The Perilous Descent of the Sacred Mountain

“Keke, how did you get here?” Xiao Chen had been truly worried for her.

Keke pointed at him angrily, then at herself, her expression both adorable and amusing, like a child sulking. She babbled in “ya-ya” sounds, as if scolding him for abandoning her.

By the time Keke had bounded over, chaos had already erupted beneath the altar. The malevolent spirits that had surged from the ancient mansion seemed to want to cross the blood river and charge upward, filling every cultivator with dread. Fortunately, after a few furious roars, they ultimately did not pursue.

“Oh, how adorable!” The peerless seductress Liu Ruyan cooed with a charming smile, walking over to pick up Keke.

Keke, however, seemed unappreciative. Unwilling to stay in her soft embrace, it leaped directly onto her head.

This left Liu Ruyan both embarrassed and vexed. In the end, it was the bald head of the monk Yizhen that helped her out of trouble—Keke shot over like an arrow, landed on it, and curiously jumped a few times.

Yizhen showed no annoyance, a faint smile on his face, as if he had truly transcended the mundane world like a Buddha.

“Keke, don't be mischievous.” Xiao Chen pulled it down.

But in the end, Keke fixed its gaze on the Purple Dragon King. It showed no fear of this legendary king of dragons and boldly leaped onto its head. This astonished everyone once more—what kind of creature was this little beast to be so audacious?

“Roar…” The Purple Dragon King, enraged, shook its head violently, trying to throw Keke off. To it, this was a grave insult—to be mounted by a tiny beast as a future dragon king was utterly intolerable.

“Keke…” Xiao Chen was nearly speechless. This little beast was far too bold. Was there anything it feared? He forcefully lifted Keke away to prevent the Purple Dragon King from going berserk.

Facing the enraged dragon, Keke waved its small paw carelessly, as if to say, “I'm done playing with you.”

Everyone was left speechless.

At that moment, the blood-red sun reached the zenith of the sky. Beams of bloodshot radiance shot down, and the altar erupted with boundless bloody light. Soon, all they could see was blood-red—nothing else remained.

Space twisted. Time itself became disordered. It felt as if they had stepped into a tunnel through time and space, a strange sensation washing over them.

Bloody light became the only thing before their eyes. No one knew how long it lasted, but they felt as if riding clouds, traveling at extreme speed. Until the blood-light vanished, and before them appeared a silent void, as if they had returned to the primordial age. In this special space, there was nothing—only their breath in the pitch-black emptiness, a deathly stillness.

It felt like eons had passed, yet only an instant. They experienced a sensation of temporal disorientation. Then countless beams of light, like shooting stars, streaked past them. Xiao Chen and the others felt as if they were traveling through spacetime.

Thus they sped onward. Time seemed to stop, no longer flowing. Their heartbeats and breathing seemed to cease as well. At some point, the space around them began to twist, and ripples of energy washed over them, but did not harm them—they felt like soft water gently caressing.

“Boom—”

Amid a thunderous roar, a blinding burst of light exploded before them. Everyone had to close their eyes. When they opened them again, a gentle breeze brushed their faces under soft moonlight. It was a quiet night. Stars dotted the sky, and moonbeams spilled like water, everything serene and peaceful.

It truly felt like a different world. The towering blood-light, the fierce killing aura, the endless evil spirits—all had vanished.

They stood atop a massive mountain peak. Not far off were pavilions, towers, small bridges over flowing water, and the scent of intoxicating flowers drifting through the air. Under this tranquil starry sky, everything was beautiful. They were certain they had escaped the dead city.

“We finally made it out…” someone shouted in excitement.

Xiao Chen found the scenery somewhat familiar. Keke, perched on Samara King’s head, seemed uneasy, warily observing its surroundings—for once, the normally carefree little beast showed such an expression.

A young cultivator happily rushed toward a nearby spring. But as he passed an ancient palace, he suddenly vanished. The shock drained all joy from their faces.

At the same time, a Spiritist who had flown into the air also disappeared. The sky was equally dangerous!

“Don’t move recklessly. Don’t go near those ancient palaces,” Xiao Chen shouted. He finally remembered—this was the Sacred Mountain, a place frequented by dragon clans and ferocious beasts, very close to Keke’s homeland by the Cosmic Tree. Last time, he had nearly met his doom at its foot.

How had they ended up here, and now at night? Had they truly traveled through space, taking half a day? Doubt filled their minds.

The Purple Dragon King let out a low growl, signaling them not to act rashly. It seemed wary of the Sacred Mountain.

The mountain was lush with trees, cascading waterfalls, flowing springs, and many pavilions and palaces, looking like a celestial paradise. But the group was filled with fear.

“This place is strange. The scenery is beautiful, but below it seems desolate,” muttered a cultivator standing on a cliff, peering downward. As he said, below the Sacred Mountain lay many grand palaces, but the lower area was barren, almost devoid of vegetation. The massive sacred mountain was a dark brown, appearing eerie.

It was clear that those palaces had weathered immense ages; some had already collapsed.

“Where is this? What is happening?” The cultivators were deeply unsettled.

“We experienced a spatial displacement and arrived at an unknown location,” said the Spiritist Liu Mu, the most knowledgeable about spatial power, confirming the conclusion.

The mysterious woman versed in time-based divine principles added, “It took us several hours to get here.”

Now they understood how it could go from noon to night.

