Chapter 373 – Five Venerables of Great Thousand Mountains, Great Thousand Mountains' Master Left a Backup

Ten Thousand Mountains, Crane Feather Mountain.

“The deepest part of the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s underground prison isn’t where Transformation Soul Stage demons are imprisoned, but rather where the Luck Dragon Vein is suppressed.”

“I originally thought the golden gate was where the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital used the dragon vein’s power to suppress Transformation Soul Stage demons.”

“But now it seems I was mistaken.”

“This golden gate, and the space behind it, is where the Great Wilderness Pagoda suppresses the dragon vein and absorbs Luck.”

“It’s important, yet not that important.”

“At least this isn’t where Transformation Soul Stage demons are imprisoned, meaning it’s not where the Sect Leader is held.”

“But this means the plan must be adjusted again.”

“The original plan was based on the Sect Leader being imprisoned in the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s underground prison.”

“If we proceed with the original plan, our sect will inevitably suffer heavy casualties without achieving anything.”

“Although we haven’t found the Sect Leader’s actual imprisonment location, we can still confirm he’s imprisoned somewhere in the Great Wilderness Pagoda through the ‘Great Thousand Robe’ he left behind.”

“If it’s not in the underground prison, then perhaps…”

Thinking this far, Tantai Changsheng, one of the Five Golden-robed Revered Ones of Great Thousand Mountains, had a flash of insight in his eyes.

“…That’s right, the Sect Leader’s imprisonment in the Great Wilderness Pagoda is an established fact.”

“If not underground, then it must be above ground.”

“Originally, everyone thought the above-ground part of the Great Wilderness Pagoda was just for cultivation, with nothing particularly special about it.”

“But now it appears the underground prison is merely a decoy.”

“The truly important part of the Great Wilderness Pagoda is above ground.”

“And this will be where the Sect Leader is actually imprisoned.”

“As for the ‘Central Court Statue’ deep underground, it won’t be easily triggered as long as we use the proper methods.”

“Therefore, as long as we find the entrance to the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s above-ground space and locate where the Sect Leader is truly imprisoned, the plan can still proceed.”

Having reached this conclusion, Golden-robed Revered One Tantai Changsheng immediately contacted the other Golden-robed Revered Ones of Great Thousand Mountains, also known as the ‘Great Mountain Lords’.

Before long, in a special space atop Crane Feather Mountain.

All five current Great Mountain Lords of Great Thousand Mountains had gathered together.

They had all received the message from Tantai Changsheng.

They now knew about the Immortal Alliance’s treachery and the truth about the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Who would have thought that the so-called underground prison of the Great Wilderness Pagoda had always been nothing more than a smokescreen released by the Immortal Alliance.

Recalling the rumors they had heard about other cultivators attempting prison breaks.

The five Great Mountain Lords couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those people.

Imagine, after going through countless hardships and finally reaching the golden gate of the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s underground prison.

They thought this was the end of their journey.

Who would have thought it would be the end of their lives.

When they pushed open the golden gate and saw what was inside.

The five Great Mountain Lords could imagine how desperate they must have felt.

After learning all this, the other Great Mountain Lords naturally guessed why Tantai Changsheng had gathered them.

“Tantai, since you’ve investigated this far, I assume you’ve already figured out how to adjust the plan?”Tantai Changsheng nodded and addressed the five Great Mountain Lords, “Although I don’t know the exact location of the Sect Leader, as long as we confirm he isn’t in the underground prison of the Great Wilderness Pagoda, we can deduce his true place of confinement.”

“As expected, the Sect Leader is likely imprisoned in the above-ground section of the Great Wilderness Pagoda.”

“Originally, our plan was to stage a prison break during the critical moment of the Dao Academy competition, when everyone’s attention is focused here.”

“But since the underground prison isn’t our target, the original plan naturally requires adjustments.”

“Fortunately, while complicated, the situation hasn’t reached an impossible level.”

“As long as we find a way to access the upper levels of the Great Wilderness Pagoda, the plan can still proceed according to its original direction.”

“After all, this plan was designed in advance before the Sect Leader departed.”

“The venerable one had already contemplated how to break the situation if he failed his breakthrough and was captured by the Immortal Alliance.”

“Now, we’ve reached this critical moment to execute the plan.”

Hearing this, the other Mountain Lords fell into deep contemplation.

