Two days passed, and the area outside Hengduan Mountain was remarkably bustling.
Today was the day Hengduan Mountain would open.
The East Desolate Ten Dominators, with the exception of Southern Sea Immortal Island, all forces had arrived.
Fierce Sun Heavenly Sect, Mo Family, Giant Spirit Valley, Six Demon Sect, Li Mountain Sword Pavilion, Mountain God Dao, Heavenly Dragon Dynasty, Myriad Artifacts Saint Sect, Medicine Pavilion.
Nine great overlords.
Beyond the nine great overlords were first-rate major powers—Eternal Mountain Ye Family, Divine Dragon Azure Sea Long Family, Nine Dragons Valley Heavenly Martial Divine Sect, Purple Mist Sect, Qing Hong Sacred Land, Red Sparrow Institute, and others.
All converged outside the entrance to Hengduan Mountain.
Hengduan Mountain had only this one entrance; no other place was accessible.
As previously mentioned, Hengduan Mountain stretched like a chasm between East Desolation Great Domain and Central Earth Divine Continent, towering into the depths of the Nine Heavens Cloud, with Thunder Pond residing atop it.
If someone tried to cross Hengduan Mountain through Sky-controlling Flight, the terrifying power from Thunder Pond would instantly turn them to ash.
Apart from Thunder Pond, there was also a Heavenly Dao suppression above Hengduan Mountain; the more powerful the cultivator, the stronger the suppression they would face.
It was for this reason that no one had ever flown over Hengduan Mountain.
The body of Hengduan Mountain was black, exuding a sense of heavy mystery.
At the entrance, there was a small path, winding like a snake, leading deep into Hengduan Mountain.
Ancient texts recorded that Hengduan Mountain was actually just one mountain, with its true mystery lying inside.
The entire Hengduan Mountain was like a world unto itself.
Only by entering from this entrance could one access the real Hengduan Mountain.
Within it lay various dangers and opportunities.
Similar to the Southern Ghost Tomb.
But the difference between the two was quite substantial.
After all, the Ghost Tomb was merely a small secret realm in the Southern Domain.
Whereas Hengduan Mountain was a renowned forbidden land in East Desolate since ancient times.
Every opening claimed countless lives.
Yet, each opening would attract numerous cultivators, flocking to it like ducks to water.
Even though many cultivators were aware of the extreme dangers and the ever-present threat of death, they would still take the risk, hoping to seize a chance at fortune.
As the saying goes, fortune may follow upon disaster, and disaster may be hidden in fortune.
In Hengduan Mountain, risks abounded, but the opportunities it harbored were immense, and securing them could bring significant benefits!
However, within Hengduan Mountain, there was a formidable Heavenly Dao suppression, preventing any cultivator who had reached the Saint Realm from entering.
This was why most of those who came to Hengduan Mountain were young; only a small fraction of older cultivators participated.
Elder cultivators with exceptional talent had already stepped into the Saint Realm. Those lacking talent were unlikely to make further breakthroughs and had settled down to spend their latter years peacefully, not bothering with the troubles of Hengduan Mountain.
Only those with a modicum of talent but whose strength still lingered at the threshold of the Saint Realm would choose to gamble their lives in Hengduan Mountain.
Successful gambles meant stepping into the Saint Realm, where the sky’s the limit and freedom reigned supreme.
Failure, however, would mean death and dissipation of one’s Dao, their bones buried within Hengduan Mountain, never to emerge again.
Nevertheless, a portion of the elder cultivators had been deliberately arranged to come here.
These were maneuvers by the overlord forces, inducing numerous elders stuck at the threshold of the Saint Realm to enter, to protect the young prodigies and also to afford them the chance to gain from the opportunities within.
This was a competitive strategy.
These older cultivators from major powers, though not having entered the Saint Realm, had practiced Daoist Magic for a lengthy period, making them much more seasoned than many of the younger generation cultivators.
Sometimes, accumulated experience could be vitally important.
Even among them were elder cultivators who had survived a previous venture into Hengduan Mountain and were now re-entering.
Once inside, they would possess tremendous advantages.
This too was part of the big strategies of the overlord forces.
With the convergence of countless major powers, the sky and the earth were swarming with cultivators.
Terrifying auras condensed, directly causing a massive change in the heavens and earth.
It was truly a scene where dust storms rolled across the sky, darkening the sun, and a purple miasma rose from the earth, causing it to dim!
The fearsome weather changes seemed like thunderstorms could break out at any moment.
The atmosphere was extremely solemn.
At this moment, just before Hengduan Mountain was about to open, everyone stopped talking and waited in silence.
All eyes were fixed on the entrance of Hengduan Mountain.
There, an extremely terrifying power was swirling.
It was the forbidden power of the Heavenly Dao!
If someone recklessly ran over at this moment, they would instantaneously turn to ash, with certain death guaranteed!
Only when the Heavenly Dao’s prohibition vanished could anyone enter.
The air was thick with tension.
"Let’s go," Ye Xuan said softly, hands in his pockets, taking the lead towards the entrance of Hengduan Mountain.
When Ye Xuan spoke, the people around him were stunned.
However, after Ye Xuan took a step forward, Zhou Youwei, Zhou Bingyi, Ye Ling’er, Huang Yue, Duan Rourou, Tan Qingshan, Lv Xiuli, and others also followed closely and headed toward the entrance of Hengduan Mountain.
This scene left the entire crowd unable to react.
But soon after, a sizable wave of laughter broke out:
"Has that guy gone mad? The entrance isn’t even open, and they’re heading over?"
"They’re totally walking to their deaths!"
"Isn’t that Ye Xuan? Why would he do such a foolish thing?"
"Could it be that he’s afraid of being targeted by the other five dominators and wants to enter Hengduan Mountain early?"
Many people were saying things like that.
"Stay close to Mr. Ye,"
However, to everyone’s surprise, after Ye Xuan moved out with the members of the Emperor Immortal Sect, the people from the Mo family and Ye Family soon followed suit.
But from their expressions, it could be seen that their faces were very pale, clearly very anxious about this matter.
However, it seemed that to follow Ye Xuan, they chose to act.
Behind them, Ning Zongtang and Mu Baicheng watched as Ye Xuan and the others headed for Hengduan Mountain with calm expressions, ignoring the laughter from around them.
In fact, before they set out, Ye Xuan had already given them a heads up.
Although they all knew the iron rule of Hengduan Mountain, that entry was absolutely forbidden before it was opened,
they each chose to believe in Ye Xuan.
The elders of the Ye Family and the Mo family were indeed solemn at this moment. Although they also believed in Ye Xuan, this was, after all, Hengduan Mountain. Watching the people from the Ye Family and Mo family follow Ye Xuan, they also broke out in a cold sweat.
If they failed, it would mean total annihilation.
But they believed that Ye Xuan surely knew the consequences and would not act without reason.
However, this scene looked very different in the eyes of others.
The tens of millions of cultivators watched like they were staring at fools as Ye Xuan and his party marched boldly toward Hengduan Mountain.
The scene was as if everyone was marching together to their deaths.
"What are they doing?" Song Qilin furrowed his brows deeply, utterly baffled.
Even he could not understand Ye Xuan’s move.
(ps: Old Ghost didn’t say it in the main text yesterday, but I had a recurrence of a waist injury, and in addition, my cervical spine has deformed, so the updates have slowed down recently, I hope everyone understands...)