Chapter 446: Chapter 431: Anti-Light Alliance
The Rocky Wilderness was even more desolate than Zhouyang had imagined.
After obtaining information from mortal herdsmen that there were towering mountains thousands of miles to the west, he flew westward on his sword.
Yet, the places he passed were covered only with shrubs and weeds, and many places were simply areas of eroded rock, with exposed stones everywhere, no wonder it was called the Rocky Wilderness.
He didn’t know if there were any other cultivators living here besides the Spirit Mountain he had seen earlier, as he hadn’t seen any cultivators along the way.
And after flying westward for over thirty thousand miles, he really did see the towering mountains the herdsmen mentioned.
It was a range of mountains stretching indefinitely. Zhouyang, from hundreds of miles away and high up in the sky using the "Separation Fire Golden Eye", saw that many peaks among the mountains were covered with snow, and a dazzling spiritual light rose from some peaks, indicating the presence of spirit veins.
After observing the continuous mountains from afar for a while, Zhouyang had no intention of approaching and soon returned to the Rocky Wilderness.
There was no need to think. He also knew there must be high-tier cultivators there, possibly even a cultivation sect rooted there. Without knowledge about the Land of the Far West, he couldn’t risk meeting others of the same tier.
Otherwise, in conversation, he wouldn’t know anything and would easily reveal flaws that might make people suspicious of his origin.
Returning to where the Zhou Family members were resting outside the valley, Zhouyang slightly explained the situation to his Dao companion Xiao Ying and a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators, then took Xu Song to keep watch over the herdsmen tribes.
On this day, after standing by the herdsmen tribes for several days, Zhouyang finally awaited the arrival of the Immortal Master from the "Holy Mountain" coming down to test the spiritual roots of herdsmen children.
These so-called Immortal Masters consisted of seven people; apart from the leading cultivator with Early-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, the remaining six were all Late-Stage Qi Cultivation.
At this time, the children among the herdsmen tribes who hadn’t yet been tested for spiritual root talent were already brought by their parents to an open area by the lakeside to line up and wait.
The cultivators from the "Holy Mountain" rode on Tier Two Lower Grade demon beasts "Cyan Wind Steeds" to the open area by the lakeside. The leading Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator immediately patted his storage bag, took out a White Crystal Treasure Mirror.
He then raised the Crystal Treasure Mirror to hang above a door frame, letting the mirror light shine a certain distance in front, and had the herdsmen holding the children walk under the mirror light one by one.
If the mirror light detected someone with spiritual roots, the Crystal Treasure Mirror would emit multicolored spiritual light.
At that point, a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator would immediately take the child aside and perform the "Spirit Testing Technique" for a detailed examination of the spiritual root talent.
If there were no spiritual root, the Crystal Mirror would not react.
With such a division of labor, the testing speed was quite fast.
For several herdsmen tribes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the number of children surviving birth within three years was less than 20,000, with the speed at which the mirror light could test, one day was fully enough to complete the entire process.
After all the processes were completed, night fell, but those so-called Immortal Masters did not immediately take the four children with spiritual roots detected that day back to the "Holy Mountain". Instead, they stayed overnight among the herdsmen tribes.
That night, under a sparse starry sky, each of the seven so-called Immortal Masters staying among the herdsmen tribes held several beautiful women offered by the tribes in their arms, making merry in the tents.
Zhouyang and Xu Song, under such circumstances, stealthily entered the tents to capture people and inquire about the situation.
With Xu Song assisting, even the Foundation Establishment Cultivator had his divine soul captured without understanding what had happened, complying obediently and answering all of Zhouyang’s questions.
Time was limited, so Zhouyang didn’t ask too many questions, only focusing on the few points that concerned him.
After asking, he had Xu Song control the Foundation Establishment Cultivator to take out a few jade scrolls from his storage bag and copy them, then the man and ghost quietly left the tribe.
The following day, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator and several Qi Cultivation Culivators woke up, except for the Foundation Establishment Cultivator who walked out of the tent with a suspicious look to check around, the rest had no recollection whatsoever of what happened last night.
In fact, even the Foundation Establishment Cultivator didn’t remember what happened last night at all, only vaguely feeling that someone seemed to have asked him some questions, yet when he tried to recall the events of the previous night, he couldn’t remember a thing.
This situation made the Foundation Establishment Cultivator even more fearful, which he knew in his heart, something must have happened last night, and he must have fallen into someone’s trap.
Though he didn’t know what he had disclosed, he dared not remain among the herdsmen tribes any longer, immediately urging the Qi Cultivation Cultivators to take the new disciples back to the sect, while he flew directly back to the sect on his sword to report the events of the previous night to the higher-ups.
However, his memory of last night was erased by Xu Song using the Secret Technique, and unless he successfully forms a Core or is assisted by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, it is impossible for him to recall what happened last night.
No matter which of these two possibilities, fundamentally it is something he cannot achieve.
Meanwhile, Zhouyang and Xu Song had already returned outside "Fallen Demon Valley," sorting through the gains from last night.
"Fallen Demon Valley" is the inner world of the valley that trapped Zhouyang and them for two years. This place was established by the Great Brightness Immortal Palace thousands of years ago as an Immortal City. Besides having a Teleportation Array leading to the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, the city also had a Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain and several Tier Four Spirit Mountains, housing over ten thousand cultivators and hundreds of thousands of mortals.