Because matters were exactly as Tantai Changsheng described.

This plan wasn’t formulated after they learned of the Sect Leader’s capture.

Rather, it was designed by the Great Thousand Mountains’ Sect Leader before his departure.

At that time, the Great Thousand Mountains’ Sect Leader had already reached the Peak of the Transformation Soul Stage.

To advance further, he had to undergo a special trial.

But this trial was full of uncertainty.

Even the Great Thousand Mountains’ Sect Leader couldn’t guarantee he would pass it successfully.

Hence, this series of subsequent arrangements was made.

To successfully rescue him, they not only needed to breach the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s interior.

But also needed to create chaos outside the pagoda.

To prevent external forces from reinforcing the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Only through coordinated internal and external actions could they ensure the plan’s success and rescue the Great Thousand Mountains’ Sect Leader.

How to disrupt the pagoda’s interior required no elaboration.

The Great Thousand Mountains had done similar things multiple times.

They were thoroughly familiar with the process.

But accomplishing this would only complete half the plan.

The other half remained fraught with difficulties.

After all, the Great Wilderness Pagoda was located deep within the Barren Wilderness Academy.

And the Barren Wilderness Academy was supported by the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital, one of the Immortal Alliance’s Four Great Sacred Grounds.

If problems arose at the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Not only would the Barren Wilderness Academy respond, but the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital might also provide support.

If the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital intervened.

Their hopes of rescuing the Sect Leader would become mere fantasy.

Fortunately, as if the Great Thousand Mountains’ Sect Leader had foreseen today’s situation.

At this critical moment.

The Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital had closed itself off for unknown reasons.

Not only could outsiders not contact those inside.

But those inside couldn’t communicate with the outside world either.

Learning this news greatly relieved the Great Thousand Mountains.

After all, the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital had been a significant pressure point for them.

Any one of the Nine Star Lords could rival their five Mountain Lords.

With the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital out of the picture, they only needed to focus on the Barren Wilderness Academy when dealing with the external environment of the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

And they had long prepared designs for how to achieve this.That was to use the contingency plan left by the Sect Leader, mobilizing the entire Ten Thousand Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Wildlands Province where the Barren Wilderness Academy was located.

Although this surprise attack might not necessarily breach the iron walls of the Wildlands Province, it would undoubtedly greatly divert the attention of the Barren Wilderness Academy.

In this way, it would be very difficult for forces outside the Great Wilderness Pagoda to provide support to those inside.

If they had been unaware of the situation in the underground prison of the Great Wilderness Pagoda before today, the outcome awaiting them would undoubtedly have been tragic.

After all, once they ventured underground and failed to find the Sect Leader, those who entered the Great Wilderness Pagoda would undoubtedly become trapped beasts.

It would only be a matter of time before they were suppressed.

But knowing this in advance, they undoubtedly gained a certain advantage.

Although the Great Wilderness Pagoda might already be on alert due to the previous Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Great Thousand Mountains, it is said that one can guard against theft for a thousand days, but not for a thousand miles.

Offense is always more proactive than defense.

After finalizing the future plan, the entire Great Thousand Mountains began to mobilize.

And a shadow gradually spread over the Ten Thousand Mountains.

On the other side, at the Barren Wilderness Academy, in the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Today was the first day of the Great Wilderness Pagoda’s top ten competition.

The two academies competing were the Profound Water Academy and another academy with considerable strength.

However, no one believed that the Profound Water Academy would lose this match.

After all, the overall strength of the Profound Water Academy was superior to their opponents.

Not to mention they now had Shen Feiyang, a Golden Core Stage prodigy.

It could be said that they completely overwhelmed their opponents from top to bottom.

The outcome of the match was as expected by everyone.

The Profound Water Academy ultimately won with ease.

On this day, everyone once again witnessed the strength of the Four Great Academies.

There was almost a tier gap between the Four Great Academies and the other academies.

This gap generally wasn’t in cultivation level, but rather in Dao lineage Legacy and student talent.

It’s important to note that even at the same Foundation Establishment Stage, the difference between Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and Human Dao Foundation Establishment was immense, needless to say.

Students of the Four Great Academies were basically all Earth Dao or higher in Foundation Establishment.

Some even achieved Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

Whereas most students from other academies only achieved Human Dao Foundation Establishment.

