Chapter 142 Journeying South
Zen Mountain was illuminated by the predawn light.

It was the moment just before sunrise, the atmosphere was filled with the chilly air before dawn broke, and the grey crystallized snow was covered with a fresh layer of white frost. Two early larks were chirping their songs in the half-lit sky.

At the horizon where the Zen Mountain met the sky, there was an enormous morning start hanging in high in the sky, staring down at the world below like a lone eye. The vast universe seemed to be holding its breath while it listened to the orchestra of the living creatures. A layer of thin and mysterious light hovered over the entire land.

The temperature in Northern You after the snowfall had fallen even lower, such that a splash of water could turn it to ice immediately.

At this moment, there were ten horses and two carriages traveling southwards on the small path which connected the You Prefecture and the Qing Prefecture.

Chen Chenchen had wrapped himself in so many layers that he looked like a huge dumpling. The thick scarf he was wearing had covered almost half of his face and what was left exposed were his two eyes, which were intently studying the path ahead.

The horses and carriages were purchased from Camel Town at the foot of Zen Mountain. Being the golden age of the dynasty, there had not been wars in years. Moreover, this place was close to grasslands, so it did not take much effort for them to find horses. After all, money could do wonders. The cultivators would likely be able to find out the treacherous situation in Northern You, while the commoners were unlikely to be provided with any information at a short time.

Not only had the imperial court not reacted to the fact that 200 thousand soldiers of the Ye Army had died, but it was also taking a long time for the Ministry of War to pass down any relevant document. Until this day, the imperial envoys who set out from Luoyang had not even reached the City of Fan. If they were sincere about helping, the imperial envoys would not be able to rescue the 200 thousand soldiers even if the soldiers managed to escape initial death.

When the dog is beaten, the lion is tamed.

The Ye Army was likened to the lion.

The journey from the You Prefecture to Luoyang a few thousand miles, therefore, it was definite unsuitable and impractical for them to travel all the way defending themselves against attacks. They were after all a group of people made up of novice cultivators in the Psychic Realm or Starburst Realm. Their only choice was to travel by the most primitive method, which was on horseback.

Since Ye Que discovered the secret of the Divine Book, he had requested the people to prepare a horse carriage especially for him.

Lei Tianyou, the Eldest Senior Brother of the Pavilion of Wind and Thunder, was still unconscious from serious injury, so he naturally could not be riding on a horse.

In this manner, a medium-sized procession of horses and horse carriages set out on the small path leading southwards. To prevent the devil from tracing their footsteps, Ye Que had made some necessary preparation to buy him some time, even if he was unable to completely confuse the devil by distraction.

In the carriage at the middle of the procession sat Ye Que, cross-legged with his eyes closed. He did not waste any time in studying deep into the formation of the mystical words in the Divine Book. While all the time, there was a strange lotus flower in full bloom, which possessed Spiritual Force. It bloomed and withered repeatedly and each cycle indicated that Ye Que had mastered a mystical word.

Red Bean, who was lying by Ye Que’s side was poking the spiritual flowers one by one while wearing a bored expression. “Why would you waste this time of the day for your cultivation? Wouldn’t it be better to tell me some stories instead?” she asked.

“This is so boring.”

She looked Ye Que up and down, from his hair to the sole of his feet and when she realized that Ye Que’s fingernails were a little too long. Not knowing what she was thinking, Red Bean grabbed her big black umbrella and crept up to Ye Que. Carefully she took Ye Que’s hand and drew his fingers towards her. Using the sharp tip of the umbrella, she started manicuring the tips of his fingers.

She had planned to kill time doing this.

Therefore, she carefully ground his thumb, then his pointer finger, and so on until the pinky. Then she moved on to the other hand.

Red Bean spent half of the day lying on her stomach beside Ye Que’s hand, without moving away for a moment.

By the time Ye Que digested 41 mystical words, Red Bean also finished her work. She looked at the outcome of her hard work and nodded in satisfaction.

“How long have we been traveling?” asked Ye Que, looking at Red Bean.

“Six hours,” replied Red Bean casually without thinking. She lifted up Ye Que’s hand as if showing off, pointed to his fingernails, which had been trimmed neatly. Every one of Ye Que’s finger had apparently been manicured to perfection.

It was surprising that Red Bean, who was a master in the Formless Realm and highly skilled in martial arts, was also an expert in the art of manicure.

“Are you really this bored?”

Ye Que subconsciously reached out to stroke Red Bean’s long black hair, but all he got in return was Red Bean rolling her eyes at him.

“Needless to say!”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to the world number one cultivator? Then you’ve to cease the time to cultivate yourself,” said Ye Que calmly.

“Don’t worry about me. I have a different way of cultivating myself than you, and you won’t understand if I try to explain it to you,” said Red Bean, giving Ye Que an impatient look, which really meant, “Are you asking me questions when you refused to tell me stories earlier on? Fat hope!”

Ye Que broke into a smile when he saw Red Bean’s displeasure. All of a sudden, he had a cheeky thought.

He drew a strange model of a formation in the air and stuck out his lips towards Red Bean, as if to ask if she understood the drawing.

She rolled her eyes at Ye Que once again in disdain and replied, “Just because I used violence to shatter the illusory formation at the Imperial mausoleum of the ley lines of sovereignty. It doesn’t mean that I have no knowledge regarding formations. Haven’t I told you that apart from fighting, I’ve also learned various kinds of cultivation technique, sword skills, saber skills, etc. and these included formation as well.”

“I had used violence to shatter the illusory formation merely because I didn’t want to disassemble it step by step.”

“Can’t be bothered to go through the trouble.”

“It doesn’t mean that I’m clueless about it.”

