I Have a Spell, Practiced for Two and a Half Years

"This is the Five Aggregates Sect's encampment. Do not run around."

Wei Shan swept his gaze around and gave a cold snort. Many people were startled and quickly cupped their hands, withdrawing their presumptuous stares.

Peak Master Wei is mighty. Chen Xun praised inwardly. It was still better to have a mighty tree to lean against.

Wei Shan said no more. He was waiting—for the Ten Great Immortal Sects. The key to the Nandou Mountain Secret Realm was in their hands.

At that moment, earth-shaking booms continually rang out from the Skyvault. Massive flying boats and enormous birds tore through the air, their nearly suffocating auras rolling in without end.

Shadows swept across the ground one after another, as though demonstrating their might, or perhaps proclaiming their dominion.

Sect banners shimmered brilliantly, countless figures standing upon them. With cold eyes, they looked down upon the earth and upon the disciples of every sect.

Wei Shan's expression remained calm and unruffled, but inwardly, he did not feel nearly so well. The Ten Great Immortal Sects were like ten colossal mountains pressing down upon every cultivator in the Gan Kingdom.

Chen Xun and Black Bull kept shaking their heads and sighing. This spectacle was far more exaggerated than Nine-Star Valley had been back then. All they could say was, damn impressive.

"Whoa!" Chen Xun pointed at the distant Skyvault. "Old Bull, look!"

Several enormous vessels came to a stop in the sky. Countless women in purple robes soared out from within, stepping upon lotus-leaf artifacts as they descended through the air.

Their graceful figures danced through the sky, stirring up a sea of purple. Chen Xun felt as though he could even smell a sweet fragrance.

The disciples of every sect on the ground could not help having their attention drawn away. They stared foolishly into the distance. The fairies of Purple Cloud Sect, one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects!

If one could become Dao companions with one of them, one would still be a dashing ghost even in death.

"Moo!" Black Bull nudged Chen Xun. He could not appreciate it.

"Old Bull, say, if a man joined Purple Cloud Sect, would he also wear purple robes and step on lotus leaves? Then, when fighting, he'd say something like this."

Chen Xun began imitating them in a bizarrely affected tone. He patted Black Bull with one hand, pinched his voice, and said, "You hit me~ You're so mean~~"

"Hahaha..."

"Moo moo moo~~"

Chen Xun and Black Bull rolled all over the ground laughing. The key was that Chen Xun kept imitating them from time to time, laughing Black Bull so hard his mouth nearly cramped.

"Ah, Junior Brother Chen, is that you?!"

Ji Kun looked at the man and bull constantly rubbing against the ground, shock flashing through his eyes. "Junior Brother Chen, how did you get here?"

"Senior Brother Ji, hahaha..."

Chen Xun laughed until tears nearly spilled from his eyes. "Come here, I'll tell you something funny."

"Oh?" Ji Kun became interested and hurried over.

After a while, Chen Xun began his coquettish imitation again, vividly putting on a full performance.

"Haha..."

Ji Kun shook his head and laughed. This Junior Brother Chen had actually reached a point where Life and Death were worlds apart, yet he still had the heart to amuse himself. Ji Kun truly did not know whether Chen Xun's nerves were simply too thick, or whether his mindset had always been this optimistic.

"Old Bull and I came to take a look and seek out an opportunity. I think what Senior Brother Ji said back then was very right."

Chen Xun stood up, his expression turning serious. "Senior Brother Ji, rest assured. Old Bull and I definitely will not hold you back."

"Junior Brother Chen, what are you thinking?"

Ji Kun looked displeased and placed a hand on Chen Xun's shoulder. "If you cannot win, run if you can. Your lives are the most important thing."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Ji. Old Bull and I definitely will not clash head-on." Chen Xun smiled.

"This teleportation is quite random. At most, three people can form a group. That day, I didn't know that you..."

"Senior Brother Ji, there is no need to worry about us. I know you already have a group, so I did not come to disturb you."

Chen Xun smiled. Neither he nor Black Bull stood out in strength or social standing, and no one had come to invite them.

Ji Kun's expression darkened. He wanted to keep Chen Xun and Black Bull by his side, so that if anything happened, he could lend them a hand.

"Senior Brother Ji, do not overthink it. Just go without worry. We have a trump card." Chen Xun patted the hand resting on his shoulder.

