In the northern part of the Xiongguan Mountain Range, mountain after mountain stretched across the land like a coiling azure dragon.
Clouds churned across the sea of mist. Dawn had just broken when three round suns, one large and two small, rose in the south, their light shining through the sky in three layers.
Chen Xian sat cross-legged on his flying sword, the chill dispelled by the threefold sunlight.
He turned to look down. Beneath the sea of clouds, the mountain peaks were awakening from the darkness.
Here, people were no longer few and far between.
The ridges were like blades, cleaving through the clouds. Villages and towns nestled in the valleys were scattered like stars. Their lamps were still lit, while the cooking smoke had already become wisps of blue silk, winding through the waking mountain forests.
Dirt paths and stone roads linked these villages and towns, then converged like streams toward the same destination, joining a broad, straight road.
The road was so straight it left one lost for words. Wherever it passed, mountains a thousand meters high had been split in two, and even rivers a thousand meters wide had been bridged. It never bent an inch.
It was as if those who built it were telling everyone: once you set foot on this road, you could only press straight ahead.
The road stretched on for an immense distance, cutting through the branching ranges of mountain after mountain.
Even from high in the sky, Chen Xian couldn't see its beginning or end, no matter how far he looked.
For the first time, he truly felt how vast the land of this fantasy world was.
You could spend your whole life and never make it out of these mountains!
"Senior, you may not know this, so let me tell you about it. This road is called the Path of Seeking Dao. Thirty years ago, Sect Master Lei led the elders and disciples of the entire sect in building it. It took them five years."
Noticing that Senior was looking down, Shangguan Hongyue lowered the flying sword and began telling him how the road came to be.
"Seeking Dao! What tremendous resolve!" Chen Xian stroked his beard, unable to keep from praising it.
"As its name suggests, the purpose of building this road was to give mortals living in the Xiongguan Mountain Range a chance to seek the Dao."
Shangguan Hongyue pointed toward the tiny black specks moving along the straight road.
Chen Xian narrowed his eyes. Only then could he make out that they were people carrying bundles on their backs as they walked.
The sky had yet to fully brighten, but they were already on the road.
"Follow this road straight ahead, and you'll reach the foot of the Sword Sect's mountain."
"When I was eleven, seven years ago, I walked this road to the Sword Sect. It took me two years to cover twenty thousand li, one step at a time."
"The sect master met me personally and said, 'A young person with such determination, walking alone with a sword for twenty thousand li.' Then he took me in! That was how I learned to cultivate."
Gratitude showed on Shangguan Hongyue's pallid face.
Without the Path of Seeking Dao, built by the Xuanyun Sword Sect, she would have been trapped in these endless mountains for the rest of her life.
She would never have been able to soar through the vast world on a flying sword.
Listening to Shangguan Hongyue's story and watching the travelers below press silently onward, Chen Xian's weathered heart stirred violently.
He had thought that the cultivation world was divided between immortals and mortals, with cultivators treating ordinary people like ants. Surely, mighty cultivators wouldn't care whether mortals lived or died.
But the Xuanyun Sword Sect seemed nothing like he had imagined.
They had laid the Hanging Sword Formation to protect mortals and built the Path of Seeking Dao to give them a chance to cultivate.
Every deed, every effort, sent his good opinion of the Xuanyun Sword Sect soaring.
It only strengthened the resolve of this good old socialist to work his way into the sect.
"I wonder if the Sword Sect will take me in..."
Chen Xian sighed softly. If pretending to be someone else didn't get him through the door, could an old man nearing eighty, with one foot in the grave, still join the sect on his merits alone?
"Pfft... Senior, don't worry. The sect won't abandon you."
Shangguan Hongyue comforted him.
As long as someone belonged to the Xuanyun Sword Sect, the sect would care for them, even if they became crippled.
The flying sword continued along the Path of Seeking Dao.
About an hour later, sunlight pierced the clouds, dyeing the mountains in flowing gold. The sky had fully brightened.
The Path of Seeking Dao ran straight into a great city, passed through it, and finally ended at the foot of a towering peak shaped like a pair of swords.
With Sword Peak at its head, the Nine Peaks converged into a range of their own.
Sunlight bathed the land and the clouds withdrew. A beam of three-colored sword light shot from the Main Peak, cleaving through the sea of clouds, and strange sights suddenly appeared across the peaks.
A gigantic cauldron breathed out blue smoke. Flames blazed skyward from a furnace. A nine-story mystic pagoda hummed, emitting glowing runes...
As the mountain mists gathered again, shadowy figures could be seen moving among the peaks, their forms seeming both real and illusory. The sight was wondrous indeed.
