The vastness of the cultivation world is beyond imagination for those who have never truly wandered through it. Between the Broken Boundary Mountain Range and Sky Rift Valley lies the Barren Expanse Mountains, stretching across tens of thousands of miles, desolate and uninhabited. Cliff City sits within, like a sesame seed accidentally dropped in this immense expanse. Yet, this majestic range of mountains, spanning a hundred thousand miles, is merely a small corner of the entire cultivation world.
This grand and boundless world can be overwhelming for the weak, but it invigorates the brave.
The straight-line distance between the Heart Prohibition Temple and Sky Rift Valley is about twenty thousand miles, but to reach the area where Yu Ci had been before, the distance is doubled. For ordinary people, this might be a distance they could never cross in their lifetime, but for cultivators, it’s merely a mid-short journey.
The change of seasons always comes suddenly, and in these few days of high-altitude flight, the cold air has been spreading southward.
Yu Ci truly had to thank Bao Guang for lending him the Ghost Silk Cloud, which had indeed been a great help. This thing is worthy of being the best tool for long-distance travel. Made from a special silk material and embedded with talisman arrays, it draws power from absorbing external moisture and can be used almost indefinitely.
Four thousand miles in one day!
That’s the result Yu Ci achieved. Such speed has already surpassed the level of some Core Refinement cultivators.
Of course, it comes at a cost. Besides the necessary daily rest, Yu Ci spent ten out of twelve hours each day on the road, regardless of day or night. He had to endure the bone-chilling cold at several thousand feet in the air, fend off predatory birds, suppress the growing fatigue, and ensure he didn’t lose his way in this vast world.
The journey was tough, but it wasn’t a problem because he enjoyed the feeling!
“So vast, as if riding the wind through the void; so free, as if detached from the world.”
Perhaps this is what it feels like to be an immortal. And what is an immortal? An immortal is someone who flies in the sky!
Only by truly soaring into the sky, chasing the clouds for miles, can one understand the joy of being an immortal.
He suddenly became insatiably greedy because he wasn’t flying fast enough, high enough, or far enough!
On the morning of the tenth day, Yu Ci saw the iconic sea of clouds of Sky Rift Valley from high above. He even felt a bit reluctant to stop. For a moment, he almost directed the Ghost Silk Cloud to plunge into that boundless sea of clouds, just to see what kind of world lay beyond. Fortunately, reason held back his impulse.
The ferocious beasts and birds in Sky Rift Valley were not like the eagles and hawks he had encountered in the past few days. The Ghost Silk Cloud had no defensive capabilities apart from flight. If those beasts destroyed it, he would be too embarrassed to explain to Bao Guang.
Moreover, things seemed unusually lively nearby.
The maximum flight altitude of the Ghost Silk Cloud was about three hundred zhang. At this height in the endless sky, it wasn’t much, as any random eagle could fly much higher than he could. But as for this one that had been circling him… did it really think it could go unnoticed from twenty miles away?
Yu Ci slightly hunched over as if dozing off on the clouds, but in reality, he was taking the opportunity to conceal the Divine Map in his chest, using his spiritual sense to lock onto the feathered creature twenty miles away. Since he entered the area around Sky Rift Valley, this eagle had been following him.
At first, the eagle was quite close, but after Yu Ci showed some suspicion, it distanced itself. Unfortunately for the eagle, it didn’t fly far enough, so even the dark spots on its belly were clearly visible to Yu Ci.
Of course, Yu Ci didn’t overlook another suspicious detail: the eagle was shrouded in a faint layer of gray mist, and there were two tiny red dots, like pinpricks, within its pupils. This eagle was under someone’s control.
Yu Ci knew he was being watched. He heightened his vigilance but ultimately decided to land.
Returning to Sky Rift Valley, he felt an increasing sense of urgency about time.
When he left last time, the mountains were still lush and vibrant. Now, upon his return in late autumn, the vegetation had withered. Even though the area was predominantly covered with pines and cypresses, the colors had darkened, and a sense of desolation pervaded the mountains.
On the other hand, the mountain streams were much clearer than before. As he splashed the cold water on his face, the gurgling sound echoed through the serene mountain valley, resembling pearls rolling on a jade plate—a soothing melody.
The icy stream water cleared Yu Ci’s mind, and the faint sounds of people nearby brought a sense of nostalgia.
By this time, Yu Ci had confirmed that within a fifty-mile radius, aside from a few approaching herb gatherers, there were no other bothersome individuals. The cultivator controlling the eagle was likely beyond that range.
Indeed, the myriad of mystical techniques was endless—this was the first reconnaissance method Yu Ci had seen that could outdistance his Divine Map. However, the information gathered this way was certainly not as comprehensive as what the Divine Map could reflect.
As he pondered this, four or five people appeared upstream, moving along the creek—just the group of herb gatherers Yu Ci had already sensed. Yu Ci greeted them with a smile, revealing his identity as a cultivator in a subtle but appropriate manner. From there, everything became simple.
After the herb gatherers left nervously, Yu Ci had already gained a general understanding of the situation in Sky Rift Valley in recent times.
However, this understanding only deepened his confusion.
