The mountains stretched out in layer upon layer from east to west, growing more treacherous and terrifying the farther in they went.
Cliffs towered a thousand fathoms high, with vines dangling down from above.
Streams cut across the land, and waterfalls poured like silken ribbons.
The cries of apes drifted from deep within the secluded valleys, echoing off the mountain walls again and again until their lingering notes filled the air.
Wanchuan.
It lay in the western hinterlands of the You Mountain Range.
Mountains surrounded it on three sides, while the fourth bordered an abyss.
The abyss was unfathomably deep, and dense white mist hung over it all year round.
As the mist churned, the roar of water could be heard faintly, as though a mighty river that could swallow the sky lay hidden at the bottom.
That was how the place got its name—Wanchuan.
The entrance to Wanchuan was a natural fissure cleaving through the mountainside.
The fissure was only a few dozen zhang wide, yet the cliffs on either side rose more than a thousand fathoms.
Looking up, one could see only a narrow strip of sky.
Following the fissure inward,
one came to a vast cavern embedded deep within the mountains.
Its immensity far exceeded anything an ordinary person could imagine.
It was large enough to hold several Danhua Cities.
Unfamiliar ores glowed with a cold, deep blue light across the vaulted ceiling, making the entire cavern look like the bottom of the sea.
Deep within the cavern,
lamplight flickered dimly in a great hall built of beast bones.
Several figures stood with their hands at their sides.
They were demons of all shapes and sizes.
Some were covered in scales and armor, others bared their fangs.
The aura each of them exuded was at least at