The garden was not large, less than a hundred square meters. A thatched hut stood in the middle, and there was nothing else.
Lu Xing looked up at the mountain peak and asked, "Could there be some treasure in this mountain that only bears fruit once every thousand years, making it worth your while to wait here?"
His words made all the beauties in the mirror laugh. Most did not answer, but Neon Fairy smiled and said, "Child, your horizons are still too narrow. Once you begin cultivating and reach the Flying Immortal Realm someday, you will understand our current realm."
Lu Xing asked again, "Earlier, I heard you seniors mention traveling the mortal world. Does that mean you are all immortals? Is this the Immortal Realm?"
The Empress, sitting alone atop a mountain in the mirror, sneered again and lazily answered, "What immortals are there? The Immortal Realm is merely a misconception. This is actually just the Upper Realm. No one has ever seen a true immortal who is deathless and indestructible."
Lu Xing nodded to show that he understood.
His physical body was not here, and Earth had no Spiritual Energy, so he did not ask what the cultivation realms here were.
If Earth could be cultivated on, Cold Ice Fairy could cultivate on his behalf.
"You should all leave. Don't stay here."
Before leaving the garden, Lu Xing spoke to some intelligent medicinal herbs still hiding among the flowers and grass.
As soon as he spoke, those spirit herbs all vanished. He had no idea whether they had hidden themselves or left.
Lu Xing ignored them, turned and left the garden. Seeing that he still had time, he continued toward the mountaintop.
The mountain path was long, with wind and snow raging around him. Lu Xing's steps gradually became light and airy. With a tap of his toes, he could leap into the air and climb dozens of feet upward.
"So that's how it is!"
The farther Lu Xing walked, the smoother it became. Empowered by the Fairy's magic power, he feared neither wind nor snow. The Fairy's snow-white jade feet lightly touched the mountain rock, and her ethereal figure soared upward, sleeves fluttering like a swallow flying against the wind through a blizzard, breaking through layer after layer of obstacles.
At last, he reached the summit.
The world before Lu Xing suddenly brightened. He burst through the dark clouds and flew into the sky. The snowstorm vanished, while pitch-black, heavy clouds churned beneath his feet.
In the distance, the morning sun rose, its rosy light illuminating the land.
Lu Xing was entranced by the magnificent view. His fair palm held the Treasure Mirror as his gaze rested on the place where the sun rose. The Fairy's white-robed figure slowly descended, and her crystalline jade feet once more stepped upon the rocks at the mountaintop.
Morning light spilled down, and a gentle breeze blew. A red hair ribbon drifted behind the Fairy's cascading black hair. Lu Xing could not see the Fairy's beauty at that moment, yet as he stood upon the summit with wind and snow beneath his feet, the soaring pride of reaching the peak, together with the Fairy's transcendent beauty and bearing, naturally let him behold her beauty.
"I've seen an incomparably magnificent world and a spectacular sunrise. The snowy mountain is so beautiful!"
Lu Xing smiled as he spoke to the souls of the beauties in the mirror. Then he took a deep breath and shouted toward the distant setting sun, "Ah!!!"
It had originally been nothing more than an exhausted person on Earth venting their excitement after climbing to a high place. If Lu Xing had been in his own male body, his shout would have been like a fierce tiger roaring through a valley.
But at that moment, the cry that came from Lu Xing's mouth became especially extraordinary.
The Fairy's clear, exquisite voice was like immortal music descending from a heavenly palace. In an instant, clouds and rosy mists surged, multicolored radiance filled heaven and earth, and blossoming golden lotuses flew in every direction. The dark clouds blanketing the mountains crumbled apart, and morning light shone into the valleys, dispersing the chill formed by a thousand years of frozen ice.
The immortal sound soared into the heavens.
As if sensing its master's mood, the Treasure Mirror in Lu Xing's hand flew up and hovered above his head, releasing a pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth, reaching up to the Nine Heavens and down to the Netherworld. The Treasure Mirror's soft chime echoed through heaven and earth, as though it too were celebrating its master's awakening.
Lu Xing was dumbfounded.
He was shocked by Cold Ice Fairy's strength and the power of the Treasure Mirror in her hand.
He knew little about this world of cultivation, but any cultivator would know that such a heavenly phenomenon meant a treasure had appeared. They would surely come to investigate and see whether they might chance upon an opportunity or two.
"Come back!"
