Mahayana 113
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Chapter 113: Seizing the Stele at Hellhound Ridge
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
Part 1
“Miss Mo, there is no need to dwell on it,” Xiao Yifeng replied coolly. “It was merely your own sharp wit.”
It didn’t take long for the boat to reach the pier on the other shore. The instant it touched shore, Xiao Yifeng seized Su Miaoqing and lifted off without pause, shooting skyward so fast that Mo Shuiyao, still not even docked, was left seething.
She had hoped her earlier friendliness would earn her another ride. Instead, he acted as if she didn’t exist. The moment he stepped ashore, he vanished without a backward glance, whisking away his graceful, flower-like junior sister.
Mo Shuiyao’s chest rose and fell violently with anger. Was there really anything she lacked compared to that clueless little girl?
After flying eastward for some time, Xiao Yifeng suddenly twisted his body mid-air, making a broad detour before turning west.
The instant they reached the opposite shore, the Samsara Stele in their grasp, all the restrictions of the immortal palace shattered, leaving them completely unbound.
Xiao Yifeng guided Luo Hong sword, while Su Miaoqing’s feathered sash fluttered around her as they raced through the sky.
Even Su Miaoqing, for all her simplicity, sensed something amiss. Xiao Yifeng’s familiarity with the Samsara Immortal Palace was far too natural, far too practiced. Still, she asked nothing, choosing instead to follow him quietly through the skies.
As they flew high above, she suddenly noticed movement below. Across the crimson mountain ridges, countless ravenous dogs were chasing after them, their barking echoing like rolling thunder.
Each beast bore scarlet eyes and jagged fangs, spikes bristling along its back. Their bellies were perforated with holes, hollow and decayed, revealing their insides like rotting carcasses. The sight alone was enough to sent a chill running down Su Miaoqing's spine.
Every one of them was at Foundation Establishment realm, with more than a few having reached Golden Core realm.
Yet altitude was their shield. Unable to reach their prey, the dogs spat streams of vivid green light skyward. Xiao Yifeng and Su Miaoqing twisted and darted mi air, narrowly avoiding every attack.
Then they surged forward, leaving the howling horde behind, its furious barking fading into the distance.
“Xiaofeng, what on earth are those things?” With no one else present, Su Miaoqing finally called Xiao Yifeng by name.
“Have you ever heard of Hellhound Ridge in Hell?” Xiao Yifeng replied calmly. “Those below are the hounds of Hellhound Ridge. It’s said they all died unjustly in life, their deaths directly caused by the living. That hatred never faded. It followed them into death.”
“I’m really glad we can fly,” Su Miaoqing murmured, fear creeping into her voice. “Otherwise, we’d be finished.”
Xiao Yifeng felt a trace of regret. If only he knew where the stone tablet of Hellhound Ridge's location. Taking it would at least leave a few more traps for those who followed behind them.
Without the Samsara Stele, the two of them would already be surrounded by the hounds below.
Under the Immortal Palace’s suppression, crossing Hellhound Ridge on foot would be nearly impossible. Compared to that, soaring above it felt almost unfair. The dogs were strong, but strength meant little when one could not fly.
The pair shot through the sky, Xiao Yifeng zigzagging left and right until Su Miaoqing was utterly confused, her sense of direction completely disoriented.
She had no idea that an enormous maze formation covered the entire area. Walking straight ahead would eventually lead to the goal, but the path was brutally difficult.
With countless vicious dogs prowling the ground below, hardly one person in a hundred would survive to the end. Xiao Yifeng’s deliberate detour east after landing was meant to send the others on a far longer journey.
Anyone foolish enough to follow would still arrive eventually, but only after going completely the wrong way and enduring endless hardship.
Since their cultivation lagged behind the others, this was the only way Xiao Yifeng outdone them.
High above, he traced intricate, arcane paths through the air, and before long, a mountain peak loomed ahead.
“Xiaofeng, look! Doesn’t that mountain look like a giant rooster?” Su Miaoqing suddenly pointed and shouted.
