Ram Horn Mountain

"I wonder what the attitude of the Inner Court is like right now!"

In the mountains, Yu Xiu strode forward. It was as if mountain winds were lifting his feet; with every step, he crossed over a dozen yards.

Wind Movement, Riding the Wind.

If he wished, Yu Xiu could even ride the wind to travel, though it was far too taxing.

Most importantly, Yu Xiu had no intention of rushing back to the Inner Court.

With Fang Jiming and the other eight Inner Court disciples dead, the sect must already know; there was no way to keep such a matter hidden.

He had left the sect on the same flying boat as Zhao Zheng and the others, which was far too conspicuous.

Conversely, the fact that Fang Jiming and his group intended to kill him was equally obvious, which was why he hadn't destroyed the evidence but buried them all together.

If he were truly just an Inner Court disciple at the first stage of the Qi Sea, he would have already died at the hands of the Shadow Demon in Lushui Town.

Fang Jiming and the others would never have been implicated.

Unfortunately, Fang Jiming and his group had miscalculated Yu Xiu's strength and were all killed by him in return.

As long as the sect was willing to investigate, they could easily uncover the schemes of Fang Jiming and his group, and naturally, they would see that Yu Xiu had been baiting them.

Therefore, he would let the bullets fly for a while.

If the Inner Court law-enforcement disciples came to arrest him, he would run; if he arrived at the sect safely, then in all likelihood, he would be fine.

He headed toward the Qingwei Sword Sect, and the journey remained uneventful.

It was said that mountains were filled with demons and monsters, and that Shadow Demons easily spawned in bustling cities, yet as Yu Xiu traversed mountains and forests, he never encountered a single mountain demon or monster.

He was walking through remote, uninhabited areas, yet it remained peaceful. He only encountered a few common wild beasts, which he killed with a casual flick of Sword Qi.

As he walked, he suddenly noticed a strange, faint aura rising from a high mountain not far away.

Demonic Qi?! Yu Xiu paused his steps, turned, and gave the mountain a wide berth.

Although he now possessed the strength of the Five Viscera realm—the first of the Four Great Passes—he had not yet reached the point where he could act with total impunity.

Who knew what level of strength the demon in this mountain possessed? If a Great Demon surpassing the Four Great Passes were to leap out, he would be captured and refined in an instant.

He became even more cautious, using his Sword Heart to hide his edge, concealing his entire aura.

Nothing happened.

"That human, how did you escape from my Ram Horn Mountain? Take one more step, and I'll cook you for a midday snack." A large toad hopped out from a low thicket of thorns and spoke to Yu Xiu in human tongue.

Hm? Yu Xiu's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't sensed this small toad demon at all.

He looked behind the thorns to see a mud puddle; he figured this small toad demon must have been hiding in the mud, evading his perception.

He took another look and saw that the toad was indeed covered in sludge, its original appearance unrecognizable, leaving only a pair of large, glowing red eyes.

Thankfully, this small demon only has the strength of the second stage of the Ascending Dragon.

It couldn't see through the realm he had hidden using his Sword Heart.

He paused. "Where would there be humans on your Ram Horn Mountain?"

The large toad was stunned for a moment. "Our Ram Horn Mountain is guarded by Great King Ram Horn; naturally, we keep humans as blood food. How could there be no humans..."

It stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing: "You didn't come from Ram Horn Mountain?"

It suddenly laughed. "Good fortune! Today, your Lord Toad will catch a wild human to take back to the mountain; the Great King will surely reward me handsomely."

With a "Croak!", the small demon's belly suddenly swelled until it was as large as a millstone, then it darted out like lightning, a red light spraying from its mouth toward Yu Xiu.

"Clang!" At the same moment, the sound of a sword rang out.

A blinding sword radiance flashed, and immediately after, the leaping toad demon was sliced in two by a single sword strike and fell to the ground.

Great King Ram Horn?

Keeping humans as blood food?

A fine Ram Horn Mountain indeed; I have noted you down!

Yu Xiu didn't even spare the toad demon another glance and continued to detour on his journey.

