25. Junxingzi's Unexplained Disappearance
"Wow, the maze is so big after it's been cleared out!"
Pipi stood on Beichen's shoulder praising him, like Sun Wukong entering the Grand View Garden for the first time, exclaiming "Wow!" at every turn.
After Bei Chen's entourage unleashed a flurry of punches, the maze became more interconnected and less cramped. They also discovered that at the end of the maze stood an exquisitely crafted palace.
Although deep within the cave, the place was not stuffy at all; on the contrary, it was cool and spacious, with echoes reverberating when one spoke. The gilded glass door let in a soft light, and various colorful lanterns strung with pearls of different sizes were inlaid into the walls at different heights. The mud walls of the mountain were covered with colorful silk, Shu embroidery, and silk paintings. The group, who were almost blinded by the dazzling splendor, were quickly drawn in and split into two groups.
Pipi clung to Beichen as they wandered around, and Beichen seemed to enjoy being relied upon. He kindly introduced things to Pipi as they walked, "This is black iron, this is meteorite... Oh? And this small pure gold cauldron, what can it be used to burn? For decoration?"
Tangxi and You were still worried: "Don't go too far!"
Pipi: "I know! I'm with Beichen!"
Tang Xi sighed helplessly, "These two guys are treating the maze like their own home... Ghost Square?"
Gui Fang, holding the corner of his robe, walked step by step to the golden throne, casually lay down on it, crossed his legs, and surveyed the group of bald toads below.
The skinned toads, with their legs tucked in and shoulders hunched, peeked out from behind the Golden Toad, their necks tethered by thin golden threads, the other end of which was controlled by the skull fingertips of the Ghost Fang.
Tang Xihe: "..."
This guy is really acting like he's the master.
Tangxi and Tiqi leaped onto the stage and whispered a reminder to Guifang: "Don't go too far. They didn't hurt anyone this time."
Gui Fang glanced at him sideways, "How can you be more merciful than Bei Chen? It didn't harm anyone this time, but has it never harmed anyone before? Are those twenty-odd spinning wheels just sitting there collecting dust?"
"No way? Looking at the Golden Toad's eyes, he doesn't seem like someone who has killed anyone. Besides, the Immortal Alliance has an order that monsters in the secret realm must not harm cultivators, and those who violate this order will have their entire clan punished."
Tangxi and Jian Guifang's expressions softened, and they pressed on, "You've skinned them, absorbed their golden threads, and we've even had a free night's rest. Haven't we already gotten more than enough?"
Gui Fang pretended to take the toad skin out of his storage ring, "Then I'll give it back to them..."
The toads below the stage couldn't hide their joy.
Gui Fang immediately put the storage ring away again, "...That's impossible."
The toads in the audience looked like poached eggs with teary eyes, feeling wronged.
Tangxi couldn't help but criticize him: "You have a terrible sense of humor."
"I'll keep the toad skin for you. Next time you meet Bu Chengzhi, I'll give it to him for you."
Gui Fang admired his brand-new left hand.
The dark gold skeleton of the left hand, forged into a skeletal hand, expanded and contracted with the movements of the ghost, with fine golden threads extending from the fingertips to the necks of the toads below the stage.
"Tsk, it's so yellow, and it's not symmetrical to the right claw. It's annoying."
The Golden Toad, emboldened, said from below the stage, "Immortal Master, I can turn stones into gold. Do you need my right hand bone? If it's within my power, I will cooperate! Could you spare our lives?"
"No rush." Gui Fang switched legs, raised his fingers slightly, and gradually tightened the silk threads at his fingertips.
The group of bald underlings dared not speak out in anger, looking at their leader, Golden Toad, with aggrieved eyes. Golden Toad, in turn, looked at Ghost Fang sitting on the golden throne with aggrieved eyes.
Gui Fang Wu Di smiled warmly at Jin Chan Lao, "Tell me honestly, how many people have you harmed with the wishing cocoon?"
"Uh, really no... Actually, being wrapped in a wishing cocoon won't be fatal."
The Golden Toad noticed the golden thread around its neck tightening, and it shrank back in fright, pointing to its temple, "The wishing cocoon... will affect this place."
"Um?"
