The Misty Mountain Range spanned millions of li, home to nineteen established cultivation sects whose combined number of cultivators easily surpassed tens of thousands. This area was saturated with potent spiritual energy, yielding countless rare medicinal herbs and rich mineral lodes, alongside innumerable demonic beasts hidden deep within its gorges, making it a prime hunting ground for advanced cultivators.

The geography of the Misty Mountain Range was peculiar, characterized by undulating peaks, with sheer, solitary spires soaring three to five thousand zhang high scattered everywhere, crisscrossed by numerous streams and rivers. These ravines were perpetually shrouded in a thin, ethereal spiritual mist, encircled by the Great Spiritual Mist Canyon, rendering the area isolated from the outside world. Beyond the Canyon, however, the Range bordered hundreds of nations, serving as a veritable sanctuary in the eyes of low-level cultivators from these surrounding states. Nevertheless, few ordinary cultivators ever managed to traverse the Great Canyon to enter the heart of the Misty Mountain Range.

Navigating the Misty Mountain Range was far from easy; one could never predict where a demonic beast might suddenly emerge. Even disciples from the major sects typically confined their activities strictly within the fixed territories belonging to their own clans, venturing out rarely, and almost always in large groups when they did.

Fierce conflicts were common among the great cultivation sects as they vied for control over various resource strongholds. Each sect generally maintained its established base, but the discovery of any new resource invariably sparked a desperate, do-or-die struggle for acquisition.

As evening descended upon the desolate, uninhabited stretches of the Misty Mountain Range.

Within a deep chasm canyon, hundreds of zhang deep, a shadow of stark white wings suddenly vaulted upward, flashing across the gorge at tremendous speed before landing upon the rock face of the opposite cliff. In an instant, the wings were retracted, and the figure darted into a narrow fissure in the stone, utterly motionless, hands tightly gripping a small, shimmering blue sword that pulsed with restrained energy.

“Chirp—!”

A few sharp, piercing cries echoed.

A short while later, several massive, dark shapes soared up from the depths of the chasm. These demonic beasts possessed heads resembling vultures, unnerving, deep-brown eyes, crowns adorned with vibrant red plumage, and razor-sharp talons of tempered steel nearly half a chi long; their feathered wings spanned nearly ten zhang.

These vulture-like demonic beasts circled the depths of the gorge for a moment, then beat their immense wings, conjuring a sudden, roaring gale that swept away into the distance.

Ye Qin remained tightly concealed within the rock crevice. Only after a long silence, when no further sound reached him, did he finally let out a breath of relief.

To reach Wanku Ridge as quickly as possible, he had chosen the most direct route. A canyon hundreds of zhang wide like this was impassable for ordinary Qi Refining cultivators; they would be forced to take a lengthy detour. Fortunately, he possessed a Winged Spirit Tool, allowing him to fly across the mid-air gap and save significant travel time.

However, this method carried its own dangers. Certain flying demonic beasts favored building their nests directly into the canyon walls.

When Ye Qin first arrived here, he had spotted several dozen nests belonging to those large vulture-demons lining the gorge face.

Vulture beasts constantly flitted back and forth across the chasm.

He observed the area for a full half shichen, waiting patiently for the perfect lull in traffic before spreading his wings and gliding across that stretch of the deep gorge.

With Ye Qin’s current strength, he might manage to kill a few Second or Third-tier vulture beasts, but he stood no chance against a swarm from their main nests. If he had alerted the nesting grounds, survival would have been impossible.

His Bat King Wings offered plenty of agility, but they couldn’t match the sheer speed of these vultures; he could only hide and avoid detection.

Ye Qin glanced down at the small sword in his hand, which kept flashing with an uncontrolled blue light, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features.

He had possessed this small sword for several days now, yet he remained unable to achieve true communion and control over it.

The residual magical aura left on the weapon by Zhao Qiankun repelled his own spiritual power, making it difficult for him to command freely and severely hindering its effectiveness.

Checking the sky, he noted it was already quite late. Ye Qin swiftly left the chasm and found a small cave nestled in a hillside ridge to conceal himself. He then sat cross-legged, channeling his spiritual power to its maximum capacity into the blue sword.

The small sword immediately swelled, growing to over a chi in length, and the brilliant blue light intensified, causing it to hover suspended in mid-air.

Ye Qin grunted, pouring yet more spiritual energy into the artifact. The blue sword continued to expand, enlarging itself inch by inch.

In order to erase Zhao Qiankun’s presence from the magical tool, Ye Qin employed a rather crude method—repeatedly flooding the flying sword with the full force of his spiritual power, washing every minute fiber of its blade, using his own aura to completely overwrite and scour away every vestige of residual energy left by Zhao Qiankun.

With every full infusion of spiritual power, the lingering aura of Zhao Qiankun weakened, and Ye Qin’s ability to direct the sword using the Art of Object Manipulation grew smoother. As for the Art of Sword Control, he had studied it, but was not yet proficient.

A little over half a shichen later.

Ye Qin retracted the flying sword and closed his eyes to rest. He estimated it would take another ten days or so to fundamentally clear out the aura Zhao Qiankun had left on the artifact. For him, this was already a fortunate outcome.

After all, Zhao Qiankun had only possessed this artifact for a short time, using it perhaps only a few times. If it had been the residual magical power of Elder Zhao, it might have taken him years to eradicate it.

He was now almost certain that Elder Zhao must have treated this artifact with some specific method before gifting it to Zhao Qiankun.

Over the following ten-plus days, Ye Qin traveled swiftly through the Misty Mountain Range, spending his nights diligently refining the flying sword. When encountering ground-based demonic beasts, he ascended to the air; when encountering aerial threats, he immediately dropped back to the earth, weaving stealthily through the ridges, leaving all the beasts he encountered in his wake.

