HSSB705: Beating the grass to startle the snake
The Dim Darkness Sect’s main altar had been destroyed by the Grand Xuan Dynasty, most of its branch altars having fallen as well.
Zhou Haosheng and most of the Dim Darkness Sect’s experts and younger disciples had previously been temporarily residing in the territory of the North Sea Sword Pavilion and Copper Men Island.
Now that the Grand Xuan Dynasty had retreated, the Dim Darkness Sect began returning to its former territories, reclaiming its lost land and starting on the rebuilding work.
It was due to a unique situation that the main altar of the Dim Darkness Sect had once been concealed amidst space.
After having been destroyed, it was hard for it to be restored as before. Still, the various branch altars could be rebuilt.
Yan Zhaoge, Zhou Haosheng and the others took their leave from Gu Hong of the North Sea Sword Pavilion before leaving the Grinding Hut Region.
There fortunately still remained a branch altar of the Dim Darkness Sect’s that was still intact. They therefore ended up travelling there.
After arriving and getting settled down, the Dim Darkness Sect martial practitioners headed out to scout for news, confirming what was up with the Grand Xuan Dynasty and the Dim Darkness Sect.
Meanwhile, Zhou Haosheng himself erected an altar, beginning to work on the final preparations.
Radiance that was dim yet heavy and resembled the night sky expanded with the sky, enveloping this entire branch altar. It seemed to serve the same function as a defensive formation.
Enveloped within, Yan Zhaoge could feel that this barrier that resembled the night sky even had the function of blocking out all noise.
Beneath the night sky, the Dim Darkness Sect’s higher echelon experts with Zhou Haosheng at their head all held a fragment scattered from the construction of the Dim Radiant Mausoleum, stimulating it with their true essence.
Yan Zhaoge held that metallic fragment that was half-black and half-white, placing it right at the centre of them all.
The metallic fragment that had originally appeared ordinary and innocuous now gradually floated upwards, hovering within the air.
With it as the centre, a subtle, profound rune of light gradually took form.
The light emitted by the rune was bright at times whilst dark at others as it flickered with a unique rhythm. Just viewing this fragment alone, one would be able to feel the concept that existed within, projecting the profundities of the variations between light and darkness.
As Yan Zhaoge quietly watched this scene, he saw a black spot that was minuscule yet heavy appear within the air once more.
The black hole appeared again as the surrounding space distorted and shattered. However, affected by that rune, a path vaguely seemed to appear.
That path was illusory and formless, virtually being undetectable with the naked eye.
However, one would be able to feel that it was a path. After one had stepped onto it, it would lead them in some direction, towards a certain somewhere.
Zhou Haosheng said, “Junior apprentice-brother Wu, you guys maintain the formation and stay wary lest the Radiant Light Sect or someone else performs a sneak attack.”
A group of Dim Darkness Sect Elders with Wu Zixiu at their head replied, “Yes, Chief.”
Zhou Haosheng inhaled deeply, leading the remaining Elders in walking towards the shattered space.
Yan Zhaoge went along with them as well. Entering the space, he could feel the chaotic spatial flows all around. Yet, they seemed to be separated from these by some sort of formless power.
Amidst the chaotic space, there indeed existed an invisible, formless path.
Amidst their progress, it was hard to distinguish up from down and left from right in this dark space. It was dark all around, no light being visible.
They were unable to identify the direction they were advancing in, only able to progress along that path that seemed not to exist.
If none of the others was speaking, Yan Zhaoge would not be able to hear anything at all amidst this dark space.
Overly quiet environments were actually also a form of torture to the human mind. After a long time of this, even those with the firmest wills could go bonkers.
Yet, Zhou Haosheng and the others were composed, instead appearing rather leisurely and at ease.
They of the Dim Darkness Sect could not be any more acclimatised to such an environment.
As he walked, Yan Zhaoge pondered, “Extreme darkness nourishing myriad things, the extremity of darkness birthing light, ushering in unparalleled brightness. This resembles the darkness that exists before the light.”