"Over these three years, I also had a spell that I practiced for two and a half years, but..."

"Senior Brother Ji, if you consider me, Chen Xun, a friend, then go without worry. Old Bull and I will definitely come out alive." Chen Xun spoke solemnly, deeply moved inside.

"Sigh!"

Regret still filled Ji Kun's eyes. He fiercely withdrew his hand, then turned and left without saying another word.

"Moo~" Black Bull looked at his departing back, then at Chen Xun.

"It's fine. Senior Brother Ji is simply too worried about our strength." Chen Xun smiled as he too looked toward Ji Kun's back.

"Moo~"

Black Bull nodded, thinking inwardly: Actually, they're very strong. Truly very strong. Senior Brother Ji doesn't need to worry about them.

In an instant, beastly roars echoed in every direction. A gigantic python tore through the sky, carrying more than a thousand Beast-Taming Sect disciples. They wore gray robes embroidered with unknown spirit beasts.

Many disciples atop the giant python revealed bloodthirsty smiles. All manner of spirit beasts accompanied them, while some even had spiders, little snakes, and the like coiled around their bodies.

"People from Beast-Taming Sect, one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, have arrived. Those spirit beasts are truly too powerful."

"I heard that every twenty years, when the Nandou Mountain Secret Realm opens, Beast-Taming Sect suffers the fewest losses and gains the most."

"Among low-level cultivators, no one can outfight a Beast-Taming Sect disciple in a spell battle!"

An uproar rose from countless sect disciples on the ground. They were filled with envy. Spirit beasts were not easy to raise, but once raised successfully, they would absolutely become a great source of support.

Yet Chen Xun's Black Bull was an exception. These disciples had never seen a person whose cultivation differed so enormously from that of his spirit beast.

"Old Bull, if you went up against these spirit beasts, how many out of ten would you take?" Chen Xun squatted on the ground, tossing pebbles.

"Moo!!" Black Bull let out an angry roar and drew a ten on the ground!

"Damn impressive!" Chen Xun slapped Black Bull and praised him. "I knew you had it in you from the moment I first saw you."

Black Bull raised his head proudly, looking utterly pleased with himself.

One day later.

People from the Ten Great Immortal Sects arrived one after another. They even exchanged pleasantries within their respective encampments, utterly disregarding the major sects.

Wei Shan seemed unable to hold himself back any longer, his expression incomparably grim. But beneath another's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head. He could only hope these disciples would prove themselves worthy.

Continuous thunderous booms suddenly erupted from the clearing at the highest point. Multicolored spiritual light shot into the sky, gradually forming a pillar of light as waves of spiritual pressure rolled forth.

"It is nothing. The Ten Great Immortal Sects are breaking the Nandou Mountain restrictions and opening the teleportation formations." Wei Shan explained as he looked at the disciples whose faces had gone pale with pain.

"Yes, Peak Master!" Everyone cupped their hands. None of them wanted to make fools of themselves before Wei Shan.

Rumble—

Rumble—

A massive Seven-Star Array Teleportation Formation appeared in every major sect's encampment. The person leading each sect took out an ancient token and placed it into a groove.

"Hurry up. The teleportation formations will only last half a day." Wei Shan shouted, continuously pouring his mana into it. The power of the Five Aggregates Sect token could send no more than seven hundred people inside.

"Yes, Peak Master!"

"Yes, Peak Master!"

They entered in groups of three alongside the teammates they had formed, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xun and Black Bull stood alone at the outskirts. Only after everyone else had been teleported away did they slowly step forward and enter the teleportation formation.

The Seven-Star Array Teleportation Formation lost its glow and vanished soon after. Wei Shan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed upon South Dipper Mountain.

As the sun slanted west and dusk passed, the region within South Dipper Mountain was peaceful and quiet. There was not even the roar of a wild beast—silent, so silent that it seemed dead.

Miasma grew everywhere, while poisonous insects and poisonous plants covered the land. If one was careless and allowed the miasma into one's body, half one's life would basically be ruined.

Tens of thousands of people had teleported inside, yet they were like a drop of water falling into the sea. They could not find even their fellow sect members, and even their sect tokens gave no response. They must have been separated by an immense distance.

Atop an ancient tree, one man and one bull furtively watched their surroundings. Black Bull firmly remembered Chen Xun's words: when out and about, safety came first.