Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 1175: Opposing Armies
Skybrink Ridge.
As an area in the far south of Rosecloud, this normally deserted and barren region was now abnormally lively.
Cultivators were flying all around the desolate mountains, and tents had been set up from the top of the ridge all the way down to the base, flags and banners snapping in the wind. Immortal palaces floated in the air, and giant ships traversed the heavens, along with all other kinds of unique flight treasures employed by humans.
The cultivators in the sky and on the ground had essentially divided themselves into two groups. Those in the sky were at Celestial Heart or above. They were strong and respected and would not lightly come to the ground, so they appeared more scattered.
As for those on the ground, they consisted of puppets and trained fiends led by some of the Celestial Heart cultivators. Although they were there to serve as cannon fodder, they had been brought in such large numbers that they could make up for their lack of strength.
More cultivators were still coming, and there were other cultivators tasked with finding them their place in the camp.
“Master, look; it’s Skybrink Ridge!”
A young voice called out.
The speaker was a girl who seemed to be sixteen or seventeen, and next to her was a Daoist nun. From a distance, they saw an Immortal palace, golden and majestic, and there was also a dragon boat fifty kilometers long and several kilometers tall, with a thousand sails and ten thousand oars, all cloaked in a jewel-like luster. And there was also a mountain range jutting into the heavens, carried along by a giant flying turtle.
There was a floating flower basket in which a thousand flowers bloomed, each of them exuding a fragrant aroma, each flower being a cave estate that cultivators went in and out of. There was a heavenly pagoda that could change sizes, an Immortal cloud which held a vast heavenly lake, and a jade ruyi which contained its own little world, circled by a ring of starlight.The girl was enchanted. “So beautiful!”
Even someone who had never seen these before would recognize the owners of these various treasures. The Immortal palace was the Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the divine turtle was the Beast Refining Gate’s Turtleborne Mountain, the flower basket was the Thousand Passions Sect’s Basket of Yearning, the dragon boat was the Seven Absolutions Sect’s Celestial Craft, and the pagoda was the Basking Moon Sect’s Starsnatch Pagoda. The Immortal cloud was Godhead Palace’s Wandering Cumulus, and finally, the ruyi was the Star Radiant Gate’s Stellar Ruyi.
The divine treasures of the seven Immortal sects were all here, and around them were the treasures of several thousand lesser sects, a river of treasures forming over Skybrink Ridge.
The girl gawked as she went with her master to a cloud palace on the very outer edge.
A cultivator in purple-gold armor flew out of the palace, holding a jade book. “All visitors must register their name.”
The Daoist nun replied, “The Spirit Mountain Rain Nun has come to answer the summons.”
The cultivator tapped the jade book, and the image and name of the nun emerged from it. He examined them and nodded. “I’ve confirmed your identity. You belong to the fourth squad of the sixth platoon of the Demon-Suppressing Army. Go in through here and fly straight south until you see a sky-reaching mountain.”
The Daoist nun bowed. “Thank you for your trouble.”
She set off.
The girl wanted to follow, but the armored cultivator stopped her. “You cannot go.”
The girl quickly said, “I’m Master’s disciple. I’ve also come to take part in the battle.”
The armored cultivator replied, “It has been decreed that no cultivator that has not reached the Celestial Heart Realm is allowed to take part in the battle.”
“Why!?” The girl put a hand on her hip. “Why can’t I participate!?”
“Because you’re too weak,” the armored cultivator answered. “With your strength, even if you took part, you wouldn’t be able to do much and instead might even cause trouble. It’s better if you don’t take part.”
“You’re looking down on me!” the girl shouted. “Everyone has a duty to fight back against the demons, so why are you discriminating against us? Shouldn’t even the weakest be able to contribute?”
The armored cultivator smiled in anger. “You girl, you really don’t get it when someone’s being nice. Isn’t it for your own good that I not let you go? Do you know what place this is? The Primordial Fog battlefield! Look at the other side. What kind of existences are those? They’re all demons of the Primordial Fog, every terrifying devil that you can and can’t imagine. Just one of them could sow chaos in our world, but now they’ve made an army. What can someone like you do? Not letting you participate is for your own good. Letting someone as young as you die would be a great pity. You still have a good future and have no need to go onto such a cruel battlefield now.”
“So what if it’s the Primordial Fog battlefield? We cultivators go against the heavens, putting our lives on the line! How can we fear mere demons?”
The armored cultivator was amused. “Who told you that cultivators had to go against the heavens? And just how many times has your life truly been in danger?”
The Daoist nun begged, “My disciple spends all day cultivating, so she’s a little naive. She’s read too many stories and dreams every day about making a name for herself, which has ended up in this embarrassing display. Sir, please don’t blame her.”
