Chapter 133: 179, 180

The search for Yaochi Peak continued intermittently over the following month.

Because the "method for obtaining Flat Peaches" was too random and differed from what had been anticipated, the imperial court worried that a "Flat Peach" might be obtained by some lucky brat, so they began directly deploying nearby armies to surround the mountain; as the Yan Family were the vassal kings of Jilei Mountain, they naturally sent many magical beast knights to assist.

After more than ten years of breeding, coupled with the beast-taming method gifted by Song Cheng, Yan Baixiang finally used his exceptional talent to train an unprecedented type of troop—the Flying Eagle Knights.

The flying eagle is a type of giant eagle, referred to by nearby villagers as "Se'erlin," meaning devil, but Yan Baixiang gave them a formal name—Black Demon Eagle.

The Black Demon Eagle is a magical beast born at the Jin Realm, and the strongest among them can grow to the level of a human Form Realm.

The beast-taming method, to put it plainly, is actually a combination of the Barbarian-specific "Witchcraft Medicine Secret Method" and the word "endure"; to "endure" the Black Demon Eagle into submission, one must at least be a Form Realm expert.

From the moment these experts capture an eagle, they go without sleep or rest, enduring alongside the Black Demon Eagle to see who closes their eyes first; if the Black Demon Eagle admits defeat first and eats the meat fed to it by these beast-tamers, then it has lost, and one can then seize the opportunity to stuff the Witchcraft Secret Medicine into the meat to tame the Black Demon Eagle in one go.

However, Form Realm experts were far too few; Yan Baixiang requested quite a lot of "Tianjuan Secret Medicine" from his foster father, Song Cheng, which allowed him to forcibly elevate over two hundred people, and with a few dozen more scraped together, the total came to three hundred.

Toward this foster son, Song Cheng did indeed show quite a bit of "favoritism" because of Su Mengzhen; after all, after using it many times, he discovered that there was actually an upper limit to the number of "medicine people."

Mysterious Grade Ding Quality, which is like Xiao Yu'er, can at most withstand a few hundred medicine people.

Grade C is for thousands.

Grade B, like himself, is for several thousand; as for what that "several" in "several thousand" specifically is, he himself does not know, but he estimates it should be around four or five.

At this moment, floating clouds were above, flowing with the wind in large swathes, presenting a hundred different frozen postures, while those three hundred Flying Eagle Knights spread their giant wings of several feet, flying over the blue heights, soaring and patrolling, casting shadows below.

The imperial army patrolled and stood guard below, no longer letting anyone approach.

Except for the children of noble families.

The number of noble family children was small; compared to the medicine people Song Cheng had sent in among them, it was truly a drop in the ocean.

However, regarding this current model, Song Cheng himself had not expected it; after thinking it over, he decided to go and try it out personally.

And before setting off, he suddenly thought of the "kind of Chaos Journey between continents," only feeling that there might be some subtle connection between the two, but he was unable to be certain.

If he wanted to be certain, the best way was to take someone who had personally experienced it to try.

Yan Muyi and the others had come to the Great Shang by directly seizing bodies.

Only the Su Family had walked over.

Therefore, he took Su Mengzhen with him.

The spring grass was lush, every leaf facing the light, reflecting the light, and rippling with bright golden colors like pools of water in the mountain wind that blew now strong, now weak.

Su Mengzhen had her long hair pulled up, the ends simply tied into a braid with a red string, and at this moment it rose and fell in the wind like ink-wash silk; she walked beside Song Cheng but maintained a certain distance, making it look to outsiders as if the two were merely partners, with absolutely no such relationship.

In the sky, the sound of wings flapping suddenly came.

A Black Demon Eagle flew down, and the one riding the eagle was a man with a tiger's body and ape's arms, eyes like shooting stars, and a spirited temperament; he had already shed his former callowness and rigidity, gaining a bit more steadiness after having a family.

The person who arrived was none other than Yan Baixiang.

