In the Side Hall, Cheng Su diligently practiced drawing talismans.
After finishing the final stroke and checking the time, she called to the little fox, packed up, gathered everything they needed, and headed down the mountain.
Cheng Su loved Daoist robes. Before descending, she used a minor spell to clean hers spotless and arranged every part of her attire with meticulous care. After greeting the spirits guarding the hall, she set off, her steps light as she descended the winding stone stairs. Passing the mountain gate archway, she turned back and gazed up at the peak for a long while. She had once been terrified when first climbing the mountain; now, she could hardly bear to leave it. Without realizing it, she had come to regard the Dragon Palace as home.
"Alas, I muddled through several decades at the foot of the mountain. Only after climbing it did I understand the Dao Path."
She carefully straightened her crown, then left the mountain gate with the little fox and followed the rugged mountain road down. Using a lightness technique, she leaped through the rocks and trees to hurry onward.
When they reached the stream at the foot of the mountain, the hazy mountain mist had dampened their clothes. Looking back, the Dragon Palace's immortal mountain was wrapped in clouds and fog, appearing and vanishing from sight.
Cheng Su's cultivation was still insufficient for her to hover in the air and fly, so she used Divine Movement Talismans on herself and the fox.
She stuck one on each leg and another on the little fox's back. After chanting an incantation and blowing on them to activate the talismans, she immediately felt light as a swallow, clouds beneath her feet and speed like the wind. Woman and beast shot through the woods and