An Immortal in a Dream?

The wind rose by the cliff, and Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes.

"Five years of accumulation, and it's become this profound!"

Looking inward, he saw Supreme Harmony Qi surging like a mighty river. The nascent life rune had solidified by seven-tenths, and Mountain and Sea Patterns were beginning to emerge.

Five years of arduous cultivation in the dream body had saved him several years in the waking world, and he had also thoroughly explored every barrier before condensing the rune.

Whoosh—

As the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll circulated, the sound of rushing rivers echoed from within him, and a jade-like radiance shimmered across his skin.

"At this rate, I'll digest all the insights from those five years within three days. Then, what flows back to my waking body won't just be spiritual energy, but a complete understanding of how to break through! However..."

Many memories from those five years surfaced—

His meritorious counsel had made him famous in Yujing, and even the Immortal Emperor had heard of him. But it had also drawn the attention of various factions. To keep him out of trouble, Princess Xiyao had arranged for him to cultivate here on Xuan Du Mountain and passed on the later chapters of the Great Mountain Heavenly Art.

Looking up, he saw a bronze ancient hall faintly appearing deep in the sea of clouds. The two characters "Xuan Du" were engraved with the force of a sword.

"Xuan Du Mountain, a true immortal's abode."

Legend had it that a true immortal resided here, so no one dared act recklessly. Yet "Chen Xu" had been here for years and had never seen one.

Recalling his past in the dream, Chen Qing suddenly felt it was absurd.

"Cultivating immortality is about attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal, living free and unrestrained, with endless life! I struggle to survive in the waking world, yet in my dreams I glimpse an immortal's fate. What a contrast—no wonder it's a dream. Anything can happen! I just wonder what an immortal actually looks like..."

As he pondered, he suddenly saw a streak of turquoise sword light cut through the air.

The sword light descended, revealing Xu Zhaoying.

She wore a long, lake-green dress, a jade belt swaying lightly at her waist. But her face was frosty, and anger was hard to conceal in her eyes.

"Hit another wall?" Chen Qing asked, but his gaze flicked to the azure sword in her hand.

The sword was called Flowing Water. Ripples adorned its blade, and nine spiral patterns on the hilt formed the shape of a fox's tail.

According to the fragments of memory, it was a specially made sword of high quality. It could also consume Spirit Marrow to fly through the air. As long as Xu Zhaoying knew the sword-flight formula, she could fly on it even with her modest cultivation.

"Those hypocrites on Xuan Du Mountain! They call themselves disciples of immortals!" Xu Zhaoying snorted and tossed him a Jade Slip. "The moment I mention the bloodline acting up, they either claim the formula is incomplete or say the herbs are hard to find!"

Chen Qing took the Jade Slip and swept it with his spiritual sense. It contained an incomplete Hundred Meridians Harmonizing Pill Recipe, which could regulate the many disturbances in one's bloodline and qi meridians. It should have been quite valuable, but it was missing the crucial main ingredient.

"I've treated them well... my Princess Xiyao has treated them well, with offerings every year without fail!" Xu Zhaoying gritted her teeth. "Now that we need their help, they're making excuses! They're just looking down on the bloodlines of the Hundred Races and deliberately discriminating against us!"

Chen Qing fell into thought.

Over the five years in the dream, Xu Zhaoying and "Chen Xu" had grown quite close. Though she had come with him to Xuan Du Mountain as a cultivation companion, her real purpose was to seek medicine for the princess, to quell the unrest in her Qingqiu bloodline. Things had simply never gone smoothly.

He examined the Jade Slip carefully, his brow furrowing.

The pill recipe's method of combining ingredients bore a seven-tenths resemblance to the Ancient Pill Remnant Formula he had obtained that day.

"The idea behind harmonizing the hundred meridians is similar to the ancient Five Elements Returning to Origin method. But when the immortal dynasty was first established, the effects of many spirit herbs weren't yet known, and their medicinal properties were uncertain. They may not be deliberately concealing anything..."

Xu Zhaoying shook her head and interrupted him in a low voice. "Three days ago, the princess's bloodline acted up again. She nearly revealed her demonic form. Someone in court has already petitioned, saying she isn't one of our kind!"

