Chapter 70

After everyone returned to their respective residences and packed their belongings, they gathered in front of the Tai Xuan Hall. Once everyone was present, Daoist Xuantian and the seven pulse leaders emerged from the hall.

Following Daoist Xuantian and the seven pulse leaders was Dan Chenzi, the leader of this expedition, a terrifying expert who was just one step away from breaking into the Yu Xu realm.

This clearly showed how much importance the Tai Xuan Sect's high-ranking officials placed on this trip to the Xu Tian realm. Cultivators at the Ninth Heaven of Transcendence were few and far between, even within the entire Tai Xuan Sect.

When Gu Fei and the others saw Daoist Xuantian come out, they hurriedly bowed. Daoist Xuantian merely nodded slightly, then waved his sleeve, and a golden, light-wrapped scroll immediately flew out.

As soon as the scroll emerged from his sleeve, it instantly unfurled and rapidly expanded, forming a huge scroll two zhang wide and four zhang long, with golden light flowing through it, seemingly real yet illusory, floating in the air.

"Is this a Daoist scroll?" Gu Fei and Zi Yu exchanged a glance. They, of course, knew what this was. The mysterious expert who attacked Gu Fei at the foot of Cuiling Peak that night used a Daoist scroll to escape.

This kind of scroll, which seals Daoist power, is more precious than Daoist talismans, which also seal Daoist power, and the Daoist techniques it releases are even more powerful.

Even a major Daoist sect like the Shangqing Sect has few people willing to spend the great effort to refine Daoist scrolls, as it is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Therefore, Daoist scrolls are not commonly seen in the cultivation world.

Dan Chenzi, the middle-aged Daoist, leaped lightly onto the huge Daoist scroll. Then, Gu Fei, Li Lingfeng, Dongfang Chen, Zi Yu, and the others successively leaped onto the scroll.

The huge Daoist scroll became illusory, as if it had turned into a non-existent object. However, when Gu Fei leaped onto it, he felt a gentle force supporting him, making him feel as if he were standing on solid ground, very stable.

After Dan Chenzi and the disciples bid farewell to Daoist Xuantian and the seven pulse leaders, Dan Chenzi made a Daoist gesture, and the huge scroll immediately lifted off the ground, transforming into a golden cloud and quickly flying south.

The Southern Wilderness, a vast and desolate land in the southern part of the Tenglong Continent, is thousands of miles away from the Tai Xuan Sect in the Qi Kingdom, and it is no longer within the territory of the Qi Kingdom.

Originally, after the Nine Pulse Examination, the Tai Xuan Sect would open its gates to recruit disciples from the secular world. However, due to the once-every-twelve-years trip to the Xu Tian realm, which is crucial for Daoist Xuantian and the seven pulse leaders to break into the semi-divine realm, the once-every-ten-years recruitment of disciples was temporarily postponed.

However, the outside world seemed to have not received the news. Therefore, people from all over the Qi Kingdom, and even the royal families, wealthy merchants, and commoners from the entire Central Plains, still escorted their eligible children to Tai Xuan Mountain.

To ordinary people, if their children could enter a immortal sect and cultivate, it would be an incomparably glorious thing. Therefore, on the day when the three major Daoist sects recruit disciples, the areas outside the sects are always crowded with people from all walks of life, making it incredibly lively.

"Grandpa, how much further?" On a mountain path leading to Tai Xuan Mountain, a young, clear voice was heard. A black carriage emerged from one end of the mountain path.

The fog on the mountain path had not yet dissipated, and a lit lantern hung in front of the carriage. Even though it was already midday, the fog in the mountains had not completely cleared.

On the carriage, an old man with white hair, wearing a cotton robe, held a whip and drove the carriage. The mountain path was steep, and the carriage did not move very fast.

"Almost there, almost there!" The old man answered the child in the carriage while fully concentrating on driving the carriage. Driving a carriage in the mountains was not an easy task.

A moment of inattention could result in a collision with a tree or a rock on the mountain path, causing the carriage to overturn and roll into a deep valley or off a cliff, leading to a tragic end.

The carriage was passing through a dense forest. The forest was dim, and the road conditions were barely visible. The old man was very focused, and soon the carriage emerged from the forest.

The sunlight was a bit blinding, and the old man stopped the carriage by the roadside and blew out the lantern hanging in front of the carriage.

"Grandpa! Why did you stop?" The carriage curtain was lifted, and a child with a rosy face and white teeth, looking like a porcelain doll, poked his head out and asked.

"Hehe! Young Master, let's rest here for a while, have some food, and then continue on our journey." The old man smiled and jumped off the carriage, untying a burlap bag from the horse's back and taking out some dry rations.

"Hey! Grandpa, look, what is that!" Suddenly, the child looked up at the sky, pointing to the southern horizon and shouting to the old man.

The old man quickly looked in the direction the child was pointing and saw a golden cloud emerging from the mountains, quickly flying south.

The golden cloud moved very fast and soon disappeared into the southern sky.

