Chapter 309 – Deep Schemes Beyond the Mountain, Complex Hearts of Men

“It’s strange. We’re almost at the mountain peak, yet we haven’t seen a single disciple from Pine Mountain Temple. Could it be that they’re so frightened they don’t even dare to leave their temple?”

“I’m not sure, but I have a bad feeling about this…”

“You’re probably overthinking it. Besides our Azurefall Temple disciples, there are also cultivators from Flowing Cloud Sect outside this mountain.”

“Even if Pine Mountain originally had only one Nascent Soul Cultivator, giving them one more wouldn’t change a thing in this hopeless situation. They still wouldn’t stand a chance of turning things around.”

On New Pine Mountain, several disciples from Azurefall Temple were discussing this.

It had already been an hour since they entered the mountain.

During this time, they hadn’t encountered a single disciple from Pine Mountain Temple.

They hadn’t even seen a living soul.

This was undoubtedly very peculiar.

But due to their confidence in the allied forces of the two temples, the Azurefall Temple disciples ultimately didn’t think too much of it.

They simply assumed that everyone from Pine Mountain Temple was too scared to come out.

However, what they failed to notice was that after they ascended the mountain, the mist throughout New Pine Mountain began to thicken at a visible rate.

Soon, it reached a point where one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face.

If it were ordinary mist, cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage or above could easily navigate it by relying on their Divine Sense.

But if this mist could even block a cultivator’s Divine Sense, then that would be troublesome.

Because it meant that at this point, even Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators couldn’t grasp their surroundings.

They could easily fall into unknown ambushes.

And the mist currently enveloping New Pine Mountain was precisely such a case.

“Ah!”

In a certain grove on New Pine Mountain, several Azurefall Temple disciples were walking when they suddenly heard a scream not far away.

Without any hesitation, led by a Foundation Establishment Stage disciple, ten Qi Condensation Stage disciples from the vicinity followed, and the group hurriedly rushed toward the source of the scream.

When they arrived, the scene before them made everyone’s expressions turn grave.

What met their eyes were dozens of corpses of Flowing Cloud Sect disciples.

These individuals had died in miserable states—some beheaded, some cut in half at the waist.

Others had their vital points pierced.

It could be said that each had their own manner of death.

Among them, there were even two Foundation Establishment Stage disciples.

If even they had died without knowing how, what chance did their own squad, which had only one Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, have?

For a moment, everyone present became weighed down with worry.

“Senior Brother Luo, should we try to contact the Elders from our temple first?”

“Right now, Pine Mountain is full of strangeness. We haven’t even seen a trace of the enemy, yet so many of our fellow disciples have already fallen victim.”

“If we continue like this, we might very well follow in the footsteps of these fellow disciples.”

“Silence!”

The leading Senior Brother Luo snapped, then crouched down to examine the wounds on the corpses.

After careful observation, he actually managed to find some clues.

The wounds on these corpses and the residual fluctuations of techniques felt very familiar to him.

They were unmistakably the methods of Azurefall Temple.

If only one corpse were like this, it could be explained as accidental injury.After examining all the corpses, he discovered that the wounds on each body were identical.

This allowed him to roughly understand the sequence of events.

“These fellow disciples all died at the hands of their own comrades.”

“Ah?”

Faced with the exclamations of the surrounding disciples, the Luo surnamed Senior Brother paid no mind and continued his analysis: “To bewilder so many people at once, either a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage made a move, or some grand formation has been set up here.”

“I personally lean toward the latter, as I’ve never heard of Pine Mountain Temple having any bewilderment-type techniques or divine abilities among their methods.”

“It seems they knew they couldn’t defeat us in open combat, so they invited someone to set up such a formation on the mountain.”

“Everyone, don’t worry. If even I could discover this, the Elders in our temple must have noticed it too.”

“Once the Elders break this formation, Pine Mountain will be like a turtle without its shell—completely at our mercy.”

“Everyone stay alert. If we encounter enemies later, don’t rush to attack. They might not be enemies but our own fellow disciples.”

Listening to the Luo surnamed Senior Brother’s logical and well-reasoned analysis,

the Azurefall Temple disciples present gradually calmed down from their initial tension.

Their situation was all clearly observed by Little White Deer in the mountains.

“Sigh, I thought these guys would take longer to figure it out. It seems Master’s formation won’t hold much longer.”