After coming to his senses, Lu Xing hurriedly recalled the Treasure Mirror and held it in his palm. Its surface still shimmered with colored light. Only after a long while did the souls of the women in the mirror slowly appear.
"What are you doing?" Blue Skirt Girl asked strangely.
"Have you gone mad?" The dignified and stunning Empress mocked him again.
"If you used a little more magic power, Lu Xing, all the snow on these mountains could melt away," Purple-Clad Woman said with a smile.
"My daughter would never do something like this..."
Neon Fairy's tone was faint and melancholy.
Lu Xing felt a little embarrassed and asked them, "Seniors, will this cause any consequences? I had no idea one shout from her could change the color of heaven and earth!"
All he could say was that the Fairy was terrifying beyond belief!
"Consequences? The consequences are serious!" Blue Skirt Girl said solemnly. "If you don't leave now, some great sect will send people to capture you later and steal our Reincarnation Mirror!"
The Empress urged him as well. "Run, quickly! If you run too slowly, someone will capture you and stuff you into their harem as a concubine! You're a man—surely you don't want to be taken as someone's concubine, do you?"
Lu Xing did not believe either of them.
Fortunately, there were quite a few kind-tempered people in the mirror. The somewhat shy Lute-Holding Girl smiled and said, "Sir Lu Xing, please rest assured. The Reincarnation Mirror is a treasure capable of concealing itself. No matter how outsiders divine, they will not find anything. If they know of the Reincarnation Mirror, then they know of me as well, and they will not come seeking trouble."
Only then did Blue Skirt Girl and the Empress laugh. They had failed to tease Lu Xing, but they did not mind.
"Thank you, Senior."
Lu Xing smiled. "Seniors, you can just call me by my name. I'll head down the mountain now. By the way, do you know the direction of the cave? I should go back first and wait until she agrees to come out."
Lute-Holding Girl said softly, "There is no need to return. I do not mind."
"What are you going back for? You said she wants to return?" Blue Skirt Girl understood and smiled. "Just go wander around. We'll tell her when she returns."
Lu Xing thought for a moment. "I'd better go back. I'm tired too, and I want to rest on the bed."
"Tired? Rest? You?"
"Why return to the bed? Just lie down anywhere and sleep. That bed is no different from the snow on the ground."
"..."
Lie down anywhere to rest?
Lu Xing was not that wild. After asking for directions, he drifted down toward the mountainside.
The disturbance on Thousand Snow Mountain was quickly noticed. Not long after Lu Xing descended the mountain, dozens of streaks of escaping light shot into the wind and snow, scattering among the mountains to search for the treasure that had appeared.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at once that these were independent cultivators who had long gathered herbs in Thousand Snow Mountain. The true aristocratic clans and great sects would need some time before they could mobilize.
But what they did not know was that the sound of the treasure's disturbance on Thousand Snow Mountain had spread far beyond the surrounding area.
To the true powerhouses of the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man, the soft chime emitted by the Reincarnation Mirror was no less than immortal music entering their ears. It jolted them awake, and they turned toward a certain place, calculating with their fingers.
Yet the more they calculated, the more deeply they frowned. In the end, they could only give up.
Only a few beings opened their eyes and looked toward the mortal world. Muttering, "What is she trying to do?" they stopped paying attention.
"Master..."
In the underground Netherworld, a black-robed woman looked up toward the mortal world, tears streaming down her face. "Your disciple knew you had not died. What kind of existence are you? How could you possibly fade away so easily... Disciple is coming to find you now!"
The mortal world.
Within a valley somewhere filled with immortal aura, a white-haired old man seated beneath a tree slowly opened his eyes.
Not long afterward, the head of the Flying Immortal Sect arrived in the valley, respectfully bowed to the old man, and asked, "Ancestor, do you have any instructions?"
"The Founding Ancestor has awakened."
The white-haired old man spoke weakly. "Go and find her for me. You must find her. Once you do, come see me again."
"The Founding Ancestor?"
The head of the Flying Immortal Sect looked bewildered. He had never known that the Flying Immortal Sect had another Founding Ancestor. Was not the sect's ancestor a disciple of Mingxuan Fairy? But Mingxuan Fairy had never acknowledged the Flying Immortal Sect, nor had she allowed it to regard her as its Founding Ancestor.
"She has a mirror in her hand. When you see her, you will know she is the Founding Ancestor. Go."
"Yes, Ancestor!"