Chen Qing's heart jolted.

No wonder Xu Zhaoying was so agitated today.

Then he remembered what Bai Shaoyou had said about "Heavenly Fox Xiyao."

Could it really come true?

"If there's still no solution," Xu Zhaoying said, clenching her fist inside her sleeve, "then the moment word gets out of another loss of control, those old fossils will force the princess to the Meridian Washing Pool!"

The moment he heard "Meridian Washing Pool," fragments of memory surged through Chen Qing's mind. It was the immortal dynasty's ultimate weapon for dealing with foreign races. Those who entered the pool would either have their bloodlines completely destroyed or, at worst, have their souls scattered!

But... she was a princess of the immortal dynasty. Would they really punish her just because her bloodline had acted up?

Was this dream recreating history?

Or...

"Actually, it won't come to that. We won't be staying here much longer anyway." Xu Zhaoying suddenly changed the subject and took a letter sealed with a talisman from her sleeve. "This is a secret letter from the princess."

Chen Qing took it and saw a line of delicate handwriting—

"Chen, your counsel has served the realm well. His Majesty the Holy Emperor has summoned me. I shall depart for the capital in three days. You are to accompany me and receive your reward. Do not delay."

A few ink smudges blurred the characters, as if the writer had been unable to steady her thoughts.

"Has the resettlement plan not gone smoothly?" Chen Qing asked as he put the letter away. In the past few years, his dream body had devoted itself to cultivation and learned almost nothing of the outside world.

Xu Zhaoying sighed. "It's been far from easy! Those criminals revolted three times, and someone in court secretly supplied them with weapons. If the princess hadn't personally taken charge and joined forces with the Lu Clan, the Zhao Clan, and a few others, they would have wrecked the whole plan!"

As she spoke, a trace of admiration flashed in her eyes. "But your divide-and-rule approach really was brilliant. By the third year, three-tenths of the criminals had voluntarily assimilated. Now, five years later, the term is nearly up, and the first batch of children born to emancipated criminals are almost indistinguishable from ordinary citizens of the immortal dynasty!"

After a pause, Xu Zhaoying smiled. "I hear quite a few Aristocratic Clans and important figures in the immortal dynasty are looking for you. They want to recruit you or pay you a visit. Once you leave the mountain, your doorstep will be swarmed with visitors."

Clang, clang, clang—

As they spoke, a bell rang in the distance, nine times in a row, sending the sea of clouds surging.

"The annual lecture on the Dao is today?" Xu Zhaoying looked toward the ancient hall. "I hear the lecturer this time is Venerable Taiyan, the second disciple of the Xuan Du Mountain Master! People always say immortals are hard to meet, but even disciples personally taught by immortals are rarely seen. A little guidance from him would be invaluable."

She glanced at Chen Qing and reminded him, "We're leaving soon anyway. Don't shut yourself away to cultivate this time. Come listen with me. Maybe you'll draw inspiration from something and find a way to condense your life rune."

She knew her fellow cultivator held himself to high standards. He had formed the nascent life rune five years ago, but had kept refining and building his foundations, striving to make it as perfect as possible.

Chen Qing nodded. His true self's will had not been present before, so this body must have acted according to its most basic understanding, cultivating without pause. But now that he had returned to the dream, how could he miss a lecture by an immortal's disciple?

His heart warmed. After all, true immortals had long since vanished from the waking world!

Yet as he followed Xu Zhaoying onto the Flowing Water Sword, smelling her delicate fragrance, what he thought about was how he encountered some incident every time he entered the dream—breaking out of the Mysterious Prison, presenting counsel at Tingfeng, and now a lecture on Xuan Du Mountain, with the princess receiving a decree!

Could it be guiding me through the turning points in Chen Xu's life?

Whoosh—

The wind howled!

The two flew on the sword through the sea of clouds and reached a floating mountain peak.

The entire peak was made of green jade, wrapped in clouds and mist. Its summit was a smooth, mirror-flat platform, with a white jade altar standing at its center. Dozens of people were already seated below it. Each carried an extraordinary air: some were Aristocratic Clan scions in fine silks, while others were seasoned cultivators with deep, steady auras.

