[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-watching-the-immortals-fall":3,"chapter-watching-the-immortals-fall-watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-53":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Watching the Immortals Fall",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2259926,4410,"Chapter 53: Entering the Mountains","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-53",53,"\u003Cp>The next morning, it was impossible to tell if it was sunny or overcast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All disciples of the immortal sects gradually entered the mountains, traversing the ancient, sunless forest toward the place where radiance blazed forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qiling Mountain Range was vast, and the ruin lay near its northern center; the farther they advanced, the stronger the suppression of spiritual energy became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, some disciples of the Tongxuan Realm flew through the air, floating like immortals, but within moments of entering the mountains, they hastily landed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had sensed the obstruction in their spiritual energy flow, and their efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy had dropped by nearly half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu’s expressions grew grim, finally understanding why the ruin had remained unexplored for thousands of years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the rear of the Tian Shu Academy’s group, Bai Ru long fidgeted nervously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother Ji had been left behind to guard Beisha Town; he no longer knew who to shield in front of him…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Ji You was merely at the peak of the lower three realms, Ban Yangshu was at the upper tier of Tongxuan, and their leader, Wen Zhengxin, had entered the Rongdao Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, Bai Ru long should have felt safer following them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the reality was otherwise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ban Yangshu seemed to feel the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he stood beside Wen Zhengxin, he still felt less at ease than when Ji You had been beside him during that night’s street battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially after entering the mountains and feeling spiritual energy obstructed, this feeling grew even stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, a white mist mixed with black demonic energy suddenly began drifting through the forest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from their own sect members, the other immortal disciples and noble families, who had deliberately kept their distance, now grew increasingly blurred in the thick fog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet at this moment, they still had two mountain peaks to go before reaching the ruin’s entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, directly above the Qiling Mountain Range, swords from the Seven Immortal Sects circled endlessly; the disciples atop them stayed clear of the demonic energy, silently observing, waiting for their chance to act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I remember the headmaster of Tian Shu Academy once said: ‘The Qingyun Realm does not belong entirely to the human race.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What does that mean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He meant the ancient ruins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though during the Ancient Era, humanity, allied with the Dao, eradicated the enslaved remnants, all unknown ruins remain their territory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On a hovering sword, a cultivator from Shanhai Pavilion, wielding a heavy blade, chatted with an old acquaintance from Lingjian Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though dressed differently, they shared one trait: both carried themselves with noble bearing, floating like immortals—proud and confident compared to the grim-faced vanguard disciples below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within their sects, they were esteemed disciples, exempt from danger, tasked only with reaping the final fruits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a Lingjian Mountain inner disciple, bored, glanced idly in another direction—and his gaze suddenly locked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his stare, several disciples beside him followed his gaze—and their eyes locked too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One, two, three… eventually, dozens of Lingjian Mountain disciples all stared in the same direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of their gaze, two white dots moved steadily forward through a sea of black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those two white dots were clearly two people; the black was a dense swarm of demonic seeds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man at the front held a three-foot sword; each strike bloomed like morning light, carving a bloody path through the horde.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After clearing a patch of space, he summoned a powerful bow, confirmed his direction, drew, and shot an arrow forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then retracted the bow, switched back to his sword, and continued slashing forward relentlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, the other man took advantage of the cleared path to retrieve the arrows embedded in the demonic seeds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But soon, their slaughter drew a massive wave of demonic seeds; as the horde thickened, the two were gradually surrounded on the wasteland near the Hongshan Mine entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The long sword still whirled continuously, but its movements grew visibly frantic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More demonic seeds surged forward, completely blocking their path ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the hovering swords, Lingjian Mountain disciples couldn’t help but sigh in regret—this man’s swordplay was truly impressive, but he could go no further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All weapons functioned this way: when space for movement is stripped away, even divine sword art loses its power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet at that moment, a brilliant spiritual light suddenly erupted before the black tide—five long swords shot along the ground, wrapped in surging spiritual radiance, cleaving ten zhang forward in one sweep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The swordsman gripped his blade with both hands, spinning like a whirlwind, instantly clearing a circle around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lingjian Mountain disciples on the hovering swords stared in shock—they had never seen such swordplay before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The demonic seeds seem fewer than yesterday.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There are so many cultivators inside the mountains—they must have drawn off a batch.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You seized the moment his front was cleared, summoned a large pile of spirit stones from his green jade gourd, shattered them with sword qi, and rapidly restored his spiritual energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, he had trained his spiritual sense, and the sword techniques he’d bound as quick-keys had grown increasingly fluent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Controlling two swords while commanding five others was no longer difficult for him now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet spiritual energy depletion remained a fatal problem when facing overwhelming numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no spiritual core; after his overnight dual-realm breakthrough, the backlash had redirected his energy exchange through his body’s qi orifices, allowing him to recover spiritual energy at an astonishing speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, he was still falling behind—forced to replenish with spirit stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, all the spirit stones before Ji You dimmed, and he felt a refreshing clarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Chen, watching the next wave of demonic seeds surge forward, grew frantic; as he glanced around, his eyes suddenly widened—he spotted a hairpin brimming with refined spiritual energy among the floating spirit stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that hairpin carved from a spiritual core? Use that! That one’s enough to kill for three days and nights, until midnight!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You turned his head and paused, startled upon seeing the hairpin: “No wonder she said she only had two left… she claimed she lost them…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Chen stared, baffled—this man had just smiled like a doting aunt in the midst of life-or-death combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You tucked the spiritual hairpin into his green jade gourd: “I can’t use this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why not?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A girl gave it to me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You swept his sleeve, summoning his sword into hand, driving it forward with spiritual energy—his arrogant sword intent surged like a tidal wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Yuan Chen could react, he was yanked forward by the taut rope tied around his waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He widened his eyes in shock—how was this man even more ferocious than before? It was as if he’d swallowed the Hehuan Pill his father had always refused to teach him to make!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the Hongshan Mine, those within had clearly heard the commotion; now standing atop the high walls, they stared in astonishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had been trapped for seven days; during that time, immortal disciples had continuously flown overhead, sometimes passing above the mine—but they had always ignored them completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had never imagined anyone would fight their way up directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mine held nothing valuable; the miners didn’t understand why the immortal lords had come here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1223,"2026-06-19T15:28:39.995Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a102870872965a30265724c1c9178a81523f689cd79dc05d2c1742b2cd29a7f8","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-54","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-52",430,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwatching-the-immortals-fall-cover.jpg"]