Chapter 956: Primordial Dragon Cave Heavenly Qilin
The Changbai Mountains stretched with majestic terrain, lying like a slumbering dragon, renowned since ancient times as one of China's ten great mountains, with a very high elevation, known as the Roof of the Northeast.
Although it was already late winter, nearing spring, the Changbai region remained sealed by heavy snow, a vast expanse of silver white, with snow several feet deep.
"Thousand-year snows, ten-thousand-year pines, straight up to the highest peak of the mortal world!"
This was the praise of the ancients, yet it indirectly illustrated the grandeur and beauty of this place. Snow was everywhere, and stepping into it could sometimes bury a person entirely.
Snowy peaks rose majestically, one after another, very imposing. The rocks on the mountains were quite special, mostly white pumice, different from elsewhere.
Ancient pine trees had grown for who knows how many years. In the uninhabited areas, tree kings often appeared, towering and thick to a terrifying degree, like small mountains.
Little Pine was especially lively here. Its glossy, purple fur, like silk, shimmered even more brightly against the white snow. It ran and jumped, rummaging for pine cones.
"This isn't right. This old forest keeps getting deeper as we go, much larger than I imagined," Guo Zhen said in surprise. He felt that after entering the depths of the Changbai Mountains, something was off. The terrain grew steeper, the landscape more primitive, and the snowy peaks were unreasonably high.
Ye Fan remained silent, carefully searching for something. He occasionally closed his eyes, sensing with his mind. The path he chose was very rugged, sometimes requiring passage along cliff faces.
Guo Zhen dared not disturb him. He knew Ye Fan must be breaking a formation. There were ancient formations in this place, and Ye Fan was trying to enter a mysterious uninhabited area.
Suddenly, heaven and earth spun, and the scenery transformed dramatically. A vast expanse of wild mountain ridges appeared. Heavy snowflakes danced in the air, and a desolate aura rushed toward them. They had entered an unknown, primeval snowy mountain range.
"This is different. I can guarantee that this area can't be found on any map. Where have we come?" Guo Zhen asked, uncertain.
After leaving Gezao Mountain, he had been traveling with Ye Fan. Having grown familiar, he was not restrained, unlike the older generation of the Lingbao Sect who treated Ye Fan with caution and apprehension.
Ye Fan felt his character was good, so he intentionally guided him, bringing both him and Little Pine into the Changbai Mountains to travel together.
"The real Changbai Mountains should be like this. I had to put in some effort to find my way in. Ancient formations guard it, and some places mortals can never enter," Ye Fan said.
Guo Zhen was amazed and believed his words, because he found that the pine trees were astonishingly thick, having not been cut for at least a thousand years. They stretched in patches, with no trace of human presence.
"Ao hou..."
A tiger's roar shook dozens of li, causing the snow on the pine trees to fall in a cascade, nearly burying Little Pine alive.
While the little purple creature was picking pine nuts under the snow, it grabbed a tiger's tail. A striped tiger leaped from the snow, turned its head, and let out a loud roar.
Startled by the sudden roar, Little Pine's purple crystal-like fur stood on end. Its little paws clutched its heart, its body fluffed up, and it scurried backward in a panic.
"Such a huge tiger! This is astonishing. It's nearly four meters long and must weigh seven or eight hundred jin. Has this tiger become a spirit?" Guo Zhen clicked his tongue.
"That's not too strange. Siberian tigers are naturally large, far surpassing other tiger species. During the Soviet era, more than one such oversized individual was captured. There are reports about it," Ye Fan said.
Little Pine came to its senses and seemed to feel embarrassed. After all, it was a creature with cultivation. It crouched there, shaking its little head, trying to imitate a tiger's roar.
"Ao wu... yi ya!"
Ye Fan and Guo Zhen were both amused. It sounded too babyish. Although it had struck a tiger-roaring pose, the sound was ridiculous, describable only with one word: tender.
The little purple creature felt discouraged and lowered its head in embarrassment, realizing it lacked any imposing presence.
However, the Siberian tiger turned and fled. Its size was rare, and it had some intelligence. It sensed that the squirrel was somewhat uncanny and felt afraid.
They continued deeper, treading through thick snow as they advanced into the mountains. Soon, they encountered an even larger wild tiger in the forest, five to six meters long and weighing nearly two thousand jin.
"This... it's practically become a spirit!" Guo Zhen exclaimed.
"Something is a bit off. It's unusually large, but it also means we're close to our destination." Ye Fan's pupils emitted two beams of divine radiance.
"Sou"
In the distance, a flash of purple light appeared. They mistakenly thought it was another Little Pine, but it turned out to be a sable, which also seemed to have some intelligence.
"That's right. It seems we've reached the Dragon Cave region of the Changbai Mountains. The creatures here are all touched by dragon qi and are quite unusual."