"Mother!"

"Foster Father!"

After landing, Yan Baixiang paid his respects to the two one by one.

Su Mengzhen asked directly: "Do you have any offspring?"

Yan Baixiang said: "I had a son five years ago, another son three years ago, and another son last year; your son has never dared to forget for a moment, keeping the visualized images of Mother and Foster Father constantly hung in the shrine, causing the clansmen to believe in and worship them."

Su Mengzhen said: "That is good."

Having said this, she asked no more.

As a long-lived species, she only cared about the Dao, and only cared about the protection of stronger individuals like Song Cheng; of course, in this "relationship originally born of a tug-of-war over interests, genuine feelings would naturally arise."

However, she would absolutely never give such feelings to a short-lived species.

The reason? It is very simple.

If you raise a cat and invest too much heart and emotion into it, will you be sad when it dies?

The answer is yes.

The temperament of the long-lived is heavy; this kind of sorrow that is difficult to resolve will directly turn into shackles, leaving a flaw in your heart.

Coupled with the fact that they had almost never lived together, Su Mengzhen's feelings for this son were naturally very faint.

Song Cheng looked at the data above Yan Baixiang's head; ten years had passed, and he was surprisingly still at the Form Realm, so he said: "Your cultivation technique has fallen behind quite a bit."

Yan Baixiang smiled honestly: "I've been busy taming beasts and training troops."

Song Cheng said: "Break through to the Qi Realm soon; afterwards, I will help you go to Xuanwu Temple to retrieve a portion of secret medicine that reaches pseudo-Mysterious."

"Thank you, Foster Father!"

Yan Baixiang bowed in thanks.

Su Mengzhen waved her hand and said with some impatience: "You go; your foster father and I still have things to attend to."

Yan Baixiang stood up, mounted the Black Demon Eagle again, and urged the eagle to take flight; after it had risen slightly, he looked back at his foster father and mother on the grass.

His foster father was still like a youth, and his mother was also like a young girl; the girl's brows and eyes were smiling, revealing a happiness she had never shown in front of him, like a cat strolling, or a chirping little bird, circling and revolving around that heroic youth; suddenly, Yan Baixiang had a flash of realization in his heart.

He had also experienced many things over these ten years, so he could see a thing or two.

He could not help but reveal a bitter smile, but immediately felt relieved.

Mother, perhaps being with Foster Father is the best companionship; and the fact that Foster Father treats him so well is perhaps mostly for Mother's sake. "Xiang'er probably sensed something," Song Cheng said.

Su Mengzhen said: "If he sensed it, he sensed it; what does it matter?"

Song Cheng smiled.

Walking a few more steps forward, more White Tiger Guards came to greet the two as they reached the entrance of Yaochi Peak.

That entrance was a mountain path that was not really a path; the route had long been trodden flat and solid by crowds of people.

Song Cheng looked up, but only felt that Yaochi Peak was as high as a sky-piercing sword blade, with floating clouds only at the mountainside, yet the higher his gaze went, the blurrier it became.

He paused for a moment and directly released his perception.

His perception failed.

Regarding this Yaochi Peak, all his perceptions were no different from those of a mortal.

Song Cheng was not surprised; after learning the location of Yaochi Peak, he had already tested it from afar, and now that he tried again before the mountain, the result was no different.

The White Tiger Guard on one side was describing the situation of climbing the mountain these past few days.

But Song Cheng already knew the content; nevertheless, he patiently listened to the White Tiger Guard's face-to-face report. After confirming there was no discrepancy in the information from both sides, he waved his hand to dismiss the White Tiger Guard, then glanced at his sister-in-law.

Su Mengzhen nodded.

The two walked hand in hand and stepped inside.

Once inside and having walked for a while, Song Cheng roughly understood the situation.

His strength was not affected in the slightest, but everything on this "Yaochi Peak" was terrifyingly hard; the soil was hard, and the trees were hard.