“The model of formation you drew in the air just now is likely a mini maze formation. It is non-threatening as it does not attack. However, it possesses the ability to deceive and confuse. One doesn’t even need to exhaust any Spirit Stones. A tiny bit of True Energy together with changing the natural environment will do the trick,” Red Bean said as she pointed at a few places in the air and continued, “These few points are the core of the formation.”

Ye Que furrowed his brows as he pondered over her words for a moment, then he lifted the curtain of carriage and cried out, saying, “Stop for a while.”

“Let’s take a rest at where we are now.”

When he was done giving instructions, Ye Que alighted the carriage and begun studying the road they traveled on. It was full of twists and turns and lined with dense tall trees with needle-shaped leaves covered with snow. The rut of the horse carriages was clear and deep and a series of hoofprints were imprinted on the ground.

He reflected on the formation he learned a moment ago, as well as the core which Red Bean pointed out to him, Ye Que began putting his knowledge into practice by the roadside for fifteen minutes without taking any breaks in between. Although the road they traveled on, the trees which lined the road, as well as the snow on the ground looked the same as before, Ye Que knew that something had changed entirely.

He had in fact laid down a formation over here!

The formation he laid was an ancient maze formation which had been lost in transmission.

As long as the devil was intent on uprooting everything, it would trace their steps all the way from Zen Mountain. It did not even have to hurry to catch up with them. Given that the devil cultivator who had reached half-level in the Formless Realm had been struck down by Ye Que and Red Bean, the devil which would come next would be more formidable.

After laying down the formation, the procession of horses and carriages set off again after Ye Que returned to the carriage he traveled on.

There in the carriage, he picked up from where he stopped and continued to study the formations recorded in the Divine Book.

He studied each character of the mystical word thoroughly.

The higher into the air the mystical word floated, the more complicated the formation therein lied, however, the speed at which Ye Que studied the mystical word increased instead of decreased. Moreover, he had discovered a trick, which was to open his eyes and discuss with Red Bean whenever he was unclear about any formations. After all, the little dragon girl who lived over a hundred years indeed knew much more about formation than Ye Que did.

Although, her knowledge was limited too.

After the procession of horses and carriages had been traveling for two days, Red Bean was beginning to feel the pressure whenever Ye Que turned to discuss the formations with her. Her replies and responses did not come as easily as before. A lot of times, she needed to ponder for a long time before she finally got the idea. Sometimes, Ye Que even perceived the significance of some of the formations while Red Bean was still pondering over them.

The study of formations and the ability to understand them depended much on one’s inborn gift. In his previous life, Ye Que had allocated much of his cultivation to studying warfare, which meant that he had little experience and knowledge on formations. On this occasion, he was delighted to discover the inexhaustibly profound formations in the Divine Book. The initial delight had turned into an addiction, which could not be stopped.

As he continued traveling southwards,

He continued studying.

Ye Que had gone to the extent of giving up eating as he continued studying the formations in the Divine Book while the others hurried on in their journey or when they ate their meals and even when they went to sleep.

Ye Que even temporarily stopped the accumulation of Divine Energy from his every day cultivation from the Divine Book

As he traveled, he studied and practiced what he learned there and then.

In the beginning, Ye Que would ask for a break in the journey every few hours so he could lay the formation he just learned along the road they traveled. However, subsequently, the frequency increased from stopping every ten hours to eight, etc., then finally they would stop every two hours.

The speed at which Ye Que laid the formation also increased exponentially.

He was no longer so particular and demanding about the environment as he progressed. As he picked up knowledge of more formations, he was able to adapt to the environment more easily.

The group of young people who followed him southwards were rather comfortable with the intermittent stops they got to enjoy along the way. However, they were not exactly used to the increased frequency of stops as time went by.

They eventually entered into the third day of their journey.

Finally, they left Northern You and after they passed two valleys they would finally exit from the You Prefecture. All of them were clearly relieved by then.

Once again, as expected, when the procession of horses and carriages stopped, Ye Que emerged from his carriage and proceeded to the end of the road to gesturing a series of moves. This time, Ye Que was not alone. Even Red Bean joined in somehow, although most of the time, she was just standing by to watch, frowning. During those moments, she would not interrupt or speak.

Chen Chenchen of Broken King Gorge looked on in puzzlement and said, “What’s gotten into Mr. Ye these days? He hasn’t eaten, slept or even spoken to us. Could he have been demon possessed?”

Instinctively, the two young men sitting beside him nodded in agreement.

“Should we intervene by talking to him?”

“This journey we are taking to Luoyang is a long and tedious one, so we can’t afford to have any accidents happen to Mr. Ye.”

“I definitely think it necessary to warn him.”

Having observed that Ye Que had gone a little further away on this occasion, the few young men began speaking up their mind. Although Guan Shuheng and Yang Nuanyue did not join in the conversation, they too were frowning at Ye Que’s actions.

“Cough…”

When a sound of coughing echoed through the air from within the horse carriage, Guan Shuheng instinctively dashed over to the carriage and lifted its curtains saying, “Eldest Senior Brother, are you alright?”

Last night, Lei Tianyou, the Eldest Senior Brother of Pavilion of Wind and Thunder finally woke up from his unconsciousness. Although he had not regained his strength, it was very fortunate that he had emerged from the life-threatening condition. Lei Tianyou had even started to restore his True Energy this morning, refusing to go back to sleep.

Having come out of his meditation, he lifted the curtain and glanced at Ye Que, saying, “Don’t join in the rest to talk nonsense. Mr. Ye is not demon possessed. He is laying formations. Otherwise, why else do you think that we haven’t come across into any devils in the past three days?”