第三十五章 尸山血海

For twelve consecutive days, Xu Yan did not stop his pace.

The Great Teleportation Token had been activated a full six times, finally exhausting its magical energy. Its radiance dimmed, and as a breeze blew, it crumbled into fine powder and dissipated into the air.

Xu Yan appeared abruptly in mid-air, steadying himself on Mystic Qi before landing on the ground.

He scanned his surroundings with caution.

After six shifts, he had now stepped into the land of the latter half of the Immortal Treasury.

The surrounding atmospheric energy of heaven and earth was incredibly dense. Looking up at the sky, it actually converged into a long river, surging above the clouds—a spectacle so wondrous it left one breathless.

Directly ahead lay an endless mountain range, reaching up to the firmament like giants propping up the high heavens.

These mountains in the latter half were almost a mirror image of the Dragon Spine Mountain.

The only difference was that while the Dragon Spine Mountain was filled with immortal energy, the atmosphere within these mountains was suffocating. Every towering peak, amidst its dark hue, carried traces of scarlet, swirling with hair-raising, undulating atmospheric energy.

Xu Yan's expression tightened. He expanded his divine sense, circled his fingers, and kept the Wenjin Shuttle hovering around him for protection.

He stepped into the mountains with extreme caution.

To Xu Yan's surprise, after walking for over ten miles, he did not encounter a single demon or specter.

The place was terrifyingly desolate, with only the sound of the wind sweeping across the ground.

Before long.

A corpse appeared on the ground ahead. It seemed to have died not long ago, its body yet to decay. The corpse's face was deathly pale, its eyes wide open, as if it had encountered something unimaginably horrific before death.

There is something strange here.

Xu Yan furrowed his brows, certain of this in his heart.

At the same time, he became even more vigilant. Almost every distance he covered, he would probe the surroundings with his divine sense, preventing himself from being ambushed by lurking specters or hidden ancient killing arrays.

However, the danger he anticipated did not occur.

Within these mountains, only the number of corpses on the ground continued to grow; the deeper he went, the more there were!

The earth began to turn an intense crimson, as if it had been soaked in fresh blood for countless years. The stench of blood permeated the air, forcing one to cover their nose.

Having spent his past life on the battlefield, Xu Yan had never seen so many corpses at once, and it left his spirit slightly shaken.

A day later, he had walked three hundred miles.

The sight not far ahead made Xu Yan's pupils shrink, his hair standing on end.

In the distance, corpses were piled into small mountains. From the foot of these corpse-hills, a trickling river of blood flowed into the depths, emitting a foul, fishy odor, with severed limbs and remains scattered everywhere.

Xu Yan frowned deeply, suddenly feeling nauseous, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

"What kind of place is this? How could there be so many corpses..."

Xu Yan panted slightly.

He could vaguely see even higher mountains of corpses and longer rivers of blood in the depths, everywhere suffused with a suffocating aura of slaughter!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The blood river flowed, winding between the rocks, an endless stream converging into the depths.

He suppressed his discomfort and walked past the mountains of piled-up corpses. The scene here was too horrifying, and fearing ancient restrictions or specters, Xu Yan did not dare to travel by riding his Qi.

The scarlet stream wound beneath his feet, and a thick aura of slaughter rushed toward his face.

Xu Yan stepped over severed limbs and bypassed skeletal remains, every step landing heavily upon the blood-red earth.

After walking a hundred paces, a rustling sound suddenly reached his ears, like someone whispering.

Xu Yan immediately went on high alert, his Wenjin Shuttle buzzing.

He scanned the surroundings with his divine sense, yet found no specters manifesting.

What a wretched place. This sea of blood and mountain of corpses seems to have been artificially created here. What could be its purpose!

Xu Yan thought with a frown.

Just as he was thinking, whispers drifted from nowhere, entering Xu Yan's ears and invading his divine sense. The voices were ethereal, echoing directly within his mind.

"My junior sister from the Dayan Sect is still waiting for my good news. I cannot die here!"

"Father, mother, your child is unfilial."

"I am the chief disciple of Water Cloud Valley. How could I fail to pass even this entry-level trial? I am not reconciled!"

"The Great Teleportation Token, why is it not working?"

"The Longevity Orthodoxy... if one does not enter the true teachings of the Divine Sect, how can one cultivate the path of longevity..."

Veins bulged on Xu Yan's forehead. He covered his ears with both hands, but the sounds did not enter through his ears; they drilled directly into his divine sense, unavoidable.

He felt as if countless needles were piercing his mind simultaneously, the pain unbearable.

