Chapter 844

According to ancient legends, there were three divine mountains situated in the sea to the east of Cathay, namely Yingzhou, Fangzhang, and Penglai, which were also referred to as the three immortal mountains.

None of those mountains were in set locations. Qin Ye didn't know much about the other two mountains, but he had seen a passage written about Yingzhou in a book from the library for history professors. It was said that the vessel that carried Yingzhou on its back was none other than the divine beast, Gui Xu!

Qin Ye mused to himself, "Gui Xu is one of the four divine turtles, ranking alongside the likes of Xuan Wu, Shen Bie, and... what was the final one again? Forget it, that's not important."

He looked on at the island with an awestruck expression. This was the physical embodiment of an ancient legend!

"It was said that Xu Fu's intended destination for his final voyage was none other than one of the three divine mountains, Penglai, which is home to the elixir of immortality. However, it's Gui Xu and Yingzhou that have appeared here instead... Does that mean that what he discovered during his final voyage was actually Yingzhou rather than Penglai?"

Qin Ye was very perplexed, but this wasn't the time to be pondering something like this.

It was extremely quiet here, eerily so, and it was exactly because of this that Qin Ye was more focused and on-edge. As a result, he noticed that there was a building on the mountain summit. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by mountains and greenery, so he was unable to catch a clear glimpse of it.

He silently descended onto the mountain, and throughout this entire process, the feeling that he was being watched by something never abated. In fact, that feeling only became more pronounced as he set foot onto the island.

"It doesn't feel like there's something watching me..." he murmured to himself as he inspected his surroundings. "Instead, it feels like a group of some things watching me... Also, this island is too quiet, like the calm before the storm. It's so silent here that it's unnatural."

Indeed, there wasn't any sound to be heard, no birds chirping, no cries from insects, and not even the sound of rustling leaves could be heard.

The only sound was the crunch of dry leaves underfoot, and this unnaturally quiet setting only contributed to Qin Ye's unease.

He continued onward in a slow and careful manner. There had most likely been some people here a very long time ago, as evidenced by the fact that there was a stone staircase here. This was a winding staircase that led upward, and on either side of it were rows of stone lanterns. The lanterns had clearly not been cleaned or maintained in a very long time, and there was moss growing all over their surfaces.

10 minutes passed, then 20. Qin Ye tried speeding up, but that didn't lead to anything, and the feeling of being watched still remained.

It was as if something were waiting for him and patiently observing him in the meantime.

Qin Ye was maintaining a state of absolute calm and wariness. The absolute silence and gorgeous environment of the island presented a peculiar juxtaposition, and Qin Ye was traveling very quickly, having almost reached the summit after just half an hour.

At this point, he had arrived in front of a cliff.

White clouds were drifting through the air down below, while strange stone formations were standing all around him. A series of strange-looking trees were growing out of the gaps between the rocks, and up ahead, the stone staircase had already disappeared. In its place was a wooden bridge.

The wooden bridge led to another cliff, and the construction on the mountain summit was situated right there. From this position, Qin Ye could already see the building's true appearance.

It was a shrine, a Nipponese shinto shrine.

There were several hundred white-robed figures knelt in front of the shrine's entrance with their heads pressed against the ground. It was impossible to see their appearance or even their attire from behind, and Qin Ye only took a quick glance at them before withdrawing his gaze.

He then turned his attention toward the bridge.

His instincts told him that as soon as he set foot on the bridge, the things that had been watching him this entire time would immediately unleash a ferocious assault upon him.

Firstly, if he were in their shoes, he would also choose a precarious location like this bridge to initiate their attack.

Secondly, the shrine that was standing on the other side of the bridge was clearly the final secret to be uncovered here. It had already been over 2,000 years since Gui Xu perished, so the only person who could've placed a secret here would be none other than Xu Fu!

As such, this had to be a secret pertaining to Xu Fu. In fact, there was a very good chance that it had something to do with the true location of the Peach Blossom Spring!

At this point, it was already too late to turn back, so the only way was forward.

He took a deep breath, then carefully strode forward and stepped onto the bridge.

In the instant that he did so, the sound of a bell chime suddenly rang out from the shrine on the other side, immediately following which a streak of light flew out before instantly reaching him.

It was that white cicada!

The two of them were no more than 20 meters away, and all of a sudden, the white cicada swelled drastically until it was comparable in size to a human head, then began to screech at Qin Ye with all its might.

The wooden bridge was swaying and trembling violently, as if to warn him against proceeding any further, but Qin Ye was merely amused by this.

It was all an empty bluff. He couldn't sense even a single ounce of power within the white cicada's body. However, it was most likely some type of mystical creature, and it was extremely f