The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 154 - 120 Night Travel Enlightenment, Yin Constables’ Task

Chapter 154: Chapter 120 Night Travel Enlightenment, Yin Constables’ Task

In the deep mountains, breath turned to mist.

With Li Yan guiding them, the three naturally did not fear the dark. However, the mountain winds were quite strong, causing the torches to flicker unsteadily, illuminating the surrounding trees with their claw-like branches in a sinister manner.

Before long, they came upon a pool of water, the chill seeping into their bones and emitting a faint mist. Next to it stood a huge rock with three big vermilion characters inscribed on it: "Three Officials Pool."

Though it seemed eerie, Li Yan activated his divine skills and did not smell anything unusual. Instead, a refreshing burst of cool air filled his nostrils, clearing his head.

"This is the Three Officials Pool."

Wang Daoxuan spoke up, "In the past, when Guanzhong prayed for rain, they would take this route. It’s perilous, but the journey is also filled with wondrous sights. The Mugwort Plateau ahead is particularly dangerous."

Just as he had said, they didn’t walk much farther before they encountered a winding mountain path that was extremely narrow and required walking closely against the rock face, which was quite treacherous.

Fortunately, the three were in good physical condition and proceeded with caution and care, so they passed this dangerous stretch without incident.

After they left, Wang Daoxuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, "Fortunately, it has not snowed yet; otherwise, I really wouldn’t dare to climb the mountain."

"Look quickly!" Sha Lifei suddenly pointed behind them.

Li Yan looked up and saw a light flickering on that steep winding path, clearly someone else had also chosen to climb the mountain by night.

His eyesight was extraordinary, and he immediately recognized it was the woman from before. Squinting, he spoke in a low voice, "Daoist, this woman seems extraordinary. Can you tell what she’s about?"

"Let’s talk as we walk."

Wang Daoxuan led the two to continue forward.

The path here was relatively wide. He turned his head to look back again and explained, "That’s a demon hunter from Chang’an City."

"Unlike mages, these people have exceptional martial arts and possess various miscellaneous skills. They specialize in capturing spirits and slaying demons, quieting the undead, decapitating evil spirits, and they also accept court bounties to hunt down heretical practitioners, acting decisively and ruthlessly."

"This woman, I vaguely recall hearing about her. I can’t remember her name, but I do remember she’s known by a nickname, ’Crimson Yaksha,’ notorious for being ferocious."

"Such a skilled person would surely have a Taoist certificate; logically, there’s no rush for her to climb the mountain at night... I wonder why she’s hurrying."

As they spoke and walked, they soon came to another mountaintop.

The forest in the mountains was dense. Although darkness pervaded everywhere, the starry sky was exceptionally bright, with the stars glittering and the Milky Way hanging across the sky.

"Wow, what a view!" Sha Lifei, breathing white air, couldn’t help but rub his hands together and exclaimed in admiration.

Wang Daoxuan looked up at the sky and smiled, "The ’Record of Strange Things’ states: The essence of Venus fell to the west of the Gui peak of Zhongnan, transforming into white rocks as exquisite as jade, sometimes enveloped by purple aura. This is the origin of the name Taibai Mountain."

"This place is a Grotto Heaven and also suitable for star gazing. Many seniors of the Doumu Courtyard excel in astrology and divination."

"Daoist, which of these are you good at?"

"Well... I have a rudimentary understanding of all of them, but I must confess I’m not proficient in any."

"Let’s go. After we cross Panlong Mountain, let’s find a place to rest."

The two talked and laughed as they walked, trying to ease the chill in their bones. As bold as they were when they set out, now they were equally ragged.

Li Yan, on the other hand, gradually became silent.

The darkness in the mountains made it difficult to see, and even with a torch, they couldn’t make out the distant roads.

He had to constantly activate his smell superpower to lead the way, and because of this, his sense of the Grotto Heaven deepened.

This mountain range was vast and majestic, with Innate Astral Qi that was vast and boundless, like an ancient giant connecting the earth’s veins to the stars above.

And he was just a flea walking on the body of this giant.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the words of the old woman from Tianzhu Mountain.

Mortal life is but a brief spark. Even if one had a path that reached to the heavens, it would be difficult to travel far.

Like the "Luo Feng Scripture" he had obtained – eighteen levels, six palaces, each more difficult than the last, with mortals unable to see the end...

Just like the Grotto Heaven of Taibai Mountain, the reason for its initial formation was unknown; perhaps, as Wang Daoxuan said, it was due to the essence of Venus falling here, but it likely also took countless years to form such a landscape...

"Ah, Brother Yan..."

Seeing Li Yan’s unusual expression, Sha Lifei was about to speak but was held back by Wang Daoxuan, who shook his head slightly.

He knew Li Yan was having a moment of enlightenment.

When one first arrives at a Grotto Heaven, many cultivators experience this. After all, it’s a small opportunity that should not be rashly interrupted.

Sha Lifei might not have understood, but he also kept quiet out of cordiality.

The two stopped talking and followed Li Yan in silence.

Fortunately, at this moment, Li Yan was like a machine, holding a torch and climbing the mountain silently, always able to find a foothold without a single mistake.

However, gradually, the two began to struggle to keep up.

Another hour passed, and with the freezing cold, Wang Daoxuan felt numb and his legs stiffened. He could no longer persevere and nearly slipped, almost falling to the ground.

"Brother Yan!"

Unable to hold back, Sha Lifei called out.

"Oh!"

Li Yan suddenly came to his senses, looked around, and immediately understood what had happened. Apologetically, he said, "I zoned out for a bit; let’s find a place to rest."

Saying this, he turned to look around and found that they had bypassed Panlong Mountain. He then led the two away from the mountain path, through a small grove, and toward a cliff face.

A hundred meters ahead, there was a modest-sized cave.

Before getting close, Li Yan took out the Divine Tiger Token, performed the Step Gang, formed a magical incantation with his hands, and chanted, "Nuogao, let the direct descendant Wang Jia open alone, Azure Dragon at six jia, meeting the star at six yi, the bright hall at six bing... Quickly, as the incantation commands!"

Whoosh~

Wang Daoxuan and the other person suddenly felt a cold gust of wind.

At this moment, Li Yan seemed to transform into a tiger of the mountains.

Rustling!

Suddenly, a black bear charged out of the cave, looking distressed, and did not dare to approach the three. Without looking back, it fled into the thick forest.

At the same time, there was rustling around, as mice, wild rabbits, black-striped snakes, and geckos emerged, scattering in all directions to escape.