Going Up Myself?

After a brief discussion, the three slowly approached the mountain peak. According to the other two, there should be several low-level black-clad cultivators here—the people they had tracked all the way. Chen Fan kept watch ahead while also holding the two beside him in greater suspicion. They were not fellow disciples, after all. Even among fellow disciples, hearts in the cultivation world were unfathomable, and one could never be too careful.

A butterfly led the way, with the three following behind it. Yang Dawei silently cast a technique to sense and control the butterfly, his expression grave. He was equally wary of Chen Fan. What a joke—his life-bound butterfly showed not the slightest urge to attack this man. To him, that was simply terrifying. If Junior Sister Hua had not been beside him, he might have fled long ago.

"This is truly strange. That Seven-Colored Phoenix Butterfly is usually so imposing—why does it wilt the moment it sees you? At first, I thought they were merely throwing a little tantrum, but now it seems the problem really is you. What is so unusual about you?" Hua Yuewu spoke as she curiously examined Chen Fan. She had been sensing his aura all along the way. He truly was just an ordinary Second Stage cultivator. Every Seven-Colored Phoenix Butterfly possessed the strength of the third rank, yet they now reacted to Chen Fan as though they had encountered a plague god. Yang Dawei was only barely able to steady a single butterfly even while exerting his full strength, and it could not get too close to Chen Fan. The moment it did, it might dart straight back into the gourd.

Just as they were about to reach the foot of the mountain, Yang Dawei suddenly said, "We're here. Those people should be nearby."

The three stopped and looked around, but saw nothing.

"Senior Brother, could there have been a mistake? These little butterflies are not themselves today. Could their sensing ability have been affected?" Hua Yuewu asked.

Yang Dawei fell silent for a while upon hearing that, clearly displeased. His Seven-Colored Phoenix Butterfly had only barely made it here with the support of his cultivation technique all the way. Yet no matter how he urged it afterward, the butterfly refused to move even half an inch farther. Left with no choice, Yang Dawei withdrew his technique. The butterfly, as if granted a pardon, swished straight back into the gourd.

Chen Fan ignored the two of them and instead walked into a patch of weeds nearby, seeming to search for something. Yet he was not rummaging around aimlessly. Little West on his wrist was guiding him toward a direction. The butterfly could sense pollen, and Little West had likewise been carefully raised since childhood, so it possessed that ability as well. Moreover, it was connected to Chen Fan's heart and mind. Could those butterflies have sensed Eastern Evil and Western Poison, which was why they were so frightened? Chen Fan had that suspicion, but now was not the time to investigate it. Yang Dawei losing his combat strength might not be a bad thing for him.

A little farther? This should be the place. Feeling the meaning Little West conveyed, Chen Fan parted the grass and looked down—only to find a person lying within. He jumped in fright. The man wore black, and his face was exposed, but it had suffered severe damage, making his appearance completely unrecognizable.

What was this? Silencing them and destroying their faces? Chen Fan suddenly considered that possibility, then began inspecting the ground around him. Sure enough, he found five more corpses one after another. All wore black, and every face had been utterly ruined.

The commotion from Chen Fan's searching drew the two from Myriad Blossom Valley over as well. When they saw the corpses on the ground, they too were deeply alarmed.

"Ah! Why are all these people dead?" Hua Yuewu cried out in spite of herself, then immediately realized something was wrong and covered her mouth. She had been sheltered within the sect since childhood and had never weathered any great storms or waves. This was her first extended journey outside the sect in many years, and now she had encountered such a dangerous matter. She simply could not hide the panic in her heart.

Yang Dawei beside her was clearly handling things better. His attention was focused instead on Chen Fan, and he was filled with doubt. All three of his Seven-Colored Phoenix Butterflies had gone on strike, so how had this boy managed to find these people? If someone claimed it was merely luck, he would not believe it even if beaten to death. This boy definitely had secrets! But now was not the time to probe them. Besides, even if he wanted to investigate, he had virtually no combat strength at present, while his junior sister lacked experience facing enemies in battle. Even if the two joined forces, they might not be able to take Chen Fan down. It was better not to provoke him for now.

"We encountered these people earlier. Every one of them had the strength of the Second or Third Stage, yet they were all wiped out in one stroke. And it is obvious they were silenced," Yang Dawei said after examining the corpses one by one.

"It must have been done by an expert. The three of us are probably no match for them..." Hua Yuewu's voice was filled with fear.

"Don't panic yet. If that person were nearby, they would have attacked us already," Chen Fan said calmly, though his gaze was fixed on the mountain above.

The mountain wall was incomparably steep. An ordinary person could not easily climb it at all. Perhaps only cultivators whose Soaring Art had reached the Mountain Ascending Realm or above could make it up.

"What is it? Do you suspect someone is on the mountain?" Seeing Chen Fan looking upward in uncertain thought, Hua Yuewu asked.

Chen Fan was about to say something when a voice suddenly came from behind them. "Whether there is anyone on the mountain or not, won't you know once you go up and take a look?"

Then, in no more than the time it took to blink, a figure appeared before the three. This person had arrived with speed too unbelievable to comprehend. It was as though, while he spoke, he had already crossed dozens of miles.

All three were horrified. They secretly circulated their techniques, ready to strike at any moment.

"Save your strength. You are not qualified to make me act against you." The speaker appeared to be a middle-aged man around forty. He wore a white robe, and long silver-white hair fell loose over his shoulders. The instant he steadied himself, he casually waved a hand. Chen Fan and the other two immediately found themselves unable to gather the Origin Qi within their bodies.

