At the Peak of the Snow Mountain

Dazed.

That was Wu Wang's first reaction upon opening his eyes.

His mother was nowhere in sight. Only her gentle voice still lingered by his ear:

"Ba'er, come to my residence."

Looking up, he saw the gaping hole in the tent roof, the dense starlight that had yet to fade completely, the clear terror lingering in his heart, and his faintly trembling body. All of it proved that what had just happened was no illusion.

The starry sky, the divine hall, Mother.

"Young Clan Leader," a guard stepped forward to remind him, "Lord Cangxue just appeared and asked you to go to her residence."

Whoosh—

A sharp gust came from overhead. Wu Wang looked up and saw the sky full of stars as before, yet somehow, those stars felt unreal.

"How long was I sitting there?"

A guard hurriedly answered, "Replying to Young Clan Leader, three days have passed."

Lin Suqing had no idea what possessed her, but she softly asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Though I haven't undergone Grain Abstinence, I've practiced the Star Invocation Technique, and Star Power protects my body."

Wu Wang stretched lazily, as if nothing had happened at all, and said at ease, "Prepare the carriage. Get something to eat on the road, and set off for my mother's residence immediately."

"Yes!"

The guards answered in unison, and the area around the great tent instantly erupted into bustle.

Lin Suqing was still somewhat stunned, clearly not yet recovered from what had just happened.

By the time she regained her wits, she had already been muddleheadedly pulled onto Wu Wang's carriage. They sped toward the depths of the grasslands, heading straight for the two dazzling rivers of stars in the sky.

A moment later...

Lin Suqing looked at the stove before her, as well as the roasted spirit beasts sizzling atop it, and felt a faint headache.

This Young Clan Leader's life was truly extravagant beyond measure.

The two spirit beasts roasting on the grill had three tails, four heads, and six legs. They were actually spirit beasts she had only ever seen in books of natural wonders—Fairy Happy Fish.

Ah, it had been a snowy afternoon.

She had carried a book slip to find her junior brother and said in the gentlest voice possible:

'Junior Brother, look. The northern wilds have this strange ancient spirit fish. It has three tails, four heads, and six legs, yet its flesh is delicious. Eat it, and you shall know no worries.'

'Senior Sister, if I ever catch such a spirit beast in the future, I'll raise it in the lotus pond outside your door.'

'Oh ho ho ho, Junior Brother, could it be that you have feelings for me...'

'I still need to meditate and cultivate, Senior Sister. I'll take my leave first. See you next year.'

Heh. Her junior brother's distance from her had begun back then, hadn't it?

Yet she had not noticed at the time.

"What are you thinking about?" Wu Wang casually asked.

Lin Suqing sighed faintly. "The legends of this fish are so beautiful. Eat it, and one knows no worries, forgetting all sorrow. Yet I never imagined you would simply skewer it here and roast it."

Wu Wang smiled. It was merely an everyday ingredient.

The first time he had seen one of these things, he too had thought it was some genetic mutation and had not dared eat it. Later, however, he had failed to escape the universal law of deliciousness.

He slowly said:

"If the first person to discover this fish had not eaten it, how could there be a legend that eating it brings freedom from worry?

Legends themselves carry no emotion. They are only made beautiful by those who interpret them.

Come, have a taste.

I've been eating these things for seven or eight years. They look bizarre, but they aren't poisonous."

Lin Suqing huffed. "I have already undergone Grain Abstinence, and besides... this spirit beast carries my beautiful memories from before. Naturally, I will not eat even a bite of it."

Wu Wang laughed. "Just take one bite. I won't force you to take another."

"Then... fine."

Frowning, Lin Suqing pinched the spirit beast's leg between her fingertips, cautiously brought it to her lips, closed her eyes, and took a bite.

A moment later.

The female cultivator in her elegant white Immortal Dress, her cloudlike hair gathered beneath an ornament, patted her slightly rounded belly in satisfaction. Her eyes were full of apology toward the small pile of bones before her.

"It didn't make me forget my worries."

"Didn't you forget them while you were eating?"