About a month ago, around the same time Jin Huan and his group went to the Heart Prohibition Temple, two factions long suppressed by the Sun Light Sect within the Cliff City area—Thousand Spirit Gate and Pure Water Altar—suddenly joined forces and sent people to Sky Rift Valley.
Their stated reason was to search for the missing, but almost certainly deceased, Zhengde, Lu Quan, and Xu Ji—the Snake-like Monk, Daoist Lu Quan, and Old Xu, as Yu Ci understood them. Both sects were highly public about their actions, not fearing embarrassment, frequently asking herb gatherers for information. The rumors spread wildly.
If it had just been this, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But during their investigation, word got out that these three were killed by a rising talent from the Sun Light Sect, and the details were so vivid that they were hard to disbelieve. The Thousand Spirit Gate remained relatively cautious, not acting rashly before the situation was clear, but the malicious monks of Pure Water Altar took their anger out on the herb gatherers working for the Sun Light Sect.
In just two or three days, over a hundred herb gatherers were beaten or killed, plunging the situation into chaos. This provocation was something the Sun Light Sect could not tolerate. They immediately dispatched four stewards and elite warriors to suppress the Pure Water Altar’s violent tendencies. However, this only escalated tensions further.
At this point, rumors surfaced again. This time, the demon beast deep within Sky Rift Valley was dragged into the mix. It was said that the real reason behind the actions of Thousand Spirit Gate and Pure Water Altar was not the investigation but a ruse. Their true objective was to capture the demon beast that had been hiding in the valley for decades, hoping to find a treasure left by a powerful expert nearby.
This inevitably stirred up chaos in Sky Rift Valley.
And so, the situation evolved into what it is now.
The major sects surrounding Cliff City had all arrived—Sun Light Sect, Thousand Spirit Gate, Mysterious Moon Sect, Pure Water Altar—everyone except for the Immortal Sword Sect, which lacked the manpower to split their forces.
Yu Ci ticked them off one by one, counting the five great sects around Cliff City. Among these, some were familiar to him, while others were completely unknown. Three of them, in particular, caught his attention.
Sun Light Sect was the most obvious one, a sworn enemy. He had publicly slapped Jin Huan, a humiliation that would be impossible for Jin Huan to endure without seeking retribution.
Next were the Thousand Spirit Gate and Pure Water Altar. What drew Yu Ci’s attention to these two was his surprise at how quickly the Snake-like Monk and his companions’ case had escalated!
As the “culprit” behind the deaths of the Snake-like Monk and the other two, Yu Ci had been meticulous in covering his tracks, but to be safe, he had still looked into their identities upon returning to Cliff City. All three had some reputation in Cliff City, backed by powerful factions.
The most notable among them was Old Xu, one of the top ten experts of the Thousand Spirit Gate. Though the “top ten” title might have been partly exaggerated, the strength of Thousand Spirit Gate was undeniable.
Fifty years ago, the story of how Jin Huan, the master of Sun Light Sect, single-handedly fought against the master of Thousand Spirit Gate, Shi Song, and their top expert, Hu Dan, had become almost legendary in Cliff City, spreading far and wide.
Although Jin Huan won, he couldn’t kill even one of his opponents. After that battle, Thousand Spirit Gate was forced to cede the core interests of Cliff City and retreat to its outskirts. Despite this setback, their power remained largely intact, still capable of mounting a counterattack, making them the only major force within a thousand miles that could rival Sun Light Sect.
As Yu Ci looked up into the distant sky beyond his vision, the eagle circled, its sharp eyes serving someone else. This technique, which involved attaching a spirit to a living being and controlling it as easily as moving one’s arm, was something Yu Ci had heard of before.
It was one of the most well-known techniques of the Thousand Spirit Gate.
But that wasn’t all. The Snake-like Monk, Zhengde, and Lu Quan were no pushovers either. The Snake-like Monk was an important figure at Pure Water Altar, located in the southern outskirts of Cliff City.
Pure Water Altar had a terrible reputation, being a den of villainy and crime. The sect’s leader, Monk Yixin, had a mysterious background, rumored to possess mystical Buddhist abilities. He was also on good terms with Lu Mingyue, the most powerful rogue cultivator in Cliff City. Both of them were Core Refinement stage cultivators, enough to keep Sun Light Sect wary. As for Lu Quan, he was Lu Mingyue’s servant from earlier years, practically half a disciple.
In other words, if this incident were exposed, Yu Ci would be making enemies with the entirety of Cliff City.
Of course, no one could directly point to him as the culprit. But if Sun Light Sect and Thousand Spirit Gate exchanged information and used the process of elimination, they would eventually realize that among those present in Sky Rift Valley at the time, Yu Ci was one of the few who had the ability to carry out such an attack.
Sun Light Sect would undoubtedly be eager to push things in that direction…
Still, Yu Ci couldn’t help but wonder if anyone would believe that a rogue cultivator with no sect, no background, and no roots would dare to provoke the Sun Light Sect, Thousand Spirit Gate, Pure Water Altar, and the top rogue cultivator in the city, Lu Mingyue, all at once?
At this moment, the concern in Yu Ci’s heart was overshadowed by a sense of satisfaction from having pulled off such a series of events. The feeling was undeniably thrilling.
Laughing heartily, Yu Ci continued forward, with Sky Rift Valley already within sight.
As for the eagle still circling in the distance—who cared about it?
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