fairy family

Chapter 283 Expedition to the Central Plains, Secluded Cultivation

Yu Que escaped from the past immortal mountain, and with a flicker of his body, he felt that the outside world was bright and clean.

He looked up and saw a vast expanse of blue, clearly an overseas landscape.

To his surprise, he looked around but couldn't see a single person, let alone any boats or other vessels.

The sea was empty; he was all alone.

And he stood there for a long time, and found that no one else jumped out from the place where he had escaped.

"Isn't this the location where the meeting was held in Shifanghai City?"

Yu Que's eyes seemed to hold a thoughtful expression; he thought to himself:

"It seems that not only will those entering the Immortal Mountain be dispersed, but we will also be teleported away separately when leaving the Immortal Mountain."

This is actually quite good, as it avoids being ambushed by outsiders when leaving the immortal mountain, and also prevents everyone from harboring ill intentions towards each other once they're all together.

He breathed a sigh of relief and collected several of the divine generals on his left and right into his inner world, leaving only two to guard him. However, he did not remove the rest of his defensive spells.

Now that he has an inner world to rely on, the spiritual energy within his body is probably enough for him to cultivate into an immortal in one go, so he doesn't lack the spiritual energy to maintain his defensive spells.

Yu Que landed on the sea and immediately summoned the Rakshasa ship, then climbed inside.

After determining his location, he flew straight westward.

Now that he has explored all the overseas immortal mountains and his cultivation has reached the Qi Condensation stage, it is time for him to return to the Central Plains and return to the Dao Palace to cultivate in seclusion.

However, during their journey, Yu Que did not wake Gong Dongxue and the others from their slumber in time. He planned to wait until they reached a safe location, and after inquiring about the situation at sea, he would wake them up later.

………………

Meanwhile, in another location.

The original location of the Ten Directions Sea City was now occupied by disciples of the Ten Directions Immortal Sect, who guarded the enormous illusory image of the immortal mountain day and night, constantly patrolling the area.

When Yu Que and the others escaped from the main hall of the Immortal Mountain, the entire Immortal Mountain began to tremble.

The disciples of the Immortal Sect's eyes lit up, and they immediately transmitted their thoughts to each other:
"Is something unusual happening on the immortal mountain? Are Senior Brother Lingyunzi and the others about to come out?"

"Disciples, be careful! Beware of the evil spirits from the Central Plains coming out of the mountains to cause trouble!"

Shouts rang out near the illusory image of the immortal mountain, accompanied by the buzzing sound of an array. Hundreds of ships formed an array in the distance, tightly enclosing the original location of the mirage.

But when they were on high alert, the sea remained calm, as if the trembling of the sacred mountain in their eyes was merely an illusion.

Before they could relax, their pupils suddenly contracted.

The illusory image of the immortal mountain in the eyes of these immortal sect disciples rapidly grew larger, from the original tens of miles to hundreds of miles, and it continued to expand.

"W-What's going on!?"

Many disciples of the immortal sects cried out in alarm.

After a few breaths, someone finally reacted and immediately screamed, "Run! The sacred mountain is about to fall!"

Rumble!
A thunderous voice appeared above everyone's heads, and the immortal mountain that had previously been just a phantom solidified completely, appearing in the outside world.

It was completely broken, but its entire body seemed to be supported by invisible pillars, layer upon layer. The area at the foot of the mountain at its base was a thousand miles in circumference.

With such a colossal object pressing down from the sky, even though the people on the sea had reacted and quickly began to flee, they were unable to escape more than a thousand miles away in a short time.
Amidst screams of terror, the enormous immortal mountain crashed heavily onto the sea, swatting the surrounding immortal sect ships to death like flies, without even a splash.

When the lowest level of the fairy mountain touched the sea surface, the invisible pillars supporting it seemed to be pulled away, and the entire fairy mountain, layer upon layer, collided together and fell into the sea.

With a deafening roar, as it plummeted to the seabed, the entire landmass trembled. Within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, countless volcanoes erupted suddenly, and countless tsunamis soared into the sky. The sea surface within a hundred thousand miles seemed to be raised several feet.

Where the immortal mountain truly fell, a massive whirlpool, stretching for thousands of miles, formed, as if a hole had been torn in the heavens and earth, with boundless seawater continuously pouring into the opening, seemingly endless.

Even when the Ten Directions Immortal Sect realized that the disciples left behind had lost contact and sent people to investigate, this whirlpool, which was thousands of miles wide, was still continuously swallowing and spitting out seawater.