Once he returned to the Inner Court, he would report this to the deacon. When the senior brothers of the Sword Sect marched out, this Ram Horn Mountain would surely be ground to dust by Sword Qi.

By then, he would have earned merit for his report and could even receive a reward of contribution points.

He hadn't walked long before he suddenly felt rolling Demonic Qi behind him, accompanied by a low roar: "Which blind fool dares to kill the Mountain-Guarding Toad Guard of my Ram Horn Mountain? Get out here!"

It's a wolf demon. Yu Xiu looked back from afar and saw a demon wolf, a dozen feet long, churning with Demonic Qi. It leaped dozens of yards at a time, as if walking on demonic clouds, its aura terrifying.

A demon of the Four Great Passes. Yu Xiu didn't stop for even half a step. With the aid of his Riding the Wind state, he moved even faster, disappearing into the mountain range within a few strides.

After all, he was on the territory of Ram Horn Mountain. Although he could kill this wolf demon, he feared it would attract even more powerful monsters; there was no need to entangle himself with it.

Once he returned to the sect, this Ram Horn Mountain could be sentenced to death.

The sky of Yan Province belonged to the Qingwei Sword Sect; it would never allow a place like Ram Horn Mountain to exist.

Ram Horn Mountain receded rapidly, and soon, the Demonic Qi was no longer visible, nor could the low roars of the wolf demon be heard.

Another day passed, and Yu Xiu finally emerged from the dense forest and mountains to find a small town.

Once past this town, he would reach the territory of Wuyang Prefecture, and the Qingwei Sword Sect would not be far off.

Not a sound for a whole day; it seems the Law Enforcement Hall is mostly on my side.

If the Law Enforcement Hall stood with Fang Jiming and the other nine deceased, the experts of the sect would have long since pursued and captured him; they would never have let him off so easily.

Yu Xiu let out a sigh of relief.

Although he had anticipated this, it had still worried him; after all, when facing a behemoth like the Qingwei Sword Sect, he had no chance of clashing with them, only the option to run.

Now, however, he no longer needed to worry about such things, though for the sake of caution, he did not increase his speed.

Outside the town, people were coming and going. Before he even drew near, Yu Xiu saw many cultivators gathered, though he saw no one from the Sword Sect; he assumed they were from small sects or were wandering martial artists.

Holding his sword in one hand, he arrived at the outskirts of the town at a steady, unhurried pace.

He heard those passing cultivators saying, "What kind of sect is Cloud Mountain Cliff?"

"Who knows? There are so many small sects whose lineages have been severed. This Cloud Mountain Cliff might well be a story from hundreds of years ago!"

"That rogue cultivator named Jiang Han is truly lucky. Not only did he survive being snatched by a monster, but he also found the spiritual weapon 'Mountain Settling Hammer' left behind by Cloud Mountain Cliff. He's really soared to the heavens now!"

"To have a spiritual weapon survive to this day, I fear this Cloud Mountain Cliff was no nameless small sect back then; there must be other treasures left behind."

"Hurry, hurry! I heard that Jiang Han has already hidden his tracks and stopped showing his face. But his few close friends are all saying that Jiang Han also found a precious pill. He's likely gone into hiding to go into seclusion now. Once he emerges, his strength will surely skyrocket. By then, with that spiritual weapon in his hand, we might not even get a scrap of meat to eat!"

Yu Xiu deliberately slowed his pace, taking everything in, and had already roughly pieced together the sequence of events in his mind.

Cloud Mountain Cliff?

Jiang Han!

Hiss, why does this sound like a protagonist template!

Snatched by a monster, surviving against the odds, and obtaining a fortuitous encounter to soar to the heavens—isn't this the textbook definition of a protagonist?

However, he felt no curiosity toward this Jiang Han; staying with people who fit the protagonist template usually led to nothing good.

But he was quite tempted by this place called "Cloud Mountain Cliff." He didn't care much for pills or spiritual weapons, but there must be secret manuals and books hidden within.

He didn't care if the secret techniques were profound or not, but as long as there were enough of them and he could cultivate them all to perfection, his lifespan and comprehension would surely see a massive surge!

And this wouldn't cost him a single cent!