Inside the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain, the avatars moved with far more precision and certainty than before.
The mont Bao Wuji arrived outside the mountain, he didn't waste a second before using his treasure radar ability.
And the treasure radar of a Void Refiner avatar was countless tis stronger than that of a Golden Core avatar like Gu Jian.
The mountain's diater was slightly over 800,000 miles, and Bao Wuji's treasure radar, with himself at the center, could detect Void-Tier treasures within a 100,000-mile diater. However, since he was at the edge of the mountain, he could only scan about 50,000 miles inward.
That might seem small compared to the entire mountain… if Aotian were specifically looking for treasures of that level, but he wasn't.
Formation-Tier treasures, one realm below Bao Wuji's current level, could already be detected within a radius of 1,000,000 miles—aning 500,000 miles to each side centered on him, which nearly covered the entire mountain. As for treasures below that tier, he could scan the whole mountain with ease, even from the edge.
'I'll deal with the people outside first, then make Bao Wuji circle around and use the radar from the other side of the mountain. That way, there won't be any blind spots for Formation-Tier and below.'
Aotian thought of the plan with a smile as he guided the ten avatars toward the mountain's center.
'Haah… unfortunately, with the radar I can only see the tier and the type of treasure, but nothing specific—like which exact herb it is. If I want an herb to improve my root, I can only aim at the Nascent-Tier herbs that appear on the radar and hope one of them serves that purpose. Formation-Tier herbs are out of reach. With my ten Golden Core avatars, I can still fight fourth-level beasts that guard the treasures, but anything above that, and they'd die miserably.'
He thought, watching the points representing herbs on his ntal map, imagining that most likely each was accompanied by a beast.
'Too bad the Shadow Beasts don't show up on the radar. Still, I already know where the richest areas are, so I can focus on those close to the avatars and within reach. With only fifteen days, even crossing the mountain from one end to the other might not be enough — I need to know exactly how far I can go. If only Bao Wuji could enter…'
Sighing at the end, he recalled the mission he had created earlier, out of caution and greed.
[Mission: Let Bao Wuji Invade the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain
…
Danger Level: Fatal]
Aotian, who had created the mission only as a precaution, nearly cursed aloud when he saw the result, grumbling furiously.
'Damn it, they didn't put so super demon sealed in there and just let people co in to play treasure hunt, did they? No, cultivators wouldn't be that cra—'
He froze at the end of the thought, rembering the Xianxias he used to read, and found that scenario entirely reasonable, if this world followed the sa insane logic he recalled from those stories.
'They wouldn't… they wouldn't do that to … would they?' he thought bitterly.
After that, he could only keep Bao Wuji as far away from the do as possible, not even considering brushing against it. If a super demon was released, he wouldn't even know where to cry.
'Please, no ddling child of destiny, don't break so damned seal you were never supposed to break.' Aotian began to pray desperately, even going so far as to create another mission to confirm whether Bao Wuji should wait outside or simply tuck tail and run, abandoning the ten avatars.
[Mission: Let Bao Wuji Wait Outside the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain
Description: Keep Bao Wuji outside the mountain to kill and rescue people, without touching the barrier of the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain.
Participants: Bao Wuji, Gu Jian, …
Danger Level: Safe]
Only when he saw the danger level marked as safe did he abandon the idea of retreat, though he remained cautious.
Thus, the avatars were able to continue calmly on their journey of harvesting spiritual herbs and seeking treasures.
The mountain was imnse, and the avatars hardly crossed paths with other cultivators, even though all of them had been sent to the edges. With the treasure radar, Aotian could see wealth piled up at very small points, which were certainly cultivators carrying their storage rings and pouches, thus letting him understand the distribution of people across the mountain.
While the avatars enjoyed a relatively smooth path, killing fourth-level beasts and digging up herbs that the missions didn't mark as fatal, two people weren't having the sa ease and luck.
"Quick! They must have gone that way!" A group of cultivators flew at high speed through a jungle.
Crouched in a corner, Lei Yun and Mu Luyin hid in the bushes.
A talisman burned on Lei Yun's chest, activated by Mu Luyin to conceal his aura, since his realm was far too low to sustain Nascent Soul concealnt techniques.
In truth, Lei Yun wasn't as helpless as she thought, but it was more convenient to let her activate the talisman, since his own thods consud too much energy.
"Cough!" The green-haired girl, seeing the pursuers move away thanks to an illusion technique she had prepared earlier, finally couldn't hold on anymore and coughed blood into her hand.
She was no longer as pristine as before, but instead covered in cuts and wounds on both body and clothes, along with gri that revealed how frantically she had fought in the few hours since entering the mountain.
Quickly taking out a pill from her storage ring, she swallowed it and closed her eyes to accelerate its absorption.
Unlike soone absurd like Aotian, she had no other minds to control her body and hasten the dicinal pill's absorption while doing other tasks.
['Can you hold on?']
Lei Yun asked via sound transmission, looking at her with a hint of concern hidden in his serious gaze.
Mu Luyin opened her eyes and nodded.