However, Song Cheng did not go to test to what extent he could actually achieve here "if he unleashed his Dharma Idol power."

To cause destruction in a completely unfamiliar place that he did not understand was not his style.

He did not court death in such a way.

However, he had his own estimates in his heart.

All of his Soul attacks should be forbidden here.

And his Dharma Idol power should be able to reach the level of destroying a tree.

Ordinary Martial Artists here, I fear, would at most be able to pick leaves and fruits.

The mountain path was winding, coiling like a great snake, layer upon layer, circle upon circle, and from afar came the sound of cicadas like a sudden rain.

"The temperature here is not right; it's as if it's summer," Song Cheng said.

His sister-in-law also nodded in agreement, then immediately added: "Your feeling is good; this place has a bit of the flavor of the chaotic journey between continents, but it cannot be confirmed yet."

Song Cheng said: "Then let us speed up, but be careful not to damage the vegetation or any living creatures here."

His sister-in-law gave him a speechless look, indicating she had never seen a powerhouse who "is already this strong, yet still so protective of vegetation."

Song Cheng smiled.

The two immediately accelerated, moving side by side like flying.

After "flying" for a while, the two arrived at the summit of Yaochi Peak.

As it turned out, the summit was a flat road with dense forests on both sides.

The two walked along leisurely.

His sister-in-law said: "I have an ominous feeling."

Sure enough, as the words fell, the two walked into the dense forest, and White Tiger Guards appeared extremely abruptly from both sides, respectfully saying: "Your Highness."

Song Cheng scanned the surroundings; sure enough, he and Su Mengzhen had come out from the side of Yaochi Peak.

Even though he had clearly climbed to the summit, it was still of no use.

Refusing to accept this, he continued to take his sister-in-law to climb the mountain.

But no matter how many times he climbed, no matter how careful he was, he would always "inadvertently" walk outside at some fork in the road; there was simply no pattern to this, as if it were entirely at whim. Last time the turn was clearly normal, but this time the turn would lead outside the mountain; the last river channel clearly led to an open space, but this time it turned into an exit... and his sister-in-law had basically confirmed it.

"Except for not being as vast as the chaotic journey, it basically is."

Her past fear was awakened.

"What exactly is going on with this mountain?"

Song Cheng was also silent for a moment.

He could not even reach the end of such a small mountain.

And the chaotic journey between "continents" was as vast as the Canghai and as wide as a desert; walking within it, one was completely in a state of being lost at all times, unless one's luck was extreme to the point of perfection, only then could one wander and wander until one wandered out.

"Your Su Family was actually able to walk out?"

"Yes, I still feel lingering fear when I think about it now. Unless there is truly not a shred of life left, who would be willing to walk this path of no-life chaos?

Our Su Family walked out, but how many noble families were destroyed within it? You must know... during the Ghost River period, there were very, very many noble families on the Qingque Continent."

"What exactly is this?" Song Cheng stared at Yaochi Peak. He had once investigated the background of that alchemist and had also learned about the information source of "this Flat Peach"—it was an ancient geographical record that had been revised many times, and many of the secret places within it could be matched, and most of those secret places were ruins from the era of the warring Jianghu before the Great Shang.

Now, this "Yaochi Peak"... was originally hidden in Jilei Mountain, but was unearthed because of that geographical record.

Time flew by, and another half a month passed.

A member of the Su Family, a scion named Su Keshi, was also climbing the mountain.

Everyone held expectations for the "Changsheng Bulao Yao," and even if they failed time and time again, as long as the final outcome was not settled, they would continue to climb the mountain and continue to explore.

The mountain was large and the road was narrow. Su Keshi chose a path at random as usual; as he walked, he originally thought he would once again circle back outside the mountain, but this time he walked a very long and far distance.

A bit of hope inexplicably grew in his heart.

And this hope did not disappoint him; after several twists and turns, he rounded a mountain wall and saw a peach tree standing on a cliff not far away.

