Trapped in the Heartbeat of the Mountain

High in the sky.

The Tathagata Buddha and a group of three others were moving as a single massive beam of golden light, speeding swiftly towards Earthmoan Mountain.

“Kong Xiu, are you still holding up?” the Tathagata Buddha sent mentally.

Within the Buddha’s Palm World of the Tathagata, countless living beings resided. One of Kong Xiu’s clones was also inside.

“The earthmoan sounds are growing increasingly loud, reaching a crescendo. The moment they peak, the attack will come. The six of us are currently on high alert, but we haven’t been struck yet,” Kong Xiu replied from within the Palm World.

“You must be careful,” the Tathagata Buddha said. He then turned to the three other Buddhas beside him. “All of you, enter my Palm World for now. I need to proceed at my top speed.”

“Yes, Buddha.”

The other three acknowledged.

The Tathagata was the absolute leader of the Buddhist faith.

With a wave of his hand, the Tathagata Buddha collected the three other Buddhas. The golden beam of light in the sky accelerated, charging straight towards Earthmoan Mountain.

Deep within the fortress at the Primordial Ruins.

“Master, it’s done. Kua Fu’s squad—the one we marked—has been drawn into Earthmoan Mountain,” the gaunt old man below said, his face full of glee.

“Mm.” The Great Demon God Cixiu sat upon his throne, a light laugh escaping him. “If I’m not going to strike, fine. But if I do, it has to be a big one! We’ve let these aboriginals of the Nuwa camp in the Three Realms relax for far too long. It’s time to hit them hard.”

“Thousand Mountains World is a realm we and the Seamless Gate spent endless effort arranging. The entire world is a massive trap. The Nuwa camp knows it might be a trap… but they have to charge in anyway,” the red-bearded old man below laughed. “They simply can’t find us. Their only option is to destroy the entire Primordial Ruins… which means they have to fight through every single world. In Thousand Mountains World, we might just wipe out two or three squads.”

“Kua Fu’s squad should be eliminated,” the Great Demon God Cixiu said with a slight nod. “As for the other three… that depends on their skill.”

“Ji Ning.” The Celestial Immortal Wuxiao, who had been standing below the entire time, stared at the scene being projected in mid-air. It was the area around Earthmoan Mountain. Kua Fu and the others had already entered. A cold smile touched Wuxiao’s lips. “You’ve entered Earthmoan Mountain. Let’s see if you can survive this time.”

“Master, the Buddhist Tathagata is rushing towards Earthmoan Mountain at high speed,” the towering, golden-armored figure said in a low voice.

“Hmph. The area around Earthmoan Mountain is protected by formations set by Master Stonerule. Those formations have now shifted. The Tathagata barging into the formations will find it nearly impossible to locate Earthmoan Mountain unless he breaks through them. He has the power to do it, of course, but it would take a significant amount of time. And in that time… Kua Fu and his crew will already be dead.” The Great Demon God Cixiu smiled, extending a long, scarlet tongue to lick his lips.

He, a Great Demon God of his stature, had been suppressing himself for far too long.

The name ‘Great Demon God’ was forged with endless blood and flesh!

……

Inside Earthmoan Mountain.

Thump.

The massive heartbeat sound from deep underground slammed against the hearts of Ji Ning and the others. They all hung suspended in mid-air, cautiously watching their surroundings.

“Ji Ning, the six of us can set up a formation to jointly resist the incoming danger. But you have no formation protecting you… You should enter your realm treasure for now. Once we’ve passed through the dangers of Earthmoan Mountain, you can come back out,” Kua Fu said. The six of them had already formed a massive formation, their divine power surging, condensing into circles of golden light that shrouded the area.

“No need.” Ji Ning shook his head.

Kua Fu frowned. “This is a critical moment, Ji Ning. Don’t be stubborn.”

“Daoist Kua Fu, there’s no need to worry. Didn’t my true body get destroyed by the Seamless Gate back then? I still came back to life, didn’t I?” Ji Ning looked at Kua Fu.

Kua Fu was taken aback, then nodded. “Since you refuse to hide, so be it. If that’s the case, stay within our formation. If an attack comes from outside, the formation can help block it for you. This formation… defends against external threats but doesn’t hinder those inside. You can still launch attacks from within.”

“Alright.” Ji Ning nodded in agreement.

Kua Fu, Xingtian, Xi Huang, Feng Ji, Kong Xiu, and Lu Wu—these six True Gods—surged with divine power, golden light swirling around them as they prepared for danger. Ji Ning stood inside the grand formation.