However, thousands of years ago, a severe turmoil occurred within the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, and those factions and cultivators in the Land of the Far West who were long dissatisfied with the rule of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace quickly formed an organization called "Anti-Light Alliance," uniting to crusade against the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
At that time, the "Anti-Light Alliance" was a mixed bag, not only including cultivators but also demon cultivators, all gathered for the purpose of confronting the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
And the force attacking the Immortal City consisted of a group of demonic cultivators.
These demonic cultivators, after breaking into the Immortal City, sacrificed hundreds of thousands of mortals and numerous cultivators loyal to the Great Brightness Immortal Palace in a blood ritual to set up a terrifying Demon Array in an attempt to use the array to break through the Mountain Protection Array on the Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain at the center of the city.
At that time, the Guardian stationed by the Great Brightness Immortal Palace was also ruthless. Upon learning that no reinforcements would arrive, he directly set up a trap to detonate the Spirit Vein and the underground Fire Vein on the Spirit Mountain, perishing together with most of the demonic cultivators who had invaded the Immortal City.
After that battle, countless mortals and tens of thousands of cultivators fell in the Immortal City, and the entire city was destroyed due to the earth-shattering explosion caused by the Spirit Vein.
The name "Fallen Demon Valley" originated from the fact that thousands of demonic cultivators lost their lives in that battle.
Moreover, because the massacre caused by the demonic cultivators in that battle was too shocking, and the Anti-Light Alliance had already gained the upper hand in the campaign against the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, the cultivators within the Anti-Light Alliance used it as a pretext to carry out purges and clear out the demonic cultivators internally.
Without consideration, the demonic cultivators within the Anti-Light Alliance were quickly eradicated by eighty to ninety percent, and those who managed to escape subsequently endured relentless pursuit from both the Anti-Light Alliance and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
In recent millennia, traces of demonic cultivators’ activity in the Land of the Far West have become incredibly rare.
The original site of the Immortal City, now the "Fallen Demon Valley," has naturally turned into a Land of Yin and Evil because of the vast number of deceased cultivators and mortals in the battle, especially the numerous demonic cultivators and the demons they refined entombed there. Moreover, with some array restrictions still operating within, it has become a notorious deadland in the Rocky Wilderness, where few cultivators venture.
Demonic cultivators do wish to enter for cultivation, but those who dare to do so over the millennia have been intermittently exterminated by the Golden Core cultivators of the Anti-Light Alliance who sweep through.
Now, even the boldest of demonic cultivators dare not risk entering "Fallen Demon Valley" to cultivate.
Zhouyang and his group were fortunate. During the time they were teleported over, they did not encounter any Golden Core Stage cultivators coming to sweep through "Fallen Demon Valley," otherwise the commotion they caused while breaking the restrictions inside might have long been discovered and eradicated.
"Currently, the Great Brightness Immortal Palace and Anti-Light Alliance each dominate nearly half of the Land of the Far West, and the Rocky Wilderness happens to be within Anti-Light Alliance’s territory. If our Zhou Family wants to establish a foothold here and set up a clan branch, the safest choice is naturally to join the Anti-Light Alliance and become one of them."
"However, the current issue is that the renowned Spirit Mountains within the Anti-Light Alliance’s territory have already been occupied by major sects, clans, and distinguished loose cultivators. If our Zhou Family wants to found a clan here, we either need to invest a large amount of Spirit Stones to develop a Spirit Mountain in a remote area or establish merit in the war between the Anti-Light Alliance and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace to exchange for a Spirit Mountain as a foundational site!"
Outside "Fallen Demon Valley," Zhouyang conveyed the information he had gathered through interrogation to several clan Foundation Establishment cultivators, both to inform them of the current situation and to see if these clan members had any thoughts.
"Supreme Elder, although the Anti-Light Alliance is a coalition of several major sects with numerous medium and small sects and clans, making it suitable for survival for our Zhou Family as a cultivation clan, on the other hand, in the event of war, we as a new minor power joining them might easily become cannon fodder, sent by the ruling authorities of the alliance to execute the most dangerous tasks!"
"Therefore, I feel that it would be wiser for us not to hastily join any side. We can begin our activities in the Land of the Far West under the guise of loose cultivators, and after fully understanding the survival methods of sects and clans here, decide which side to join later!"
Unexpectedly for Zhouyang, the first cultivator to speak wasn’t one of the Zhou Family’s own, but Li Hong, a foreign relative cultivator.
The purpose of bringing Li Hong to the Land of the Far West was to harness his exceptional Magical Combat ability, intending to nurture him as a key general of the Zhou Family’s branch in the region.
However, it seems that Li Hong is not only adept at Magical Combat but also at strategic planning, proving to be equally strong.
It appears to be a stroke of fortune!
Fueled with surprise and joy, Zhouyang glanced at Li Hong, elevating his level of importance significantly.
A fleeting smile surfaced on Zhouyang’s face as he gazed at Li Hong with a testing look and asked, "Xiaoli, your insights are not mistaken. Then, according to your appraisal, how should we, so many cultivators, secure safe passage through the Rocky Wilderness and Luoyun Mountain Range into the Land of the Far West without exposing our backgrounds?"