Chapter 1004 - The Ninth Spirit Mountain

Chapter 1004: The Ninth Spirit Mountain
Poisonous fire ants were foreign insects with fire attributes, so their resistance to fire was naturally high. Yet they had been turned to ashes in a split second by the Ink Scaled King’s Ink Scale Flames. Even those several miles away could not withstand the might of the flames. Where the Ink Scaled King walked, large patches of poisonous fire ants were immediately vaporized.

Qilin Heaven’s Eye.

Two beams of black light suddenly shot out from the Ink Scaled King’s eyes. The two beams of black light seemed like they were capable of piercing through the dematerialized space. Evil was wiped out everywhere they touched. The poisonous fire ant queen that was hiding amongst the colonies was discovered by him in a split second.

Hmph, these are only little bugs in the later stage of the Primordial Soul Realm. How dare they stand in my way!
the Ink Scaled King huffed coldly.
His figure morphed into a black stream of light and, everywhere it touched, patches of poisonous fire ants turned into ash. After a few breaths’ worth of effort, he arrived at the side of an exceptionally large poisonous fire ant. This was the poisonous fire ant queen.
Hiss!
It seemed the poisonous fire ant queen could tell that danger was upon her. She flexed both of her wings in preparation to flee, but the Ink Scaled King’s gaze was already fixed on her, so there was no way she could escape. A stream of black light pierced straight through her body and she was instantly turned to ash.
After the poisonous fire ant queen died, the colony was without a leader, and it scattered in an attempt to flee.

Right off the bat, the First Spirit Platform is already being guarded by insects like the poisonous fire ant. The Nine Spirits Road test is truly daunting,
Mo Wen said with a sigh. Even without mentioning that the poisonous fire ants’ cultivation was at the later stage of the Primordial Soul Realm, the fact that the colony of poisonous fire ants could block out the sky and the earth was daunting enough. The average Primordial Soul Realm pinnacle practitioner might be able to make it here, but they might not be able to get through to the next Spirit Platform.
It is no wonder that throughout the history of the Huatian Palace, even the most formidable of them had only made it as far as the Fifth Spirit Platform.
After making it past the poisonous fire ant colony, the first Spirit Mountain suddenly appeared in front of their eyes. If he entered the Spirit Mountain, Mo Wen would be able to move to the Creation Pool through the altar inside. However, he did not linger. He continued flying ahead.
The First Spirit Mountain could send him to the Creation Pool, probably even to the edges of the pool. The higher the Spirit Platform, the better the position it could send him to. It was rumored that the Ninth Spirit Platform could send him directly to the core region of the Creation Pool.
Mo Wen’s cultivation was not low. That, along with the three Great Kings escorting him, ensured that the road ahead was practically smooth-sailing.
The Second, Third, and Fourth Spirit Platform… They made it all the way to the Seventh Spirit Platform before they finally ran into some trouble.
The guardian of the Seventh Spirit Platform was a rather intelligent puppet. Its level of cultivation was actually at the intermediary stage of the Tide Changing Realm. On top of that, its body was incomparably sturdy, making it difficult to attack.
A Tide Changing Realm intermediary stage obstacle only appeared on the Nine Spirits Road in the seventh round. It was no wonder there had been no one in the history of the Huatian Palace who had ever made it this far.
Ultimately, it was the Jade Xiu King who made a move to strike down the puppet.
The guardian of the Eighth Spirit Platform was a puppet whose cultivation was actually on a par with the practitioners at the later stage of the Tide Changing Realm. One blast from it and everything within a five hundred-mile radius was affected by its terrifying force of destruction.
The group immediately realized something was not right. Such a terrifying thing had appeared at the Eighth Spirit Platform!
The later stage of the Tide Changing Realm was something they could not contend with. Even the three Great Kings were helpless in the face of this puppet.
The three Great Kings of the ancient land had surpassed the limits. The average Tide Changing Realm preliminary stage practitioner was no match for them, and they could handle the intermediate stage of the Tide Changing Realm, even if they could only barely do so. However, if they wanted to defeat a later stage Tide Changing Realm practitioner, the Jade Xiu King was the only one of them who stood a chance.
And as for the pinnacle of the Tide Changing Realm… Even if the Three Great Kings joined hands, they might not actually win.
Mo Wen’s grew somber. This was only the Eighth Spirit Platform, and they had already been hit with such a strong feeling that it would be difficult for them to progress. What would the Ninth Spirit Platform be like?

