Chapter 152: Chapter 150: Traversing the Broken Cloud Mountain Range (Request Subscription)

Thousands of peaks stand tall, ten thousand rivers flow rapidly, surrounded by a sea of clouds.

These twelve words roughly portray the scenery within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

After flying past the snow-capped peaks facing the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, the vibrant vitality within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range suddenly appeared in Zhouyang’s sight.

Before crossing the “Ice and Snow Great Wall” composed of continuous snow mountains, who would have thought that behind the snow mountains lay such a vibrant and thriving scene.

Mountain after mountain, water after water, mountains and waters depend on each other, creating a beautiful natural landscape painting.

Here, each mountain is taller than the next, and the thousand-foot peaks rarely seen in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm are ubiquitous here.

Every peak is shrouded in mist, forming a continuous sea of clouds, the summits emerging from the clouds, resembling islands in the sea.

Between the mountain peaks are deep valleys and forests, where numerous rivers and streams meander through the valleys, eventually converging into mountain lakes.

And amidst these peaks, valleys, forests, and rivers, various kinds of birds and beasts reside.

Most of the birds and beasts residing here live in groups, and the leaders of these groups are demon beasts of various ranks.

Those low-tier demon beasts can only lead their groups to wander and forage among the mountains, while Tier Three and Tier Four demon beasts often occupy a mountain or multiple spirit mountains rich in spiritual energy to sustain their entire tribe.

Unlike the resource-poor Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, spiritual resources are extremely abundant, and what low-tier cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm consider treasures–Tier Two and Tier Three Spirit Wood and Spirit Elixirs–can be found in abundance on nearly every spirit mountain here.

In the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, spirit mountains below Tier Three cannot even be called spirit mountains, because even ordinary small peaks without spirit veins have a level of spiritual energy that rivals Tier Two Lower Grade spirit mountains in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

It is this unique environment that has created powerful demon beast tribes within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, and it is also the existence of these countless demon beast tribes that have blocked direct contact and communication between the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm and the Westernmost Cultivation Realm.

Moreover, every few decades or centuries, the Tier Five demon beasts within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range band together to create a “Beast Tide,” attacking the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm from the other side, consuming the nearly saturated demon beast tribes within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range through the hands of cultivators.

Yet now, amidst this demon beast-occupied Broken Cloud Mountain Range, there is a white cloud carrying three human cultivators traversing the mountains.

After leading Zhouyang and Yang Wenxiong into the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, Cao Wenjin abandoned the flying boat spiritual artifact and opted to use the “Soaring Through the Clouds” divine technique to carry the two of them through the air.

It was at this moment that Zhouyang realized that the Yellow Sand Sect did not possess any secret passage, but relied on a specially-made spirit incense “Hidden Spirit Incense” to hide the spiritual energy fluctuations and the glow of magical power emitted during flight, thereby evading the notice of the demon beasts within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

The smoke emitted by burning this “Hidden Spirit Incense” when absorbed by a cultivator temporarily exerts a unique effect on the cultivator’s magical power, making the spiritual energy fluctuations nearly imperceptible when magical power is utilized.

As everyone knows, demon beasts below Tier Four have divine senses inferior even to Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, relying entirely on strong visual, auditory, and olfactory senses to detect and perceive enemies.

Among these senses, vision is the best means for demon beasts to detect enemies in advance, virtually all demon beast eyes possess the effect of the cultivator’s “Celestial Eye Technique,” and even stronger, able to see all sorts of spiritual light invisible to ordinary cultivators.

In a place like the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, both the ground and sky are vast and visible at a glance, and most demon beasts can see the silhouette of a cultivator from afar.

But the situation in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range is different, as thousands of meters high in the air are dense cloud seas, if there is no magical power glow, it is practically impossible for demon beasts lower or higher on the mountains to detect cultivators flying within the cloud sea.

Even if a few low-tier demon beasts with stronger eye power, or flying-type demon beasts spot a fleeting cultivator’s silhouette in the cloud sea, it’s very difficult to find them once they enter the clouds.

