Chapter 1260: Tihu Mountain

Chuyu Immortal Domain bordered Jinyuan Immortal Domain. It was a small immortal domain whose territory was even half the size of Beihan Immortal Domain. However, due to its special location, it benefited from the blessings of the Greater Jinyuan Immortal Domain, which made it quite prosperous.

Yet its size determined the abundance of resources. Even with close trade ties with other immortal domains, it could not nurture large or medium-sized cultivation sects. The most powerful forces here were one mountain and one palace.

The palace, of course, referred to the Chuyu Immortal Palace.

As for the mountain, it was Tihu Mountain, the largest cultivation force in the entire Chuyu Immortal Domain.

Speaking of Tihu Mountain, it was quite an interesting sect. Its strength surpassed that of the Zhulong Dao in its heyday. Apart from the sect's ancestor and the current mountain master, who were Taiyi cultivators, most of the rest were Golden Immortal cultivators.

This sect was not known for cultivation techniques or alchemy and artifact refining; instead, it was passionate about brewing various kinds of immortal wines.

Most of the immortal brews they produced were beneficial for nurturing the soul and nourishing the body, while a few special ones were effective in helping cultivators deal with the Five Decays of Heaven and Man. Hence, they were highly sought after by many immortal cultivators.

If that were all, these wines would at most interest cultivators below the Taiyi stage. Yet in fact, many Taiyi and even Daluo cultivators also greatly enjoyed Tihu Mountain's immortal wines.

The reason was simple: Tihu Mountain had perfected the art of brewing immortal wine.

The sect's location was also unique. Its main peak was called Yuhu Peak, shaped like a green jade bottle. Legend had it that beneath the peak lay a wine cellar storing various immortal wines brewed over the generations.

This wine cellar was a natural underground cavern. Once opened, it was designated as a forbidden area, accessible only to the sect leader, the patriarch, and a few core elders.

Yet deep within the cavern, someone had quietly carved out a hidden cave dwelling, surrounded by layers of formations that concealed all signs of its existence.

At this moment, in a side chamber of the cave dwelling, a young man sat cross-legged on a stone bed, a black mask covering his face. He held his hands in a mudra and muttered something under his breath.

However, what he muttered was not a cultivation technique but rather words of doubt and complaint.

After a moment, as if greatly disappointed, he let out a long sigh, withdrew his hand seal, and removed the mask, revealing an ordinary face—it was Han Li.

At that moment, a little white figure who had been waiting nearby quickly stepped forward and asked:

"Master, how is it? Did you make contact?"

"No. I don't know what's going on with Jiao San. I've tried contacting her many times over the past few months, but I've never gotten a response." Han Li shook his head and said.

"Could it be that she didn't escape and was captured by the Nine Yuan Temple?" Xiao Bai scratched his head and asked.

Han Li just shook his head and said nothing. He had personally witnessed Jiao San and the others escaping; even Li Yuanjiu couldn't stop them, so they definitely wouldn't have been caught.

The reason he tried to contact Jiao San was, of course, to learn news about Nangong Wan from her. But for some reason, Jiao San remained unreachable.

"By the way, where has Gold Devouring Beetle gone again?" Han Li's gaze swept the surroundings, and his brow suddenly furrowed as he asked.

"The boss can't sit still. He might have gone to steal some wine again. Speaking of which, the wine here is really tempting." Xiao Bai glanced outside the side chamber and said, his mouth watering as he spoke.

Hearing this, Han Li couldn't help rubbing his temples, feeling both a headache and helplessness.

Tihu Mountain had no other notable skills, but in winemaking, they surpassed even Hu Yan Daoist. They used various immortal vegetables and spirit fruits to brew over a hundred different flavors of immortal wine, and even created a special wine called "Wu Mei Niang" specifically for female cultivators.

This "Wu Mei Niang" lacked the strong alcoholic aroma of other immortal wines, but its clear color and sweet taste left one's soul slightly dizzy, entering a drowsy, dreamlike state, making it highly popular among female cultivators.

Not long after arriving, Gold Devouring Beetle discovered this brew and fell in love with it at first taste.

As the two were speaking, a figure with unsteady steps walked in from outside, carrying a black ceramic jar larger than his head, emitting a special aroma blending wine and fruit.

"Uncle, I'm back..." Gold Devouring Beetle's cheeks were slightly flushed. Holding the wine jar, he plopped down beside him.

"Didn't I tell you not to steal wine anymore?" Han Li put on a stern face and scolded.

"This fairy didn't steal! All this Wu Mei Niang is mine now. If you don't believe me, look—my name is written on the jar..." Gold Devouring Beetle argued while bringing the jar close to Han Li.

Han Li immediately saw two crooked, scrawled characters on it, like a dog's paw prints.

