Shi Yi and those people from the Primordial Divine Mountain would most likely all venture inside.
They had to try their luck, after all. What if their fortune defied the heavens and they got their hands on it? That was why he wanted to join the excitement, too.
As he thought about this, his speed gradually increased, and the trees beside him were constantly left behind.
With one hand behind his back, Shi Qingyun moved his legs at a leisurely pace, as though admiring flowers in his own courtyard, yet his speed was anything but slow.
Every step carried him dozens of meters away. Now that he had entered the Cave Heaven Realm, he could maintain the speed he had achieved at full tilt in the Blood Moving Realm even without using the Eight Directions Step.
This was another major difference between the Blood Moving and Cave Heaven Realms. The cave heavens a cultivator opened in the Cave Heaven Realm connected with the vast cave heaven outside the body, allowing them to draw upon the essence of the wider world to replenish the divine power they consumed.
The Blood Moving Realm offered no such advantage. Moreover, Shi Qingyun's comprehension of the path of Yin-Yang made him many times faster than others in the same realm.
The boost Yin-Yang gave to speed was truly terrifying. After all, Kunpeng, one of the Ten Fiends, was the embodiment of speed, and Kunpeng had entered the Dao through Yin-Yang.
Shi Qingyun's figure darted swiftly through the forest, yet his footfalls made very little noise.
He took a step, planting his foot squarely on a stalk of spirit-nurturing grass. Ripples immediately spread outward from its tip.
Yet the spirit-nurturing grass beneath his foot suffered no harm. Even its appearance barely changed; it remained upright and verdant.
Only the dewdrop hanging from it swayed slightly a few times. In the next instant, however, his figure appeared far away from that stalk of spirit-nurturing grass.
After a few twists and turns, he vanished from sight.
Feeling the rich essence of heaven and earth and the vigorous vitality within the forest, Shi Qingyun felt refreshed in body and mind.
Even as he traveled, he did not slacken his efforts. He kept comprehending the transformations of Yin-Yang while the Dao diagram in his mind scattered flecks of golden light.
As those golden flecks fell, all sorts of principles concerning Yin-Yang surfaced in Shi Qingyun's heart.
Behind Shi Qingyun, two lively Black-and-White Twin Fish faintly appeared, following close behind him as he moved. His speed seemed to increase a little more.
He felt an indescribable exhilaration. With a thought, he caused still more golden light to fall from the Dao diagram.
Shi Qingyun felt his understanding of the Dao rapidly advancing, making him unable to resist urging the Dao Diagram to release even more golden light.
Shi Qingyun seemed to enter a state of self-forgetfulness. In his eyes, everything slowed down, and the colors of all things seemed to have been erased.
Only a colorless world remained before Shi Qingyun's eyes, and he stood at its center.
Yin-Yang Qi constantly gathered between his hands. The Qi he carried was the only splash of color in this colorless world.
Shi Qingyun walked through this colorless world, so monotonous and so strange.
He felt that with a single wave of his hand, he could make the entire world exist according to his wishes.
As he thought this, a spark of intelligence flashed in the eyes of the two black-and-white fish that had been following him.
The next moment, the two fish flew out from behind Shi Qingyun. Wherever they passed, spring warmth arrived, flowers bloomed, and brilliant colors burst forth.
Shi Qingyun felt an urge to follow the two fish and become a deity who shaped all creation. He was just about to step forward and pursue them.
A rumbling crash dragged him out of his immersion in the sight of the black-and-white fish bestowing color upon all things.
Shi Qingyun instantly came to his senses and surveyed his surroundings. Not far away, that stalk of spirit-nurturing grass stood swaying in the breeze.
At some point, the dewdrop on the Spirit-Nurturing Grass had fallen.
Shi Qingyun was dazed for a moment. What on earth had happened?
He examined his body and found nothing seriously wrong, though the Dao diagram in Shi Qingyun's mind had dimmed somewhat.
Knowing that nothing had gone wrong with his body, he felt some of the anxiety hanging over him ease.
Recalling what had just happened, he could not help breaking out in a cold sweat.
He had almost lost himself in that scene. Alarm bells rang in Shi Qingyun's heart. Had I nearly dissolved into the Dao just now?
Fortunately, the noise had awakened him. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
He changed direction and ran toward the source of the sound, reaching it with a few swift movements.
The group from the Primordial Divine Mountain, who were attacking a man from Martial King Manor named Yu Tian, were somewhat bewildered. Why had someone suddenly appeared?
Yu Tian, who had been resisting their attacks, also raised his eyes. Why had the attacks suddenly stopped? What happened?
Looking up, he saw Shi Qingyun not far away and was rather surprised. Why had he appeared at a time like this?
Joy immediately lit up his face, but then, as though something had occurred to him, his expression grew conflicted.
Chapter 38: Nine Heavens of the Rain Path
Naturally, Shi Qingyun could also read what everyone was thinking from their expressions.
He paid no heed to their thoughts, however. A quick glance around was enough to tell him what was happening.
At the same time, Shi Qingyun felt rather speechless. Why do I keep running into things like this?
This was already the second time he had encountered people from the Primordial Divine Mountain pursuing and bullying someone.
And those people always happened to be connected to him by a thousand tangled threads. Yu Tian was part of Martial King Manor's camp, after all.
Why do I feel so much like their nanny? Shi Qingyun thought helplessly. Still, there was nothing for it. Yu Tian had done him a great favor, at least.
If not for him, he might have dissolved into the Dao.
