"Hello there!"
Before the terrified eleven ancestors, an old man in golden robes, with a gentle smile on his face, extended a friendly and casual greeting, in complete contrast to the aura of terror pressing down on everyone.
None of them dared to attack recklessly. After all, before such a powerful man, fighting was always the last option.
Among them, Ancestor Xu swallowed hard and, as leader, was the first to step forward, though just as terrified as the rest.
He bowed deeply, clasping his hands together, but kept his eyes fixed on the clearly antagonistic figure before him, ready to resist in the last resort.
Cold sweat ran down his back under the oppressive pressure of the smiling old man. No matter how long he had lived or how long he had reigned at the top of that continent, before such overwhelming power, he could only humble himself in hopes of preserving his own life.
This was the cultivation world: a world of power and longevity, but also a den of cowards.
That old man, who normally seemed imposing, now even stammered before someone of a higher realm, like a cowardly little boy.
"S-Senior, may this junior be so bold as to ask if we have offended you in any way?" he asked, teeth clenched slightly.
Aotian's eye, in his main body, twitched a little at being called senior by the decrepit old man, but Bao Wuji maintained his calm smile.
"No," he answered simply, shaking his head, amusement shining in his gaze.
Old Xu sighed inwardly, feeling a thread of relief. If they had not offended him, then perhaps there was still room to remedy things.
"Senior, if we have not offended—" he began, but was interrupted.
"No — I said you have no right to be bold enough to ask, not that you haven't offended me." Bao Wuji laughed, and without hesitation, extended his hand in the shape of a claw toward them.
'Not good!!' The old men widened their eyes in shock and immediately leapt to the sides, trying to escape.
Old Xu also did not hesitate and mobilized the mountain's formation, already prepared, unleashing its full power without reservation, striking at the current position of the old man who, though visible, could not be sensed.
But before they had even moved far, several golden chains, seeming alive, erupted from the ground and coiled tightly around their limbs, especially their arms, dragging them down and forcing them to kneel helplessly.
Their knees slammed against the floor with violent impact, shattering the ground beneath them.
At the same time, in the mountain's sky, millions of flaming swords were formed by the sect's attack array, all aimed at a single target, a single direction.
Bao Wuji, standing before the kneeling men, calmly lifted his gaze. His vision pierced the ceiling, beholding the sea of flaming swords in the sky, but not a trace of panic showed on his face. He remained still.
The swords took only moments to form and, upon reaching their peak, collapsed like torrential rain.
Disciples and elders of the sect had only enough time to raise their heads and widen their eyes at the unforgettable scene, before the blades rushed like a raging river toward the mountain's peak.
It was at that moment that Bao Wuji finally moved.
He raised his hand and waved at the sky as if shooing away an annoying fly, but the gesture, imbued with energy capable of shaking the heavens, exploded like a devastating tornado.
The hall's ceiling shattered, while ripples spread through the very fabric of space itself, extinguishing the flaming swords as if they were mere candles, snuffing them out completely.
The unstoppable power continued without obstruction, tearing through the sect's protective shield in the firmament, shattering it, and finally piercing the clouds, clearing the sky as it vanished into space.
After that simple wave of the hand, heaven and earth seemed to fall silent, in a sepulchral, suffocating stillness.
With the barrier broken, the sect's energy began leaking frantically, and the level of the spiritual environment plummeted abruptly.
Meanwhile, both the ancestors in the hall and all the people and beasts of the sect looked, without exception, at the devastating scene with profound dread.
And not only them: even Aotian, in his main body, trembled—both with excitement and with horror.
'Damn, this is the first time I've used the power of a Void Refiner in the real world without holding back. Man, this shouldn't even be a power a human should wield…' he thought, taking a deep breath as his main body's hands trembled slightly at the realization of the absurd power he now possessed.
Aotian had already used Bao Wuji's full power in the Soul Challenge, but this was the first time he saw, in the real world, the devastation it could cause.
Even after the attack, space still quivered ceaselessly, an unmistakable mark of a Void Refiner's power.
'Fortunately, it's only a low-level Formation-Tier mountain formation, on a mountain with a spiritual vein that's actually just fourth-level (Nascent Soul). Otherwise, it could've been much more complicated, since the nearly limitless power of a vein isn't something a lone cultivator could normally withstand.'
