That Figure, Towering Like a Mountain

The crowd stared at the scene before them, dumbfounded, feeling as if they were dreaming.

"Everyone, this is it."

Zhang Feng met their shocked gazes and pointed toward the sky-reaching path before him with a hint of pride, smiling, "This road leads directly out of the Mist Forest, and it is absolutely safe. After all, the things that weren't safe have basically all been killed off."

Gulp!

The chubby elder swallowed hard.

He immediately rubbed his eyes with his plump hands and looked again.

It was still the same sight as before.

A path nearly a hundred meters wide, possessing a violent, aesthetic beauty, stretched out before their eyes.

On the towering trees snapped in half along the sides of the road, one could still see remnants of golden flesh—the remains of the Xiantian demonic beasts that had perished there.

"This road..."

As a Xiantian expert, Old Lady Xu felt a shock that surpassed everyone else's, her excitement making her incoherent. "This... after so much time, this road still retains such a powerful aura, and there is even... even a trace of the Great Dao's resonance lingering here!"

"Dao resonance?"

Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, Old Lady Xu remained in a state of awe and spoke slowly, "So-called Dao resonance occurs when one has comprehended the Great Dao and integrated its power into their body. Every movement carries the aura of the Dao, and the power is terrifyingly peerless."

"To comprehend Dao resonance, one must at least reach the level of a Golden Core Heavenly Monarch. The predecessor who carved out this path possesses unfathomable strength!"

"Truly unfathomable!"

Old Lady Xu shook her head repeatedly in wonder.

It was a pity; had she been fortunate enough to witness this scene a few decades earlier, she might have had a chance to advance further.

As it stood, she was already at the end of her rope, with little time left to live.

"A pity, what a great pity!"

The minimum threshold to comprehend Dao resonance was the Xiantian level, so aside from Old Lady Xu, no one else present felt a thing.

"Hm? Junior Sister Meng?"

Although Liu Yanran did not quite understand, she felt a sense of awe upon hearing the words of the Jingyun Sect's Xiantian ancestor.

She looked around to check the expressions of the others, but her gaze suddenly paused when she noticed that Meng Tangtang had closed her eyes at some point and was standing there in a daze.

A dense force of ice and fire swirled around her body.

Faint ripples of heaven and earth energy fluctuated around her, continuously refining her physique.

Her own cultivation base, which had been at the peak of the Subordinate Seventh Rank, surged rapidly, crossing the threshold of the Eighth Rank in the blink of an eye.

Furthermore, the speed of her advancement showed no signs of slowing down.

"Do not make a sound!"

Old Lady Xu's eyes lit up. With her vast experience, she immediately understood that Meng Tangtang was observing the Dao resonance and had entered the state of epiphany that countless people dreamed of.

Although one usually needed to reach the Xiantian level to comprehend Dao resonance, Meng Tangtang was different; she possessed the Ice-Fire Dual Essence Body.

On a certain level, she could be considered a natural-born Xiantian expert, lacking only the accumulation of cultivation.

In this regard, she was somewhat similar to Lin Cheng.

However, Lin Cheng was even more monstrous; neither his cultivation speed nor his upper limit of strength could be compared to Meng Tangtang's.

The group lowered their breathing.

They were terrified of disturbing Meng Tangtang while she was in the midst of her breakthrough.

Such a state of epiphany was rare and sought after; countless people never encountered it in their entire lives.

To encounter it was a great stroke of fortune. As long as one seized it, they were destined to leap over the dragon gate and embark on the path of the strong.

Old Lady Xu's expression was solemn. The heaven and earth energy around her slowly dispersed, enveloping the area to guard Meng Tangtang and ensure she suffered no interference.

The others also held their breath.

An epiphany was an extremely fragile state, easily interrupted.

If anyone caused an accident during Meng Tangtang's breakthrough, it would be an irreconcilable feud, making that person the number one enemy of the entire Jingyun Sect.

Even the alien races would have to take a backseat to that!

Soon.

About half a cup of tea's time passed, and Meng Tangtang's epiphany drew to a close.

Under the nervous and fervent gazes of the crowd, her cultivation aura finally settled at the mid-stage of the Ninth Rank.

