The Emperor Bell Tolling On

Yunhua Immortal Inn teemed with people.

This place lay more than two thousand li from Shangyin Academy, at the deepest reaches of Mang Mountain's outskirts, and was the most magnificent immortal inn there.

It covered thousands of acres, with palace halls and lofty terraces carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes rising one after another amid the ancient forest.

It had been established by the Yunhua Merchant Clan, which had also set up the Yanwen Grand Formation to guard all four directions.

The name "Yunhua" was no trifling matter. It belonged to a Dao merchant family famed throughout Great Yin, with a heritage spanning several centuries. It had been founded by a pair of Dao companions, and the two characters in Yunhua had been taken from their respective surnames.

Myriad Medicine Pavilion belonged to this merchant clan.

"So many people..."

After flying more than a thousand li, Xu Yan had intended to rest briefly at this immortal inn.

As he strolled along, he arrived at Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

The moment he reached the entrance, he spotted someone familiar.

It was Alchemist Wang, the man who had refined Earth Treasure Spirit Pills for him a year ago.

He was arguing until his face was red with a group of Daoists, gesticulating wildly, apparently over several medicinal herbs.

Had they not been inside the immortal inn, they might well have come to blows on the spot.

Alchemist Wang seemed to catch sight of Xu Yan from the corner of his eye. He abruptly fell silent, his expression freezing as he sharply turned his head.

"Young Master Yan?!" His eyes widened in obvious shock. As he spoke, he hurried over in a half-stroll, half-jog, his waist slightly bent, looking every bit like a minister approaching court. Reaching Xu Yan, he smiled and said, "Young Master Yan, what a coincidence! Have you opened your spirit apertures?"

He looked Xu Yan up and down, his face showing extreme astonishment. He loudly declared, "Young Master Yan is a heaven-gifted talent! With such dense spiritual power, you must have opened at least thirty innate apertures! Not only are you brilliant in letters, but in martial cultivation you are a dragon among men and phoenix among mortals! One day, your literary and martial prowess will shake the world!"

Ordinary cultivators who had not cultivated peculiar arts or divine eyes could not discern another's innate foundation.

They could only judge a person's cultivation from the density of their spiritual power.

Alchemist Wang shouted so loudly, his voice high and ringing, as though he wished for everyone in the immortal inn to hear him.

The surrounding cultivators were left stunned and turned to look at the pair. The Daoists who had been arguing with him earlier also wore astonished expressions as they whispered among themselves.

"Young Master Yan!" He shouted those three words louder than anything else. "Does Young Master Yan wish to refine pills? Please rest assured. This Daoist's pill-fire skills are far more proficient than last year's. Forget all of Great Yin—within this immortal inn, who could compare to me, Wang Xuan?"

Wang Xuan stood still and spoke with a solemn expression.

Xu Yan took a deep breath. It felt as though mosquitoes were buzzing beside his ears, and irritation immediately rose within him.

He promptly grabbed Wang Xuan's arm and cut him off. "Alchemist Wang, let us go inside and speak."

"Certainly!" Wang Xuan nodded, then suddenly turned back. Frowning at the Daoists he had just been quarreling with, he appeared perfectly calm as he said, "This old Daoist must now refine pills for Young Master Yan of the House of Prince Wu'an. We can discuss this later. Once the pills are complete, how could there be any question of defaulting on payment?"

"Alchemist Wang, no, we never said we would default. We only said we needed some time..."

Those Rogue Cultivator Daoists immediately frowned, their expressions somewhat ugly.

Inside a tranquil, pleasant palace loft, before the table in a private room.

Xu Yan took Earth Treasures from his storage pouch and placed them one by one on the table, thirty in all.

"Alchemist Wang, if you have the time, could you help me refine some Meridian-Opening Pills?" Xu Yan asked.

"I do, of course I have time." Wang Xuan nodded without hesitation, then added, "Young Master Yan, with so many Earth Treasures, this will take a while—at least half a month."

"There is no hurry. So long as the pills are successfully refined. But do not settle for second best and produce inferior pills," Xu Yan said.

