Black Cloud Mountain towers, uniquely isolated within a hundred miles of Yunze.
Its continuous, unbroken form resembles a dark cloud pressing down, hence the name Black Cloud Mountain.
The group rode on Bai Jing for several hours, traversing hundreds of miles, before finally arriving at the foot of Black Cloud Mountain.
Here, the landscape differed drastically from Yunze; vegetation gradually thinned along the way, replaced by stretches of black earth and scattered, jagged rocks.
The closer they got to Black Cloud Mountain, the more the fertile wetlands transformed into black stone. Looking around, everything appeared withered and desolate, a stark contrast to the lush lands they had seen before.
Black Cloud Mountain evoked a sense of desolation and solitude. The indifferent peaks rose from the craggy cliffs, carrying an inexplicable, chilling wind that made hearts shiver.
The wind howled through the cliffs, like the resentful whispers of ghosts in their ears.
It stirred an emotion of terror in their hearts.
Bai Jing slowed its pace, walking through Black Cloud Mountain.
Sheer cliffs and bottomless ravines stretched endlessly. The peaks resembled the work of knives and axes, the mountains like bamboo shoots standing above a frigid abyss. With each step, loose stones tumbled down, disappearing into the boundless abyss, echoing with lingering sounds.
Such a perilous place would deter any reckless individual. Only those who disregarded death would dare tread this narrow path. It was no wonder such precipitous terrain was known as a forbidden zone. If they weren't cultivators, entering this road to the underworld would mean certain death.
Jiang Wen gazed at the towering peaks and sighed, "It truly is a forbidden zone."
Lu Shiming laughed and said, "Of course. People say Yunze is dangerous, but Yunze is merely a frog in warm water. Black Cloud Mountain is the true definition of a dead end. Look at that bottomless abyss; even a cultivator wouldn't dream of flying across it with their sword."
As he spoke, he plucked a feather from his cloak and blew it towards the abyss below. The feather floated only a few feet before plummeting like it was filled with molten iron, falling straight into the unfathomable depths.
"Even a goose feather will sink to the bottom of the abyss; hence it's called Falling Goose Abyss."
"Black Cloud Mountain, isolated from the clouds. Falling Goose Abyss, where even immortals stumble. Don't say ascending to heaven is difficult; the bones of tens of thousands lie buried in the cold streams. I only read about it in books and thought the ancients were exaggerating, but now that I've seen it, I can only sigh in awe."
Listening to Lu Shiming's words, Jiang Wen looked down into the abyss again. He felt it was incredibly steep and truly terrifying.
If they didn't possess some skill, they probably wouldn't dare to come to this dangerous place.
Even though the Red Maw was a demon, it knew how to choose a location.
Black Cloud Mountain was extremely dangerous, and falling into the abyss meant unknown fate, but it was safe and peaceful, with few others able to come. The group sat comfortably on Bai Jing's back. Although her body was tens of feet long after transforming into a fox, she walked through narrow places as if on flat ground.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of peaks and walls were left behind, and the perilous scenery passed by quickly.
The deeper they went into the mountain, the thinner the clouds became.
Bai Jing leaped up, her four feet standing on a mountain peak. All around was a vast sea of clouds, stretching for thousands of miles. Just looking at it evoked the poetic image of 'stirring clouds in the chest, and watching returning birds disappear into the corners of the eyes'.
The saying 'climbing high to see far, thus embracing great ambitions' probably meant this. Jiang Wen admired the magnificent scenery and could understand why the ancients liked to climb mountains.
"My lord, look," Bai Jing said.
Jiang Wen looked in the direction she indicated and saw a massive mountain gate in the distance. It stood like a majestic giant, drawing all eyes.
The mountain was so high that its peak reached the sky. Its grandeur was like a divine general descending into the mortal world.
It was called a mountain gate, but in reality, it was two infinitely long cliffs blocking the path, facing each other, thus forming a gate.
"What is that?" Jiang Wen asked.
He had seen the Geographic Map, but he had never seen such a magnificent sight in Black Cloud Mountain. It seemed like the dwelling of gods, hard to find in the human world.
"What a magnificent stone gate!" Li Yunshang exclaimed from Bai Jing's back as she gazed at the mountain gate. Even having seen countless grand rivers and mountains, she couldn't help but marvel at this wonder.
"That is the Heavenly Gate," Lu Shiming explained. "I once read in a secret scripture that there is a Heavenly Gate deep within Black Cloud Mountain. Legend says that the ancient emperor traveled from here to Youze, reaching the Unmanned Cold Abyss, and was then reincarnated into the human world. Seeing that a hundred years passed in the blink of an eye in the human realm, the ancient emperor wrote the lament, 'The Cold Abyss surges, those who go never return'."
"I never thought that one day, I would be able to experience the same state of mind as the ancient emperor, seeing the countless wonders between heaven and earth, and feeling a desire to explore the vastness of the world."
"Having seen this Heavenly Gate, I also want to see the vastness of the world," Jiang Wen said with a smile, his eyes fixed on the mountain gate. "I presume the Red Maw is behind this Heavenly Gate?"
"Yes," Bai Jing replied. "But now is not the time to enter."
"Why?" Jiang Wen asked, puzzled.
"This place is unusual, unlike any ordinary place. I once heard the Red Maw mention that Black Cloud Mountain is actually the burial ground of immortals. Before the immeasurable ancient times, an immortal fell here, transforming his body into the thousand-mile domain of Black Cloud Mountain."
"The countless mysteries within are mostly due to this. And this Heavenly Gate has one mystery: it cannot be entered unless the sea of clouds recedes. Even if I were to take you there now, you would not be able to enter this Heavenly Gate."
"There's even such a strange thing," Jiang Wen exclaimed in amazement. He looked at the endless Black Cloud Mountain range and still doubted whether it was transformed from an immortal. But he had seen the mysteries of Black Cloud Mountain, and perhaps there were truly unknown past events here.
Jiang Wen had an impulse to explore the truth of Black Cloud Mountain, but fortunately, he suppressed this thought for the time being.
The group waited for the Heavenly Gate to open, the sea of clouds rolling like a great tide. Jiang Wen checked his phone; six hours had passed. Bai Jing said that the sea of clouds ebbed and flowed, departing in three hours and returning in four.
Just as he was wondering why the sea of clouds hadn't receded, the clouds and mist between the mountains were sucked away by a sky-devouring mouth, instantly turning into nothingness.
"To be able to come to this place, this life is not in vain," Lu Shiming exclaimed.
As for Jiang Wen, he was already taking pictures with his camera, recording this beautiful scene. This strange behavior aroused curiosity. Except for Li Yunshang, who knew what he was doing, everyone else looked at him strangely.
"Fellow Daoist, what are you doing?" Lu Shiming asked.
"I'm just recording this beautiful scenery so I can look at it later," Jiang Wen said with a smile. He knew that the cultivation world had a kind of magical artifact for recording images, but that thing was disposable. Although it could record images, it was not as easy to use as a camera.
"He wants to take this Heavenly Gate back," Li Yunshang said with a smile, leaving only A Meng beside her clueless.
Entering the Heavenly Gate meant seeing a world-shaking scene.
The plants and trees in the mountains were like paintings, and strange beasts and spiritual creatures roamed freely among them. Clouds and mist lingered, like a fairyland.
The group couldn't take it all in, and their hearts were filled with sighs.
After putting the group down, Bai Jing transformed into human form. She looked at Jiang Wen with a smile and said slowly, "I can only take you here, my lord. As for where the Red Maw is, I don't know now."
"Leave the rest to me," Jiang Wen nodded in agreement.