Under these circumstances, the only real threats to cultivators flying within the cloud sea are the demon beasts of Tier Four and Five, which both have pretty strong divine sense and perception.

However, these Tier Four and Five demon beasts typically remain in their nests, meditating and cultivating, and rarely leave their territory spirit mountains easily.

Furthermore, the cultivators of the Yellow Sand Sect upon entering the Broken Cloud Mountain Range would intentionally avoid those peaks with abundant spiritual energy and Tier Four and Five spirit veins.

Thus, as long as one has cultivation at the Purple Mansion Stage, knows the correct evasion techniques, and is assisted by “Hidden Spirit Incense,” the success rate of crossing the Broken Cloud Mountain Range is quite high.

As for why Purple Mansion Stage cultivation is required, it’s quite simple: only Purple Mansion Stage cultivators can fly for extended periods without needing to land and replenish magical power.

And only Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, after developing their Purple Mansion, can cultivate various Spiritual Eye Secret Techniques, and through them discover from tens of miles away those powerful demon beasts that do not know to conceal their aura, as well as high-tier spiritual mountains rich in spiritual energy, to avoid them in advance.

With Cao Wenjin, a Golden Core Stage cultivator personally leading the way, the effect is even better.

The white cloud transformed by the “Soaring Through the Clouds” divine technique blends into the cloud sea, looking exactly like the cloud sea, rendering even the sharp-eyed eagle-like demon beasts unable to discern Zhouyang and the others’ figures obscured by the white cloud amid the cloud sea.

And with Cao Wenjin’s strong magical cultivation, as long as he does not exhaust the spirit stones carried on him, he can maintain the flight using the “Soaring Through the Clouds” divine technique indefinitely.

Zhouyang and Yang Wenxiong carefully followed Cao Wenjin’s instructions along the way, remaining silently as spectators, quietly admiring the majestic mountain rivers within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

This magnificent scenery, entirely different from the Boundless Sea of Sand, may only be seen once or twice in their lifetimes, and is certainly worth appreciating wholeheartedly.

Zhouyang also did not know how wide the Broken Cloud Mountain Range is, he only knew that after Cao Wenjin brought him and Yang Wenxiong into the mountain range, they continued flying for half a month without leaving the region of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

With Cao Wenjin’s flying speed, even while carrying two people, even in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to prevent exposure and not daring to let loose at full speed, even while frequently having to detour to avoid high-tier Spirit Mountains, half a month was enough to fly two to three hundred thousand miles!

Such a distant span, no wonder even Purple Mansion Stage cultivators wouldn’t dare easily attempt to cross the Broken Cloud Mountain Range without “Hidden Spirit Incense”.

However, after flying continuously for half a month, Zhouyang slowly began to notice that the altitude of the terrain ahead was gradually decreasing, and the concentration of Spiritual Qi was also slowly lowering.

This indicated they had already crossed the central area of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range and were approaching the outskirts of the Cultivation Realm of the Liuyun Continent.

About three more days of flying, Zhouyang’s eyes suddenly cleared, and the sea of clouds spanning the entire Broken Cloud Mountain Range was surprisingly thin and about to disappear ahead.

“Alright, we’ve reached here, it’s basically safe. In another day, we will arrive at the Six Great Immortal Cities established on the outskirts of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range within the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm!”

Emerging from the sea of clouds, Cao Wenjin, whose mind had been tense all along, finally relaxed and spoke up voluntarily.

Hearing this, Zhouyang and Yang Wenxiong also breathed a sigh of relief.

Though Cao Wenjin surely bore the greatest pressure along the way, their minds were no less burdened.

After all, if danger were encountered, Cao Wenjin had a significant chance of escape, while the two of them, left amidst the cluster of demon beasts within the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, were practically facing certain doom.