Ye Fan had come this time to seek the Heavenly Qilin Clan, one of the four great ancient demon god clans, with a sovereign-over-realm presence, unfathomably deep.
The five-to-six-meter-long Siberian tiger was subdued and carried the three of them as it ran, wind whipping up, sending large clouds of snow flying. Each leap covered over ten meters.
"There's a mountain god temple there. That's strange. This should be an uninhabited area. How can there be such a building?"
They approached and saw that it was quite old, built at least several hundred years ago, and its scale was still grand.
Suddenly, a yin wind blew in their faces. A hair-raising cry came from within, especially eerie in this primeval forest. An owl three meters long burst out of the temple, its sharp claws aiming for their skulls.
"Demon bird!" Guo Zhen shuddered. The owl was enormous, and its face even resembled a human's somewhat.
Ye Fan pointed a finger, freezing it midair. He extracted a ball of light formed from its divine sense sea within its skull. After examining it, they continued on their way.
Ahead lay a forbidden zone. These spirit beasts usually dared not approach. It was clearly the hidden dwelling of the Heavenly Qilin Clan. Wisps of dragon qi seeped out from the several snowy peaks ahead.
"Demon qi, powerful demon qi!" Guo Zhen's face paled. After penetrating dozens of li, even he could sense the demon qi, let alone Ye Fan.
Among the snowy ridges, something like a white true dragon seemed to be churning, inhaling and exhaling the essence of heaven and earth, appearing and disappearing, like a mountain range.
"Could that be a dragon?"
"It should be a flood dragon with deep cultivation. No wonder the Jin and Qing dynasties both regarded the Changbai Mountains as their ancestral dragon-prospering land. There really is something to it," Ye Fan murmured to himself.
Historical records state that the Qing Shengzu made an eastern tour, leading the crown prince, various princes, and ministers to the banks of the Songhua River, facing southeast, paying homage to the Changbai Mountains, performing the three kneelings and nine prostrations ceremony, personally calling it the ancestral dragon-prospering land.
Moreover, the Qing ancestors once decreed the enfeoffment of the Changbai Mountain god, ranking it with the Five Sacred Mountains, and even later elevated the Changbai Mountains to a status higher than the Five Sacred Mountains.
Descendants had unearthed ancient steles from the Changbai Mountains more than once. The later ones were from the Qing dynasty, the earlier ones from the Jin dynasty, and there were even earlier, unverifiable mysterious dragon steles.
"When the Qing army entered the pass, they always claimed that the dragon ancestor prospered from the Changbai Mountains. It seems many things happened back then." Ye Fan pressed forward. With his cultivation at this level, he dared to charge even into dragon pools and tiger dens.
They walked into the legendary dragon-prospering land. A group of majestic snowy peaks stood tall, with one in the middle being especially huge. At the base of the mountain was an ancient cave, spewing forth wisps of dragon qi. Several ancient pine trees stood tall, making the place appear ancient and mysterious.
"Who are you, trespassing into our clan's forbidden ground?!" someone shouted.
Over a dozen people walked out, clad in gleaming armor woven from metallic scale-like pieces, flowing with demon qi. They were all murderous.
In this era, seeing such people in a primeval mountain range would leave ordinary people stunned and then trembling.
Ye Fan had experienced too much to be surprised. His expression was calm as he said he had come to visit and requested an audience with the master of this place.
"Heavenly Qilin, what kind of race is it?" Guo Zhen asked quietly. He felt these people were extremely eerie, all tall and imposing, their blood energy pressing.
"Their ancestor was a heavenly serpent, which eventually became a demon god. The world cannot fathom its depth. Its descendants chose to evolve into flood dragons, while some remained great serpents, hence the name Heavenly Qilin Clan," Ye Fan said. This was what he had learned from the Lingbao Sect Leader.
"That heavenly serpent..." Guo Zhen was somewhat worried for Ye Fan, fearing that demon god might still be in the Changbai Mountains. If it hadn't left, the trouble would be immense.
"At that level, they live only for the Dao. Achieving immortality is their sole pursuit. They should have left long before the age of declining Dharma arrived," Ye Fan speculated.
"If you want to see the master of the Primordial Dragon Cave, first announce your name yourself. Know that not everyone in this world can come here seeking an audience!" The dozen or so people in scale garments shouted. Their hair was disheveled, their eyes piercing, and some even had flood dragon horns on their heads.
"Ye Fan," he stated his name.
"Never heard of it. Tell us where you come from and what sect you belong to, to see if you're even qualified!" These people came from the Primordial Dragon Cave, possessing a first-class bloodline in the world. They were born with innate pride and looked down on everyone. Was the other party trying to give him a show of force? He remained unmoved and walked forward with them.