But then again, why haven't these people from the Primordial Divine Mountain caught Shi Yi yet? Wasn't he supposed to be hunted by them?
He had expected that by now, either a great battle would have taken place, leaving casualties on both sides and forcing them to lower their banners and still their drums, or one side would be pursuing the other.
Why were they pursuing the people around Shi Yi instead? Could Shi Yi have lost? He dismissed that thought the instant it appeared.
He still had faith in Shi Yi's strength. Since he could not work it out, he would save Yu Tian and ask him afterward. Shi Qingyun abandoned his pointless speculation.
His gaze swept over Yu Tian. Come to think of it, Yu Tian had once shown him hostility. Why was his face displaying so many emotions now? What was he thinking to make his expression so complicated?
Could his consciousness have fallen into chaos back in the underground cave, changing the way he thought and leaving him unable to understand what was happening?
While Shi Qingyun was still sorting out the situation, silence settled over the scene.
Shi Qingyun was considering the circumstances and what he should do. Had these been people from the Feather Clan, he would have charged in without a word, but the Primordial Divine Mountain's faction included more than just the Feather Clan.
As for those from the Primordial Divine Mountain, they could not fathom Shi Qingyun's capabilities and dared not act rashly. Anyone who could suddenly appear without any of them noticing was surely no ordinary cultivator.
Yu Tian, meanwhile, was torn. One of the reasons his family had sent him in was to find an opportunity to kill Shi Qingyun here.
On the other hand, with an outside enemy right before him, he could certainly drag Shi Qingyun into the mire, killing him while also creating an opportunity for his own escape.
But would that not be too shameless? Someone had come to save him, and rather than feel grateful, he was contemplating repaying kindness with enmity. That was not his style.
Clearly, Yu Tian had taken Shi Qingyun for someone who had come specifically to rescue him. Who knew what Shi Qingyun would think if he learned what was going through Yu Tian's mind?
Those thoughts circled through Yu Tian's mind only briefly before he made his decision.
His expression gradually turned resolute, and he shouted to Shi Qingyun, "Run! Get out of here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Three Unequal Cave Heavens appeared behind Yu Tian, frantically swallowing the essence of heaven and earth like whales.
The essence they drew in poured rapidly into Yu Tian's body. At the same time, crisp sounds of cracking bones came from within him.
Clearly, Yu Tian's body could not accommodate so much essence all at once.
Yet he was not finished. Enduring the pain coursing through his body, Yu Tian continuously formed hand seals before his chest.
Within Yu Tian's body, drops of blood essence burned furiously, and waves of blood-red flame spread along his blood vessels throughout his entire body.
With every seal he formed, his aura grew more imposing.
Yu Tian's words broke the atmosphere hanging over the scene, pulling Shi Qingyun out of his thoughts.
"Huh?"
Shi Qingyun's face was full of confusion. What was this about? My enemy is actually telling me to flee? Has this world gone a little too mad?
But upon closer thought, he and Yu Tian really did not seem to have any grievances. Those were merely conflicts between him and Shi Long.
Seeing Yu Tian already prepared to fight to the death, he was momentarily speechless, the sarcastic remarks caught in his throat.
They say that after three days apart, you must look at a man with fresh eyes. Does he still take me for that Blood Moving Realm Shi Qingyun?
Meanwhile, Yu Tian's words also told the people from the Primordial Divine Mountain that Shi Qingyun belonged to Martial King Manor. They gathered runes in their hands and launched attacks at both him and Yu Tian.
Seeing Shi Qingyun still standing there in a daze, Yu Tian could only think, Good advice cannot sway a ghost doomed to die. I told him to run, and he's still standing there like an idiot.
The seals in his hands slowly took shape, and waves of imposing power gathered around him.
"Nine Heavens of the Rain Path!"
Just as Yu Tian was about to unleash the Rain Clan's clan-guarding precious technique, what happened before his eyes in the next instant made them widen.
Before him, the people from the Primordial Divine Mountain, who had been fiercely unleashing attacks a moment earlier, had all become black ice sculptures. The savage expressions on their faces had frozen in place.
Each wore a different expression, all rendered so lifelike beneath that coating of black frost.
Yu Tian could hardly imagine how such a thin layer of black frost possessed such tremendous power.
Even the runic precious techniques flying through the air had been frozen back into their original rune forms, glowing faintly within the ice.
The sight left Yu Tian at a loss. The aura slowly rising from his body abruptly stopped, then receded like mercury spilling across the ground.
Yu Tian gave a muffled groan and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yet he could no longer withdraw the precious technique in his hands.
Now that there were no enemies left, however, Yu Tian had nowhere to unleash his Precious Technique.
He could only hurriedly release it to one side. Droplets of water pierced small holes into the ground like arrows.
Though this was the most powerful release of the precious technique Yu Tian had achieved in all this time, there was not the slightest joy on his face.
He killed so many people in the blink of an eye. Is this still that Blood Moving Realm kid from before? How did he become so powerful after just a few days apart?
Among that group from the Primordial Divine Mountain were several people who had opened two cave heavens, yet they had died without putting up the slightest resistance.
This inevitably reminded him of Shi Yi. As far as he remembered, only Shi Yi among the younger generation possessed such strength, but now there was Shi Qingyun as well.
Yu Tian had no idea why Martial King Manor kept producing so many geniuses. It seemed his family had been quite farsighted in telling him to build a good relationship with Shi Yi.
Looking at those lifeless ice sculptures shrouded in the aura of death, Yu Tian could not help shivering.
Thank you all for your support and for pointing out so many shortcomings.
Thank you very much.
Before you continue