Fang Yun approached the riverbank and carefully observed the silvery water, discovering that it wasn’t as heavy as mercury; its weight was similar to that of ordinary water. The silver color didn’t seem to be inherent to the water itself but rather appeared to be a result of an external force merging with the water.
“This water is strange,” Tiger muttered in the dark.
Fang Yun and Dou Ji exchanged glances, reading the same message in each other’s eyes: stating the obvious.
Fang Yun looked at Dou Ji and asked, “Are you certain that this anomaly is caused by The Carrying of the Mountain?”
“Positive. Besides those two lions and the watchdog of the seventh corridor, only The Carrying of the Mountain in the fifth corridor is alive.”
“Watchdog?” Fang Yun inquired.
“A frost hound from the Demon Realm, granted immortality by the Demon Ancestor, guarding the Throne of Stars. The frost hound cannot leave the seventh corridor, and the stone lions wouldn’t be causing trouble here, so it can only be The Carrying of the Mountain. But what is his purpose?” Dou Ji surveyed the mountain passageways.
Fang Yun noticed that Dou Ji, who had been quite relaxed before, had become much more serious and focused after being sucked into this place, clearly realizing the inescapable danger they were in.
“Could The Carrying of the Mountain harm us?” Fang Yun asked.
“He wouldn’t dare, otherwise the stone lions would deal with him immediately. After all, we are, nominally, chosen by the Demon Ancestor and could potentially become his disciples. However, while he may not harm us, he could hinder us like he is now, or even trap us here,” Dou Ji explained.
“That’s half good news,” Fang Yun said helplessly.
“But it means we could be trapped here for a long time, waiting for other Demon Barbarians to become the King of Stars, or even die of old age here.”
“Could this be part of the fifth corridor’s test?” Tiger pondered in the dark.
“I don’t think so, because none of the Demon Barbarians who have left the maze have ever seen The Carrying of the Mountain, nor has anyone been sucked into the mountain passageways like us,” Dou Ji said.
Fang Yun disagreed, “No. Since the Demon Ancestor has suppressed The Carrying of the Mountain in the fifth corridor, he must have considered its factor, turning a simple maze into a dangerous one. Perhaps that’s the Demon Ancestor’s intention. Do you really think the fifth corridor is just a test of navigating the maze?”
Dou Ji had no reply and said, “You’re right. I judged based on common sense and overlooked the Demon Ancestor’s attitude. Since he placed The Carrying of the Mountain here, he probably did consider it part of the fifth corridor’s test.”
“You just said that the Demon Barbarians who left the comet corridor hardly mentioned The Carrying of the Mountain, which means there’s another possibility,” Fang Yun said.
Dou Ji and Tiger immediately understood the implication in Fang Yun’s words.
“Could we die here? I’m confident I’m not weaker than The Carrying of the Mountain of the same demon rank, but its strength is infinitely close to a Semi-Saint, the gap is too great. If it wants to trap us, we will surely die here,” Dou Ji frowned.
“There’s always a way out. Since we’re trapped here, it’s better to work together than apart. Would you two be willing to temporarily set aside the enmity between our races and cooperate?” Fang Yun proposed.
“Of course!” Dou Ji and Tiger said in unison.
Fang Yun continued, “In that case, please don’t withhold any information about The Carrying of the Mountain. The more we know about him, the greater our chances of escape. For instance, what does The Carrying of the Mountain look like, how large is it at the level of a great demon king, and what powers does it specialize in?”
Tiger immediately said, “The Carrying of the Mountain has the power to control the earth, resembling a turtle, but its shell is unlike any ordinary turtle’s. It’s covered with bony mountain peaks, and with each millennium, another bony peak forms on its shell, and its power grows further. Additionally, The Carrying of the Mountain is also known as the Earth Dragon, and there are many legends and stories about it in the Demon Realm. For example, it’s said that The Carrying of the Mountain takes revenge by carrying a mountain on its back and smashing it onto the enemy’s home. As for its size, there’s no consensus. Some say The Carrying of the Mountain carries the Demon Realm on its back, others say it’s no more than a hundred zhang long, and some demons even believe that The Carrying of the Mountain carrying mountains and stars is just a legend.”
“What’s its temperament like?” Fang Yun asked.
“All ancient demons are intelligent beings. But… you know,” Dou Ji said, leaving his sentence unfinished.
Fang Yun understood; even the smartest and most rational Demon Barbarian would lose their mind in anger, a flaw shared by both races. If it weren’t for this flaw, there would be no place for the human and dragon races.
Tiger added, “Since the Demon Barbarians who left the comet corridor alive have never seen The Carrying of the Mountain, and those who have probably died, we should first stay away from it. There’s a breeze coming from upstream of the river, with a scent similar to the maze. We should head upstream.”
Fang Yun said nothing, looking instead toward the downstream of the river.
“Do you have a different opinion?” Dou Ji asked.
“Different? Oh, perhaps it’s the difference between our human race and your Demon Barbarians. When faced with an unknown threat, you either fight or flee, while we humans tend to think deeply and look for the best solution, only choosing to fight or flee when no better option is found.”
“Aren’t you afraid of The Carrying of the Mountain?”
“Who isn’t afraid of a great demon king? The issue is, you said it wouldn’t dare to kill us, and it was its power that sucked us in here. This indicates it has some unknown demands. Of course, we always have to consider things from different angles; it might also be venting its frustration on us after being imprisoned for many years.”
“So what do you plan to do?” Dou Ji asked.
