that the Su family’s top-tier boats embodied the essence of all the family’s formation talismans.

To prevent the family’s techniques from leaking out, each spirit boat had only one guardian.

Seeing the other cultivators retreat in acknowledgment of the difficulty, the elder from the Li Fire Sect was quite satisfied. He then instructed others to check for any cultivators swept away by the wind.

“Most of the low-level cultivators have come out.”

“I heard some scattered cultivators from the Eastern Sea entered, along with others. Could they be faster than us?”

“What’s there to fear? Senior Brother Su was the first to go in—”

“Has anyone from the Su family gone missing?” the elder asked.

As soon as the white-haired elder spoke, a nearby Su family cultivator instinctively replied, “All the Su family’s low-level cultivators are here. Only a few senior brothers and sisters who entered with Senior Brother Su Yi remain inside...”

Before he could finish, someone nudged his shoulder, signaling him to stop.

This time, the spirit boat they used was not the usual vessel for Su family cultivators. Due to frequent recent use, just before departure, a Su family elder called forth a dusty, long-unused spirit boat from the family’s boat pavilion. The guardian on this boat was also unknown—only that his surname was Qi, he enjoyed drinking, and nothing else was known.

The Su family cultivators present were perceptive; the accompanying elder spoke little with this guardian, avoiding many topics.

The white-haired elder remained silent, but the discussions around him reached his ears. He drank his wine, his gaze shifting from the Su family elder conversing quietly in the distance to the shadowy, ominous Nanwu Mountain.

...Everyone was gathered now. Just moments ago, he saw that figure—who could it have been?

But it was none of his concern. Closing his eyes, the white-haired elder reminded himself he was merely the boat operator.

The Li Fire Sect elder looked toward Nanwu Mountain. Seeing the dark winds intensify, he glanced at the Su family elder. “Several of our Golden Core cultivators have entered... but are you sure this is safe?”

Most cultivators had come attracted by the mountain’s sinister aura, seeking to refine their skills and gain experience by dispelling demons. But the Li Fire Sect understood well that this fissure was no ordinary phenomenon. The seal's patterns were strange, yet capable of completely concealing the mountain’s oppressive aura—a special seal crafted by a great cultivator, likely a rare and precious opportunity.

Evil spirits were minor trouble; the seal was the real concern.

If this was truly the meditative resting place of a fallen great cultivator, then the Su family and Li Fire Sect, who first discovered it...

“The stronger the spiritual energy, the more it attracts the covetous eyes of malevolent spirits. To venture deeper into Nanwu Mountain, only Golden Core cultivators can manage it,” the Su family elder said, eyes fixed on the dark, aura-heavy mountain and the half-open fissure in its seal. The rampant, unpredictable aura suggested an undiscovered meditative resting place inside. Half a month before receiving news from the Li Fire Sect, they had already sent people to investigate.

The result was that several Nascent Soul stage cultivators emerged injured, while only a few Golden Core cultivators remained in relatively good condition.

Although the broken seal looked unremarkable, its interior held many strange features.

Nanwu Mountain seemed almost alive; the higher one’s cultivation, the more they were restricted upon entry.

“Great cultivators have precedent for establishing such seals after their passings. Some do so to prevent intrusions into their caves. The stronger the cultivator, the harder it is to enter,” the Su family elder said calmly, looking at the mountain before them. “This seal on Nanwu Mountain was likely set by the cultivator to repel enemies. Had this breach not appeared, we would never have discovered the mountain’s secrets.”

Such meditative resting places held formidable treasures.

If not for the Li Fire Sect’s familiarity with this location, the Su family would not have immediately collaborated with them upon uncovering Nanwu Mountain’s mystery—setting boundary markers and blocking information to prevent other factions from getting ahead. Yet now, a group of cultivators had unexpectedly come seeking to enter.

The Li Fire Sect elder was about to speak further.

“Rest assured, the one entering is our young master. Though he is only a Golden Core cultivator, with his ability, the aura around Nanwu Mountain is but a trifle,” the Su family elder said gravely. “Moreover, within...”

“Within?” The Li Fire Sect elder suddenly remembered that before the news of Nanwu Mountain spread, the Su family had sent people inside, but those cultivators had yet to return. Otherwise, the young master Su Yi would not have had to intervene personally.

“The nearby towns are infested with roaming malevolent spirits, and the mountain’s aura remains thick and unbroken. The seal has held these evil spirits captive for centuries, but inside lies something else—a living tomb beyond the meditative site.”

“If anyone enters and dies within the living tomb, it is their own fault,” the Su family elder said with resolve, eyes fixed on Nanwu Mountain. “After all, the Su family sealed the mountain for the greater good.”

—

Deep within the mountain paths of Nanwu, the surrounding withered trees bore twisted and bent marks, branches broken and askew.

When Su Yu regained consciousness, the raging wind had ceased. He reached out to touch the damp earth, greeted by an overwhelming stench of decay. Supporting himself with his hands, he sat up, immediately noticing his injured, broken leg.

The leg had been roughly bandaged earlier, but the bone was crooked and piercing the flesh, sending waves of pain straight to his mind.

Where was this?

Oh right... he must have been swept away by the wind.

Su Yu felt his mind clearing. He looked upward. Around him, the usual chirping and cawing had silenced. The dazzling, chaotic smoke-like mists that once floated above had dissipated, returning to the slow, drifting haze he had initially seen. He now understood that his sight was influenced by the “eye” inside his dantian.

