Chapter 155: Falling into the River

After leaving the Fangs of the Earth's Eye, Li Mu's mind could not easily settle.

He had not expected that his casual remark about the Scripture of the Void during his arrival would provoke such a massive reaction. Traveling through the world of immortal cultivation, his worldly experience was still somewhat lacking.

He now understood that certain matters, once uttered, would be pursued relentlessly by others to the very end without any intention of letting go.

However, since the event had already transpired and the Fangs of the Earth's Eye had committed their full strength to the pursuit, he could only do his utmost to compensate.

Having failed to find Li Tian, the Fangs of the Earth's Eye would undoubtedly head toward the Wolf Realm. With their capabilities, discovering the Lianshan Mountains would merely be a matter of time.

Yet the Lianshan Mountains were a place that Li Mu and his companions had spent immense effort to locate—a sanctuary perfectly suited for stable cultivation. His younger sister and Shen Bingxue were all residing there, and the Lianshan Mountains formed the most crucial step in Li Mu's future plans, an asset of immeasurable importance. Therefore, they must under no circumstances be allowed to track him into the Wolf Realm.

Only by making the Fangs of the Earth's Eye believe that Li Tian remained within the Yunshan Realm, or perhaps that he had traveled to a realm beyond the Wolf Realm, could the Lianshan Mountains remain secure for the short term.

Li Mu quickly solidified his plan: he would remain in this Yunshan Realm and ensure that the Fangs of the Earth's Eye became acutely aware of this fact.

"It seems I have no choice but to make a trip to the Falling Gate."

Li Mu smiled and shook his head. This was a course of action he had to take despite his reluctance. The Falling Gate was currently the focal point of the entire realm, and wherever Li Tian appeared, the Fangs of the Earth's Eye would inevitably discover him.

As for what might happen once he arrived there, he would simply have to adapt to the circumstances as they unfolded.

Upon stepping out of the city gates, Li Mu spent several hours flying toward a barren, rocky mountain.

Sending a message through his spiritual sense, the black hawk quickly descended and landed upon the stone-strewn peak.

"Heizi, do you remember the path back to the Lianshan Mountains?"

"Screech, screech." The black hawk puffed out its chest, proudly flapping its wings, and then cast a look of utter disdain toward Li Mu.

"Fine, I know you're very impressive." Li Mu glared at the hawk.

Looking at the hawk's robust, several-meter-tall frame, Li Mu felt a sense of pride. Since he would not be returning anytime soon, he intended to send the hawk to the Lianshan Mountains to deliver the Heartless Fruit to Li Ying, along with a few other items and messages.

Given the black hawk's current strength, flying across the borders to deliver the message to the Lianshan Mountains should pose no problem.

When they left the Wolf Realm, the black hawk was still quite small, yet it had journeyed alongside them the entire way, only being tucked inside Li Mu's robes for protection when crossing the boundaries. Furthermore, as a spiritual beast bound to its master, the black hawk's intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary spiritual beasts.

Li Mu sat cross-legged, took out a jade slip, and meticulously recorded everything he wished to convey. He then produced two storage rings—one containing the Heartless Fruit and the other filled with numerous materials, spiritual crystals, and magical treasures—and tossed them both to the black hawk.

"Heizi, take these items back to the Lianshan Mountains and hand them to Bingxue and Ying'er. Be careful along the way and stay out of trouble."

The black hawk nodded knowingly, swallowed the storage rings into its beak, and let out two screeches to indicate it understood.

"Once you've delivered them, stay in the Lianshan Mountains. I may come to find you later."

The black hawk shook its head, appearing somewhat displeased as it let out a continuous series of screeches.

"You cannot look for me. If you encountered the cultivators here without me around, you wouldn't be able to handle them. Outside of these borderlands, I cannot allow you to travel alone anyway. Alright, be on your way." Li Mu knew what it was thinking; he furrowed his brow and lightly patted the hawk's leg.

"Screech, screech."

The hawk cried out twice more. Seeing that Li Mu refused to look at it, it had no choice but to take to the air and head toward the border. Its maximum flight speed was terrifying; within a mere fraction of a moment, it vanished without a trace.