After more than half the journey, following the instructions marked on the Topographical Scroll of the Misty Mountain Range, Ye Qin finally arrived at Wanku Ridge. Wanku Ridge was a sprawling mountain chain nearly a hundred li long, its stone the color of dull gray-brown, strangely barren with only sparse grass and sparse vegetation, making it easily visible from above.

In the skies near Wanku Ridge, cultivators from various sects, riding beasts or controlling swords, were gradually becoming more numerous.

The dozen or so major sects that had arrived earlier had already secured patches of open, wide-open flat ground around Wanku Ridge, setting up their encampments. Barriers and various restrictive formations were established around the perimeter of each camp, and their sect’s spiritual flags and dharma flags were raised high, giving the scene the distinct air of a military campaign.

This was easily understood: formations originated from military campaigning and coordinated small-unit tactics, later borrowed and studied by cultivators who developed a myriad of intricate Grand Formations. Defensive restrictive formations were merely one simple application of this knowledge.

Dozens of spiritual flags were planted throughout the encampment. Five Qi Refining disciples at the base of each flag took turns infusing their spiritual power, or simply inserted spirit stones to power the flags. Once the restrictive grand formation was established, the entire camp was enveloped in a luminous barrier, projecting a cohesive, surging might that repelled demonic beasts and external enemies alike.

Upon reaching Wanku Ridge, Ye Qin occasionally encountered disciples from other sects along the way.

On the surface, disciples from different major sects greeted each other with polite, cheerful smiles when they met, as if they were sworn brothers. But no one could truly know what thoughts lay hidden in their hearts; only their stomachs knew the truth.

A patrol team of five or six members from the minor sect, the Ten Thousand Blade Sect, saw Ye Qin traveling alone. They exchanged meaningful glances, silently plotting to make a move.

Ye Qin was prepared. He subtly palmed the small sword in his right hand, then frankly held up several golden sound transmission talismans in his left, projecting an air of indifference to being attacked. “The Sect Master and Ancestor of my Azure Elixir Sect are both at Wanku Ridge. If you intend to incite a major conflict between the Azure Elixir Sect and your own, I wouldn’t mind sending these transmission talismans off before I die. I cannot guarantee the reaction of our sect’s Ancestor if an Azure Elixir disciple dies without provocation at the hands of your sect.”

The leader of the small team saw the several transmission talismans gripped in Ye Qin’s left hand—these talismans traveled too fast to intercept. Hearing that the Azure Elixir Sect had a Core Formation Ancestor supervising the area, his expression immediately faltered. He instantly burst into loud laughter, “A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Our sect and yours are brother sects; why would we clash? Please, Senior Brother, carry on.” The captain waved his hand with a stiff expression and led his patrol squad elsewhere.

Ye Qin inwardly scorned the disciples of that minor sect and quickly departed.

He wished to avoid any further encounters with disciples from other factions to prevent trouble. After carefully maneuvering to evade various patrolling squads for nearly half a day, he finally located a massive encampment flying the great banner of the Azure Elixir Sect.

There were also several patrol teams operating around the Azure Elixir Sect’s camp.

At the entrance to the Azure Elixir Sect’s camp, more than ten guards in blue robes expressed some surprise upon seeing Ye Qin arrive alone. The camp had been established for over ten days, and disciples had been arriving steadily from the sect headquarters; thus, the patrols were not unusual, but someone arriving solitary was quite rare.

“Junior Brother, traveling alone in the Misty Mountain Range is extremely perilous. Did you not come with fellow sect members?”

“Yes, I did, but we ran into trouble midway and became separated from my companions. I had to make my way here alone. I expect the others will follow shortly,” Ye Qin explained truthfully.

The guarding disciples checked Ye Qin’s sect token and menial service token, confirmed he was a disciple of Azure Elixir Sect’s Azure Spring Peak, and, without further questioning, permitted him entry into the Azure Elixir Sect camp.

Inside the camp, a dark artifact formation flag was planted atop the central, largest tent, anchoring the entire encampment. Martial Uncles and Martial Aunts in the Foundation Establishment stage could be seen entering and exiting occasionally. In such a large-scale trial, there were certainly many Foundation Establishment disciples presiding over the major affairs. As for whether a Core Formation Ancestor was present, Ye Qin was uncertain; his declaration to the Ten Thousand Blade Sect disciples earlier had been pure fabrication, meant only to intimidate.

Surrounding the main tent were smaller tents designated for the Qi Refining disciples participating in the cave trial, large enough to accommodate nearly a thousand people.

Numerous disciples in blue and cyan robes were busy cooking, resting, or preparing—polishing their weapons and equipment. Most of these disciples were at the Eighth or Ninth level of Qi Refining, qualifying them as the absolute elite among the sect’s Qi Refining cohort.

When Ye Qin entered the camp, several fellow disciples gave him a curious glance. However, Ye Qin’s appearance was exceedingly ordinary, and his cultivation level did not appear particularly high, so almost no one recognized him, and after a few looks, they paid him no further attention.

Ye Qin casually selected an empty, unoccupied tent, sat down to recuperate the spiritual energy depleted during his journey, and finally found peace within the Azure Elixir Sect’s camp.

The next few days passed quietly. Since the members of the ** Sect had not all arrived—several smaller cultivation sects from farther away were still en route—the cave trial could not commence immediately, requiring a waiting period. Occasionally, disciples were dispatched to clear out the demonic beasts active around the camp perimeter to prevent them from charging the main defenses. (To be continued. For subsequent developments, please log on to www**. More chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!) First published