Chương 180: Chapter 179: The Rift

"Notice anything, Chen Yang?" Senior Brother Qing An asked with a small smile.

"I am not completely sure. I can feel that something is off," Yang said, looking around his surroundings, "but I am having trouble putting my finger on it."

"No wind. No birds or insects," Senior Brother Song Weilong said before Yang could identify it. And indeed Yang now realised what had been making his instincts prickle. A place like this, open skies in the morning, rolling hills, should have had small animals, birds, and insects everywhere. He should have been feeling wind on his skin, but there was nothing.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Junior Brother," Senior Brother Yuan Shen said with a smile.

"It takes some getting used to, recognising differences like that immediately."

"But it is essential you learn," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, giving Yang a more serious look.

"While you have us with you right now, it will not always be so. Often the environment is the first indication that something is wrong with the places you have entered. It is important you learn to notice the differences."

"I once entered a secret world where the air gradually thinned, and I did not realise it until I was unconscious," Senior Brother Zhen Hao said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Thankfully, I had a Senior Sect Sister with me who managed to get me out." Yang took the lesson to heart, making a mental note to always take proper stock of his surroundings before anything else.

"Secret realms are indeed often dangerous places. You have to keep an eye out for any changes. It's easy enough to recognize a danger that attacks you, but one that gradually weakens you or your ability to make sound judgment is far more difficult." Senior Brother Yuan Shen added.

"Many cultivators die without even knowing what killed them."

"But you don't have to worry too much about that right now," Senior Brother Qing An said.

"We are here specifically so you can begin learning under our expertise."

"Indeed. That is how we all learned, under the wings of our own Senior Brothers," Senior Brother Song Weilong said with a smile.

"Come," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, pointing toward the mountain range in the distance.

"We need to reach those mountains." He glanced back at Yang.

"Chen Yang, you will ride with me." Yang nodded and stepped onto Senior Brother Fan Xiao's sword as soon as it was summoned, settling in behind him without hesitation. They were off immediately, and Yang looked down at the rolling hills beneath them. From above, the view was stranger than it had been from the ground. He studied it for a moment, trying to work out what was bothering him about it.

"The landscape keeps repeating," he said. Senior Brother Fan Xiao looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"It is good that you noticed."

"This is an example of shoddy work," Senior Brother Qing An said from his right, with a wry expression.

"Whoever made this realm was either lacking in skill, lacking in time, or simply did not care enough to make it more convincing," Senior Brother Yuan Shen said, shaking his head as if in disappointment. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"The lack of skill is debatable, considering they managed to tether an entirely separate world to this one," Senior Brother Fan Xiao warned.

"Do not be too dismissive. Connecting another independent world to a created realm is a considerably more demanding feat than simply building a secret realm. It requires a depth of knowledge well beyond what ordinary realm-crafting calls for." He slowed to ascend higher as they approached the mountains.

"The other sections of the inner world are nowhere near as crude. Whatever corners were cut here were likely cut deliberately." Yang noticed, as they climbed, that it should have been colder. Having lived on the outer sect peak and having made numerous trips across the inner sect, he knew exactly how the air should feel at this altitude. But again it was the same as it had been on the ground. The same stillness and absence.

They landed on a ledge partway up one of the mountains and Senior Brother Fan Xiao began leading them on foot from there, upward along a path that mostly involved a series of decisions about which rocks to climb over and which to go around.

"Could we not simply have flown further?" Senior Brother Zhen Hao asked, looking irritated at a particularly awkward boulder. Senior Brother Fan Xiao gave him a look cold enough that Senior Brother Zhen Hao straightened immediately and stopped talking.

"No one has been able to locate the rift from the air even when they know the exact area. We search on foot." They pushed on. The rocks grew more irregular as they climbed, protruding at angles that required them to duck, squeeze, and in two instances crawl beneath overhanging formations entirely. Yang was quietly grateful for his storage ring. He could not imagine navigating this terrain while carrying a pack of any size. Several hours passed.

Senior Brother Fan Xiao stopped in front of a rock formation shaped roughly like a sail, its broad face tilted at an angle that kept its underside entirely in shade.

"We are here," he said. Yang stepped closer and looked at where Senior Brother Fan Xiao was staring. The underside of the rock was in shadow, as expected, but that was not what he was seeing. There was something else there. A dark screen-like surface that sat within the shadow. The closest comparison Yang could find in his memory was the dark glossy face of an expensive monitor from his first life, when powered off. Reflective and dark.

If Senior Brother Fan Xiao had not been staring directly at the spot, Yang would have walked past it without a second glance. The rock's shadow provided perfect cover. But now that he was specifically looking for something, he could perceive it clearly.

"How did the exploration team find this in the first place?" Yang asked. He genuinely had to wonder.

"Were they crawling through every rock and crevice on the mountain?"

"You would not be completely wrong," Senior Brother Qing An said drily. Yang swung around to look at him incredelous.

"Really?"

"Not literally crawling through everything themselves," Senior Brother Song Weilong clarified.

"We are a large sect. Many disciples who take exploration assignments carry techniques and treasures designed to sweep wide areas and identify anything unusual."

"Oh. What kind of techniques?" Yang asked.

"There is no single specific one," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said.

"It could be as simple as using a treasure like the mole puppet Junior Brother Weilong gave you or it could be as sophisticated as a divination technique designed to locate hidden spaces." He looked at Yang intently.

"Techniques and treasures are tools, Junior Brother. What matters is knowing where and when exactly to use them. That is what separates effective cultivators from ones who collect impressive things and accomplish little." Yang nodded, thinking deeply. He was reminded of Senior Sect brother Song Yi and what he taught in his utility talisman classes. Ultimately, whether it was a talisman, a technique, or a treasure, the tool was worth only as much as the judgment of the person using it.

Senior Brother Fan Xiao turned to the group and raised his hand. Everyone moved to take hold of one another, and Yang felt Senior Brother Fan Xiao's grip close around his left wrist. Senior Brother Yuan Shen took his right.

"Brace yourself," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said.

"The reports describe the crossing as painful. There is nothing to be done about it except endure it." Yang set his jaw and nodded. Senior Brother Fan Xiao stepped toward the dark surface and pulled them through. He immediately understood what Senior Brother Fan Xiao had meant. He felt as though he were being ripped apart, or perhaps forced through a giant meat grinder. Thankfully, it lasted only a few seconds. His feet struck solid ground hard enough to jar his knees.

He had barely begun stumbling forward when Senior Brother Fan Xiao's arm slammed across his chest and hurled him backward. Yang flew several metres before crashing into the rock wall behind them.