Watching the black hawk fly away, Li Mu unburdened himself of many lingering concerns. Alone, he set off in the direction of the Falling Gate.

Whenever he approached a major city, Li Mu would transform into the likeness of Li Tian, leave a few traces within the city, and then quickly depart, reverting to his original appearance to continue his journey.

Such actions might seem pointless, yet they caused endless confusion for the Fangs of the Earth's Eye. Every time the operatives of the Eye detected traces of Li Tian and felt they were on the verge of capturing him, he would instantly vanish once more. Left with bitter grievances and entirely bewildered faces, they never truly knew whether they had managed to track him down at all.

Pausing intermittently along the way, the Falling Gate was now drawing very near.

The Falling Gate was situated southwest of the Yunshan Realm. Originally, the sect possessed three pulse-refining stage cultivators, dozens of spirit-building stage disciples, and hundreds of Qi-condensation stage novices, making it a fairly respectable sect. However, after suffering a devastating blow from the Mingyu Valley, there were now only two or three cultivators remaining within the sect, acting merely as guides under the orders of the Mingyu Valley.

The origin of the Falling Gate's name derived from the Falling River that ran through the sect. Throughout the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of every year, the riverbed could be clearly seen constantly carpeted with leaves and flowers, creating a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

That brand-new secret realm happened to be located right within the Falling River.

At present, the banks of the Falling River were already crowded with numerous cultivators distinctly divided into three factions.

The largest faction was dressed entirely in purple robes, clearly members of the Mingyu Valley. Among them alone, there were dozens of pulse-refining stage cultivators, exuding a formidable and sweeping momentum.

In contrast, the faction from the Yutie Sect possessed only a few pulse-refining stage experts, yet their aura remained relaxed and utterly fearless.

Aside from these, the remaining groups consisted of cultivators from minor sects and rogue practitioners, most of whom had come to fish in troubled waters for a chance at fortune.

Li Mu had long since employed an art of disguise, mingling among the rogue practitioners while cautiously projecting his spiritual sense to probe into the river.

A moment later, Li Mu spotted the entrance to the secret realm.

The water in the center of the Falling River was covered by an invisible, highly dense membrane resembling a transparent marsh. Whenever spiritual sense approached this barrier, it was instantly sucked in, leaving not a single trace behind.

The membrane appeared to be several meters thick. Beneath it, deep within the water, a faint dark-black fissure could be vaguely discerned, shimmering with a dim, magical luster. It was obvious that the secret realm lay within.

Whoosh!

A pale-gray shadow emerged from close proximity to Li Mu and plunged directly toward the Falling River.

The nearby cultivators did not stir, nor did the members of the Mingyu Valley make a move; instead, they wore expressions of profound mockery.

"Another one seeking death. Truly, some people never learn."

"Who knows, maybe that fellow's luck is exceptional and he'll actually make it in?"

"You're a fool. Didn't you see what happened yesterday? That Vice-Master Li of the Mingyu Valley went in bearing a top-tier fourth-grade magical treasure. In the end, all the spiritual energy within the treasure completely dissipated, turning it into absolute scrap metal. If he hadn't been agile enough to escape back out, his cultivation level would have plummeted. The few before him who weren't nimble enough and touched the barrier at the entrance had their cultivation ranks drop drastically."

Amidst these whispered remarks, the shadow had already reached the surface of the Falling River. With joy written across his face and a sword gripped in his hand, man and blade plunged straight toward the fissure together.

The sword light entered the water and immediately shrank back like a surface tension, vanishing completely in an instant, while the sword itself dropped into the water. However, the cultivator, likely exerting too much force and failing to control his momentum properly, plunged right through the barrier.

"Ah."

Accompanied by a few shrieks of utter despair, the gray-robed cultivator's face drained of all color. His eyes lost their light, reflecting sheer terror, before he instantly fainted. Subsequently, he was repelled by the barrier and drifted away along the current of the Falling River.

"Another one."

Several sighs drifted over from the bystanders nearby, though whether they were feeling relief or a sense of shared sorrow remained impossible to tell.