On the straight Path of Seeking Dao, the crowd swarmed like ants as they climbed the steps from the foot of the mountain.
The Xuanyun Sword Sect had arrived!
Outer Sect, Morning Sun Peak—the gathering place of the eight halls: Sword, Pill, Artifact, Talisman, Formation, Beast, Law Enforcement, and Missions.
The elders were holding morning lessons for the Outer Sect disciples in the vast plaza paved with white jade.
"Whoosh—"
A silver streak of sword light, nearly extinguished, came careening through the clouds guarding the mountain. Under everyone's gaze, it crashed into the center of the plaza with a "BANG!"
"Who dares trespass on Morning Sun Peak!"
An elder nearby swept forward like a thunderbolt, reaching them in an instant.
Dozens of white-robed patrol disciples also swiftly drew their swords and closed in.
But when the elder waved his sleeve to clear the dust and saw what had happened—
Every disciple held their breath, their faces tense.
"I-it's Senior Brother Lin, Lin Xiaoyan! And Senior Sister Hong Yue!"
"Good heavens! How did Senior Brother Lin get so badly hurt? What happened?"
"Who's that old man?"
"No idea!"
"We're finally back." After recognizing the familiar surroundings, Shangguan Hongyue could hold on no longer. She collapsed to her knees, utterly spent, her face pallid as she gasped for breath.
Chen Xian rubbed his aching lower back beside her. That hard landing had nearly shaken his old bones apart.
Seeing Lin Xiaoyan start bleeding all over again, he quickly held two fingers beneath his nose. "All right, all right. He's still breathing."
"Don't stand around gawking. Get back to what you're supposed to be doing!"
The first elder to arrive furrowed his brows and waved away the patrol disciples and onlooking Outer Sect disciples. Then he approached the three of them.
He glanced first at the unfamiliar old man, then helped Shangguan Hongyue to her feet and pressed a white pill into her hand. "Hong Yue, what happened?"
After taking the pill, Shangguan Hongyue's complexion improved at once, and she found the strength to speak.
"Elder Hu, it's a long story. Senior Brother Lin's injuries are connected to the Blood Demon Sect. This matter involves the Hanging Sword Formation, so we need to report it to the sect master as soon as possible!"
"The Blood Demon Sect? The Hanging Sword Formation!" Hu Buwei's brows knitted tightly. Seeing Shangguan Hongyue's anxious expression and how badly Lin Xiaoyan was injured, he knew this had to be a matter of enormous consequence.
He went over to Chen Xian, first helping Lin Xiaoyan up and putting three red pills into his mouth. Only when his breathing quickly steadied did Hu Buwei turn to Chen Xian.
He didn't use his spiritual sense, merely gauging him by instinct. "First level of Dao Disciple? But why do I sense a sword intent on him so sharp it seems no weaker than mine?"
Could he be some old monster concealing his cultivation?
He respectfully cupped his hands toward the man. "May I ask who you are?"
Now that the conversation had turned to him, Chen Xian felt a little flustered. This was far too sudden. He hadn't even prepared what to say!
Fortunately, Shangguan Hongyue stepped in.
"Elder Hu, this is a senior of the sect who was separated from us decades ago. He was the one who protected Senior Brother Lin and me all the way back."
"A sect member from decades ago?" Hu Buwei was stunned. That would make him an old-timer from the days of the Sword Gate.
Little Yue, you came through! Chen Xian's heart eased, and he began putting his acting skills on display.
He lifted his cloudy eyes slightly and surveyed the bustling white-jade plaza and the majestic peaks surrounding it. Then he let out a long sigh. "The Sword Gate... Has it really grown so grand?"
His voice was hoarse, as though the passing years had weathered him.
"The Sword Gate?"
At those two words, Hu Buwei's heart gave another jolt.
That name belonged to a very distant past!
Ever since the sect had risen to a higher rank thirty years ago, people outside had called it the Sword Sect.
Only the old folks who had retired to seclusion in Hidden Dragon Valley still habitually called it the Sword Gate.
The Xuanyun Sword Sect had suffered several great calamities, and few of those who lived through that era were still alive.
Hu Buwei himself had only joined the sect forty years ago.
"So you are a senior."
Although Hu Buwei still hadn't truly confirmed the old man's identity, his manner had grown courteous.
"This is a matter of great importance. I'll take you to the Main Peak to see the sect master at once!"
Hu Buwei waved his hand. A streak of light flew over from the distance, and a boat-shaped Dao Artifact the size of a sedan chair stopped beside them.
"Senior, please!"
Chen Xian had barely gotten off the flying sword before he found himself climbing aboard the Flying Boat, still utterly bewildered.