This man's cultivation was too terrifying. If he wanted to kill them now, it would be as easy as crushing ants. The last time Chen Fan had felt such suppression from another's cultivation had been when he faced Liu Wushuang. Could this man also be a cultivator above the Seventh Stage?

Just as the three were overwhelmed with terror, their bodies suddenly relaxed. The feeling of their cultivation being sealed vanished without a trace. It seemed that this man had no intention of targeting them.

"May I ask which great expert you are, Senior? Have you also come to investigate the matter of the missing children?" Hua Yuewu hurriedly asked respectfully. She could tell that this middle-aged man was not an accomplice of the black-clad men.

"You need not know. Nor do you need to concern yourselves with what follows," the middle-aged man said to the two from Myriad Blossom Valley. Then his gaze shifted to Chen Fan, examining him up and down a few times with what seemed to be a trace of puzzlement in his expression. "As for you, come up with me."

"Ah?" Chen Fan was instantly dumbfounded. Why did he have to go up? Besides, with his level of lightness skill, there was no way he could climb this mountain.

The two from Myriad Blossom Valley did not dare object, but neither did they immediately leave. They merely remained where they were. They had finally tracked the matter here, so they had to bring at least some useful information back to the sect. Since they could not go up, waiting for these two to come down would do. With that senior's cultivation and divine abilities, even if there truly was an expert among the black-clad men on the mountain, he should be able to handle them.

Seeing that the two remained where they were, the middle-aged cultivator understood their intentions. He looked at Hua Yuewu and said, "You are from Flower Old Devil's branch, are you not? Your talent is not bad, but you still lack experience. Since you wish to wait, remain here for now. I have searched everything within a hundred miles of this place. There is no danger for the time being."

Hua Yuewu was startled. This man had seen through her identity so easily. Yang Dawei beside her, meanwhile, felt ignored and said resentfully, "Since Senior knows that we are disciples of Myriad Blossom Valley and recognizes Senior Hua of Fragrant Wind Cave, why will you not bring us up, but insist on taking this person?" In his eyes, taking Chen Fan up meant protecting him at his side. Was that not far too favorable a treatment?

However, the middle-aged man ignored him. The two did not dare say anything further.

The man merely said to Chen Fan, "Let's go. Do you want to go up yourself, or shall I take you up?"

Go up myself? How? Chen Fan froze at those words and said, "Senior must be joking. This junior's Soaring Art is shallow. How could I possibly have the ability to climb this mountain on my own?"

"Oh? Is that so?" The middle-aged man said indifferently. "You indeed lacked the ability before. Why not learn it on the spot?"

What did he mean? Chen Fan was greatly bewildered. Then, at that very moment, strings of intricate incantations suddenly entered his ears. He looked at the middle-aged man in shock and saw his lips moving faintly. He was clearly transmitting his voice from afar. As expected of an expert of the Spirit Wandering Realm. Chen Fan instantly understood. He immediately steadied his mind, closed his eyes, and continuously pondered the incantations. Yet they were extraordinarily intricate and clearly belonged to no simple technique. Chen Fan memorized most of them, but could not comprehend them all at once. He only knew that it was a Soaring Art performed by combining one's own Internal Qi.

After the time it took to burn half an incense stick, the voice transmission finally stopped. Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes. He had not fully comprehended those incantations, but he had at least memorized seventy percent of them. He did not know whether he could use them to perform some part of the Soaring Art. The two from Myriad Blossom Valley had also noticed something by now. While astonished, they secretly envied Chen Fan as well. To receive such guidance from an expert—such an opportunity was rare indeed.

"How is it? Can you do it? If not, forget it. I will take you up instead," the middle-aged man said.

"Though this junior has not mastered it all, I wish to give it a try." Chen Fan's eyes revealed a trace of excited anticipation.

"Good. Then go up first." The middle-aged man said no more and directly prepared to head up the mountain.

Chen Fan drew a deep breath. Following the method of circulating energy described in the incantations, he continuously gathered the Origin Qi in his body into his legs and feet. He felt as though the meridians in his lower body had been completely opened, his blood and qi full, his Origin Qi swelling. Chen Fan immediately felt light as a swallow. He stamped off the ground and flew more than ten zhang into the air. Then he stepped on empty air as though treading upon some solid object, leaping several more zhang upward. His other foot lightly tapped the void, sending him several zhang higher again.

Stepping through the air again and again with both feet, Chen Fan slowly made his way up the mountain. Whenever he felt he was about to lose support, he lightly stepped against the mountain wall for leverage. This peak was not completely vertical, after all; it still had some slope, so he would not simply fall.

This felt incredible. Chen Fan experienced for the first time the exhilaration of soaring straight upward, and his heart felt immensely liberated. This was only a relatively low-level Soaring Art. If one day he could cultivate it to the Cloud Soaring Realm, what kind of experience would that be?

Seeing that Chen Fan was somewhat stumbling but still making his way steadily up the mountain, the middle-aged man leaped into the air as well and vanished directly. When he appeared again, he was already on a distant section of the mountain, seeming not far from Chen Fan.

The two from Myriad Blossom Valley were once again shaken where they stood. How had he done that? Even the highest-realm cultivators in Myriad Blossom Valley probably did not possess such mastery of the Soaring Art.