Fang Yun replied, “Since I’ve decided to temporarily set aside the enmity between our races, naturally, the minority should follow the majority. Tiger has chosen to go upstream, and I’m considering it. What about you?”
Dou Ji didn’t immediately respond. He looked in both directions of the passageway, then at Fang Yun and the Tiger Demon Saint, and finally said, “I agree with Tiger.”
Tiger grinned, feeling honored and growing a bit closer to Dou Ji, then looked at Fang Yun with pride.
Fang Yun’s eyes showed an imperceptible change, then he said, “Then let’s go upstream.”
“Let’s go!”
The man and two demons immediately quickened their pace, with the dragon and tiger moving extremely fast even at a light jog, forcing Fang Yun to run at full speed to keep up.Turning a corner, a bright cave entrance appeared ahead.
“How about that? I made the right choice, didn’t I?” The tiger demon laughed heartily as it dashed out of the cave. After a few steps outside the entrance, it suddenly stopped and began looking around restlessly.
Fang Yun and the Flood Dragon followed out of the cave entrance, looking around to find themselves in a secluded valley. Like the rest of the maze, the valley was devoid of any weeds. However, there was a cold spring in the middle of the valley, continuously bubbling with silver water, forming the source of a silver river. Other than that, there was nothing else.
Fang Yun asked, “Can you climb these cliffs?”
The Flood Dragon replied, “No. These cliffs belong to the fifth corridor; we can’t get up there.” Saying this, it quickly walked towards the cold spring.
Fang Yun followed and observed the spring water closely.
The spring eye was gushing with water, and near this cold spring, there were vein-like patterns that looked shriveled and dry.
Fang Yun recognized this thing. It was called ‘Blood Vein,’ a power refined from the blood of the Demon Clan, which at least required a Demon King to use. Blood Veins weren’t particularly powerful and had some simple functions, such as storing star power and absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, among others. Its uses were not very broad.
The tiger demon muttered, “These Blood Veins are ancient, and the vital energy within has completely dissipated, yet they still function. It’s likely that they were drawn by the Demon Saint himself. The function of these Blood Veins leans towards suppression; they must be the Blood Veins the Demon Saint used to suppress The Carrying of the Mountain.”
“You guessed right. Since it’s the Blood Veins drawn by the Demon Saint himself, we’d better stay away,” said the Flood Dragon.
Without needing further explanation from the Flood Dragon, Fang Yun was the first to turn back, distancing himself from the cold spring. Whether the Demon Saint was dead or alive, the power he left behind was not something a mere Presented Scholar could probe into. If it triggered some sort of self-protective power, death was certain.
“Alas, it’s not the exit. Let’s hurry back!” the tiger demon said.
Thus, one human and two demons ran towards the downstream direction of the river. This time, Fang Yun was still the slowest, running while observing the passageway, hoping to find something.
After running for a while without any findings, if one had to mention a new discovery, it would be that the stone walls inside the passageway were very sturdy, but this was of no use for escaping the place.
“It seems there’s a large hall ahead, where the silver river converges into a pool,” the tiger Demon Saint suddenly said while running at the front.
The sound of footsteps immediately became noisier.
Fang Yun watched as the Flood Dragon and the tiger demon grew further away. He didn’t sprint desperately but maintained the same pace as before.
Approaching the hall, the tiger demon’s speed remained unchanged, while the Flood Dragon began to slow down.
“Ah, after so long, the Demon Clan is still as foolish as ever!”
A bell-like voice echoed from all directions, shaking the entire passageway as if it were collapsing. Dust and pebbles from the top of the passageway kept falling down.
Fang Yun felt a chilling sense of annihilation envelop him, and then he saw the passageway ahead freezing over at an incredibly fast rate. In the blink of an eye, it spread to where he was, covering the entire passageway with a thick layer of ice.
In the moment of being frozen, Fang Yun saw the tiger Demon Saint’s head burst open like a watermelon dropped on the ground.
Then darkness enveloped him, and with a silent sigh in his heart, Fang Yun lost consciousness amidst boundless despair.
After an unknown amount of time, Fang Yun suddenly felt an icy chill on his body.
“Hiss…”
Fang Yun instinctively curled up, opening his eyes to a world composed entirely of ice, crystal clear and extraordinarily beautiful. Yet, from this beauty, Fang Yun sensed a great danger.
He found himself lying on the ice, quickly getting to his feet.
Ahead was a huge ice column with a diameter of more than twenty zhang. Below the ice column was a circular pool, with the silver river water soaking the column, yet the water was not frozen.
Fang Yun continued to look around; the ice column and pool were located at the center of a spacious ice hall. The hall had eight passages leading outwards, with frozen corpses appearing in several of them, including the body of the tiger Demon Saint.
The Flood Dragon was wrapped in a thick block of ice, its fate unknown.
Just as a thought crossed Fang Yun’s mind, that voice sounded again, much softer than before.
“Coming here, I can kill whoever I want. Those two foolish lions can’t control me!”
“The Carrying of the Mountain?” Fang Yun asked instinctively.
“From the moment you entered the maze, I’ve seen and heard everything you’ve done. Your name is Fang Yun, right? I’m curious why, after those humans in the maze got separated and then regrouped, the first name they mentioned was yours. They said you helped them across the Floating Ice River, the Avalanche Slope, and the Falling Star Bridge. Is that true?”
“So it’s Senior The Carrying of the Mountain. This student, Fang Yun, pays his respects to the senior,” Fang Yun greeted politely in the demon language. (To be continued.)