Chapter Nine: Bearing the Mountain

Outside the town of Chen, where once there was only flat expanse, now stood two mountains blocking the way. Xu Zhong and You Sujue had stopped here. These two mountains were most peculiar. Not only did they obstruct the road, but they also appeared to have grown legs, advancing with ponderous slowness.

The peak to the left gathered the starlight above, resembling a cascade of the Milky Way. The right-hand peak was draped with countless green vines, each as thick as a man's waist. Thunder rumbled from the void, the sound like the clash of immense forces.

Summoning his courage, Xu Zhong drew nearer. Upon inspection, he discovered that these two mountains bore names: one was called Xuan Yin, the other Zhen Yang.

"Move aside, you are blocking the road," boomed a voice at Xu Zhong's feet, sonorous as a great bell, shaking both him and You Sujue from their lofty perch and leaving their bodies bereft of spiritual energy.

Drawing his sword, Xu Zhong stepped atop its blade and descended. Only then did he see clearly what lay beneath the mountains: two enormous land turtles, each bearing a mountain on its back, crawling forward with unhurried persistence.

"Whose disciples are you, to be so thoughtless?" rumbled one of the turtles. "If you block our path and we fail to mend the fissures in the Underworld, the demons of Fengdu will break free and wreak havoc upon the mortal realm. Can you bear such a consequence?"

Xu Zhong and You Sujue stood dumbfounded before the turtles, speechless. One turtle, with a wry smile, remarked to the other, "Xuan Kui, just ahead of you..." Before Xuan Kui, new fissures opened—searing magma poured forth, churning up heaps of bones. Dark energy coiled around the bones, forming wraiths, who gazed about in confusion: "This is the mortal world; we've come to the world of the living—"

Before the words were finished, Xuan Kui suppressed the fissure. Vines cascaded down, threading through one end of the crack and out the other, as if sewing the breach in Fengdu shut.

"This... this..." Xu Zhong stammered in awe at the scene before him.

"Such ignorance!" Xuan Kui fixed Xu Zhong with an enormous eye. Another fissure opened behind Xuan Kui, but it too was swiftly subdued.

"Judging by your looks, you must have been separated from your mentors," said the other turtle, pointing the way for Xu Zhong and You Sujue. "Everyone is heading to Tao County. If you go that way, you should meet your teachers." The fissures continued to narrow and close.

Still in a daze, Xu Zhong and You Sujue mounted the wind and departed.

"What is happening?" Xu Zhong asked, but You Sujue could offer no answer. Even in the depths of her inherited memories, there was nothing that recorded such a thing.

Circumventing the two mountains, they entered Chen County and sought audience with the City God. The deity sat serenely within his temple, unscathed. "You ask about those two mountains? They are the sacred beasts of the Daoist Alliance, come to suppress Fengdu."

"Suppress Fengdu?" You Sujue was incredulous. "Has the Daoist Alliance declared war on the Underworld?"

The City God shook his head. "Not exactly. Some evil force has exploited the chaos in Fengdu to forcibly open a passage and rescue souls from the underworld. Afterward, they could not close the passage, and Fengdu began to consume the mortal realm. So the Daoist Alliance intervened, employing the art of bearing mountains to suppress Fengdu."

"You are most knowledgeable, my lord," Xu Zhong sincerely praised. The City God, pleased, rose and gestured toward the two mountains. "One is called Xuan Yin, used to suppress Fengdu. With such a mountain pressed down, none but the Lord of Mount Tai himself could break the seal. The other is called Zhen Yang, used to restrain the sun, extend the night, and subdue the mortal yang energy, so that people may enter dreams and be spared from evil influences..."

The art of bearing mountains—Xu Zhong seemed to have the imprint of this spell upon him as well. It was a supreme art of the five elements, with countless intricate layers of seals interwoven. Yet try as he might, Xu Zhong could not comprehend the deepest levels.

Having gathered some intelligence, they bid farewell to the City God.

"Since the Daoist Alliance has acted, we need no longer rush about," You Sujue said, relieved. The Underworld controlled Fengdu, the mortal realm was ruled by humans, and among humans, the Daoist Alliance was the mightiest force, though not without its own factions of good and evil.

"What are you thinking?" You Sujue asked, as Xu Zhong fell silent and thoughtful.

"I wonder, could Shi Yao alone truly have thrown Fengdu into such chaos?" Xu Zhong mused. The City God had said that the turmoil in Fengdu allowed someone to open a passage, leading to the crisis of Fengdu devouring the mortal world.

"Now that you mention it, Shi Yao alone could not accomplish this..." You Sujue's eyes widened with sudden dread. "Shi Yao has a body without a soul—he is but an empty shell, a vessel for spirits."

