chapter 13

The summit of Nanwu Mountain was shrouded by a complex seal, while at the center of the fog pool, the increasingly solidified beast let out an angry roar. The surrounding cultivators fought desperately against it, their faces filled with shock and helplessness. If they had still entertained thoughts of seizing hidden treasures before, seeing this scene now, their hopes were extinguished.

How could they fight… What exactly is this beast!?

The cultivators, who had never experienced such oppressive pressure, were too intimidated to lift their heads. Many of them seemed to be entranced, walking uncontrollably towards the deep pool. Among the crowd, only the Su family's young master, Su Yi, remained somewhat rational. The spiritual orb in his hand, which he used to guide them, emitted a faint light, warding off the pressure from the fog pool. But soon, cracks began to appear on the orb's surface.

"Control yourselves! Don't move forward!" Su Yi's face grew incredibly grim. The spiritual orb was a protective talisman given to him by the Sect Master of Cangxue Sect. It could track the spiritual energy of all things to guide him, and also protect him from the full-force strikes of a Transformation Stage cultivator. But now, in the face of this beast's shadow, cracks were appearing on the orb… This meant that the power of this spectral beast had already exceeded their ability to contend with it.

They couldn't resist; they could not withstand the beast's overwhelming pressure.

This beast was far more powerful and swift than any of the Yuan Ying stage evil spirits they had encountered. It would kill them.

Up above, Zhang Fugui, already feeling his life hanging by a thread under the immense pressure, scrambled to get closer to the Daoist. Only when he completely hid behind Su Yu did he dare to lift his head and look at the person who was supporting the rocky cliff. He could see that Su Yu's arms were covered in bloodstreaks from the cutting winds of Yin energy, yet Su Yu still stood firm.

He wanted to speak to remind Su Yu, but the moment he opened his mouth, he saw the youth's eyes—

Those eyes were even more terrifying than when Zhang Fugui had seen them before. The golden threads shimmered with a strange, deep red, like serpents writhing within the Daoist's gaze. In that instant, Zhang Fugui felt as if those eyes were alive, eerie and mysterious, their supernatural presence sending a chill down his spine.

Unnoticed by others, the boy's wounds, sliced open by the Yin wind, were bleeding.

The blood dripped into the fog river, carried downstream by the rushing current.

The owner of those eyes seemed oblivious. His internal organs were being shaken by the Yin wind, and the totem of eyes in his dantian spun wildly. Countless Yin energies rushed into his body, and his meridians, stretched to the limit, emitted painful cries. But Su Yu only felt hunger. The faster the totem spun in his dantian, the more intense his hunger grew.

Su Yu didn't know what Zhang Fugui saw when he looked at the beast. In his own eyes, the beast seemed to be a cloud of ink-like energy condensed into form, like a massive stain on the white jade stone. Beneath the beast, there was an even more solid ink-like energy, filled with a deadly, tempting power.

'Eat it!'

'Survive!'

'Go in, go inside and devour it!'

Su Yu's hunger reached its peak, almost urging him to act. He felt like he was looking at a meal waiting to be devoured. His supernatural eyes scanned the surroundings, trying to peer through the suspended beast on the surface of the pool to see the deeper ink spot within.

His teeth chattered uncontrollably, like a hunter waiting to strike its prey.

At that moment, the formation at the edge of the fog pool suddenly lit up.

In Su Yu's line of sight, lights belonging to other cultivators appeared.

"It looks like other cultivators are coming…" Zhang Fugui clung tightly to Su Yu's leg, saying, "Should we…?"

"Why should we care about them?"

In the vision, the light dots belonging to the cultivators silently moved towards the white jade stone.

Like ugly moths, they unknowingly flew toward the white fiery abyss.

Su Yu's eyes gleamed with an eerie red as he spoke softly, "They are going to die."

Zhang Fugui's eyes widened in confusion. What did that mean?

By the fog river, the panicked cultivators saw the formation light up, their faces bursting with joy.

"The elders have arrived!"

"We're saved!"

The Su family cultivators who had been teleported from outside Nanwu Mountain immediately noticed the beast above the fog pool. The leading elder of the Su family showed a hint of joy when he saw the beast. Half a month ago, the Su family cultivators had found no clues, but now, the ancient beast had appeared in this fog pool.

