Ascending the Mountain
The quintet pulled over at the foot of the mountain that light was shining from. They couldn’t fly up due to a restriction on flying. Trekking up wasn’t any easier because the increase in pressure was akin to gravity pushing harder.
“What’s this pressure?” queried Rou Anna.
Despite Mu Yu’s inferior cultivation – relative to Rou Anna – he didn’t struggle in the slightest. Meng Xin supported Rou Anna’s body with her own to distribute the pressure between them. Xing Gao stayed close to Mu Yu since he believed Mu Yu needed assistance. Mu Yu didn’t have any objections and expressed gratitude. Zuo Jianfeng, however, challenged Mu Yu with a scoff. Mu Yu’s acceptance served as admission to killing Kuai Jian and Man Jian thanks to a fluke.
The ground protruded, elevating them higher. Restricted to limited options, the quintet formed a circle. The earth elevator stopped after rising over a hundred metres.
“Something’s not right,” remarked Xing Gao, looking over the edge.
Zuo Jianfeng examined the ground but didn’t discern anything out of the norm. “This should be earth elemental demons’ ability. Why would they be here?”
“Someone wants to prevent us climbing the mountain.” Mu Yu saw faint formation patterns and identified they were seized in an illusion formation.
“What are we going to do? Flying is out, so are we climbing down?” Rou Anna inquired.
“Let’s go.” Zuo Jianfeng thrust his sword into the pillar and flipped over the edge. He drew another sword and thrust it in. They couldn’t fly, but they could use their swords to scale down along the pillar.
Mu Yu didn’t join them, leading to Xing Gao asking, “Mu Yu, aren’t you going to climb down?”
“Why would I? Once you climb down, you’ll be elevated right back up here,” responded Mu Yu. He ambled to the edge and knocked on what was supposed to be thin air. His neck generated a ripple. He pulled up the corner of his lip and said, “We don’t need to go down. We can just keep advancing.”
“Are you stupid? You’d fall off the edge,” chided Zuo Jianfeng, who was already halfway down.
Mu Yu did exactly as he said and walked through the formation’s wall. From above, he stated, “Head down if it floats your boat. You’ll be scaling in the same spot.”
Nobody in the group besides Mu Yu was educated on formations. Hence, Mu Yu was the only one who noticed the irregularity. Xing Gao chose to trust Mu Yu and walked forward instead of joining Zuo Jianfeng. Xing Gao’s success gave Jade Sect’s duo the confidence to follow after.
As Mu Yu claimed, they were still on the mountain once they crossed over. The stone pillar that elevated them wasn’t there when they turned around. Irate but having to accept reality, Zuo Jianfeng scaled back up and went after them.
“Mu Yu, how did you discover that?” Meng Xin questioned.
“Did none of you learn about formations? That was as basic as it gets in illusion formations. Basically, what you see isn’t necessarily reality,” answered Mu Yu, continuing on.
Xing Gao enthused, “I am impressed, Brother Mu Yu. As far as formations go, only Formation Sect truly understands formations. The rest of us are ignorant on the subject.”
“He just got lucky,” proclaimed Zuo Jianfeng.
People would find a reason to dislike you if they insisted on disliking you, so Mu Yu refused to dance to Zuo Jianfeng’s tune. Mu Yu continued leading until he noticed something and halted. He used his finger to paint a roadmap. “We’re still in the formation. If we want to climb up further, we need to go right.”
Zuo Jianfeng looked up. “You think we’re morons? There’s nothing blocking the path ahead. Why should we turn?”
“Help yourself,” responded Mu Yu, walking off.
Xing Gao was hesitant to believe Mu Yu, but there was no denying the latter’s judgement proved correct previously. Better to trust someone who demonstrated formation knowledge than himself, rationalised Xing Gao. Meng Xin gave her junior a tap and followed after. Rou Anna’s aggression toward Mu Yu reduced somewhat and replaced itself with curiosity for him.
Zuo Jianfeng refused to buy Mu Yu’s claim and continued forward until he noticed the pressure didn’t intensify. Still unconvinced, he kept going until he realised he was back where he started. He had no choice but to acknowledge Mu Yu was right and begrudgingly went after the others.
When Zuo Jianfeng met up with the group, Xiaoshuai, who was lazing on Mu Yu’s shoulder, teased, “What a coincidence. I thought you wouldn’t take this path.”
Mu Yu loved what he heard. Zuo Jianfeng had to swallow the bitter pill.
“We’re heading down. No more boring questions, right?” Mu Yu dismissively asked as he strolled down after turning.
Rumble! A boulder came rolling down the mountain as they were walking. The group brandished their weapons and smashed the boulder. They shifted their gazes to the sky upon hearing an explosion at the top of the mountain and feeling a gale of spiritual energy. They heard high-pitched projectiles whizzing through the sky from the top of the mountain.
“Fiend beasts?” exclaimed Rou Anna.
Indeed, hordes of high-level fiend beasts raced toward the mountain. The quintet was prepared for a fight. Perhaps their alertness enhanced their vision. What they thought were fiend beasts were actually evolved fiend beasts – fiends!
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