Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

Having traveled a thousand miles, Zhang Yuanjing emerged from the earth, surrounded by dense forest, the trees blocking out the sky, shadows layered upon shadows. The sky was silent, not a single bird in sight. For dozens of miles, there wasn't a single demon beast.

He climbed a giant tree nearly a hundred yards tall and looked around. Mountain peaks were like forests, trees and grass like blankets, all places were largely the same, making it difficult to discern direction.

The Azure Stone Mountain's first peak, which could normally be seen from afar, was now nowhere to be found. Only to the east-northeast, there was a place where floating dust filled the air, as if dyeing the azure sky with a layer of gray-yellow.

“Could that commotion just now have been a mountain collapse?” A thought surfaced in Zhang Yuanjing’s mind, but he immediately rejected it. Azure Stone Mountain wasn't just one peak; there were at least hundreds of stone mountains piercing the clouds, it was impossible for them all to be destroyed at once.

At that moment, the message spirit jade in his storage bracelet vibrated. He took it out and heard Fire Crow Daoist's message, saying he had discovered the battle at Azure Stone Mountain and had hidden himself in the west in advance, and was now coming to meet him.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Fire Crow Daoist flew out of the dense forest to Zhang Yuanjing's west. He used the trees to conceal his path, revealing no trace of his movements.

“How are you, Senior?” Zhang Yuanjing went to greet him and asked.

Fire Crow Daoist laughed, “I was fortunate to escape unscathed. This old Daoist shook off the White Bear King and traveled swiftly. It couldn't catch up to me, but there was another great demon lying in ambush ahead, whose true form was a bat, with bizarre escape techniques. I exchanged blows with it several times and almost fell victim to its tricks.

“Fortunately, this demon didn't recognize the power of the Sky-Crushing Sword. It had one wing tainted by Meteor Dust and lost its balance, and also took a hit of my Myriad Beast True Fire, suffering heavy injuries. If the White Bear King hadn't arrived so quickly, this old Daoist could have taken the opportunity to kill it. However, this also held back the White Bear King, allowing this old Daoist to completely escape its pursuit.”

He paused, then asked, “What about the others?”

Zhang Yuanjing briefly described the events in Azure Stone Mountain, saying, “Although Yu Zhiyin's Painting Seals Mountains and Rivers wanted to borrow the power of Azure Stone Mountain, its level was insufficient, and it couldn't connect such a large area to this spiritual treasure seamlessly. Therefore, the extra people would definitely be sent out. As long as they don't run around, they shouldn't be in danger.”

Fire Crow Daoist nodded, saying, “This is actually beneficial to us. The flying boat was attacked, and many cultivators on board were killed or injured. When we arrive at the First Demon Suppression City, this matter will likely be difficult to resolve peacefully. If we can find a few more surviving cultivators, it will be easier to explain the inside story in the future.”

Zhang Yuanjing said with shame, “At that time, I was too slow to react and failed to control the situation in advance.”

Fire Crow Daoist waved his hand and said in a deep voice, “Yuanjing, don't blame yourself. In that situation, it was appropriate to observe the situation. If you had controlled Hao Sanding before he revealed his intentions, the cultivators on board would not have been able to distinguish right from wrong. Moreover, if the flying boat had been suddenly attacked and the cultivators had died tragically after you took control of the situation, then we would truly be trapped by our own actions, unable to defend ourselves, with no possibility of turning things around.

“According to what you said, this matter is very complicated, far from being as simple as the forces behind the Sky Demon Abyss dealing with my Profound Sky Sect. It also involves many major forces and must have another purpose. As long as we can figure this out, we can borrow power from it. Of course, that's something for after we get to Demon Suppression City. For now, let's go find Zhilin and the others.”

The two took flight on their swords, traversing through the forest, quietly approaching Azure Stone Mountain. Before long, they reached a mountain peak, and the two looked northeast, only to see that the stone mountains that had originally soared into the sky and stood at the forefront had been cut off at the waist. Behind it, hundreds of stone mountains had been cut off in unison, with dust floating between the mountains, rubble scattered everywhere, a scene of utter devastation.

Fire Crow Daoist exclaimed in shock, “This… was cut off by a single sword strike?”

Zhang Yuanjing stared blankly at the broken mountains and said in a low voice, “Subduing Dragon Sword!”

“Subduing Dragon Sword?”

“It's the flying sword wielded by the Core Formation cultivator wearing a bamboo hat. Its name is Subduing Dragon. Yu Zhiyin and Black Crow King both believe he is a cultivator from Hidden Sword Valley,” Zhang Yuanjing explained.