The arriving disciples of the immortal sects were horrified and quickly sent a telepathic message back to the Immortal Alliance:
"Reporting to the elder, the immortal mountain has already fallen from the sky and crashed directly into the sea!"

After a long silence, a voice rang out from where the Immortal Alliance was located:

"It's alright. You all stay here and guard the place where the sky fell. If you can retrieve the remains of your disciples, do so as much as possible."

But remember, this place is off-limits for exploration for at least a thousand years!

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the immortal sect who had come to investigate immediately responded, "Yes, disciples obey."

Immediately, they hovered in mid-air with astonished and suspicious gazes, staring intently at the dark abyss that seemed to be the end of the world, their thoughts churning.

And on the other side.

The two True Immortals from the Overseas Immortal Alliance learned of the fall of the Immortal Mountain one after another, and both let out a sigh:
"This is the third one. It seems that even the senior in the mountains couldn't withstand it."

"As expected, the three mountains have fallen, which proves that the last chance for this world has arrived. Our desperate move to gather at the Immortal Sect is a wise one, not a foolish one!"

The two looked at each other, nodded slightly, and simultaneously relayed the order to the remaining scattered immortals and disciples of the immortal sects:
"Strictly blockade the coast and do not allow anyone to return to the Middle Kingdom."

"Urge the celestial soldiers to accelerate the encroachment on the Demon Court's population, and make sure to relocate as many people as possible to this island before they can react."

"Yes, we will obey the decree." The scattered immortals and others responded in unison, and then relayed the specific orders:

"Hurry! Compete for the population of each Dao Palace."

"Increase manpower and patrol the coastal defenses!"

"Disciples, listen to my command! We would rather mortals starve to death overseas than let those people die in the sea."

On Zhenjun Island, which originally belonged to the Central Plains Dynasty, streaks of spiritual light suddenly shot up, densely packed, piercing the night sky like a massive meteor shower.

The newly established overseas immortal alliance has clearly used Zhenjun Island as its foothold, attempting to use it as a springboard to invade the Central Plains.

Aside from the cultivators who went to the Central Plains to plunder people and manage formations, there were many other cultivators on the island who were busily building various palaces and facilities.

They also planted pointed pillars around the perimeter of Zhenjun Island, each with a corpse embedded in it.

These corpse pillars are interconnected, forming a sinister array around Zhenjun Island. They wail day and night, and the spirits of the corpses wander on the sea, constantly emitting mournful cries.

Among these pillars of corpses, the tallest one stands straight in the due west direction, and there is no complete corpse on it, only a head.

The head was withered and emaciated, with white hair and blood tears streaming from its eyes, staring straight west towards the Central Plains. If Yu Que were here, he would recognize at a glance that the facial features of this head were exactly the same as those of the old General Zhenhai!
………………

Yu Que sailed on the sea, and after several days, he found an island in the vast ocean.

He used his divine sense to investigate from afar and discovered a small market on the island, which seemed to be used for trading by nearby cultivators and alien races.

There are still traces of the immortal sect members stationed there, but the place is now deserted.

A thought stirred within him, and he immediately disguised himself and mingled onto the island, strolling around the market.

After listening to the idle chatter of the cultivators in the market, he learned that the flow of people in the market had decreased by two-thirds compared to before, and those who were still there were mostly the old, weak, sick and disabled.

As for the two-thirds who left, some went to the mirage and have not returned to this day; others obeyed the orders of the ten great immortal sects and went to answer the call.

"It seems the commotion overseas is indeed quite significant. I just wonder what the Ten Directions Immortal Sect's intention is in mobilizing cultivators at sea like this?" Yu Que pondered to himself.

He didn't linger for long. After finding out his location, he bought a sea chart and immediately headed towards the next market town.

When he arrived at the next market town, it was even smaller and had already closed down. Fortunately, every market town had people, so it wasn't difficult for him to gather information.

After traveling tens of thousands of miles, he roughly figured out the movements of the overseas immortal sects.

This day.

Yu Que found a deserted island with almost no spiritual energy, only some ordinary birds and beasts. After scanning the island several times, he landed on the cliff of the deserted island.

He gazed westward, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

"I never imagined that the overseas immortal sects would have such grand schemes. Taking advantage of the opening of the immortal mountain cave and the revival of spiritual energy, they preemptively attacked True Monarch Island, intending to invade the Central Plains!"

