Buried Ridge Forbidden Ground

Atop the ancient peak, 33 platforms soaked in the scarlet-most blood stood. At the centre of these blood filled platforms were three that were clearly distinct from the rest, on each of these peculiar ones stood at the very least a 9th level ascendant.

On the central platform pointing to the North were Di Yan, Kang Tian and Xi Wenling.

On the central platform pointing to the Southeast was the prideful Pei Qing.

On the central platform pointing to the Southwest was the ethereal monk, Meng Hao. He carelessly sat atop the pile of corpses he had carried previously, these same corpses were slowly being gobbled down by his platform.

A mini spatial formation was inscribed on each platforms.

These, however, needed an overwhelming amount of blood and flesh to activate. Any fool could guess that these platforms were merely gates to a true inheritance region.

Similar spatial transference platforms were placed all throughout the Gorge forbidden ground and many eerily alike brutal melees had also been conducted near them. The true elites had slaughtered the others in hope to activate them.

At that particular instance, a heavy smell of iron lingered throughout the whole of the trial grounds. The excessive bloodshed had culled the ascendants to an unprecedented level.

In response to that previously unheard level of chaos, the numerous spatial platforms began to hum, an uncanny and profound continuous sound. The thrum went towards each and every corner of the Darknorth Immortal Gorge — a select few elites who hadn't fought to activate the platforms were also personally being summoned.

They were various top-notch geniuses who gained already extraordinary inheritances amongst the chaos of the Immortal Ascension Selection.

A unique group even amongst these elites were also targeted. The Netherworld Prince, Pei Yun'er, Han Youdi and Ji Bolin — all of them who had had successfully achieved their Nirvana were being forcefully invited to that hidden forbidden ground.

𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮

The clear mountain air contained a trace of mist that surrounded the mountain range. If one bothered to raise their heads, they could sense the surreal power oozing from the skies. This area was truly uncanny and seemingly unreal, a pocket realm hidden somewhere within the Gorge.

Usually inside this surreal dimension, only an exceptional quiet would reign but not today.

There were suddenly many silhouettes of humans, all in groups of three or more. All of them appeared suddenly in the air and stood respectively in their own positions around the area, all of them scanning up to the horizons which led to the depths of the mountains.

About 3,000 such human would be present inside this Buried Ridge, they were elites amongst the surviving geniuses.

These people were none other than the various heaven chosen in the Darknoth Immortal Gorge who had brilliantly activated the main platforms of their trial area. Those of inferior strength were obviously transported to a forbidden ground of lesser importance.

Although these Hidden Mountains were hard to access, when there were that many bold experts gathered, who also happened to possess tyrannical strength, they 'easily' gained access to the region. This was especially true when considering the fact that many peak ascendants brought in the lesser rankers of their region or their juniors. No one would want to miss out on such a possible treasure trove, and people had been gathering since a few days now.

In the Buried Ridge, the ascendants were still divided into three distinct groups but the strife was overwhelmingly more brutal in Bolin's 3000 genius group.

On the previous several inheritance places, it was true that the value of the endless secret arts and innate techniques were high but within these hidden mountains whose entrances were so high profile ought to be far far more valuable ones.

In any case, any inheritance found there must be of equal value to some of the most famous lost secret art such as — God Hand. Now that there was a minute possibility of obtaining such inheritance, would any lost secret art resurface here?

If some Great lost Art was successfully comprehended by any of them, even if they had no way to reach the level of mastery as the Ancient Emperors, it was already sufficient for any of these elites to become a major character of a region in the immortal realms.

No one would feel that they were inferior, and or that they would surely fail in comprehending the mystery of any lost secret arts. This is also especially true for the geniuses here in the Darknorth Immortal Gorge. Even those of inferior cultivation realm did not think less of their talents as compared to others.

Ji Bolin, alone, was transported into the boundaries of the Buried Ridge. Di Yan, Kang Tian, Xi Wenling, Han Youdi, Cao Zhan, Fang Yu and Xu Qing; seven members of the Redcloud city were also transported here simultaneously.

Bolin barely had any time to understand his surroundings and assess what happened, that all of these old acquaintance rankers recognised each other and consequently converged. In these unfamiliar lands, these familiar faces were of great comfort.

"It seems that we are the only survivors of the Redcloud City rankers minus the monk," said the older one, Cao Zhan.

Cao Zhan was a few years older than the rest of them as well as an astral loose cultivator. This type of impromptu alliance was nothing new to him. In another timeline, he would have been one of the numerous buried immortal by the Almighty Sealer and would later be liberated by the Ancient Godly Monarch in his youth.

