Northern Plains

"If..., if fate truly turns against me, there's nothing to be done. But I won't regret it."

After reaching the fourth level of Object Manipulation in the Taiji Xuanqing Dao, cultivation primarily depended on one's own insights.

Yet without the many ingenious techniques and concepts left behind by predecessors, no matter how great one's talent and comprehension, it would be difficult to come up with anything remarkable alone.

Ever since he had broken through to the fourth level and decided to travel down the mountain by himself, Tian Buyi had told him roughly which direction he ought to pursue in his comprehension of the Taiji Xuanqing Dao.

For Qingyun Sect disciples, the first three realms required focused cultivation of Qingyun's methods, with little need to discuss anything else.

But upon reaching the fourth-level Object Manipulation Realm, one's own comprehension became paramount, while cultivation methods merely served as guidance.

After bidding farewell to his master, mistress, and senior brothers, he drove his wheelchair—his natal artifact—into the high heavens.

Turning back for one last look, the figures on Dazhu Peak grew ever smaller. Before long, Dazhu Peak itself lay far behind him.

According to various ancient texts, Shenzhou Haotu held the northern ice plains, the Ten Thousand Mountains in the south, the endless Dahai in the east, and the boundless marshlands in the west—all places rarely visited by human beings.

After descending Qingyun Mountain and traveling for half a day, he spotted a deserted place below, its ground covered in hundreds of graves.

That should have been Seventh Senior Brother's hometown, Caomiao Village.

A day passed, and night fell. Xiao Xuan finally arrived at Heyang City.

Back on Fenghui Peak, he had often heard Zeng Shushu praise Shanhai Pavilion in Heyang City. He asked the city residents for directions and found the restaurant called Shanhai Pavilion.

Shanhai Pavilion was indeed quite large, with its rear courtyard divided into four smaller courtyards.

The moment Xiao Xuan entered the restaurant, he immediately drew quite a few gazes.

"What a refined young gentleman... Such a pity..."

Xiao Xuan paid no mind to the stares. His gaze roamed around the restaurant as he said to the waiter, "Brother Xiao Er, I need lodging for the night. Please arrange a room for me."

Seeing a table for four by the window occupied by only two people, Xiao Xuan wheeled himself over.

"Ladies, there are no vacant seats in the restaurant. There happens to be room at your table. Might I trouble you to share it with me?"

The purple-clad woman wearing a veil spoke in a clear, ethereal voice. "Please, feel free, sir."

"Thank you."

He turned to the waiter. "Brother Xiao Er, I'll sit here. I heard the clear-braised Mei Fish is a specialty here. Please bring me a serving."

The waiter chuckled. "Please wait a moment, honored guest. It'll be here right away."

With that, Xiao Er headed toward the kitchen.

Xiao Xuan then began examining the restaurant's layout.

Tables and chairs stood scattered in orderly fashion, while the wooden walls and railings lent the place an antique elegance.

The main hall bustled with voices. There were few empty seats, and business was booming.

The diners throughout the hall each recounted their own tales. Listening closely, their stories were quite fascinating as well.

Xiao Xuan sat by the window. Beyond it lay the rear courtyard, where several ancient trees and a flower garden created a distinct sense of quiet seclusion.

"You look like a cultivator, sir. Is this your first time descending the mountain to gain experience?

Did you injure your legs?"

The green-clad woman beside him could not help asking.

"Yao'er..."

Xiao Xuan looked at the two women. "Ladies, it's nothing.

There's nothing much to say. It was simply ordained from birth that I would need a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

Cultivating in seclusion is tedious, so I stubbornly chose to wander the martial world.

I only hope I'll still have my life when I return."

Just as he finished speaking, Xiao Er's voice reached his ears. "Honored guest, your dishes are here!"

"Good, thank you, Brother Xiao Er!

Ladies, please don't stand on ceremony. I can't finish it all myself."

The purple-clad woman smiled. "Thank you, little brother!

May I ask where you intend to travel?"

"I have no fixed destination. I'll take things one step at a time."

After eating, Xiao Xuan bade them farewell, went up to the Second Floor, and entered his room.

"Yao'er, what did you think?"

The woman in purple asked the green-clad woman beside her.

The girl called Yao'er replied, "Very strange. He looks like a refined young gentleman, and his manner is as gentle as a spring breeze.

It is only a pity about his legs...

It is as if Heaven itself envies such a person, begrudging him for being too perfect."

"Because of his legs, he must constantly circulate his cultivation method to drive his wheelchair.

So it is easy enough to determine where this boy came from—a Qingyun Sect disciple.

At such a young age, he has reached the fourth level of Yuqing, the Object Manipulation Realm. On others, that might only be considered ordinary, but for someone with a crippled body like his, it is extraordinary."

The Northern Plains lay far from Heyang City in the Central Plains. Even the well-known masters of the Orthodox Dao needed to fly on their swords without pause for seven or eight days and nights to reach it.

For someone with Xiao Xuan's cultivation, the journey took far longer still.

Traveling from Heyang City with the Northern Plains as his destination, it had been nearly a year by the time he arrived.

Dressed in fur robes, Xiao Xuan drove his wheelchair onto the wind-and-snow-swept plains.

It felt rather good. Since he had not yet entered the heart of the Northern Plains, the air was not unbearably cold.

Moreover, with the Taiji Xuanqing Dao circulating within him, he could not feel how terrifying the temperature was—the kind where even one's breath seemed liable to freeze into ice.

At that moment, white snow like crane feathers drifted across the ice plains, leaving the sky not azure but pure white.

The terrain was so flat that he could see for miles. With no human traces in the extreme cold, it was so quiet here that he could hear his own heartbeat.

All was silent. That was Xiao Xuan's feeling at the moment. Relishing this hard-won sensation, he headed deeper into the Northern Plains.

The Northern Plains were quiet—so quiet that only deer cries and wolf howls could be heard at night, so quiet that only the cold wind could be heard roaring furiously through the void.

Though the Northern Plains consisted almost entirely of flatlands, mountains occasionally rose from the plains. And those rare mountains were towering, far higher than Qingyun Mountain.

Xiao Xuan arrived at a valley. Although it remained wrapped in ice and snow, strangely, the river over there had not frozen and still flowed freely.

The countless towering trees were so lush and dense that they rivaled those atop Qingyun Mountain.

Countless wolf howls also rang out, carried by the wind through the forest. The cries were sharp and urgent, wild and brimming with murderous intent.

They were fighting, battling an enemy to the death.

Only when Xiao Xuan drew closer did he clearly see a long, curved blade emitting a mystical purple radiance as it darted swiftly among the towering trees.

It moved as fast as lightning. Whenever it stopped, a pure-white Snow Wolf inevitably fell.

Facing the dozen or so corpses of their companions in the snow, not a single Snow Wolf in the pack showed fear in its eyes. They howled wildly and charged toward the red-clad human below.

Xiao Xuan watched everything quietly from a side peak overlooking the valley.

The woman in red rapidly formed hand seals. The purple blade, which had been slicing through Snow Wolf corpses thirty yards away, suddenly halted and transformed into a bolt of lightning as it shot toward her.