Wu Wang narrowed his eyes with a smile, stretched out his legs, and leaned against the edge of the carriage.

He stared absently at the eastern sky, soon to break into dawn, and at the snow mountain ahead, which now seemed not far away.

Only then did Lin Suqing dare ask, "Young Clan Leader, aren't we going to see your mother? Why are you bringing me along?"

"My mother lives atop the snow mountain. I'm bringing you to explain the origins of Human Domain cultivation methods, and if necessary, to have you take the blame," Wu Wang said with utmost naturalness, lifting his chin toward the snow mountain. "Normally, Mother only returns to the Royal Court to reunite with us when my father comes back."

"So that's how it is."

Eh? Something seemed wrong here.

"Well..."

Lin Suqing glanced at the Giant Wolf Riders guarding the carriage on either side. Her lips moved as she transmitted her voice with Spiritual Consciousness. Her eyes widened to their fullest, shining brightly as she asked like a thief:

"Is your mother the true ruler beyond the Human Domain spoken of in legend—the Primordial Deity?"

"No."

Wu Wang answered quite decisively. After thinking for a moment, he explained:

"My mother is one of the present Seven-Day Sacrifices of the northern wilds, as well as the guardian of our Xiong Bao Clan. Her lifespan is the same as an ordinary person's. How could she possibly be a god?

You'll understand once you meet her."

Lin Suqing nodded obediently. The expression on her face perfectly embodied the satisfaction of a gossip-loving girl who had gotten her fill of gossip.

Shortly after, she could not help asking again, "Young Clan Leader, is your name Xiong Ba? I heard that fairy just now—just now—call you Ba'er, and everyone in your clan is surnamed Xiong."

"Xiong Ba was the name my parents gave me. It's far too aggressively overbearing," Wu Wang said calmly, looking at his palm. "I also chose a Daoist Name for myself: Wu Wang. You may call me by that."

"Wu Wang?"

Lin Suqing wound a slender finger around a lock of hair. "That's rather ordinary too. Xiong Ba is still more imposing."

"I don't know Three Points Return to Origin Qi."

"Huh?"

Wu Wang raised a hand, signaling that he did not wish to say more, then quietly stared at the snow mountain.

The doubts and questions in his heart outnumbered Lin Suqing's by more than a hundredfold.

Why had his mother been standing in the hall of the Starry Sky God?

Lin Suqing might not know much, but Wu Wang had spent seven or eight years gathering all kinds of books in the northern wilds. He knew full well that something was wrong.

As the young clan leader of the second-ranked clan in overall strength in the northern wilds, and the youngest Great Star Sacrifice in nearly ten thousand years, he had access to every sort of secret of the northern wilds.

According to ancient legends of the northern wilds, the God of Stars had long since fallen.

The end of the ancient Great Wilderness had been a reshuffling of Primordial Deity powers. Only the strongest small handful of Primordial Deities had survived, establishing a new order between heaven and earth.

But the divine light in his mother's eyes then...

Unease.

For the first time since Wu Wang had been reborn into this life in the Great Wilderness, he felt unease from the bottom of his heart.

Just as their group entered the range of the great snow mountain, two pure-white Snow Eagles descended from the sky. With their bodies spanning three zhang across their wings, they carried Wu Wang and Lin Suqing swiftly toward the mountain peak.

The guards obediently remained with the giant wolf carriage, while also guarding the main routes in and out of the snow mountain.

Within their own clan's territory, they could naturally do as they pleased.

At the peak of the snow mountain lay a special region where auroras gathered day and night. Starlight blocked out the wind and snow, as well as the radiance of sun and moon.

This was not Wu Wang's first visit to his mother's residence, but his mood had never been so complicated.

When he was six years old, his mother had left the Royal Court and moved to the summit of this great snow mountain. At the time, Wu Wang had been told that Mother needed peace and quiet to comprehend the deeper mysteries of the Star Invocation Technique and could not be disturbed.

Before this, he had only been able to see his mother once every half year on average, and each reunion had been quite brief.

Now, it seemed this matter was absolutely not simple.