The tree shimmered in the golden light of the sun, and even the peaches seemed to be plated with gold.

A refreshing fruity fragrance suddenly drifted through the air.

Su Keshi hurried forward, looking at this scene in disbelief, then scanned the peach tree.

There were actually eleven peaches in total.

He remembered the rules set by the Xuanwu Emperor and recalled that his own family head was also searching for peaches here, and a trace of hesitation rose in his heart. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind; at times he lowered his eyes to ponder, at times he looked at the plump peaches.

Taking a deep breath, the drifting fruity fragrance made him feel refreshed, with a sense that his life had been nourished.

"If I bring the peaches back and honestly hand them over to the Xuanwu Emperor, even if the Xuanwu Emperor keeps his promise, I can only get one peach.

But if I eat a few here, then the Xuanwu Emperor will not know."

Thinking of this, Su Keshi immediately picked a peach, brought it close to smell it, tried taking a bite, and then his eyes lit up; he then hurriedly stuffed it into his mouth, not even sparing the peach pit.

After finishing one, he felt his body filled with energy.

He picked a second... a third... but when he went to pick a fourth, he suddenly felt a strange sensation of bloating in his body.

The scion knew that he had temporarily reached saturation.

He also roughly understood that this peach probably could not grant Chang Sheng Bu Lao, but it could greatly increase his lifespan.

This one peach increases at least two sixty-year cycles, so three peaches would be at least six sixty-year cycles.

Thinking of this, Su Keshi sat cross-legged directly, wanting to digest the power of these three peaches before continuing to eat the remaining ones.

Eleven peaches, all his!

If he ate them all and digested them all, who would know? "The Yang energy has thinned a bit."

Song Cheng looked at Yaochi Peak, frowned slightly, and then added, "It hasn't changed for these past few months, but just now... it underwent a change."

He squinted at the verdant green peak, showing a look of contemplation.

Suddenly, he looked at Su Mengzhen and said, "Summon people into the Yin She, and question them one by one."

Su Mengzhen said, "You mean, some scion of a noble family found a Flat Peach, but is secretly eating it themselves."

Song Cheng said, "I don't know, but I know that if the Yang energy changes inexplicably, there must be a reason, and what you said is one possibility. Since it is possible, it needs to be investigated... Everyone searching the mountain here, besides my medicine-men, are scions of noble families."

Su Mengzhen nodded.

Immediately, the two separated.

Su Mengzhen began to pull people in.

Song Cheng also pulled the "nominal heads" of the major noble families into the Yin She one by one, and then pulled everyone else in as well.

At this time, there were still many noble scions exploring Yaochi Peak, but Song Cheng was not in a hurry.

About two days later, all the noble scions who had come here to explore the mountain were gathered, but on the Su Family's side, one clansman named Su Keshi was missing.

Yaochi Peak isolates the Soul, so hiding within it, he was unexpectedly difficult to pull back by the Yin She.

Song Cheng released the disciples who had already appeared one by one, and then began to wait for Su Keshi together with Su Mengzhen.

Another day passed, and this already exceeded the maximum time for entering the mountain.

Song Cheng directly issued a "wanted warrant" for Su Keshi in the capacity of the Xuanwu Emperor.

However, Su Keshi still did not appear; instead, the Yang energy of the entire Yaochi Peak was thinning bit by bit.

"Refreshing! So refreshing!"

"To think there is such a method of breakthrough in this world."

Under the Flat Peach tree, Su Keshi's eyes shone with light.

When he ate the fifth peach, he felt that not only was his lifespan extended, but even his realm was rapidly improving; it was an improvement that completely broke the basic laws.

He originally needed to undergo the "Reappearance Tribulation," but now... it seemed he didn't need to at all.

A Grey Membrane began to emerge on his body, and this did not seem to be the end.

Because of this, he wanted to hand the peaches over to the Xuanwu Emperor even less.

If he could break through and become stronger, perhaps he could reach a level that surpassed the Xuanwu Emperor—at that time, let alone the Su Family, even the Xuanwu Emperor would need to treat him with courtesy.

