Chapter 14: Earthsound Mountain

High in the sky.

The Buddha Tathagata and three others, transforming into a massive golden light, were rapidly heading toward Earthsound Mountain.

"Kong Xiu, can you still hold on?" Tathagata transmitted.

Within Tathagata's palm-world, countless beings lived, and one of Kong Xiu's avatars was also there.

"The earthsound is now continuously ringing, growing louder. The moment the sound peaks, the attack will arrive. We are all on high alert but have not yet been attacked," Kong Xiu replied from within the palm-world.

"We must be cautious," Tathagata said, then addressed the other three Buddhas: "You may also enter my palm-world for now, so I can get there as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Buddha."

The other three replied in unison.

Tathagata was the absolute leader in the Buddhist order.

With a wave of his hand, Tathagata collected the other three Buddhas, and then the golden light in the sky sped even faster, hurtling toward Earthsound Mountain.

…

Deep within the fortress in the ancient ruins.

"Master, it's done. Among the four teams, Kua Fu's team has been lured into Earthsound Mountain," the gaunt old man below said joyfully.

"Mm."

The Great Demon God Cixiu sat on his throne, chuckling softly. "If we don't strike, fine. But if we do, we strike big! We've let those natives of the Nuwa camp in the Three Realms have it easy for too long. This time, we'll deal them a heavy blow."

"The Thousand Mountains World is a realm we and the Gate of Nothingness painstakingly set up. The entire Thousand Mountains World is a great trap. The Nuwa camp knows it might be a trap, but they have to charge in," the red-bearded old man below laughed. "They can't find us at all. All they can do is destroy the entire ancient ruins... They must enter every world. In the Thousand Mountains World, we might wipe out two or three teams."

"Kua Fu's team should be eliminated," the Great Demon God Cixiu nodded slightly. "As for the other three... we'll see what they can do."

"Ji Ning."

The Celestial Immortal Wu Xiao, who had been standing below, gazed at the scene displayed in midair—the area around Earthsound Mountain. Kua Fu and the others had already entered. Wu Xiao sneered, "Entering Earthsound Mountain... let's see if you can survive this time."

"Master, the Buddhist Tathagata is rushing toward Earthsound Mountain," the towering, robust figure in golden armor said in a low voice.

"Hmph, the area around Earthsound Mountain is protected by Huan Mu's formation. The formation has now changed. If Tathagata enters the formation, he will almost certainly be unable to find Earthsound Mountain—unless he breaks it. With his strength, he could break it, but that would take enough time. By then, Kua Fu and the others will be long dead," the Great Demon God Cixiu smiled, extending his scarlet tongue to lick his lips.

He, a great demon god, had been suppressed for too long.

The title of Great Demon God was forged from countless rivers of blood and piles of flesh!

…

Inside Earthsound Mountain.

"Thump."

The enormous heartbeat from underground seemed to pound on the hearts of Ji Ning and the others. They all floated in midair, warily watching their surroundings.

"Ji Ning, the six of us can set up a formation to withstand the coming danger. But you have no formation protecting you... You should enter a cave-heaven treasure first. Once we've passed the danger of Earthsound Mountain, you can come out," Kua Fu and the other five had already formed a massive formation, divine power surging, creating rings of golden light that enveloped the area.

"No need," Ji Ning shook his head.

Kua Fu frowned. "At this critical moment, Ji Ning, don't be reckless."

"Daoist Kua Fu, no need to worry. Wasn't my true body destroyed by the Gate of Nothingness before? Yet I came back to life," Ji Ning looked at Kua Fu.

Kua Fu was taken aback, then nodded. "Since you refuse to hide, so be it. Then stay within our formation... If an external attack comes, the formation can help block it. This formation defends against external threats but not internal ones. You can still attack outward from within."

"Good," Ji Ning agreed.

The six true gods—Kua Fu, Xing Tian, Xi Huang, Feng Ji, Kong Xiu, and Lu Wu—surged with divine power, golden light swirling around them to ward off danger, while Ji Ning remained inside the great formation.