In terms of average cultivation level alone, other academies couldn’t compare to the Four Great Academies.

Additionally, the Dao lineage Legacy of the Four Great Academies was often more profound and complete than that of other academies.

This meant that students of the Four Great Academies could easily defeat non-Four Great Academy students even at the same cultivation level, or even when their cultivation was inferior.

And this gap would only widen as cultivation levels increased.

However, even among Geniuses, there were still differences.

Due to the attention the Academy Competition received within the Immortal Alliance, some busybodies had already ranked the participating students.

Among them, Lu Chen, Jiang Dongliu, Shen Feiyang, Meow King, and Xing Jiu—these five students with Golden Core Stage strength—were particularly highlighted.

However, since they hadn’t encountered each other yet, it was uncertain who was stronger.

But one thing was clear to the outside world:

The final champion of this Academy Competition would definitely come from the academies these five were in.

And Tianjiu Academy, where Xing Jiu belonged, also gained significant attention due to their impressive performance this time.It can be said that Xing Jiu Academy became the undisputed biggest winner in this Dao Academy Grand Competition.

Amid such a lively atmosphere, however, some individuals displayed a solemnity starkly contrasting with the near-frenzied celebrations.

In the upper levels of the Great Wilderness Pagoda, Xiao addressed several floor masters with a grave expression: “Everyone, I assume you’ve received the news regarding the Underground Prison?”

Naturally, they had all been informed about the situation Xiao referred to – the alarming breach where someone managed to penetrate the prison’s multiple layers of defense and reach its deepest level. Had the Underground Prison not been merely a trap, such intrusion could have inflicted severe damage upon the entire Great Wilderness Pagoda. Compounding the danger, the Dao Academy Grand Competition was currently being held within the pagoda, gathering most of the Immortal Alliance’s prodigies of this generation. Any disturbance causing casualties among them would have been an unforgivable failure.

Xiao’s summons at this critical juncture made his intentions clear: he demanded enhanced security measures for each floor to prevent unforeseen incidents. With the enemy operating from shadows while they remained exposed, the assailants’ origins and motives remained unknown. Yet, they had to prepare for the worst-case scenario – that the adversaries had uncovered the pagoda’s true nature and set their sights on its upper levels.

Following these arrangements, while the Great Wilderness Pagoda appeared unchanged externally, its internal defenses had been elevated by several tiers.

Simultaneously, the Thousand-Year Elder confined in the upper-level prison seemed to have received some intelligence. Previously seated on the ground, idly toying with his fingers, he suddenly revealed an eerie smile. Turning his gaze toward a specific area of his floor, he fell into deep contemplation.

At the Barren Wilderness Academy’s temporary lodging for other academies, Lu Chen abruptly opened his eyes during meditation. Three days had passed since he contacted the Four Demons and tasked them with delivering his message to the Biyou Fairy. Though seemingly inactive during this period, Lu Chen had made multiple visits to the Barren Wilderness Academy’s Scripture Pavilion, scouring its archives with two primary objectives.

First, he sought any historical records documenting his presence during the ancient era. Such documentation could help him understand his future actions within the game and their impacts on both the virtual and real worlds. Second, he pursued information regarding Biyou Mountain and Gu Xian. Having reached his current cultivation level, he could now perceive numerous subtleties – particularly the divergences between the game world and reality.

The most evident distinction was Lu Chen’s early discovery that the real world substantially exceeded the game world in scale. The Nine Provinces under the Immortal Alliance’s dominion alone were two to three times larger than the entire Azure Cloud World in the game. This didn’t even account for the uncharted territories beyond the alliance’s borders. When considering these regions, the real world’s magnitude dwarfed the game’s realm beyond comparison. Yet if the real world truly was the former Azure Cloud World, such disparity shouldn’t logically exist.This gave Lu Chen some bold ideas.

For instance, during a certain period later on, the Azure Clouds world underwent a degree of Fusion with other worlds.

However, Lu Chen had no way of knowing which worlds were involved in this Fusion.

Yet after all these days, Lu Chen hadn’t managed to uncover much useful information.

Today, he had originally planned to visit the Scripture Pavilion.

But just moments ago, he inexplicably felt a faint sense of danger.

And this sense of danger came from the direction of the Forbidden Land: Ten Thousand Mountains…

(End of Chapter)