This place is fun

Chapter 195 Under the Mountain
"Pfft." Song Xier couldn't help but laugh.

Although the Su Daoshan she knew was thin and always pretended to be dull, he was actually quite handsome. In addition, when he wore a blue robe and was not pretending in private, his eyes were clear and lively, and his temperament had a touch of elegance and freedom.

But no one expected that the red ribbon would turn him into such a short and fat man, looking like the foolish son of a nouveau riche in the countryside, with a very vulgar appearance.

Such a stark contrast is quite amusing.

Su Daoshan squinted at his reflection in the water, cursing the ancestors of the red-headed rope in his mind. Only he knew that appearance reflects the heart. In the red-headed rope's setting, he not only looked like this, but his nature was also eccentric.

Lustful, gambling, drinking, domineering, vindictive... the moment he puts on a red ribbon, he becomes a completely different person. And all these changes happen imperceptibly, without him even realizing it.

Fortunately, his Dao seed was of a high enough grade to easily eliminate this spiritual influence. Su Daoshan felt that if it were an ordinary person, being tied with a red ribbon would have completely changed their life. They would have lived to the death without ever knowing their true self, spending their entire life playing someone else.

"As expected, none of these mysterious extraterrestrial artifacts are to be underestimated," Su Daoshan thought to himself. He had previously thought that artifacts like the red ribbon were merely cosmetic changes and should be relatively mild. But after trying them himself, he discovered that their eerie and terrifying nature was in no way inferior to the puppet hook.

"Take this," Song Xi'er said with a smile, taking out a waist token and handing it to Su Daoshan. "This is the token of the Sansheng Gang, a subordinate of the Polar Star Sect. Choose a name for yourself, and when the time comes, just say you're from the Qingwei Hall of the Sansheng Gang. I'm the nominal head of the Qingwei Hall."

Upon hearing this, Su Daoshan immediately took it and nodded repeatedly. At the same time, he took off the red ribbon and handed it back to Song Xier.

Since they're still in town, Song Xier can't appear in her true form. So, the only thing to do is stick close to Song Xier until things get really tough and neither of them can take care of the other. Then, the two of them can find a way to use the red ribbon to disguise themselves and fish in troubled waters.

Of course, this is only a last resort. As long as we are not on the verge of death and as long as we have a few elders from the Red Illumination Palace protecting us, this plan will only be a secret backup plan.

Su Daoshan pondered for a moment and said, "When you disguised yourself, you chose the surname Fan, so I'll take the surname Fan. How about Fan Jinbao?"

Upon hearing the name Su Daoshan had given her, Song Xier couldn't help but chuckle and nod as she tied her hair up.

"The name Fan Jinbao is quite fitting for his appearance as a wealthy country young master."

Perhaps because of her turbulent childhood and her careful use of different personas to deal with people every day, Song Xier felt a sense of collusion with her kindred spirit when she discussed how to pretend and deceive with Su Daoshan, a guy who had always pretended to be a bookworm.

When the words "colluding in evil" flashed through her mind, Song Xier suddenly felt her face getting hot.

"Furthermore, since you have that feeling of being watched, it means that something might be aimed at you," Song Xi'er earnestly warned. "You scholars are naturally intuitive, and the more something is related to you, the stronger your premonition will be..."

"When things get chaotic, I will try my best to stay by your side. But you should try to stay with Elder Wang or Elder Liu. Even if they fight and the impact is widespread, you should try to stay as close to them as possible so that they can protect you in critical moments."

Su Daoshan nodded repeatedly.

Despite his considerable experiences in this world, this was his first time encountering a large-scale war. In terms of experience, he was far inferior to Song Xier.

Song Xier's advice was indeed invaluable.

In the midst of chaos, if one gets caught up in the fray, who knows what might happen? Perhaps some random demonic expert passing by could just kill them with a single blow. On the other hand, experts like Wang Li and Liu Xiangyi are so formidable that ordinary experts dare not approach them once a fight breaks out, for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

The saying goes that the more dangerous the place, the safer it is. As long as I stay within their designated area, my safety will be much higher...

