They continued up the path and saw many patrol posts.

"It seems that Demon Emperor values his life." Chen Weichen observed the posts, his gaze looking up at the majestic and continuous palace hidden among the mountains and the sky.

Seeing such solid defenses, he couldn't help but think of that emperor in the capital of the Southern Dynasty. Having experienced the pain of losing his country, the only thing he learned was to cherish his own life. The imperial guards were densely packed, protecting the palace, for fear of mistakenly letting in a malicious fly.

Ye Jiuya, following his words, thought of another emperor.

On Mount Huandang, apart from the two useless attendants, there was no one else, let alone any posts.

He was called an emperor, but the immortal way transcends the mundane world, and in fact, he did not rule the Nine Continents like the Demon Lords, it was more like an empty title.

That person had defeated the Three Lords and Fourteen Marquises back then, and ascended Mount Huandang to be crowned emperor, but it was not for the empty title either.

What was it for then?

Just because of a joke?

As he was thinking, Chen Weichen turned his head back slightly, as if worried, and glanced at him, a hint of gentleness flashing by, disappearing a moment later as he turned back again.

That glance made him feel a bit of familiarity, as if he had returned to a certain scene in his memories from many years ago.

Without a word along the way, they continued upward.

The patrolling soldiers wore black clothes and carried glowing lanterns, each possessing not weak cultivation.

Chen Weichen can affect the qi flow, which can be easily detected by those with cultivation, so he needs to be very careful and cannot make any mistakes.

At the foot of the mountain, his qi might be mistaken for that of an Emperor, but not on the mountain. Everyone knows that the Demon Emperor is in seclusion, and they have seen what the Emperor looks like. If another one appears outside at this time, it will likely be considered as someone coming to challenge the Demon Emperor for the throne, which will certainly alarm the Demon Emperor - and they don't want to disturb him.

Chen Weichen can be sure that this Demon Emperor cherishes his position very much.

This can be seen from his distribution of the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring to the various lords and marquises.

In the past, the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring was exclusive to the Demon Emperor. Any cultivator with attainments wanted to obtain the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring to avoid heavenly punishment, so they coveted the Demon Emperor's position, and the position changed hands very frequently - this was also the fact they learned along the way.

But now the Emperor is generous, giving out a considerable amount to his subordinates, making them content and not thinking of seizing the throne, just like the attitude of Marquis Youshui when he mistook Chen Weichen for the Demon Emperor, extremely docile.

If there are exceptionally talented individuals, in order to possess the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring and make their cultivation path smooth, most of them have to become lords and marquises first, thus exposing themselves to the eyes of the Demon Emperor. Those who pose a threat can be eliminated early on.

The rest are the few deep-minded ones who hide their abilities and endure the heavenly punishment, cultivating step by step to the peak before going to challenge the Demon Emperor - in the eyes of Marquis Youshui, Chen Weichen's strength is comparable to these people.

But the Demon Emperor has been cultivating with the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring for many years, his path bright and unobstructed. The chances of those people winning are really slim, so the throne has not changed hands for many years.

This night is particularly long, the cold night is heavy, and dew has condensed on the tips of the grass and trees beside the road. But if it were daytime, it would be impossible to go up with such dense guards.

Since the two maids from earlier were able to go down, there should be a way to avoid the sentries.

The sentries are all over the mountaintop. They stopped at the bottom and spent an hour or two watching the movement of the lights, finally deducing the pattern of their movements and finding a winding route.

The mountain road can no longer be taken; they have to go through the woods.

However, the forest is really too dense. They don't know if there are any overlooked soldier teams whose lights are completely hidden by the forest and have never appeared in their field of vision.

If that happens, they can only act according to the situation.

After waiting for another half an hour, waiting for each team to walk a round along their own route and start again, the two of them began to move upwards along the planned path.

It was quite smooth at first. As expected, they encountered an unexpected team midway. They retreated for a while to avoid their abnormal qi being noticed. After the troops passed, they sped up and moved upwards. After walking for a while, they were still able to avoid two intersecting patrol teams at the scheduled time before resuming their original speed.

However, after walking halfway up the mountain, they encountered an unprecedented predicament.

Chen Weichen looked at the sizable clearing in front of him and sighed, "How sinister."

A gap appeared between the dense forests, presumably surrounding the entire mountaintop.

Every once in a while, there was a sentry post. Anyone passing through the gap would be fully exposed to the eyes of the guards without any cover.

Then the guards of the entire mountain would be alerted, and in turn, the Demon Emperor in seclusion. The two of them would be hunted down before they could even touch the edge of the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring.

Chen Weichen's mind was no longer sufficient for him to deal with such flawless guarding. He could only maliciously speculate about the two women who had gone down the mountain earlier, "They must have bribed the guards here, truly despicable."

But now the two of them had nothing on them, and there was nothing they could use for bribery - even if there was, the guards only recognized their own people, so they probably wouldn't accept it anyway.

If there were Daoist mystics here, it wouldn't be a problem. Among their talisman spells, there is a technique of concealment that can pass by silently - but neither of them were from the mystic sects.

"Can't fly, can't walk," Young Master Chen had no other way, "Don't tell me we have to dig a hole and crawl through?"

He looked at that cold white long sword.

No, this is Ye Jiuya's cultivation. It is Ye Jiuya - how can it be used to dig the ground?

If he used the Jiuya Sword, he didn't know if he would agree.

Ye Jiuya saw him direct his gaze towards his Jiuya Sword and knew what he was thinking. He said helplessly, "If sword qi is used, it will be detected."

"That's true," Chen Weichen muttered.

If they really dug a hole, they would have to use sword qi - otherwise, using the sword as a hoe, digging bit by bit, who knows how many years it would take.

"There is only one way." Ye Jiuya said.

"What is it?"

"I am not truly transforming my body into a sword right now. If I completely transform into a sword, without a physical body, I can open up the void. Although it's not like Guixu, I can still send you over there."

Guixu itself is an endless void, so it can open up passages leading to various places in the world. But now to directly open up the void in an ordinary place?

"How can the void lead to the other side?"

"There are only a few words recorded by the ancients about this method, but in the way of the sword, it depends on the will of the sword-wielder," Ye Jiuya looked at him and said lightly, "The third ancient teaching of the Sword Pavilion: where there is utmost sincerity, even metal and stone can be split open."

Chen Weichen felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding, "Then how will you come back?"

"Bring me back to the Sword Pavilion within three days, and there are secret methods to reconstitute my body."

"And after three days?"

"Enter the cycle of reincarnation."

The price was too great. Chen Weichen didn't know what to say for a moment.

Ye Jiuya saw his hesitation.

He continued, "When I have a physical form, my sword intent is constrained by my second level heavenly realm and cannot be fully unleashed. With me by the side, I'm just an added burden. After transforming into a sword, it's almost the same as the Heavenly Dao, without the distinction of realms. Plus, you have all of Emperor Yan's memories and know his sword techniques. If you encounter the Demon Emperor, you may have the strength to fight. The sword opening the void cannot sustain the long journey from the demon realm to the immortal realm. After getting the Nine Abyss Heavenly Spring, if there is a void below the Xingluo Abyss, then slash the void to return. If not, then cross the Heavenly River."

Chen Weichen looked at him, "Three days is too short. If you lose your life just to take the Nine Abyss Spring Water-"

Ye Jiuya said, "I want the Nine Abyss Spring Water."

Chen Weichen shook his head in a daze, "I will definitely not choose the Nine Abyss Spring Water."

Ye Jiuya didn't say anything.