"Indeed. Everybody is already ganging up together following their region of origin. The rankers from the Heavenspan city as well as Netherworld city seem to dominate in numbers. Many of the seeded contestants are also allying up because of existing relationships. I am sure you all understand where I am heading, right!" the ordinary Fang Yu exclaimed.

That confident temperament betrayed her ordinary appearance and produced a unique kind of charm.

Everybody nodded at her remarks and consequently exchanged no more words. As they formalised their alliance, they all started to assess these peaceful hidden mountains.

Wherever they passed, heads would turn towards them without a doubt. Out of the eight, one was a top-grade beauty. Xu Qing was beyond extremely beautiful, even the ordinary Fang Yu would surprisingly attract attention despite being several shades less prettier than her. These two had different kinds of beauties and them being escorted with a legion of six incredibly handsome men simply made them stood out even more.

With such a formation, how could they fail to attract attention?

Pei Qing alongside his cousin Pei Yun'er in the distance as well as the handsome monk Meng Hao were among the ones to truly be attentive to that small regiment of eight. They were the only ones who had previously experienced the brilliance of some members of that group.

The former two could never guess their identities. The Pei cousins were prideful and disdained to collect information about the other contestants; if their enemies were strong then so be it. Hence, they were wondering who the companions of Di Yan and Ji Bolin respectively were. But Meng Hao already had a decent understanding of their group and behind his handsome face, god knows what he was plotting.

The speed of their group was extremely fast. Han Youdi with his seer-like abilities chose the way and the group quickly arrived at the outer area of the hidden mountains. Over here, there were a few elites that were already present and a majority of them were into groups of their own.

The ones to stand out were none other than the Netherworld Prince in his ever-burning cloak of eerie flames as well as barbaric maiden, Desolate, from the Heavenspan City selection.

Only a rare few were here alone. Among these outliers were the infamous previously mentioned Desolate, out of pride or confidence, her strength could never be questioned.

Later on, there was a high possibility that combat might occur over treasures or inheritances found and at that time, strength was everything. If you refused to form an alliance, you were simply courting death. Nevertheless, it seems Desolate would beg to differ.

"Fang Yu!" At this moment it was unknown who had called out from the distance. But it caused the attention of many to look over at Ji Bolin and his seven companions.

"Redcloud City Elites. The #2, #3, #4, #5, #8, #9, #13 and #909 rankers are here as well. Three 7th level ascendants and five 9th level ones. Could it be that the #1 ranker chose to travel alone?" another person said. Because of that, Bolin's group instantly became the focus of everyone there.

The Redcloud Marquis was extraordinary so his selections were always heavily scouted by the rival rankers. The crowd of ordinary folk parked outside the Darknorth Immortal Gorge may not do so but these elites were different from ordinary people.

"Interesting, those of the Darknorth prefecture selection have also arrived." The spectators stared in another direction, where two young heroes (Beiming Yang and Beiming Lengyue) could be seen leading a large group of people. The girl, Beiming Lengyue, seemed to have just recovered from deep injuries since her aura was quite unstable; one could only wonder what sort of miraculous medicine she'd used. However, her assailants weren't present. Without resting for a year or two, it was likely that they wouldn't be able to crawl up from their nest.

"Netherworld city rankers and Redcloud city rankers have allied respectively, and the Darknorth city rankers are no better under the led of the Beiming cousins Yang and Lengyue. Hey, it seems that we should get more people and form a group as well," an expert in the crowd spoke to another.

The strength of these three top city rankers alliances seemed too fearsome.

"Let's enter," Xu Qing spoke in a low voice. Ji Bolin & Cao Zhan nodded. After which, their group stepped directly into the true Buried Ridge. The others all hesitated for a moment when they saw this scene, but followed soon after. Even 7th level ascendants had entered this forbidden ground, how could they be fearful or nervous?

While everyone was busy conversing, the Netherworld Prince and his followers had already silently entered the area. This silent nature of his was the reason he was a fearsome opponent and many would soon learn this much.

Very swiftly, the geniuses gathered into groups and headed into the depths of the inner area as well. When the mist and fog rose up, the entire atmosphere was filled with a sense of mystery. After which, the true Forbidden ground appeared in everyone's sights, exuding a sense of sinister coldness.

𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮𝝮

"Gruesome Mountains." The various geniuses instantly discovered that the location before them was the actual real forbidden grounds. In the same breath they also discovered that the strength and energy from their bodies were slowly being sapped away.

