Chapter 273 - Thousand Summits Mountain (1/2)
Jade Terrace Mountain plunged into chaos. Countless cultivators were teleported out of it, with One-dot Red, Su Zimu, and Zuoqiu Yang being the last ones to leave. Zuoqiu Yang’s chest was ripped open in five places and the wounds were oozing blood.
The Elders in charge of the teleportation were spitting blood on the ground. A disciple hastily ran up to the Elders of the league and said, “Elders, strange phenomena is taking place in the Forest of Illusory Moon. The Teleportation Formation that you left behind has collapsed. The four Elders in charge of the teleportation are seriously hurt!”
“What did you say?!” The Elders of the league were shocked.
“Elders…”
A disciple holding a geomantic compass in hand rushed up to them. “Grade 3, Grade 6, and Grade 7 districts have vanished from the map!”
“What?!” One of the Elders turned pale with fright. Another immediately said, “Tell the others to do a roll call at once and also investigate the disappearance of the three districts!”
No matter how long Murong Xian’er stared at the collapsed entrance of the Teleportation Formation, Xiao Chen was still nowhere to be seen. Her face was wet with tears. “Brother… Xiao Chen…”
Zi Mo was also beginning to worry but told her, “Stay calm. The kid will be fine.” He then walked up to Yu Yifeng and the rest and hit the latter hard on the head. “You’re the leader! Where’s your teammate? Why are you the only ones who came out?!” he chided.
Yu Yifeng didn’t dare to raise his head. He said in a low voice, “Junior Brother Xiao crushed our jade notes and stayed to fight Zuoqiu Yang…”
The roll call was completed two hours later. Only three cultivators were still in the forest: Xiao Chen of the Jade Qing Sect, Huangfu Xin’er of Heartless Palace, and Xiaoyue of the Thousand Feathers Sect. The reason for the vanishing of the three districts was a spatial collapse.
“Spa-spatial collapse…”
Murong Xian’er fainted.
An Elder went up to the platform and raised his hand, indicating everyone to be silent. He said loudly, “Stay calm, everyone. The Immortal’s Sword Assembly will be postponed to the three months later. We’ll commence the search and rescue operation now…”
The Daoist League of the Five Continents must provide a satisfactory explanation for the mishaps occurring in the Immortal’s Sword Assembly or they won’t be able to quell everyone’s dissatisfaction. More importantly, Xiao Chen and Huangfu Xin’er were rising stars among the youngsters while Xiaoyue was the heir of the Thousand Feathers Sect, an Ancient Immortal Clan. It would be disastrous if any of them got into trouble in the league.
Below the platform, the sound of discussion ripped through the crowd. “Nothing has ever happened in the Forest of Illusory Moon for thousands of years. Why now?”
“Could it be… because of that place…?”
“It’s a spatial collapse, you know! Not even cultivators in the Apotheosis Realm might be able to withstand it. I think there is a good chance that those three are already dead.”
In the crowd, an elderly man dressed in red couldn’t keep his sneer off his face. It was the Wan Gufeng of the Order of the Divine Fire. He muttered to himself, “This is fate. Fate, indeed!”
In the next three days, the Daoist League of the Five Continents put together a team of nearly two hundred professionals to search the Forest of Illusory Moon. The team included six cultivators in the Nirvana Realm and twenty or so cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm. The Immortals’ League also sent more than a hundred envoys to help.
A month came and went. Tianyuan City was now covered in snow. Many children built snowmen and lit firecrackers in front of their houses. The search and rescue operation had gone on for just as long in vain.
Li Muxue stood in front of the window, staring at the fluttering snowflakes in the air. In her hand was the jade note that Xiao Chen had given her back then.
Murong Xian’er was over at Zi Mo’s place, crying that she wanted to go and find Brother Xiao Chen.
The twelve ladies of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon had joined the search and rescue operation as well.
The Ling family had also hired more than ten people to enter the Forest of Illusory Moon. Of course, they were there to search for Xiao Chen, except they wouldn’t report anything if they found him. If Xiao Chen wasn’t dead, they would kill him and quietly move his body back.
Meanwhile, Qing Chen, Zi Mo, Fengxi, and Perfected Immortal Tai Yi were seated inside a small pavilion. In the middle of the pavilion was a silver-haired handsome man carrying a cyan sword case on his back. The case was decorated with the print of a cosmological scheme diagram and the words “Kunlun” in mystic script underneath.
The man was Tianyi Zi, the Sword Immortal of Kunlun. Though he looked young, he was actually more than six hundred years old. His seniority was the highest in the room.
The Kunlun Sect was also one of the Ancient Immortal Clans. Unlike the Thousand Feathers Sect, the members of Kunlun Sect essentially never roam around the world. Thus, many younger disciples of the Cultivation Realm had nearly forgotten about their existence.
“Tianyi Zi, what do you think the outcome of the spatial collapse will be?” Fengxi asked, frowning.