What confused Austin and the fire source beast most was the dearth of strange creatures nearby. They
had encountered many along the way, but after arriving in front of the mountain, they found themselves
alone. There was no sign of life around them.
"I can sense that the creatures came down from this mountain. This is most definitely their lair,"
the fire source beast frowned.
This space was filled with sacred fire, so his spiritual sense was much stronger than Austin's.
"If you say so."
Austin nodded lightly. He couldn't comment since he was unable to see too far through this sea of fire.
"Let's go and take a look!" he added after thinking for a while.
The duo continued towards the mountain in front of them, with Austin in lead
and the fire source beast close behind.
After a while, they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Apart from a lack of life-forms, they also noticed that the sacred fire was decreasing as they drew
further along.
And here, at the foot of the mountain, it was almost gone.
Instead, it looked like they had entered an expanse of darkness now, with no light to guide them.
A cold fog shrouded the area around them, covering the heaven and the earth from view. It was a cold
and dark place.
Searching for a way up, Austin and the fire source beast discovered a road that led up the mountain
and immediately took it.
Their surroundings had gone eerily quiet, as if they were walking under the shade of the night.
The fog was getting denser with each of their steps.
No animals or creatures were in sight, and the road was covered in moss. But under the dense fog,
even the green moss seemed to have turned a sickly shade and the whole place looked dead and
desolate.
It was hard to tell how long it had been since someone had last trodden upon this road.
And yet, Austin and the fire source beast felt like hundreds of eyes were watching them climb the
mountain.
"Be careful. The atmosphere feels weird,"
the fire source beast warned Austin softly.
"You're right."
Austin nodded.
All signs that life had once thrived in this place, if it ever had, were long gone.
Austin and the beast eventually arrived at a hillside.
They saw various buildings, pavilions, terraces, and palaces up here, cleverly crafted to blend with the
mountain and stay upright for a long while.
In fact, all signs pointed to this being a very prosperous and thriving settlement once.
But whatever this place was, its life was long gone. The buildings had lost their color with ages of
decay. They were riddled with cracks everywhere, as if they would turn into dust at any time.
"Huh! This is incredible! For so many years, I thought that this world had been forgotten. I never
expected to once again see a living creature in front of me, let alone two."
Suddenly, a voice full of shock rang out from in front of them.
Austin and the fire source beast immediately turned towards the source.
They saw a lone, young man sitting cross legged on a giant stone. He wasn't too far away from one of
the palaces and it was safe to assume that the building was his.
He was wearing an ancient and faded robe, and his aura felt incredibly old.
He had a handsome and sharply defined face, with eyebrows like swords, and eyes as bright as the
stars.
He was holding a gourd in his hand, and a smell of wine was floating out from it, intoxicating anyone
who breathed even a whiff. Clearly, the wine was very powerful and old.
"Ha-ha-ha! Welcome, my guests! I have been alone in this forgotten world for a very long time and
finally, I can have company today."
The young man stood up slowly and smiled at the two newcomers. He seemed genuinely ecstatic at
their arrival.
However, Austin and the fire source beast were on high alert after seeing the young man.
It didn't make any sense. This mountain was supposed to be the lair of the creatures they had
encountered on their way. But instead, all they could see was this young man sitting alone and drinking
wine.
They wasted no time in releasing their spiritual senses to perceive this unknown host.
The result shocked them severely.
They checked and re-checked but there could be no doubt about it. This was no illusion.
The young man was a real flesh and blood based human being!
Both of their spiritual senses had yielded the same result.
"Impossible!
How can a human being still be alive here?
Something must be wrong!"
Austin and the fire source beast exchanged their perceptions and found the result inconceivable.
"My guests! Come over quickly. It looks like we were fated to meet today, so let us drink and celebrate.
Can you imagine how lonely and bored it feels to be drinking alone all these years?"
The young man strode towards the newcomers with great enthusiasm.
The latter became even more vigilant.
Austin even set up several hundred arrays to block the young man.
Simultaneously, he created dozens of worlds of mind power. They rushed ahead and overlapped with
each other to trap the young man.
Such hostility brought a slight frown upon his face. He used a remarkable and strange bodily
movement skill and, like a wisp of smoke, swiftly retreated through space. He dodged Austin's attack in
the blink of an eye.
"What a brilliant bodily movement skill!"
Austin and the fire source beast exclaimed in awe as they saw the man move.
Somehow, they were finding it impossible to capture his specific position. All they could see was a
vague and blurry figure moving around.
Like an expert through a maze, the young man avoided all the arrays and worlds of mind power Austin
had setup with remarkable ease.
"Stop. You don't have to do this. I mean you no harm."
The young man retreated to a safe distance and looked at Austin and the fire source beast with
innocent eyes.
"Tell us who you are first.
Why, and more importantly, how are you here?"
the fire source beast asked, still staring at him with a cautionary gaze.
"My name is Henrik Liu. I have been here for a long time. So long that I have almost forgotten how I got
here and for what reason.
Let's just let bygones be bygones. You must believe me when I say that I wish you no harm,"
the young man replied sadly.
"Okay, Henrik.
Tell us one more thing. There were so many strange creatures on this mountain. Where are they now?"
Austin asked.
"I believe you are talking about the ghost race.
If so, then they are not from the same world as I am.
This mountain has two worlds in it. The Yin World, and The Yang World.
Right now, we are standing in the Yang World. If you wish to find the ghost race, you should visit the
Yin World,"
Henrik replied.
"ghost race?
Yin and Yang worlds?"
Henrik's explanation only confused Austin and his companion. They looked at each other peculiarly.
"Where is this Yin World?"
Austin asked.
"Like I said, the mountain has two worlds in itself. They are opposites of each other.
And this Yang World is situated on the outside
while the Yin World is inside."
Henrik pointed to a place nearby.
Austin and the fire source beast followed his finger and saw hundreds of illusory scenes overlapping
with each other, like water waves gently rippling in the wind.
Inside those illusory scenes, they could see hundreds of the strange creatures they were pursuing.
"What the hell is going on here?"
They were confused and immediately examined the illusory scenes carefully.
Very soon, they arrived at an astonishing conclusion.
There was another mountain situated inside this mountain.
This one was real and solid, while the other one was illusory.
The two mountains completely overlapped each other with such congruity
that they looked like one single mountain.
In fact, if the illusory mountain were not vibrating ever-so-slightly, they wouldn't have figured out that
they were standing on a fusion of two mountains.
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