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Phoenix Mountain, inside a room.

The mountain was quiet, the cottage was quiet, and the room was quieter—almost reaching the limit that any human being could stand. Incense was burning on the table and the smoke coiled up in the air. The contrast of light and darkness gave one an impression of another world.

It had been half a month since the wooden door was last opened. Before, meals had to be sent in regularly during the seclusion, but that was no longer necessary. He now could go without eating for half a year and his need for food had never been this little.

Gu Yu sat in the room without the slightest sound or movement of breathing; he could be mistaken for a clay figurine.

It seemed forever before his eyes shot open and he vanished into thin air. Moments later, he reappeared in the training court 50 minutes’ walk away.

“It is indeed much more improved in both the speed and agility from the mist form. I think it’ll work as a basic escaping skill.”

Standing there with both his hands hidden in the sleeve of the other side, Gu Yu seemed to have made this posture one of his habits. After estimating the distance and time of this little trip, he confirmed the applicability of this escaping skill.

It was called an escaping skill, but it was actually something he came up with himself.

Back when he was still in the innate state, he could transform into a cloud of mist with Shadow-switching Technique. By utilizing the dispersive quality of the mist, he was able to drift in the air for a short period with the help of his spiritual essence.

Now that he was a Human Immortal, he could become completely invisible and move around as if he was air flow himself. He had no idea whether any similar skills existed previously, but for now, it was one of a kind.

After giving it some thought, Gu Yu took out a jade slip and recorded the skill in details, imprinting it with a name: Void Air-controlling Technique.

Features: practitioners could turn invisible, move at a relatively high speed, and consume a medium amount of spiritual essence.

As mentioned before, Human Immortals could produce spiritual essence themselves, so theoretically, they were not concerned with its consumption. However, in practice, if the speed of consuming exceeded that of regenerating by too much, they’d still need to take a break.

He made it a big thing in recording that escaping skill before putting away the jade slip. He then walked to the center of the training court and started another experiment.

Adjusting his breathing, he kicked the ground lightly and shot into the air. Before, his energy would run out after about 50 m, and to go further up, he would need some external object as a buffer. That was no longer necessary. He shot all the way up, 60 m, 90 m, 120 m… only then did his breathing lose its rhythm a little.

Gu Yu made an effort to fly a bit further up. He began to sway noticeably when he reached 150 m.

He then slowly descended and stopped in mid-air, about 100 m from the ground. A flow of air then circulated around him, forming a transparent film. This was the highest stable level he could reach so far.

He looked down, walked around, and returned to the ground after a while.

“Flying up without any skills and using sheer force only is not practical. Not recommended.”

Shaking his head, he felt the spiritual essence rushing out, soon filling up what he had used.

Immediately after that, Gu Yu began the third experiment, for which he stirred up the Sword Seed frantically—the golden ball spun violently over his Qihai. Sword energy flushed out like torriential waves, soon wrapping him up.

Submerged in the intense golden flame, Gu Yu seemed to have melted into it, and became part of it. With a whoosh, a golden beam swept across the sky, and he was back in the Cottage of Pure Mind in no time.

It was a demonstration of the Methodical Sword state of Red Sun Devil-smashing Sword Manual which allowed one to integrate with their sword and transform into a flashing sword that could fly a thousand miles across air.

“It’s the fastest of all—obviously more so than Void Air-controlling Technique—but the increase in the consumption of energy is also exponential. For emergency use only.”

Gu Yu recorded it in the jade slip and sat down in the meditation room again.

What did he go through all the trouble for? The answer was actually quite simple: he just wanted to try some different ways of flying so that he could find the most suitable escaping skill.

In many cultivation systems, flying did not seem all that difficult—a new pupil of a sect might be able to manipulate their energy and fly, or master some floating technique. However, in Taoist mythology and folklore, flying was actually very hard.

The most common cultivators could do was to “stay shakily 10 or 15 meters above ground in a state between a wind and a mist”. More capable ones could “raise a gust of wind that blew themselves into mid-air and be a distance away in a moment”.

When introducing himself to his future master, Sun Wukong ¹ “jumped about 20 m from the ground and made a return journey of 2 km”. Master Puti teased him about it, calling it “cloud-crawling”.

So, what was the ability of a real master? As said in the ancient text: an Immortal would visit the North Sea in the morning, tour the world, and return to Cangwu ² in the evening. Visiting every corner of the world in a day—only that was qualified as riding the cloud!

“Ha…”

Exhaling, Gu Yu slowly closed his eyes again.

***

Yueyang, Helong Lake Town.

In a two-story house that stood in a small courtyard, Dai Han was refreshing New Classics of Mountains and Rivers repeatedly. Yup, he was that chubby young fellow with whom the Pavilion of Gems closed its first deal.

The soft-shelled turtles his family raised had all mutated and turned into big-toed thickshell turtles. Apart from the Pavilion of Gems, buyers from all over the country were contacting them for a purchase.