Han Youdi folded some hand seals as he stared at this seemingly illusionary space, as though he wanted to use his hexes to enchant his eyes so as to break through the binding. However, even with his powerful hexed eyes, he could only see a vast fog obscuring his sight. The secrets of the Buried Ridge weren't something he could see through with his level of strength.

"Fang Yu, there you are." At this moment, a silhouette flickered, appearing before the group. This young man had a flat nose and forehead, and his eyes seemed to gleam with a strange lustre. He was extremely demonic, and obviously quite different from a normal human. However, his eyes were extremely sharp, and when his gaze swept over to those present, it was filled with an air of balefulness.

"Demonic qi, isn't it!" Ji Bolin could sense that the original body of this man was a demonic beast. He would never misjudge that distinctive baleful aura. Ordinary elites wouldn't normally dare to approach and get so close to so many high profile rankers.

Fang Yu searched through her memories and instantly came to a conclusion on who this man was.

Long Lin, ranked #7 in the Blood City Rankings, he came from a race of demonic avian beasts and was also a nominal disciple of her master.

"What's the matter?" Fang Yu glanced over as she asked with an unusual coldness.

"What are you doing with these ordinary people? Follow me and we will roam these weird Mountains together." Long Lin continued, "We're the only suitable match for each other."

People in the surroundings all had expressions of interest on their faces. Especially so when that fellow termed other top rankers as ordinary mortals. Could it be that he didn't know some of their rankings were higher than his? In addition they were all rankers from the Redcloud City and the Redcloud Marquis was leagues above the Blood Marquis in status and strength.

However, it was obvious that this demonic fellow character had forever been one of aloofness and pride; he did whatever he desired, heedless of everything else.

Long Lin was a demonic cuckoo bird from an ordinary species. Knowing how Witch Ling favoured Fang Yu as she won her face in front of Marquis Redcloud plus her unusual bloodline, he naturally lusted after her. He didn't know his limits and his aspirations were higher than the heavens. If one were to ask him then most definitely his answer would be that he wanted nothing more than to slay the sky sovereign divine roc and to replace it as the real sovereign of the skies.

Hence, he strongly felt that only someone favoured by their mutual mysterious master would be compatible for him, and that she should mate with him.

There was once a person quite recently, a fellow nominal disciple of Witch Ling, who joked that this fellow was nothing but a chicken lusting after a phoenix, ignorant of the immensity of the heavens and earth. However, that person was then brutally murdered by him. From then on, everyone without sufficient strength only dared to mock him in their hearts as nobody dared to underestimate Long Lin's strength.

"Scram you wretched bird," Fang Yu slowly and coldly commanded. Her eyes were filled with disdain when they looked at him. This lowly being who kept thinking how lofty he was, he truly was a disgusting sight.

"Long Lin, why would fairy Yu fall in love with you? You'd best obediently join my alliance or you won't even know if you suffered a disadvantage later on." Not far away, an frivolous-looking person spoke out, giving off a sense of charm.

People instantly recognized who this was. This frivolous-looking fellow was none other than the #8 ranker in the Heavenspan City Rankings, Demon.

Besides Demon stood a female with ordinary looks. However, she had an extraordinary demeanour only a shade below Fang Yu. Her gaze was sharp as she stared at Xu Qing and Fang Yu. These two were not only supreme beauties, they were top rankers of the infamous Redcloud City selection as well.

This LongLin truly didn't know how the word 'death' was written. Most probably, he had no idea that he couldn't afford to antagonise this group of people.

"It seems like Demon and Xu Yu have allied. Her brother Xu Nu is in their group as well. What a powerful formation." The crowd stared at the three of them. Behind Xu Yu, there was a bald monk whose name was Xu Nu.

These three were respectively ranked #8, #9 and #10 on the Heavenspan City Rankings. They had all arrived; they most definitely butchered their way in more than anyone else.

Peak geniuses allied with peak geniuses. As for the others, they could only be killed and be used as fuel for the spatial transference platforms.

"Shut up." Long Lin coldly swept a glance at Demon. He then turned back to Fang Yu.

"As someone extraordinary, I will surely become the sovereign of the skies in the immortal realms in the future. Fang Yu, you control so many avian demonic beasts with your most ancient bloodline and are heavily favoured by the master — the two of us are a match made in heaven."

