Chapter 353: Sudden Development

Chapter 353: Chapter 353: Sudden Development

Everyone began to pack up their equipment.

The two disciples on the earthen slope pulled up the flags.

"We thought it was some kind of ghost or monster, but it wasn’t. The flags didn’t get any use."

"It was just a precaution. Why would you want us to have needed them?"

In the night sky, Shang Wunian took out three thick, long incense sticks, lit them, and bowed respectfully three times toward Mi Mountain.

"Farewell, honored Patriarch!!"

He called out in a clear voice and waited for a moment, but the fragrant smoke didn’t stir.

Clearly, the summoned Patriarch had not accepted his offering.

Shang Wunian was already used to this and remained unfazed.

He slowly descended to the ground, planted the incense sticks in the earth, and then hastily departed with his disciples.

Whether the Patriarch accepted it or not, the gesture had to be made.

Bai Mo picked up Ah Er and gave it a firm shake. The badger was still dazed, clearly terrified.

With no other choice, Bai Mo picked it up and started walking.

He tossed the badger onto the Flying Ship, which then transformed into a streak of green light and headed back.

Bai Mo hadn’t forgotten that back on Mi Mountain, a certain stone giant had been shattered to pieces.

Along the way, disciples popped up from all over, digging various items out of the ground and trees to take with them.

Unsure what kind of entity they would be facing, Shang Wunian and his people had prepared a variety of countermeasures.

As it turned out, their opponent was straightforward, which saved them a great deal of trouble.

Before long, Bai Mo had returned to Mi Mountain.

Many stones of various sizes were scattered in front of the gateway.

"Senior Brother?"

Bai Mo called out tentatively, but no one answered.

He assumed the stone giant wasn’t there and had just lifted his foot to search elsewhere when a head-sized rock on the ground began to make a noise.

CRACKLE...

The cracked stone-skin flaked off, and a moment later, a palm-sized stone man hopped out from the rock’s core.

The little stone man shook its head, then began grabbing intact rocks from the surroundings and attaching them to its body.

Bai Mo watched him work for quite some time.

"Hah!"

"That nearly did me in!"

Finally, the stone giant, now back to his normal size, twisted his neck and groaned, clearly feeling out of sorts.

"I thought I could at least exchange a single blow with it. I never expected to be up against such a behemoth."

Bai Mo’s cheek twitched.

"Senior Brother, you were too impulsive. To rush in against an entity like that... If something had happened to you..."

The stone giant interrupted him.

"Relax. Here on Mi Mountain, it’s not that easy to kill me."

"Look!"

He opened his hand. In his palm were two wisps of gray vapor.

"Did you really think I was just being reckless and charging in for no reason? There were benefits to be had!"

Bai Mo looked at him in confusion.

The stone giant gave a self-satisfied smile. He was, after all, a being of vast experience and knowledge.

"I don’t know how a thing like that can even exist. It’s not quite a corpse, and not quite a Divine Thought. It’s probably a relic from before cultivation was systematized."

"But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s riddled with weaknesses!"

Only after the giant’s explanation did Bai Mo understand: the two gray wisps were a manifestation of the pale giant’s very cultivation.

The stone giant pinched one of the wisps and offered it to Bai Mo.

"Here. I have no use for this, so I’m giving it to you, Junior Brother. A little something for worrying about me."

Bai Mo’s eyebrow twitched.

"This is too precious..."

The stone giant let out a "heh."

"This contains a faint trace of an energy-gathering technique. It’s just a sliver of the method that giant used to devour the essence from bone marrow."

"I’m not a creature of flesh and blood, so it’s useless to me."

He had already investigated it thoroughly while he was hiding inside the rock earlier.

Bai Mo solemnly accepted the gray wisp. He placed it between his eyebrows and gently touched it with his Divine Thought. In an instant, a torrent of profound mysteries flooded his mind.

It wasn’t a complete system, just insights and scattered principles related to a method of gathering energy.

After Bai Mo finished his examination, the gray wisp dissipated on the spot.

Bai Mo had encountered a similar treasure before, one he had received from Kunwu True Monarch.

That time, Bai Mo had obtained a technique for sorting terrestrial qi, though he had yet to find a use for it.

