Chapter 815: The Mountain-Carrying Beast

"There's no mistake. That hunchbacked old man is not of your魔族; he is a kind of fierce beast notorious in the immortal realm, called 'Mountain-Carrying Rong' or 'Mountain-Carrying Nao.' He delights in carrying mountains on his back. The stronger his cultivation, the higher the peak he bears, using this to cultivate and comprehend the Great Dao. Some can even carry entire mountain ranges." Han Li transmitted his reply.

"No wonder when he wasn't around earlier, the earth trembled and the teacups fell without him coming out to clean up. As soon as the earthquake stopped, he immediately returned." Shi Chuankong thought for a moment and said.

"It is said that in the Qingye Immortal Domain of the immortal realm, an elder of an immortal sect once killed a young Mountain-Carrying Rong to refine an immortal artifact, and relying on his sect's power, he wounded several adult Mountain-Carrying Rong that came for revenge. After repelling the last one, everyone thought it was over. But unexpectedly, less than ten thousand years later, the entire mountain range where their sect was located had its roots severed and its veins destroyed by that Mountain-Carrying Rong, which had sneaked under the mountain, and it carried the mountain directly into the sea." Han Li continued to transmit.

"I never expected this beast to be so ferocious..." Shi Chuankong couldn't help but look back toward the small town and said slowly.

"But judging by the townspeople's appearance, they seem to have lived there for generations and are already accustomed to the frequent earthquakes. This shows that this Mountain-Carrying Rong has attained the Dao, not only with cultivation comparable to a Da Luo realm cultivator, but its ferocious nature seems to have been worn down by the long years." Han Li transmitted.

"He lives in seclusion here, probably unwilling to be recognized. As they say, a true great hermit hides in the city. Regardless, as long as he doesn't cause us trouble, it's fine." Shi Chuankong nodded and said.

However, as soon as his words fell, they saw a figure appear silently on the mountain road ahead. The figure was thin, with a hunched back and hands clasped behind him—it was the old man from the tea stall in the small town.

"Brother Shi, is your mouth really blessed?" Han Li smiled wryly and asked.

Shi Chuankong was stunned and wished he could slap himself.

"Greetings, senior. Earlier, we failed to recognize your true identity. Please forgive us." After a moment's hesitation, Han Li stepped forward and bowed from a distance to the hunchbacked old man.

Shi Chuankong said nothing, only bowed with a grim expression.

"Rest assured, I mean you no harm." The old man still had his hands behind his back, moving his lips slightly as he spoke, his voice exceptionally hoarse.

"But may I ask if senior has any instructions for waiting for us here?" Han Li dared not relax and asked cautiously.

"No instructions. I've been in the demon realm for a long time and haven't seen anyone from the immortal realm in many years. I just want to ask you a few things." The old man waved his hand, revealing a wrinkled face under his disheveled hair.

"Senior, please ask. If I know, I will tell all; if not, I dare not speak recklessly." Han Li chose his words carefully and said.

"Where are you from?" The old man looked at Han Li and asked.

"Senior, I come from the Black Mountain Immortal Domain." Han Li replied without hesitation.

The old man was silent for a moment, a trace of reminiscence flashing across his face. After a while, he spoke again:

"The Black Mountain Immortal Domain... I stayed there for a time. Although it was a very miserable period, I must say I still miss it quite a bit... By the way, have you ever been to a place called 'Xianyun Mountain'? Do you know how it is now?"

"I happened to stay there for a while. Could it be that senior also once stayed at Xianyun Mountain?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Yes, but I can't remember how long ago it was. I only recall that at that time, only a few of us lived on the entire mountain. Later, people gradually came to open caves on the mountain, and the whole mountain was no longer peaceful." The hunchbacked old man said slowly.

"Xianyun Mountain has changed greatly now. There are many people living on it, and it has almost become a lawless place with its own system. Unfortunately, when I left, the situation had changed. The Heavenly Court seemed to have strengthened its control over the place, and many people left the mountain. I'm not sure how it is now." Han Li sighed and said.

"These are all past matters. It doesn't matter how they change... You should have seen my true form, right?" The hunchbacked old man suddenly changed the subject.

Hearing this, Han Li and the other became nervous again.

"I dare not speak recklessly about senior's true form. I can only tell that senior's cultivation is extremely high and your realm is extremely profound." Han Li composed himself and said.