The geniuses nearby wanted to laugh, but there were none of the weaker ones who dared. This Long Lin's personality was filled with prejudice. He inherited this trait from his demon father. His father was an ordinary bird that cultivated into a Demon King, ruling a certain region in the immortal realms and one of the nine true disciples to Witch Ling. Not many dared to antagonise him, and he could also be considered somewhat of a legend.

Demonic beasts and humans were different. Human stellar martial cultivators had to depend on their effort and luck to encounter good fortune to continue growing endlessly. Their comprehension abilities might also grow stronger depending on what sort of good fortune they meet. However, the comprehension abilities and insight of demonic beasts were fixed at the moment of their birth. A divine bird was a divine bird, and usually for ordinary birds no matter how hard they tried, it was still impossible for them to become a roc or a phoenix.

In the back, Kang Tian saw how weird this interaction was, but he was silently impressed by Long Lin's persistence and self-confidence. With such traits, an individual would almost always achieve results that no ordinary person could match.

Even if he was an idiot, from the bottom of his heart, this fellow truly felt that Fang Yu was a match made in heaven with him.

"I told you to disappear." Fang Yu's countenance grew even colder as an ethereal intent gushed forth from her. This Long Lin fellow had actually said this in public, telling her to mate with him and that they were a match made in heaven?

"Fang Yu, if we mate, we will surely become the stuff of legends." Long Lin's stubbornness far exceeded anyone's imagination. In fact, he was becoming more and more irritating, and it was especially disgusting in the eyes of the ladies present. Even Desolate in the front was disgusted.

Fang Yu was someone with an exceptionally high-grade bloodline which allowed her control of demonic beasts so easily, yet this Long Lin kept saying he wanted to mate with her.

—BOOM!— A terrifying aura gushed out.

Several roc-looking birds appeared out of thin air and howled to the skies. Fang Yu was truly angry now. This caused Long Lin's expression to stiffen. Although he was stubborn, he knew there was no way he could win against the one ranked #6 in the Redcloud City Rankings now that she had reach the 9th level of the celestial phenomenon realm.

Redcloud Marquis always chose those with iron-strong foundation, at the same realm even him had low confidence of defeating top rankers from that city. In addition, all of her slave beasts were 9th level ascendants as well.

Long Lin could only retort, "Since you don't want to make a decision now, you can take your time thinking about it. I will take my leave first."

After speaking, Long Lin's silhouette flickered, soaring ahead. Fang Yu's aura fluctuated wildly as a massive behemoth appeared above her but she ultimately chose to gradually retract her aura and call back all of her slave beasts. However, there was still a look of ferociousness flickering in her eyes.

"That fellow is truly interesting," said Kang Tian in a low voice under Ji Bolin's gaze.

"His original form is a normal cuckoo bird demon, and he's extremely persistent. If not for our common master and that I hadn't known that his innate disposition was always like this, I wouldn't have spared him," the ordinary beauty icily stated.

This caused Ji Bolin's expression to flicker, and he smiled as he thought. "It seems that the affairs between man and woman can be weird no matter the world. This type of awkward douchebag are present everywhere, even more in this world where strength is truth."

Fang Yu finally calmed down. She stared at the group with bewilderment—no one of them had ever seen that more ferocious side of her. Maybe it was because of the weird contrast between her ordinary facial look and extraordinary temperament that people didn't care to draw close to her, which had led to the fact that no one had ever truly understood her.

"Let's go, there are many who are already on the move." Cao Zhan stared in the distance.

Right ahead was none other than the gap between the mountains with walls filled with the blood runes. Right now, a silhouette could be seen standing there and it was none other than Desolate.

—bzz!— A silhouette soared towards that gap, but he was blasted back in an instant. It was Long Lin. He slammed ruthlessly onto the ground from the impact as his countenance turned ashen.

"It's impossible to get through this passageway," Long Lin said. "There must be some other route that we can enter."

Desolate didn't say anything. She continued staring at the blood runes in contemplation. Where was the Netherworld Prince and his followers now? If he'd passed by this passageway before, how had he managed to accomplish it?

Could it be that the Netherworld Prince used the tyrannical nature of his all-freezing netherworld blaze and barged through it forcibly?

Desolate silently speculated and came to the conclusion that this ruthless man might have truly done so, sparing no thought as he forced open a way for his crew and himself.

Desolate carefully analysed her surroundings; with such powerful blood runes casting a gravitational force field, if one couldn't endure it mid-way, that person would die for sure. Ordinary people most definitely had no way to barge through it but Netherworld Prince would be able to even freeze that crushing force, that is if he were as strong as the rumours has it.

