At dawn, dense mist shrouded the valley beyond Barren Stone Beach.
Tu Yue knew that passing through the thick fog would lead her to the mysterious pavilion. She carefully straightened her clothes and hair, then, under the watchful eyes of several key members of the Tu family, picked up the Stone Tablet Fragment gleaming with Golden Text and stepped into the fog.
All at once, those outside could no longer sense Tu Yue's presence. It was as though she had vanished into thin air.
Some curious Tu family cultivators followed her inside, only to pass straight through the mountain mist and emerge from the other side. They had not disappeared as Tu Yue had. There seemed to be no pattern to it—the cool morning mountain fog was both ordinary and mysterious...
The dense fog was a boundless expanse of white. There was no sound, no sense of direction, only the little path beneath her feet. Tu Yue could not sense her surroundings, and the damp, cool mist wet her eyelashes.
Just like last time, she only needed to follow the mountain path and stone steps ahead. She did not dare wander off, afraid some unforeseen mishap might occur.
As she walked, the shadow of a stone archway gradually emerged from the white fog.
It seemed different from last time...
Stepping out of the mist, she felt the mountain wind blow away the moisture. Before her stood an ancient, imposing stone archway. Though she had never seen those two characters before, she understood what they said: Dragon Palace. One side of the archway pressed close to the mountain rock, while the other overlooked a cliff thick with moss and ancient pines. Below lay a sea of clouds, and a stone-brick path passed beneath the archway before winding upward.
A light rain