Although it was a simple compliment, it was well said. The hunchbacked old man nodded inwardly and said:

"Earlier, I heard you talking about finding a place to go into seclusion to refine Dao soldiers? Actually, there are many uninhabited valleys in the Basha Mountain Range. You can use them without worrying about external disturbances."

"How dare we trouble senior to protect us? We are only roughly refining some Dao soldiers. We will find a remote place and dare not disturb senior." Han Li quickly said.

"In that case, we have no affinity. Let it be as if we never met." The hunchbacked old man said meaningfully.

"Senior, rest assured. We have never seen senior." Han Li immediately understood and cupped his hands.

"Yes, we have never been here at all." Shi Chuankong naturally knew what he meant and quickly said.

The hunchbacked old man looked deeply at Shi Chuankong and said, "You kid sure have a good reincarnation... Alright, you may go."

Without any hesitation, Han Li and the other immediately took their leave and transformed into a streak of light, flying away.

Only after flying out of the entire Basha Mountain Range did they breathe a slight sigh of relief. Looking back toward the small town, they saw the entire mountain range rising and falling, trembling violently.

Purple light shone in Han Li's eyes as he looked toward the base of the mountain. Beneath the lush green peaks, he could vaguely see the arched back of a huge figure, carrying the entire Basha Mountain Range on its back.

Most of the hunched figure was prostrate on the ground, covered with vegetation, almost merging with the mountain. Without spiritual eye techniques, it would be almost impossible to distinguish.

As Han Li gazed into the distance, he suddenly saw a round, massive mountain peak at the forefront slowly turn. Trees tore and rocks collapsed on the mountain, revealing two enormous eyes with golden pupils, showing a look of indifference.

Seeing this, Han Li immediately withdrew his Nine Nether Demon Eyes and fled at top speed with Shi Chuankong.

They did not stop for a moment. Only after flying for three days did they finally rest, temporarily staying on a nearby ordinary mountain peak.

The reason they stopped so soon was not because they felt safe, but because Crab Daoist's Dao soldiers had reached the most critical stage, requiring Han Li to inscribe the talisman patterns immediately, with no further delay.

After landing on the peak, Han Li didn't even have time to build a temporary cave dwelling. He instructed Shi Chuankong to keep watch outside, then directly opened the Flower Branch Cave Heaven and went to the bamboo building near the spirit medicine garden.

Inside the second floor of the bamboo building, crackling sounds continued, and purple-gold lightning filled almost the entire room. As soon as Han Li reached the door, he took a light breath, feeling as if another Marrow Washing Thunder Pool had appeared before him.

However, this feeling lasted only a moment. The wildly leaping purple-gold lightning, seemingly boiling, only had a similar aura to the Marrow Washing Thunder Pool; in essence, it was vastly inferior.

Nevertheless, such intense lightning aura was enough to intimidate countless yin spirits and evil entities.

"Fellow Daoist Han, if you hadn't come, I would soon lose control of this gradually forming purple-gold thunder pool." Crab Daoist breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing Han Li arrive.

"Sorry for the delay. Leave the rest to me." Han Li said.

As soon as he spoke, he flickered and moved sideways into the room, entering the formation.

Seeing Han Li come in to stabilize the formation, Crab Daoist immediately withdrew his hands and stepped back, standing outside the door watching silently.

Han Li was already very clear about the talisman patterns to be inscribed this time, so there was no need for further explanation.

Han Li's chanting grew louder. The formation formed by lightning talisman patterns on the ground beneath him became increasingly clear, gradually peeling off from the ground and floating into the void above.

In midair, all the golden soybean-sized particles were suspended one by one. Han Li used his divine sense threads to string them all together, connecting them to a huge golden light tree standing in the center of the bamboo building.

Then, the lightning talisman formation spiraled upward to the ceiling, merging with the light emitted from all the beans, covering the entire golden light tree.

Seeing this, Han Li changed his hand seals. Blue light burst from his eyes, and the divine sense threads emerging from his brow became even brighter. His hands began to trace talisman patterns in the void before him.

His movements grew faster and faster, as if he had inscribed them thousands of times before.

In fact, after learning this talisman formation, Han Li had already practiced it hundreds of times in silence, aiming to achieve proficiency and smoothness during the actual inscription.

But inscribing talisman patterns was an extremely slow process. Having done it once before, Han Li was naturally not impatient.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

Han Li successfully completed the talisman inscription, and thousands of new Dao soldiers were smoothly born.

After handing over the Dao soldiers to Crab Daoist for management, Han Li immediately left the Flower Branch Cave Heaven and continued on his journey with Shi Chuankong.