Chapter 260

Chapter 260: A 100,000-year-old rift, rule suppression, and encounters

“The waves are truly magnificent, a wonder of the world.”

Walking on the bridge, Ma Gu couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement at the surrounding scenery.

They had already walked quite a distance on the bridge.

Beneath their feet lay the surging river, shrouded by swirling mist. The morning sun in the distant sky stained it with a hue of orange, a truly magnificent sight.

“It’s said that this great river stretches endlessly, all the way to the southern sea. I wonder if it’s true

,” Wei Zi’an remarked. “That’s certainly true,” the old doctor nodded.

Lu Qing carefully sensed the spiritual energy in the surrounding space.

He could sense that the spiritual energy grew increasingly dense as he walked forward.

This only heightened his anticipation for what the scenery would be like once he truly entered the pass and stepped into Zhongzhou.

The river at Qinglong Pass was truly magnificent.

It took them quite a while to finally reach the end.

Lu Qing estimated that the bridge was over a thousand feet long.

In other words, the surging river at Qinglong Pass is over three thousand meters wide.

No wonder Qinglong Pass is known as the world’s greatest fortress. With such a formidable barrier, crossing it would be extremely difficult for even martial arts masters, save for those at the Xiantian realm who can walk on water.

After all, the river is so vast and swift, and no one knows what dangers lie beneath.

While martial arts masters possess a long-lasting breath and immense vitality, capable of holding their breath for extended periods underwater, they may not be able to do so with ease.

Stepping down from the bridge, Lu Qing and his companions were greeted by a completely different scene.

Ahead of them lay a towering cliff, stretching across the landscape like a barrier between heaven and earth, its summit

stretching as far as the eye could see. A person standing on the ground would seem dwarfed by the sight of an ant.

And on the cliff itself, a vertical crack ran from top to bottom, traversing the entire surface, as if split open by some immense force.

Lu Qing and his companions were about to pass through this fissure.

“Could this crack in the cliff have been carved by someone?”

Wei Zi’an, shocked by the scene, couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Nonsense! This cliff is so tall, you can’t even see the top. How could it have been carved by someone? If that were the case, wouldn’t that person be an immortal…”

Ma Gu was about to retort, but as he spoke, his eyes widened and he turned to look at Lu Qing.

He remembered Lu Qing saying that immortals existed in ancient times.

“Master Ma, don’t look at me like that. This crack has been there for who knows how many tens of thousands of years. How could I possibly know about something so long ago? Perhaps when we return later, we can ask the people in Qinglong City and learn more.” Lu Qing smiled.

Ma Gu nodded.

Indeed, although the Lu Qing brothers were knowledgeable, they couldn’t possibly know everything.

“Let’s go! After crossing this valley, we’ll officially enter Zhongzhou.”

Lu Qing and his companions walked slowly, admiring the scenery from the bridge. By the time they got off, they were the last people left.

Even Hu Laosan’s daughter and the others, who had been behind them, were seen by Lu Qing midway, passing him and moving forward.

By this point, there were no others around them; most had already entered the valley.

Several people began to move towards the rift.

Lu Qing then slowly withdrew his gaze, suppressing the shock that lingered in his eyes.

Within his field of vision, several notes slowly faded.

[Blue Dragon’s Line of Sky: A fissure in the canyon, a chasm carved out by a powerful master with supreme magical power in the ancient era of immortal cultivation.]

[This canyon is incredibly ancient, exceeding a hundred thousand years old.]

[Through this canyon, one enters the Zhongzhou realm.]

…

Lu Qing hadn’t been telling the truth.

He had already used his supernatural powers to uncover the origins of this terrifying rift.

However, he couldn’t share the information he had uncovered.

After all, the rift existed too long ago. This

ancient relic, a hundred thousand years old, spanned two eras of immortal cultivation.

Perhaps no one in the world today knows the true origin of this earth-shattering rift.

Unfortunately, perhaps because it existed so long ago, Lu Qing couldn’t sense any special aura from the rift, let alone any inheritance.

Entering the rift, Lu Qing and his companions were once again filled with amazement.

From a distance, the crack in the cliff wall seemed narrow, but once inside, they discovered it was vastly spacious.

The cliff walls on either side were at least twenty feet apart. This wasn’t just a rift, it was a vast valley.

The valley was also incredibly long, and as they continued deeper, Lu Qing’s heart grew more and more awe-inspiring.

