Chapter 818: Densely Covered with Traps
Due to the dangers, the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden became a natural barrier between the Primal Chaos Domain and the Chaotic Demonic Sea, thwarting all intent the two places had of invading each other.
The Merfolk of the Chaotic Demonic Sea was a fierce sea-dwelling race. The Primal Chaos Domain teemed with loose cultivators and ferocious people. If not for this Yellow Soil Demonic Garden, the factions of the two places would undoubtedly erupt in war.
Elder Peng first led Xiao Chen to the transportation formation that linked the Supreme Sky Sect to the Central Province. Then, he spent a large sum to use the Central Province’s transportation formation that connected to the entire Kunlun Realm and arrived at a city near the edge of the Primal Chaos Domain.
Using these two transportation formations, they traveled several millions of kilometers. Without these transportation formations, they would have needed three to five years of flying to reach this place.
Before Xiao Chen could see the sights of the Primal Chaos Domain, he found himself sitting on Peng Dan’s flying Spirit Beast and continuing on the journey, flying through endless clouds.
The two flew like this for seven days before leaving the Primal Chaos Domain behind. Then they landed on a barren hill fifty kilometers from the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden.
After taking a few glances around, Elder Peng took out a jade pendant. The small forest in front disappeared and revealed a cave.
Xiao Chen also knew how to lay illusion formations. Seeing this scene did not throw him. However, the illusion formation before him was quite exquisite, drawing a few more glances from him.
“Let’s go in.”
Elder Peng took the lead to enter. Xiao Chen maintained a high level of caution as he quickly followed.
The cave passage twisted and wound about. Along the way, Elder Peng broke a few traps. Finally, they arrived before a stone room. Xiao Chen could not help being surprised. The person in this cave was very cautious.
There were illusion formations, underground passages, and traps. Even after arriving at the stone room, they could not enter directly.
After Elder Peng identified himself, the stone door opened slowly. An old man with a sinister gaze and wrinkles all over his face walked out.
This old man gave Elder Peng a nod before shifting his gaze to Xiao Chen and sizing him up. He frowned and said, “Why did you bring a junior here? Hey, he is actually not an ordinary half-Sage. His Heavenly Sage Laws are even thicker and denser than many Inferior Grade Martial Sages’.”
Elder Peng raised his hand and said, “Let’s speak after we enter.”
Once inside the stone room, Elder Peng introduced both sides to each other. “Xiao Chen, this is the Heavenly Evil Gate’s current sect leader, Senior Lu Weiping. He is also the initiator of this trip.”
Uncomfortable with the aura of this person, Xiao Chen only nodded gently and did not say anything.
This person was a Medial Grade Martial Sage. Furthermore, he was no ordinary Medial Grade Martial Sage. He should have been in this cultivation realm for a long time already, hovering between the middle and late stages.
Lu Weiping’s cultivation was much higher than Elder Peng’s. However, based on how the two interacted with each other, they apparently had a close relationship.
Then, Elder Peng pointed to Xiao Chen and said, “This is a newly advanced genius disciple of the Supreme Sky Sect. He has a Martial Technique that is good at suppressing all sorts of strange flames.”
However, Lu Weiping did not seem to care too much. He said, “After I returned, I looked around in my sect and found a book that the Evil King wrote personally. That book has some records about that flame.”
Xiao Chen felt excited. A book that the Evil King wrote personally? I wonder if there are any records about the seven thrones?
When Elder Peng heard this, joy lit up his face. He asked, “How was it? Are there any results?”
Lu Weiping’s expression did not change. He replied calmly, “The Evil King once explored an Immortal cultivator’s cave residence and obtained something called a Nascent Flame. Given its description, that is the strange flame that we encountered.
“Based on the records there, I made some preparations this time. However, I am not completely confident, either. Let’s see what plans our other old friends have.”
After this, everyone just waited. No one spoke in the stone room. Since Xiao Chen had nothing to do, he closed his eyes and cultivated quietly.
“Old Lu, you are becoming increasingly timid. You even set so many traps at just a meeting place.”
Xiao Chen opened his eyes and saw a tall and burly man come in who spoke in an intimidatingly loud voice. A rather charming middle-aged woman accompanied him.
These two people were both peak Inferior Grade Martial Sages. After Elder Peng introduced them, Xiao Chen learned that these two were like Elder Peng, inner sect elders of Rank 9 sects.
The Heavenly Evil Gate’s Lu Weiping said, “I have to be cautious. The next Demonic God Blood Sacrifice will be in less than ten years.
“A few of the great factions in the Primal Chaos Domain are discussing taking advantage of the situation then to strike. They started annexing smaller factions already. It is impossible for me to stay out of it.”
Elder Peng changed the topic, asking, “My old friends, did you make preparations?”
The burly man looked around and smiled. “I prepared high-quality Sage Grade Fire Parting Clothes. I should have no problems protecting myself.”
The attractive middle-aged woman replied, “I found a Swimming Pearl. There should be no problems protecting myself.”
Lu Weiping revealed a cold smile when he heard their replies. They were all sly people, thinking only of how to protect themselves rather than extinguishing the fire.