The Dai Family made more money selling the mutated species than they had before. The temptation was so great that after the turtles were sold out, Father Dai threw in a new batch of baby soft-shelled turtles. They were terrified by the mutated species before, but now, all they wanted was for them to mutate as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, before any mutation could take place, notice of the government arrived. Because of the expansion of Dongting Lake, residents in the surrounding areas of the lake had to be evacuated in batches.

Helong Lake was a relatively safe area and the residents there were among the last to be evacuated. Mother and Father Dai could not stop worrying—in their eyes, nowhere was safe enough.

Right now, Dai Han was browsing the forum of New Classics of Mountains and Rivers. From the second half of the previous year, with the gradual release of information, this app was no longer a secret. The number of users had grown exponentially, and it now had over 100 million members.

The number of entries in the four categories grew quickly. There were over 500 under both Animal and Plant and almost 10 under Geography and Climate each, such as the plague of insects in Huangguoshu, snow and beast tide in Xingan Ridge, shoals of killer fish in coastal areas, etc.

Today, another entry was added to Geography—or rather, the government had stopped blocking the information and was opening it up to the public.

Huo Zhou!

Three years ago, the spiritual essence of Flaming Mountain broke out with a destructive force, devouring 70 000 km^2 of Huo Zhou, turning the area into a land of burned ground.

Over 700 000 people were evacuated and relocated to various cities.

This spiritual essence had an unmistakable fire attribute that could destroy living creatures from within by damaging their functions and structures. Even metal, plants, mountain rocks, and sand could not withstand this erosion. Recent observations indicated that the air flow in the area had almost quieted down and the ecosphere had recovered…

The country erupted at this new entry.

“Damn! I knew it! I knew it! I knew something was fishy!”

“Why did they only let it out now? The life of common people is nothing to them, is that it?”

“The idiot upstairs, you can go save the world with your keyboard!”

The internet exploded.

The most emotional ones were the migrants of Huo Zhou. Three years had passed since then. Some of them had adapted to their new life, some were still wandering in confusion, and some had given up, falling into a life of crime after spending all their resettlement money.

Whichever kind they were now, they were all overwhelmed by emotions after hearing this news; some even dropped to their knees, howling with tears. They were given no explanation when they were forced out of their hometowns and moved to new cities to live under other people’s roofs. They finally knew why now.

Even though this explanation was such a delayed one and they couldn’t decide whether they should thank or hate the person for telling them that.

“Sigh, I didn’t know what ‘relate to others’ felt, but now I do.” Dai Han heaved a sigh.

The bamboo chair squeaked until his now much stronger body—thanks to the spiritual tea he had been drinking. He was no fool and had guessed why the government had made the Huo Zhou information public. They were preparing the public for a mass migration of the Dongting Lake area.

“Away from home, away from home… sigh, I’ve always hated this lousy place, but only now do I realize how reluctant I am to leave it!”

He was taken over by an unusual sadness and sat there dazed for quite a while. After that, he picked up the phone again and browsed casually through the bbs.

‘Hm?’

The chubby young fellow paused his flipping finger—his eyes locked onto a new post. “A market is under construction in Bai Town. Free trade. Safety is guaranteed and the market is planned for opening within the year. Feel free to send inquiries; everyone is welcome.”

The simple introduction sent an uproar through the bbs.

“Somebody find out where Bai Town is, please. Where is it?”

“A county-level city in Shengtian. It’s small and not very modern. There’s a Phoenix Mountain.”

“Wait a minute. Why does that mountain sound so familiar?”

“Say hi to Phoenix Mountain, Xiao County!”

“Say hi to Phoenix Mountain, Mengjin!”

“Say hi to Phoenix Mountain, Taojiang!”

That got to be one of the most common mountain names of the country—there were more then seventy “say hi” under that thread.

After that, someone who knew better finally replied, “Holy crap, I remember now! Wasn’t a Myan fellow struck dead by lightning last year in Spring City? Can it be that Phoenix Mountain?”

Boom!

It was like he had dropped a bomb.

“So this is not a marketing scam! There really are immortals!”

“A market? What market on earth is it?”

“Are you an idiot of what? Of course it’s the legendary…”

“Cultivation market!”

Dai Han finished the sentence himself and concluded the discussion. Clutching his phone, he felt his heart thumping against his chest and his body temperature rising. The surprise and excitement was making his cheeks flushed.

He had been to the Pavilion of Gems to sell his goods before. Although it was not Bai Town yet, the look of that shop was so promising!

The chubby youngster put away his phone, still shaking a little from the excitement. After a moment of hesitation, he bolted to his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, “Dad! Mum! Stop worrying! We’re moving to Bai Town!”

***

Tianzhu Mountain, the monastery.

In a secluded training court, Bai Yunsheng stood motionless, holding the sheath. He slowly drew out the sword.

That ancient sword had been devoured by the Sword Seed; this was a new one. As the blade left the sheath inch by inch, the energy around him grew more prominent with it. He was no longer who he used to be.