"Are these the residual divine sense thoughts of disciples from past years before they died?"

Xu Yan gritted his teeth, activating the Miaoyuan Edict. His divine sense spread out like ripples.

He seemed to see it.

On every corpse, a faint spiritual light drifted—these were the remnants of divine sense left behind by obsession and unwillingness.

These lights were sealed by the magical energy of the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury, having not dissipated even after endless years.

Moreover, these corpses indeed did not die here; it was more as if they had been forcibly moved here from somewhere else, forming this terrifying land of corpse-mountains and blood-seas.

Xu Yan continued forward, countless voices following him like shadows, as if trying to ensnare his spirit and make him linger here.

"I want to become an immortal! I want longevity!"

"I want to enter the Taiyuan Divine Land, cultivate great divine powers, and then return... to slaughter them all."

"If I could do it again, I would never step half a foot into the Immortal Treasury."

"Xu Yan..."

Suddenly, one voice made Xu Yan tremble all over.

"I don't want to be mediocre my whole life and die in the village. I want to go to the vast sea to seek the Dao and inquire about immortality. I want to let everyone see that I, too, can make something of myself."

Xu Yan's footsteps faltered.

That voice was too familiar. It was not him; it was the voice of the original body, or perhaps it was also him—he could not distinguish or explain it.

Xu Yan looked around in astonishment, but found no spiritual light drifting from any corpse.

He looked down and realized the light was coming from within his own body. It was only for a brief moment before it submerged back into him.

For endless years, countless disciples had walked into the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury full of hope.

But in the end, under the relentless waves of time, ninety percent of the cultivators turned into withered bones in this sea of blood and mountains of corpses, their names forgotten by all.

Xu Yan clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

He looked into the distance with trembling eyes. He had reached the final mountain of corpses.

This mountain was about fifty zhang high, with bones piled up like a pyramid. At the very peak sat a skeleton in an upright posture, as if it had been meditating before death.

With jade-like bones and skin, it had remained pristine after endless years; this person had possessed immense talent, yet had died here as well.

In his ears, countless voices continued to echo.

In Xu Yan's mind, images of the battlefield from his past life flashed by. During his many years of military service, Xu Yan had seen countless people fall beside him; the scenes before their deaths were unforgettable.

In the end, he had also died somewhere on the battlefield. At the very moment his consciousness faded, reviewing his life like a revolving lantern, Xu Yan had also felt regret. If he could live another life, he would never lead such a life of constant fear.

But the past was the past. Whether it was his previous life or the mortal Xu Yan of Green Ox Town, everything had turned to smoke.

Xu Yan opened his eyes abruptly, his gaze clear and immensely firm.

"I will not die here!"

The residual thoughts of countless cultivators swept past his ears like a hurricane.

"In this life, I seek only freedom, longevity, and to roam the heavens and earth. No one shall ever bind my hands and feet again!"

Xu Yan panted slightly. He seemed to be saying it to those residual thoughts, and also to himself.

Afterward, Xu Yan ignored the voices, no longer caring about anything.

Those remnants gradually grew quieter until they disappeared completely.

Xu Yan was almost out of the vast mountain range—the land of corpse-mountains and blood-seas.

Outside, he could vaguely see lush forests, and in the distance on the horizon, a corner of the third Spirit-Sealing City, hidden in the mist, stood tall and majestic.

Just as he stepped out of the area, a magic sword suddenly flew over at high speed from afar, its momentum sharp, heading straight for Xu Yan's face.

Xu Yan reacted quickly; the Wenjin Shuttle flew from his hand and easily deflected the sword.

The cultivator wielding the sword did not seem to have any killing intent; it was merely a test.

Xu Yan's eyes darkened as he looked ahead.

Above the tree canopy not far away, a young sword cultivator in a green Daoist robe approached on his sword.

Seeing the newcomer, Xu Yan's eyes flickered.

This person was a disciple of the Jiang Family Sword Tomb, an ancient clan of the Divine Sect. When the Immortal Treasury first opened, Xu Yan had watched him spar with Tushan Jiuyuan.

Jiang Qingcheng, with his unruly black hair and a slight smile on his handsome face, arrived on his sword.

"Nine days! Someone has finally arrived!" Jiang Qingcheng examined Xu Yan with a smile, then raised an eyebrow. The expression on his face vanished instantly, and he stared at him very seriously, saying in a deep voice: "Fellow Daoist, you look familiar. Are you... at the Dragon Whisker Ravine, did the Ziwei Dharma King give you some pointers?"