Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 253 The Immortal Garden Opens
Fang Shu stood in the crowd and noticed that black mist swirled all around, which was quite eerie.

He could no longer see the faces of any of his fellow disciples beside him, except for the three from the capital; everyone's faces were blurred. So he looked at the other four sects and quickly identified them.

First were the disciples of the Skin and Flesh Hermitage. They were shrouded in a red tent, surrounded by the illusory figures of celestial maidens and powerful warriors singing and dancing. The scene was decadent and sensual. The magical artifact they rode on resembled a giant canopy bed.

Secondly, there is the Skeleton Temple, which is a giant skull with black smoke billowing from its eye sockets, seemingly gazing at the location of the Five Internal Organs Temple.

After counting them up, only Rongyan Palace and Sizhi Temple can barely be considered to possess a trace of immortality.

The former also arrived on clouds, but the auspicious clouds they rode were seven-colored, resembling clouds and rainbows. The disciples were either holding swords, knives, or flowers and fruits, with solemn expressions, just like guests from heaven.

The latter was carried by a huge tortoise shell, which had two sides, only four legs, and no head or neck, clearly indicating that it was a strange beast.

The disciples of the Four Limbs Temple above, regardless of gender or age, were all either naked like sculptures or shirtless in the manner of flying apsaras, each surrounded by golden light, with solemn and dignified appearances.

Such a sight, when seen by the Three Immortals of the Five Internal Organs Temple, immediately displeased the Ox-Cart Immortal among them.

It gazed at the Palace of Beauty and the Temple of Four Limbs, cursing inwardly:
"Those who are vain are vain, and those who are lending money are lending money. They're just here to open a secret realm. Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?"

Upon hearing this, the skeleton in the Dry Bone Temple also opened its mouth with a clicking sound, echoing the words of the Ox-Cart Immortal:
"What the Taoist priest said is true. Rongyan Palace and Sizhi Temple, could it be that you two are trying to recruit people from those rogue cultivators, which is why you're making such a big show of it?"

The skeleton's voice and expressions overlapped, and although it was just a single sentence, it sounded like three different people speaking in unison.

The people from the flesh-and-flesh nunnery didn't say anything, but a silvery, seductive laugh rang out from the canopy bed:
"Whee!"

A loud shout immediately came from the four-legged giant tortoise: "Hmph! You three sects are a disgrace to my Lushan Immortal Sect, living in a filthy and corrupt place."

Seeing that the five sects were about to clash, a beautiful Daoist nun in Rongyan Palace opened her eyes and said calmly:

"With so many juniors present, you should at least show some respect for your status."

Beside the beautiful Taoist priest was a celestial being who looked like a scholar with a long beard.

The other person stroked his beard and laughed, "Even if we don't care about our disciples, many rogue cultivators from outside the mountain will be coming. If we cause trouble then, we'll become a laughing stock among those outside the mountain."

These words immediately reminded the higher-ups of the five sects.

Fang Shu was among them, and he immediately looked down at the foot of the Five Old Peaks.

Sure enough, dark figures had appeared on the mountainside of the Five Old Men Peaks; these must be the immortals from outside the mountains who were allowed to enter Mount Lu.

Their origins are chaotic; there are rogue cultivators, demons, immortal families, and immortals from places outside Qiong Kingdom. They are scattered and countless.

But at a glance, these people are definitely more numerous than the combined number of the five sects of Mount Lu.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Figures appeared at the foot of the Five Directions Immortal Sect from the mountainside. They looked up at the disciples of the Immortal Sect who were high above them, and all of them showed envy in their eyes.

"Greetings to the esteemed immortals of the Lushan Immortal Sect!"

"Thank you, immortals, for your great mercy in giving us this opportunity."

A cacophony of shouts rang out from the mouths of these immortal beings from beyond the mountains, buzzing incessantly.

This sensual atmosphere displeased the skeleton at the Bone Temple:
"Noisy!"

Its mouth opened, and a wave of sound descended from above, crashing down on the immortals outside the mountain. All the immortals outside the mountain showed fear on their faces, and many of them immediately lost their hearing or even bled from their ear canals.

"Alright, now that most of the people have arrived, what's the point of dawdling any longer? Open the secret realm and send these juniors in to do the work," the skull muttered.

