Cangwu Mountain.
It had been cleaved in two by a single slash, exposing the secrets that had originally been hidden within.
At that moment, everyone looked horrified!
Silence fell.
Inside Cangwu Mountain seemed to be an independent space, with tendrils like flesh dangling from the mountain itself.
The tendrils were densely packed, like strands of hair.
What terrified everyone was that a skeleton dangled from the end of every single tendril.
No one knew how long these people had been dead, but without exception, they looked like dried corpses, as if something had slowly drained them dry.
Ye Xi's gaze turned cold as he looked at the tendrils, deep in thought.
Where had these things come from?
And where did they lead?
After a moment's contemplation, Ye Xi said to Yuan Ruoyu and the others beside him:
"Come on. Let's go in and take a look!"
By now, the others had also recovered. They suppressed their fear and anger and flew forward.
Of course, some of those with lower cultivation didn't dare get too close.
They waited until Ye Xi and the others had gone inside and nothing seemed dangerous before slowly approaching.
The group entered the inner space of Cangwu Mountain, one after another.
It was enormous.
Even with so many people inside, it didn't feel too crowded.
When everyone got a clear look at the shriveled faces of the corpses, another commotion broke out.
"This is—our Purple Cloud Sect's ancestor! How could he be here?"
"This is Senior Sword Nine, from ten thousand years ago!"
"Master, I found the previous sect leader who disappeared!"
"Oh heavens, isn't this Great Emperor Mad Dragon, who ascended tens of thousands of years ago?"
"How did these people end up here?"
One shocked voice after another rang out.
Every corpse here had once belonged to a powerful cultivator renowned across the land. Many were even predecessors from their own sects.
Even great emperors who had once ascended to the Immortal Realm were here.
Reduced to drained corpses!
The discovery made everyone's scalp crawl, and their steps began to tremble.
Just then!
Ye Xi looked at one of the corpses and said gravely, "Fellow cultivators, do you see this?"
"Why did a great emperor who once ascended to the Immortal Realm end up dead here, with no one knowing why?"
At his words, everyone's faces turned pale, and no one answered.
Ye Xi pointed overhead and declared, "Perhaps ascending to the upper realm doesn't make you an immortal. Perhaps it turns you into fertilizer!"
Silence still reigned over the scene.
Many stood dumbstruck. The conviction they had clung to in their hearts suddenly collapsed, and their Dao hearts shattered.
If cultivation wasn't for the sake of ascending to immortality, then what meaning did it have?
Even if one became a great emperor, that wasn't enough to live forever. They would still die when their lifespan ran out.
Most cultivators couldn't cultivate to the level of a great emperor.
But becoming an immortal was the belief that sustained them as they charged forward without hesitation!
Now, even Yuan Ruoyu and Ye Qingge looked weighed down with worry, their faces pale.
After a long while,
a cold glint flashed in Ye Qingge's eyes. "It's not that we can't become immortals!"
At her words, everyone looked over.
It was as if they had found a spark of light in the darkness.
Ye Qingge swept her gaze across the crowd and said with commanding confidence, "It's just that someone doesn't want us to become immortals!"
"Then we find those people and wipe them out!"
"Then prove our Dao and become immortals!"
A flicker passed through Ye Xi's eyes. This Mistress was so domineering, and she knew how to rally people, too. No wonder she'd become an empress!
Yuan Ruoyu also said solemnly, "Exactly. Whoever stands in the way of our becoming immortals is our enemy. We'll sweep through them like thunder and wipe them all out!"
At that moment, the leaders of many other factions voiced their agreement.
"Exactly!"
"No matter who they are, we'll drag them out and annihilate them body and soul!"
"For our sake, and for the future of the Cultivation World!"
"How many more lackeys like the An Clan are there? We have to root them out!"
The crowd surged, raising their arms and shouting.
Only then did everyone present understand the true meaning behind the contents of the Diary of the Immortal Great Emperor.
Knowing this truth was already an incredible stroke of fortune. Otherwise, who knew when they might be targeted?
When might they, too, become corpses drained of all their nourishment?
Not far away,
Jiang Youlong, Hua Hongyi, and Zuo Qingtian mingled with the crowd, their faces terribly grim and their spirits shattered.
A little while later,
Ye Xi finally said, "Destroy these tendrils and let our predecessors rest in peace!"
As he spoke, he flicked his fingers, and gusts of astral wind swept through the air.
The fleshy tendrils were severed, then shrank back one after another, and the corpses tumbled down.
The others joined in.
Some wrapped up the remains of their own ancestors and took them back to their sects for burial.
In the end,
all the fleshy tendrils retracted toward a single point and disappeared into a passage through the void.
"Where does this passage lead?"
Ye Xi stared at it for a while, but couldn't discover anything.
Even his divine sense couldn't reach inside.
After hesitating briefly, he used a divine ability and a sealing formation to temporarily seal the passage's exit.
Until he understood what was going on, he didn't dare enter recklessly.
When they left Cangwu Mountain,
everyone who had come wore solemn expressions. They said nothing as they each departed.
This secret was simply too shocking.
It wouldn't be long before news of this place spread throughout the Cultivation World.
It would cause an enormous upheaval.
The leaders of several sects needed to return as quickly as possible and decide how to respond.
Finally,
Ye Xi used his astonishing magical power to join Cangwu Mountain back together, burying the remains inside.
After bidding farewell to Ye Xi, Yuan Ruoyu and Ye Qingge
also departed separately.
They were each leaders of their own factions, with large retinues in tow. They couldn't stay any longer.
On a mountaintop,
Ye Xi and Great Emperor Zhitong quietly watched everyone leave.
A short while later, the ancient mountain range, which had been bustling for a time, grew quiet once more.
Beneath the black mist, Great Emperor Zhitong's voice rang out. "Your identity has been exposed. It'll be dangerous for you from now on!"
Ye Xi shrugged and said, "Master's in seclusion and won't come out, so I have to step forward."
"At the beginning of a venture, someone has to carry the banner to give people confidence. That person can't be weak. It can only be me!"
Great Emperor Zhitong was surprised. "A venture?"
Ye Xi explained, "It means finding a group of like-minded people and joining them in a grand undertaking to turn the world upside down!"
Great Emperor Zhitong fell silent.
A moment later, she asked, "So what are you planning to do next?"
Ye Xi looked into the distance, killing intent surging. "Drag them out one by one!"
"Take them out one by one!"
"Even if I have to search the highest heavens and deepest hell, I won't stop!"
He paused, then added, "Of course, there are also the traitors hiding among us. The An Clan has been destroyed, but there are still plenty more!"
After this incident,
the An Clan of Ning Province was sure to cease to exist.
So many predecessors from different sects had been found in Cangwu Mountain. Those sects would never let the An Clan members get away with it, no matter what.
For all they knew, the hunt might already have begun across the world.
The An Clan had become like rats crossing the street, with everyone eager to stamp them out.
But then Ye Xi suddenly said, "Mistress, you need to be careful, too. They saw you this time."
"They're bound to target you next. Though the Evil Pupil of the Heterodox Path was injured, it won't appear again for a while."
In the black mist, Great Emperor Zhitong nodded without speaking.
After the Cangwu Mountain incident, the entire Cultivation World would be on alert.
Everyone now knew that the Heterodox Beings, who had once lurked in the darkness, had been exposed to the light.
For a long time to come,
light and darkness would be locked in a contest and a clash of wills.
At that moment, Ye Xi drew back his gaze and cupped his hands in farewell. "There's still a net I haven't pulled in. I should go see what I've caught!"
A moment later, his figure became a streak of light and vanished among the green mountains and clear waters.
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