"Senior Brother, do you know where that giant went?" Bai Mo asked.

The stone giant took out his own flamboyant silver robe and draped it over his body.

One moment he was smashed to smithereens, and the next he was acting as if nothing had happened.

"It probably ended up in the Sacred Grounds of Divine Dao Mountain."

"Our job here at Mi Mountain was just to intercept it and keep it from returning. Ultimately, a true battle will have to be fought."

He checked his belongings, ready to depart immediately.

"But I’d say that giant is done for. Divine Dao Mountain’s own Patriarch is a similar type of entity..."

The stone giant shook his head, saying no more, and strode away.

"I’ve been back for a few days, and I’ve gotten what I came for. I can’t afford to delay any longer."

"Master and that old Daoist are probably going to give me an earful!"

Bai Mo bid him farewell, then picked up Ah Er and entered his stone house.

Despite the huge commotion outside, everything inside was perfectly normal.

The Spirit Fish he brought back were still swimming happily, occasionally blowing a few bubbles.

The whispers from within the Black Prison were the same as ever, thick with the madness and malice of long confinement.

The prisoners were oblivious, and no one would be telling them that someone had nearly knocked the top off Mi Mountain with a bone club.

Bai Mo suddenly felt a sense of dread.

’To be hidden away so completely... The restrictive formations in the Black Prison must have accumulated over the years to a truly terrifying degree.’

’The villains imprisoned here could never hope to coordinate with anyone on the outside. Their only chance is to wait passively for rescue.’

After daybreak, numerous Flying Ships flew to and fro. More disciples rushed in from all directions, asking for news from those who had arrived first.

A commotion that large was bound to attract attention.

When Bai Mo went out to ask around, he discovered that what the others had seen was completely different from his own experience.

In the areas untouched by the pale giant’s power, the disciples had only seen a gaping hole open in the sky.

Vast quantities of a deathly, silent energy poured from the hole, like a waterfall suspended from the heavens.

"It’s a good thing Mi Mountain is alright. If all those fiends had escaped, we’d be in real trouble."

"And those people from Divine Dao Mountain! They didn’t even give us a heads-up. I rushed here for nothing!"

Seeing that everything was fine, the crowd relaxed and began to grumble while trying to get more details.

It was the first time the area had been this bustling.

"Sigh... that excellent blade embryo from Master... I had to abandon it midway. It’s probably ruined now..."

A disciple came walking by, muttering to himself with a pained expression. He noticed Bai Mo, studied his face for a moment, and then quickly composed himself.

"Pardon me, are you Junior Brother Bai?"

Bai Mo stopped. Seeing it was a stranger, he cupped his fist in salute.

"I am. What can I do for you, Senior Brother?"

"While I was away on business, someone gave me a Fire-Resistant Pill and asked me to deliver this letter to you."

"Hm?" Bai Mo took the letter.

"Where is the letter from?"

"The outer-sect disciple said he had just returned from Celestial Mountain City and that he, too, was just passing it along for someone else."

"I see! Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother."

Bai Mo already had a good idea of who it was. It was most likely from the Alchemy Dao senior who had visited Immortal Arrival City and had now reached Celestial Mountain City.

’He certainly travels fast.’

Bai Mo began to open the letter, intending to read it at once.

VMMMM!!

The familiar hum spread through the air as grayness once again filled the sky. A bone club descended and slammed violently into the side of Mi Mountain.

BOOM!

Mi Mountain erupted in a purple glow that steadily absorbed the impact, causing only a few rocks to break loose and fall.

The next moment, a jade-like hand reached out from behind the club, grabbed it, and pulled it back. The grayness in the sky receded.

The sky was once again clear and blue.

The disciples fell silent for a moment before erupting into a cacophony of discussion.

Bai Mo snapped back to his senses, his Spiritual Qi flared, and he rushed back toward Mi Mountain.

The gateway opened.

Bai Mo charged into the Black Prison. The inmates seemed mostly fine, but they were all staring in surprise at a specific spot.

Bai Mo followed their gazes to a cell where a prisoner was bleeding from his seven facial orifices. He was already dead, without a single trace of breath left in him.