Chapter 994: Stone Stele

When the old man and his companion flew out of that incomparably long passage, Han Li was already floating in the high air outside the passage, gazing at the top of the canyon and listening intently to something.

Only then did the two realize that after arriving outside, the faint rumbling sound had actually become even weaker. If not for the fact that all three were Nascent Soul stage cultivators whose senses far exceeded those of ordinary people, they would likely have dismissed the sound as nothing more than a light breeze passing by their ears.

"It seems to be coming from above, and it is very far away. If this place weren't sealed by a barrier into a closed space, the power of the echoes would be far too great. We wouldn't have been able to hear it at all," the old man surnamed Fu said with a frown after listening for a moment.

"Since we are unfamiliar with everything here, we might as well go over and take a look. It is better than blindly stumbling about. Of course, it would be best if we used concealment techniques to travel, trying our best not to let others discover us first," Han Li suggested, turning his head to look at the two.

The old man surnamed Fu and his companion naturally had no objections and readily agreed.

The old man pinched a spell with both hands, and a large expanse of green light suddenly erupted from his body, which then dimmed as the light faded. His figure became blurred, eventually transforming into a faint green shadow. If one did not look closely from up close, it would be truly impossible to detect his presence.

Of course, this was also because this mountain greatly suppressed spiritual sense. If they were outside this mountain, this concealment technique would be significantly less effective against cultivators of the same stage.

Bai Bai Yaoyi, however, raised her jade hand, and cold light flickered between her fingers as she produced a crystalline token, which appeared to be refined from ice crystals.

With a single hand, she raised the token, and at the same time, she uttered a melodious incantation. Instantly, a sheet of silver mist sprayed out from the token, submerging her graceful figure in an instant.

Then, with a flash of light, Bai Bai Yaoyi's figure vanished into thin air.

Seeing the two cast their spells one after another to conceal their tracks, Han Li smiled, and without any visible movement, a faint flash of spiritual light appeared on his body, and his aura suddenly vanished completely.

Even though the old man surnamed Fu and Bai Bai Yaoyi were standing right in front of Han Li, relying solely on spiritual sense, they would have thought there was no one there at all.

At this, both the old man and his companion were secretly startled.

Only then did Han Li unhurriedly fish out a concealment talisman and stick it onto his body, causing his figure to also become indistinct.

"Let's go!" Han Li gave a low shout, and the three of them soared into the air.

In such a mysterious and unfamiliar place, none of the three dared to fly too fast, moving at a speed only slightly faster than a Light Body Technique as they pursued the source of the rumbling.

As the three flew along, the places they passed were all lush and verdant, filled with spiritual energy. Almost every spot was an excellent place for cultivation in the mortal world. If this were outside, it would be unknown how many cultivation sects would fight tooth and nail for it.

Yet here, such places were everywhere!

Half an hour later, Han Li and the others had not encountered any accidents, nor did they show any signs of joy.

The deathly silence along the way, with not a single living creature in sight, made them feel uneasy and deeply oppressed.

"Brother Han, have you noticed? The spiritual energy here is excellent, but we have flown such a long distance and haven't seen a single spirit herb or spirit tree; they are all ordinary plants. This is somewhat strange," Bai Bai Yaoyi said hesitantly.

"I have noticed as well. Although the spiritual energy here is quite good, it only becomes more abundant the higher we go. This is the same as spirit mountains in the outside world. Perhaps the original cultivators of this mountain felt that planting spirit herbs on the mountain yielded better results. It was likely done intentionally," Han Li said leisurely, showing no signs of surprise.

"Even more abundant than the spiritual energy here!" Bai Bai Yaoyi was somewhat shocked.

After all, she already considered the spiritual energy here to be an excellent place for cultivation.

"Brother Han, if there really is a better sacred place for cultivation at the top of this mountain, we might not necessarily be in a rush to leave. How about we cultivate here for a period of time?" The old man surnamed Fu was somewhat tempted after hearing Han Li's words.

"Brother Fu, you don't really take this place for an ordinary spirit mountain, do you? If a place with such abundant spiritual energy could be used for safe cultivation, why would it have been abandoned by the original cultivators? Moreover, the entire spirit mountain appears to be sealed by barriers, which shows just how strange this mountain is. If it is possible to leave, I, Han, will not stay behind," Han Li said with a cold chuckle.

Hearing Han Li say this, the old man surnamed Fu's expression changed several times before he finally gave a bitter smile.

"Brother Han is right. This place is indeed not a place for quiet cultivation. It was just that I, Fu, was momentarily greedy for the spiritual energy here and became muddled."

"This cannot be blamed on Brother Fu for thinking so. It is not just you, fellow Daoist, who had this thought; I also had this idea just now. After all, having such a place for cultivation could save us quite a bit of meditation time," Bai Bai Yaoyi also said with regret.

Han Li smiled slightly, and just as he was about to say something more, his gaze inadvertently swept downward, causing his expression to change slightly, and he instantly stopped his escape light.

Blue light flickered in his pupils as he stared intently to one side.

Both the old man and Bai Bai Yaoyi were somewhat puzzled and looked in the direction of Han Li's gaze.