As he spoke, he took out some Great Yin spirit coins and handed them to Wang Xuan.

"This Daoist shall not disturb you further, Young Master. I shall take my leave." Wang Xuan looked at Xu Yan's expression and smiled. He could tell that Xu Yan had been somewhat displeased earlier. Reading the room, he did not linger and immediately departed with the Earth Treasures.

With the room's door tightly shut, Xu Yan calmed his mind and focused his spirit.

He took out a scroll of Yanwen script. It was the one Imperial Brocade Guard Shen Congyun of Dragon City had previously asked him to translate.

Its sequence had been scrambled, making even a single sentence of scripture or doctrine impossible to sort out. All of it had been written in the primordial era.

He had expended much effort studying it within the ancient jade and consulting many ancient Daoist texts, trying to arrange those jumbled characters, but it had been exceedingly difficult.

It was not until he examined the relatively recent edicts of the Hunyuan Sect that he found a faint clue.

Some essential passages of Daoist script seemed to have been recorded there as well.

They had likely been copied down.

Immersing his mind in the Human-Snake Ancient Jade, Xu Yan steadied himself and began the tedious, dreary research.

Time flew by.

At dusk, the sun gradually sank in the west, while a full moon rose in the east.

Cold moonlight fell upon the ancient forests of the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains, yet not a trace of demonic beasts or strange creatures could be seen—not even the faintest roar sounded.

This greatly surprised many cultivators within the immortal inn.

They had not fought those demonic beasts and strange creatures for many days.

Still, that was for the best. The surroundings were much safer, and they had gathered quite a few spiritual materials and medicinal herbs.

Late at night, Xu Yan finally opened his eyes. A glazed radiance flashed through his pupils, and his state of mind was incomparably clear.

"Li Clan Crossing... was it an event recorded before the Ancient Solar Record?"

Xu Yan slightly furrowed his brow.

The Yanwen script Shen Congyun had asked him to translate was not some Daoist art or great technique, but merely a simple travelogue.

It recounted the reason for the Li Clan Crossing and certain events during the crossing of the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains, though it was incomplete.

"The northern wind tore silk apart, and the heavenly pillar toppled westward. Then the vast sea poured backward, while the Red Crow drooped its wings!"

Xu Yan pondered the words.

Their general meaning was that wild winds howled in the north, even the great heavens had collapsed, the sea had surged backward, and the feathers of a Golden Crow demon scattered through the air.

Records of ancient myths still could not be confirmed as true or false.

Boom!

Just as he was thinking, a bell toll suddenly rang out beyond the heavens like an exploding thunderclap.

The bell's toll seemed to have traveled from the primordial era. Deep and ancient, it rang on and on, echoing through the ancient forests of the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains without fading.

The enormous toll made Xu Yan's body jolt. He nearly fell from his chair as he widened his eyes and looked out the window.

Outside, a clamorous uproar suddenly erupted. The cultivators of the immortal inn had also been startled, and one after another, they rode the wind into the air!

"What is going on? Where did that bell come from?"

"What was that? Did something happen deep within Mang Mountain?"

"The Li Ancient Secret Repository must be emerging. The rumors were true."

"In the primordial era, when the Li Clan crossed the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains, they carried the Emperor Bell upon their backs to frighten the myriad demons."

"It must be the Li Ancient Secret Repository! It has to be!"

Within the enormous immortal inn, thousands of cultivators flew out and stood in the clouds, gazing toward the depths of Mang Mountain.

Xu Yan also stepped outside, spiritual light gleaming in his eyes as he fixed his gaze upon the source of the sound.

That ancient bell toll had come from the deepest parts of Mang Mountain, at least seventy or eighty thousand li away from here.

At such a terrifying distance, the toll was still so immense. It was impossible to imagine what kind of disturbance it would cause up close. The heavens and earth would surely collapse, and cultivators' souls might be shattered by the sound.

A Daoist's eyes trembled slightly. He hesitated only briefly before suddenly controlling a magical artifact and flying away.

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

In less than half the time it took to burn an incense stick, more than half the cultivators in the immortal inn had left, sweeping toward the distance like a plague of locusts.