Sitting on the white jade canopy of her true form, Little White Deer’s small face was filled with worry.

Currently, there were four Golden Core cultivators inside Pine Mountain, along with hundreds of Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators.

These weren’t much of a problem—even without relying on Lu Chen’s formation, Little White Deer alone was confident she could deal with them one by one.

The real trouble was actually the two bone Fiend Ships anchored outside Pine Mountain.

Although Little White Deer hadn’t left the mountain, that didn’t mean she couldn’t sense the situation beyond.

As the mountain god of New Pine Mountain, every plant and tree on this mountain could serve as Little White Deer’s eyes.

Thus she could clearly perceive what kind of terrifying dangers were hidden aboard those two Fiend Ships.

They were existences she absolutely couldn’t oppose alone.

But difficult as it was, Little White Deer had no thoughts of retreating.

With her master’s whereabouts currently unknown, she was the only one who could take charge of the vast Biyou Palace.

If she didn’t step forward now, who else would?

Thinking this, Little White Deer stood up, clenched her small fists firmly, and revealed a determined look in her eyes.

“Master said I should hide properly if cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage appeared.”

“But currently those Nascent Soul Stage cultivators are still hiding outside, too afraid to enter. Those who’ve come in are all below Nascent Soul Stage.”

“In this situation, I don’t think I need to hide.”

“Otherwise, once they reach the mountaintop and discover Pine Mountain is empty, they’ll eventually follow the clues and find Biyou Palace inside the mountain.”

“Right now, I’m the only one who can protect Biyou Palace!”

Little White Deer’s tone was resolute, carrying the feeling that the entire Biyou Palace now rested on her small shoulders alone.

With this thought, Little White Deer made a decision that went against her master’s instructions.

She… was going to make her move!

Before long, using her Natal Immortal Sword as a vessel, Little White Deer quietly left Biyou Palace in clone form.Unbeknownst to her, at that very moment, Lu Chen had long returned to the original site of Pine Mountain Temple atop the summit and witnessed her every move clearly.

Watching Little White Deer’s rather “reckless” behavior, Lu Chen shook his head.

He had thought that after three months of his guidance, Little White Deer had deeply grasped the essence of “steadiness” and understood the meaning of “planning before acting.”

But now it seemed she was still too young.

Even with the exceptional Comprehension Ability of an Innate Spirit Body and strong learning capacity,

a few short months were still insufficient for her to accumulate much life experience.

After all, some things cannot be truly learned just by hearing about them or reading them in books.

One must experience them firsthand.

Thinking this, Lu Chen was in no hurry to intervene.

This was a perfect opportunity to teach Little White Deer a profound lesson—

to make her understand that without absolute certainty, it’s best not to expose oneself to the enemy.

The reason Lu Chen wasn’t worried about Little White Deer’s safety

was that he had already connected with the Disciple of Great Thousand Mountains who governed this area

and reached a certain agreement with them.

This was the reason he had left the mountain some time ago.

It could be said that with the deal sealed, the fates of Flowing Cloud and Azure Falls were already decided.

They believed themselves to be players, unaware that they had become mere pawns on Lu Chen’s Chessboard.

Even the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from Great Thousand Mountains was nothing more than one of the pieces on Lu Chen’s Chessboard…

At the summit of New Pine Mountain,

though only four members of Flowing Cloud Sect had arrived,

without exception, all four were Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

Otherwise, they would not have been able to breach the Formations left on the mountain to reach this place.

The four of them looked at the tightly shut Pine Mountain Temple but did not rush to act.

Along the way, they had encountered many of “Pine Mountain Temple’s” tactics.

Whether it was the mist Formation blanketing the entire mountain or the lethally potent Sword Formations within,

all had caused them significant trouble.

Had the four not gathered early and possessed considerable skill,

they might have been eliminated by the Formations before even reaching this place.

Having suffered such setbacks, the four naturally grew cautious.

Moreover, they were merely the advance team sent to scout the situation—

their mission was only to identify the distribution of Cultivators in Pine Mountain Temple and roughly survey the mountain’s dangers.

Undoubtedly, by reaching the summit of Pine Mountain, they had nearly completed their task.

Thus, all that remained was to relay the information from here.

But just as the four prepared to descend, a sudden change occurred.

The environment around them began to shift rapidly.