"Finally..." Song Xi'er looked up at the sky and said, "Didn't you buy Star Sand? Judging by the time, it should be here soon. Now is also the day that Heavenly Dao Mountain opens, why don't you take advantage of this time to enter the Spirit Realm World and try to see if you can climb to the first level of Heavenly Dao Mountain?"

Su Daoshan wholeheartedly agreed. This was also his idea.

Once you reach the middle stage of the Human Realm, not only will the original characteristics of your reading, questioning, and imitation skills evolve and improve, but you will also be able to comprehend more extraordinary techniques.

There's no way to improve my martial arts skills for the time being, but if I could learn one or two more unusual techniques, even just to increase my chances of escaping, that would be good.

Su Daoshan asked, "This is my first time climbing a mountain. Are there any things I should pay attention to or any techniques I should use?"

Song Xier said, "Climbing mountains is a test of the Heavenly Dao. Different extraordinary professions and different Dao hearts lead to different paths in the Dao. Everyone is different. One person might be tested on their heart, while another might be tested on their professional knowledge. If there were a fixed test, that would be simple..."

As she spoke, Song Xi'er shook her head and said, "Actually, climbing a mountain isn't that difficult. Some people can climb it twice if they can't do it the first time, and three times if they can't do it the second time. By repeatedly summarizing their failures and making up for their shortcomings, they can eventually make it to the top. The most difficult part is that even if you make it to the top, you still have to get past the teacher at the academy."

"Some academy teachers saw your talent and strength as soon as you climbed the mountain and recognized you without saying a word. The score was high and the rewards from Heaven were generous. But some academy teachers didn't give you a good look at all, made things difficult for you in every way, and wished they could drive you down."

"Oh?" Su Daoshan was somewhat surprised. "Such a thing is true?"

“Of course, not everyone is like that,” Song Xi’er comforted her. “As long as you don’t argue with or provoke the Master, he usually won’t make things difficult for you. Besides, for a novice like you to have so much spiritual energy, you must be quite lucky. And people with good fortune usually receive preferential treatment from the Master. Of course, if your Dao seed is of a high enough grade, then you will be even more favored.”

These words made Su Daoshan both nervous and expectant.

Without delay, Su Daoshan returned to his room shortly afterward. He didn't need to take off his clothes; he simply closed the windows, lay down on the bed, and his consciousness entered the spiritual realm through the Dao Seed in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Song Xier then stood guard outside for him.

Su Daoshan entered the spiritual realm. When his divine consciousness merged with his avatar, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was an incomparably magnificent and beautiful scene.

Tiandao Mountain has completely descended.

If the Heavenly Dao Mountain that one first saw upon entering the Spirit Realm was merely a mountain peak shrouded in swirling clouds and mist, vast in size but far beyond the horizon and not particularly visually striking, then the Heavenly Dao Mountain that one now lands upon is like a colossal city descended from the heavens.

Su Daoshan felt as if his entire field of vision had been occupied by this pyramid-shaped mountain. The swirling clouds and mist had completely dispersed, and the massive mountain and the pavilions and towers on it had entered his eyes with an extremely strong sense of oppression.

It took Su Daoshan several seconds to recover from the shock of the giant city's landing. He took a few steps back, looked at it a few more times in amazement, and then turned and headed towards the Shijing Town Escort Agency.

In the Spirit Realm, spiritual essence transactions can be conducted through the message tree system, while goods transportation, if one is not willing to personally escort them, can only be done through the escort agency.

There are two types of escort agencies. One type is run by spirits and demons, and the other type is run by various organizations within the spirit realm. The two types are both competitors and partners.

Generally speaking, escort agencies don't take on overly valuable goods, but transporting common treasures like star sand and battle spirit rebirth pills is no problem.

