Watching the Mountain

Chapter 393: Chapter 211: Agreement

In truth, this wasn’t just happening in Zhao Wuyang’s Demon Dao. Similar events were likely unfolding across the entire Cultivation Realm.

Some disciples who had recently returned from their travels reported that the outside world was now teeming with Tribulation Cultivators, who were harassing and attacking various factions everywhere.

However, these Tribulation Cultivators were clever. They only targeted weaker factions. They were also well aware of the Cultivation Realm’s unwritten rules and made sure never to disturb the slumber of those who were already Dust-sealed. They would simply attack a faction, grab what resources they could, and flee.

The strength of these Tribulation Cultivators ranged from the Qi Cultivation Stage all the way up to the Golden Core Stage. So far, there were no reports of any Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators becoming Tribulation Cultivators.

After all, nearly every Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator possessed a Dust-Sealed Stone. Those who hadn’t sealed themselves away were the ones left behind to guard their respective sects.

Xu Ran could understand why Tribulation Cultivators were running rampant. Clearly, everyone knew what the future held and wanted to stockpile resources in advance as a precaution.

The major factions had previously announced that once Dao Concealment was complete, the Spiritual Qi in the world would drop to an extremely low level.

It would likely only be enough to support the normal cultivation of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator. A Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, on the other hand, would probably need to supplement it with Spirit Veins and Spirit Stones just to maintain their cultivation.

And that was a secondary concern. The most critical issue was that after Dao Concealment, the Laws of Heaven and Earth would no longer manifest, making it incredibly difficult to comprehend things like Law Dao Rhyme.

For example, after the complete Dao Concealment, anyone who managed to cultivate to the Golden Core Stage would be considered a peerless genius. In a normal era, such a person would have been destined for the Divinity Transformation realm, or perhaps even greater heights.

For the vast majority of people in the world, the Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment was a distant concern. They didn’t have Dust-Sealed Stones, so they couldn’t seal themselves away for the future. They had no choice but to remain in the current era.

But no matter how the world changed, their desire to seek the Dao would never waver. They all wanted to progress further and reach greater heights on the path of cultivation.

Never mind that Dao Concealment wasn’t yet a true End of Dharma. Xu Ran believed that even if the world’s Spiritual Qi were to vanish completely, there would still be determined individuals, driven by their unyielding will and their desire for the Dao, who would carve out a new path to cultivation against all odds.

Therefore, for those left behind in this era, since the world could no longer aid their cultivation, their only option was to rely on themselves and acquire more resources to advance.

For now, the situation was still manageable. The vast majority of experts from the major factions had sealed themselves away, but a few powerful individuals remained to guard their sect gates. Once the Dao Concealment was absolute, however, things would be completely different.

The Cultivation Realm had maintained its order for so long primarily because of the presence of the transcendent Upper Three Sects, one in each of the Five Domains.

But after Dao Concealment, as time went on, the prestige of the Upper Three Sects would gradually fade from the minds of the new generation of Cultivators. It was hard to say if the Cultivation Realm could maintain its old order then.

The Profound Pure Sect, however, didn’t need to worry about this, because ’Hidden Mountain’ would always be there.

Protecting the Profound Pure Sect was a promise Xu Ran had made to Senior Sister Yue. He hadn’t been confident before, but now his cultivation had broken through to the Golden Core Stage.

He was confident that no matter how the years passed, as long as he was there, the Profound Pure Sect would safely navigate the Dao Concealment Era and re-emerge when a new golden age dawned.

*

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*

After ending his conversation with the couple, Zhao Wuyang and Liu Yunge, Xu Ran walked over to the stone table in his courtyard, took out a flask of Spirit Wine, and began to drink by himself.

It was a farewell toast to his friends.

They wouldn’t meet again until after the Dao Concealment Era had ended. A wave of melancholy washed over him, and he drank, reminiscing about their time together to ease the gloom.

But it seemed his sentimental mood was a bit premature.

「Three days later.」

Zhao Wuyang and Liu Yunge, who should have already been Dust-sealed, suddenly appeared at Xu Ran’s Cave Mansion.

They had also brought Chen Chang’an along.

Xu Ran was utterly bewildered to see them. ’Weren’t they supposed to be sealing themselves away?’

’We already said our goodbyes. I even drank all night because of it.’

’What’s going on with them suddenly showing up here?’

Then, to his and Chen Chang’an’s confusion, the couple, who were usually inseparable, started arguing right in front of them.

Xu Ran and Chen Chang’an were stunned by their behavior.

As far as they knew, this was the first time Zhao Wuyang and Liu Yunge had ever fought. Normally, they were the type of couple who couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.

Seeing them arguing like this, red-faced and furious, one might suspect they’d both been possessed.

”Fellow Daoist Chen, Fellow Daoist Hidden Mountain, you be the judges! Tell me, isn’t Wuyang being completely unreasonable? Since we’re going to be Dust-sealed, we should obviously do it together. Who gets Dust-sealed separately?”

After they had argued for a while, Liu Yunge, who was normally so boisterous and carefree, suddenly adopted a pouting, girlish demeanor. She looked plaintively at Chen Chang’an and Xu Ran and began to state her case.

As soon as she finished, Zhao Wuyang, with an equally wronged expression, began to plead his own case to Xu Ran and Chen Chang’an.

”I’m not against being Dust-sealed together! What I’m saying is, if we’re going to do it, we should pick a location no one knows about, set up our own defenses and contingency plans, and then seal ourselves away. We shouldn’t just follow our respective sects and be sealed with everyone else.”

Xu Ran nodded thoughtfully. That didn’t sound surprising at all. Zhao Wuyang might be the top figure of the current Demon Dao and a representative of the Demon Sect, but he was actually even more obsessively cautious than Xu Ran himself.

For something as critical as being Dust-sealed, doing it alongside a large group of people would naturally make him feel insecure. In fact, for someone as absurdly cautious as him, the mere fact that he was willing to be Dust-sealed with Liu Yunge at all was proof enough of his feelings for her.