Chapter 75: The Profound Mystery of Hidden Spirit Mountain
“Disciple greets Elder Six, and Elder Nine.”
In the Hidden Spirit Courtyard, all the Daoist Sect disciples bowed.
Li Chunsong waved his sleeve, signaling them to dispense with the formalities.
Nangong Yue crossed her arms, as if cradling her ample chest. With her naturally gentle demeanor, she smiled at Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang, her gaze appraising them with undisguised admiration.
“Junior Uncle has really found two promising talents for our Daoist Sect on this trip down the mountain,” she mused inwardly.
The two elders personally led them to the entrance of Hidden Spirit Mountain. The inner disciples in the courtyard were not overly surprised. After all, in all their years of service, this was the first time they had seen the charred black tokens. Furthermore, the names Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang were somewhat familiar within the inner sect.
Upon seeing the elders depart, they began to whisper amongst themselves.
“If Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Han have the qualification to reach the summit, won’t they have a chance to see that sword?”
“If they can successfully reach the summit, then naturally.”
“I wonder if the stone steps in the summit area are easy to traverse. I couldn’t even finish half of them in the mountainside area back in my day.”
“It’s bound to be even more difficult, and the trial will be higher.”
After a moment, junior sister Chen, who had gone to fetch Elder Nangong, suddenly spoke.
“If you had the ability to reach the summit, would you truly go all the way up just to see that sword?”
Given the unique rules of Hidden Spirit Mountain, her words caused everyone to fall silent.
Meanwhile, Nangong Yue, as the person in charge of Hidden Spirit Mountain, was patiently explaining the rules of the ascent to the duo. Han Shuangjiang listened intently, while Chu Huaixu largely understood.
Hidden Spirit Mountain had a total of 9,999 steps. Divided by three, each 3,333 steps constituted a zone. The entire mountain was protected by a no-fly magic array, meaning anyone below the Ninth Realm could only ascend step by step. Due to the abundance of Spirit Artifacts here, a spiritual pressure would naturally arise, similar to the aura of cultivators in higher realms. Every Daoist disciple ascending the mountain had to endure this spiritual pressure. While ascending would not be physically taxing for cultivators, this spiritual pressure served as the trial. The mountain was equipped with numerous magic arrays; the higher one climbed, the stronger the spiritual pressure became. The pressure it exerted was not merely on the physical body. Cultivators in the First Realm had only just begun to form their Divine Sense within their Sea of Consciousness. In such a state, the trial tested one’s willpower, perseverance, and state of mind. In essence, the discomfort was hard to describe and could only be truly experienced upon ascending.
Nangong Yue led the way, her voice pleasant, carrying a hint of the soft, melodic speech of women from the Jiangnan region.
“There is one more thing I need to inform you both of.”
“The stone steps on Hidden Spirit Mountain can only be climbed upwards; there is no turning back.”
“There will be magic treasures and Spirit Artifacts placed beside the steps. If you do not take one and choose to continue upwards, you will have no chance to regret your decision.”
“The quality of Spirit Artifacts in the summit region will undoubtedly be better than those in the mountainside, and those in the mountainside will be better than those at the foot of the mountain.”
“However, within the same zone, it does not mean that the higher you climb, the higher the grade of the Spirit Artifact will be.”
“Moreover, I believe you two possess basic common sense, right? Spirit Artifacts require careful sensing. The one that suits you is the best,” the Artifact Refining Grandmaster said.
Li Chunsong remained silent beside them, occasionally rubbing his hands. At this moment, the notorious gambler offered his opinion.
“Precisely because there’s no turning back, Hidden Spirit Mountain is not only a treasure mountain, but also a gambling mountain!” the benevolent gambling king exclaimed excitedly.
Nangong Yue gave him a slight glare, helpless to curb his enthusiasm in this regard.
Li Chunsong, however, grew more animated as he spoke, “While ascending, you’re unsure if there are better suitable artifacts on the mountain, but you also don’t know if what you missed was the best!”
“It’s thrilling, isn’t it?” His face began to flush.
Chu Huaixu had already made his decision, so he merely listened casually. Han Shuangjiang, on the other hand, grew increasingly nervous, never expecting the rules of ascending Hidden Spirit Mountain to be like this!
Nangong Yue looked at them and added, “Each person can only take one Spirit Artifact when ascending. Due to the Daoist Sect’s emphasis on destiny, and the fact that there are many relics of seniors on the mountain, it must also be a mutual choice.”
“You cannot forcibly make a Spirit Artifact recognize you as its master. You are selecting a Spirit Artifact, and the Spirit Artifact is also selecting you.”
“Only then can you bring the Spirit Artifact down the mountain.”
Li Chunsong, the gambling dog, immediately chimed in, “So, sometimes if you miss one ahead, you might not be chosen by any Spirit Artifacts later on.”
Chu Huaixu muttered inwardly, “This me selecting you, you selecting me, sounds like that show ‘If You Are the One’.”