He noticed that the beast was still just a shadow. "That's not its true form. It's just a projection. There's no need to panic."

Other cultivators were astonished. If the projection was this powerful, how strong must the real beast be?

Since it was just a projection, there must be a spiritual instrument or formation controlling it.

The Su family elder suddenly raised his hand, and one of the nearby Li Huo Sect cultivators staggered a few steps, struck by some unseen force, and was sent flying into the fog pool.

The cultivator who fell into the fog pool didn't sink as everyone expected. Instead, they were pulled up by an unknown force. The cultivator looked at the others on the shore in terror, shouting, "Senior brother… Senior brother, help me!"

"Junior brother!" The Li Huo Sect senior brother was taken by surprise.

Su Yi looked at the elder from the Su family with a look of shock. "What are you doing?!"

The Su family elder didn't care. Upon seeing the beast, he was more certain that certain things were absolutely necessary. Greed began to appear on his face, and unknowingly, his expression twisted as he no longer paid attention to those around him.

Soon, the voice of the cultivator who had fallen into the river stopped. The person was hanging motionless, silent.

Seeing this, most of the surrounding cultivators paused in their steps. The fog pool could devour one's consciousness.

Above the fog pool, the massive beast's body slowly solidified. Countless Yin energies surged from all directions towards it, as if it had just awakened. Ignoring the surrounding cultivators, it lazily stretched its body. After finishing its stretch, it slowly surveyed the cultivators on the shore, who appeared as insignificant as ants.

At that moment, the beast suddenly raised its left foot.

Up above, Su Yu noticed something and shouted coldly, "Close your eyes!"

Zhang Fugui didn't have time to investigate the authenticity of the scene below. He hurriedly closed his eyes, and the moment he did, he felt a fierce, malevolent Yin wind sweep toward him, ripping through his soul body and tearing his left arm apart.

A wail echoed across the fog pool. After the Yin wind passed, there was an eerie silence.

The illusion instantly enveloped the entire fog pool. The evil spirits surrounding the cultivators attacking the fog pool froze, suspended in mid-air, as if they were wandering ghosts. The entire fog pool solidified, its surface becoming a mirror-like reflection, which made the beast appear even more towering and monstrous.

Everything fell silent. The invisible waves seemed to pull everything into them. Su Yu, shaken by the Yin wind, felt pain in his inner organs. Struggling, he lifted his eyes and was shocked by what he saw.

Looking down, he saw the Yin energy creeping into his body. At first, when he looked at the fog pool, the swirling Yin energy had resembled a massive white jade stone.

But now, silently and without warning, that white jade stone had grown enormous, surpassing the original boundaries of the fog pool, spreading throughout the surroundings. Everyone was trapped inside this white jade stone, with the beast, coiled upon it, as the source.

The first change occurred with the cultivators below. Those who were closer seemed to be entranced, walking uncontrollably toward the fog pool.

In the silence, it seemed as though only the wandering of the dead souls remained, while the living had become mere zombies.

In the midst of this, a spiritual boat suddenly broke through the formation's gap, crashing into the scene before everyone's eyes.

"That's the spiritual boat from the entrance of Nanwu Mountain!" Zhang Fugui exclaimed in shock. "How did this boat get through?"

Su Yu quickly looked up, and once again, he saw the colorful streaks of light he had witnessed earlier at Nanwu Mountain… a spiritual boat?

The strange light on the boat was more intense than that of any other cultivator present. As it drew closer, Su Yu could clearly see the intricate formations made of flowing light beneath it. This spiritual boat was made up of various formations.

"Who is it?" someone cried out.

"The Su family's spiritual boat has arrived!"

Su Yu's gaze was fixed on the dazzling spiritual boat, his eyes moving rapidly as the golden patterns in his gaze seemed to absorb the formations on the boat.

At that moment, the elder controlling the boat landed in front of all the cultivators. The boat, at his will, transformed into a barrier similar to the one at Nanwu Mountain's entrance, and with a crash, it blocked the beast from everyone.

Once the beast was blocked by the barrier, the entranced cultivators suddenly snapped out of it. They scrambled and crawled to hide behind the barrier, while those who were not quick enough to regain their senses were drawn into the fog pool by the beast.

The closest elder from the Su family was among them. With a face full of greed, he moved toward the fog pool. In the next instant, his head and body were severed, and he died tragically.