Because of that, though he was naturally blind, his eyes could now perceive things others could not.

Su Yu stared at the silent, circulating totem within him. He even sensed the sticky, oppressive aura seeping into his body. After a brief pause, he began to assess his surroundings, leaning on a withered tree to stand. As he prepared to move forward, he suddenly noticed something around his ankle.

What was that?

Looking down, he clearly saw chains wrapped around the ankle of his uninjured leg. The chains glowed with a pale, fatty white aura similar to the shadowy energy near his totem, streaked faintly with blood-red hues, stretching conspicuously along his ankle and further beyond.

Previously, his foggy consciousness and the sudden influx of strange visions had prevented him from noticing the chains.

Su Yu shifted slightly; the chains felt weightless but provided subtle resistance. Something was attached at the other end.

He tugged, but the chains didn’t budge.

So heavy? Frowning slightly, Su Yu exerted more force.

Zhang Fugui had been awakened by being pulled. When he came to, the chains binding his ankle were taut. As the other end was pulled, an irresistible force yanked his entire soul-body, dragging him nearly ten steps away.

He stumbled beside Su Yu, still dazed, “Dao... Daozhang!?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Su Yu recalled—this was the little ghost he hadn’t slain.

Zhang Fugui was overjoyed at seeing Su Yu. God only knew how frightened he had been when the wind swept him away, thinking his soul would scatter. He had originally been fleeing with a few ghost companions, but the escape failed; the gluttonous ghost friends were gone. Now, with the Nanwu Mountain entrance sealed and himself swept back inside by the shadowy wind, his future was uncertain, lost and directionless.

Seeing the Daozhang again was like finding a pillar of support. Ignoring the dizziness caused by being pulled, he hurried to Su Yu, “Daozhang!”

As the white figure approached, Su Yu took a half-step back.

Realizing his abruptness, Zhang Fugui sheepishly scratched his head but didn’t dare move too far away.

Seeing the white figure remain still, Su Yu turned his attention elsewhere.

He looked up, noticing the surrounding white mist drifting in one direction.

“Daozhang, where are you going?”

Zhang Fugui saw the youth move and wanted to follow. After a few steps, seeing the direction Su Yu headed, cold sweat broke out on his brow. He quickly reached out to stop him.

“You can’t go there. Deep in the mountains is the domain of the great ghosts... all fighting over small spiritual veins.”

Su Yu frowned, “Small spiritual veins?”

Zhang Fugui paused. Wasn’t this common knowledge in the cultivation world? Not daring to question, he cautiously explained, “I only heard it from the ghosts after I began cultivating... They say a thousand years ago, a great demon devastated the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall, causing the collapse of spiritual veins. Countless great cultivators fell, and the Eastern Continent’s cultivation realm declined for centuries until the discovery of meditative resting places of great cultivators.”

Ghosts like them cultivated using shadowy energy, but the origin of heaven and earth came from spiritual veins. Cultivators inhaled and exhaled the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for their cultivation.

The decline of spiritual veins meant cultivators’ progress stagnated. Rumor had it that within some meditative sites of fallen cultivators, remnants of spiritual veins from a thousand years ago remained, called “small spiritual veins.” Although inferior to the original veins, these were enough to open and form new veins, easing the shortage of spiritual energy.

Zhang Fugui knew little but had heard from other ghosts that Nanwu Mountain’s excessive shadowy aura and strange seals might also be a meditative site of a great cultivator from a millennium ago.

Su Yu spoke with a hint of weariness, “You, a mere little ghost, have heard these rumors. What about ‘them’?”

“Ah? Who ‘them’?” Zhang Fugui suddenly realized something. “They’re trying to...”

The group of cultivators outside was likely after what was inside this mountain. Su Yu said no more, his thoughts in his spiritual sea growing clearer.

This sensation was not new; he had felt it before, when he fell off the cliff. Memories flickered through his mind—the howling wind rushing toward him, and the multicolored streaks in his vision.

Who was he again? Su Yu.

How did he get here?

He fell off a cliff.

Zhang Fugui noticed Su Yu’s strange expression. “Daozhang, what’s wrong?”

Su Yu rubbed his forehead, memories returning in fragments.

At this moment, a peculiar hand seal appeared in his spiritual sea via the totem. Almost instantly, he recognized it as the hand seal he had instinctively formed when he fell off the cliff and fought the evil spirits.

Thinking of cultivators’ talismans, hand seals, and formations, Su Yu understood these were cultivator arts and methods. Yet, he had no clear knowledge of them, as if he had never studied them deeply.

Now, this complex and cryptic pattern appearing in his spiritual sea was clearly a hand seal, not a formation nor a talisman. Yet merely glancing at it, he instinctively traced it, as if born to know its path—a strangely familiar sensation.

Su Yu lifted a finger. The shadowy energy coiled in his dantian seemed to respond to his will, circulating around the totem and flowing along his meridians. But soon, the energy lost direction, ceasing its movement after a few moments and retreating back to the dantian.

He stopped. He knew how to draw the hand seal but not how to activate it.

Just then, his hand slid along the tree trunk. As his right foot touched the ground, he heard a crack.

The overwhelming stench of decay was impossible to ignore, and in an instant, Su Yu felt a chill.

Raising his eyes to the side, he saw one black dot after another appear in the misty, darkened forest.

“What is that?” Su Yu asked.

Hearing this, Zhang Fugui turned his head and saw pairs of eyes staring at them from the withered forest.

In the dim woods, figures that appeared to be ‘people’ stood silently.