After passing through the Black Forest, they crossed another seven perilous mountain ranges.
Standing atop a peak, Shi Yongheng looked at the mountain ahead.
Black mist coiled around it, while chilling winds howled. The mountain was bare, without a single tree or blade of grass, making everything on it easy to see. At the foot of the mountain stood a cave.
The entrance was fairly wide, like a deep well connected to Jiuyou. Chilling winds continuously howled out of it, mixed with sharp, strange noises, as though a resentful spirit that hated the mortal world was roaring in fury, unwilling to accept the fate imposed by Heaven and Earth!
At the center of the cave entrance stood a stone statue, properly upright and the size of a real person. It appeared to be a woman.
The statue's placement was strange. Ordinarily, statues would face outward, but this one was different. Its front faced the cave entrance, toward the depths of the ancient cavern, as though it were gazing at something in the deepest part of the cave. Even after countless millennia, it had not forgotten its mission...
Before Shi Yongheng could fly closer, a mass of white vapor suddenly appeared from nowhere at the cave entrance, directly before the female statue. The vapor gathered in increasing amounts and swiftly condensed into the shape of a person.
It was a tall man, holding a massive sword in his right hand and a great shield in his left. His body was formed from white vapor and swayed unsteadily in the chilling wind, yet even his movements and facial expression were perfectly clear.
The man blocked the cave entrance and shouted at the descending Shi Yongheng, "Halt, intruder! This is the Demon-Suppressing Ancient Cave. Leave at once!"
"Don't worry. I mean no harm.