Celestial Prison
“Correct. Humans and elemental demons in Moyun Mountains are but prisoners,” answered the elder.
“Haha, it’s fine for you to be a prisoner if that’s what floats your boat, but don’t drag humanity in.”
“No, I meant humans in Moyun Mountains are prisoners, not all humans.”
“What do you mean?”
The elder patted the sacred fig tree, giving it a gentle shake and startling Mu Yu back a few steps. The elder elucidated, “It has been ninety-six years. Humans and elemental demons once fought a big war against each other. Mankind won, while we were on the verge of extinction, thereby forcing us to flee from Moyun Mountains.
“The mountain range here is boundless. The cultivators didn’t pursue us because they knew places with lots of trees and mountains gave us the terrain advantage. Accordingly, they erected a formation to barricade Moyun Mountains. We, therefore, couldn’t escape.”
“A formation? Aren’t you the experts in formations? How did humanity trap you?”
Elemental demons proved they were adept at controlling the five elements when they ensnared Mu Yu. Being adept didn’t mean infallible, though.
The elder shook his head. “All formations come from us. Admittedly, humans are also proficient with formations. Instead of using five elements formations, they caught us with a heaven and earth formation called Celestial Prison. It required the cultivators to use their cultivation as the formation’s core to lock down Moyun Mountains.
“The individual from Third Heaven Palace really is something. They must’ve reached the pinnacle of cultivation to defeat our five spirit lords on their own and sealed the mountain range to stop us from escaping while he competed with humans for Third Heaven Continent.”
The youth in red did mention to Daoist Qing Song it was impossible to ascend to Primordial Infant Realm in Celestial Prison. That meant the tree elder wasn’t lying. Possessing the power to seal Moyun Mountains sounded outlandish, though. It was supposed to take a Golden Core Realm cultivator an entire month of flying without any pauses to reach the end of Moyun Mountains, after all.
“Don’t try to fool me. What’s this Third Heaven Continent thing now?”
“Third Heaven Continent, which is the world beyond Moyun Mountains, is the real world of cultivation I mentioned. The reason cultivators inside Moyun Mountains plateau at Golden Core Realm is Celestial Prison suppressing the spiritual energy here. Unless one has ascended to Primordial Infant Realm, humans cannot leave Moyun Mountains.” The elder sniggered, though it was unclear if he was sneering at humanity or just expressing distaste for the heaven and earth formation.
“So, why don’t cultivators outside help humans here leave, then?” Mu Yu questioned.
“Are you referring to the world of cultivation under Third Heaven Palace’s jurisdiction? Moyun Mountains’ population is in the millions. The majority of the population are ordinary humans who don’t cultivate. What makes you think they would go out of their way to rescue so many people? Third Heaven Palace’s people aren’t altruists. There’s only one way out of Moyun Mountains, which is to pass through the dangerous vast mountain range. It’s far too risky to try and escort millions of people through there.”
Mu Yu was gradually convinced the tree elder wasn’t lying since the elder went through the trouble of sharing the information. Plus, the tree elder had no need to deceive him other than to share the unknown history. After mulling over everything said, Mu Yu questioned, “Does that mean the inhabitants of Moyu Mountains can never leave it? Why can’t you leave?”
The tree elder, tired or something, pulled over a bench to sit down on and kindly supplied Mu Yu with one. “Celestial Prison is a formation; all formations consist of barriers. Celestial Prison is meant to prohibit elemental demons from leaving, not humans. If I’m to hazard a conservative guess, the prison will expend all of the spiritual energy in Moyun Mountains. We cannot recover our vitality without spiritual qi. As for cultivators, they will be nothing but mere humans,” answered the tree elder, with a derisive undertone. “Third Heaven Palace have no qualms sacrificing their own kind to destroy us. I can confidently tell you humans won’t survive without spiritual qi, while we can.”
Mu Yu didn’t agree with Third Heaven Palace’s decision, arguing they had no right to sacrifice the people at Moyun Mountains when there was no need to. Worse, they brushed it off as if it was a matter of course to sacrifice the weak and didn’t even bother to inform them. He perceived the treatment to be cruel, unfair and unforgivable.
“Moyun Mountains’ cultivators are still in the dark, oblivious to the reality they have been abandoned and that they’re sacrifices. To tell the truth, we could’ve escaped some time ago but didn’t as it wasn’t necessary. Soon enough, there won’t be any more cultivators here. How hard would it be for us to defeat ordinary humans even if we couldn’t recover our vitality?”
“Why are you telling me about this?”
“Hahaha, just to let you see humanity’s true nature. Third Heaven Continent knows the rumour concerning you five. In the case the legend isn’t fiction, you should rethink your stance. Strictly speaking, you are half-human and half-elemental demon. The side you five stand with will have an unfair advantage over the opposition. There is a lot more to yourself than what you see on the surface. The legend states that, if you five successfully grow, you will surpass our spirit lords.”
“How do I know you didn’t fabricate the story to sow discord? You want me to take your side?”
“No. I shared the story with you to motivate you to verify it for yourself. I hope you will reconsider whether or not siding with humankind is the right thing to do when you decide to help them once war between our races breaks out.
An Infant Soul Realm cultivator from beyond Moyun Mountains came by not long ago. If you can find him and ask him about it, you will learn what you need to know.”
Mu Yu figured the tree elder referred to the youth in red. He wasn’t going to see the youth, nonetheless, since it could jeopardise his shifu. There was one person he could consult – Tian Ran. He surmised the story was the reason why she was reluctant to explicate her goal.
“You could kill me and remove the risk of me joining either side,” Mu Yu stated.
“It’s a plausible long-term idea; however, our wood demon race is sick of war. While the other elemental demon races still hate humans with a vengeance, we refer peace. You are special to both races. I want to gamble on you. Perhaps you are our wood demon race’s hope.”
“So you’re going to release me? You don’t even believe the legend, yet you are willing to trust me?”
“Though I don’t trust humans, you’re different. You might bring us a pleasant surprise. We don’t like committing murder. Otherwise, we could’ve massacred all of you when you entered instead of setting up formations to send you in circles.”
“Wait, you didn’t kill them?”
The tree elder sincerely responded, “We tried to stop you from entering the forest, but you inadvertently aggravated the water, fire and earth demons. They’re not as tolerant as we are. We had to assist them due to an oath we made when we established an agreement. I know you don’t like violence, either. Trees embody life; we cherish life. Why would we destroy life without rhyme or reason?”
“How are you going to fight humans in the future if you’re struggling for sustenance in this Celestial Prison?”
“Did you forget I mentioned we have found a way to escape? We have spent the years here recuperating and studying the heaven and earth formation.”
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