How could this be?!

The Multicolor Queen could hardly believe it. The difficulty level of the Nine Spirits Road was actually so high that the Three Great Kings could not make it through?
All of the human preliminary cultivators who took on the challenge of the Path of Creation were at the Primordial Soul Realm and below. Even if there were a few of them who suddenly broke through in the middle of the Path of Creation, they would be at the Primordial Soul Realm preliminary stage at most. Even if they lingered in the preliminary ancient land for a few decades, their cultivation would, at best, only be on a par with that of the three Great Kings. Who could make it through such a difficult test?

The damned Creation Sect, they’re really too much.
The Ink Scaled King felt anger throbbing through his body. So this was it for them?

If the four of us charge at the puppet with all we have, we can probably take it down. After all, it’s just a puppet and not a creature that has cultivated the Way of Immortals. In terms of power, it’s still a far cry from practitioners at the later stage of the Tide Changing Realm. It’s probably only on par with the stronger Tide Changing intermediary stage practitioners,
the Jade Xiu King said calmly. The puppet was not a living creature. The puppet was still some way behind a practitioner of the same realm.

Give it a shot.
The Multicolor Queen had never been as competitive as she was now. They had no way back. If they failed, they would die.

I have to forge my way out of here, even if I die trying,
the Ink Scaled King bellowed. The road to freedom was right in front of his eyes, so he would stop at nothing to destroy anything that stood in his path.

We have no choice but to fight to the death,
the Multicolor Queen sighed. They were only here because of her obstinance.
Mo Wen pursed his lips. In terms of strength, he was still lagging too far behind the three Great Kings. If he were alone, he could still defeat a Tide Changing Realm preliminary stage puppet. However, defeating a Tide Changing intermediary stage puppet was practically out of the question.

You idiot, the difficulty increases fourfold if the four of us charge at the same time.
The group had not expected that Tide Changing later stage puppet could speak.
It was different from the other puppets they had met before. This puppet was evidently intelligent.

If it’s just one person, my cultivation will automatically drop to the Tide Changing intermediary stage. You thought it’d be easier to clear this stage if more of you came at me? How laughable.

The puppet’s words enlightened them. It turned out that the stages of the Nine Spirits Road would self-adjust according to the situation. This was also to prevent a large group of preliminary cultivators charging in a group.
The more people there were, the greater the increase in difficulty level. There was simply no strength in numbers here.
No wonder they had met with that colony of poisonous fire ants right off the bat in the first round. For the average preliminary cultivator, there was no way out of an encounter with a poisonous fire ant colony. Looking back now, it was probably because things were being made four times as difficult for them that they had encountered such a large poisonous fire ant colony.

I see. Well, then, should we split up to get through this round?
The Ink Scaled King blinked. If the puppet’s cultivation lowered to the Tide Changing intermediary stage, then it would be much easier to get defeat it.