Perhaps some powerful ghost or deity in Fengdu had borrowed Shi Yao's body to unleash their magic, stirring Fengdu into chaos and creating an opportunity for outsiders. Perhaps, too, those ghosts had escaped Fengdu with Shi Yao.

If so, the Daoist Alliance's massive mobilization made sense.

"Are we still going to Tao County?" You Sujue hesitated. If things were as they suspected, then Tao County—where the Daoist Alliance had gathered—would surely be fraught with danger.

"We've come this far..." Xu Zhong urged the wind to greater speed.

"Indeed, it would be a pity not to see for ourselves," You Sujue added inwardly: "The most dangerous place is often the safest."

Between Chen and Tao Counties stretched a hundred li of mountain roads, winding and treacherous, like a coiled serpent—hence the name, Lying Dragon Ridge.

They flew from the serpent's tail to its head in a quarter of an hour. From the sky above the serpent's head, they could see Tao County's city walls in the distance, a dark line under the moonlight. Above that line, a mountain hung upside down in the sky. Beams of rosy light radiated from the mountain, forming bridges traversed by countless travelers—some flying on swords, others riding beasts or piloting flying ships.

Xu Zhong was astounded by this inverted mountain. So this was the Daoist Alliance? Yet in the next instant, the mountain exploded before his eyes, bridges of light shattering and hurling stones in all directions. But a colossal hand emerged, grasping the fragments and forcing the mountain whole once more.

Immediately, a battle erupted above Tao County. A massive staff tore a rift in the heavens, shattering the stars, its blaze brighter than the sun. The inverted mountain trembled, on the verge of collapse, but the hand's master intervened again, catching the staff with his bare fist.

"Yellow Springs Demon Lord, you are too impatient..." A figure strode out atop the mountain, a giant whose stature dwarfed all understanding, embodying the heavens and the earth.

"No, I cannot afford to wait—this is a rare opportunity," the Demon Lord of the Yellow Springs replied with a sinister grin, appearing in the firmament. Tearing the sky, he exposed the deep darkness of the outer stars, stepping half his foot into the abyss. "I'll be waiting for you beyond the heavens." Then he vanished, and Ying Xiantian gave chase, stepping upon the starlight into the void.

Suddenly, all was calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Such power exists in this world?" Xu Zhong was overwhelmed with awe, longing to exclaim, "This is what it means to be a true man!" Yet he held his tongue, for after Ying Xiantian departed, the sky filled with clouds—only, upon closer look, they were not clouds but a mass of human and ghostly faces.

"Yellow Springs Demon Lord..." You Sujue, racking her memory, finally recalled a fragmentary tale. "The title is hereditary—the leader of the Yellow Springs Demon Sect, the foremost demonic faction in the world, rival to the Daoist Alliance..."

"Then those must be his followers."

From the inverted mountain, beams of spiritual light rose, matching the Demon Sect in numbers. The two sides exchanged no words, no challenges—only silent, immediate battle. The sky was ablaze with spells, their radiance flaring and fading, painting the heavens in every color, a spectacle beyond words.

"In twenty-four years, I've never seen fireworks like these," Xu Zhong murmured, transfixed—until a claw reached from behind and dragged him back.

"Don't get too close," You Sujue warned, anxious for his safety.

"It's alright, let's hide in the mountains!" With so many combatants, no one would notice them.

People fell from the inverted mountain, yet no matter how fierce the fighting, Tao County itself remained untouched. Xu Zhong noticed then that the town was encircled by mountains, each borne by a land turtle. The turtles, in suppressing Fengdu, also shielded the common folk.

There were cultivators atop the two mountains borne by the turtles, but they had not yet joined the fray. Soon, however, they too entered the battle. Demonic cultivators melded into the shadows to slay the turtles, but righteous cultivators detected their spells and intervened, shielding the turtles and even killing the would-be assassins.

The demonic cultivators sought to keep the passage to Fengdu open—but to what end?

The struggle raged, bodies plummeting from the sky, only to be swept away by winds and drawn into multicolored, grotesque banners—soul-flags that grew more powerful by consuming the flesh, blood, and souls of their foes, whether righteous or demonic.

The scent of blood thickened, and the sky ran red.

"We should leave!" You Sujue urged, a sense of mortal peril pressing upon her. "We've seen enough. Any more, and we'll be caught up in the carnage ourselves."

Xu Zhong nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. No spectacle was worth their lives.

Carefully, they made their way back toward Chen County.

But at that moment, the mountains trembled, and both Xu Zhong and You Sujue felt a surge of dread. Before their eyes, a colossal shadow opened its gaping maw and lunged to swallow the inverted mountain whole...