The mist-shrouded Pine Mountain vanished,

replaced by a colossal White Jade Tree reaching toward the heavens.

Seeing the magnificent White Jade Tree in the distance, the four—being well-informed—immediately understood what was happening.

“Watch out! It’s a Sword Domain! Everyone, be careful!”

shouted one Golden Core Stage Cultivator while rapidly retreating,

clearly intending to use the others as bait to buy himself time to escape.

Two of the other three had the same idea,

immediately pulling back as well.

Only one seemed frozen in place, standing motionless.Watching the Golden Core Stage cultivator standing frozen in place, Little White Deer, who had unleashed her Sword Domain, instinctively assumed he was terrified by her display and thus paid him little mind.

She immediately targeted the other three Azurefall Temple Golden Core Stage cultivators attempting to flee.

But just as the countless Sword Qi branches materialized from Little White Deer’s Sword Domain swept toward the three Golden Core Stage cultivators,

A vast Aura erupted from that seemingly ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivator.

“Law of Heaven and Earth?!”

Little White Deer stared at the colossal serpent that had materialized before her in an instant, her small face frozen in shock.

She had carefully observed the group ascending the mountain and was certain there were no Nascent Soul Stage cultivators before making her move.

Yet she never expected her opponent to be so deceitful.

He had used a secret technique to conceal his true cultivation, disguising himself as an ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivator.

No wonder her master said the outside world was complex, and many things couldn’t be resolved by cultivation level alone.

Having existed for barely over three months, how could she possibly outmaneuver these old foxes who had lived for centuries!

Meanwhile, Lv Zhiwei—the Azurefall Temple Nascent Soul Stage cultivator now fully revealing his hand—was no less astonished than Little White Deer.

A Foundation Establishment Stage spirit entity, yet already mastering a Dao Integration Realm Sword Domain.

Moreover, he could tell this child’s age was undoubtedly young.

Most likely, she had just recently come into being.

At this realization, greed flooded Lv Zhiwei’s eyes.

If he could devour Little White Deer, even if he couldn’t fully inherit her talents,

Acquiring just one-tenth would still grant him a transformative rebirth.

It might even boost his future chances of breaking through to the Deity Transformation Stage.

“To think my discreet ascent up the mountain would yield such an unexpected windfall—Heaven truly favors me!”

Lv Zhiwei laughed heartily while shattering the Sword Domain Little White Deer had conjured.

To ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivators, her Dao Integration Realm Sword Domain would be insurmountable.

But to Lv Zhiwei, a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator who commanded the Law of Heaven and Earth,

A Foundation Establishment Stage Dao Integration Realm Sword Domain was still far too fragile.

Utterly incapable of restraining a behemoth like a Nascent Soul Stage existence.

Seeing Lv Zhiwei rapidly closing in on her, Little White Deer abandoned all thought of resistance.

Without hesitation, she turned and fled.

But she didn’t head toward the Biyou Palace deep within the mountains.

Instead, she fled outward.

Despite the peril, Little White Deer knew she must never reveal Biyou Palace’s existence.

Losing her bonded Flying Swords would mean a damaged Foundation and severe depletion of her Origin Qi.

But if Lv Zhiwei discovered Biyou Palace and found her true form,

The consequences would extend far beyond mere injury.

Yet Little White Deer had underestimated the methods of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

Almost the instant she tried to escape, the scales between the eyes of the colossal serpent in the distance emitted an eerie green light.

Bathed in that glow, Little White Deer felt her body stiffen, and even the circulation of her Spiritual Power grew labored.

Soon, she plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily to the ground.

Little White Deer lifted her head, fear in her eyes as she stared up at the colossal serpent looming over her.

She deeply regretted not heeding her master Lu Chen’s warnings.

Her master had clearly told her: never focus only on the immediate situation, and never rely on luck.

She shouldn’t have naively assumed the mountain climbers were only Golden Core Stage cultivators.She should prepare for the worst-case scenario, assuming the involvement of cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage or higher, and formulate plans accordingly.

Naive—she truly was still too naive.

Watching the giant serpent above open its bloody maw and draw closer to her,

Little White Deer closed her eyes in despair.

But the next moment, a familiar voice reached her ears.

“After this experience, you should understand the principles I taught you before.”

Little White Deer turned her head in pleasant surprise, only to find that Lu Chen had somehow already arrived by her side…

(End of Chapter)