However, Su Keshi was also very careful; he began to notice a problem.

As he ate more and more Flat Peaches, the entire mountain began to undergo strange changes, as if it were not so mysterious anymore, and the Yang energy was not as abundant.

After a moment of thought, and feeling the sense of bloating in his body that could not be digested for a while, Su Keshi decided to withdraw first with the remaining six peaches.

As for where to go, he would think about that later.

Otherwise, if he continued to stay here and was caught by someone, it would be over.

And if he went down the mountain, even if he were caught by chance, he could still say, "There were only six peaches on the tree, and the entire mountain only began to change after he picked the peaches."

Su Keshi walked and walked, and when he reached a slope turn, just as he wanted to move forward, his foot suddenly slipped, and he slid all the way down.

"Ahhh!"

He hugged the peaches in his arms tightly.

Fortunately, the slope was not long, and he soon reached the bottom. Looking down, he suddenly saw a strange, finger-sized golden little person looking at him.

He immediately became alert, but the little person did not move at all.

Looking closely, he saw it was actually a statue.

Su Keshi picked it up, rubbed it a few times, was stunned for a moment, and muttered, "It is actually a statue of Sun Nine-Pattern Gold.

In this way, this has nothing to do with a Ghost, but I just don't know what it is used for..."

After observing it carefully again and confirming there were no problems, he put the Sun Nine-Pattern Gold sculpture into his bosom and continued to look for a path to leave... About a stick of incense later, Su Keshi turned a corner again, but saw the scenery in front of him change instantly; it was no longer a mountain forest area, but a wilderness... Looking back, Yaochi Peak was also gone.

"Here... this is already out of Jilei Mountain."

Su Keshi was ecstatic, but he began to worry about the family head forcibly pulling him back to the Yin She.

As for his physical body, it didn't matter; this time, in order to explore Jilei Mountain, he had come out with his physical body.

He looked at the six peaches in his arms and made up his mind to digest them secretly and never return.

Just as he was thinking, his gaze suddenly caught sight of what seemed to be scouts at a crossroads not far away.

Su Keshi frowned, but immediately his figure flickered, and he bypassed them from the side.

Under normal circumstances, he would avoid these scouts.

If it were a last resort, he would have no choice but to take action.

Several days later... A small bird flew down onto Song Cheng's shoulder and said anxiously, "Father, someone escaped from the south side of Yaochi Peak and is now heading towards Hanzhou. There were death warriors from the Yin Gui Society who went to intercept, but they were killed directly by that person. It was only because I saw it that I knew..."

"What does that person look like?"

The bird landed and drew quickly.

Su Mengzhen took a look, then turned her head to look at Song Cheng and said, "It's Su Keshi."

The air was silent for a moment, Su Mengzhen's pretty face turned angry, and she scolded, "To dare to betray the Su Family, I will pull him back to the Yin She!"

In a moment, the two went to the Yin She.

Su Mengzhen went to the Genealogy Spirit Tablet to "summon the Soul."

However, she summoned several times, but did not see Su Keshi's Soul come over. For a moment, Su Mengzhen could not help but be stunned, and then said, "I'm afraid he really obtained some treasure."

Song Cheng observed quickly, and he discovered that the Yang energy of "Yaochi Peak" had already faded a lot.

The temperature of midsummer had already faded, turning into autumn; and the magical beasts that had originally been bound were also scattering in all directions in a posture of dissipation. All of this was signaling that "something important on Yaochi Peak has already gone missing."

Before he could catch his breath, the little bird suddenly said again: "Daddy, something else has happened! There is an anomaly at the Yunhe, an entire stretch of the river domain has caught fire, and there is smoke rising all around, but it is cold smoke."

Yunhe?

The river domain is burning?

Song Cheng immediately thought of the Drowned Ghost.