Escort agencies are very profitable. They take a 50% cut of every 100 units of value. For Su Daoshan's Star Sand, worth 6500 Spirit Essence, the escort agency would have to pay over 300 units of commission. However, the advantage is that trust is the lifeblood of an escort agency. And even if relatively common goods like this are robbed, they have their own inventory for delivery.

For this reason, over the decades, these escort agencies have effectively formed a supply and transportation network in the Spirit Realm. Some agencies have risen to prominence, while others have declined, but the overall rules have remained largely unchanged.

Su Daoshan chose the Dragon Might Escort Agency. The agency's backer was the Authority Tower, one of the four major organizations in the Spirit Realm. Not only was it wealthy and powerful, with strong figures behind it, but it also cooperated with many powerful demons. Its reputation and credibility were excellent.

Shijing Town was small and remote, so the escort agency seemed rather deserted. Su Daoshan walked into the agency, wrote down a string of codes consisting of words, numbers, and symbols on the paper and pen on the counter, and then pushed it to the escort agency clerk behind the counter who was idly eating melon seeds.

The waiter was a spirit demon, appearing to be a young man in his twenties. He lazily took the slip of paper, turned around, and went into the inner room. A short while later, he came out carrying a small cloth bag.

He dragged a velvet-bottomed tray over from the side, opened the cloth bag, and poured out all the stardust inside: "Count it. We won't acknowledge if there's any missing after we leave the counter."

This is the unique delivery method of the escort agency.

The shipper delivers the goods to the escort agency. After the agency signs for the goods, they neither ask for the shipper's name nor the destination. They only ask the shipper to provide two passwords for safekeeping.

Before the shipment is dispatched, the person picking up the goods provides the first agreed-upon password at any branch of the escort agency, which allows them to specify where the goods will be delivered.

Once the goods arrive, the recipient provides a second password for retrieval. In this way, the transaction is completed without anyone's identity being discovered.

The shipper doesn't know who the consignor is or where they are located.

This is how the Ember Society conducts its transactions. However, if it involves the trading of extremely valuable treasures, that's a different story.

Su Daoshan carefully counted the stardust. These stardust grains were about the size of millet grains, pure white and perfectly round, with extremely intricate fine lines on them. In dim light, they could be seen to faintly glow. Placed on a dark blue velvet tray, they truly looked like stars.

The quantity was correct, and Su Daoshan signed for it. He glanced at the shop assistant, then turned to look at the figures on the street outside the escort agency who kept glancing in his direction. He then directly put all the star sand into his Dao Seed Space.

In an instant, more than a hundred grains of sand transformed into a shimmering waterfall and flew into the void.

As the stardust was injected, Su Daoshan suddenly felt a sense of disorientation. He felt light and airy, as if his soul had left his body and was roaming freely in the world. Although he was standing still, the space and time around him suddenly accelerated, and then he felt as if they had been left far behind.

At the same time, the previously almost imperceptible growth rate of the Dao Seed suddenly accelerated. Like a time-lapse video, it began to grow visibly. Twenty-two meters... twenty-three meters... When the starlight completely dissipated on the Dao Seed, Su Daoshan's Dao Seed combat power had reached twenty-four meters.

Such combat power would be considered above average even in the Fifth Spirit Realm, let alone outside the realm.

"Once I reach the first level of Heavenly Dao Mountain, I'll be able to raise my combat power to thirty-six meters, which is basically equivalent to the strength of a sixth-grade Earth Realm Transcendent. At that time, I can try to sneak into the Fifth Spiritual Domain for a visit. As long as I'm careful, I shouldn't have any problem protecting myself."

Su Daoshan walked out of the escort agency with satisfaction.

However, just then, he heard the escort agency's employee mutter to himself with a hint of sarcasm: "Tsk tsk, several thousand spiritual essences just wasted like that... Every time the Heavenly Dao Mountain opens, there are always these greedy fools..."

