From the message sent by Xiao Jinglan, it could be heard that his voice was full of urgency. He kept urging Shen Qing and Li Xian to take a few people to the mortal world to handle the matter of the Ling family in Guangfu.
Originally, this message should have been directly sent to Shen Qing's sound - transmitting jade pendant. But for some reason, the sound - transmitting jade pendants between Shen Qing and the Ling family members had stopped working after they went to the Merman Palace.
The Ling family had no choice but to send someone to the Nine Desolate Continent for help. They only heard that Shen Qing was in the Five Elements Dao Sect, so they rushed there in a hurry. As a result, Shen Qing had returned to the Qingyun Sword Sect.
They just missed each other.
And the Ling family member who came to deliver the message had already died due to his serious injuries.
The wounds on his body were caused by mortal swords. Normally, the physical bodies of cultivators would be reshaped and it was difficult for them to be injured by mortal weapons.
However, the people from the Five Elements Dao Sect found talisman water on his wound, which proved that the mortal emperor had invited capable people to deal with the Ling family.
The reason the Ling family members were imprisoned was that the emperor thought that the evil demons had been running amok in the mortal world recently, but the Ling family had not protected the common people well.
In order to vent his anger and quell the public's resentment, the emperor imprisoned all the Ling family members.
When Shen Qing learned this information, the first thing that came to her mind was a saying.
"Kill the hounds when the hares are gone."
The Ling family was a cultivating family. Their prestige among the common people was even higher than that of the royal family. At such a critical moment, the emperor still imprisoned the Ling family members. It was hard for Shen Qing not to suspect that the emperor had the intention of getting rid of the Ling family.
After all, in the mortal world, imperial power was supreme. Which person in power could tolerate his subjects being more beloved by the common people?
"Li Xian, the Ling family is the family of my master. I must go to the mortal world to solve this matter. Otherwise, I will feel ashamed in front of my master."
There was urgency on Shen Qing's face. Her eyes were filled with deep worry. She wished she could cross the Kunlun Mountain and reach Guangfu right now.
Li Xian put away the jade pendant and nodded. "I understand. Don't be anxious. We'll set off for the Kunlun Mountain right away."
Shen Qing nodded. The two of them planned to say goodbye to the people in Honghua Town before setting off. Seeing this, Hong Chaoyang beside them also shouted, "I'm going too. I'm going too. Don't leave me behind!"
Xue Ling put his hands together and said in a tone that allowed no refusal, "I'll go with you too."
Shen Qing thought that this matter involved the royal family and would surely be difficult to solve. It would be good to have more people, so she agreed to their help.
"Chaoyang, Xue Ling, thank you."
Hong Chaoyang patted her chest and smiled. "Why be so polite between friends? Moreover, I've heard of the reputation of the Ling family in Guangfu and I admire them very much. How could I stand by when the Ling family is in trouble?"
Xue Ling also chimed in, "Me too."
When Hua Ying had manipulated things to make Li Xian emotional just now, it was Hong Chaoyang who stood up for Shen Qing at the first time.
Shen Qing remembered this friendship in her heart.
While touched, she still had to remind Hong Chaoyang, "After we get to the mortal world, you must always stay close to us. Don't act rashly and expose your identity. Do you understand?"
Hong Chaoyang had been living in the Nine Desolate Continent since she was born, so she was naturally curious about the novel things in the mortal world.
She also intended to take this opportunity to go to the mortal world and see if it was really like what was recorded in the books.
Facing Shen Qing's reminder, Hong Chaoyang readily agreed, "Okay, I'll definitely stay close to you and never leave you for a single step!"
The four of them quickly decided to go together. Xue Ling didn't need to go back to prepare things. So Shen Qing asked Hong Chaoyang to tell Senior Red Butterfly, while she and Li Xian went to say goodbye to Senior Honghua.
When Senior Honghua learned about this, he sighed and reminded Shen Qing to try her best to solve this matter perfectly.
