Ninety-nine Steps of the Stone Wall

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Ninety-Nine: A Stone Wall

Qi Fei had arrived at the Beast Mountain Range five days ago. He had been hunting beasts alongside several cultivators, dividing the beasts’ inner cores evenly. Over these days, he hadn’t encountered any real danger—until today, when he entered the den of the Golden-Silver Wolves and finally sensed a trace of peril. Now, he could see the spirit stones but couldn’t take them away. Qi Fei felt frustrated about this, but to ensure his own safety, he had no choice but to enter the treasure mountain and leave empty-handed.

Lost in thought, Qi Fei heard Tong He say, “There are only two ways now!” After a slight sigh, Tong He carefully explained, “First, we wait for the effect of the soul confinement to dissipate, then I can naturally free myself. The second method is for you, young one, to find the location of the formation’s soul, then we can break it and I’ll be freed as well. The best news is that this is only a common imprisonment formation, not one with deadly power. Otherwise, just now, because of my slight negligence, we might have truly ended up trapped here forever!”

Hearing Tong He speak so seriously, Qi Fei thought silently, “If we just wait here for the formation to vanish and do nothing, that’s definitely not an option!” After standing silently for a moment to steady his mind, he spoke: “Grandfather Tong He, you’d better guide me on how to locate the formation’s soul and destroy it to free you. Passively waiting is not a good plan. Also, you just said this is an imprisonment formation... could it be possible that there might be those seductive flower spirits you mentioned here?”

“Seductive flower spirits… maybe,” Tong He hesitated uncertainly before adding, “You brat, stop thinking about what you want and focus on getting me out of this soul confinement. If something happens, you’ve never witnessed the divine magical arts of the world, so you definitely won’t be able to handle what comes next. If you lose hope, I’ll be in serious trouble too.”

Qi Fei wiped his face and said, “You’d better first tell me how to find the formation’s soul, so I can act!” Tong He sneered, “You say act quickly, but you don’t seem nervous at all being inside there.”

After saying this, Tong He realized he had misspoken. Although Qi Fei was his junior, now they were bound together like two locusts in a pod. He had to maintain appearances with Qi Fei, so after a long silence, he frowned deeply and said, “According to me, the formation soul is very likely the flower behind that stone wall. But with your current abilities, don’t even think about going in to snuff out that flower. You can’t even approach the soul confinement area. Earlier, I was testing the path for you. If you had gone in yourself, you might have been electrocuted by this soul imprisonment.”

“The formation soul is behind the stone wall?!” Qi Fei exclaimed in surprise, then frowned. According to Tong He’s description, he really had no way to pass through the lightning-covered area imprisoning Tong He. After hesitating for a while, he glanced around the stone chamber, now fully illuminated by the soul light, hoping to find something unusual.

Sure enough, after sweeping the area with his soul’s perception, Qi Fei discovered something special. Behind the stone wall lay a pile of jagged, nearly weathered white bones. Judging by their shape and size, the deceased was a man about eight feet tall. The fatal wound appeared to be a purple-glowing, finger-length small sword lodged between his ribs near the chest. Next to him was a small pouch that looked bulging, though what it contained was unknown.

Though uncertain if the remains would help rescue Tong He, Qi Fei was determined to investigate. Before approaching, fearing he might trigger the same confinement, he thought carefully then pulled a rusty long knife from his space pouch to try to nudge the small sword and the pouch closer.

As expected, when he used the knife to prod, a gust of wind swept silently along the blade’s shaft—then, to his horror, the steel shaft snapped cleanly in two, the break smooth as if sliced by a vegetable cutter.

“Good thing I was cautious and didn’t reach in directly; otherwise, this seemingly gentle wind might have... I don’t even know if it could penetrate my defenses.” Though he spoke this quietly, Qi Fei dared not test his physical defenses further, nor did he dare retrieve the broken blade tip.

The situation here was truly strange; everything required extreme caution.

Fortunately, despite the blade breaking, his probing wasn’t in vain. The finger-length purple sword was too difficult to pull free, so he abandoned that. Instead, the bulging storage pouch was nudged free.

Qi Fei lightly caught the pouch as it fell and eagerly opened it. To his surprise, the bulging pouch was completely empty!

Looking around and seeing nothing else, Qi Fei couldn’t help but quietly extend the pouch toward Tong He, whispering, “Grandfather Tong He, why would someone carry an empty pouch... or could it be that the contents were taken away?”

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“What a fool! That’s a storage pouch—you just need to use your soul... oh, I forgot, your Illusion Heart cultivation hasn’t even begun.” Tong He had intended to scold Qi Fei, but suddenly stopped as if remembering something. He sighed softly within the true energy net, “What rotten luck, to encounter a cultivator’s formation here in this cursed place. And as a spirit-body, I cannot touch the lightning; otherwise, this soul imprisonment could never trap me.”

Hearing his lament, Qi Fei sulkily put away the so-called storage pouch and said, “Grandfather Tong He, if you’re really stuck and alright, why not tell me about your past in that Divine Continent and explain what kind of formation this soul imprisonment is? Perhaps I can find a way to break free after hearing it.”

“My life in that Divine Continent is truly hard to explain; it’s a long story.” Tong He smirked slightly and murmured. Just as Qi Fei expected a detailed explanation of things beyond his understanding, the old man suddenly changed the subject: “Hey, you brat, look! There’s a small mechanism next to the stone wall with light shining through it. Try throwing some stones at it and see if you can move it; maybe it will open the stone wall.”