Xiao Chen concealed nothing, recounting his previous experience at the foot of the Sacred Mountain. Their fates were now intertwined; only by collective effort could they survive.

Not far away, the mysterious woman surrounded by a mist of colors gently stroked the Purple Dragon King’s horns, trying to communicate with it. After a long time, she returned and said, “The Purple Dragon King inadvertently entered an ancient palace at the mountain’s foot and then inexplicably arrived at the altar in the dead city.”

The group fell silent. The Purple Dragon King had entered the dead city from the foot of the mountain, but they had returned from the dead city to the summit of the Sacred Mountain. How could they safely reach the foot?

Xiao Chen’s experience, along with the cultivators who had vanished, all indicated that descending the mountain was fraught with danger.

“Let’s try to descend cautiously. This place can’t be more dangerous than the dead city, can it?” someone suggested. The others hesitated, but eventually agreed to try.

Yet barely a hundred meters later, a cry of agony rang out. The man in front vanished without a trace. And there was no ancient palace nearby—truly terrifying. They were still at the summit, having just left a steep area but not yet begun the formal descent.

Looking down at the clusters of ancient palaces, everyone felt dizzy, sensing the danger.

“Life and death are determined by fate. Let’s go!” A cultivator showed backbone, taking the lead once more. This time, they advanced about fifty meters, and the leader vanished without even a chance to warn them.

“How can this be?!” Everyone was growing afraid. Now no one wanted to walk at the front.

“I’ll lead the way,” said the mysterious woman shrouded in colored mist, stepping resolutely to the front. This earned everyone’s admiration.

“No, let me,” Xiao Chen said, stepping forward. He remembered the last time—Keke had saved him twice at the critical moment. He set Keke down and said, “Little terror beast, stay a little distance from me. At the critical moment, you must save me.”

“Ya ya ya—” Keke was very displeased at being called a little terror beast. It gently tugged Xiao Chen’s hair, then nodded, blinked its big eyes, and hopped back, not hesitating to jump onto the Purple Dragon King’s back.

“Roar…” The Purple Dragon King was furious. This tiny creature kept offending it, infuriating the dragon king. It wished it could tear Keke apart.

“Don’t be angry,” the woman in the colored mist soothed the enraged dragon. “It is much smaller than you. Be more tolerant. A dragon king should have the bearing of a king.” It was clear she was coaxing the young Purple Dragon King like a child.

With a low growl, the Purple Dragon King turned its head and glared at Keke. But Keke no longer provoked it; it sat quietly on its back, nervously watching Xiao Chen.

After changing direction, they descended a few dozen meters. Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s figure vanished. At the same time, the area erupted with divine light—Keke had acted! It forcefully pulled Xiao Chen back from the brink of disappearance.

Everyone stared in shock, unable to believe their eyes. Even the Purple Dragon King turned its head to look at Keke with a strange expression.

“Hehe…” Keke laughed, like an innocent child.

Having just walked through the gates of hell, Xiao Chen sensed something. He turned and said, “I felt surrounded by a boundless killing aura, exactly the same as the aura in the dead city. If we had vanished on the Sacred Mountain, I suspect we would have returned to that dead city—and possibly an even more dangerous part of it.”

Thus, the silent Sacred Mountain was equally perilous; a single careless step meant death.

They descended another two hundred meters in extreme danger. Three times, Xiao Chen nearly vanished, but each time Keke pulled him back with its strange divine ability. However, a troubling development occurred: Keke gestured with “ya-ya” sounds, indicating that it was becoming increasingly difficult.

All showed signs of worry. As they continued down toward the mountainside, the ancient palaces would multiply, making them impossible to avoid. They had already discerned a pattern: the closer to the palaces, the greater the danger. How, then, could they ever descend the Sacred Mountain?

When Keke saved Xiao Chen for the sixth time, the Purple Dragon King’s eyes showed a strange light. Its gaze toward Keke had changed completely. Then it too emitted a divine radiance, pulling back a cultivator walking ahead—a technique similar to Keke’s, but far less powerful.

Everyone stared at the Purple Dragon King in astonishment, praising it as worthy of a Companion Dragon King for learning Keke’s ability so quickly. But upon hearing the praise, the Purple Dragon King showed a rare expression of shame and frustration.

It must be said that the mysterious woman and the dragon understood each other well. She roughly guessed why it was ashamed and asked, “Is Keke using a dragon clan divine ability?”

The Purple Dragon King nodded in frustration.

At this revelation, everyone felt as if turned to stone. Keke’s technique was actually a dragon clan ability!

“I suspected as much. In the dead city, I saw royal dragons like the Lion King Dragon and the Tyrant Dragon use such abilities—to imprison, sweep away, annihilate all.”

Not only the other cultivators stared at Keke in awe, but Xiao Chen, walking at the front, also stopped and turned to look at the adorable little snow-white beast. At that moment, Keke became a little dazed, blinking its big eyes in confusion at the crowd, looking utterly innocent.

The monk Yizhen recited a Buddhist invocation and said, “I once read in an ancient sutra a record of strange beasts, saying that two or three species are not inferior to dragonkind, born with unparalleled spirituality, capable of learning the divine abilities of all races. I believe Keke is such a race. Unfortunately, the sutra focused mainly on Buddhism, and the passage was very general, without detailed descriptions of the forms or names of these beasts.”