Stranger Danger

After the Black Water was suppressed, Ye Qing tossed the Earthly Sovereign Bell over his head. Then, while the bell floated above his head and shone endless rays of profound light, Ye Qing walked toward the Black Water.

As soon as he set foot on the Black Water, Ye Qing was struck by a distinct wave of emotions: anger at being provoked, and malice that threatened to consume all. It wanted to engulf him and consume him whole.

However, the light shining from the Earthly Sovereign Bell was as heavy as mountains and as dense as the earth itself. It suppressed the Black Water so thoroughly that it could not create even the tiniest ripples or waves.

From the distance, Ye Qing looked like a bonafide celestial. A bronze bell floating above his head and a sheen of profound light covering his body like a cloak, he calmly walked across the Black Water like it was solid ground.

Thanks to the Earthly Sovereign Bell, Ye Qing was able to cross the Black Water almost effortlessly. When he finally set foot on the other side of the shore, Ye Qing let out a sigh of relief and gave the Earthly Sovereign Bell a tap. It rotated once on top of his head before sinking into his skull.

As soon as the Earthly Sovereign Bell disappeared, and the profound light was no more, the still waters of the Black Water suddenly churned ferociously.

Not only that, Ye Qing’s demonic thought told him that the entire river seemed to be boiling with infinite rage. In almost no time at all, a titanic wave stretching from one end to another climbed to a height of three hundred meters and crashed down toward Ye Qing.

“Motherfucker! It’s a sore loser!”

Shocked, Ye Qing hurriedly backed a few steps away from the rivershore. He was about to summon the Earthly Sovereign Bell once more when suddenly, he saw the wave crashing into what looked like an invisible wall before collapsing back into the river.

Reluctant to give up, the Black Water gathered its waves a second time and collapsed on top of Ye Qing. However, as soon as the Black Water threatened to leave the rivershore, it was blocked and shattered by an invisible force. It had no choice but to fall helplessly back into the river.

“I see! The Black Water cannot leave the river. Thank goodness!”

Ye Qing withdrew his half-stretched arm and let out a sigh of relief.

For whatever reason, the Black Water could only operate within the boundaries of the river. It could stretch upward infinitely, but as soon as it tried to cross either side of the shore, it would be stopped by some sort of mysterious power.

A dozen or so breaths later, when the Black Water tried again and again to hurt Ye Qing to no avail, it finally gave up on its assault and returned to its previous appearance.

Ye Qing could tell that the Black Water’s malice toward him hadn’t disappeared or even decreased, however. On the contrary, it was mounting by the second.

He had no doubt that the Black Water would do everything in its power to kill him if he so much as tried to poke his toes over the shore.

“What a bad temper!”

Ye Qing rubbed his nose and rolled his eyes at the river. For an entity with such a cool name, the Black Water’s personality was anything but. It was petty and an expert at holding a grudge.

Luckily for the Black Water, Ye Qing wasn’t in the mood to tease it. After confirming that the Black Water couldn’t harm him, he immediately turned around and walked toward the Cyan Mountain.

The Cyan Mountain was right before his eyes after he crossed the Black Water. A short while later, he arrived at the foot of the mountain without running into any more danger.

“Is this whole mountain… made of bronze?!”

Ye Qing did not realize this when he was far away, but now that he was standing at the bottom of the Cyan Mountain, he was surprised just how massive and tall it was.

If size was all it had, then he wouldn’t have been this surprised. What truly astounded him was the fact that the mountain was made completely out of bronze. Not earth, not stone. Bronze. Every single speck of it.

As if he was unable to believe his own eyes, Ye Qing reached out and gave the mountain two light taps. The metallic clang confirmed that it was definitely a bronze mountain.

Now he understood why the Cyan Mountain was cyan-colored. Bronze was cyan, and the whole damn thing was made out of bronze.

After he was done being surprised, Ye Qing began examining the bronze mountain carefully. Flawlessly cyan, the bronze mountain was a seamless integrated masterpiece of nature. Majestic and spectacular, it looked both like a miracle and an unfathomable mystery.

