"The Peach Garden... has opened."
Tens of thousands of miles from the Wuji Holy Sect, amidst a desolate and uninhabited mountain range.
Atop the solitary peak of a bare Stone Mountain.
Three figures, their auras as deep as an abyss and seemingly one with Heaven and Earth, gathered here in silence.
Their forms flickered in and out of sight, a natural Dao Rhy flowing around them. It was as if they were not standing on the mountain rock, but had been an inseparable part of the landscape’s very essence since ti immorial.
One of the figures slowly spoke, their voice low and ancient, carrying a barely perceptible gravity and dread:
"That old bastard Guan Si Hai... he truly has so unfathomable thods.
Back then, we ticulously plotted to have the Peach Garden sealed away, cast into the depths of the Cold Abyss, severing all its ties to the mortal world...
To think he would manage to forcibly dredge it back up and bring it into the world once more."
Another figure chid in, a hint of relief in their tone:
"It seems the ancient legends about that ’thing’ hidden deep within the Peach Garden’s core were likely true.
Otherwise, the Holy Sect would never have gone to such great lengths, defying the natural order to bring it back."
"Fortunately..." The third figure’s voice rang out, cold and sharp as the clash of tal.
"When we sank the Peach Garden all those years ago, we anticipated that things might change and secretly left a few asures in place.
We control several secret paths leading into it that the Holy Sect never discovered.
Otherwise, we would be completely on the back foot today, forced to watch as the Holy Sect monopolizes this Creation for itself."
The first figure to speak fell silent for a mont before their words finally ca out, imbued with an unshakeable and absolute resolve:
"No matter what, the Holy Sect cannot be allowed to get its hands on that ’thing’."
"Return at once! Gather your disciples and enter the Peach Garden through the secret paths imdiately!"
"You must stop the Holy Sect... at any cost!"
...
"That old bas... Elder Master, how could he play so dirty!"
Shaking his slightly dizzy head, Qi Yun opened his mouth to curse, but then rembered that a Master could divine the threads of karma. He forced the profanity back down his throat.
"So this is... the so-called Peach Garden?"
Although he was full of reluctance, he was already here. Qi Yun had no choice but to accept reality.
Before him lay a vast, open expanse.
The ground beneath his feet was not soil or stone, but a solid structure with a natural wood grain.
Looking up, he saw branches crisscrossing the sky in every direction.
’Don’t tell ... I’m actually on top of that peach tree?’ Qi Yun was stunned.
On the giant peach tree, whose canopy was like a great parasol that blotted out nearly half of the Taixu Mirror Heaven, countless other minuscule, barely perceptible figures were also looking around, the sa astonished question echoing in their minds.
"The Holy Sect made it sound nice, but there are no instructions. Where exactly are the opportunities in this Peach Garden?
Are they up in the canopy?"
Qi Yun craned his neck and strained his eyes to look upward, only to see endless layers of branches and limbs, like successive layers of celestial palaces, with no end in sight.
’Maybe I should just wait here until the Peach Garden closes...’
Averting his gaze, Qi Yun’s eyes darted around. The thought of simply waiting it out occurred to him.
He was still bothered by the "greatly inauspicious" fortune he had divined for himself.
The Elder Master had said this trip held fortune hidden within peril, but it went without saying how much one could trust the words of soone from the Holy Sect.
In that case, it was better to just stay put and wait for it to be over.
Compared to so illusory opportunity, his own life was more important.
Growing more convinced that this was a viable plan, Qi Yun turned to find a secluded nook in a branch or a cluster of leaves to hide in.
However, just as he took his first step, the massive wooden "ground" beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble, subtly yet distinctly!
Hmm?
His eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction of the vibration.
In the distance, a black mist, buzzing intensely and vibrating with countless wings like an approaching thundercloud, was rapidly heading his way.
The buzzing was sharp and piercing, faintly carrying the clang of tal on tal.
In the blink of an eye, the scalp-numbing "black mist" was less than a hundred ters away from Qi Yun.
"Stone King Bees? Aren’t those only found in Jianglu Province?" As he got a clear look at the dark cloud and saw that it was made of venomous bees, each the size of a grown man’s arm, Qi Yun’s expression tensed.
The bees were a cold, grayish-blue color, as if carved from hard rock. The stingers protruding from their tails were as thick as a person’s finger and glead with a dark light, a clear sign of their extre virulence!
Stone King Bee!
One of the seventy-nine venomous insects of the world.
These bees have bodies as hard as iron and stone, a potent venom, incredible speed, and they travel in swarms.
They are known as the killers of Qi Refining Cultivators!
An encounter with them is almost certain death without special counterasures.
"It’s coming true, it’s coming true! Kicking things off with a near-death experience, if this isn’t greatly inauspicious, what is!" Qi Yun’s lip twitched as he muttered a curse. He imdiately ford a hand seal for a Spell. His body dissolved into countless streams of air, and he shifted several dozen feet to the side before continuing to watch the swarm of Stone King Bees.
He wanted to see if the venomous bees could sense him in his state of Invisibility.
If they couldn’t, things would be much simpler.
However, as Qi Yun moved, the attacking swarm of Stone King Bees didn’t hesitate for a second. Their compound eyes locked onto his new position in unison.
They abruptly changed direction and continued their fearless, suicidal charge!
The subtle Invisibility of the Clear Wind Technique was completely useless against the perception of these bizarre demonic bees.
’What the hell are these bees? Their perception is even sharper than a Cultivator of the sa realm!’ With his cover completely blown, Qi Yun rolled his eyes and, without a mont’s hesitation, turned to flee this troubled place.
At the sa ti, he waved a hand, and the Abyssal Iron Sand that was already circling him instantly coalesced into several hundred glistening black, incredibly heavy pellets.
Carrying a piercing shriek as they tore through the air, the pellets shot toward the swarm like a torrential squall, striking with thunderous force!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—!
A deafening series of explosive impacts rang out!
But the effect was far less than expected.
The bodies of the Stone King Bees were unimaginably hard.
The pellets ford from Abyssal Iron Sand struck their grayish-blue carapaces, sending up streams of dazzling sparks.
It often took several Iron Sand pellets hitting the sa Stone King Bee with precision to even have a chance of shattering its tough shell or breaking its wings and making it fall.
The shattered remains of the Stone King Bees rained down, splattering bluish-black fluid everywhere and releasing a foul stench.
As he fled, Qi Yun suddenly felt a slight warmth on the back of his hand. He glanced down and saw, on the back of his left hand, a pale pink Ancient Seal had appeared.
[One]
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