Could it be that the Drowned Ghost has completely fused with the Burned Ghost and the Ghost Hand, and is now continuing to head south? After turning several thoughts over in his mind, Song Cheng subconsciously realized that there were two things that urgently needed to be done:

First, lead people south to hunt down Su Keshi; second, go to the Yunhe to see what the problem with the river is.

Both matters were very urgent.

As for Jilei Mountain, it seemed to have lost the significance of continuing to stay there.

At this moment, Song Cheng finally understood "the feeling of those bosses in the books I read before transmigrating, who discover that the treasure they had been eyeing for a long time has been snatched away by some small-time punk, and yet, as luck would have it, other troubles come one after another." However, he did not lose his temper; he quickly summoned Yan Muyi and the Demon-Subduing Daoist, letting the two of them quickly resolve the matter of the Yunhe, while he issued a "kill order" under the command of the Xuanwu Emperor.

The target————Su Keshi!! The whole world moved in an instant.

If one had a god's-eye view, one would discover that the people who had originally gathered near Jilei Mountain dispersed in an instant, turning instead to head south.

Of course, not everyone dispersed; some eyes and ears still remained here to supervise subsequent changes, among which included A Ting's little bird and little rabbit.

Jilei Mountain, where the Yang energy was decaying, had even lost much of its purple light, and one day, it suddenly became drizzly with overcast clouds. A rabbit mother with a cute expression and a split lip held an oil-paper umbrella and walked in front.

Under the umbrella was a rather delicate-looking little boy.

The raindrops landed on the surface of the umbrella with a "patter-patter" sound, then bounced off, splashing into the flowers and grass nearby.

The little boy climbed the steps, going deep into Jilei Mountain, and the eyes and ears along the way seemed not to notice him at all.

Finally, he arrived at the foot of Yaochi Peak, felt the changes in this place, and the little boy said with a smile: "It has indeed weakened a lot."

After saying this, he looked at the rabbit mother holding the umbrella to the side and said: "Mother, I didn't lie to them. The Flat Peach here can truly prolong life and increase strength. They really came and picked them away."

The rabbit mother made a "zi-zi" sound twice.

Rabbits cannot speak.

But the little boy did not intend to wait for a response. He stepped onto Yaochi Peak and pointed around with a smile, saying: "It's hard to imagine that this is a shell. However, now is the time when this shell is at its weakest, and this is exactly my..."

Before his voice had even faded, he suddenly froze, and a silhouette formed within the fog that had risen abruptly in the mountains.

A hazy, aged voice came through: "After three thousand years, I have finally waited for a Zhan."

"If I hadn't helped you lure the people away, making myself weak, how would you have come over? This time is when I am at my weakest, but isn't this also the time when you are weak?"

The little boy froze for a moment and smiled: "That is quite a coincidence, I also used the Yunhe to lure the people away..."

He and the silhouette looked at each other from afar, and their expressions began to turn twisted. For a time, the surrounding heaven and earth also began to become strange. When a Ghost dies, it becomes a Zhan.

How does it die? It is the reincarnation of an evil ghost.

And this kind of evil ghost is not an ordinary evil ghost, but a great evil ghost. Thus, to successfully give birth to such an evil ghost, it requires someone with a greatly twisted Soul.

Rabbit mother, leopard father. As the perfect products of the "Extreme Bliss World," they were just right.

However, once a Ghost becomes a Zhan, although it gains infinite possibilities, it also possesses the body of a mortal.

With the body of a mortal, how can it contain such a terrifying Soul?

Therefore, it is necessary to find a new shell.

Of course, the above matters were still quite far away from Song Cheng.

At this time, he was earnestly hunting down Su Keshi.

And three days later, Su Keshi was captured directly.

In his arms, there still remained five Flat Peaches.

Song Cheng took them all.

Subsequently, while interrogating Su Keshi, he headed toward the direction of the Yunhe.

P. S.: Some book friends mentioned peach blossom pastry water; I think it should be alright.

(End of this chapter)