A few breaths later, Ye Qing withdrew his gaze and fell into thought.

How could he climb the Cyan Mountain?

The good news was that he sensed no danger or inauspicious sign from the mountain.

The bad news was that the mountain was completely bare besides the Radiant Tree. It was also extremely steep and perfectly smooth like a vertical mirror. There was literally no foothold or grip he could use to climb the mountain.

He already tried using his true qi to attach himself to its surface, but it was useless. His Strange Artifacts only fared worse.

It looked like scaling the Cyan Mountain was going to be a trial.

“I guess the only way left is to fly up there.”

Ye Qing produced a paper crane on his hand and blew at it. It immediately flapped its wings and flew toward the peak of the Cyan Mountain.

At first, everything seemed normal. However, he soon noticed that the paper crane was flying slower and slower. It looked like it was being weighed down by a terrible burden.

How could he tell? It was because the paper crane was gradually, no, rapidly transforming into bronze.

Just a few breaths after the transformation began, the paper crane transformed completely into bronze and lost its power. Then, it plummeted straight to the bottom.

Ye Qing was going to catch the falling paper—well, now bronze—crane and examine it when suddenly, it shattered to smithereens. The wind quickly scattered the debris and left no traces of it behind.

Seeing this, Ye Qing frowned and surrounded himself in a sheen of dark yellow light. Then, he leaped into the air.

He had only crossed the ten meter mark when suddenly, he discovered that his skin was turning cyan and accumulating a layer of bronze rust. He had no idea when it happened. His profound light did nothing to stop it.

Unwilling to push things further, Ye Qing hurriedly descended back to the ground and checked his body. The layer of bronze rust did not fade away, so he channeled his true qi and shattered it into nothing. Of course, bits of his flesh and blood were blown away as well, though his powerful vitality quickly restored everything back to normal since only small parts of his flesh and blood were converted into bronze.

“Phew… I guess flying is not an option.” Ye Qing frowned deeply as he rubbed his nose. There was a bit of lingering fear and trepidation in his heart as he recalled what happened. If he had persisted for just a few seconds longer…

This Cyan Mountain was definitely anomalous. Not even the Profound Yellow Mother Qi could shield him from it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the transformation had taken place without him noticing anything. It was scary to say the least.

So, how could he climb the Cyan Mountain?

“You’re up again, bud!”

Ye Qing let out a helpless sigh and produced the Annon Sutra obediently.

As much as he was wary of the Annon Sutra, he always came back to it at a critical moment. It was both sad and ironic.

“How can I climb the Cyan Mountain?” Ye Qing asked before dripping his blood over the vellum. A moment later, the Annon Sutra replied, “Prostrate yourself and climb up the mountain.”

“Prostrate myself… and climb up the mountain???”

Ye Qing rolled his eyes, hard. He understood every word that had appeared on the piece of vellum, but the sentence? The sentence was a completely different story.

If you’re going to answer me, then just give it to me straight! Why do you always have to riddle me so?

Then again, the Annon Sutra had always been like this. It was basically the Riddler in vellum form.

Ye Qing quickly shook aside the stray thoughts and focused on deciphering the Annon Sutra’s words.

“Prostrate yourself”. “Climb up the mountain”. Both were very simple and easy actions.

To prostrate oneself was to lie down with one’s hands, knees, and head touching the ground. It was also an expression of absolute reverence and submission.

In the past, it was the highest sign of worship or respect a mortal could convey to a deity or a Buddha.

“Climb up the mountain” meant… well… climb up the mountain. There was absolutely nothing special about the sentence.

The problem was that the two phrases—“prostrate yourself” and “climb up the mountain”—had absolutely nada to do with each other.

What the hell was the Annon Sutra trying to say?

Was the message literal?

Did it expect him to lie face down on the ground and somehow climb up a mountain?

How?

Was the Annon Sutra playing a practical joke on him?

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