The six True Gods exchanged glances, feeling helpless. In their eyes, this Sword Immortal Darknorth was a bit too arrogant. Earthmoan Mountain was an extremely dangerous place. Even the six of them were acting with extreme caution, even summoning the Tathagata Buddha. But Ji Ning insisted on staying outside… Ah well. He had been cultivating for far too short a time, and was overly confident!

Thump! Thump! Thump! The earthmoan sounds suddenly grew more urgent.

The environment began to change. What had been an endless expanse of flowing water suddenly transformed around them into a dense, lush forest.

Ji Ning and the other seven stood within the forest.

“Quick, fly out of the forest,” Kua Fu called out.

Whoosh.

The seven of them all took flight. But no matter how fast they flew, no matter how far they went, they remained within the forest.

“We can’t fly out. Unless we can see through the illusions and perceive the true nature of Earthmoan Mountain, there’s no way out,” Daoist Feng Ji observed, shaking his head. “Back then, the Daoist Three Purities was trapped here. He relied on his immense strength to withstand the dangers, but was trapped for over three thousand years before he could see through the illusions and find a way out.”

“These are all illusions,” Kong Xiu said, also worried.

“We can’t pierce the illusions to see the truth of Earthmoan Mountain,” Xingtian added with concern.

Ji Ning was also carefully observing.

Earthmoan Mountain had a fearsome reputation.

Once you entered, you would face endless illusions, trapped forever. Even great powers, no matter how frantically they flew, would remain within the confines of Earthmoan Mountain, unable to escape.

There were two ways out.

The first was absolute, overwhelming power—enough to destroy Earthmoan Mountain entirely. But this was a place of unique danger. Even the Daoist Three Purities couldn’t destroy it back then. Only a World God like Lady Nuwa might be able to. Ji Ning and the others had no hope of destroying Earthmoan Mountain.

The second way was to do what the Daoist Three Purities did: see through the illusions, understand the true nature of Earthmoan Mountain, and then walk out.

The Tathagata Buddha was exceptionally skilled at seeing through illusions. The Buddhist path, after all, specialized in creating and breaking illusions.

Pssht!

Suddenly, a terrifying attack struck, stabbing straight at True God Lu Wu. The layers of golden light swirling around Lu Wu were pierced directly. From the way they were punctured, it was clear that some sharp, conical object was making the assault.

Startled, True God Lu Wu frantically swung his iron whip to block while dodging to the side.

Sssss…

The sharp object grazed Lu Wu’s abdomen, leaving a bloody, gaping wound. Divine power surged, and the wound quickly healed.

“Everyone be careful. Earthmoan Mountain’s attacks are extremely powerful,” True God Lu Wu warned. “The formation couldn’t fully block it. But it did weaken the attack’s power… otherwise, I wouldn’t have just lost a chunk of flesh—it would have torn me apart.”

“Be careful. What looks like a forest,” Daoist Feng Ji said solemnly, “is actually an illusion. The real scene is some strange object attacking us.”

Ji Ning frowned as well.

Even after being weakened by the formation, the strange object could still easily injure a True God’s body. That was terrifying. The most fatal part was… they couldn’t detect the object’s location at all. By the time they noticed it, the attack was already upon them.

“What do we do?” Ji Ning looked around carefully. The candle flame flickered in his eyes. Using the Candle Dragon Eye, he observed his surroundings—the forest’s trees and leaves grew even sharper and clearer. He could even see the veins on the leaves and the dewdrops clinging to them. But he could find no trace whatsoever of the strange object.

“See through the illusion. Perceive the truth.”

“How do I do it… The Daoist Three Purities was trapped here before, and in the end, he perceived the truth and walked out.” Ji Ning frowned. “But how does one perceive the truth?”

Ji Ning’s physical eyes watched carefully. His divine sense probed. Even his heartforce probed.

But everything he sensed matched what his eyes saw. It was as if the forest was real. But on second thought, it made sense. Even the Daoist Three Purities had been trapped for over three thousand years before perceiving the truth. This was no easy task.

Hum… Ji Ning’s heartforce was spreading out, using the technique passed down by World God Northrest. It rippled outward like water, sweeping through every inch of space. His probing was meticulous, unmatched in the entire Three Realms—superior to any other probing technique. Even the Fiendgods of the Nine Chaos Kingdoms didn’t have a heartforce probing technique that could compare to his.

Suddenly, his rippling heartforce vaguely detected a fluctuation.

Pfft!

An invisible object pierced through layer after layer of golden light, stabbing straight at Daoist Xi Huang.