"It might be nigh impossible to bypass this with just one individual's strength. In comparison, this might be effortless when the strength of so many are gathered together. These blood runes emanate different kinds of energy, and each of you need to try your best to comprehend one. After which, just unleash your will together and we should be able to pass through this with no trouble at all." A lazy-sounding voice rang out from the crowd, Ji Bolin turned and was surprised to notice that it was Cao Zhan that spoke.

Everyone turned their heads left and right, as they all acknowledged what the formation genius had shared. Everyone couldn't help but feel that the atmosphere was now even heavier than before.

As they were contemplating Cao Zhan words, others shared opinions but nobody could spot them. This was truly an eerie occurrence. Could it be that there were other existences here in these strength-devouring mountains?

"Simply said, if someone can comprehend all the runes here by themselves, they would be able to enter with no problem," said Desolate. Everyone's eyes gleamed with sharpness. Was this their only shot at moving forward?

However, if this was the case, it meant that a lot of time would be wasted and the Netherworld city gang would reap all benefits first. These Mountains were sapping their strength. And unless one could withstand the strength-devouring effect, this strategy would undoubtedly be extremely idiotic.

"Sure, if you want to do it that way, no one will stop you," the lazy-sounding voice from Cao Zhan rang out.

"Who the hell are you? I cannot recall your name so you definitely are not a top 3 ranker." Desolate smiled and replied, Cao Zhan had no response.

Desolate then turned her gaze to the crowd. "Everyone, just try to comprehend one of the respective energies. As long as we all work together, we will be able to comprehend the blood runes in a short amount of time and successfully pass through this area."

"Okay." The various geniuses present nodded to the barely disguised threat. Luckily, there were plenty of people who had stepped into these Mountains. It should be no problem if they worked together to comprehend the blood runes.

"Let us try our best to understand them as well," Ji Bolin whispered. Even him, an otherworlder, had no idea how the Netherworld Prince successfully passed through the passageway so quickly despite coming in only a few breaths of time earlier than them.

Ji Bolin then closed his eyes as his perception drifted towards the stone walls and the blood runes inscribed on. Instantly, several types of energy gathered and took form, gushing over to him. His will directly locked onto a single type, then started to comprehend the true intent of that energy. Inside his sea of consciousness, his Zhuyan astral soul madly transform to match each type of energy.

The various geniuses were all respectively in a state of strong focus, trying to comprehend the blood runes on the walls. Gradually, the lustre of the blood runes dimmed. The collective strength of the geniuses were powerful indeed, and a short hour later, the entire stone wall had completely lost its light.

Desolate opened her eyes and stepped out onto the passageway. Behind her, the various geniuses followed closely.

When Ji Bolin's group passed by the walls, he and Cao Zhan's fingers respectively couldn't help but trace the runes as they marvelled silently. What sort of character had inscribed these runes on the walls? They must have been truly overwhelming.

Before them, a sense of vastness could suddenly be felt. The gaze of everyone froze as they stared ahead.

There were two places with entirely different auras before them. One was dark, eerie and cold, just like a hellscape filled with devils, containing a sense of dominance within.

The other was its total opposite. Brilliant light radiated from there, seemingly able to expel all darkness. The aura it radiated was filled with a sense of incomparable pureness, like the qi of justice, belonging to kings and emperors of the world.

These two completely different auras had existed side by side for an unknown number of years.

~bzz~ At this moment, a pair of grey-robed figures suddenly appeared. The figures casually stood there, exuding an aura unexcelled in the world.

"Wrong, this is not the way to enter!!!" a voice drifted from these figures in perfect synchrony. The figures then opened their eyes and stared at Desolate and Long Lin, who were in the lead. The eyes of those figures were like blank cavernous holes, akin to the eyes of zombies. Just a glance directly caused one to sink within; the pressure that figure exuded felt like heavenly might.

It felt like that figure was capable of killing them all with just a single glance.

—bzzzzzzzzzzz!— A wind gusted by and one figure appeared directly before Long Lin. "You.. broke... rules!!!!"

This time that figure had a way harder time to speak properly.

"Senior…" Long Lin wanted to speak, but the figure was already stretching out his hand, moving too fast for the naked eyes to follow its motion. The demonic beast was grabbed by the neck and lifted into the air. This scene caused a chill to bloom in the hearts of everyone; the pressure they felt was so stifling that they couldn't even breathe!

Next to him, Desolate was already armed with a crooked blade as her aura flared outward violently. Her hair spiked as she harboured a crazy smile. Desolate was from Heavenspan, there was nothing she feared and no one she dare not fight.