A single epiphany had allowed her to jump two levels.

The others were so envious their eyes turned red.

As Meng Tangtang regained awareness of her surroundings, she recalled how, just before entering the state of epiphany, her mind had focused inward to comprehend the lingering Dao resonance of this place.

Due to her epiphany, her perception increased exponentially.

Consequently, she captured a trace of a familiar aura within it and, by borrowing the power of heaven and earth, vaguely "saw" several scenes.

It was a mysterious figure, clutching Elder Zhang Feng, slaughtering wildly all the way and charging headlong toward Beast Taming Mountain.

Although she could not see his expression, she could clearly feel the anxiety and worry in that person's heart.

There was also the scene of that mysterious figure confronting several Foundation Establishment great demons.

Facing several beings of the same level alone, he did not retreat in the slightest.

He had no time to delay; he had more urgent matters to attend to, and he dared not tarry.

For this, he was willing to risk his own fall.

Furthermore, she happened to discover that just a short while ago, or perhaps even just now.

That mysterious figure had appeared again, tirelessly and meticulously clearing away the demonic beasts along the path.

And this very path was the one they were destined to travel.

The mysterious figure had even rushed alone into the depths of the Mist Forbidden Land after finishing all this.

He had fought a great battle against five Foundation Establishment great demons, and his aura had withered.

That mysterious powerhouse was injured.

In the scenes she saw, he had always been incomparably powerful, pushing through everything in his path, showing at most a hint of fatigue.

This was the first time he had been injured.

Why would he do such a thing?

What benefit could this possibly bring him?

Coupled with that faint, elusive trace of a familiar aura...

At this moment, Meng Tangtang's delicate body suddenly trembled, and as she slowly opened her eyes, tears flowed uncontrollably.

Silently, she bit her lip, refusing to let herself sob aloud.

She already knew who that person was.

"Master..." Meng Tangtang murmured, barely audible.

She had seen it; her Master was injured.

She saw that figure, as vast as a mountain or an abyss, stooping as he walked out from the depths of the forbidden land, coughing up blood repeatedly along the way, as if he saw no one else around.

He sat down on the ground, completely devoid of his usual composure.

After a long while, he stood up again, straightened his robes, and departed with calm grace.

From beginning to end, he never came to greet her.

He had simply cleared the obstacles along the way in silence.

At this moment, the slight grievance she had felt at Beast Taming Mountain when she thought her Master hadn't come to save her vanished into thin air.

At this moment, she finally understood why she had been able to comprehend the lingering Dao rhymes of this place so easily.

She also understood why they hadn't encountered the slightest danger along the way.

One had to know that for a level like Dao rhyme, even with an innate constitution, how could a mere seventh-rank cultivator like her comprehend it so easily?

Someone must have been helping her from the shadows.

Yet, he had never intentionally revealed it.

The reason they hadn't encountered danger was naturally because her Master had cleared it away for her in advance; he hadn't told her because he wanted to train her abilities.

Such painstaking efforts were truly humbling.

A master's kindness is like the sea; a teacher for a day is a father for life.

Lin Cheng hadn't thought that much about it; he simply felt he should look after his disciple and didn't consider whether it was "due" or not.

But Meng Tangtang's heart was breaking at this moment.

Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, she was covered in tears, merely murmuring something incessantly.

They leaned in to listen.

"Master is injured... he is injured... Master is injured because of me, he is badly hurt... it is the first time he has ever been injured..."

Meng Tangtang looked up at the endless, towering path before her.

It was as if she saw that silent figure again, tirelessly clearing the demonic beasts of the Mist Forbidden Land.

What was it all for?

Meng Tangtang could no longer hold back, and under the worried and confused gazes of the crowd, she wailed aloud.

She hated!

She hated herself!

Why was she so ignorant? If not for her recklessness, how could she have implicated her Master and caused him such toil?

From the fact that her Master spent every day in the cold, desolate Library Pavilion, she knew he was never a man who liked trouble.

Yet, for the sake of an incompetent disciple like her, he had broken his own principles time and time again.

Master, I have caused you such suffering!