They saw that in the distance, white mist swirled, making things somewhat blurry. However, they had seen this situation of mountain mist covering everything many times along the way and did not feel there was anything unusual. It was impossible to investigate everything inside the mist every time.

"Let's go over and take a look. There is something there. Perhaps it will be useful to us," Han Li said, his gaze flickering. Then, his escape light suddenly changed, and he shot straight toward the white mist.

The old man and Bai Bai Yaoyi were puzzled, but they knew Han Li would not act without reason, so they followed without hesitation.

When they finally walked into that patch of white mist, they were stunned.

They saw that in the mist, a wide white stone staircase led straight down and up the mountain, with no end in sight. Beside the staircase in the mist stood a white, hazy stone stele, over ten zhang tall and three zhang wide.

Han Li stood before the stele with his hands behind his back, staring blankly at something on it.

"What is it, Brother Han? Have you discovered something?" the old man asked curiously after landing on the platform.

"Now, I finally know where this mountain is. You two fellow Daoists, come over and take a look! This stone stele happens to be inscribed with the origin of this mountain," Han Li said, turning his head and speaking in a deep voice, his expression solemn.

"Oh? Let me see!"

Hearing this, the old man's spirits lifted, and he immediately walked over in a few steps. Bai Bai Yaoyi also followed with light steps.

As a result, after the two swept their gazes over the stele, they understood immediately.

Because there were only two ancient characters on the stele, written in a bold and unrestrained style in gold.

"Mount Kunwu! Could this be the legendary Mount Mount Kunwu?" The old man surnamed Fu blurted out upon seeing the ancient characters, then exclaimed in shock.

Bai Bai Yaoyi covered her mouth with one hand, her beautiful eyes also filled with shock.

"That's right, it must be Mount Mount Kunwu. In ancient times, this mountain was known as a fairy mountain, a sacred place where ancient cultivators gathered to cultivate. Looking at the sheer size of this mountain and the density of the spiritual energy, it is definitely Mount Mount Kunwu. But according to legend, wasn't this mountain taken to the Spirit Realm by ancient cultivators, or did it sink into the Yellow Springs due to the battles between cultivators? How could it appear here?" Bai Bai Yaoyi muttered, staring at the stele, still somewhat unable to believe it.

"Perhaps. But those are just legends. It seems the truth is that for some unknown reason, this mountain was sealed. And we three happened to trigger an ancient teleportation array and were inexplicably teleported here! With the reputation of this mountain, there must be countless ancient cultivator dwellings here. As long as we can find a few, we will definitely have a great harvest," the old man surnamed Fu quickly recovered, his voice filled with joy.

"Perhaps. But judging by the fact that this mountain was sealed, those ancient cultivators must have left this mountain prepared. I don't believe there will be many useful things left in those ancient dwellings. Instead, this mountain stele, although crudely refined initially, has stood here for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy, and has long since become a rare treasure," Han Li shook his head, then suddenly stepped forward, gently patting the stele a few times, his gaze flickering as he spoke.

"What? This mountain stele is a treasure?" The old man surnamed Fu and Bai Bai Yaoyi were stunned, then startled, and re-examined the stele, only to be left speechless.

No matter how they looked at it, this stele was just an ordinary bluestone stele. Although it carried some spiritual energy, it couldn't even compare to the most inferior refining materials!

The two couldn't help but look at Han Li with strange expressions.

"Hehe, it seems you two fellow Daoists don't quite believe me. However, I, Han, am certain of it," Han Li said with a slight curl of his lips, his expression as usual, though he was actually feeling quite puzzled inside.

Because not only did the two beside him not see anything, even he himself couldn't see anything unusual. The reason he said this was because the Earth Armored Dragon, which had been resting peacefully in his spirit beast pouch, had suddenly become restless the moment he approached the stele.

It kept sending messages through sound transmission, indicating that this object was extraordinary.

Han Li had even scanned the stele with his Brightclear Spirit Eyes and still hadn't discovered anything special, so naturally, he was half-doubting it.

But out of a mentality of 'better to kill than to let go', Han Li hesitated for a moment before biting the bullet and saying these inscrutable words.

Immediately, having found an excuse, he pressed his palm onto the stele, and it instantly released a green mist of light.

The stele trembled violently and began to shrink rapidly within the mist of light.

Seeing that it had shrunk to half its original size, Han Li's eyebrows jumped, and with a roll of the light from his hand, he prepared to lift the stele to store it in his storage pouch.

But just as the stele was lifted a foot off the ground, a strange change occurred.

The seemingly ordinary bluestone stele suddenly let out a hum, followed by the release of ten thousand rays of white light.

Almost at the same time, Han Li suddenly felt it become heavy, and the green light was actually unable to suppress the stele any longer. With a 'boom', it fell back to its original spot. It was as if a ten-thousand-jin giant object had landed, causing the nearby ground to shake violently.

It shook so hard that the ears of Han Li and the others were buzzing. The surface of the stone platform within several tens of zhang of the stele cracked inch by inch.

"This is?" Han Li was startled, his eyes instantly narrowing.

(Web) ===== CHAPTER 995 =====