Chapter 2604: Mount Buzhou

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen hastened on his journey.

Passing through a forest, he summoned his Yumen, set the coordinates, and stepped through it.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he emerged from the Yumen.

In the distance lay a mountain range shrouded in hazy, misty fog, revealing only vague outlines. They exuded an ancient and desolate aura, and the wind blowing from within carried a bone-chilling cold that made even Ye Chen, the young master, shiver involuntarily, the chill piercing straight to his core.

That was Buzhou Shan, a forbidden ground in the Tianjie.

Ye Chen dismissed his Yumen and walked forward slowly. Buzhou Shan was quite eerie; within a radius of several million li, the land was scorched earth, barren and devoid of any vegetation.

This place was uninhabited, and most likely, no one wanted to come here.

Only when he truly reached the foot of Buzhou Shan did Ye Chen fully feel the chilling and sinister cold. Every gust of wind seemed to emanate from the depths of his soul, and if someone with insufficient cultivation were to come, they could be instantly extinguished into ashes by the cold.

No wonder Huashan Zhenren had warned that one should not go to Buzhou Shan without reaching the Zhundi realm.

Just this chilling aura alone would be impossible to withstand with lower cultivation.

He truly didn't know how Renwang had managed to enter. When Renwang underwent his tribulation to the Tianjie, his cultivation likely hadn't reached Zhundi, so he must have been protected by Xianbao.

Ye Chen activated his protective Zhenyuan and drew out his iron staff, taking a step into the mountain.

Woo woo woo woo.

Immediately, he heard the wails of fierce ghosts, extremely shrill and carrying a demonic power in their eyes that could disrupt one's mind.

Ye Chen's expression remained unchanged as he ventured deeper step by step. He considered flying, but an invisible pressure in the air made it impossible to take to the skies. Forcing it would only lead to a painfully thrilling fall.

How strange.

The outside world was bright and clear, but within Buzhou Shan, the fog was thick like a veil of clouds, obscuring the natural order and making everything dim and oppressive, as if in the underworld.

Ye Chen extended his divine sense to scan all directions, but it couldn't penetrate deeply.

More precisely, it was blocked by some mysterious force.

Helpless, he activated his Zhoutian Eye and continued walking while observing.

Ahead, a forest suddenly appeared. The ground was cracked and scorched, the trees withered and blackened, with skulls hanging from the branches. It was unclear who had placed them there, but they looked like decorations.

Ye Chen walked slowly through it, and when he passed a dead tree, he lightly poked it with his staff.

That poke caused trouble.

The ground hummed, and blood-stained hands emerged from the scorched earth, grasping wildly as if to drag any living being on the surface into the Jiuyou.

The sight was terrifying.

Ye Chen snorted coldly and stomped the ground hard.

The forest instantly returned to normal, and the blood-stained hands vanished—it had all been an illusion, with the forest as its medium. Disturbing the trees triggered the illusion, and anyone with a weak mind could get lost in it.

Ye Chen kept his gaze straight ahead, walking step by step without poking any more dead trees.

Once out of the forest, he encountered a blood river blocking his way, with a bridge stretched across it that had mostly collapsed and was stained with blood. It was unknown whose blood it was, but it hadn't dried even now, still dripping with a bloody glow into the river.

Ye Chen, being stubborn, didn't use the bridge and waded straight through the river.

It wasn't that he couldn't use the bridge; it was clearly a trap. The flowing blood was proof—if he stepped on it, he might not get off, and the next stop could be Jiuyou Huangquan.

His insight was sharp enough.

Wading through the blood river, nothing strange happened, provided he didn't look into it. Inside lurked ferocious creatures, and one glance could bewilder the mind.

Beyond the blood river was a chaotic wasteland.

Scattered bones lay in the soil, along with broken weapons and flags planted in the ground, all tattered and covered in ancient dust that blurred the inscriptions.

This chaotic wasteland must have been a battlefield.

Or rather, the entire Buzhou Shan was an ancient battlefield, similar to the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Da Chu. Battlefields weren't frightening in themselves, but the evil thoughts and malice buried within could, over time, turn into evil spirits.

Roar!

Speak of evil spirits, and they appear. One suddenly emerged from nowhere, its face twisted and ferocious, lunging with claws bared to devour Ye Chen.