The six true gods exchanged glances, feeling helpless. In their view, this Northern Bright Sword Immortal was a bit too arrogant. Earthsound Mountain was so dangerous that even they had to be cautious and had even invited the Buddha. Yet Ji Ning insisted on staying outside... Sigh, his cultivation time was too short; he was overconfident!

"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!" Suddenly the earthsound became urgent.

The surroundings changed too. Before, there had been endless water currents, but now it turned into a dense jungle.

All seven of them stood within the jungle.

"Quick, fly out of the jungle," Kua Fu urged.

Whoosh.

They all flew up, but no matter how fast they flew, they remained within the jungle.

"We can't fly out. Without perceiving the true nature of Earthsound Mountain, we cannot leave it," said Dao Ancestor Feng Ji after observing. "Back then, Lord Sanqing was trapped in Earthsound Mountain. With his immense strength, he withstood the dangers but was trapped for over three thousand years before he perceived the true scene and finally left."

"These are all illusions," Kong Xiu said worriedly.

"We can't see through the illusions to discern the reality of Earthsound Mountain," Xing Tian also expressed concern.

Ji Ning was also observing carefully.

Earthsound Mountain was famous.

Once inside, one would face endless illusions, forever trapped in the illusion. Even great powers, seemingly flying desperately, would actually remain within Earthsound Mountain, unable to escape.

There were two ways out. One was to possess absolute strength and directly destroy the entire Earthsound Mountain. But such a unique place—even Lord Sanqing couldn't destroy it back then. Only a World God like 'Nuwa' might be able to. Ji Ning and the others had no hope of destroying Earthsound Mountain.

The second way was like Lord Sanqing: to see through the illusions, comprehend the true nature of Earthsound Mountain, and then walk out.

The Buddha Tathagata was highly skilled at perceiving illusions; the Buddhist school excelled in using illusions.

"Pfft!"

Suddenly a terrifying attack descended, directly stabbing at True God Lu Wu. The layers of golden light around Lu Wu were pierced through. From the penetration, one could tell it was an awl-like object attacking.

Startled, Lu Wu swung his iron whip to block and dodged sideways.

Sssss—

Lu Wu's abdomen was slashed, leaving a bloody wound, which soon healed as divine power surged.

"Everyone be careful. Earthsound Mountain's attacks are very strong," Lu Wu said quickly. "The formation can't fully block them, but it can weaken the attack's power... Otherwise, I wouldn't have just lost a chunk of flesh; I'd have been torn apart."

"Be careful. The surroundings look like a jungle," Dao Ancestor Feng Ji said solemnly, "But in reality, the jungle is just an illusion. The true scene involves strange objects attacking us."

Ji Ning frowned.

Even after being weakened by the formation, the strange object could easily injure a true god's body—that was terrifying. The most致命 thing was that they couldn't detect where the object was; by the time they noticed, the attack had already arrived.

"What to do?" Ji Ning carefully observed his surroundings, with candlelight burning in his eyes. Using the Candle Dragon's Eye, he observed... The trees and leaves of the jungle became clearer, even revealing the veins on the leaves and the dew on them. He found no trace at all.

"See through the illusion, perceive the truth."

"How exactly... Back then, Lord Sanqing was trapped here and eventually perceived the truth to leave," Ji Ning frowned. "But how does one perceive the truth?"

Ji Ning observed with his naked eye, explored with his mind, and even probed with his heartforce.

But everything he probed was what his eyes saw, as if the jungle were real. Thinking about it, even Lord Sanqing had been trapped for over three thousand years before perceiving the truth; 'perceiving' was no easy task.

"Hummm—" Ji Ning's heartforce was spreading like ripples, sweeping through every inch of space, probing with a thoroughness unmatched in the Three Realms, surpassing any detection method there. Even among the gods and demons of the Nine Chaos Kingdoms, Ji Ning had found none whose heartforce detection method could compare to his.

Suddenly, the rippling heartforce faintly detected a disturbance.

Pfft!

An invisible object pierced through layers of golden light defenses, stabbing directly at Dao Ancestor Xi Huang.