You fool, what good would it do if you make it through? The situation will only deteriorate if Mo Wen doesn’t make it through,
the Multicolor Queen huffed. They could split up and go through this round separately, but they first had to ensure Mo Wen would make it through as well. Otherwise, what was the point if Mo Wen could not move on?
It was difficult for the Multicolor Queen to defeat the Tide Changing intermediary stage puppet even if she wanted to. She had sparred with Mo Wen before. With his powers, it was almost impossible for him to defeat a Tide Changing intermediary puppet. This was unless he had concealed his true strength.
Mo Wen frowned, too. Under regular circumstances, he was undoubtedly unable to defeat a Tide Changing intermediary stage puppet. After all, he had not even broken through the Primordial Soul Realm, so ho could he defeat a Tide Changing intermediary stage puppet?
The combative power of a Tide Changing intermediary stage puppet was on par with that of a Tide Changing preliminary stage pinnacle immortal cultivator. Maybe he would not be killed in a battle with a Tide Changing preliminary stage pinnacle immortal cultivator, but wanting to defeat them was simply a pipe dream. He was not afraid of the Multicolor Queen, but even with his Celestial Body, he was simply too far behind her in terms of power.

I’ll bring Mo Wen with me to pass this round. Multicolor and Ink Scaled, you guys go on ahead, separately.

The Jade Xiu King stood up. Given the current situation, it seemed that the best solution was if he took Mo Wen with him to make it through this round. He was the strongest of the three Great Kings, after all, so he could make up for Mo Wen’s shortcomings.
The Multicolor Queen and the Ink Scaled King thought about it, and they agreed that the Jade Xiu King’s solution was the best idea. As such, the two of the immediately retreated, falling behind the perimeter of the Eighth Spirit Mountain.
As expected, after the two of them stepped out of range, the aura of the puppet guarding the round dropped unceasingly. After a moment, his cultivation was only at the level of Tide Changing intermediary stage pinnacle and was no longer at the later stage of the Tide Changing Realm.

Let’s go, Brother Mo Wen.

The Jade Xiu King breathed in deeply. He took one step forward, moving right into the range of the puppet. Any living creature who entered the warning zone would become the puppet’s enemy.

Perish, trespasser,
the guarding puppet said coldly. The blades in his hand lashed out and a crimson red saber light tore through the air. Within a hundred-mile radius, the wind whistled harshly and swept everything away.

Pixiu Sky Consumption Technique.

A large, looming illusory figure suddenly appeared behind the Jade Xiu King. That illusory figure was an ancient beast, and the ancient beast growled with its head to the sky. Its terrifying maw seemed to extend limitlessly as if it could swallow the entirety of the heaven and the earth.
The terrifying crimson red saber light was swallowed and went right into the belly of the huge, illusory beast. It disappeared in an instant as if it had been digested by the huge beast.

He’s so strong, as expected of the king with Pixiu blood.

Mo Wen was silently frightened. The Pixiu was one of the ten great auspicious beasts of primeval legend. It was rumored that this beast could swallow up the heaven and the earth; it had a mouth but no anus, so things went in but not out of it. Anything evil or filthy would become invisible once swallowed by the Pixue. It was because of this that the Pixiu was regarded as an auspicious beast.
The Jade Xiu King engaged the puppet. The puppet was strong, almost far stronger than the Jade Xiu King. However, the Jade Xiu King had battle experience, remarkable power secret technique, and bloodline talent—all of which the puppet was simply no match for. The two traded blows back and forth, but they were equally matched.
Mo Wen could not sit back and watch; he joined the fray immediately. Although he was not taking on the puppet head-on, he could still tip the scales in their favor by causing disruption.
After an hour, the two of them managed to defeat the puppet after pouring all their strength into it.
With a flash of light, Mo Wen made it through the Eight Spirit Mountain and appeared in another group of mountains in the blink of an eye.

They made it through.
Joy was swimming in the Ink Scaled King’s gaze.

The rest is up to us now.
The Multicolor Queen inhaled deeply.
The Ink Scaled King and the Multicolor Queen had extraordinary powers. On top of that, the puppet they encountered had cultivation far lower than the one Mo Wen and the Jade Xiu King encountered. After the fight, they made it through as well.
When they made it to the Ninth Spirit Mountain, they realized the gatekeeper was not a puppet but a dead spirit. It was a dead spirit who had been alive for a long time. No one knew how many years.