Buzz!

Ye Chen swung his staff, smashing it on the spot.

Ah!

The scream was shrill, but it didn't come from the evil spirit—it echoed from the depths.

It was unclear if someone had been killed or if an evil spirit was just making noise. The cry came out of nowhere.

Those with weak nerves might have been scared witless.

Ye Chen ignored it and, passing a broken sword stuck in the ground, couldn't resist lightly tapping it with his staff.

The sword turned to ash instantly, likely due to the passage of time eroding it completely.

Such scenes were common. The remaining weapons were all pitted and worn, holding only their shapes. Some didn't even need tapping—a gust of Yinfeng could blow them to dust.

Deeper in, there were many shattered stones of various sizes and irregular shapes, marked with sword scars, as if they had been quarried.

Ye Chen understood this well.

Before Yinming became the ruler, he had operated many Shifang, and the stones in those Shifang were all transported from Buzhou Shan.

As proven, those stones contained treasures—relics of the battlefield, like damaged Dharma artifacts or Xiancao and Xianliao, which had slowly fused into the stones over countless eons.

These stones couldn't be seen through with the naked eye because they were inherently imbued with a mysterious force that blocked scrutiny.

That's why gambling on stones existed.

Crack! Crack!

As Ye Chen walked, he kept himself busy, smashing stones along the way in case he uncovered treasures.

And indeed, he found something.

It was a Xianling fruit, one that replenished lifespan, extinct in the Zhutian. The one he found wasn't whole—some bastard had taken a bite out of it.

Ye Chen felt regretful but still carefully picked it up and sealed it away.

Even with a bite taken, it was still a Xianling fruit.

Not to boast, but if he took this out, countless old folks would fight over it.

Crack! Crack!

The sounds continued endlessly.

This young master Ye was quite idle, walking with a halo around him and smashing stones wherever he went. He made some gains, but nothing major.

The deeper he went, the heavier the murderous aura and the thicker the fog.

There were more bones, mostly from cultivators who had come to explore but never left, buried in this forbidden ground. Perhaps they came to move stones and ended up leaving their lives here instead.

At a massive stone mountain, he stopped and looked at a rock wall.

On the rock wall, a black war spear was impaled through a skeleton.

Both the spear and the skeleton were covered in dust, suggesting that in some ancient era, a great power had been nailed there by the spear, dying a horrific death and remaining for endless ages.

"Good thing."

Ye Chen murmured, his eyes gleaming at the war spear. It was forged from Xuanjin Shentie, undoubtedly a fierce divine weapon.

Precisely because it was a treasure, he didn't take it immediately.

Countless people had come to Buzhou Shan for treasures over the ages and couldn't have missed that war spear, yet no one took it. That meant it wasn't something they dared to touch. Though dusted over, it harbored spirituality.

Ah!

While he was examining it, another shrill scream came from the depths.

Perhaps too absorbed, Ye Chen was startled.

The war spear was also startled, buzzing and trembling, shaking off the dust. Maybe it had been sleeping soundly and was awakened by the scream, its latent will gradually reviving.

Ye Chen finally reached out and grabbed for the war spear.

Buzz!

The spear vibrated, pulling itself from the rock wall. It seemed to have its own intelligence and will to attack, sweeping down like a heavenly strike.

Ye Chen dodged instantly and flipped his hand to inscribe a seal on it.

The spear buzzed and shattered the seal, repelling Ye Chen. Before he could steady himself, it thrust forward with overwhelming power.

Ye Chen didn't hold back, swinging his staff in response.

Bang!

The metallic clash was crisp, and the spear flipped away, smashing the rock wall into rubble.

Amid the debris, Ye Chen seemed to glimpse an illusory figure emerging from the spear, gripping it and charging at him. It must have been the remnant will of its owner, taking human form.

"Seal!"

Ye Chen shouted coldly, waving his hand to manifest the Didao Fuxi eighty-one arrays, trapping the illusory figure on the spot.

"Exterminate!"

He added the Twelve Tianzi Daming Array to reinforce the Didao Fuxi.

The two arrays combined, weaving a force of annihilation that ground the illusory figure to nothing.

Only then did the war spear fall silent, dropping from the sky.