Though initially disappointed by the topic change, Qi Fei’s gaze immediately shifted toward the spot Tong He indicated. Through the dazzling true energy net, he squinted and made out a windmill-like device next to the stone wall. Unlike a windmill, this wheel had three clear handles on its disc.

“Is this really the switch to the stone wall?!” Qi Fei looked several times, then asked Tong He. Upon receiving the nod to try, he quickly pulled several stones from his space, infused them with pure strength, and threw them at the topmost handle like a rapid volley. Squinting, he watched for the reaction after the stones struck.

Just as Tong He predicted, the handles were indeed the stone wall’s switch. With the sound of clicking springs, the wall slowly slid aside into the adjacent cave wall. Once the stone wall completely vanished, the scene behind it was fully revealed to Qi Fei.

At first glance, Qi Fei couldn’t help but shudder. Behind the stone wall was indeed a stone chamber similar in size to the one he currently occupied. But inside was a table upon which an oil lamp flickered and sputtered...

However, the light shining through the stone wall’s gap was not from the oil lamp’s pale flame beneath a lampshade. Above the lamp hung a complete skeleton suspended by a rope. The dim yellow glow radiating from every bone illuminated the room.

For Qi Fei, rescuing Tong He was the urgent priority.

So, hearing Tong He say this chamber was likely just a training place in this cave manor, Qi Fei lost all interest in exploring further. As Tong He said, since this thing appeared here and couldn’t escape, although Qi Fei was tempted by the prospect of physically training here, he decided to set this chamber aside for now.

If that was true, only the stone chamber to the right remained unexplored. Turning around, Qi Fei once again drew his cold-spirit blade and cautiously approached the right chamber to test for danger.

Honestly, Qi Fei didn’t want to investigate this last stone wall. Because whether it was the soul imprisonment in front, the shadowless sinister wind behind, or the gravity-altered space to the left, the dangers before the first three stone walls were all different but clearly involved inanimate objects.

What made Qi Fei wary was the right stone wall, behind which there might be a living creature.

From the strange aura he sensed upon entering the pit cave, Qi Fei guessed it originated from behind that stone wall. So, not only had the Golden-Silver Wolf fled into this chamber, but likely another beast resided inside, possibly stronger than the Golden-Silver Wolf.

In such an unfamiliar place, having already met remarkably powerful beasts like Xiao Hong at Divine Martial Level 6, Qi Fei originally didn’t want to provoke whatever was behind the stone wall. But with the other walls temporarily inaccessible, he could only hope to find a way to save Tong He here.

However, the situation was not optimistic. To enter behind the stone wall, he still had to cautiously test for danger. Holding the cold-spirit blade steadily, Qi Fei carefully advanced. After a short while, he was within about six feet of the wall. Based on experience, approaching that close usually triggered the formation’s defenses.

But this time, unlike the previous three walls, no unusual phenomena appeared when he pushed the blade forward.

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“Huh, no danger here?” Pausing briefly, Qi Fei muttered to himself, then felt a wave of relief. In fact, even before testing, he had guessed there was no danger here. Otherwise, the Greedy Marten King would have been stuck in the chamber, unable to proceed, rather than disappearing without a trace.

Despite this, Qi Fei still tested with the cold-spirit blade just in case. Caution was never wrong—in fact, it was the most basic principle when walking in the Divine Martial Realm or facing unexpected situations.

Sure enough, his guess proved absolutely correct.

As he continued pushing the blade forward several more feet without any abnormal reaction, Qi Fei visibly relaxed. When his blade finally touched the stone wall, he confirmed its solid hardness through the weapon. He sighed deeply and sheathed the blade, then strode up to the wall.

Like the chamber with the oil lamp, this stone wall also had a handle mechanism.

But upon seeing the mechanism, Qi Fei was momentarily stunned. He wondered: if this switch opened the stone wall, how did the Golden-Silver Wolf get in here? Could this rank-eight beast have not only gained intelligence but also such cunning wisdom to manipulate switches? If so, it truly lived up to its reputation for slyness and intelligence.

This thought quickly passed, and Qi Fei smiled wryly, shaking his head before slowly turning the handle.

With creaking sounds, the stone wall slid aside, revealing the scene behind. Qi Fei rubbed his eyes in disbelief, scanning up and down repeatedly, clearly unwilling to believe what he saw.

Behind the stone wall was not another stone chamber but a lush, natural landscape like an ink wash painting of mountains and waters.

Tong He was also shocked. It turned out this stone wall concealed not a chamber but a vast, verdant world even in the depth of winter. The green trees, the murmuring stream, the small creatures hunting butterflies in the grass, the fluttering birds, and dancing butterflies all made Qi Fei feel as if he had opened not a door but an entire world. This mountain and water realm was not a mere garden—it stretched boundlessly, making it seem like a paradise far removed from the ordinary world.

Yet, what kept Qi Fei grounded was the strange aura permeating the air. This odd scent ruined the otherwise perfect beauty, casting an eerie and inexplicable strangeness over the place.

“Young one, there are bound to be beasts roaming here. Be careful,” Tong He warned cautiously after seeing the scene. Though still trapped in soul confinement, his insight was far sharper than Qi Fei’s. From afar, he could already discern certain things about the verdant land.

“Beasts with intelligence?” Qi Fei was startled by the new term and asked, “What level of existence is that?”

Tong He replied solemnly, “I’m not familiar with your cultivation levels, but they’re at least equivalent to your Innate Realm and possess considerable intelligence. I advise you not to risk your life now. We are weak and unfamiliar with this place; such beings could truly doom you.”