Chapter 8

Four Gates Mountain, located near the western border of Sichuan, is surrounded by towering peaks and steep cliffs, with withered trees and scattered rocks, presenting a desolate and perilous landscape. Moreover, due to its steep terrain and inherent dangers, it is a place where ordinary people dare not venture, nor is it suitable for the cultivation of sword immortals.

In earlier years, there was a notorious man named Zhu Hong, who was originally a promising disciple of the Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor of the Wutai Sect in Shanxi. Relying on his magical powers, he committed countless evil deeds, earning a terrible reputation. If not for the fear of the Hunyuan Ancestor's name, he would have been eliminated long ago to restore clarity to the world.

However, his wickedness did not end there. At some point, he stole a heavenly book and the protective treasure, the Taiyi Wuyan Luo, from the Hunyuan Ancestor, and fled to a secret place to hide. The old Hunyuan Ancestor had searched for him everywhere but had not found him. It was during the Emei Sword Duel that, due to the theft of the protective treasure, he suffered a devastating defeat and died.

Since then, both the righteous and the demonic paths could not tolerate Zhu Hong. The righteous path wanted to eliminate him for being a demonic villain, while the demonic path blamed him for the death of their evil ancestor, leading to the decline of the demonic path. Therefore, even with the protection of the Taiyi Wuyan Luo, Zhu Hong did not dare to leave the Four Gates Mountain cave.

Of course, others might not know where he was hiding, but Yang Xiao, as a穿越者 (穿越者 means "time traveler" or "穿越客" means "穿越者" in this context), knew exactly where he was. He came here to obtain the Wutai Sect's most valuable treasure, the Taiyi Wuyan Luo, a famous protective treasure of the heterodox path. Moreover, if he did not take it now, it would surely be obtained by the Emei Sect disciples in the future. It would be better to take it for himself, wouldn't it?

Although he knew the general location of Four Gates Mountain, Yang Xiao had never been there before. It took him several days of searching to finally find it.

Approaching Four Gates Mountain, he saw from a distance four peaks standing like gates, each in a different direction, forming a circle. From above, the middle was a basin. Faintly, he could see that the mountains were filled with a gathering of evil qi, and the spiritual energy was thin, indeed a rare and dangerous place in the vast lands of the Nine Provinces.

Quietly concealing his light, he descended and slowly stopped in the Four Gates Valley. Yang Xiao looked around, and although he saw no signs of human activity, he could discern some clues.

The mountains on all sides were covered with strange rocks and layers of trees. The valley was barren, with some scattered stones and withered grass, but Yang Xiao felt a sense of artificiality. It was early autumn, and while there wouldn't be too many fallen leaves and withered branches, the trees on the surrounding peaks would not be so sparse. Moreover, the central part of the valley had significantly fewer fallen leaves and withered grass than the surroundings.

Additionally, beneath the ground in the valley, a faint layer of black qi could be seen. If not observed carefully, it would be overlooked, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was not a natural phenomenon but a sign of some kind of restriction.

Based on these two points, Yang Xiao was certain that Zhu Hong and his wife were indeed hiding here, especially since he already knew the reason for their presence.

After a thorough search, he found the entrance to a cave at the foot of a mountain, avoiding the defensive array, and entered the cave. Inside, the entire cave was constructed of rock, with a central passage about ten feet wide and nearly twenty feet high. Every ten feet along the ceiling, a pearl was embedded for lighting. On both sides of the passage, there were several stone chambers. It was evident that Zhu Hong and his wife had put a lot of effort into this place.

Exploring the area, he discovered that although there were many stone chambers on both sides of the passage, only one was protected by a restriction. If the Taiyi Wuyan Luo was not carried by Zhu Hong and his wife, it must be hidden there. Yang Xiao was eager to steal the treasure because, in the original story, Zhu Hong had not yet refined this treasure even decades later when the Emei Sect came to kill him.

After searching with his spirit, he found no trace of Zhu Hong and his wife, and he felt reassured to examine the restricted stone chamber. His spiritual senses spread through the stone walls, and he saw that the room was filled with layers of black smoke, with faint red sparks floating and changing unpredictably.

Yang Xiao knew that this was a heterodox array, extremely sinister, but he had mastered the Pure Yang True Formula and had a good understanding of such arrays. Although he could not break them, he knew how to avoid the dangers.

With a step, Yang Xiao entered the room. The layers of black smoke seemed light and thin, as if they could be penetrated by a hand, but once inside, he realized that the space was vast and boundless.

Yang Xiao, who had condensed a golden core and had a thick true essence, could travel a thousand miles in a short time with his flying light. However, once inside the stone chamber, he found that the space had transformed into a different world.

He had never seen such an array before, although it was recorded in the Pure Yang Dan Jing. The difference between text and reality was significant, and he had not yet experienced the peculiarities of the demonic path's arrays.

When he read the original story, there was little mention of Zhu Hong, and his evaluation was low. He thought Zhu Hong was just a minor character who was killed by a third-generation Emei Sect disciple upon his first appearance, making him seem utterly useless. However, now that he was here, he realized that the methods of the heterodox path were not to be underestimated, and this array was not as weak as described in the book.

Yang Xiao put aside his contempt. Although the array was a heterodox method, once set up, it would have a central object. If he could find this object, it would be a valuable treasure that might come in handy at some point.

Since he wanted to obtain the treasure, he dared not use the Bi Luo Huang Quan dual swords to forcefully break the array. Fortunately, he had inherited the Pure Yang True Person's Dan Jing and had some knowledge of arrays. With his current cultivation, achieving this was not too difficult.

In the end, this was a necessary action. Although using his cultivation and powers to break the array directly would be straightforward, it would cause a great disturbance. If Zhu Hong and his wife were alarmed, it would be difficult to obtain the treasure.

After all, although Zhu Hong and his wife in the original story had mediocre cultivation, they had refined several powerful demonic treasures, especially the Six-Six True Yuan Gourd, which was extremely sinister, even the Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor dared not refine it casually!

Regardless, as a direct disciple of a generation of evil masters, it was not surprising that he had some powerful skills. It would be strange if he did not.

With a focused gaze, two faint golden rays shot out, activated by the spiritual stones and immortal milk, opening his wisdom eyes. His gaze, like two dragons, swept through the black smoke, searching the surroundings. Although he had not encountered such an array before, he knew that finding the central object would naturally break the array.

After a short while, Yang Xiao's gaze stopped at a certain point in the air. A flash of light appeared, and with a step, he was in another place. Before him, a small triangular yellow flag floated three feet above the ground, emitting a faint yellow glow.

Yang Xiao quietly observed the triangular yellow flag, clearly sensing the mysterious power it contained. It seemed that this demonic villain indeed had some skills.

In his wisdom eyes, the yellow triangular flag was covered with intricate and blood-red runes, as if painted with blood. In the air, black threads emanated from it, forming the layers of black smoke.

This... is the foundation of the demonic array...