['I'm fine, but we have to be careful. Those bastards ganged up on and injured badly. Now, knowing I won't recover before the mountain closes, they sent their lackeys to finish the job while I'm weak.']
The girl sighed, irritation flashing in her green eyes as she recalled the unfair fight.
She had only managed to drag Lei Yun and escape the encirclent, spending a few trump cards just to remain alive.
['Strange, the Mu family isn't easy to deal with. Even if no one could prove it, if you died in the mountain, your clan wouldn't let it go. They shouldn't dare be so blatant as to try killing you. What's going on?']
Lei Yun frowned, feeling that sothing was very wrong.
'Even if those 12 powers joined forces, they shouldn't be this bold,' he thought.
['Haah… that might've been true once. My clan was the strongest on the Beiyan continent, with ties to the once-greatest clan of the Central Plateau, as well as allies here on this continent. But everything changed a year ago. Representatives of powerful clans from the Central Plateau arrived and announced they would accept the allegiance of anyone who could obtain a Silent Cadaver Orchid from the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain within the next hundred years. They also said not to fear the old laws of the Liu family, since they couldn’t even take care of themselves anymore. After hearing that, the Twelve Powers wasted no ti forming an alliance, pledging loyalty and promising to work hard — which greatly satisfied the representatives.']
Her eyes turned grim as she continued.
['Now, with the union of 12 powerful clans, no one dares face them head-on, since their actions are, in a way, backed by the powers of the Central Plateau. So even if they kill in here, my clan couldn't say anything, because our allies wouldn't risk going against 12 clans supported by the Central Plateau just for . The only reason they didn't touch outside was because they still hadn't obtained the Silent Cadaver Orchid. But if they do this ti, we might not survive even if we leave the mountain.']
She finished with a complicated look.
As for Lei Yun, who heard her explanation, he was left slightly open-mouthed and bewildered.
'So basically, she dragged into a deathtrap when she freed from the slave seal,' he thought, stunned.
There was no resentnt or thought of blaming her for helping him; he was simply speechless at her recklessness.
But the girl seed to read his thoughts and smiled softly, shaking her head slightly.
['The Silent Cadaver Orchid might not even exist in this mountain, and even if it does, they have 100 years to get it—that's 10 openings of the mountain. It would be really unlucky for them to succeed on the very first attempt. The worst part is, they don't plan to remove anyone's slave seal, and will kill all who received one to prevent news of them taking hostages from scaring participants away in future openings. That's why I fled from my clan and ca to save you—because I knew you would co.']
She revealed, surprising Lei Yun, but he soon understood and felt grateful to her.
His gaze softened toward the foolish girl who risked so much for him.
It wasn't hard for him to understand why the 12 powers were being so extre.
Only about one million people had entered the mountain, and if they all died, their absence would hardly be noticed in such a vast continent with countless cultivators.
But it would be entirely different if they were released, for then one million cultivators would spread the word that the 12 powers were placing slave seals and confiscating the gains of the mountain.
The 12 powers needed explorers, and if news spread like that, no one would be willing to be enslaved to search for resources in such a dangerous place—for nothing—unless they were crazy.
In just 100 years, across the 10 openings, many probably wouldn't even notice that all participants of recent openings had disappeared, and would still co seeking opportunities after leaving their isolated cultivation. With the influence of the 12 powers, this could be mitigated even further.
'Actually, thinking about it, they were even transparent. From the start they said that if we failed to obtain a Silent Cadaver Orchid, they would activate all the slave seals. The problem is, most people probably don't know how rare it is, and how low the chances are of finding one,' Lei Yun thought, shrugging and dropping the matter.
Now, the two of them focused only on surviving the mountain, harvesting as many benefits as possible, and then escaping. As long as they managed to leave and the enemy didn't obtain the herb to secure the Central Plateau's backing, they probably wouldn't be killed out in the open.
…
In the sky outside the mountain, the now 11 ancestors of the 12 powers floated, their expressions grim and so even showing panic.
They were constantly communicating via sound transmission.
So wanted to rush back to their clans, but feared splitting up and being defeated one by one.
Others argued that they should all gather at one clan's mountain, using its great formations for protection.
But soon argunts broke out, since no one wanted to go to another's mountain and leave their own undefended, nor did anyone want to go to their own mountain and risk bringing a monster back ho.
Thus, the alliance ford out of recent interests was already descending into chaos and infighting.
They only held back from physical action because of the external enemy.
And their panic only grew when the leader, Xu Wugui, noticed sothing strange.
['Calm down, the enemy hasn't attacked yet. That ans he fears us sohow. Maybe he didn't take old Tie, but instead Tie sided with the enemy and left on his own, so—']
He was mid-reasoning, starting to calm his companions, when his senses picked up sothing wrong.
The fragile hearts of the other ten old foxes, which had just begun to relax, sped up again at the sudden, strange pause. They all looked around for enemies—or for another missing ancestor—but soon confird that the 11 were still present and healthy, leaving them puzzled.
But when they saw Xu Wugui staring downward in shock, they heard his question, which left them stunned.
['… Could I be mistaken… or have our Nascent Soul subordinates... vanished?!']
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