He then opportuneously spoke, offering his view: “So, are the newly refined Spirit Artifacts actually easier to bring down the mountain?”
Nangong Yue looked at him and smiled. The Artifact Refining Grandmaster nodded slightly, affirming Chu Huaixu, “It’s very good that you thought of this so quickly.”
She continued, “Under normal circumstances, only the true natal magic treasures of cultivators will give birth to an Artifact Spirit in the true sense.”
“For example, swords have Sword Spirits, and sabers have Saber Spirits.”
“Taking my refined Sword Embryos as an example, they are like infants just born into heaven and earth. They indeed possess a certain spirituality, but they do not have much intelligence. They cannot be considered Sword Spirits yet.”
“You could say they are still naive, only relying on their innate nature and instincts to choose people they deem suitable.”
“Only after becoming someone’s natal magic treasure does this wisp of spirituality have the chance to temper and grow under the cultivator’s care, eventually becoming an Artifact Spirit.”
“But the relics left by those seniors are different,” Nangong Yue shifted her tone.
“Most of these relics are actually the natal magic treasures of those seniors.”
“Even after their passing, the Artifact Spirits still exist, although they are much weakened.”
“Under normal circumstances, their Artifact Spirits would completely dissipate into heaven and earth within months at the fastest, or years at the slowest.”
“However, Hidden Spirit Mountain has many arrays that ensure these Artifact Spirits do not completely dissipate with the passage of time, only weakening them further.”
“But once they re-identify a master and become someone’s natal magic treasure, the old Artifact Spirit will completely disappear, and a new Artifact Spirit will be born.”
“It is both death and rebirth,” Nangong Yue spoke eloquently. As an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, she was passionate about the art of artifact refining. When discussing Artifact Spirits, her demeanor was similar to Li Chunsong’s when talking about gambling.
Han Shuangjiang, with her strong empathy, who had been listening quietly, now spoke, “So, these Spirit Artifacts left by the seniors are actually carrying on their last wishes?”
Nangong Yue nodded in reply, “A portion of them indeed are.” As natal magic treasures, they naturally could not go against their owner’s will and final wishes, even if death awaited them.
Li Chunsong immediately interjected, “Some seniors might leave behind their last wishes, but others might not, simply leaving their Spirit Artifacts on the mountain to await destined individuals. Therefore, when Spirit Artifacts choose people, their standards vary greatly and are not uniform, making it even more mysterious and unpredictable, wouldn’t you say?”
“A treasure mountain is also a gambling mountain!” he exclaimed again, then began rubbing his hands. The touching atmosphere was once again ruined by this notorious gambler.
Listening to this, Chu Huaixu’s mind conjured some rather irreverent comparisons. For example, newly refined magic treasures were like… easily tricked. And those relics were difficult old men. He quickly dismissed these chaotic thoughts, reprimanding himself, ashamed to associate with a mood-destroying gambler like Li Chunsong! In fact, Chu Huaixu had read many posts from Daoist players on forums, all stating: “A gambler’s mentality is not to be encouraged!” Clearly, they had missed out on Spirit Artifacts on Hidden Spirit Mountain and regretted it immensely after descending.
The four walked and talked, soon arriving at the stone steps for the ascent. Nangong Yue pointed to the charred black wooden cards in their hands. “Before formally ascending, wear these. Just hang them from your waist.”
“The wooden cards contain a small magic array connected to the teleportation array on the mountain. Once you’ve chosen your Spirit Artifact, crush the card, and you will be teleported back to the foot of the mountain,” she said.
Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang promptly complied, fastening them to their waists. Elder Nine, seeing they were ready, smiled gently and asked, “Who will go first between you two? You two need to ascend with a one-incense stick time interval.”
The two young disciples exchanged glances. Han Shuangjiang, the heroine of “Sword Borrowing,” was as bold as ever, just like in the third trial of the Secret Realm. She stepped forward again.
“I’ll go first,” she said.
“No, I’ll go first this time,” Chu Huaixu replied. “Let me show you the way, brother!”
“Go ahead,” Li Chunsong gestured upwards. “As soon as you step onto the stone steps, you’ll feel the surrounding spiritual pressure.”
“The limit of spiritual pressure you can withstand is the limit you can reach during this ascent,” he said. When he was ordered by the Sect Master to deliver the wooden token of Hidden Spirit Mountain to Chu Huaixu, he couldn’t have predicted how far up these 9,999 steps Chu Huaixu would actually get.
Chu Huaixu nodded, cupped his hands towards the crowd, and strode forward. A gust of wind blew, lifting the hem of his black robe. His eyes sharpened, and he took a step up.
Chu Huaixu stood on the first step, carefully sensing his surroundings, and… felt nothing! He continued to ascend, gradually picking up speed, yet still without any sensation. The surrounding spiritual pressure seemed non-existent to him, unable to exert even the slightest influence.
(PS: Second update, requesting monthly votes! There will be another update today, still writing ten thousand words. I’m going to take some medicine and sleep first; I have a slight fever.)
(End of this chapter)
