The Full Story

Luo Yin's favorite thing to do was climb the steep path up to the solitary cliff east of Xuan Girl Peak in the dead of night, braving the biting wind.

The narrow mountain path, stretching up into the clouds, was slick and cold with mist. A moment's carelessness, a gust of wind, and one slip of the foot could send someone plunging into the abyss below.

But Luo Yin wasn't afraid. The path was too treacherous for an adult, but just right for a child.

And he knew that if he followed it to the end, he would find his master.

"You've snuck up here again..."

A woman sat by the cliff's edge as if riding a crane, waiting for the sun to rise. Her fairy robes were as thin as cicada wings, fluttering in the howling wind above the boundless sea of clouds. She looked like a great mass of blue cloud, or an Azure Luan spreading its wings. It was a beautiful sight.

Luo Yin stared, entranced. He couldn't help reaching for those dark locks. Losing his balance, he tumbled toward the cliff.

The woman sighed and rubbed her forehead. She formed a hand seal and sent out a coil of blue light, which wound around him like a gauzy sash, wrapped him up, and pulled him into her arms.

"Look over there. That golden glow is the fellow cultivators of the Taiyi Palace, newly settled on Junji Peak."

Luo Yin still couldn't understand much, so he simply looked up at her, eyes wide, gazing at her pointed chin and smooth, slender neck.

"It's nice to have so many people around, bustling and lively. Unlike here, where I have only you for company."

The woman rested her chin on Luo Yin's head, then untied her warm sash and