The armored cultivator shook his head. “It’s fine. She’s being sincere, after all. But the rules are the rules. You can argue all you want, but I still can’t let you in.”
He flew back.
The nun turned to the girl. “Yue’er, as you can see, it’s not that I’m not willing to take you, but the orders above say that no one below Celestial Heart is allowed to participate. Go back and peacefully cultivate. Don’t worry. The Primordial Fog Calamity lasts for one hundred years, so if you can reach Celestial Heart in one hundred years, you can take part and contribute to the defense of humanity.”
“Hmph, you make it sound nice, but you’re probably celebrating.” The girl turned away in a huff.
The Spirit Mountain Rain Nun smiled.
She treated her disciple like a daughter and naturally didn’t want to see her in danger. It was precisely because she knew that the seven supreme sects had decreed that nobody below Celestial Heart was allowed to participate that she dared to bring her disciple. Now that her disciple had been humiliated, she could advise her to go back. “Disciple, your master is leaving now. I don’t know if we’ll be able to see each other after these one hundred years are over, so take good care of yourself.”
Tears welling up, she turned and flew off.
Yue’er watched her master leave before reluctantly flying back.
After flying for a while, she saw banners down below, and a great host gathered. A cultivator happened to be flying past, so she called out, “Sir, might I ask: didn’t the seven supreme sects forbid cultivators below Celestial Heart to participate? Why are there low-level cultivators down below?”
Yue’er could see that those people down below were at Mortal Shedding, or not even that.
The cultivator glanced at Yue’er before saying, “The area down below is mainly meant for puppets and fiend beasts, but there needs to be some people to tend to them. In addition, there are some minor matters that need to be handled but that can’t possibly be asked of True Persons, so some low-level cultivators together with some mortals were assigned to those tasks.”
“Doesn’t that mean that I can do that too?” Yue’er’s eyes lit up.
The cultivator examined Yue’er and snorted, “I would advise you to think otherwise. Those down below suffer great hardship and are the first to die. That’s the most dangerous area, and your chances of survival are slim to none. Miss, I believe that you are only at Cognitive Creation? You must have impressive talent to reach this level at your age. Go back and cultivate, and if you achieve success, you will have a chance to go onto the battlefield and fight against the demons. But if I were you, I would rather not advance so as to avoid facing those terrifying demons.”
“You’ve got no guts!” Yue’er snorted, flying down.
The cultivator wasn’t angered by Yue’er’s words, simply watching as she flew down, shaking his head. “Seeking your own death. Ah, forget it. In the current situation, just how many will be able to survive? Perhaps even those individuals might not even be able to do it.”
Glancing up at the sky, the cultivator departed.
In the direction he gazed, a small mountain was floating in the air.
This was a little bald mountain with no trees, only a forest of scattered standing rocks, and among these rocks stood Tang Jie.
With his hands behind his back, Tang Jie gazed into the distance.
Among the mountains and forests, a blackness was spreading.
Over there was Heavenweave Ridge.
It now entirely belonged to the demons.
The demons endlessly flowing out of the bronze gates stained the sky black, turned the earth to sand, and filled the air with poison.
All one could see were demons.
These demons were crawling across the earth, picking it clean of plants, trees, and even moist sand, stuffing it all into their mouths.
For the demons who were accustomed to the awful environment of the Primordial Fog Domain, the human plane was so wonderful that even the sand was delicious, bursting with digestible resources. Here, they could enjoy all the beauty that life had to offer.
For this, they could fight to the death!
They greedily gazed into the distance. Even those that couldn’t sense the pulses of spiritual energy could still tell that many humans were gathering.
This was like someone attending a banquet seeing the feast being served. Every demon felt their appetite being stimulated to the maximum extent, but they did not dare to rush in, for they had not received the order.
The Primordial Fog Domain was a world where the strong ruled, and each demon had this principle branded into their blood. Even if their natures were chaotic, their fear of the strong kept them organized. If this fear were gone, the demons would fall into utter chaos.
Near the bronze Demon Gate, a fortress was being built.
As the ideal slaves, numerous Allcomers were piling up stones and pouring bronze that had been melted down by Silver Pyros, after which the devils would come in, hardening the walls and carving in formation lines.
They moved very quickly, and in just one day, the basic form of a fortress was evident.
In the center of the fortress was a massive black figure that exuded a terrifying pressure.
It was this pressure that suppressed the savagery of the demons, but its owner was hidden in the shadows, gazing into the distance.
At this moment, the eyes of Tang Jie and that Archdevil met.
In that moment.
Ripples of power pulsed.