Ye Chen waved his hand, sealing it into a Shenfu with multiple layers of seals. This war spear wasn't peaceful; even suppressed, its murderous aura was intense, having been stained with the blood of countless beings. It was both a divine weapon and a murderous tool.

Even a trace of its killing intent could crush a Sheng person.

With the war spear secured, Ye Chen continued deeper.

Half an hour later, he returned to his original spot, rubbing his eyes and swaying unsteadily, his mind dizzy. Blood trickled from the corners of his eyes—he had suffered severe backlash.

Once his mind cleared, he picked up his staff and pressed on.

Soon, he stopped at the edge of a lake.

The lake was crystal clear and bright, its surface rippling with the Yinfeng, gleaming purely. Immortal Qi swirled above it, shrouded in mist, and exotic flowers and grasses lined the shore, each dotted with dew.

Who would think that the dark and gloomy Buzhou Shan hid such a serene lake, completely at odds with the desolate surroundings?

Splash splash!

Suddenly, sounds like someone bathing and splashing water echoed. The unaware might think someone was washing in it.

But clearly, no one was in the lake.

Ye Chen stroked his chin, not daring to lean down for a look.

He had suffered the backlash here earlier. This pristine lake was like a mirror, and when he checked his reflection, it left him dizzy.

He extended his staff and poked at the lake.

Bang!

The sound was crisp, like metal colliding.

"This damn thing is just a mirror!"

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, extending his staff further, gripping one end and knocking repeatedly. The bangs echoed.

As he knocked, he stepped onto it.

But once he did, it wasn't a mirror anymore—it became a lake again.

With a plop, the emperor fell in.

Then, he sank down, trying to surface but pulled by a powerful force to the lake bottom.

Or perhaps, into the mirror.

When he reappeared, he was in a dim world.

This world was unrestful, with lightning flashing in the sky and lava flowing below.

Among the lava, skeletons could be seen—likely explorers or those curious about the lake who had been dragged in and perished here.

"Buzhou Shan is full of traps!"

Ye Chen sighed, stepping out and teleporting away.

No sooner had he left than a divine light struck where he had stood. If his senses weren't sharp, he would have been hit.

Divine lights kept coming, one after another, from some unknown source, each more domineering than the last. A typical Zhundi of the second level couldn't withstand them; their power was too great.

Ye Chen's movements were mysterious, dodging while blocking with his staff.

The divine lights were relentless, as if they wouldn't stop until he was obliterated.

Ye Chen frowned, analyzing the world's principles here.

Once he uncovered the truth, his expression turned peculiar.

This wasn't a lake or a mirror at all—it was an eye: the Mingjing Xianyan.

And this world he was in was the spatial realm of the Mingjing Xianyan.

It was similar to the Xianlun Yan's Xianxu Jie.

He had read about the Mingjing Xianyan in secret scrolls—it was an extremely special Xianyan without pupils, like a lake or a mirror, capable of revealing worldly illusions.

As for its exact abilities, he didn't know yet.

Buzz!

Another divine light struck.

Ye Chen moved like a startled swan, dodging in one step.

Then, he shot straight into the vast sky, charging through the raging lightning to the peak, and swung his staff at the void.

Crack!

Crack!

In the unseen, it was as if a mirror shattered, and the entire dim world collapsed. Ye Chen found an exit and leaped out.

Back at the lake, the water surface was rippling and rapidly shrinking until it became the size of an eye, floating in midair.

"Unexpected bonus."

Ye Chen smiled, reaching out to grab it and examining it in his palm.

It was a Xianyan, truly without pupils but enveloped in mysterious power. Even staring at it for too long made his mind blur.

Without hesitation, he tried to fuse the Mingjing Xianyan into his left eye.

Awkwardly, it fused in one instant and ejected the next, as if it had a spirit saying: You're not suitable.

"Quite temperamental."

Ye Chen sighed and casually stuffed it into his storage bag. Well, his pants pocket. Wait, storage bag.

Ah!

Another scream echoed from the depths, full of domineering energy.

It was clearly from the same person as the previous screams.

Ye Chen took a deep breath, staff in hand, and headed over. He really wanted to see who was making such a racket—was it dead or alive?

If not dead, he'd give them a good whack!