Volume Two: Capital City Storms — Mysterious Sky Stone (2)

The wind was fierce, yet there was no sign of it anywhere across Tianyan Stone Mountain. Not a blade of grass grew here; all around were nothing but bare Tianyan stones—in other words, Mysterious Sky Stones.

There was not a soul in sight. Only an official road ran through this place, and it was already dark—who would travel by night? At that moment, I stood on that very road, gazing at the Mysterious Sky Stones before me.

In the eyes of the people of the Azure Dragon Continent, Mysterious Sky Stones could only be used to test first-rank experts, and only those Mysterious Sky Stones that had naturally split apart. An entire mountain made of Mysterious Sky Stone, on the other hand, was utterly useless.

I stared wide-eyed at the Mysterious Sky Stones before me. Hearing could never compare to seeing with one's own eyes. When Brother Wang told me there was a mountain of Mysterious Sky Stone, I had wondered how much there could possibly be, how large the mountain could possibly be. But when this mountain of Mysterious Sky Stone was placed right before my eyes, I... went stupid!

To me, Mysterious Sky Stone was far more precious than gold. If you saw a mountain of gold hundreds or even thousands of meters tall, stretching so far that its end could not be seen, how would you feel? You would probably be so thrilled that you went dumb on the spot. You would not stop being excited for hours—I was certain of it.

Because I was excited right then. Before me stood a mountain hundreds, even thousands of meters high, its length beyond sight, and it was Mysterious Sky Stone, countless times more valuable than gold. How could I not be excited? Hahaha...

Only after quite a while did I slowly calm down.

Others might not know how to use Mysterious Sky Stone, nor how to obtain it, but would I, a seasoned cultivator, not know?

I did not want anyone to learn that someone was already capable of cutting Mysterious Sky Stone. Wouldn't the world be thrown into chaos then? With a tremor beneath my feet, my whole body drifted deeper into the mountain like a feather...

Not bad. A fine place indeed. If I took it here, who would ever discover it? Hahaha... Looking at the deep valley before me—ah, I did not mean I was going down into that bottomless valley to get stones. I meant the cliff face above it.

Light as a swan's feather, I stood on a pointed stone protruding from the cliff. Mysterious Sky Stone could only be cut with Samadhi True Fire or an even higher-grade pill flame. Pill flames were exceedingly rare; with my early Golden Core strength, it would already be impressive if I could breathe out pill fire for one minute. But I was not afraid of Samadhi True Fire. I had top-grade jade stones to replenish the True Primordial Energy I consumed.

I took a deep breath, ready to unleash my Samadhi True Fire. After staying on the Azure Dragon Continent for so long, I had actually become used to taking a deep breath whenever I used my full strength. Hehe.

Just as I was about to breathe out Samadhi True Fire, the corner of my eye suddenly caught sight of a huge rock on the cliff not far from me. It had split off—it was not connected to the mountain at all! This was simply wonderful. Didn't that mean I would not have to expend my Samadhi True Fire? To think I had even stumbled upon such good fortune! Once luck came, nothing could stop it!

I drifted lightly over to the enormous stone.

Looking at the stone before me, which was taller than I was, I opened my mouth wide.

Good, good, such a huge piece! Such a huge piece of Mysterious Sky Stone! It was far too big. I had been standing a little too far away just now, so I had not realized how enormous it was! Since I could carry it anyway, I might as well take the whole thing back. Who would ever complain about having too many good things? It never occurred to me how bizarre it would look for a little kid like me to be holding a ten-thousand-jin boulder.

I stretched out my right hand. A stream of True Primordial Energy shot toward the Mysterious Sky Stone, swiftly wrapping around it before rolling the entire stone back into my hand.

I looked at the massive stone in my hand, then at the gigantic Mysterious Sky Stone Mountain behind me, and could not help feeling troubled. With such an enormous mountain, how was I supposed to move it back in the future? Did I have to cut it piece by piece, then carry it back piece by piece?

An image immediately appeared in my mind: a child covered in dust, painfully hauling stones. One piece, then another, then yet another. The whole mountain was laughing at me: "Let's see when you can finish moving all of me." The child could only keep carrying them. Then the child turned his face—and it was me!

A chill ran through my heart.

Forget it, forget it. One should not be too greedy. I would think about that later. Back I go, back I go.

My figure immediately vanished from the vicinity of Mysterious Sky Stone Mountain.

The eastern gate of the capital.

"Boss, I think I felt a gust of wind just now too. Really! But there doesn't seem to be any wind around here!" the sturdy young man said to the boss across from him in confusion.

"Hahaha, you were laughing at me just now, weren't you? You only felt it after being outdone by your little sister-in-law, right? Confession earns leniency; resistance brings severity!" The boss had finally gotten his chance for revenge. How could he possibly let such a fine opportunity slip away?

Second Brother knew the boss would definitely make trouble for him over this. He had no intention of getting tangled up with the boss over such nonsense; he would surely be the one to suffer in the end. So he simply kept quiet.

The eastern gate of the capital returned to peace.

"Young Master, you're back! What are you doing with such a huge stone?" Sister Yu cried out the moment she saw me.

Only then did I notice that everyone was here. Not a single person had gone to sleep; they were all waiting for me. It seemed they all knew I was entering seclusion tonight. It looked like I really would have to bid them a lingering farewell. That was exactly why I had not wanted to tell them. Sigh!

"Second Brother, honestly—you're entering seclusion, yet you didn't even tell us the exact time. Could it be that you wouldn't even let me see you once before you went into seclusion?" Big Brother Lang Feng looked at me with an expression like a resentful wife confined to her chambers. I could not take it anymore!

I glanced around, looking for some route that would let me escape quickly, but to my misery, I discovered that everyone around me was looking at me with that hair-raising gaze.

I could only stand there without moving, holding that enormous stone up in my right hand. It was not that I did not want to move—it was that I could not.

Sister Yu and the others seemed to have noticed how absurd the scene was: an eight- or nine-year-old child holding a huge boulder far larger than himself in his right hand, looking pitifully at the crowd staring at him.

"Hahaha..." Li Da was the first to laugh. He had never expected his usually serious master to have such a comical side.

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst out laughing. They all knew I had deliberately acted that way just now, merely to turn this painful scene into a more relaxed one.

"I'm really going in now." After a long while, I spoke softly.

In an instant, everyone fell silent.

"Young Master."

"Master."

"Worthy Nephew."

Everyone looked at me, unable to say a word. I forced a smile onto my face.

"Everyone, train hard. When I come out, I'll be checking on your progress! Hahaha..."

Concealing myself behind laughter, I strode toward the secret chamber passage before me. With a casual motion, I shut the hidden passage's stone door.

I listened to the creaking sound of the hidden passage door closing, but I did not dare turn around. I was afraid I would cry. I was a dignified cultivator—how could I shed tears so easily? I consoled myself, but I knew I truly could not hold them back.

With a bang, the door to the hidden passage finally shut completely. I quickly turned around and let the tears flow, dripping onto the ground.

Before me was only the cold, closed door. On the other side of it were my family!

I turned away and strode toward my secret chamber...