Chapter 876: Chang Fen Hill
After Ye Mo established the teleportation array and provided Song Yangzhu and Ye Ling with jade cards, he immediately departed the city. Teleporting outside the city walls, he journeyed for a day by flying pike, finally reaching Chang Fen Hill at midnight.
The area within a radius of several hundred kilometers was uninhabited—a desolate graveyard indeed. While posing no threat to high-level cultivators, this place was virtually a death sentence for ordinary individuals, due to its intensely potent yin energy, coupled with strange phenomena and entities.
Ye Mo instantly sensed the bleak energy; the landscape felt lifeless, even the vegetation gnarled and stunted. The spiritual energy was significantly weaker than elsewhere. Were it not for the occasional vulture's shriek, he might have mistaken the place for the underworld.
Ye Mo’s spiritual sense revealed the graveyard's natural formation, composed of countless bones and remnants of weapons, with spirit fire visible throughout.
He shook his head, puzzled by Li Yuqian’s presence here. It offered no cultivation benefits and held no apparent rare items. He consulted the map's markings, intending immediate departure, but a nagging feeling of unease arose. Since cultivating the Three Birth Chant, his intuition had sharpened considerably.
Subconsciously concealing himself, Ye Mo wished to remain unnoticed while retrieving the Li Zhe Fire.
As he hid, a silent flying cart—a magic artifact—descended at the graveyard's edge. His heightened senses alone detected its arrival. The cart's magnificence suggested an extreme-grade artifact.
Just as Ye Mo considered investigating, an overwhelming sense of danger washed over him—unlike anything he’d previously encountered. It felt insurmountable, a certain death sentence regardless of his actions.
Without hesitation, Ye Mo retreated into the golden page world, remaining motionless.
Inside, he realized the "flying cart" wasn't a magic artifact; it was a cultivation artifact.
Cold sweat slicked his back. Only cultivators at least at the Nascent Soul tertiary stage, or even the Hollow Spirit stage, could wield such an artifact. He was certain the cultivator aboard surpassed the Nascent Soul stage.
In the cultivation realm, artifacts are categorized as magic, spirit, cultivation, and immortal artifacts, each with low, middle, top, and extreme grades. Golden Core cultivators typically use spirit artifacts; cultivation artifacts are the tools of powerful cultivators, while immortal artifacts are the foundation of major sects.
Ye Mo was thankful for his swift retreat. Had the cultivator discovered him, annihilation would have been effortless. Such powerful beings killed without hesitation, disregarding even names.
From within the golden page world, Ye Mo sensed the cultivator subtly detecting his presence, sweeping his spiritual sense across the area. Unfortunately, his current power prevented projecting his own spiritual sense from within the golden page world.
His intuition proved correct. The flying cart was indeed a cultivation artifact, carrying a dark-faced cultivator appearing to be in his fifties, with a black mole and short hair. His eyes were glacial; he frowned, repeatedly scanning Ye Mo's presumed location.
The golden page world lay amidst mud and bones, virtually indistinguishable without meticulous examination. The dark-faced cultivator searched for a considerable time but found nothing, eventually retracting his spiritual sense.
Facing such a powerful cultivator, Ye Mo remained cautious, staying within the golden page world for twenty-four hours before carefully suppressing his energy and emerging.
Upon exiting, the cultivation artifact was gone. Relief washed over him; he’d feared encountering the cultivator upon his return.
However, something felt amiss. Subtle changes had occurred, but their nature remained unclear. Ye Mo deployed his spiritual sense, meticulously scanning the surroundings.
Half an hour later, he understood. The cultivator had established multiple formations, including a trap and a kill formation, intricately linked—a testament to the architect's skill.
The purpose of these formations remained a mystery, but Ye Mo realized the cultivator's likely return. Should he still pursue the Li Zhe Fire? The risk of capture while retrieving it loomed large. He hesitated, but ultimately resolved to proceed. Time was limited; missing this opportunity might mean forfeiting it indefinitely. The retrieval itself would be quick; once obtained, he'd flee immediately.
Before proceeding, Ye Mo returned to the golden page world, crafting several formation flags before emerging.
Unable to observe the exterior while within the golden page world, he created several surveillance flags. While tempted to alter the cultivator's formations and seize control, he resisted. Though his formation skills surpassed the cultivator’s, the power disparity was too vast.
He nonetheless prepared flags capable of instantly disrupting the trap and kill formations if necessary, buying him precious time should the cultivator intercept him.
With preparations complete, Ye Mo approached the Fire Seed's location. Half an hour later, he reached the hill's southeastern border—a deep valley.
Finding nothing with his spiritual sense, Ye Mo utilized earth travel, descending underground.
Two hundred meters down, he understood his earlier failure.