105: Chapter 105 Reunion

Chen Changqing thought no more of it; matters had come to this point, so attempting to cross this mountain was inevitable.

Unless he had a Purple Mansion cultivation base.

However, even if he crossed the mountain, he would not pass through the main peaks, as there were bound to be Tier 3 Yao Beasts there.

Qianmo Ridge, as the name implied, was said to harbor thousands of demonic creatures. This, however, was a legend passed down from ancient times, which was precisely why this place was named Qianmo Ridge.

The entire Qianmo Ridge was divided into three main mountains and nine peaks.

Aside from the three main mountains, the remaining nine peaks would at most feature some Tier 2 Monster Beasts, and the main mountains were nearly a thousand li apart from each other.

With the cultivation base of Tier 3 Yao Beasts, it was impossible to perceive distances of nearly a thousand li. Moreover, Yao Beasts generally did not Cultivate their Divine Soul, relying mainly on primitive methods like eyes and scent to observe their surroundings.

Unlike Human Race Cultivators, a human Purple Palace Cultivator with significant talent in Divine Soul could even cover a radius of several hundred li with their Divine Sense, though most Purple Palace Cultivators could at best cover a range of several dozen li.

As for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, weaker ones could cover at least a radius of one li, while stronger ones could expand this coverage several times over. For someone like him, whose Divine Soul strength exceeded the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment Perfection, he could even cover a ten-li radius with his Divine Sense.

Therefore, this was the primary reason Chen Changqing chose to directly cross Qianmo Ridge.

Just as he approached within ten li of Qianmo Ridge, he suddenly noticed movement from one direction. Was there something over there?

At this moment, Bai Yuqing reminded him, "Master, there seem to be Foundation Establishment Cultivators like you over there, and two of them are people you know."

Hearing this, Chen Changqing was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected to be so lucky as to encounter other people even here. It seemed their objective was the same as his; as for which people he knew, he would only find out after heading over there.

Chen Changqing advanced slowly according to the direction Bai Yuqing provided.

When he was less than five li away from this group of Cultivators, he released his Divine Sense to investigate.

"Hmm?" A ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator suddenly raised his head; he had just sensed what seemed to be a sweep of Divine Sense over them.

He immediately grew vigilant, and seeing his reaction, the surrounding Cultivators instantly became alert as well.

Having managed to reach this place with great difficulty, they were most afraid of unexpected situations, so even the slightest movement was enough to alarm them.

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Hao?" asked a Cultivator with a middle-aged appearance.

"I don't know if it was my imagination, but I felt a sweep of Divine Sense over us just now," Hao Sheng said uncertainly.

"Divine Sense? It shouldn't be Senior Moxuan, right?" another person spoke up. He was one of the two ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Cultivators who had left Chen Changqing and the others at the very beginning, but now he was the only one left here, with no telling where the other person had gone.

"I hope I was mistaken. We are just waiting for Senior Moxuan to return now, at which point we will cross Qianmo Ridge together. Barring any mishaps, we can return to the border of Yan Country in another half month." Hao Sheng shook his head.

After a while longer, when Chen Changqing was only one li away from them, he released a bit of his aura, which was immediately detected by all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators over there.

Everyone instantly went on high alert; some Cultivators had already summoned their Magical Artifacts, while others held Talismans in one hand with their other hand ready to perform hand seals.

As Chen Changqing drew closer and closer.

"Wait, it seems to be a Human Race Cultivator from our side!" the ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Master Moxuan's team exclaimed in surprise.

"What? Fellow Daoist He, is that true?" a blue-robed Foundation Establishment Cultivator hurriedly asked, letting out a sigh of relief upon hearing that someone recognized the newcomer.

"It really is Fellow Daoist He."

The arriving person finally appeared before everyone, looking calm and composed.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, why are you here?" He Qi exclaimed in astonishment.

The remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators stood to the side, listening to their conversation.

"I..."

Chen Changqing glanced around; of the two people Bai Yuqing mentioned, one was He Qi, while the other surprised him somewhat—it was that fifth-layer Foundation Establishment young Cultivator from Master Moxuan's team. Back then, he had been taciturn along the journey, so many people subconsciously overlooked him. Unexpectedly, this person was actually able to escape the Yao Race's encirclement and reach this place.

He explained his days of fleeing to the crowd, though he left out his encounter with the Tier 3 Yao Beast and the experience of Master Bingyou being hunted down. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain how he arrived here, as it was virtually impossible for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to survive a Tier 3 Yao Beast and escape to this spot.

After listening to Chen Changqing's story, they didn't think much of it, as many among them had experienced similar encounters, though most of them had arrived here only after coming across human Purple Mansion Masters.

Meanwhile, Chen Changqing gained a basic understanding of their situation. Nearly twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators were currently gathered here, hailing from five different small teams. From Chen Changqing's team, only he, He Qi, and another seventh-layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator had escaped; there was currently no trace of the rest, who had likely met their demise.

As for the ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had fled together with He Qi, according to He Qi, when they were the first to flee that day, bad luck struck and they plunged straight into an ambush by Yao Race reinforcements. In the end, both fought with all their strength; He Qi barely managed to escape, while Fellow Daoist Lin died under the Yao Race's siege. Whether this was true or false, with the person dead, who could know?

Currently, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators here were all awaiting the arrival of several Purple Mansion Masters. During their escape, they discovered that the Yao Race had long been prepared; the moment the human Golden Cores entered their trap, they would immediately strike to slay them all on the spot to ensure the progress of their subsequent assault on the various countries.

However, those masters had been gone for several days without any news so far. What these Foundation Establishment Cultivators feared most was that the Purple Mansion Masters might consider them burdens and had already departed on their own.

Thus, after consulting among themselves, they agreed that if those Purple Mansion Seniors did not return in a few days, they would join forces to brave Qianmo Ridge and return to the border of Yan Country.

...

Master Moxuan, Master Cangfeng, and two other Purple Mansion Cultivators were making every effort to search for the three Golden Core Masters who had entered the heart of the Yao Race territory.

The situation was critical now. If all three Golden Core Masters fell into the trap, the loss to the Human Race would be immense. If they were merely ordinary Golden Core Masters, it might be manageable, but each of these three had reached the level of Golden Core Great Perfection, just one step shy of Pseudo-Nascent Soul.

In order to inflict massive damage on the Yao Race's rear, the Human Race had no choice but to let three Golden Core Great Perfection Cultivators venture into such peril. After all, if their strength was too low, they couldn't cause much damage; if there were too many people, they would easily be exposed. Furthermore, the number of Golden Core Great Perfection Cultivators in the Seventeen Countries Domain added up to no more than a handful.

If these three were to perish here, at least half of the Seventeen Countries Domain would be lost.

That was why Master Moxuan and the others braved mortal danger to go out and search for the three Golden Core Masters; otherwise, they would have crossed Qianmo Ridge and returned to the border of Yan Country long ago.