By the time they had completely crossed the valley, he was completely astonished.

He estimated that the valley was also over a thousand feet long.

He found it difficult to imagine the immense power possessed by that great master from a hundred thousand years ago to deliver such a devastating blow.

Perhaps only a true immortal could possess such omnipotent powers.

“Finally out,”

Magu breathed a sigh of relief as they left the valley.

When he was in the valley earlier, he had always inexplicably sensed a certain majestic and solemn atmosphere, which made him afraid to even breathe.

Now, he finally understood why the people ahead of him were walking so fast, not lingering in the valley at all.

No one could endure the inexplicable pressure within the valley for too long.

If they stayed for too long, their minds would likely falter.

Lu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. Even someone as mentally resilient as him felt some pressure while in the valley.

He didn’t know if it was the Dao rhyme left behind by the supremely powerful master who had created the earth-shattering rift, or if it was simply the inherent oppression of the mountains.

Even with his supernatural powers, he couldn’t discern the source.

“Is this Zhongzhou?”

Standing at the valley’s exit, Lu Qing and the others relaxed for a moment before looking ahead.

They found themselves midway up a mountain range.

In the distance, a vast expanse stretched, and beneath them lay a deep abyss. Clouds drifted, and birds flew by.

The sight was truly refreshing and expansive.

“The spiritual energy here…”

Lu Qing sensed it, his eyes widening slightly.

He discovered that the spiritual energy in the surrounding space was far richer than in the valley itself, more than double that of Qinglong City.

However, while feeling the spiritual energy becoming more dense, he also discovered another problem.

That is, the range of his soul’s perception has been greatly suppressed.

Originally, he could sense movements several miles away, but now he can only sense half a mile at most.

“Is it because of the interference caused by the dense spiritual energy, or the special suppression of the Zhongzhou territory?”

Lu Qing was slightly shocked and pondered.

You know, just this morning, his soul power reached its limit again, and the sensing range increased a lot.

Unexpectedly, after entering Zhongzhou, not only did it not get strengthened, but it was suppressed.

This is not good news for him.

“It is worthy of being the center of the world, a place blessed by nature, and a place of spiritual beauty.”

The old doctor also sensed the shift in the surrounding spiritual energy and couldn’t help but praise it.

After just a short moment, he felt a slight improvement in his spiritual power.

“Master, do you feel that our spiritual sensing abilities seem to have been suppressed quite a bit?” Lu Qing asked.

“Indeed, Master, I can now only sense movements within a radius of a hundred meters at best,” the old doctor observed.

“I wonder if this suppression applies to everyone, or just outsiders like us,” Lu Qing said with some concern.

“It shouldn’t be directed at us,” the old doctor thought for a moment. “I can sense that the laws of nature in Zhongzhou are evolving faster than those in the outside world. It’s the laws of nature, not anything else, that’s suppressing us.”

“That’s good,”

Lu Qing said, feeling slightly relieved.

While his spiritual power was formidable, he hadn’t yet reached the Xiantian realm, and his perception of the laws of nature wasn’t as clear as his master’s.

“Master, should we head directly to the Holy Mountain, or what?” Lu Qing asked.

“Let’s go to the Holy Mountain first,” the old doctor said. “After arriving here, I had a vague feeling that something in the distance was drawing me. Judging from its direction, it must be the Holy Mountain.”

“Master, you felt it too?” Lu Qing was slightly startled.

Just now, he too had felt something pulling his mind far ahead.

A sudden realization arose in his heart. Could it be that the great opportunity he had been sensing all along was right there?

“Master, let’s get on the carriage. Zhongzhou is vast. According to the map given by Senior Xuanjizi, the Holy Mountain is still far away.”

“Okay,”

the old doctor nodded.

They had finally experienced the scenery of Zhongzhou, and it was time to hurry on.

The huge platform Lu Qing and his companions were currently on was halfway up the mountain, but to the left, a wide road led down the mountain.

After climbing aboard the carriage, Ma Gu cracked his whip, and the carriage slowly began to move.

However, Lu Qing still hadn’t activated the formation on the carriage.

Zhongzhou is a land of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and the formations on the carriage were a bit eye-catching. They had just

arrived, so it wasn’t advisable to be too conspicuous. The carriage slowly accelerated, heading down the mountain. However, just a short distance away, it suddenly jolted.

Ma Gu shouted, the horses neighed, and the carriage abruptly stopped.

