Chapter 619 - 556: Ancient Mountains

Chapter 619: Chapter 556: Ancient Mountains

Yellow sand filled the sky. The scorching sun relentlessly baked the Desert Sea. Billowing heat waves rose, making it seem as if space itself were distorting. The sprawling sand dunes and the endless hordes of Sand-tailed Scorpions all appeared warped in the haze.

And now, within this distortion, at the edge of the sandy sea, a mirage-like scene appeared. Amidst the boundless yellow sand, a range of peculiar peaks and steep mountains stretched out. Faintly, one could even see pavilions and towers nestled among the mountain range.

A single glance brought with it an indescribable aura of vast, ancient ages. It was as if this mountain range, these pavilions and towers, had been weathered by the passage of countless eons.

The two Silver-White Sand-tailed Scorpions, having arrived on a mission, stopped mid-air almost simultaneously upon seeing the strange phenomenon.

The two people hidden within the Sand-tailed Scorpion disguises stared blankly at the mirage-like scene.

If it had been a small pocket of vibrant life amid the sprawling dunes, it might have been the effect of some Cultivator’s Magic Technique.

But for such a vast mountain range with its peculiar peaks, steep ridges, and auspicious, swirling clouds—a majestic scene befitting an Immortal Family—to stand tall in this boundless sea of sand was another matter entirely.

Though incredibly abrupt and dreamlike, it clearly couldn’t be the result of a single Cultivator’s Magic Technique.

Judging by the surging Spiritual Qi fluctuations, it didn’t seem to be an Illusion Realm either.

It seemed more like... undeniably... real!

In other words, the strange phenomenon of the rampaging Spiritual Qi originated from this peculiar sight.

At that moment, a guidance seemed to descend from the unseen, urging him toward that sprawling mountain range.

It was as if a mission belonging to him—to Chu Mu—lay within.

Chu Mu looked down at the Compass in his hand. As this strange guidance descended, several more black dots appeared on it, slowly approaching the area around the suddenly-materialized ancient mountains.

Clearly, this strange sense of guidance was targeting all the Cultivators who had entered this Desert Sea trial.

They were no exception.

Chu Mu then closed his eyes. Under the Spiritual Radiance Blessing, a perception so fine it could detect the most minute details flowed through his entire body.

While in his heaven-deceiving disguise as a Sand-tailed Scorpion, he could now clearly perceive both the will fluctuating from the one controlling the scorpions and the sudden sense of guidance that had just descended.

The only difference was that the will controlling the Sand-tailed Scorpions hadn’t detected his true self; it was only connected to his disguise.

This guiding sensation, however, had locked onto his true self with extreme precision, completely ignoring his heaven-deceiving disguise.

’So, there are two opposing sides?’

Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes. He glanced again at the endless Sand-tailed Scorpions before him, his gaze finally settling on the faint outline of the sprawling mountains on the horizon. He seemed to have reached an understanding.

The will controlling the Sand-tailed Scorpions was manipulating the countless creatures to annihilate any outsiders who approached, forbidding them from getting near the ancient mountain range on the horizon at all costs.

And yet, this guidance was directing them, the Trial Takers, toward that very same mountain range.

The two were clearly in direct opposition.

The only uncertainty was what role each of them played in this Desert Sea Trial Land...

Qin Zhaoxue spoke up, "Fellow Daoist Chu, it seems that mountain range ahead is guiding us forward?"

"It’s likely not just the two of us..."

Chu Mu responded, his gaze shifting to silently watch the figures in the distance, each one already wreathed in brilliant light.

Under this guidance, every Cultivator who had made it this far was using every trick up their sleeve, carving a bloody path toward the ancient mountains.

’They’re all Golden Cores...’

Chu Mu’s eyes shifted. This was to be expected.

Faced with such an overwhelming Beast Tide, it would have been impossible for any Low Tier Cultivators to survive this long.

"Let’s go. We’ll get closer and observe for a bit. See if we can find any clues."

After a quick glance around, he sent the voice transmission. Chu Mu leaped, and the streak of silver-white once again shot across the sky.

Seeing this, Qin Zhaoxue followed close behind. The two silver-white gleams, one after the other, flew straight toward the ancient mountains.

Before long, after only about an hour, the distant ancient mountains were right before their eyes.

A Grand Array stood tall and majestic. Endless Array Prohibition Inscriptions, like pages of a profound scripture, swirled through the sky, covering every mountain peak within sight.

The entire ancient mountain range was enveloped by this Grand Array. The two silver-white figures landed at the foot of the mountains but could not enter.

From a distance, they could still glimpse the pavilions and towers within the mountains, but now, at the foot, a dense fog obscured everything from view.

This was clearly an effect of the Grand Array.

At this very moment, the foot of the mountain was crawling with a dense mass of Sand-tailed Scorpions. In fact, the area surrounding the ancient mountains, for hundreds, even thousands of miles, was occupied by an endless horde of them, blocking any outsider who tried to approach.

Without their heaven-deceiving disguise, they would have had to fight for their lives and carve out a bloody path just to get this far, like the other Trial Takers.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, don’t you think this place looks like a Sect’s headquarters?" Qin Zhaoxue asked, surveying their surroundings with a hint of doubt.

"If it were a sect’s headquarters, there should be a mountain gate for disciples to come and go..." Chu Mu said thoughtfully, his eyes scanning the area. Most of his attention, however, was focused on the Mountain Protection Array.

"Fellow Daoist, to the Southwest. Look, isn’t that a stone monument?"

Only then did Chu Mu pull his thoughts back. Following Qin Zhaoxue’s direction, he saw a massive stone monument standing faintly visible behind several colossal Sand-tailed Scorpions that were dozens of yards tall.

Upon seeing it, the two moved in succession, appearing before the stone monument in an instant.

The stone monument shot up toward the sky like the edge of a sword, standing over ninety feet tall. Its entire body was a flawless white, but strangely, the stele was completely blank.

It was just like the stone monument in the square where they had first arrived in this Cave Mansion ruin—flawlessly white, without a single character on it.

"This stele is made of the same material as the one in the square."

Chu Mu concluded after a moment of sensing it, then turned to look at Qin Zhaoxue.

He hadn’t risked his life to save her just to play the hero saving a damsel in distress.

He did it because he suspected she had an extraordinary background.

After all, her background was extraordinary, and she came from the Great Heng Immortal Cultivation Immortal World, a place he found to be unfathomably deep.

Her knowledge of ancient secrets surely far surpassed that of a solitary, unsupported person like himself...

...