A few Li Huo Sect elders who were following him were also dragged into the fog pool by the evil spirits above. They had no resistance whatsoever, as if they were willingly entering the fog pool.

In just a short time, half of the cultivators were dead or wounded.

"Elders, they—" Two surviving Su family cultivators watched in horror.

"The ones who cause harm will eventually face karmic retribution," the white-haired elder stroked his beard and said. "Greed born from the heart in such an illusion will be amplified infinitely, and in the end, it will devour them."

He looked at the Su family young master with some surprise. "The Xue Lingzhu of Cangxue Sect? It's rare for a Golden Core cultivator to maintain their true self in such a place."

Su Yi looked at the elder, who had stabilized the situation. The Su family had many boat protectors, but this was the first time he had seen this particular protector during their expedition to Nanwu Mountain. He bowed respectfully. "Senior, please help us."

The white-haired elder replied, "You think too highly of me. Do you know where we are?"

"The outermost layer is the Wangu Gathering Yin Formation. The Yin and evil energies of the entire Nanwu Mountain cycle and gather here, eventually converging into the fog pool," the elder raised his hand, using the spiritual boat to block the beast. His tone was calm. "The beast in front of us resembles the Tomb-Guardian Beast from ancient texts. Right now, it's just a projection, but the pressure it exudes is at the peak of the Transformation Stage."

"If it were just this, we might be able to escape, but its methods go far beyond this." The elder's gaze shifted to the figures floating above the fog pool. Among them were the original evil spirits of Nanwu Mountain, as well as other cultivators who had died in the mountain. "When we entered Nanwu Mountain, we entered its domain. It seems to have the ability to control the dead and confuse the living."

The remaining cultivators who were still clear-headed heard this and recalled the disorienting illusions they had experienced earlier. Even now, looking at the beast, they could not distinguish whether it was real or not. But seeing their fellow cultivators jumping into the fog pool to their deaths, their fear deepened.

What exactly was buried beneath Nanwu Mountain? Even a mere Tomb-Guardian Beast had such a terrifying power.

Even Yuan Ying stage cultivators could not resist its temptation and ended up committing suicide.

"The method I practice is good for defense, but not for offense," the white-haired elder said, his face showing signs of deep thought. "I can hold you off for half a day, but I can't suppress the Tomb-Guardian Beast before us."

The elder was still pondering, his words unfinished, when he suddenly noticed the Tomb-Guardian Beast seemed to look up toward the higher ground.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and peered through the thick mist, vaguely seeing a figure above. Who could it be up there?!

At that moment, the Tomb-Guardian Beast stomped its foot, causing the fog pool to ripple like a mirror. The shockwaves sent from its movement pushed back the barrier formed by the Su family's spiritual boat. The white-haired elder had no choice but to abandon his thoughts and focus all his energy on resisting the impact from the Tomb-Guardian Beast.

Suddenly, it lifted its gaze to the high ground of the fog pool.

In that instant, Su Yu's eyes locked with the beast's dark, bottomless pupils. It was as though he was instantly dragged into an endless quagmire.

The Yin wind around him stopped suddenly, replaced by the faint scent of smoke, as if a campfire had been lit. Memories, long buried in his consciousness, were unearthed. Those blurry impressions slowly became clearer. It was as if he had returned to the moment when he had fallen off the cliff at the very beginning. This time, the memory was even more vivid. He was once again being pressed into the suffocating little pond.

Su Yu felt as if he were floating in the air, silently watching a group of laughing children push another child into the pond.

The feeling of suffocation overwhelmed him, but he could only observe it from a distance. He felt as if he were that child, yet curiously, despite being blind, he could see this scene so clearly. A strange mix of empathy and detached observation flooded his consciousness.

The child climbed out of the pond and groped along the bank with a blind cane. In the cold winter, the child stumbled away.

The biting cold wind seemed to seep into Su Yu's very bones. He felt a shiver running through his body, as if the piercing cold were driving into him.

But soon, that intense cold faded away, replaced by a faint warmth.

The smell of incense was clear and distinct, and the drifting smoke came toward him. The ache from kneeling for a long time on his knees suddenly reminded him of the pain.