The sudden change immediately triggered a chain reaction.

Xiaoyan and Wei Zi’an, caught off guard, rushed forward.

At the critical moment, Lu Qing hugged Xiaoyan and reached out to hold Wei Zi’an down, preventing them from crashing into the carriage.

As for Xiaoli and Master, both of them possessed extraordinary skills, so his help was naturally unnecessary.

“Master Ma, what happened?”

Lu Qing shouted softly, holding Xiaoyan, who was still in shock.

However, before Ma Gu could reply, a voice came from the front.

“Little bitch, I don’t see where you can run!”

“Uncle, help me!”

What was going on?

Lu Qing comforted Xiaoyan and stepped out of the carriage.

When he saw the situation outside clearly, he was stunned.

In front of the carriage, a young girl was lying on the ground, with disheveled hair and messy clothes.

Her legs were stained with blood, and she was obviously injured.

A little further ahead, there were three figures holding weapons, slowly approaching this side.

Such a scene naturally did not scare Lu Qing.

The reason why he was stunned was that he had seen these people before.

The girl was none other than Hu Laosan’s daughter, and the three figures were friends who Hu Laosan asked to help escort his daughter to the Xuanxin Sect.

But now, it was obvious that Hu Laosan had entrusted the wrong people.

The three people seemed to be about to harm the girl.

“Little bitch, hand over the things, otherwise I will strip you n*ked, chop you into eight pieces, and throw you into this abyss to feed the wolves!”

Among the three figures, the woman in red clothes holding a long whip said coldly.

“It would be a shame to strip her n*ked! Such a pretty girl, we two brothers must enjoy her at least once,”

one of the other two men, a large man in gray, shouted with a sly grin.

The thin man next to him also wore a lewd smile. “Yes, this girl is so pretty, we can’t let her go to waste!”

He acted as if no one else was around, as if he didn’t care about Lu Qing and the others at all.

“I don’t care what you two do, but we must keep the things,” the woman in red said coldly, disgusted.

“No!”

The girl, seeing the three men approaching, was terrified. She quickly crawled towards the carriage and pleaded with Ma Gu again.

“Uncle, help! These three evil men are trying to kill me!”

“Master Ma, what’s wrong?” Lu Qing asked.

“Sir, I was driving the carriage just now, and when I turned a corner, I almost hit this girl. I had to stop the carriage,” Ma Gu explained.

“Young Master…”

The girl, upon seeing Lu Qing and hearing Ma Gu’s address, pleaded with him, as if she had found a lifeline.

“Boy, you want to get involved in this mess?”

The gray-clad man, holding a large, ghost-headed sword, looked at Lu Qing with interest.

He recognized Lu Qing and Ma Gu; they had met before, crossing the bridge.

If he remembered correctly, Lu Qing’s group consisted entirely of the elderly, the weak, and the sick—not just the elderly, but children as well.

Aside from the groom, who possessed some strength, the others were no match for him.

The other red-dressed woman and the thin man also glared coldly.

Lu Qing ignored them, instead looking at the girl. Suddenly, a strange light flashed in his eyes.

He asked, “Who is Hu Lao San to you?”

The girl paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up with ecstasy. “He’s my father, he’s my father. Do you know my father?”

“We’ve met once,” Lu Qing said calmly. “But aren’t these people your father’s friends? Why would they want to harm you?”

“Because… be careful!”

The girl hadn’t finished her words when a sudden gust of wind blew, and the gray-clad man appeared before Lu Qing.

A sinister grin crossed his face: “You don’t know what’s good for you, boy? Let me tell you why!”

He raised his ghost-headed broadsword high in the air and slashed at Lu Qing.

The sheer force of the blow made the girl close her eyes, unwilling to witness the horrific sight of Lu Qing being cleaved in two.

Sure enough, the next moment, a scream rang out, and the girl trembled all over, knowing that Lu Qing might have been hacked to death.

But soon, she found something wrong, because the scream did not seem to come from Lu Qing.

The girl quickly opened her eyes, and then her eyes widened instantly.

Because she saw that Lu Qing, who she originally thought was going to be hacked in half, was not only standing there perfectly still, without a scratch.

Instead, it was the big man in gray who was falling to the ground and screaming.

Not only did the ghost-headed sword in his hand fall to the ground, but his limbs were twisted at a weird angle and he couldn’t move.

What happened just now?

Bewilderment appeared on the girl’s pretty face. (End of this chapter)