Chapter 6

Under the cover of night, the town of Qingyun seemed to suddenly fall into a state of panic. When Fang Tianshan stepped outside, two ordinary disciples of the Qingyun Sect were already standing in front of the row of low, dilapidated houses. Seeing Fang Tianshan appear, they showed no surprise; instead, their faces were already marked with fear.

Fang Tianshan was not familiar with these two. Moreover, in the entire row of houses, only three people were temporarily residing. The rest of the rooms were either vacant or their owners were not at home that night.

In the small alley in front of the houses, many young disciples were already rushing to the central square of the town. Fang Tianshan followed the crowd and also came to the main street.

At this moment, Fang Tianshan saw that several young people, who were confident in their strength, were heading towards the source of the ground's tremors. After a brief observation, Fang Tianshan discovered that the mysterious tremors actually originated from the Yuming Mountains.

At first, Fang Tianshan thought that it might be experts at the True Man realm fighting near Qingyun Town. Given the formidable strength of True Man cultivators, it was possible to cause such a commotion. However, the careful Fang Tianshan soon realized that his guess was incorrect. Otherwise, the outer sect enforcers of the Qingyun Pavilion would not have rushed to the Yuming Mountains without a word of warning or explanation. The entire town of Qingyun would not have fallen into collective panic.

It could only be said that even the enforcers of the Qingyun Pavilion were unclear about what had happened in the Yuming Mountains.

"Something big is about to happen!" Fang Tianshan muttered to himself.

Observing the people around him, most of them showed signs of fear. Some representatives of small groups of three or five people were hesitant, while others were decisive, leading their companions to make the decision to either follow to the Yuming Mountains or stay in Qingyun Town.

As for the outer sect disciples of Qingyun Town, Fang Tianshan saw very few. Compared to them, Fang Tianshan had not yet developed the awareness of being an outer sect disciple of the Qingyun Sect, and the young disciples around him were all ordinary disciples he had encountered regularly.

With more and more people trailing into the Yuming Mountains, Fang Tianshan thought for a moment and decided to follow them.

...

There were many paths between Qingyun Town and the Yuming Mountains.

Among them, a relatively wide road was already crowded with people. Everyone was in a hurry. The difference in strength was evident in this rush. True Man realm cultivators were generally at the front of the group, and the distance between them and the large group of martial artists behind them was gradually increasing.

In the group of martial artists, many ordinary disciples lit torches during the journey.

The flames flickered with points of light in the dark night. If someone were to look down from the sky, they would see a long dragon of torches on the road.

Fang Tianshan did not choose a small path. For unknown matters, Fang Tianshan thought it was better to follow the crowd for the time being. Otherwise, with his Dark Force realm cultivation, he would not achieve a good result in such a group event.

Following the large group of martial artists, Fang Tianshan walked for about half a moment. Suddenly, some commotion came from one side of the group. Fang Tianshan did not immediately go to check. Gradually, he learned from the conversation of a few ordinary disciples ahead that they had encountered people from the Bihai Sect.

Gradually, members of the Taihang Gang also appeared.

The people from the three sects and gangs moved in their respective groups, advancing quickly on the road without interfering with each other. Basically, the distance between the Qingyun Sect, Bihai Sect, and Taihang Gang to the Yuming Mountains was similar. The entire Yuming Mountains were considered a shared territory of the three sects, and young disciples from the three sects often appeared there.

When the group reached the entrance of the Yuming Mountains, there was no need to carefully identify the direction. The sounds ahead and the light from the burning torches clearly indicated the direction to proceed. What made Fang Tianshan feel somewhat helpless was that the night in the Yuming Mountains was usually full of danger. Even during his training, the major crises he encountered were often at night.

Now, the appearance of a large group of people made their advance smooth and unobstructed. The beasts in the Yuming Mountains also knew to temporarily avoid the human presence. Whether some low-level herbs were trampled during the advance was unknown. Under the cover of night, the entire Yuming Mountains, except for a few crowded areas, took on a mysterious and hazy atmosphere.

Occasional conflicts and noise from the group further highlighted the surrounding silence.

...

Fang Tianshan's position was at the rear of the entire group.

The young disciples in this position were mostly ordinary disciples of their respective sects. Their strength was roughly the same, either at the Bright Force or Dark Force realm. Whether they could become outer sect disciples of the sect depended on luck, such as finding valuable items, and time.

Without unwavering belief in martial arts, it was almost impossible to become an outer sect disciple of the sect.

Occasionally, there were martial artists who had broken through to the Transformation Force realm, but their age slightly exceeded twenty years, and their contribution points had not reached one thousand, so they were still ordinary disciples. However, they were a minority. These people occupied leadership positions in their respective small groups.

It would not take much time for them to accumulate one thousand sect contribution points like Fang Tianshan. Even if their luck was poor, they would still have the help of their companions. A sect disciple would not just rely on their own efforts.

Like Fang Tianshan, where did he get the information that only those who had surpassed the martial artist realm could understand? Wasn't it from the sect disciples who quietly told their ordinary disciple friends, who then spread it further?

Subconsciously, Fang Tianshan's gaze fell on the two martial artists beside him who were at the Transformation Force realm. Quickly, as if afraid of being noticed, he withdrew his gaze.

As the group advanced, Fang Tianshan's expression suddenly became strange. Although it was night, and the torches did not provide much visibility, he could still vaguely sense that the direction they were heading seemed familiar!

A premonition suddenly rose in Fang Tianshan's heart. Subsequent events proved that his premonition was correct. The destination for everyone, whether from the Qingyun Sect, Bihai Sect, or Taihang Gang, was the small valley where Fang Tianshan had obtained the light source stone.

...

When Fang Tianshan and his group arrived at the valley, the entrance was already guarded by people from the three major sects. No one from nearby small sects or gangs was allowed to enter unless their strength was sufficient to easily climb the high mountains on both sides of the valley and enter without using the entrance.

The entrance to the valley was bustling, even more so than Qingyun Town.

The disciples of the three major sects, holding their identity tokens, were verified by the guards and then allowed to enter the valley one by one.

Fang Tianshan was not in a hurry. Instead, he waited at the entrance for a while, learning that someone in the valley had accidentally triggered an ancient restriction, causing the previous ground tremors. At this moment, the high-ranking members of the three major sects had already arrived in the valley.

This made Fang Tianshan's expression full of confusion.

Wherever there was a restriction, especially given the intensity of the earthquake, there must be a treasure. Since the high-ranking members of the sects had come, why would they allow ordinary disciples to enter?

This was just causing trouble. In Fang Tianshan's view, even as an outer sect disciple, the sect would not necessarily allow them to enter in such a situation. Only inner sect disciples or sect enforcers and elders would be allowed.

After much thought, Fang Tianshan concluded that this restriction was special and required many people to lift it. Or, it was full of danger, and the high-ranking members of the sects were worried about the high casualties among inner sect disciples, so they decided to use the lives of ordinary disciples to explore the restriction.

Regardless of the specific situation in the valley, since Fang Tianshan had already come and was following so many people, he was not afraid that any disaster would fall solely on him. If there were any major disasters beyond the expectations of the high-ranking members, Fang Tianshan would have to accept it.

A vague impulse seemed to be urging Fang Tianshan to enter the valley as soon as possible.