Chapter 39: Bewildering Golden Light Slays a Nascent Soul

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Bewildering Golden Light Slays a Nascent Soul

This man was slightly shorter than Chu Fan. He wore a dark blue, long-lapelled robe fastened with a jade belt. His high-bridged nose, deep-set eyes, and resolute features gave him a tough appearance.

He looked to be slightly older than Chu Fan.

But because Chu Fan had deliberately neglected his appearance and sported a beard, he actually looked older when they stood together.

Chu Fan feigned a look of fear, poling his bamboo raft and not daring to look at the man.

The man said, "Brother, you seem a bit afraid?"

"N-no, it’s, it’s..." Chu Fan pretended to be incoherent.

The man gently patted Chu Fan’s shoulder and said, "There’s no need to be afraid, brother. I’m not a bad person. I’ve just been traveling day and night for several days and am a bit weary. I saw you had a bamboo raft and seemed to be heading toward Zao Ying Mountain, so I was hoping to hitch a ride."

After speaking, he pulled an ingot of silver from his robes, stuffed it directly into Chu Fan’s lapel, and said, "Consider this your fare!"

"I-I can’t accept this!" Chu Fan said, hastily trying to pull the silver out.

"Don’t refuse. You’re taking me across, so I’m paying the fare. It’s only right and proper." The man pressed down on Chu Fan’s hand.

To change the subject, the man asked, "This whole area is flooded. Why are you still heading to Zao Ying Mountain?"

Chu Fan, still feigning fear, stammered, "I have a friend who lives at the base of Mogan Peak on Zao Ying Mountain. I heard that after the earth dragon turned over, the dams broke and the area flooded. But I’ve searched for days among the refugees and haven’t found him. I want to go look... and if he really didn’t make it, I can at least give him a proper burial."

"I didn’t expect you to be so loyal, brother," the man praised.

"Have you seen anyone else heading to Zao Ying Mountain?"

"I have, I have. Lots of people were flyin’ over. Oh my god, are those people Immortals? How else can a person fly?"

As he said this, he seemed to have a sudden realization and asked in terror, "You can fly too. Are you an Immortal?"

The man burst into laughter at his words. "I’m no Immortal. I’m a mortal, just like you. I just started Cultivation when I was young. If you had been able to enter a Sect as a child, you’d be able to fly now too."

"Sect? Cultivation? What’s that?"

"It’s a school for martial arts. Cultivation is similar to practicing martial arts."

"Oh, oh, the Darts Masters at the Escort Agency in my county practice martial arts too. How come they can’t fly?"

"It’s a different kind of martial art."

"What’s your Sect called? Are you still takin’ people? Can I join?"

"Our Sect is called the Xuanming Sect. We are recruiting, but you’re already past the right age. You can’t practice our Sect’s Cultivation Techniques anymore." The man showed no trace of disdain for the mortal before him.

Hearing the words ’Xuanming Sect’, Chu Fan had already guessed the man’s identity.

’A disciple of the Xuanming Sect, about thirty-three or thirty-four years old, with a Cultivation at Golden Core Realm Tier Four. Humble and courteous... this must be Master Ni, the Direct Disciple of Xuanming Sect’s Elder Qi.’

Master Ni’s reputation was nearly as great as Chu Fan’s own had been, as the number one prodigy of the Eastern Domain.

However, during the Taixing Grand Assembly the year before last, Master Ni had been training on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. That, combined with him being too old for the junior generation’s competitions, meant he hadn’t made an appearance.

That was why Chu Fan had only heard of his reputation but had never met him, and thus didn’t recognize him.

"Why are you all headin’ to Zao Ying Mountain at a time like this?" Chu Fan asked with feigned ignorance.

"An earthquake is a disaster for you common folk, but for us Cultivators, it’s a fortuitous opportunity. Everyone is here hoping to find their chance! But since you aren’t a Cultivator, I can’t really explain it clearly in a short time. Just think of it as everyone coming to hunt for treasure."