If he is not mistaken, based on the news he heard at sea, Zhenjun Island has probably already been attacked and captured by the Immortal Sect, and most of the soldiers left on the island have probably met with misfortune.

Yu Que thought to himself, "No, perhaps it's time to call them the Immortal Alliance."

He frowned in thought, then suddenly had an idea. He immediately opened the lead ship and used magic to awaken Gong Dongxue and the others who were sleeping.

With each breath, Gong Dongxue and Princess Rakshasa opened their eyes first, followed by the Huangshan disciples.

"Junior Brother Yu!"

"Yu Zhenchuan!"

After they awoke, they immediately paid their respects to Yu Que.

They looked around, their faces filled with surprise and delight: "There's a sky and a sea! Have we already left the fairy mountain?"

Yu Que smiled and nodded to them: "Indeed, you have all successfully escaped from the past immortal mountain."

"Haha, I knew it! Yu Zhenchuan would definitely be able to lead us to safety."

Gong Dongxue and Princess Rakshasa looked up at Yu Que with shining eyes.

The surviving disciples were still discussing among themselves: "We've accumulated enough resources on the Immortal Mountain; it's time to break through to the sixth rank!"

"With the opportunity of the Immortal Mountain, achieving the sixth rank of Qi Condensation is no longer a pipe dream for me!"

"Although I have already broken through the Qi Condensation stage, I still need to return to the Dao Palace to hone my skills."

They were overjoyed, their spirits were relaxed, and their mouths were full of expectations for the future.

However, when they asked Yu Que where everyone was and when they would set off to return to Huangshan Dao Palace, Yu Que sighed and shook his head:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you of some news."

At the moment, Yu has no intention of returning to the Central Plains, but rather plans to remain here in seclusion for a period of time. As for the reason…”

Without wasting any more words, he directly used his divine sense to tell everyone all the information he had gathered from the sea.

The Huangshan disciples, including Gong Dongxue and her companion, all looked surprised.

"What! The ten major immortal sects are heading straight for True Monarch Island?"

Some people gloated: "Now, Zhenjun Island is really in deep trouble."

Some people frowned and immediately speculated:

"As soon as Tian Ce Jun took the troops off the island and they were trapped in the Immortal Mountain, the Ten Great Immortal Sects rushed over. Are they in cahoots?"

Yu Que ignored their murmurs and waited for everyone to process what they were saying before directly asking:
"Alright. You all already know why I'm staying here."

With the coastline currently blocked, the Immortal Sect has mobilized its entire forces. I intend to remain in seclusion here for some time and seek an opportunity to return to the Central Plains later.

If any of you are impatient, you may leave on your own; I will even provide you with some travel expenses.

Upon hearing Yu Que's words, the Huangshan disciples exchanged bewildered glances, then quickly cupped their hands and shouted:

"This disciple wishes to rest here in accordance with the true teachings."

"Please, Master, do not send us away. We can help you protect the Dharma and clean the cave."

The Huangshan disciples present were all survivors who had narrowly escaped death and struggled to survive, and they trusted Yu Que implicitly. They were all vying to express their loyalty, and not one of them wanted to leave on their own.

A smile appeared on Yu Que's face, and he immediately gave the order:
"Alright. From now on, we will disguise ourselves as a small, impoverished sect seeking refuge."

"You should first tidy up this island and set up an array to prevent my seclusion from being disturbed."

Many Huangshan disciples immediately responded, "We will obey the true teachings."

Immediately, Yu Que let the Huangshan disciples do as they pleased, while he took Gong Dongxue and Princess Rakshasa in his arms, flew into the lead ship, and piloted it into the mountain in the center of the island.

Aside from what he had just told his disciples, he naturally had more to discuss with the two women.

So next.

The Huangshan disciples were working enthusiastically on the island, as if they were not just temporarily staying there, but rather intending to develop it into a long-term monastery.

After learning about some of what happened in the Immortal Mountain, Gong Dongxue and Princess Rakshasa were both filled with lingering fear, realizing that Yu Que had gone to great lengths to escape from the Immortal Mountain.

Yu Que didn't intend to intimidate them; he just wanted the two women to take it seriously and not to treat the overseas environment lightly with disrespect.

He then went into the quiet room on the first ship and began his long period of seclusion.

During this period of seclusion, he is determined to stabilize his cultivation level and also to try to refine a fourth-grade divine general!
(End of this chapter)