Chen Qing couldn't help exclaiming, "What a scene worthy of an immortal's realm!"

Xu Zhaoying smiled. "Xuan Du Mountain is indeed an earthly paradise, but it can't compare to the immortal aura of the few Floating Divine Mountains. Take Rainbow Mountain, Void Abyss Mountain, and Golden Crow Mountain, for example. They can cross whole continents and roam the four seas. Those are true immortal traces. If I recall correctly, a few of them are in the Central Spirit Continent now. I'll take you to see them in a few days."

Void Abyss Mountain?!

Chen Qing's heart tightened. Wasn't that the divine mountain the gatekeeper of Lesser Yingzhou had mentioned, the one discovered by the Sea Abyss Temple?

"Could the Floating Divine Mountain found by the Sea Abyss Temple be the Void Abyss Mountain Xu Zhaoying mentioned? But... it spans two continents? How many years apart are these events? Still, it is a dream, after all. There may be similarities that are only skin-deep."

Yet suspicion still stirred in his heart.

Was it really only a dream?

As he pondered—

"Please take your seats here, and keep your voices down so you don't disturb the others."

A boy in green robes saw them and came over, casually pointing toward a stone bench at the outermost edge. His manner was perfunctory. Only after spotting the jade token at Xu Zhaoying's waist did he show a little respect. "So you're from Princess Xiyao's Estate."

Chen Qing noticed that several cultivators with deep, powerful auras had already claimed the brocade cushions in the inner circle. The boy attended to them with great enthusiasm, serving them spirit tea and immortal fruit from time to time.

"The rules of Xuan Du Mountain are that those with higher cultivation and status sit in the inner circle," the boy explained offhandedly when he saw Chen Qing looking. "You're new here, so it's only natural you wouldn't know. Please take your seats."

Xu Zhaoying snorted and was about to speak, but a clear, warm greeting suddenly interrupted her—

"Could you be Fellow Daoist Chen Xu?"

A scholar in a green robe hurried over. He had a refined face and a small bronze seal hanging from his waist.

"That's me." Chen Qing cupped his hands.

The scholar's eyes lit up. "It really is you! I'd heard you were on Xuan Du Mountain, but I never expected to run into you when I decided on a whim to attend the Xuan Du lecture! How did you come up with the strategy of 'dividing power, scattering forces, and turning them into our strength'?" He clapped his hands in admiration. "With one strategy, you neutralized a hundred thousand enemies. Truly ingenious!"

Before his voice had faded, a commotion broke out in the inner circle.

"Chen Xu? The Chen Xu who offered the plan to pacify the people?"

A young nobleman in fine clothes drifted over and bowed solemnly. "I'm Qiu Fang of the Qiu Clan. My father often praises your strategy as peerless in its brilliance!"

That was like kicking a hornet's nest. In the blink of an eye, scions of the Zhao Clan, Li Clan, and others came pouring over, crowding around the outer stone benches until they were packed tight.

Seeing young nobles who usually looked down on everyone else vying to bow to a cultivator seated at the edge, the boy nearly dropped his tea tray.

Xu Zhaoying smiled faintly and said softly, "Your reputation as the one who pacified the people with a single strategy is even louder than I thought." Then she furrowed her brow. "What a shame that such worldly dealings have tainted this immortal scene."

Hearing this, Chen Qing laughed, thinking of the cultivation world outside the dream.

Xu Zhaoying chided him, "What are you laughing at?"

Chen Qing pointed toward the distant peak. "Look at the clouds on its summit. They gather into a scene, then scatter into qi. Immortal fate and human ties are no different; they are all about coming together and parting."

Xu Zhaoying froze. She pondered his words carefully, and when she looked at Chen Qing again, there was a subtle change in her gaze.

Clang—

The bell rang again, its sound sweeping through the sea of clouds. Everyone immediately fell silent and returned to their seats.

A golden rainbow streaked down through the sky. A Daoist in White was already standing on the altar. He had a lean, refined face and eyes bright as lightning. His aura was like an abyss and a mountain, pressing down on the gathering until every cultivator held their breath.

"Today, I'll be lecturing on Heaven and Earth as a Furnace Chapter."

His voice rang like gold and jade striking together, echoing across the mountaintop.