The martial artists peeking in from the doorway looked at Su Daoshan with a mixture of pity and disdain, as if they were looking at an idiot. In their perception, this guy was a newcomer.

With so much stardust, wouldn't it be better to let the old men grab it? In the Spirit Realm, camping out at the entrance of a镖局 (escort agency) to guard fat sheep is a lucrative business. They finally spotted one, but then…

After leaving the escort agency, Su Daoshan walked straight towards the message tree without any delay.

When he entered the Spirit Realm last time, he had already left a message for Mr. Qi through the agreed-upon communication method, requesting to withdraw 10,000 spirit essences. Now, upon entering the personal stone house in the Message Tree again, he indeed received the 10,000 spirit essences transferred by Mr. Qi.

This made Su Daoshan, who was already short of money, suddenly feel much more confident.

Immediately afterwards, he arrived at the small square in the center of town.

In the center of Shijing Town, there truly is a stone well. The well is shaped like two eyes, and the surrounding stone slabs are worn indented by countless footsteps. Not far from the well is a stone platform. On the platform, a teleportation array is emitting a soft glow.

These are teleportation arrays leading to the starting point of the mountain path; every town has one. However, they only activate on the day Tiandao Mountain opens. With these teleportation arrays, martial artists don't need to travel long distances to the starting point of the mountain path. However, the price to pay for this is ten coins of spiritual energy.

This has led many martial artists from outside the region to prefer long journeys rather than using teleportation arrays.

Su Daoshan entered the teleportation array without hesitation. After paying ten coins of spiritual energy and choosing a mountain path, the world before him suddenly went black, and the next second, he appeared at the entrance of a winding mountain path.

Hundreds and thousands of martial artists were surging towards this place from all directions. Although everyone's face was shrouded in mist, making them look no different from the little black figures in "Detective Conan," the gazes in their eyes were so clear.

A kid who hasn't even reached the first level of Heavenly Dao Mountain dares to use a teleportation array? He'll probably get some money and show off...

Su Daoshan ignored them, joined the crowd, and walked up the mountain.

The mountain road winds along the cliffs of the mountains, like a jade belt hanging on the mountainside.

"Hey, Brother Zhenggao, long time no see. Are you planning to attempt the third level today?"

"Xiang Laowu, once you leave Tiandao Mountain, you just wait, I will definitely kill you!"

People kept gathering on the mountain trail. Some greeted acquaintances with pleasantries, some glared and cursed at enemies, some walked with friends, chatting and laughing as they went, and others pointed and whispered gossip among the crowd.

Taking this opportunity, Su Daoshan used his spiritual sense to perceive the Dao seeds of those around him as he walked. Unfortunately, none of them matched those he knew in the real world.

The mountain path in the Spirit Realm, though called a mountain path, actually refers to the route from the outermost outer realm all the way to the central Heavenly Dao Mountain.

Although the road winds along the mountains, it is not difficult to walk.

Moreover, because it was the opening day of Tiandao Mountain, the mountain path was quite different from usual. Not only were all the martial artists who entered the mountain path prohibited from attacking each other, but everyone's progress speed was also more than ten times faster than usual.

Although he was just walking slowly and casually, Su Daoshan felt that he was not much slower than Xiao Hei in his ghost ape form.

After walking for about an hour, Su Daoshan discovered that after turning around a large mountain, a relatively wide intersection appeared ahead of the mountain path.

On both sides of the intersection, teleportation lights kept flashing, and then figures emerged from the teleportation arrays.

This time, however, no one paid any attention. On the contrary, upon seeing the other person appear, many people stopped and politely let them pass. If they happened to recognize someone, they would quickly go up to exchange pleasantries, their attitude extremely respectful.

"This is the entrance to the Fifth Spirit Realm. The people who came out are all powerful figures from the Fifth Spirit Realm," Su Daoshan said thoughtfully.