"That is..." The old man was shocked, as if he had thought of something, and he could not speak for a long time, staring blankly at the direction where the golden cloud had disappeared.

"Grandpa, what is that? Could it be the cloud-riding immortals from the mountains coming out?" The child was excited, his face flushed red, looking very cute.

"Perhaps! The cloud-riding immortals!" The old man muttered to himself, but he did not know what he was thinking. He was already an old man, and the path of immortality was not for him in this life. Perhaps in the next life!

The golden cloud that the old man and the child saw was precisely the huge Daoist scroll that Dan Chenzi was driving, carrying Gu Fei and the others south.

Flying over the mountains, they did not conceal their presence, as this was still within the territory of the Tai Xuan Sect. Apart from the great evil demons, no one dared to cause trouble here.

There were not many great demons like the Six Path Demon Lord in the entire Tenglong Continent cultivation world. Otherwise, the entire world would be in chaos.

High in the sky, Dan Chenzi drove the Daoist scroll, flying between heaven and earth. The fierce wind, like a knife, tore through the scroll, producing a heart-stopping, sharp whistling sound.

Flying with the wind was not an easy task. If it were not for the force emanating from the Daoist scroll protecting everyone, the fierce wind outside would have torn them to pieces.

It is no wonder that only great cultivators at the Yu Xu realm could soar through the heavens, ignoring the nine heavens' fierce wind. Even Dan Chenzi would find it difficult to withstand the continuous assault of the fierce wind without the help of the Daoist scroll.

Gu Fei looked down from the scroll and saw the mountains quickly moving backward. Soon, he noticed that there were more signs of human activity below, and some towns began to appear.

The Qi Kingdom, with its vast territory, was a superpower occupying the eastern part of the Central Plains. The Tenglong Continent was vast and boundless, and the Central Plains was the richest region of the entire continent.

There were two other empires, each occupying a vast territory in the southern and western parts of the Central Plains. The Southern Wilderness, with its ten thousand mountains, bordered the Yan Kingdom.

The Southern Wilderness was a unique place. Although it belonged to the Yan Kingdom and was set up as the Southern Wilderness Prefecture, the prefectural governor, though subordinate to the Yan Kingdom, was far from the capital and did not listen much to the Yan emperor's orders, effectively forming an independent state.

The first destination for Gu Fei and the others in the Southern Wilderness was the Longhuang City. The people from the three major Daoist sects would meet in Longhuang City and then enter the ten thousand mountains together.

The speed of the Daoist scroll's flight was undoubtedly extremely fast. By noon, the huge golden scroll had carried Gu Fei and the others out of the Qi Kingdom's territory and into the Yan Kingdom.

According to Dan Chenzi, they would reach the Longhuang City in the Southern Wilderness by nightfall. A journey of thousands of miles could be completed in one day, and the speed of the Daoist scroll's flight was truly astonishing. The Daoist scroll they were standing on must be extremely precious.

However, just as Dan Chenzi was driving the scroll with everyone, a figure in a black robe, surrounded by black aura, appeared on the peak of a mountain.

It was a pale-faced, blood-haired young man, with blood-red hair cascading over his shoulders, emitting an endless aura of demonic power, a power that made all living beings fear.

The blood-haired young man suddenly looked up at the golden cloud passing overhead, a sinister smile appearing on his face. Then, he extended his right hand toward the golden cloud in the sky.

This seemingly casual grab shook the heavens and earth, the sky and clouds changing color. A torrent of demonic aura surged from his hand, instantly covering half the sky, making the world dark.

The surging demonic aura formed a huge demonic hand, reaching upward from below, grabbing at the golden cloud in the sky. The scene was shocking, as the demonic hand shattered the clouds in the sky, covering a vast area. Even before it truly grabbed the cloud, the cloud was already violently shaking, as if it were about to dissipate.

The people on the cloud were greatly alarmed. The boundless demonic aura made them feel as if they had fallen into a ten-thousand-foot ice cave, their souls almost being torn from their bodies.

"Roar!" Dan Chenzi remained calm in the face of danger, letting out a roar. A powerful wave of energy surged from his body, and the golden cloud formed by the Daoist scroll suddenly increased its speed, moving forward hundreds of feet in an instant, like a fleeting shadow.

The mountain-like demonic hand grabbed at empty air.

"Huh!" On the mountain peak, the blood-haired young man's eyes flashed with surprise. He felt somewhat unexpected, not thinking that Dan Chenzi and the others could avoid his grab.

But this blood-haired young man was like a supreme demon, his spirit manifesting over a thousand miles as if it were a courtyard. His hand, which had missed, reappeared above Dan Chenzi and the others in an instant, slapping down at them.

Dan Chenzi's face turned ashen, sweat already beading on his forehead. The demon who suddenly attacked was too powerful for him to resist. If he fled alone, he might have a chance of survival, but...

Dan Chenzi did not dare to abandon Gu Fei, Li Lingfeng, and the others and flee alone.

At this moment, Gu Fei and the others, facing the black demonic hand that was slapping down like swat