Travelling alongside him in the Myriad Dragon Palace, Feng Yunsheng and Ah Hu were unaffected.
Feng Yunsheng said, “After the Dim Radiant Emperor and many of the Dim Radiant Sect’s higher echelon experts vanished, everyone gathered to topple them together. Not just its former enemies, there were also those who set their eyes on the sect’s treasures, accelerating their overall downfall.”
“Most of the Dim Radiant Sect’s treasures were stolen with hardly anything remaining. The Dim Darkness Sect has no high-grade Sacred Artifact; the Radiant Light Sect has the Sun Moon Wheels.”
“Still, the whereabouts of the Dim Radiant Mausoleum of legend which likely possesses the essence of the Dim Radiant Sect’s accumulation has always remained unknown,” Feng Yunsheng raised her brows slightly, “I fear that there would be many who have their eye on it as well. If they are unable to find it, their gazes would then fall on the Radiant Light Sect and the Dim Darkness Sect instead.”
While it had already been a long time since the Dim Radiant Sect had fallen, while the Radiant Light Sect and the Dim Darkness Sect were currently not doing that well at all, those who had designs on the Dim Radiant Mausoleum would likely not let down on their surveillance on both of these sects.
After all, these two sects possessed the most orthodox legacies of the Dim Radiant Sect.
Thinking logically, wanting to find the Dim Radiant Mausoleum, the clues for this could most likely be found with one of the two.
The current movements of Zhou Haosheng and the others seemed to prove this theory as well.
Looking at Zhou Haosheng’s back, Yan Zhaoge thought to himself, “Zhou Haosheng and them would not be unaware of this. While the Dim Radiant Mausoleum is an existence that they yearn for every waking moment, they should also know that their dreams would only have attained fruition for real when the treasures have been acquired by them. They minds should not be clouded by this as they mess up their footing as a result.”
“If I am not wrong, they have some special arrangements in mind.”
Now, Zhou Haosheng who stood at the front of the squad pressed a hand on his chest whilst striking forward horizontally with his other palm.
A speck of light suddenly lit up amidst the dark space before them.
Yan Zhaoge’s pupils retracted, “With the clues we currently have on hand, it shouldn’t be sufficient for us to truly take the final step in determining the exact position of the Dim Radiant Mausoleum.”
As he thought thus, Yan Zhaoge’s heart jolted slightly as he vaguely guessed what Zhou Haosheng intended to do.
At virtually the same moment, the dark space suddenly quaked slightly.
It was as if the darkness of the night had suddenly been sliced open by a sabre before a flame appeared, illuminating the dark space as it suddenly swept over towards that speck of light.
Now, however, space quaked at another spot nearby as well as another massive palm also extended outwards from amidst the darkness.
That palm was massive beyond compare, seeming able to grasp and explode entire planets with the simple furling of its fingers. Even as it blocked the flame, it also grabbed towards that speck of light.
Before this flame and this palm, even the Chief of the Dim Darkness Sect Zhou Haosheng who was at the peak of the late Seeing Divinity stage could only await cautiously, unable to make any rash move.
Yet, Zhou Haosheng did not appear nervous, his gaze instead being distant and indiscernible as he carefully scanned his surroundings.
Seeing how he appeared, Yan Zhaoge relaxed completely, “Those who intend for us to lead the way do not know what step we are at in locating the Dim Radiant Mausoleum, do not know that we are actually unable to completely determine the mausoleum’s exact location.”
That speck of light that had suddenly appeared amidst the darkness was secretly Zhou Haosheng’s own handiwork!
He had intentionally beaten the grass to startle the snake earlier.
The flame and the massive hand clashed intensely and unforgivingly amidst the boundless, limitless space, the aftershocks of their exchange expanding into the surrounding area.
All of a sudden, intense fluctuations now emanated from the darkness that seemed to have no end.
An even more terrifying aura seemed to have been forcibly roused from its slumber.
The next moment, another light that was bright to the extreme surged, instantly enveloping the surrounding space as both the fiery light and the massive hand paled vastly in comparison to it!