The Golden Toad felt the golden threads around its neck tightening and hurriedly said, "Not only! Not only! I was wrong! The spiritual power of the immortals wrapped in the Wishing Cocoon will be swallowed by the threads! It's like we toads are using the Wishing Cocoon to devour the immortals' spiritual power! Cough cough cough..."
·
Six months ago.
In the secret realm, Junxing Mountain, known for its abundant high-quality resources and minimal trial difficulty, has gradually seen the news of the Lord's disappearance spread.
At first, no monsters paid any attention, as each monster was busy repairing its own territory.
Junxing Mountain is the preferred training ground for immortals, and Junxingzi, as the prefect, is extremely busy with affairs. Today she's reporting to the Demon Management Bureau that "xx subordinates were seriously injured during this trial, and we are requesting a subsidy of xx immortal coins." Tomorrow she'll complain to the Immortal Alliance that "these trial students have acted recklessly and should be seriously criticized and educated." The day after tomorrow she'll be submitting a new batch of spiritual plants as results to the Secret Realm Management Bureau headquarters...
In short, it's quite normal for the Lord to occasionally go missing for a period of time while he's in the blessed land.
But soon, the surrounding monsters and local deities realized something was wrong.
More and more immortals are heading to other blessed lands for trials. From the immortals, we learn that the entire Junxing Mountain is lifeless, Junxingzi is nowhere to be found, and a barrier has been erected around Junxing Mountain, making it impossible to enter. Forced by their mission, the immortals have no choice but to take a roundabout approach and find other places to conduct trials, so the number of trial participants heading to other prefectures has suddenly increased.
"Unable to access?"
Bei Chen returned at some point, wearing a spiky hat. After listening for a while, he suddenly interjected, "The last time I went into Junxing Mountain was at the beginning of last year."
Bei Chen accompanied Junxing Mountain for almost every trial, so he was quite familiar with Junxingzi.
However, while the other students found the trials at Junxing Mountain easy, Beichen simply felt that the atmosphere of Junxing Mountain was very comfortable. Every time he stepped into Junxing Mountain, he felt a sense of complete relaxation throughout his body, down to every pore.
However, upon closer reflection, it has indeed been a long time since I've seen Junxingzi.
Pipi, only half understanding, couldn't help but ask, "So, the master of each 'blessed land' is the Lord of the Underworld, and above the Lord of the Underworld is the Secret Realm Management Bureau? Then what about the Monster Management Bureau? Is everyone in the Secret Realm World?"
After saying that, it held its head and said, "This is so confusing! I don't understand!"
Tang Xi explained, "The secret world is divided into several areas, with humans and demons residing in different areas. Humans live in one area, while the area where the demons live was originally called 'Cave Heaven and Abode.' After being mistakenly called that for a long time, the demons' residential area was renamed 'Cave Heaven and Blessed Land.'"
"But if we trace it back to its origin, the entire secret realm was originally a blessed land. Various demons fought for many years, making the secret realm a mess and causing the human world to become chaotic as well."
"Therefore, the immortals of the fairy world took action to rectify the situation and set up various departments and organizations in the human settlements to strictly supervise the monsters that were causing trouble."
Pipi nodded as if she understood, and Beichen added from the side, "This is where cultivators do their missions. When you say 'going to the secret realm,' you actually mean coming to the blessed land."
"Oh dear, so whether you're human or demon, you all live in the same world, why make it so complicated?"
Pipi muttered to himself, noticing that the Golden Toad was staring at him with a strange expression.
"...Why are you looking at me?"
"What exactly are you..."
The Golden Toad scratched his chin. "You're a demon too, how come you know nothing? You don't know about the Secret Realm, the Immortal Realm, or the Human Realm?"
Pipi: "..."
In fact, it took it a long time to realize that the place it was in was not the 'human world'. When its primordial spirit fell into Tangxi and its body, Pipi's impression of the Three Realms was still at the stage of "the Three Realms merging into the Immortal Continent".
Who knows? I slept in my eggshell and the outside world changed completely; I couldn't even find a single one of my kind.
Pipi stubbornly insisted, "I know now!"
The Golden Toad looked somewhat tense. "Then... do you still remember the 'great and solemn long-term mission of the blessed land'?"
Bei Chen and Gui Fang didn't understand. Bei Chen, who was accompanying them, subconsciously asked, "What mission? To deliver the demon core?"
