Night.
Black clouds churned, veiling the stars and moon.
Longhu Mountain, Carefree Residence.
Lu Yuan stepped out of the wooden cabin and checked the time.
It was almost midnight, and everything around him was pitch-black.
There was barely any light to be seen.
But that was nothing to Lu Yuan. His physique had undergone a transformation, and his strength had long since surpassed that of ordinary people.
Though he couldn't see things as clearly or as far as he could in daylight, it wasn't much of a difference.
In fact, as long as he focused his eyesight,
even ants and insects in the grass couldn't escape his notice.
"About time."
Lu Yuan murmured to himself, looking toward the Wordless Stone Tablet.
Tonight, he was going to move the thing and load it into his car.
He had no choice. Longhu Mountain had rules, and many things weren't allowed to be taken away. Though the Wordless Stone Tablet looked like nothing more than a rock now, he still didn't want to risk attracting attention.
Then,
Lu Yuan walked over to the stone tablet.
The Wordless Stone Tablet came up to about his knees, its surface exceptionally smooth.
A rough estimate put it at three or four hundred pounds at least. An ordinary person would never be able to lift it.
But in his hands, it came up effortlessly—even with one hand—and hardly felt heavy at all.
Next, he just had to get it down the mountain.
As the old saying went, going up was easy, but coming down was hard. Especially when carrying hundreds of pounds, even several burly men would have to pick their way carefully along the mountain path, or they could easily get into trouble.
But with Lu Yuan's temperament, he clearly wasn't going to take the ordinary route.
"My physique's finally going to come in handy."
Lu Yuan smiled, found a few vines, and tied the stone tablet to his body. Then he surveyed his surroundings.
Without the slightest hesitation, he bent his knees and sprang high into the air, leaping down from a boulder.
The landing spot below was at least dozens of meters beneath him.
That was about as high as a three- or four-story building.
An ordinary person who jumped down from there would break both legs, if they survived at all. But Lu Yuan simply leaped straight down.
Boom!
Under the force of his landing,
cracks instantly spread across the surface of the rock beneath him. It looked ready to shatter.
But Lu Yuan didn't stop. He continued downward, moving across the rugged, treacherous terrain of Longhu Mountain like an ape.
The area was covered in thorns and weeds, too—something no ordinary person could possibly manage.
But none of it mattered to him.
Lu Yuan's skin was tough.
Even a blade could only leave a mark on it, let alone thorns.
In the darkness beneath the hazy moonlight, a figure kept leaping across the steep cliffs. Every landing sent clouds of dust billowing up, while the huge rocks beneath his feet burst apart with a roar. This strength was beyond human—and terrifying.
And so,
a journey that would take an ordinary person more than an hour
took Lu Yuan only a little over ten minutes as he leaped from cliff to cliff, until he reached the mountain gate.
His car was parked right up ahead, where he'd left it that day.
After loading the Wordless Stone Tablet into it,
he finally felt a little more at ease. Tomorrow, all he had to do was find an excuse to leave.
Then Lu Yuan turned around, ready to head back up the mountain.
But just then, brilliant beams of light began to rise from Longhu Mountain.
In an instant, countless rays of light pierced the night, dyeing the clouds gold. Golden radiance filled the sky, dazzling beyond measure. For several kilometers in every direction, the night turned to day, bright as sunlight.
"What's going on?"
At the sight, Lu Yuan's thoughts stirred.
He looked closely and saw that all the light seemed to be pouring out of the Celestial Master's Mansion.
Through the hazy radiance, he could just make out two enormous shadows, blotting out the sky and sun.
A white tiger and a golden dragon, standing proudly in the air.
Faint roars accompanied them.
Tiger Roar, Dragon Cry!
For a moment, the birds across Longhu Mountain seemed to have been startled by something. They flapped their wings and took flight, trying to escape.
Could the cataclysm be coming early? Seeing the astonishing spectacle, Lu Yuan began to speculate.
The sight was so incredible it seemed straight out of myth.
And it was unfolding right before his eyes.
But soon,
when he tried to investigate further, he saw the white tiger and golden dragon rise into the sky and disappear. At the same time, all the light vanished, and everything fell quiet, as if nothing had ever happened.
"It wasn't the cataclysm, but something major must have happened at the Celestial Master's Mansion."
Lu Yuan muttered to himself, then didn't dwell on it any longer. He immediately started back up the mountain.
There was no one around,
so he let himself go. A single stride carried him dozens of meters.
He moved so fast that it took him only about twenty minutes to return to Carefree Residence.
Then he lay down, acting as if nothing had happened.
He knew
that after an event like this, the Celestial Master's Mansion would certainly react.
"Mount Tai and Jiuhua Mountain have both shown signs. As the Ancestral Court of Taoism, Longhu Mountain would naturally be part of it too; it was just a little later. All of this is a prelude to the cataclysm. When that day comes, everything will change, and a new era will begin."
Lying in bed, Lu Yuan pondered. His experiences from his previous life brought many things to mind.
And deep down, he knew that aside from the Wordless Stone Tablet,
Longhu Mountain had many other divine objects, as well as all kinds of powerful legacies. That was how it would establish itself in the new era and secure an important position. If he just took his time, he would surely find plenty of good things.
But he didn't have that much time now. And even if he did, he had no reliable way to find them.
The Celestial Master's Mansion was shrouded in mystery, like the Young Celestial Master Chunyang.
Then there was True Person Yuyang. He seemed like an ordinary person, yet despite being over ninety, he had boundless stamina and was stronger than young men. He was certainly no ordinary man.
And there was also the Old Celestial Master.
So,
he had to be careful and cautious in everything he did. At least until the cataclysm arrived, caution had to come first.
If people started paying attention to him, it would be a huge hassle. Though he had already surpassed the bounds of ordinary people, he still couldn't withstand modern weapons.
With that in mind, Lu Yuan waited for time to pass.
Soon,
the next day arrived.
A young Taoist came and escorted Lu Yuan to the Celestial Master's Mansion.
President Liu and the others were there too, though they didn't know what was going on. But they had clearly witnessed last night's spectacle as well. They tried asking the young Taoist beside them about it, but got nowhere. The Taoists of the Celestial Master's Mansion all refused to discuss the matter.
At last, True Person Yuyang arrived.
First, he thanked Lu Yuan and the others for their donations, saying the Celestial Master's Mansion would remember their kindness.
Then he announced that, starting today, Longhu Mountain would officially be closed to outsiders, and everyone who wasn't part of the mountain had to leave as soon as possible.
That included those who had Lay Disciple Dojos here. However, True Person Yuyang added that if circumstances allowed, the Celestial Master's Mansion would provide compensation in the future—perhaps some form of protection.
President Liu and the others were at a loss. Everyone present had a certain status and standing.
As long as they didn't break the law, what protection would they need?
And even if they did,
did the Celestial Master's Mansion have the power to protect them?
Naturally, they had plenty of questions. True Person Yuyang answered them carefully, but when it came to last night's spectacle, he merely said he couldn't explain it clearly and spoke vaguely.
Seeing this,
Lu Yuan knew something major had happened on Longhu Mountain, and that it was related to the cataclysm.
But they clearly didn't want to say much about it, so there was no point in staying.
In the end,
Lu Yuan was the first to leave.
The cataclysm was about to arrive. He needed to pick up the pace.
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