“Hidden Sword Valley? That major sect in the Southern Domain that specializes in forging swords? Was the Subduing Dragon Sword forged by this sect?” Fire Crow Daoist's eyes were still filled with disbelief. “What kind of divine sword can unleash such power when wielded by a Core Formation cultivator! To cut off hundreds of mountains with a single sword strike, this could only be accomplished by a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, with the help of a powerful spiritual treasure!”

Zhang Yuanjing pondered, “Hidden Sword Valley has many famous swords, but the most praised are seven, none of which are named Subduing Dragon. That Black Crow King seemed to have heard of this sword, so it's probably not much worse than those seven. The fact that this sword could cut off Azure Stone Mountain may also be related to Yu Zhiyin's Painting Seals Mountains and Seas. This may have been the result of the two working together, not just the Subduing Dragon Sword alone.”

Fire Crow Daoist sighed, “Even so, the strength of this sword is earth-shattering! Moreover, there are still many such divine swords. This Hidden Sword Valley is truly powerful!” He suddenly changed the subject, “Yuanjing, didn't you say that my Profound Sky Sect is on good terms with Hidden Sword Valley? When will we have the opportunity to visit this sect!”

Zhang Yuanjing knew what he was thinking and immediately smiled, “Once the Transverse Mountain Range matter is over, we can naturally make a trip to Hidden Sword Valley. If there are Nascent Soul experts from Hidden Sword Valley in any of the demon suppression cities, we can also pay them a visit first.”

The two talked for a while and continued forward, but instead of entering Azure Stone Mountain, they detoured to the west, heading north.

Midway, Zhang Yuanjing released the Azure-Eyed Suanni Beast. Without waiting for his instructions, the beast twitched its nose, sniffing in the air.

“Squeak squeak!”

The Azure-Eyed Suanni Beast quickly caught the aura of Yuan Zhilin and the others, and sped northeast.

The two men and beast bypassed the north side of Azure Stone Mountain and traveled east at high speed, traveling five or six thousand miles to a deep ravine. The ravine was filled with water mist, and extremely cold. The road was rugged, sometimes descending, sometimes passing through caves, sometimes winding. They traveled another thousand miles to the edge of a swamp.

At this point, without the Azure-Eyed Suanni Beast to guide them, the two had already discovered that to the north of the swamp, dozens of miles away, on a hard ground covered by layers of cliffs, more than twenty cultivators were standing in three groups, seemingly arguing.

Fire Crow Daoist was a Nascent Soul True Person. When his divine sense landed, he roughly understood the situation after a few breaths.

Zhang Yuanjing's divine sense was very strong, and he also extended it over, seeing that Ape Thirteen and Yuan Zhilin and the six others were all there, and their aura was normal, and they were not injured. He couldn't help but feel relieved.

Fire Crow Daoist sneered, “Hao Sanding is also there, which saves us trouble. Capture this person, and we can respond to anyone who wants to slander us!”

Zhang Yuanjing then saw another acquaintance, and said, “That Friend Qu from Moon Gathering Valley is also there. This person is quite righteous and has always stood by our side.”

“Yuanjing, you go over there by this route. This old Daoist will detour to the rear, to prevent that Hao from having any means of escape. If this person escapes, it will cause a lot of trouble.”

Zhang Yuanjing nodded in agreement. After Fire Crow Daoist left, he guided his flying sword, soared into the sky, and flew towards that place.

Several Core Formation cultivators there were not weak, and were in a state of high alert, so as soon as Zhang Yuanjing took off and revealed his whereabouts, someone there noticed the movement.

After a few breaths, four people took to the air and fled north. Several other cultivators seemed to want to leave with them, but under the persuasion of others, they landed back on the ground.

The leader of the four fleeing people was Hao Sanding, and the other two were the boatmen under him.

At this moment, a deep and powerful voice entered his ears: “Friend Zhang, that Hao Sanding is about to run away, come quickly, I will go and chase him.”

Zhang Yuanjing replied through voice transmission, “Friend Qu, don't rush, True Person Yuan has arrived, that Hao won't be able to escape.”

Before long, he landed on the hard ground. Yuan Zhilin and the others came over to greet him with joyful expressions. Ape Thirteen grinned.

Qu Chongyi stood behind them, about to speak, when a person in the crowd next to him said in a sarcastic tone: “The Profound Sky Sect is really amazing. None of their own people were lost, and they were all well protected, with not even a scratch to be found, but they caused the entire boat of cultivators to suffer misfortune. I don't know if it was unintentional or intentional!”