Fang Shu and the other disciples of the Immortal Sect immediately felt powerful divine senses surging up from their respective sect leaders.

The high-ranking officials of the other four cases nodded in agreement:
"can."

Immediately, each of the five sects had a token that flew out from the arms of the high-ranking members. The tokens were exactly five colors: red, blue, yellow, white, and black.

The tokens transformed into a ball of spiritual light, converging in a five-pointed star shape. Amidst the interweaving of five colors, it slowly evolved into a blurry human figure. The figure appeared, dressed in ancient robes, its face a pure white light, making it impossible to discern its exact appearance.

Moreover, all the immortal disciples and immortals from outside the mountain who looked up and stared at each other felt that the other was facing them directly, and immediately felt a stinging pain in their eyes and tears streaming down their faces.

Fang Shu was one of them. He quickly closed his eyes, his heart pounding with shock: "I can't look directly at this person! Who is this... could he be a deity?"

It is said that the faces of immortals are so beautiful that one cannot look directly at them, and that anyone who speaks their name will become aware of them and feel a connection.

Startled, Fang Shu quickly checked his eyes.

Fortunately, he only glanced at it; his eyes were merely burned as if by a branding iron, which was not a serious problem for a cultivator of the Qi Refining Immortals.

The usually temperamental immortals of the five sects all bowed their heads and cupped their hands in greeting to the blurry figure in mid-air.

"Descendants, please respectfully invite the immortal master to open the immortal garden."

The blurry figure's eyes were indifferent. After scanning the disciples of the five sects, it gazed at the Five Elders Peak where they stood for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"allow."

The moment the word was uttered, Mount Lu, which had been bathed in sunshine and gentle breezes, was instantly transformed into a scene of gathering winds and clouds, with surging spiritual energy rushing wildly towards the Five Old Peaks.

The clouds that have been lingering in the Lushan Mountains all rushed in as if they were in a state of restlessness.

In an instant, the massive Lushan mountain range was completely exposed to the sunlight, a rare occurrence. Its winding and twisting shape resembled a dragon nestled in the earth, or a distorted human corpse lying on its side.

However, at this moment, Fang Shu and the others had no time to pay attention to such a grand scene; their eyes were all focused on the area around that figure.

A mirage-like scene appeared behind them.

Amidst the rising and falling clouds, inside are flying eaves and brackets, red pillars and carved beams, jade towers and golden palaces, layer upon layer, truly resembling a celestial palace, ethereal and mysterious, yet all seem to appear dilapidated.

The blurry figure gently raised its hand and drew a circle on the sea of ​​clouds, and a portal appeared.

Just then, a thunderous shout rang out from the high-ranking members of the Five Directions Immortal Sect:
"If we don't go in now, when will we?" "Go in quickly and proceed according to plan."

As soon as the urging sound rang out, whoosh!
Immediately, some immortals on the scene mustered their courage and rushed towards the sky above the sea of ​​clouds.

After they set off, before they even reached the portal, having just stepped onto the sea of ​​clouds, their bodies suddenly turned into paper-thin sheets, involuntarily swept into the portal and disappeared.

Fang Shu was on edge; this scene was not among the information he had inquired about.

But he did not hesitate. He paused for a moment or two, then landed in the middle of the crowd entering the secret realm and slowly ascended the sea of ​​clouds.

Susu!

In an instant, it seemed as if snow was falling in the center of the Five Old Peaks, or as if paper money was being scattered. Numerous Qi Refining Immortals transformed into tiny paper figures, fluttering about, and were all scattered into the mirage on the sea of ​​clouds.

Less than ten breaths later.

All the disciples of the immortal sects and all the immortals from outside the mountains were wiped out, leaving only the five sects' earth immortals standing around.

These earth immortals now looked up, gazing intently at the empty entrance to the secret realm for a long time.

Their eyes were filled with covetousness and greed; they were all eager to try their luck in the secret realm, but dared not set out.

Gradually, these five Earth Immortals withdrew their gazes and stopped paying attention to the outside world.

This journey to the secret realm will take a considerable amount of time, at least three months, and possibly as long as three years.

To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, if the disciples left early and were taken advantage of by others, these old guys couldn't leave either.

So the five earth immortals either closed their eyes to rest, or sat cross-legged, and some even took out scriptures, furnaces, pets and all sorts of things to play with in public.

(End of this chapter)