Chapter 2392: Each Displays Their Methods

The stone bridge spanning the two banks had collapsed for no reason a few years ago.

Then just build another one.

With a low roar, the Earth Mother caused the ground outside Yujing City to extend outward and upward, aiming to leap over the moat and reconstruct a stone bridge.

Since this wasteland was already occupied by the Earth Mother, and she was a great demon skilled in earth affinity, such feats were trivial to her.

Even the quality of the stone bridge she supervised surpassed that of the allied spellcasters' work from over a hundred years prior.

Initially, everything went smoothly—one bridge arched across the banks, spanning over a hundred zhang in height.

Then the problem arose.

It could not be erected.

As soon as the bridge's foundation stone touched the land of the Chipa Plateau, it would collapse instantly.

This ancient city and this plateau forbid her power from setting foot upon them.

The Earth Mother tried five or six times, but the opposition's refusal was absolute and decisive—saying no meant no.

Then let's think of another way.

The Qingtu Great Ghost residing in the city gate stepped forward once more, this time tearing up paving stones from Yujing City's main street and hurling them one by one above the moat.

These paving stones were uniformly dark, rectangular slabs, each about two to two and a half zhang long and one zhang wide.

After being thrown, they did not fall into the river but instead emitted a green glow, hovering steadily above the water, each positioned slightly higher than the last, spaced roughly five chi apart.

The Qingtu Ghost's throwing was remarkably precise; even if a few stones were misplaced, they could self-correct.

This was a mechanism the Earth Mother had previously taken from a ruin, called the "Heavenly Ladder," capable of floating in midair. Usually useless, it had been repurposed for paving, but today it was restored to its original function.

Once this skyborne ladder was erected, neither end bore weight nor needed to touch the Chipa Plateau's land, thus eliminating the risk of collapse.

After it stabilized, the Earth Mother issued a command:

"Everyone, get up! Anyone slacking, I'll eat them!"

The city's demons had long gathered; upon hearing the order, they surged through the gate and leapt onto the floating ladder.

The avian demons hovering in midair saw them—their numbers dense and vast, their charge toward the Chipa Plateau like a floodgate opened—except this demon tide flowed from below upward, aiming to cross a height of over a hundred zhang.

Among them were many strangely shaped monsters: clearly human torsos, yet bearing ox or tiger heads, appearing utterly discordant.

Their skin was also dusty gray, some black and white like the walls of Yujing City.

Mingyao Shangxian, rushing along, witnessed this scene through the withered leaf butterfly and asked his junior martial sister:

"Are those puppets molded by the Earth Mother from rock and mud?"

"Possibly," Mingke Xianren replied further, "more likely, she fashioned shells from rock and mud and commanded the evil spirits to inhabit them."

Wherever the Earth Mother passed, there was both wailing wilderness and the revelry of evil spirits—naturally attracting many non-human monsters.

"Oh right, perhaps there are also a few guardian spirits."

"Guardian spirits?"

"Many ruins have guardian spirits, once deeply tied to those places, unwilling to fade away, so through chance they transformed into another form of existence—some strong, some weak." Mingke Xianren said, "When the Earth Mother consumes these ruins, she often captures and enslaves some guardian spirits, turning them into her soldiers."

The Yujing demon horde halted upon reaching the Chipa Plateau; although the southern gate of the Longdragon Ruins stood open, they did not rashly charge in, but instead formed orderly ranks outside the city, awaiting further instructions.

This was no longer a disorganized mob, but a demon army with order amidst chaos.

Lingjinbao, traveling with the immortals, unable to share vision with the withered leaf butterfly, felt an itch in his heart and couldn't help but ask:

"What's the situation now? Has the Earth Mother breached Longdragon Ancient City?"

Mingke Xianren replied: "No, her demon army is still guarding the gate."

Lingjinbao recalled that during the previous anomaly at Longdragon Ancient City, those who charged through this tall city gate met a certain fate. Clearly, the Earth Mother's experience surpassed theirs, and she did not let her subordinates charge in blindly.

After several dozen breaths, finally twenty monsters charged into the southern gate.

From midair, one could see them pass through the gate and step into the plaza.

It seemed the secret realm's entrance was not located at the southern gate.

With their prior success, the demon army's main force followed in batches, passed through the southern gate, then dispersed to various locations, beginning to search.

"Oh, they got in."

Lingjinbao asked Mingke Xianren: "What are they looking for?"

"The secret realm's entrance." Mingke Xianren saw clearly, "If they cannot enter the secret realm, the Earth Mother may not be able to seize the Chipa Plateau; even if she reduces the Longdragon Ruins to rubble, she cannot truly claim it as her own."

This ancient city was already a ruin from over a hundred years ago—what difference would another round of destruction make?

Passing through a stretch of camphor forest, the Sihai Immortal said: "It's time to split up here."

Thus, the Lingshan forces divided into two routes.

Mingyao Shangzun, Mingke Xianren, and Lingjinbao quietly left the group, heading for Bai Yuan Station, preparing to secretly infiltrate Yujing City.

If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get the tiger's cub? The key to defeating the Earth Mother lies in whether our side can seize her vital point.

Sihai True Person then led the remaining immortals and the main force, continuing toward the main battlefield of the Chipa Plateau, where the two great cities confront each other.

In Yujing City, Xiyi Shen asked the small stone figure on his shoulder: "How can one enter the secret realm?"

The small stone figure did not answer but countered: "Have you looked in a mirror?"

"……" Isn't that nonsense?

"Clearly, there is another world in the mirror, but if you go behind the mirror, you cannot see it. Only by standing before the mirror can you see the world within."

Xiyi Shen was not foolish either: "So you're seeking that 'mirror surface'?"

"Yes. Secret realms have specific entrances; the one guarded by this Qingtu Great Ghost in the past lies on the city gate."

"Then what?"

The Earth Mother, however, sold a mystery: "Just wait and see."

……

However, the demon army's movements within the city were not proceeding smoothly. Having long followed the Earth Mother, most were seasoned experts in searching for secret realms, but this time, after sniffing around for a long time, they found no trace of the secret realm's entrance.

As the precious time slipped away bit by bit, the Earth Mother grew impatient and simply summoned clouds and mist once more.

The mist spread from Jade Capital City all the way to the Coiling Dragon Ruins, going nowhere else.

The mist was thin, and the buildings in the ruins remained basically visible. Rather than calling it mist, it was more like haze.

Seeing that her subordinates were useless, the Earth Mother simply took matters into her own hands.

This thin mist quickly enveloped the entire ruins, and then within the mist, faint glimmers of green-red or blue-white light began to show.

Xiyu walked onto the ramparts of Jade Capital City and gazed into the distance, wondering aloud: "What is that?"

【67> "Secret Realm entrances always leak a bit of spiritual energy, or the aura of a guardian spirit. Other cultivators, even immortals, cannot detect it, but it cannot escape my divine powers!"

"The entrance to a Secret Realm always leaks a bit of spiritual energy, or the aura of its guardian spirit. Other cultivators, even immortals, cannot detect it, but it cannot escape my divine powers!"