Chapter 685: Towering Mountain
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
Lu Ling could find a way to save Lu Li when he was still in the Inferno, even if it meant the Inferno was packed with powerful locals. She could turn to the Demon-slaying Hall for help.
Demon-slaying Hall would find it disturbing that a world with powerful locals appeared in the Heaven Reverse Universe. The Demon-slaying Hall would gather forces around the Great Land to fight back, which gave hope to Lu Li’s rescue.
However, Lu Li was brought to another universe. Lu Ling could tell many things from Ye Cha’s expression. She felt her hands were tied in this situation.
God of Meng and the others walked in and dropped to one knee as well. None said anything. After the time for one incense stick to burn, Lu Ling finally came back to herself. She opened her eyes feebly and said, “Tell me. What has happened?”
God of Meng and the others showed no intention to talk. Ye Cha worked up courage and replied, “We went to many places in the Inferno but found no trace of human activities. However, there is a stone staircase located in a large mountain at the north. The staircase leads to the clouds and we could not see the top. None of us could…climb up!”
Ye Cha continued with more anguish after a pause, “On the stone wall next to the stone staircase, we found several words. They were carved not long ago and it was a message from Saint Lord!”
Lu Ling was excited by this fact and asked nervously, “What did he say?”
Ye Cha replied, word by word, “Don’t look for me. Wait for me to come back!”
“Um…”
Lu Ling sighed. She forced a smile on her face so she wouldn’t look so awful. She thought about it and asked, “Is it safe on the way? I want to check the staircase.”
Hu Lang answered, “It will be with us protecting you. Saintess, do you want to go now?”
“Have a rest first!” Lu Ling waved her hand and said, “Use a jade talisman to tell others to gather at the entrance of the Inferno.”
“Will do!”
Hu Lang left. God of Meng and Ye Cha stayed behind. Ye Cha bowed again and said, “Lady Ling, we are so sorry. We couldn’t protect Saint Lord. Please punish us as you see fit.”
God of Meng lowered his head and forewent his dignity. He knew very well how much power Lu Ling had and he admired her for her wisdom and abilities. He was indeed sorry that Lu Li kidnapped. God of Meng felt too ashamed to face Lu Ling right now.
“How is it your fault?”
Lu Ling shook her head and said, “My brother has made the choice himself. You shouldn’t let yourself drown in guilt. Cultivate now. Don’t let his efforts go to waste.”
“Sure!”
Ye Cha and God of Meng looked at each other solemnly. Clearly, they were worried about Lu Li’s situation.
“Don’t overthink!”
Lu Ling waved her hand and said, “Lu Li’s jade talisman of life is still intact. The fact that he could leave a message for us indicated that it was not that bad. I trust him. He will be back. Of course…we all have to find a way to save him. Go and have a rest now. After you recover, I will need to go to the Inferno to have a look.”
“Alright!”
God of Meng and Ye Cha didn’t stay any longer. They left, burdened on their minds.
“Tick, tick!”
Lu Ling collapsed and sat down when finally she was alone. Tears ran down from the corner of her eyes, dropped to the ground, making a crisp sound.
It had been a stressful time for all and everyone was in misery. But who else was more stressful or in more pain than Lu Ling?
…
A day later, Lu Ling, Ye Cha and the others entered the Inferno, leaving Ming Yu and Lu Feixue to take command at the Shadowland City. As for affairs of the Clouds Plains and the Serenity Plains, Lu Ling had made plans. Something might go amiss, but they were not Lu Ling’s concern anymore…
Some jade talismans had been crushed to notify all the Human Sovereign Realm warriors to gather at the entrance of the Inferno. That being said, given the large area of the Inferno, it would take some time for all to arrive.
Lu Ling told a patriarch of the Cyan Phoenix Race to stay at the base camp. He had a simple map made by Ye Cha. The other Human Sovereign Realm warriors could use the map to find Lu Ling.
Four teams were sent into the Inferno and they had been searching for a month. During that time, none of their jade talismans of life were broken, which indicated that there were no local residents in the Inferno. Leng Wuxin and her family didn’t live here. Inferno was safe.
Ye Cha explored the way, God of Meng took the lead and Lu Ling was surrounded by many others. Seeing how exhausted she was, Hu Lang asked her to sit on his Bead of Life to have a rest.
Lu Ling was tired. She didn’t have one single night of good sleep for the past month. Quite often, she would sleep on her chair when she was worn out. Yet soon, she would wake up from nightmares. Sitting on Hu Lang’s Bead of Life, surprisingly, she soon fell asleep soundly…
It was safe with so many Human Sovereign Realm warriors traveling together. Ye Cha was the best to explore the way. If they could avoid encountering Xuan Beasts, they would try their best not to engage in any fights. If not, Ye Cha could show them the way where Xuan Beasts were few and far between so they could go past the Xuan Beasts.
After three days, they ran into a team that had been searching here. The team found no useful information. They didn’t meet any other human being in the Inferno nor found any traces of humans living here.
With more Human Sovereign Realm warriors, the trip became safer. Lu Ling need not worry about anything and as a matter of fact, she didn’t concern herself about anything. She had been cultivating with her utmost effort on Hu Lang’s Bead of Life as if she was trying to forget about her worry of Lu Li.
They flew toward the north. The Inferno was so spacious that it bordered on shocking. Human Sovereign Realm warriors were fast but still, it took them half a month to arrive at the destination. What was more, they were not at the border yet. There must be vast lands further to the north.
Their destination was a mountain to the heavens. It soared up to the sky and nobody could tell its height. All they could see were the clouds, which veiled the mountain peak.
It was more like a cudgel than a soaring mountain. It was perfect straight all around. Viewed from the distance, it was like a huge cudgel rose abruptly from the ground into the clouds, connecting heaven and earth.
On the mountain there was no vegetation. The mountain was made of sienna rocks. Only one road meandered its way up and disappeared into the clouds.
“This is a road to the heavens. Is that where my brother is brought to?”
Squinting, Lu Ling murmured. She observed from the distance for a long time before she stepped toward the staircase slowly.
At the entrance was a smooth rock on which words were carved by a sharp knife—Don’t look for me. Wait for me to come back!
“It is Lu Li’s handwriting!”
Stroking the carved words, Lu Ling smiled. The words were written in a calm and yet vigorous way, which created some hope for Lu Ling. Maybe it was not as bad as they had thought. Maybe…one day, Lu Li would come down here.
“Gravitational force on the staircase is huge!”
Hu Lang walked over and explained, “I cannot even climb up 10 stairs under the influence of this gravitational force. The higher it is, the more horrifying the gradational force is. I suppose…not even Xing Mu can go up 100 stairs!”
“Merely 100!”
Lu Ling murmured. She stepped on the first one. Her shoulders trembled. She stopped for a moment and then tried another one. After that, she came back down.
Back at the stone wall where the words were carved, Lu Ling had some serious thoughts. Then, she began to give commands, “Tu Ni, go back to the Drifting Cloud City now and look after the Clouds Plains and the Serenity Plains. You guys, lead a team of your own and start to clean out the Xuan Beasts in Inferno. Ask Ke Lv, Ke Mang and other races that understand Inhibition Formations to come here and recruit warriors know how to break down formations from Clouds Plains and Serenity Plains. If Leng Wuxin and my brother can go up there, we can as well!”