His mother was now over two hundred years old, yet in the twelve years since giving birth to him, her appearance had never changed in the slightest.

The Star Invocation Technique did not increase one's lifespan. Even the strongest "Sun Sacrifice" only lived five or six hundred years. His grandmother, a Moon Sacrifice, had already become incredibly aged...

Screech—

A clear cry tore through the stillness of the starry sky. The two Snow Eagles landed steadily, while Lin Suqing nervously gathered her Magic Power.

A small building stood quietly beneath the stars.

That figure stood before it. The divine light around her had long since withdrawn, yet she remained so dignified, so sacred, and carried an indescribable majesty.

Lin Suqing's Dao heart trembled without end. She did not dare raise her head to look directly at this being.

"Mother!"

Wu Wang leaped down from the Snow Eagle. A faint starlight circled him as he drifted dozens of zhang through the air, asking in as natural a tone as possible:

"Did you miss your son?"

The female sacrifice before the building revealed a trace of warmth in her smile. Her long dress, of some unknown material, fluttered slightly. Then she softly sighed and gently reproached him:

"How did you find the path to the Star God Palace?

It was far too dangerous. If Mother had not stopped in time, you might have... You truly frightened me."

It was still that familiar voice, that familiar tone.

The unease in Wu Wang's heart quietly dissipated. He chuckled and moved closer.

Unfortunately, he was already a mature young man and could no longer act spoiled and clingy.

Behind him, Lin Suqing followed his example and drifted down from the Snow Eagle. Her skirt fluttered with a touch of unworldly grace, though the goddess-like figure completely overshadowed her radiance.

"Mother, let me introduce you!

This is the new tutor I hired, a powerful cultivator from the Human Domain. Her cultivation has reached Origin Return Mid-stage."

Lin Suqing immediately raised a hand to her forehead in embarrassment, wishing she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

She stammered:

"This junior is Lin Suqing. Greetings... greetings..."

Wu Wang said, "Mother's Sun Sacrifice title in the northern wilds is Cangling's Snow. Most people call her Lord Cangxue."

"Greetings, Lord Cangxue!"

"No need for such courtesy," Cang Xue replied gently, looking Lin Suqing over a few times. "The wind and snow here are harsh. Let us speak inside."

Lin Suqing hurriedly said, "No, no need. I can just stand outside."

Wu Wang said, "Mother, she has cultivation and isn't afraid of wind or snow. Let her stay outside."

"Very well."

Bang!

The wooden door of the small building instantly slammed shut, leaving Lin Suqing standing in the wind and snow in complete disarray.

She had only been polite...

Hmph. That rotten Young Clan Leader had brought her all this way just to make her stand as punishment? What had she traveled a thousand li for?

Rolling her eyes slightly, Lin Suqing surveyed the starlight spread throughout the area, her thoughts tangled and complex.

Could the Young Clan Leader's mother really be one of those Primordial Deities from legend?

That was far too terrifying.

Before long, Lin Suqing gave up thinking. She simply stood there stiffly, waiting for that young man to return.

Inside the small building, however, it was an entirely different scene.

The moment Wu Wang entered, before he could inspect the simple furnishings of the wooden house, his own mother gently clapped her hands. Starlight like drifting dust blossomed beneath their feet.

Shortly after, the place had become a sea of stars. The walls, doors, and windows were gone, leaving only a small wooden table and two soft cushions placed close together.

Melodious music drifted through the air, and the starry sky contained a mystery that made one never wish to leave.

Cang Xue knelt elegantly upon one cushion, gently patting the space beside her as she warmly said:

"Come over and let Mother look at you. Have you grown taller again lately?"

Wu Wang scratched his head and moved over, keeping a distance of three inches between them.

Even his mother could not touch him because of his strange illness. One finger, and he would faint.

He suddenly could not find anything to say, like the awkward adolescent phase of his previous life.

And in Wu Wang's heart, the image kept surfacing of his mother's eyes wrapped in divine light, her entire body radiating icy majesty.

"Mother, are you... the Star God?"