The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 39 Grotto Heaven

These dozens of cultivators rushed over instantly, completely surrounding the cave. Seeing this, Dali Wang shielded Rakshasa behind him and picked up an iron rod from the ground to fight.

Zhang Yunling and his group, along with Ming Shan, also used their magical powers to fight the intruders together with Dali Wang.

At this moment, a middle-aged man recognized Ming Shan's identity and exclaimed in surprise, "Elder Ming? You're here too?"

This man was none other than Jia Zhongbao, the Quanzhen Daoist cultivator who had followed Ming Shan before they entered the Xuanxu Ancient Realm. Back then, Ming Shan and the Quanzhen Daoists were fighting demonic beasts at an ancient altar behind Flaming Mountain. When Ming Shan went to rescue Ren Jixing, Jia Zhongbao and the others encountered a group of cultivators from Wudang Mountain and discussed going to the top of Flaming Mountain together to share the opportunities.

Upon encountering them head-on, Jia Zhongbao was also embarrassed and hurriedly bowed in greeting, but the Wudang Mountain cultivators ignored him and continued to attack Dali Wang and the others.

Ren Jixing knew that these people only cared about their own interests, and that Wudang Mountain and Quanzhen Tao had no connection whatsoever. This cooperation would crumble when the opportunity arose. He hurriedly called out to Zhang Yunling, "Junior brother, quickly escape from here. You can't help in this kind of battle. Quickly find a safe place to wait for us!"

Zhang Yunling nodded repeatedly in agreement, and taking advantage of the crowd and chaos, he used his Swift Ghost Steps to quickly leave the cave. Unable to figure out where else he could go on this Flaming Mountain, he had no choice but to rush out of the cave and speed towards the back of the mountain.

After traveling for more than ten miles, until the Flaming Mountains behind them became somewhat hazy, Zhang Yunling finally collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

The scene before them was completely different from the withered tree village they had seen before. All around was a desolate Gobi desert, deserted and uninhabited. The earth had been baked dark red by the Flaming Mountains, and everything was deathly silent.

After resting for a while, Zhang Yunling could only wander aimlessly forward, hoping to encounter other opportunities. However, as he ventured deeper into the wilderness, he gradually sensed powerful auras emanating from them.

"Are there cultivators here?" Zhang Yunling looked around warily, spreading his divine sense to carefully sense the surroundings. However, these auras did not seem to belong to living beings, but rather to some kind of thing, like the fluctuations of rare and precious materials.

He continued walking forward until another mountain peak appeared before him, and the source of that intense aura came from there.

Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are determined by fate. Zhang Yunling understood this principle. Those who dare not take risks are destined to be weak. Since he sensed that this aura was neither that of a cultivator nor a demon beast, he had to go and see what was going on.

Just as Zhang Yunling was carefully examining the small mountain with his divine sense, someone grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air.

"What?!" Zhang Yunling turned around in shock. The attacker wasn't a cultivator, but a winged vulture. "Damn it, it's a demonic beast? I've been using my divine sense to probe the surroundings; when did this demonic beast appear?"

But he couldn't care less at the moment. Zhang Yunling used his True Yang Finger and turned around to point a finger at the vulture's abdomen. Although his True Yang Finger had only reached the second level, with his cultivation in both Dao and Body at the same mid-Foundation Establishment stage, the power of this finger was enough to cause the vulture beast considerable damage.

Having been struck in a vital spot by Zhang Yunling's finger, the vulture let out a painful roar. Its claws lost their footing, causing Zhang Yunling to fall. Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Yunling immediately activated his cultivation and flew swiftly towards the small mountain.

Originally, he only had half of his spiritual power left in his body, and after using the True Yang Finger, he had even less left. Now he had nowhere to go but to temporarily hide in that mountain. He could only pray that he would not encounter any other cultivators from other sects in the mountains, otherwise he would really die here.

Seeing that its prey had not only fought back but also escaped its grasp, the vulture became furious. With a shriek, it chased after Zhang Yunling like a black lightning bolt.

Just a few feet away from Zhang Yunling, with the vulture's talons almost touching his feet, an invisible force suddenly appeared, distorting the space and pulling Zhang Yunling into it, causing him to disappear into thin air.

Enraged by its missed attack, the vulture circled the mountain peak, howling incessantly, its voice echoing through the mountains, a truly terrifying sound. Yet, no matter how much it circled and howled, it seemed unwilling to set foot inside the mountain, as if the things within were even more terrifying.

"Ouch!" Zhang Yunling fell directly onto a rocky ground, covered in dust and dirt, looking utterly disheveled.

"Where is this place..." Ignoring his dirty appearance, Zhang Yunling rubbed his still aching head and looked up at where he was.

The mountain peak was hollow inside, revealing a huge cave or canyon-like structure. The surroundings were dark, damp, and pitch black, while a path led to a stone platform in the distance, from which faint golden light emanated.

"Could it be... a stroke of luck?!" Upon seeing the road and the golden stone platform, Zhang Yunling was immediately invigorated. It seemed that he was truly blessed by the heavens, not only escaping death but also stumbling upon this mysterious place of opportunity. His luck was indeed genuine.

Zhang Yunling excitedly rushed out and ran towards the stone platform. As he stepped onto the path, water began to appear out of thin air on the dark ground on both sides. The water kept flowing out and gradually overflowed. Golden light spots gradually spread out from the water pit, illuminating the entire path, which was very strange.

Gazing intently at the stone platform, Zhang Yunling noticed an ancient-looking rune engraved upon it, with what appeared to be a hand-shaped indentation in the center. After a moment's thought, he decided to give it a try and pressed his right hand into the indentation.

As he pressed his palm down, the indentation was surprisingly consistent in size and shape with the outline of his hand, fitting together perfectly. At that instant, the entire canyon began to tremble slightly, and the specks of golden light on the stone platform seemed to grow, rapidly increasing and enlarging from a few small golden lights, gradually rising into the air, and suddenly spreading out, slowly illuminating the entire canyon.

The previously dark and unclear areas were now clearly visible, and the golden light scattered across every corner of the canyon, making the entire canyon shine with golden light, which was quite strange.

After everything was clearly displayed before Zhang Yunling's eyes, he finally understood what this canyon meant. The illuminated objects were actually colorful murals carved into the rock walls, and he could also clearly see the three statues standing directly in front of him. There was truly another world hidden inside this mountain.