"Treasure hunting? Can you take me with you?" Chu Fan said, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"Opportunity and danger go hand in hand. Besides, the things here are of no use to you. Even if you did find something valuable, you might lose your life for it. It’s not worth it."

Chu Fan seemed to shrink back, as if frightened by his words.

They exchanged a few more desultory words as the bamboo raft reached the shore near Zao Ying Mountain. Only then did Chu Fan notice the upper body of an immense stone statue rising from the water in the valley between two peaks.

The upper body alone, just what was visible above the water, was probably a hundred feet tall.

"Heavens above, when did a statue like that get here?"

"That is the Divine Statue of Ascendant Xingfeng. It ’grew’ out of the ground after the earthquake," Master Ni explained.

"Alright, this is my stop. Take care of yourself, brother!" With that, Master Ni cupped his fist to Chu Fan, then lightly tapped his feet and took flight, soaring toward one of the mountain peaks.

After Master Ni left, Chu Fan’s brow furrowed.

He had the vague feeling that an invisible thread was connecting a series of unknown events.

’Ascendant Xingfeng?’

’Isn’t he the last person on the continent to achieve Ascension to Immortality? Isn’t he Ye Xiaohan’s ancestor?’

’The Ye Family’s ancestral home is in Yingtang County, in the Central Domain Hua Xu Empire. Why would a Divine Statue of Ascendant Xingfeng be here on Zao Ying Mountain in the Eastern Domain?’

’Who built it?’

’And why was it buried underground for so long?’

’Surely eight thousand years of worldly change isn’t enough to bury a two-hundred-foot-tall Divine Statue underground, right?’

’Could this Divine Statue have some connection to the secret treasure my master left for me?’

As Chu Fan pondered, a voice like a great bell boomed, echoing throughout Zao Ying Mountain.

"All Cultivators at Golden Core Realm Tier Five or above must withdraw from Zao Ying Mountain within a quarter of an hour and are forbidden from setting foot on Zao Ying Mountain for one month. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences!"

Chu Fan looked up and searched for a long time, but couldn’t find the person who had spoken.

’Why do Cultivators at Golden Core Realm Tier Five and above have to leave Zao Ying Mountain?’

Chu Fan, of course, couldn’t figure it out.

Not long after the voice faded, Chu Fan did indeed see several figures fly away from various peaks. He even recognized more than half of them.

Just as the quarter-hour was up, Chu Fan saw a great, shimmering golden net descend from the sky.

The enormous net of light enveloped the entirety of Zao Ying Mountain.

As the net of light slowly descended, hysterical screams and terrified shouts erupted from several of Zao Ying Mountain’s peaks.

The net of light also passed down from over Chu Fan’s head, through his body from top to bottom, and vanished into the water.

’Could it be that this net of light kills Cultivators at Golden Core Realm Tier Five and above, but is completely harmless to those below Tier Five?’

’Then who cast this net of light? Just how powerful is this person?’

Chu Fan was profoundly shaken.

To confirm his theory, he poled his raft around a peak, jumped off on the other side, and quickly made his way up the mountain.

He quietly slipped into a crowd of people on the peak.

By some coincidence, the three people from the Purple Gold Sect he had met earlier were also in this crowd.

Because everyone’s attention was focused on several sets of clothes on the ground, no one noticed the addition of a very ordinary-looking person like Chu Fan.

"Pei Wenxiong was a Nascent Soul Realm Martial Artist, and he’s just... dead? What in the world was that golden light?" someone said, terrified and uneasy.

Hearing this, Chu Fan was even more shocked. ’The golden light fell, and a Nascent Soul Realm Martial Artist was obliterated without a trace, yet his clothes remained completely intact.’

Why did he get the feeling that the entirety of Zao Ying Mountain was being manipulated by someone?

Just what kind of person possessed such immense power?