Tang Xi's heart skipped a beat.
You stinky toad, you're quite bold, thinking nobody knows, huh?
"Actually, I—"
Pipi opened her mouth, but suddenly realized that the terrifying Gui Fang Wu Di and Bei Chen Sui Xing, who could smash ten walls with one punch, were both beside her. She shuddered and quickly changed her words, "I have a vague feeling, but I can't remember anything. I also lost my primordial spirit, so I came back to find my clan."
"Wait! Don't get off-topic!"
Gui Fang asked sharply, "What does this have to do with the wishing cocoon in your maze?"
"Yes, of course we're related!"
The old man with the golden toad hurriedly said, "If I hadn't gone to Junxing Mountain, I wouldn't have dared to have such a crooked idea about the wishing cocoon!"
·
The mysterious Junxingzi has been missing for a long time. The monsters in her territory are nowhere to be found, and monsters from outside cannot enter. Moreover, there is an additional barrier around Junxing Mountain.
An uneasy atmosphere permeated the grotto-heaven and blessed land.
The disappearance of any minor demon might not have caused such a great unease, and under the strict supervision of various departments, the blessed land had been peaceful for many years, with the undercurrents within being harmless.
But the missing demon is Junxingzi, a great demon from a blessed land, a local lord. How could he disappear without a trace?
To appease their demon subordinates, the local lords would send their minions to Junxing Mountain every few days to probe the area. Many demons reported to their lords that they occasionally saw a group of mysterious men in black coming to reinforce the barrier.
Some demons said it was from the Secret Realm Management Bureau, others said it was from the Immortal Alliance headquarters, or the Demon Management Bureau... The news spread wider and wider, with many different opinions, and the demons were filled with fear.
The various prefectural lords were eager to make their move, secretly contacting each other in an attempt to break the strange barrier and enter Junxing Mountain to investigate the situation.
Jin Chan Lao was also among those invited.
Maze Mountain is located on the border, and no immortals would ever come to such a remote border for trials. Moreover, the Golden Toad knew that it was weak—it didn't even know the most basic poison skills of other toads, and could only turn stones into gold, which was useless against demons. Naturally, it did not dare to compete with the other lords and was always ranked at the bottom.
So when he received the "invitation to save Junxing Mountain", Jin Chan Lao was flattered.
It was puzzled, and after much thought, it concluded that the reason it, so weak, could receive an invitation was probably because of its demon core.
It was this very demon core that made Golden Toad the Lord of Maze Mountain, surrounded by his many followers.
Not all monsters can cultivate a demon core, but the Golden Toad discovered that besides his enhanced ability to turn stones into gold, he was still a useless toad who couldn't use poison.
That's the kind of person I am, yet I'm followed by a bunch of silly little brothers.
Just as the Golden Toad was feeling secretly inferior and sad, he suddenly received this solemn invitation letter, which carried a strong sense of mission.
Is there something unusual about Junxing Mountain?
If I perform a great service, I might be able to apply for a demon cultivator's license! That way, I can get rid of my toad form and cultivate into human form!
The Golden Toad was overjoyed and went to the appointment with the invitation.
The incident occurred when all the demon lords gathered at Junxing Mountain.
·
At the beginning of winter, more than three months had passed since Junxingzi went missing.
Jin Chan Lao traveled alone to Junxing Mountain, encountering other local deities along the way. When the demons arrived at Junxing Mountain, they found that it was indeed as rumored.
A light black barrier was set up around it, which was extremely hard and made it impossible to see what was inside. There was no demonic energy inside the barrier, and no monsters outside could enter the territory of Junxing Mountain.
The Golden Toad and the various lords tried every means to attack together, but they could not break the barrier.
The blessed land is spring-like all year round, but now Junxing Mountain is exuding a very ominous and eerie atmosphere. Since everyone here is a demon, they can't help but worry that something might really happen to Junxingzi.
Just as the Golden Toad was discussing what to do with the other lords, suddenly, the immortals from the Demon Management Bureau descended from the sky, angrily arresting all the lords present for "suspected group attack on a lord" and sending them to the Demon Management Bureau for severe punishment.
Who is suspected of being targeted by a group attack?
The Golden Toad and the other lords were completely bewildered and cried out for justice, but the men in black ignored them and imprisoned them in a small dark room for several days.
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