Time grew later and later.
The vast majority of the entire Shengyuan Mountain was completely covered by dense vegetation.
Consequently, the light here was even dimmer compared to the outside world.
Although the influence of light was practically negligible for cultivators at or above the Martial Spring Realm.
It still made the people traversing the mountain more cautious and caused their hearts to beat faster.
Because they were well aware of the habits of the demonic beasts in this mountain.
Along the way, they had encountered quite a few low-level demonic beasts.
All were first or second tier, completely unworthy of concern.
However...
Wei Kun stopped walking, looked around in all directions, and then said:
"Based on experience, the deeper one goes into the mountain, the denser the demonic beast population should be. Yet, the current silence in this mountain is indeed a bit too eerie."
As he spoke, Wei Kun turned his head to glance in the direction of Chen Yan and Li Haowen.
In the depths of Shengyuan Mountain, these two Kongshan Sect cultivators were indeed the reliance of this group.
"Hmm."
Chen Yan responded.
Just as Wei Kun said, the current Shengyuan Mountain was terrifyingly quiet.
"How much farther is it to the place Senior Brother Li and I need to go?"
Chen Yan asked in Wei Kun's direction.
Hearing this, Wei Kun picked up the map in his hand again, compared it with the surrounding environment, then bowed respectfully towards Chen Yan and said:
"Reporting to Senior, regarding the exact remaining distance, this junior truly cannot guarantee, because this map is simply too old... What this junior can guarantee is that the straight-line distance between our current location and the destination marked on the map is definitely no more than five li."
Chen Yan nodded.
At that distance, it should be about right.
He slowly closed his eyes.
In an instant, the world completely transformed within his perception.
The sound of wind, the rustling of leaves, and the suppressed breathing and heartbeats of the cultivators in the group were all instantly stripped away, sinking into an absolute silence.
Replacing them, his spiritual sense extended like intangible, formless tentacles, radiating outwards rapidly in all directions from him, seeping through everything.
His spiritual sense swept over gnarled tree roots, penetrated damp soil, brushed past cold rocks, probed into deep, dark canopies...
Everything within a radius of a hundred zhang unfolded completely in his mind like an exquisitely detailed painting.
It was a silent painting.
But originally, it shouldn't have been like this.
The true qi throughout Chen Yan's body began to surge, assisting his spiritual sense as it continued to probe further into the distance.
Until it touched an invisible wall.
Chen Yan opened his eyes. The direction he was staring directly at was precisely the specific location where his spiritual sense had just been blocked.
A faint demonic aura seeped out from the direction Chen Yan was gazing.
A Sixth Realm Great Demon.
Just as Chen Yan himself had anticipated, this journey would not be very smooth.
The place where Kong Yang had left True Person Minghua's Dao Basis back then was right there.
"Alright, you all can go back now."
Chen Yan said calmly.
Hearing this, Wei Kun was slightly stunned. He looked towards Chen Yan with some disbelief, then bowed respectfully again and said:
"I wonder what Senior means by going back..."
"Return to the town. You won't be needed from here on. Be careful on the way back."
Wei Kun hesitated. He first looked at the few helpers recruited from the town beside him, then finally stole a glance at Li Haowen.
Seeing that Li Haowen showed no reaction, a flicker of delight flashed in Wei Kun's eyes.
He certainly knew just how dangerous the depths of Shengyuan Mountain were.
Especially in a situation like this, the quieter it was, the worse things likely were.
Immediately, Wei Kun bowed separately towards Chen Yan and Li Haowen and said:
"In that case, this junior and the fellow daoists here will take our leave first. If in the future Manager Li and Senior have any tasks requiring this junior's service, please do not hesitate to ask. This junior will be duty-bound and will not refuse!"
His words sounded truly pleasant.
He also ran away fast enough.
The "conscripted laborers" grabbed from the small town all hurriedly ran towards the outer areas of Shengyuan Mountain, leaving only Chen Yan and Li Haowen standing in place.
"Junior Brother Chen."
Li Haowen spoke up:
"Why have you come to Shengyuan Mountain, and why did you have me bring the Yuanji Sword and the Xiaohua Sword?"
This was the first time Li Haowen had asked Chen Yan this question.
Chen Yan first remained silent for a moment. After a few breaths, he finally slowly began to speak:
"Ten thousand years ago, the Kongshan Sect Steward, True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, came alone to this Shengyuan Mountain to suppress the Eighth Realm Great Demon that had slaughtered over sixteen million commoners across two prefectures and seven cities in the Western Region borderlands of Qingque Kingdom. To ensure that the demonic beasts of Shengyuan Mountain would no longer harm living beings in the future, True Person Kong did two things. Do you know what those two things were, Senior Brother Li?"
"Supporting the cultivation sects around Shengyuan Mountain, and promoting the enthusiasm of those sects to hunt demonic beasts through demon core trade?"
Li Haowen half-asked, half-answered.
"The two answers Senior Brother gave are essentially one answer."
Chen Yan shook his head:
"True Person Kong left something in Shengyuan Mountain."
"What?"
"True Person Minghua, Xie Shouzhuo's Dao Basis."
The air seemed to solidify for a moment.
"...Dao Basis?"
Li Haowen's eyes were filled with disbelief.
The current Li Haowen was merely a Spirit Connection Realm cultivator.
He was still a whole Myriad Transformations Realm away from the Upper Three Realms.
He didn't have much understanding of so-called immortal Dao Basis. He only knew that forging a Dao Basis was a necessary step for Divine Ability Realm cultivators advancing towards the Dao Union Realm.
And Ascending to Immortality required condensing a Spiritual Platform upon the Dao Basis.
But... a Dao Basis was actually a "thing"?
This completely exceeded Li Haowen's understanding.
In the past, before the Great Dao recovered on the Chenping Continent, a major event occurred in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range.
Namely, the Dao Basis left behind in the world by Su Hongzhen was corrupted by the Heavenly Dao, eventually turning into a Great Demon's Egg of a realm above Immortal Ascension.
However, this matter was only known to the few Dao Union Realm great powers of the Five Great Sects and the several current Ascended Immortals in the world.
Because this matter concerned Sword Immortal Su's posthumous reputation.
Back then, Su Hongzhen attempted to defy the heavens single-handedly. Although he ultimately failed, he still earned the respect of all cultivators in the Chenping Continent's cultivation world.
No one wanted the Dao Basis Su Hongzhen left behind in the world to tarnish Sword Immortal Su's lifelong heroic reputation.
Therefore, what the current cultivators of the Chenping Continent knew was only that a Great Demon's Egg had been born in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range, and after the Great Dao recovered, the Kongshan Sect's True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, easily destroyed it.
Li Haowen was the same.
His current level was far from sufficient to touch upon matters of Dao Basis.
"Acting under Patriarch Kong's order, the purpose of this journey is for me to come here and retrieve Ancestor Xie's Dao Basis."
Chen Yan said, shifting his gaze to the two swords at Li Haowen's waist:
"And Senior Brother Li, the Yuanji Sword and Xiaohua Sword you carry are the keys to unlocking the seal on True Person Minghua's Dao Basis. This is a restriction placed by Patriarch Kong back then."