Martial Cultivator

Chapter 530: Skeleton Mountain - Part 1

But Liang Jinjin looked at Chen Chao with concern and asked, "Are you okay?"

"How could I be okay?" Chen Chao replied indifferently, "Don\'t you see all this blood?"

Liang Jinjin\'s face was full of guilt as she said softly, "You saved me again. If you hadn\'t, you wouldn\'t have ended up like this."

But Chen Chao looked indifferent. "If I hadn\'t saved you, you\'d have been crushed into a pile of meat by now. Then I\'d have to decide whether or not to help you collect your remains." "But even if I did, I probably wouldn\'t be able to find your body. That\'d be even more troublesome."

"You saw it too, I\'m covered in wounds, but I\'m used to it. Still, considering that I nearly lost my life twice because of you, shouldn\'t you repay me?"

Chen Chao smiled at Liang Jinjin, casually took out a few medicinal pills, and began to chew them.

Liang Jinjin nodded thoughtfully, "You\'ve saved my life twice, I should repay you somehow."

Chen Chao grinned and said, "Then how about..."

Liang Jinjin looked at Chen Chao with an innocent expression. For some reason, Chen Chao even saw a hint of shyness on her face.

"Then teach me that Qi Observing Technique!"

Chen Chao quickly changed his tone, still fixated on learning the so-called Qi Observing Technique.

"No way! Anything else is fine, but not that!"

Without a doubt, Liang Jinjin still refused him decisively.

Chen Chao was somewhat speechless.

This girl really had principles.

Sighing, Chen Chao pulled out Cloud Mud, and sheathed it again. Then he looked toward the mountaintop. After the avalanche, there was not much snow left on the summit, but with the wind and snow still blowing, it was clear that it would not take long before it piled up again.

"This time, there should be what we\'re looking for at the mountaintop."

Chen Chao turned and walked forward, but with each step, his face grimaced in pain.

Although the injuries on his back had already scabbed over, it was still unbearably painful.

Liang Jinjin stood in place, stunned for a moment, before finally reacting and following after him.

The avalanche had buried the path Chen Chao had painstakingly cleared earlier under snow once again. He had to reopen the path, but this time, having done it before, he was more adept and did not take much time to carve out a new route.

The two of them returned to the mountaintop.

There, they saw that a large hole had appeared right in the center of the summit.

As they approached the cave entrance, before Chen Chao could look down, Liang Jinjin exclaimed in delight, "This is it! I see that qi!"

Chen Chao quipped, "Hindsight\'s 20/20."

Liang Jinjin ignored him and eagerly peered down. It was clear that this hole marked the entrance to the Small Hill Sect\'s mountain pass gate. Unlike other sects that typically built their structures on the mountain, the Small Hill Sect had taken a different approach, placing the entrance at the summit and hiding the entire sect inside the snow-covered mountain.

Perhaps there was an different world hidden within.

At the moment, the large hole only revealed a small path leading down the mountain.

Chen Chao muttered, "Maybe they didn\'t just hollow out the entire snow mountain, it\'s possible they went even deeper underground."

Without saying more, Chen Chao quickly took the lead and entered, with Liang Jinjin following close behind.

The two of them descended along the path. The small road, untouched by sunlight for hundreds of years, remained as it was in the past. On the stone slabs, all of nearly the same size, were some darkened stains. Liang Jinjin did not know what they were, but Chen Chao recognized them at a glance and said softly, "It\'s blood."

Whether was it the blood of demons or humans, after a long time, it all eventually turned black.

But Chen Chao quickly added, "It\'s demon blood and human blood."

Though it seemed like a pointless statement, it carried a lot of weight and significance.

Liang Jinjin seemed to realize something and fell silent.

The two continued along the path, and from time to time, murals appeared on the stone walls. However, Chen Chao could not make sense of what was depicted in those murals.

Liang Jinjin paused at one spot, gently running her hand over the mural, and said softly, "These are mountains, rivers, white clouds, and yellow earth. In essence, they all represented heaven and earth."

Qi refiners revered heaven and earth. In their beliefs, there was nothing else but heaven and earth.

Chen Chao furrowed his brows, but remained silent.

After taking a few more steps, they came across two sets of remains on the path; more accurately, two sets of skeletons. One skull was easily identifiable as belonging to a human, while the other was not, because it was much larger and a different shape.

It was just as Chen Chao had mentioned earlier: one was human, the other a demon.

Chen Chao remained silent, but in his mind, a scene began to form: a human qi refiner and a demon cultivator locked in a life-and-death battle, both eventually perishing here.

As they continued downward, the number of skeletons increased.

After an indeterminate amount of time, they finally reached the ground level.

It should be the foot of the mountain.

There were skeletal remains everywhere in this place.

The phrase \'bones piled high\' could hardly describe it better.

It was easy to tell that this was once a plaza. Many years ago, when the qi refiners were still alive, their respective masters might have come here periodically to give lectures.

It must have been a thriving and lively place.

But now, everything had returned to dust.

The plaza had only one exit: a stone staircase leading downward.

This staircase was evidently carved out by human effort, and it likely led to the former main hall and other buildings of the Small Hill Sect deep underground.

On either side of the stone staircase, there were many embedded luminous pearls, illuminating the staircase as brightly as daylight, making everything very visible.

The demon race likely had no interest in these luminous pearls. otherwise, they would not have remained here until now.

Standing at the entrance, the two of them could naturally see the black bloodstains on the stone walls and the skeletal remains on the staircase.

Everywhere were traces of the dead.

Chen Chao\'s heart felt heavy.

Although he had been touched by what Liang Jinjin had said about the cultivation sects being destroyed to fend off the demon race, seeing it all firsthand was far more direct and impactful.

It was unknown what Liang Jinjin was thinking. She did not walk forward and just stood still.

The two of them were deep in thought.

After some time, Chen Chao returned to his senses and said softly, “Dying for the human race is admirable.”

Liang Jinjin replied quietly, “I feel a bit ashamed.”

Chen Chao smiled, “There’s no need to feel ashamed. Women should die after the men."

He then took a deep breath and led Liang Jinjin down the stone staircase.

The journey continued in silence.

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