Half an hour later, the group set off for the Kunlun Mountain without stopping.
The Kunlun Divine Mountain separated the Nine Desolate Continent from the mortal world. Except for Shen Qing, the other three had grown up in the Nine Desolate Continent, so they had rarely had the opportunity to go to the Kunlun Divine Mountain.
The Kunlun Divine Mountain connected the two places. There were jungles around it that were even denser than the dense forest outside the Qingyun Sword Sect.
When Shen Qing went from the mortal world to the Nine Desolate Continent, most of the wounds on her body were caused by the spiritual beasts and spiritual plants in the jungle. But because they were close to the Kunlun Divine Mountain, most of these spiritual beasts and spiritual plants were non - poisonous.
The spiritual beasts living here were also more likely to develop spiritual intelligence than those in other places.
After becoming cultivators, few people would go to the mortal world through the Kunlun Divine Mountain again. The spiritual energy in the mortal world was thin, which was not conducive to cultivation. If a cultivator stayed in the mortal world for a long time, their cultivation would quickly regress.
The four of them took two small flying boats. After five days and five nights of hurrying, they finally arrived at the jungle at the foot of the Kunlun Divine Mountain.
The trees in the jungle were tall and the spiritual energy was rich. As soon as they got close to the jungle, Shen Qing and the others felt a peaceful aura pour directly into their heads.
There was curiosity in Hong Chaoyang's eyes. She looked around all the way, but she was very well - behaved and didn't talk or act recklessly.
"Shen Qing, this is my first time coming to the Kunlun Divine Mountain. How are we going to cross it to get to the mortal world later?"
Shen Qing recalled the first time she passed through the Kunlun Divine Mountain. She couldn't help smiling. At that time, she was in a mess. If she hadn't followed the cultivator in front of her, she wouldn't have been able to find the entrance to the Kunlun Divine Mountain at all.
Moreover, after passing through the divine platform of the Kunlun Divine Mountain, she only felt that she was in a fog. After walking a few more steps, she had arrived at the Nine Desolate Continent.
That memory had become a bit fuzzy after two lifetimes. Hong Chaoyang's question also made Shen Qing stunned for a moment.
After thinking for a while, Shen Qing replied, "I don't remember very clearly either. But as long as we follow this path, we can climb up to the divine platform of the Kunlun Divine Mountain. After passing through the divine platform, we'll reach the mortal world."
Hong Chaoyang nodded repeatedly. Her lips curved into a smile, as if she couldn't wait to reach the divine platform of the Kunlun Divine Mountain.
They didn't encounter any high - level spiritual beasts along the way, so everything went smoothly. But the further they went, the lower the temperature became. Even when they got close to the Kunlun Divine Mountain, they found that some spiritual plants were covered with frost.
Xue Ling exhaled a puff of white air. "Strange. I never knew that it could freeze and snow at the foot of the Kunlun Divine Mountain."
When they saw the ice, Shen Qing and Li Xian immediately became vigilant. A figure emerged in both of their minds.
Han Ze.
The two of them glanced at each other and silently took out their swords. Although they knew that with Han Ze's cultivation, he could easily defeat them!
The divine platform was on the top of the mountain. They had to climb ninety - nine steps to reach it.
The four of them stood in front of the steps. When they saw that all the ninety - nine steps were covered with frost, surprise appeared on their faces simultaneously.
"What's going on? Shouldn't this place have spring - like weather all year round? Even if there is snow on the top of the mountain all year round, why are the steps at the foot of the mountain also frozen? It's really strange."
Seeing this, Shen Qing's face darkened. It was obvious. Han Ze was here. He had frozen these steps just to stop them from going to the divine platform.
But these layers of ice alone couldn't stop them. Shen Qing held her sword "Never Forget" in her hand and said to the people behind her.
"From now on, you must be extremely careful with every step. There's a big shot up there waiting for us."