Aotian thought, silently relieved by the selfish choice those ancestors had made to take refuge there.
While everyone was still in shock, the sect's broken formations worked overtime to repair themselves, and soon the sect's shield regenerated, preventing further leakage of energy.
Flaming swords also began condensing again in the sky.
Bao Wuji, calmly gazing through the shattered ceiling of the hall, did not find it strange. Breaking a formation from within with a strike aimed at the sky usually did not severely damage the matrix's foundation.
But he did not wish to waste any more time on that.
The kindly old man, still smiling softly under the terrified gaze of the eleven ancestors, raised his foot and stomped firmly on the ground.
Rumble!
The entire mountain trembled as Bao Wuji's fierce energy surged through the ground, shattering several nodes of the sect's formation and triggering cascading failures across the array.
Soon, the flaming swords in the sky began to collapse, and Bao Wuji ceased his action.
At last, his gaze turned to the true targets of his mission.
A gentle smile curved his lips, but to the horrified ancestors, it looked more like the smile of a shura from hell.
…
While another round of mind reading took place, the journey of the ten avatars within the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain continued.
Before them, the air once again trembled with energy, signaling another barrier formation, even more powerful than the first limit they had crossed upon entering the main mountain.
They all stepped forward, passing through the second limit, and Aotian immediately felt the talismans on the avatars' chests strengthen with energy, as the formations seemed to analyze once more the quality of the energy within their bodies. Apparently satisfied with the results, the barrier allowed them to pass.
Crossing the barrier, Aotian immediately sensed the air of the place.
The impurities were even subtler and more invisible than before, but their intensity was, so to speak, twice that of the previous barrier… and stronger, more imperceptible impurities were always a bad omen for cultivators.
Aotian could feel the talisman struggling to suppress the amount of impurities from a realm above his own that silently invaded his body, while completely blocking those of equal or lower level.
'From what I learned from those cultivators' minds, the formations teleport people out at a random time, and if the talisman is removed proactively or by a third party, they are also immediately sent out of the main mountain by the formations.'
'It shouldn't be random. It is believed that the time is determined by the person's actual talent. The longer they stay, the greater the talent. But it must be that the amount of impurities infiltrating the cultivator's body reached a perceptible threshold, and then the formations expel them. That would also make sense with the talent theory. More talented cultivators rely less on external resources and have stronger foundations, meaning fewer impurities in their bodies, allowing more impurities to infiltrate before it becomes noticeable.'
'It seems that everyone who enters here knows the environment is gloomy, unpleasant, and strange, but they rely too much on the talisman that blocks evil, without realizing it doesn't block everything.'
Aotian reflected and turned his attention to the two alongside his avatars.
Mu Luyin appeared normal as she passed, but she turned and looked at Lei Yun with concern.
When she saw him successfully cross the barrier, she let out a sigh of relief, while at the same time being surprised and thrilled. After all, even most Nascent Soul cultivators could not pass the second limit, let alone a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him. And yet, there Lei Yun was, proving his extraordinariness.
As the girl watched in admiration the one she liked displaying his exceptional nature, Aotian also regarded the young man with a faint smile.
With his sharp perception, it was impossible not to notice that Lei Yun was irritated and dissatisfied after arriving on the other side, as well as to sense what was happening inside his body.
The young man suddenly seemed to sense something and raised his head, meeting Gu Jian's gaze, who was watching him with a faint smile.
His discontent, already great, could not help but flare up even more upon seeing that smile.
"Senior Gu Jian, did something good happen?" he asked with a respectful and normal tone, though his eyes were slightly narrowed.
Calling someone of lower cultivation "senior" still felt unnatural to him, but with his current cultivation, he had to get used to it. Otherwise, he would be seen as disrespectful, which would unnecessarily complicate his life.
Even if his tone was respectful and other nuances difficult to perceive, Aotian, who knew of his irritation, understood that the question carried hidden discontent.
Gu Jian, however, did not seem to mind the tone and continued smiling.
"I just found it funny, your face wanting to abandon the mountain the moment you felt the impurities invading your body," he said, amused.
But his words, seemingly casual, made Lei Yun and Mu Luyin widen their eyes in shock.