Three Pure Ones Mountain was not far from Dragon-Tiger Mountain, and the True Lord's lion mount soon arrived. Dragon-Tiger Mountain's Cinnabar Glow Mountain Gate remained as majestic and imposing as ever, the inscriptions left upon it by Immortals still dazzlingly radiant.
There was no one at the gate. Naturally so: the entire mountain and sect had been sealed off. The True Lord had decreed that none of them could leave, and they certainly would not allow any outsiders inside. With neither entry nor exit, guarding the gate had naturally become pointless.
More than twenty years had passed, and Zhang Family Ancient Town outside Dragon-Tiger Mountain's gate had also become an empty city. Perhaps the cultivators within Dragon-Tiger Mountain believed that, with their mountain fallen from power, outsiders would attack the town's mortals. Or perhaps, after witnessing the Mountain-Questioning Battle more than twenty years ago, the townsfolk had been frightened and asked to enter the mountain for protection. Or perhaps there was some other reason. In any case, outsiders did not know the circumstances. The result, however, was that Dragon-Tiger Mountain, whose misty radiance had once illuminated the sky, was now shrouded in dense fog year-round, while the once bustling ancient town had become a silent, dead city.
The lion stopped before the mountain gate.
"Keep going."
The Daoist on the lion's back spoke calmly.
The lion neither asked questions nor hesitated, much less challenged him. It immediately strode forward, toward Dragon-Tiger Mountain's gate and its formidable Spell Restrictions. It had long since understood that its purpose was to display the True Lord's majesty. As for the road ahead, if there were merely a few bumps or muddy patches, it could smooth them out in passing. If there were mountains of blades and seas of fire, however, it would not need