“Well, yeah. That’s because it is Golden Rooster Mountain,” Xiao Yifeng laughed. Honestly, this girl had nerves of steel. Everyone else would be panicking by now, and she was sightseeing.
Up ahead, Golden Rooster Mountain really did look like a rooster, with two ridges forming its shape. The steep peak was basically the chicken’s back and fancy comb.
The whole mountain was full of holes, and every one of them hid so-called Golden Roosters just waiting to cause trouble.
If you wanted to get past it, you had to climb. Slowly. First up the back, then over to the comb, and finally over the mountain. No shortcuts, no mercy.
Before Golden Rooster Mountain, countless vicious hounds prowled about, yet Su Miaoqing immediately spotted a black stone stele planted in the ground. She cried out in surprise, “Xiao Feng, look over there. There’s a stone stele.”
Xiao Yifeng glanced at her oddly. Once might be coincidence. Twice, perhaps luck. But three times in row, she had been the first to spot these steles. Was this the legendary eyesight of a phoenix?
The stele was completely encircled by jet-black hounds. No wonder he had overlooked it.
Still, leaving it untouched felt like throwing away free advantage. Once the stele was removed, everyone else in the Samsara Immortal Palace would remain under suppression.
“Senior Sister, stay here. I’ll grab the stele and be right back,” Xiao Yifeng said.
“Xiaofeng, I did promise to follow your decisions when we entered the Immortal Mansion, but that does not mean I am useless,” Su Miaoqing said quietly. “I want to help too. I am already at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment realm.”
Xiao Yifeng was taken aback. He had not realised that his constant protection had weighed on her like this. But it made sense. Su Miaoqing had never been someone content to stand behind others.
“Senior Sister, I never once thought of you as a burden,” he said earnestly. “I just don’t want you putting yourself in danger.”
“I know,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m not blaming you. I just want to help. When danger comes, I want to stand with you.”
“Alright then. Senior Sister, cover me,” Xiao Yifeng said with a smile. “It's race against time. I’m afraid they’ll catch up to us.”
Luohong flashed as it descended, the spirit of the Immortal-Slayer Sword roaring silently as Xiao Yifeng swept downwards.
Drawn by Su Miaoqing’s presence, packs of starving hounds broke away and chased after her, vomiting streams of emerald light from their maws. She weaved through them like a swift bird in flight, slipping past each attack by a hair’s breadth.
Xiao Yifeng seized the moment and advanced towards the stone stele marked Golden Rooster Mountain. Dozens of hounds still guarded it, including two at the Golden Core realm. As soon as they spotted him, a storm of glowing orbs erupted from their mouths.
He pressed forward while dodging, Luohong blazing in his grip. Massive flying swords appeared around him, circling like sentinels before launching themselves one after another at the hounds.
Yet the beasts were unnaturally resilient. Their hides shrugged off the blades, leaving them unscathed as they snarled and lunged towards him.
Xiao Yifeng slashed repeatedly, knocking the hounds aside. Then he pointed skyward. A vast formation unfurled above, and the Heaven Slaying Sword Qi descended. Sword light poured down like rain, sealing the area around the stele in lethal brilliance.
With his cultivation now at the 9th level of Foundation Establishment realm, Xiao Yifeng’s Heaven-Slaying Sword Qi became even more overwhelming. In just a moments, the starving hounds were blasted apart, sent tumbling in all directions.
He rushed to the stone stele, slammed his palm against it, and tore it free from the earth.
Before the two Golden Core realm hounds could even react, he shot skywards.
“Senior Sister, it’s done. Let’s go!” he shouted.
Su Miaoqing wasted no time. She leapt up like a nimble bird, twisting gracefully as she flew towards him.
The two escaped in a flash, leaving the hounds below howling in rage.
“You can’t catch us! You can’t catch us! Bet you’re mad!” she laughed happily from mid-air as she throw a taunt at the hounds.
Xiao Yifeng rubbed his forehead. Senior Sister, at least pretend to respect the Immortal Palace.