Chen Ping'an had just taken out his Sword Nurturing Gourd when Lü Yan also removed the gourd ladle from his waist. They exchanged a smile. Perhaps this was what Bai Ye had meant in his poem: among the mountains, with a secluded man, they drank together as mountain flowers bloomed.
Lü Yan tipped back his head and took a swig of his homemade wine. "Do you know where the mountain ranges and peaks of Pearl Cave Heaven came from?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Cui Dongshan once told me some of the inside story. There are sixty-two peaks in the western mountain range in total. Most were moved here from the Ancient Shu Earthly Realm and pieced together. More than forty can be traced in the records. I suspect it was the work of Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquises. If I ever get the chance, I'll ask him in person. But mountains like the Luopo Mountain beneath our feet, Piyun Mountain over by Wei Bo, and that mountain with the Dragon Slaying Platform are all rather strange. There are no written records whatsoever. The last one was recorded in the secret archives of the Great Li Ministry of Revenue as Jia Liu Mountain and sealed off during the Chunhui era. Locals here call it Dragon Ridge Mountain. Halfway up its slopes lies a vast stretch of Dragon Slaying Cliff stone, with mysterious origins. Perhaps the only one who knew its true roots was Grandpa Yang from the back courtyard of the old medicine shop."
Lü Yan smiled. "Grandpa Yang? You mean Green Boy Heavenly Monarch?"
Green Boy Heavenly Monarch was one of the Twelve High Gods, the male progenitor of Earth Immortals who had once controlled an Ascension Platform. Yet he had been a human who became a god.
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