Clunk!

Finally, the long sword was drawn out entirely, and he looked as if he had a streak of silver light in his hand. While the energy remained undisturbed inside and along the blade, he thrust the sword forward.

Whoosh!

The speed of that thrust was beyond imagination. The silver light was so fierce that the air along its path contorted, forming wavy patterns.

Before the stance was finished, Bai Yunsheng turned his wrist, making the silver light quiver at a tremendous speed. Then, a magnificent silver flower appeared at the tip of the blade with a loud bang.

The silver flower comprised of countless streaks of closely woven sword energy suddenly blossomed like a peony. As the petals unfolded, layers upon layers of sword energy came to life and rushed out in unbroken waves.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Bang! Bang!

Waves of sword energy covered the 10 m^2 area in front of him and seemed to have formed a resplendent silver crescent moon.

Boom!

Rustle!

The mountain and the forest looked as if they had been swept by a giant broomstick. The trees were snapped and the stones were broken to pieces, making quite a chaotic scene. Even the ground under his feet—which was paved with bluestone columns rammed vertically into the ground and very hard—was now lined with deep scratches.

“This Cold Moon Sword Manual is indeed worth its fame of a heritage of the Sword Immortals.”

“Abbot!”

Bai Yunsheng put the sword behind him and bowed at Lu Yuanqing that had just showed up.

“Haha! Congratulations on the great improvement!”

Lu Yuanqing bowed back.

After Bai Yunsheng was picked by the Sword Seed, he woke up shortly after being brought back to the monastery. Immediately after that, he announced his going into seclusion; when he came out, he was an innate state cultivator who had integrated with the Sword Seed.

This Cold Moon Sword Manual referred to the harshness and rawness of the cold moon. Its movements were refined, marvellous, and had countless variations. The flash of the cold blade was like the moonlight paving the mortal world.

Red Sun Sword Manual focused on its power; it was awe-inspiring and smashed all evil from earth.

Whirlwind Sword Manual emphasized its speed. The first to attack or not, the sword energy would reach the opponent first.

The Cold Moon, on the other hand, was all about the stances. The technicality of it was most suitable for Bai Yunsheng, who loved swords more than his life.

Hence, the monastery now had two orthodoxies: the Dan method and the sword manual.

The sword skill had demonstrated its might, but the members of Qiyun had remained indifferent. It all depended on one’s understanding of swords and not everyone was blessed with a natural endowment like Bai Yunsheng.

Of course, Lu Yuanqing suggested that the Technical Sword of the manual should be passed down as a high-level fundamental skill. Everyone of the monastery should practice it, which would only do them good.

As expected, the government showed up and asked Bai Yunsheng to draw a graph of the Technical Sword manual, which they took away. It was not hard to guess what they were planning to do with it: to make it a common practice of the armed forces.

After a brief conversation, the two left the training court together.

The construction of the monastery had been completed as planned. Now, with its upper, middle, and lower levels, Qiyun was beginning to have the vigorous look of an influential sect.

They had just reached the main hall when a teenage disciple hurried near. “Abbot, a guest has arrived.”

“Who is it?”

“His name is Wang Qi.”

“I see.”

After dismissing the little one, Lu Yuanqing said, “Junior Brother, how about joining our meeting?”

“All right.”

After that, they arrived in a guest room under Zhu Ridge. Wang Qi was now almost the sole representative in the communication between the authorities and the cultivation community and was going back and forth a lot.

He cupped his hands first. “I was abroad when Old Master Tan passed away. I am so sorry for not coming here to pay my respects.”

“Don’t be. The old priest had gone peacefully and did not want to be disturbed.”

Lu Yuanqing poured Wang Qi a cup of tea. Bai Yunsheng sat quietly on the side, apparently not very good at socializing.

“To be frank, Priest Lu, I’m here on an important matter this time.”

Wang Qi’s attitude had a subtle difference in it. Before, the respect the authorities showed to the monastery was only superficial and the government considered Qiyun a subordinate organization only. However, since Gu Yu’s trip abroad and his demonstration of his Human Immortal power, some bosses up there had changed their strategy.

Maybe they had finally realized the unlimited potential of cultivators, or maybe they were threatened by the possibility that a Human Immortal could crush modern weapons. At any rate, they were now much more polite towards the monastery.

“Please go on.”

Lu Yuanqing realized the change as well.

“A short while ago, our observation station in Tianshan discovered that the air flow over there has calmed down. The mountain is now safe enough for us to enter in great numbers.”

“Oh? That is great news. It is a responsibility that we shall not relinquish.” Lu Yuanqing had seen this coming. He then switched to another subject. “However, I won’t be coming. My junior brother here has just risen to the innate state, and he is much more capable then me. He will be joining you for the task.”

“Priest Bai?” Turning the idea in his head, Wang Qi finally nodded. “Sure. Thank you for troubling yourself, Priest Bai.”