Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Mountain and Sea Pavilion
Countless giant mountains stood tall, densely packed like ancient behemoths slumbering in their sleep.
Clouds and fog enveloped everything, the thick mist resembling a sea of fog.
This was the location of the ancient Mountain and Sea Pavilion Sect.
Atop one of the giant mountains.
There was an exceedingly vast platform on the mountain summit.
Tens of thousands of cultivators were gathered in dense crowds.
Yet strangely, the eyes of these cultivators all seemed somewhat vacant.
As if they were no more than the walking dead.
Suddenly, at a certain moment.
Over a hundred streaks of luminescence flashed across the sky.
Following that, a sharp gleam flickered through the eyes of some cultivators on the platform, restoring clarity to their gaze.
It was as if souls had been injected into walking corpses, reviving them.
The trial of the Ruin Realm had officially begun.
...
Lu Qingshan came back to his senses and slowly opened his eyes.
He first checked his current state; although now he wore the uniform Taoist robe of a Mountain and Sea Pavilion disciple, and had a different appearance and physique,
his cultivation and magic artifacts remained unchanged from when he had entered.
Lu Qingshan glanced around, surrounded by Mountain and Sea Pavilion Qi Refining Cultivators in blue Taoist robes just like himself.
He understood that amongst these tens of thousands of Mountain and Sea Pavilion Qi Refining Cultivators, only one hundred seventy-nine were truly alive.
The rest were merely illusions of the Ruin Realm.
...
The crowd was silent, as if waiting for something.
Lu Qingshan was doing the same.
A moment later.
In the misty distance,
a dazzling blue radiance flashed.
In the darkness of night, it was like a shooting star.
And this shooting star was now heading straight for the giant mountain where Lu Qingshan was.
Soon.
The radiance paused above the heads of the cultivators, revealing the figure within.
A middle-aged male cultivator in a white robe, his face weary.
He had an aura as deep as an abyss.
"Sect Master!" all the disciples of Mountain and Sea Pavilion called out respectfully in unison.
The white-robed cultivator addressed as Sect Master glanced over all the cultivators present.
He let out a long sigh, and then slowly spoke.
"I presume you all are aware by now,"
"that Mountain and Sea Pavilion is currently surrounded by forces led by the Demon Lord of Myriad Poisons."
"The Demon Lord has sent emissaries to negotiate with our Mountain and Sea Pavilion, demanding our submission to the Demon Race."
"He has given us one night to consider the matter."
"But there is no need to consider it, for cultivators of Mountain and Sea Pavilion can only die standing, not live on our knees in disgrace."
"The legacy of Mountain and Sea Pavilion for ten thousand years may not endure after tonight. As the last Sect Master of Mountain and Sea Pavilion, the only thing I can do now is to lead the cultivators of Mountain and Sea Pavilion in a desperate fight against the Demon Race, to maintain the honor of our name."
"I only hope that the ancestors of Mountain and Sea Pavilion do not blame this unworthy descendant."
The Sect Master of Mountain and Sea Pavilion fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
The cultivators below were all silent as well.
Eventually, some very faint sounds of weeping emerged.
It was like the fuse that ignites a keg of gunpowder.
The sobbing slowly spread.
They had grown up in Mountain and Sea Pavilion and regarded it as their home.
Now, this home was in peril.
How could they not feel heartache?
The Sect Master of Mountain and Sea Pavilion looked at his disciples, weeping increasingly, his eyes filled with profound sadness.
"You disciples are but Qi Refiners; Mountain and Sea Pavilion should have nurtured and protected you for a hundred, a thousand years, until you grew into great cultivators who could support our Mountain and Sea Pavilion."
"Now, you have not yet matured, and the Mountain and Sea Pavilion has not provided you with too many resources, yet you must face such a catastrophe."
"You have a choice now."
"Leave or stay here to die with the Mountain and Sea Pavilion."
"If you stay, given the Demon Race\'s cruel methods, there is no possibility of survival; death is almost certain."
"If you decide to leave, the Demon Race has already amassed countless forces outside our Mountain and Sea Pavilion, sealing the space, and ordinary Teleportation Arrays are utterly useless."
"Only the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation\' can still function, but the destination of the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation\' is completely out of control, it\'s random teleportation. The elders are currently constructing the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation\' at Flying Peak."
"So far, the Demon Race hasn\'t gained knowledge of this method; the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation\' can still wield the power to teleport, but it\'s highly likely to experience mishaps."
"Moreover, within ten thousand miles, the Demon Race is ubiquitous, so even if you manage to escape through the Teleportation Formation, you might leap out of the wolf\'s den and directly into the tiger\'s lair."
"Therefore, even if you choose to escape through the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation,\' it is a situation of escaping death by a hair\'s breadth, but it is still better than the certain death of staying behind."
"You need not feel ashamed for choosing to flee; as Qi Refining Cultivators, even if you stay, your significance to the Mountain and Sea Pavilion is not that great."
"However, if you choose to flee and actually manage to survive, you might still leave a sliver of hope for the continuation of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion\'s legacy."
"If that is to be the case, you would be the heroes of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion."
"Take your time to think about it, to leave or to stay."
The Sect Master of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion flourished his robes.
A deep blue radiance pattern emerged above the group of cultivators, lingering for a long time.
"Those who choose to stay stand to the right of this blue light; those who choose to flee stand to the left of this blue light...," the voice of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion Sect Master began to tremble, growing lower and lower until it finally fell silent.
For as he finished speaking about choosing to stay on the right side of the blue light,
The dense crowd, as if controlled by something,
Without any discussion, without any hesitation,
All moved to the right side of the blue light at that moment.
In the darkness of the night, thousands of lower-grade Qi Refining cultivators gathered together, some of whom were still sobbing softly.
Their faces in the shadows were not very clear to the Sect Master of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion.
An inexplicable, strange feeling battered back and forth in his heart.
"Cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, all willing to die with the Mountain and Sea!"
In the crowd, someone shouted out first.
Then, the voices rose one after another, gradually becoming orderly.
The voices soared into the sky.
"Die with the Mountain and Sea!"
"Die with the Mountain and Sea!"
"Die with the Mountain and Sea!"
...
Flying Peak.
Several Mountain and Sea Pavilion Formation Masters, along with the disciples skilled in arrays, were here constantly tracing Formation Patterns, constructing the \'Heavenly Transfer Formation\'.
Suddenly, one of the Formation Masters lifted his head.
"Is there a sound?"
"What sound...,"
"Shh, listen!"
Faint and intermittent voices floated through the mist.
At last, the sound became increasingly clear.
"Die with the Mountain... and Sea!"
The eyes of the Formation Master lit up as they looked in the direction of the sound.
"That is..."
The Formation Master quickly took out the Mountain and Sea Pavilion Token from his Storage Ring.
The Token was constantly glowing.
The Formation Master plunged his Divine Sense into it.
The serene voice of the Sect Master came through.
After receiving the message from the Sect Master, the Formation Master\'s spirit was roused.
"Everyone, stop for a moment!"
All the people looked up at the Formation Master.
"Take down these Formation Patterns," the Formation Master ordered.
"But we are about to complete the construction..." someone exclaimed with shock and doubt.
"Take down these Formation Patterns and use the materials to set up a killing array; slaughter a few more of the Demon Race!"
"This time, we of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, the whole sect, shall meet our end together and fight these demon beasts to the death!"