Chapter 435 - 153 Wushan

The next morning, around 5 to 7 AM, the door to the retreat room opened, and Gongsun Yuanxi stepped inside, immediately saying, "Wuzhiqi is coming."

"For revenge for his son?" Jiang Li furrowed his brow.

It wasn’t that Jiang Li had killed someone and wouldn’t allow the deceased’s father to seek retribution. Rather, Wuzhiqi hadn’t set foot in the north for nearly a century. Would he really break his fear of the Great Venerable over the death of a son?

That son of the Huai River True God wasn’t his only child. Although he harbored the Dao Fruit of an Ancient God Monster, his nature was still of the human race, and unlike true divine beasts, Wuzhiqi didn’t suffer from low fertility rates.

Although not as frequent as normal humans, over a hundred years, he had fathered over a dozen children, including eight who had been titled Crown Prince.

Jiang Li couldn’t make sense of it.

But he knew that their actions needed to be expedited.

It wasn’t that Gongsun Yuanxi was afraid of Wuzhiqi. However, if Wuzhiqi came knocking, it would cause significant trouble. any hope of infiltrating Wushan discreetly would be lost, not to mention the risk of being forced to reveal his strength.

’Plans never keep up with changes, a hundred percent certainty is gone.’

Jiang Li directly shattered the letter he had written into fine dust, asking, "When do we infiltrate?"

"Now."

After saying this, Gongsun Yuanxi led Jiang Li out of the small building to the cliff they had visited before.

It was that darkest time before dawn, pitch black beyond Nether City where one couldn’t see their own hand before their face. However, in Jiang Li’s eyes, the mountain was still clearly visible, as if it was within reach.

"Let’s go."

Gongsun Yuanxi gripped Jiang Li’s shoulder, blending into the void like a ghost into the night. They left without a sound, leaking only a whisper of Qi.

Qimen Dunjia transformed the surroundings into a small world, isolating inside from out, concealing yet swift. They moved through the air, and in the blink of an eye, arrived in front of the large mountain.

"I’ve seen others enter Wushan several times before. Ahead, there should be a stone staircase leading up the mountain."

As Gongsun Yuanxi spoke, she stepped forward, poised as if to tread on something. She paused slightly when her foot was a small distance from the ground, then stepped firmly onto the earth.

In Jiang Li’s eyes, the ground here was slightly sloped, just ordinary yellow earth, but Gongsun Yuanxi stepped directly over it as if it were an illusion.

Observing this, Jiang Li pondered briefly. He then extended his hand trying to reach into the area that only he could see.

A faint ripple appeared in front of his fingers, a sensation indescribable.

It felt like reaching a hand from inside a house to the outside, where the different temperatures at the fingertips and the rest of the hand created a subtle disparity, which made Jiang Li show a look of surprise.

He wanted to withdraw his hand to observe some more, but at that moment, Gongsun Yuanxi also reached out her hand, placing her slim, beautiful jade hand on the back of Jiang Li’s hand, pressing tightly against it.

Her palm followed Jiang Li’s hand forward, the faint ripple becoming more pronounced. Both of their hands entered the area through the ripple.

"Hm?" Gongsun Yuanxi uttered in confusion, "It hasn’t disappeared?"

The hands that passed through the ripple were still visible to her; there was no sign of the ripple swallowing up their hands. She looked further forward — Wushan still did not appear before her eyes.

This meant that Gongsun Yuanxi did not gain the ability to see Wushan through physical contact with Jiang Li.

Then, she gently caressed the back of Jiang Li’s hand with her palm, and a clear touch appeared under her palm.

"It’s the Cosmic Time Technique..."

Gongsun Yuanxi carefully felt that different sensation and pondered, "If time is compared to a long river, then you and I are now stretching our hands out from the original river and probing into another river, one that is almost identical but with subtle differences. Hence, we feel a slight unadaptability."

This feeling was extremely subtle, almost negligible; if not for sharp perception, one might have passed through those ripples without even noticing.

"To enter Wushan, you have to pass through some kind of barrier set up by the Cosmic Time Technique," Gongsun Yuanxi concluded.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li furrowed his brows.

He still remembered Tianxuan mentioning that the Cosmic Time Technique only works on those weaker than oneself.

"It seems you’ve thought of it too."

Gongsun Yuanxi, seemingly able to sense Jiang Li’s thoughts without even glancing aside, said, "The Great Venerable cannot use the Cosmic Time Technique on beings stronger than himself, which means, anyone who can enter Wushan is weaker than the Great Venerable."

"But to enter Wushan, one must be affected by Magic. If not influenced by Magic, one wouldn’t even touch the threshold of Wushan. It’s like trying to enter beneath water; first, you must become part of the water."

In other words, once inside Wushan, the Great Venerable is indeed invincible.

Because those who could match him cannot come in.

This is far more reliable than the invincibility of the Emperor’s Divine Capital.

Honestly, Jiang Li was now somewhat concerned. If the relationship between Feng Manlou and the Great Venerable wasn’t as close as predicted, wouldn’t this trip be like walking into the tiger’s den?

But having come all this way, retreating now seemed somewhat inappropriate.

The key was that Gongsun Yuanxi had already grasped Jiang Li’s hand, and they moved forward together.

The ripples expanded, turning into ripples, and as the two passed through, that subtle feeling immediately swept over their bodies; the apparent slope where they stepped was perceived.

Their figures were no longer visible like before but disappeared within the ripples.

The surroundings also changed at this moment, suddenly shifting from night to day, the sky bright, no longer gloomy.

It looked similar to the Cave Heaven Blessed Land they had experienced before, but a detailed perception revealed that this place still harbored the Five Vile Qi and was not a Cave Heaven Blessed Land isolated from the outer world, lacking any spiritual mechanism.

’But if it’s not a Cave Heaven Blessed Land, the Magic can’t last long...’ Jiang Li thought to himself, ’Could it be Dao Fruit Divine Power? People have speculated before that the Great Venerable harbored the Dao Fruit of the Candle Dragon God from Zhongshan, with divine skills to control the sequence of time, this speculation wasn’t unfounded.’

While contemplating, he didn’t forget to look around.

The previously blurry contours of the mountains now revealed their true form; towering mountains stood erect, lush and verdant, without the coldness of other mountains that rarely saw daylight.

Looking forward from here, one could see a broad stone staircase extending inward from the base of the mountain, ending at an architecture resembling a mountain gate.

Looking far along this direction, one could see a pillar-like peak looming in the distance, entwined by a crimson Dragon and Snake, its tail unseen, and atop the peak, light radiated as if a sun was placed there.

The brightness of this world all came from the top of the mountain.

"Open eyes for day, closed eyes for night, it indeed is the Candle Dragon..." Jiang Li involuntarily held his breath, slowly uttering the two words, "Great Venerable."

"It’s not the Great Venerable."

Gongsun Yuanxi also looked solemn but showed no fear, "This is just an illusion, or rather a Dharma Manifestation, not the true body of the Great Venerable."