Azure Cloud Mountain, Falling Phoenix Valley.
Falling Phoenix Valley was a gorge between two mountains. A winding little river ran through its center, and straight, towering parasol trees grew thick along both banks.
The mountain walls on either side were lush and verdant, with flocks of mountain birds wheeling back and forth among the grass and trees. Bursts of crisp birdsong drifted through the forest, clouds, and sky, lending the valley an extra touch of lively spirit.
Gao Xian sat cross-legged on a bluish stone beside the river. He wore a long robe of white coarse linen, hemp shoes on his bare feet, and his long hair was casually gathered into a Daoist topknot, pinned with a roughly polished wooden hairpin.
Five years had passed since he entered Mysterious Embryo Heaven. This body of Gao Xian's had grown from adolescence into young adulthood.
At twenty-two, every function of his body was at its golden peak.
Over the past few years, Gao Xian had leaped straight from Qi Refining to the peak of Spirit Transformation, and his body had been reforged in the process. He was now tall and straight, with sharply defined features, already seven or eight parts similar to his original body.
Divine consciousness was difficult to project outward in this world, so all cultivation methods were, in truth, methods of tempering the flesh inwardly.
Drawing on the various techniques of this world to cultivate the Wuji Sword Scripture, Gao Xian's body had been refined by Wuji sword qi into its present state. It looked similar to his original body, but its essence was utterly different.
This body was far too frail, incomparably inferior to his original body empowered by the Five Emperor Wheel.
Fortunately, this fleshly body existed only to cultivate swordsmanship, so there was no need to