"Isn't this nonsense? If someone from Tihu Mountain sees us, our whereabouts will be exposed." Han Li's face turned stern as he said angrily.

Scolded by Han Li, the Golden Boy shuddered, and the smell of alcohol on him instantly dissipated.

"Let them expose us. Staying here all day is driving me crazy." She pouted and said with some irritation.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression softened, and he sighed, saying:

"I know you don't want to stay here, but as you saw earlier, after the Reincarnation Palace people stirred up the Great Jinyuan Immortal Domain, things calmed down there, but the surrounding small immortal domains all exploded into chaos. We had just arrived in the Chuyu Immortal Domain when the Heavenly Court's监察仙使 followed right behind. If we don't hide here now and wait for the storm to pass, once we go out and get surrounded, we won't be able to escape even if we grow wings."

"Hmph, if you want this fairy to wait patiently, then don't stop me from drinking." The Golden Boy snorted and said petulantly.

Seeing this, Han Li sighed and was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed drastically.

The next moment, a white beam of light suddenly broke through the dome of the cave above and shot straight down.

"Rumble"

The entire Yuhu Peak shook violently, and the eastern base collapsed into a huge pit a thousand zhang in diameter. The white beam of light from the sky just filled that pit.

Around the white beam, five figures stood suspended in the air. The one in the center had blue-purple skin, a solemn face, and thick eyebrows slanting into his temples, inspiring awe at first sight. He was quite tall, wearing a half-body golden scale armor, looking as majestic as an ancient war god.

As for his aura, it was even more unfathomable; he was clearly a late-stage Daluo realm cultivator.

On his left and right stood a man and a woman. The man looked like an octogenarian, his face covered with wrinkles, but his eyes had a ring of golden light. The woman was much younger, but her appearance was not particularly good, and with her solemn expression, she looked even less pleasing.

Both of them wore the robes of Heavenly Court监察仙使. Standing beside the scale-armored man, they appeared somewhat restrained, showing how imposing the scale-armored man was.

Behind the three stood a thin old man with a red nose and a middle-aged man in a golden robe, whose auras were far inferior to those of the three.

The thin old man had a sheepish expression, his eyes occasionally glancing at the pit under the beam with visible distress, while the golden-robed middle-aged man kept his eyes downcast and said nothing.

One was the patriarch of Tihu Mountain, the other the lord of Chuyu Immortal Palace. In their own territories, they should have been all-powerful, but in front of these three, they didn't even dare to fart.

Hundreds of zhang behind these people, thousands of people stood densely packed, most of them native cultivators of the Chuyu Immortal Domain and elders and disciples of Tihu Mountain.

Above their heads, ten Heavenly Court cultivators in巡查仙使 robes were suspended in the ten directions of the void, each forming hand seals, jointly activating a silver round mirror in the center.

The round mirror emitted dazzling white light, reaching straight down to the bottom of Yuhu Peak.

"Lord Yue Qing, in my opinion, what can hide in Tihu Mountain is just a little mouse that can't run far, not someone like Lu Chuanfeng or Tianxing Venerable. You didn't need to come in person." The female监察仙使 looked at the scale-armored man and said.

The scale-armored man's gaze sharpened, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes, and he said angrily:

"That bastard Lu Chuanfeng hid so deep. This time he killed Fengtian仙使, not only causing a great loss of face for the Heavenly Court but also forcing me to come out of seclusion early to be this damn lord of Jinyuan Immortal Palace. Whether they are here or not, any remnants of the Reincarnation Palace must be completely wiped out."

This scale-armored man named Yue Qing was originally a divine official in the Heavenly Court, with astonishing rank and power. Because the incident in the Great Jinyuan Immortal Domain was too serious, he was sent from the Central Earth Immortal Domain to take command of the Jinyuan Immortal Palace.

Of course, the reason for sending him was partly to quickly quell the rebellions in the nearby immortal domains and partly to secretly monitor and check the Nine Yuan Observatory.

As they were speaking, a circular rune suddenly appeared on the silver round mirror suspended high in the sky. The beam of light from it began to slowly contract, retracting back toward the mirror surface.

Soon, three figures were pulled up from underground, bound by the white light.

In the light, Han Li did not use a mask to disguise himself, since with the Golden Boy and Xiao Bai by his side, his identity could not be hidden.

When the Heavenly Court people saw Han Li's face, they were first surprised, then overjoyed.

"Han Li? It's him?"

Another监察仙使 smiled, the wrinkles on his forehead smoothing out considerably.

"Pofeng, Wuhui, is this person that Han Li?" Yue Qing raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Reporting to you, sir, it is him. Previously, Chi Meng sent several messages, specifically emphasizing that heavy forces should be sent to encircle and annihilate him. It is precisely this person." The female监察仙使 Pofeng answered first.