He found himself in a hall filled with incense and memorial tablets. Cultivators, dressed in identical wide robes with the same family crest, stood silently around the hall, chanting incantations. A strange scroll floated before him. He could barely make out the words on it, but just as he was about to focus and see them clearly, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. Before he could react, blood poured from the wound, flowing into the scroll.

"Can blood really change the marriage contract?"

"Of course, with secret techniques to assist, the Gu family doesn't know who is behind the marriage contract."

"Every two years, there's a blood exchange. When he comes of age, the marriage contract can naturally be altered."

The child collapsed from excessive blood loss. The ambition and scheming of the elders were laid bare.

Su Yu silently watched as the blood flowed from the child's body. A cold, icy sensation crept up from the bottom of his heart. He stretched his hand toward the child, but just as he was about to touch the child, a force suddenly yanked him back. Before he could reach the child, his entire consciousness was abruptly pulled away.

The totem in his dantian gave a warning tremor. Su Yu coughed up a mouthful of black blood. The scene in front of him shifted from the memorial hall back to the massive white jade stone. The shadow of the Tomb-Guardian Beast coiled upon the jade, its gaze fixed on him. The enchantment in its eyes was clear and unmistakable.

The moment he met its gaze, he was drawn into the illusion.

"Devour it!"

The eyes whispered the command.

Su Yu's gaze shifted as he looked at the Tomb-Guardian Beast. Hunger, once the only motive, had now transformed. He truly yearned for what lay within the fog pool.

The chaotic memories and past experiences overwhelmed him. Who was he? How could he not die? How was he still alive, and why could he see so many things?

"Devour it, and you will know everything."

Zhang Fugui suddenly realized something. He quickly hugged Su Yu's leg. "Master, wake up! Didn't you say it was all fake? Don't fall for it!"

Su Yu's progress was halted. Looking down, he saw a swirling mass of white mist at his feet. The urgent hunger inside him urged him forward. "Let go."

Zhang Fugui held on tighter. As Su Yu broke free from his grip, Zhang Fugui grabbed the chain that connected them, desperately trying to prevent Su Yu from being drawn into the fog pool, afraid that he might jump in and never return.

How can I devour it…? Su Yu lowered his head, staring at the fog pool, which had solidified into a translucent, crystal-clear mirror. The beast stood atop the fog pool.

...I need to find a way to break through that mirror layer, only then can I enter the bottom of the pool.

Above the fog pool, the Tomb-Guardian Beast sniffed the air, catching the scent of blood emanating from the young man. It ground its teeth in response. After all these years of lurking in its territory, this was the first time it had smelled such a sweet scent. The drop of blood gave it enough power to rival the energy it had gathered over the past seven days.

Moreover, the blood of this human could break the seal on the stone tablet and bring it the power it desired.

However, it could not act too hastily. It first needed to deal with these pesky human cultivators.

Fortunately, these humans weren't very strong, so they would be easy to deal with… The Tomb-Guardian Beast's vicious gaze swept across the surroundings. Just as it raised its claw to strike at the cultivators on the shore, it seemed to feel something tremble in the air.

The Yin energy rising from the fog pool shot into the sky. Su Yu, watching the surging turmoil in the pool, kept his eyes fixed on the massive black stone beneath the surface.

In the sky above, something seemed to be vibrating.

What is coming...? Su Yu suddenly looked up, sensing something growing closer. The opportunity was here!

"Devour it."

"Go now, hurry!"

Suddenly, Zhang Fugui felt his hands empty as the chains that had bound him for so long vanished.

He froze, stunned. As he saw the figure in front of him disappear, he looked up and was blinded by the intense light above.

—He saw the flash of a sword.

A beam of sword light pierced through the clouds, falling directly from above.

The sword light shattered the mirror surface of the fog pool. Dozens of Yuan Ying (Nascent Soul) stage beasts were obliterated in the chaos, their bodies turning to dust. The cultivators behind the spiritual boat regained their clarity of mind as the mist dissipated, allowing them to finally see the true nature of the situation in the misty waters of Nanwu Mountain.

At the same time, the surrounding fog quickly condensed. The Tomb-Guardian Beast, which had been coiling around the fog pool, seemed to sense a threat. Its fierce gaze fixed on the newcomer from above.

"They've arrived," the white-haired elder murmured, looking up.

The newcomer was a swordsman.