“Fellow Daoist Yang, about the Six Great Immortal Cities the ancestor mentioned…” Zhouyang relaxed his expression and just wanted to inquire Yang Wenxiong about the Six Great Immortal Cities Cao Wenjin mentioned.

Unexpectedly, his words were only halfway out when a deep and prolonged horn sound suddenly echoed from somewhere far ahead.

Woo– Woo– Woo–

The prolonged horn sound resounded from somewhere far ahead, and even at such a distant range, upon hearing this horn, Zhouyang’s entire body experienced a wave of heat and excitement, triggering an unexplainable desire for battle and bloodshed.

His gaze turned toward Cao Wenjin and Yang Wenxiong beside him, only to find their faces had no significant change, as if they hadn’t sensed anything unusual at all.

This made him almost suspect whether he was experiencing inner demons!

Fortunately, the next moment, Cao Wenjin’s reaction made him realize that his situation was not without cause.

“This is bad, it’s the sound of the Beast King Horn, a beast tide is erupting ahead!”

Cao Wenjin’s complexion dramatically changed as he exclaimed, the previously relaxed look instantly darkening.

“Ancestor, what is the Beast King Horn?”

Zhouyang’s heart tightened, hurriedly channeling his magical power and divine sense to suppress the agitation, asking with a face full of curiosity.

Yet, at this moment, Cao Wenjin had no leisure to answer his query. After the exclamation, he decisively maneuvered clouds to retreat back into the sea of clouds.

“Let me explain it to Fellow Daoist Zhou instead!”

Yang Wenxiong, having traveled with Zhouyang throughout the journey, had formed some camaraderie between them. Therefore, he took it upon himself to explain what Cao Wenjin had said.

It turned out that the “Beast King Horn” mentioned by Cao Wenjin, as its name implies, is a special magical artifact crafted from the beast horn shed by a Tier Six Demon King.

Once demon beasts reach Tier Six, their spiritual wisdom equals that of cultivators. They can even transform into human form to learn array formation, talisman making, artifact refining, alchemy from cultivators to enrich their techniques.

The rank of this special artifact “Beast King Horn” is as high as Tier Five Top Grade and requires at least one Tier Five Top Grade demon beast or three Tier Five Middle Grade demon beasts to jointly play it.

Once the “Beast King Horn” is sounded, all demon beasts below Tier Four within a hundred thousand miles will be uncontrollably drawn to the source of the sound, then, under the command of Tier Five demon beasts, form a “beast tide” surging toward the Cultivation Realm of the Liuyun Continent beyond the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

Although human cultivators aren’t subjected to the control of the “Beast King Horn”, those without Purple Mansion Stage cultivation will slightly feel the effect on their minds, fostering negative emotions like slaughter and destruction.

Knowing this, it’s not hard to understand why Cao Wenjin was frightened into withdrawing into the sea of clouds upon hearing the sound of the “Beast King Horn”.

That represents at least one Tier Five Top Grade demon beast or three Tier Five Middle Grade demon beasts!

If he dared to expose himself in the sky ahead at this time, even with “Hidden Spirit Incense” aiding in concealing Spiritual Qi fluctuations, without the cover of the sea of clouds, his form would easily be exposed to the sight of Tier Five demon beasts and numerous low-tier demon beasts drawn by the horn sound.

Moreover, Cao Wenjin knew some things that Yang Wenxiong wasn’t aware of–that every time a beast tide erupts from the demon beasts in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to assault the mountain boundary toward the Cultivation Realm of the Liuyun Continent, a Tier Six Demon King would hide in the shadows to intimidate those human Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

Sometimes, Tier Six Demon Kings would even actively seek out human Nascent Soul Stage cultivators for a powerful duel!

“This is troublesome now; once a beast tide forms, it certainly won’t end within ten or eight years. We can’t possibly hide in the sea of clouds without going out for such a long period!”

Within the sea of clouds, observing the scene of countless beasts stampeding below on the ground, Cao Wenjin’s facial expression could no longer be described merely as difficult.