After that, another person arrived. That person also brought a Secret Treasure. Likewise, it could only protect that person. Peng Dan and Lu Weiping exchanged glances as if they had expected this long ago.
After observing for a while, Xiao Chen discovered that Lu Weiping and Elder Peng seemed to be joint sponsors of this trip; these two people were partners.
The three people who came later seemed to have formed a last-minute alliance, clearly to prevent the two from getting rid of them when they ceased to be useful, abandoning them after the two accomplished their goals.
“Strange, why is Brother Liu from the Heavenly Mystery Gate not here yet?”
After waiting for a long time, it seemed like the most important person, whom the group was waiting for, had not arrived yet. Even Lu Weiping started to get impatient.
“Haha! If your cave did not wind and twist so much, would this old man be so late?”
Laughter resounded. Without waiting for Lu Weiping, someone opened the stone door, which should not have been openable from the outside, from the outside.
Footsteps rang out. An old man with bright spirits, white hair, and a youthful complexion appeared before Xiao Chen.
“Lu Weiping, your skill at making traps is still as bad as ever. This old man could not resist breaking some of the mechanisms as I wandered around the passageway, which resulted in me being delayed. Sorry for that.”
Xiao Chen glanced at this old man with the family name Liu. This person was rather interesting. The trap mechanisms along the way were not crappy goods. This old man should be someone extraordinary.
As far as Xiao Chen remembered, the Heavenly Mystery Gate was not a Rank 9 sect. However, the entire sect was good at formations and all sorts of trap mechanisms. It was rather unique and famous.
Clearly, this was not Lu Weiping’s first time dealing with this person; he did not say much. At this moment, Elder Peng stood up and introduced Xiao Chen to everyone. Then, they prepared to depart.
However, everyone’s reaction was similar to Lu Weiping’s. Xiao Chen did not look like an ordinary younger-generation cultivator. However, they did not believe that a junior could solve the difficult problem that was beyond these Martial Sages’ abilities.
Hurricanes churned the skies of the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden all year round. Some of these hurricanes could even shred grandmaster-level Martial Sages.
Naturally, Xiao Chen and this group did not take any risks. They all walked straightforwardly on the yellow dirt.
Dark yellow filled their sight. At the limits of their vision, they saw a sinister-looking forest. After they arrived there, they would have truly entered the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden.
The plants inside, which looked the same as those in the outer world, were all mutated, man-eating plants.
Many of the rumors revolved around the legendary Undying Tree. They said that the earth here mutated because of the existence of the Undying Tree.
Although Xiao Chen traveled with this group of elderlies, who were all at least two hundred years old, he did not have anything in common with them. These people were mindful of their statuses and were not willing to take the initiative to engage him in conversation.
Being left alone delighted Xiao Chen. As he calmly trailed the group, he gained some news from the elderlies’ conversations, listening very carefully to what they divulged.
From what they said, the Evil King had not died normally. Instead, he had gone to a forbidden land at a sea beyond the Chaotic Demonic Sea—the Mirage Immortal Palace—and mysteriously passed away.
The Evil King’s death resulted in what had been a Sovereign Sect going on a decline. To date, they had not risen up again and even faced the threat of destruction.
The Chaotic Demonic Sea was already very large. The sea past the Chaotic Demonic Sea was known to the inhabitants of the Kunlun Realm as Penglai Sea. Few people knew much about this place.
[TL Note: Penglai is a fabled island in Chinese mythology. It is an abode of immortals.]
However, the Mirage Immortal Palace was somewhat famous in the Primal Chaos Domain. Also known as the Mirage Ghost Palace, it was said to be a very large Immortal sect Remnant. Even quasi-Emperors could not guarantee their survival in that place.
The group moved rather fast. Soon, they reached the sinister-looking forest. A small path extended into the forest, created by cultivators who frequently went inside to adventure.
Lu Weiping’s expression did not show any change. He said, “With my cultivation, there is nothing much to pay note to at the periphery of the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden. So we don’t need to slow down.”
After Lu Weiping said that, he took the lead and entered. The others did not hesitate to follow.
Xiao Chen remained silent, bringing up the rear. However, he extended his Spiritual Sense and left it out.
“Pu chi!”
Suddenly, a hole opened in the ground in front, and a venomous snake as thick as a human arm pounced out. It struck at Lu Weiping at lightning speed, opening its jaws to bite.
This snake was somewhat ridiculously long. Even after showing more than five hundred meters of its body, its lower half still remained buried.
Lu Weiping smiled coldly and stretched out his hand. The snake’s head immediately exploded. The body appeared to be startled and quickly tried to retreat to the ground.
However, he pulled his hand back. A formless suction coming from it grabbed the strange snake body trying to retreat.
He pulled back further, and the ground shook as it cracked. Rocks flew up as the cracks extended to a large tree about a kilometer in front.
After that, the entire tree soared into the air. Its deep-set roots left the ground, tossing up a large number of rocks.
Xiao Chen’s pupils constricted as he got a clear look at the arm-width-thick venomous snake, which turned out to be just one of the tree’s thousand roots and not a snake at all.
However, the tree had not expected Lu Weiping to pull it up by the roots when it tested him. The remaining roots opened snakelike jaws and flew crazily at Lu Weiping.