Through his spiritual senses, he perceived that every extraordinary martial artist who had joined from this side had a Dao Seed indicating that they had reached the second level of the Heavenly Dao Mountain. Some were even at the third or fourth level.

In the real world, that would be considered an extraordinary realm.

After traveling for more than an hour, Su Daoshan passed the intersection of the Fourth Spirit Realm.

The number of people appearing at this intersection was significantly less than those from the Fifth Spiritual Domain. A sweep of spiritual sense revealed several experts at the fifth and sixth levels.

Now, the martial artists from beyond the realm were even more cautious, their heights seemingly shrank by a third. Many didn't even dare to breathe loudly, as if afraid that a single wrong word would bring disaster upon themselves.

This made Su Daoshan sigh, realizing that in this purely dog-eat-dog world, everything was so simple yet cruel.

The relationship between the strong and the weak is like that between natural enemies in the food chain—sheep and tigers can only come together because slaughter is not allowed here.

If this were in the Spirit Realm, all of these people would probably have been killed long ago.

Continuing forward, they passed through the Third Spirit Realm, the Second Spirit Realm, and the First Spirit Realm in succession. Unfortunately, the mountain path was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see the scenery within these spirit realms.

The higher the level of the spirit realm, the fewer people emerge from it. When passing the intersections leading to the second and first spirit realms, Su Daoshan didn't even see a single person.

Finally, after walking for a full five hours, Su Daoshan arrived at the square at the foot of Tiandao Mountain.

Su Daoshan looked around.

The square was large and crowded. But he knew that this square was only the end of his mountain trail. Twelve trails meant that the people here represented only one-twelfth of the total.

Su Daoshan broke away from the crowd and took a few steps to the side, trying to get a clearer view of the square.

In front of the square stood a magnificent natural stone bridge. People were passing through it in an orderly fashion. Beneath the bridge flowed a large river. Thick fog shrouded the river, so only the sound of the water could be heard, but its flow could not be seen.

Beyond the stone bridge lies Tiandao Mountain, a city of immense grandeur. The layered forests, the undulating peaks, the exquisite and magnificent architecture... which were once only on the horizon, shrouded in swirling clouds, are now right before your eyes.

However, Su Daoshan had heard from Niu Er and others that the location of Tiandao Mountain was usually just a bottomless abyss. Above the abyss, there was only black mist rolling and surging like a sea of ​​clouds.

Legend has it that the black mist in this abyss is extremely eerie. No one should ever cross the central line of the bridge here. Once crossed, one risks being corrupted by the black mist. Even a single wisp of it will cause one's avatar in the spiritual realm to rot and collapse at a visible speed, turning into bones.

The most terrifying thing is that, normally, if a person dies in a spiritual realm, their soul remains unaffected. However, if they become tainted by black energy, even their soul will be severely damaged.

In mild cases, it can cause splitting headaches and mental exhaustion; in severe cases, it can lead to madness or idiocy.

That's why no one dares to come here on ordinary days. Only during the full moon in the real world, when Tiandao Mountain descends, will the massive mountain suppress the entire abyss.

Su Daoshan turned his head and saw that there were many other people around him, all leaning against the railing at the edge of the square, peering around curiously. They clearly had never seen anything like it before.

Su Daoshan coughed lightly, joined the crowd, and walked across the stone bridge.

After descending the steps of the stone bridge, you've officially entered Tiandao Mountain. Like the plaza on the other side of the bridge, this side is also a plaza, albeit a smaller one.

Facing the plaza is the Heavenly Ladder. Its entrance is obscured by a flowing beam of colorful light. Once inside, people disappear behind the light.

Su Daoshan saw that many powerful figures who had reached the second or third level of Tiandao Mountain had easily ascended the Heavenly Ladder without lingering in the square.

However, Su Daoshan's gaze was drawn to a stone tablet next to the entrance.

(End of this chapter)