The immortal breeze was intoxicating, and the setting sun left the world tipsy.
Lu Ya sat cross-legged on an iron sword.
In every direction, above and below, as far as the eye could see, floated mountains of every size.
Most were immortal sects nestled among verdant peaks. There were also continent-sized floating mountains covered in spirit plants, golden, splendid floating cities, primeval wilderness mountains echoing with savage beasts, and vast floating seas where Kunpeng leaped from the waves...
The smallest were private cave abodes barely a dozen zhang across; the largest were sprawling continents stretching a thousand li.
Immortal clouds, spiritual energy, mist, beast cries, bells, ceremonial music—everything filled the world.
Vast and ethereal, it scarcely seemed like the mortal realm.
Lu Ya felt as if he'd returned to the days when he'd first started playing the game and learned to fly on a sword. Back then, he could happily spend the whole night just flying around.
Flying on a sword for real was even more thrilling!
But the sword-flying skills of the two Tiger Immortals, Muyu Feifei and Feifei, left much to be desired. The slightest gust of astral wind, or even a passing crane, sent them wobbling and swaying as if they might fall at any moment.
Lu Ya suspected their unsteady flying wasn't a matter of skill... but of a fear of heights.
Tigers were, after all, kings of the land. It was only natural they weren't good at flying.
After flying for most of the day, Lu Ya finally realized the three of them had been circling around within a two-hundred-li radius. Seeing the two girls' nervous expressions as they looked around in every direction, it was obvious they were both hopelessly lost.
They said tigers were all brawn and no brains. In your case, your heads really must be full of axes.
Lu Ya was utterly speechless. His stomach was growling again, so he could only ask:
"Where exactly is the Bamboo Spring Sect? If we don't find it soon, I really am going to eat the children!"
Muyu looked flustered.
"I might be a little dizzy because I ate too much, so I've lost my sense of direction. Don't worry. Once I've digested it, I'll be clearheaded again."
Feifei, meanwhile, looked as if she couldn't care less, patting her round tiger hide as she said:
"We rode out on Xiuchiu. Only Xiuchiu remembers the way back."
"..."
Those two damn fools!
Lu Ya tried his best to steady himself.
"Then tell me, does the Bamboo Spring Sect have any distinctive landmarks?"
Only then did the two girls eagerly answer.
"Other than Little Bamboo Spring Mountain in the middle, our Floating Mountain is all flatland. More than a hundred households of Immortal Commoners live there!"
"Little Bamboo Spring Mountain—you can tell from the name. It has bamboo groves and springs, and there's even a nice, warm hot spring at the summit."
"Just look around. It's not far—three hundred li at most."
Lu Ya's eyes widened, and a sharp divine sense instantly spread over a thousand li.
He carefully searched every floating mountain, looking for an immortal mountain with flat land, a solitary peak, bamboo, and springs.
And there really was one!
Eight hundred li away stood a circular floating mountain about twenty li in diameter. At its center was a solitary peak some three hundred zhang tall. He couldn't tell if it had bamboo groves, but it did have a hot spring.
Lu Ya narrowed his eyes. The world shrank to an inch.
The mountains and rivers blurred past like fleeting clouds.
In an instant, the three of them were at the foot of the Bamboo Spring Sect's mountain.
There was no spellcasting, no acceleration or deceleration, no wind brushing their faces. It was as smooth as teleportation, and the two girls hadn't even noticed Lu Ya cast a spell.
Looking at the bamboo covering the mountain and listening to the stream burble, the two girls suddenly understood.
"I knew I was just dizzy from eating too much! Look, the sect is right there!"
"So we haven't even gone far today! Hahaha!"
"..."
He glanced around.
The Floating Mountain wasn't large, with just over ten li of flatland. A river ran through it, making the land fairly fertile, yet only a little over a hundred households of Immortal Commoners lived there, barely a thousand people in all. It was truly desolate.
Little Bamboo Spring Mountain in the middle stood about three hundred zhang tall, with exceptionally rich spiritual energy. Through the swirling mist, verdant bamboo groves and burbling springs gave it the enchanting air of an immortal's abode.
But when Lu Ya swept his divine sense over the mountain, he found that the highest cultivation level among its immortals was only Immortal Master.
According to the level system in the game Ancient Immortal Court—
1–9: Immortal Commoner (level 10: half-step Immortal Monarch)
11–19: Immortal Monarch (level 20: half-step Immortal Master)
21–29: Immortal Master (level 30: half-step Immortal Sect Master)
31–39: Immortal Sect Master (level 40: half-step Immortal Venerable)
41–49: Immortal Venerable (level 50: half-step Immortal Saint)
51–59: Immortal Saint (level 60: half-step Immortal Emperor)
61–69: Immortal Emperor (level 70: half-step Immortal Sovereign)
71–79: Immortal Sovereign (...)
Each title was further divided into one to nine stars. For example, level 25 was equivalent to a five-star Immortal Master.
In other words, an Immortal Master was only one rank above a beginner Immortal Monarch, equivalent to Foundation Establishment in a cultivation novel.
The wealthy female cultivator on this mountain had cultivated for three thousand years and was still only an Immortal Master. Her talent wasn't exactly poor, but it was extraordinarily mediocre.
Could she be hoping to find a suitable immortal partner and improve her cultivation through dual cultivation?
What was the rumor those two girls had almost told him?
Lu Ya was curious.
With that in mind, he didn't fly straight to the mountaintop. Instead, he landed in a small village at the foot of the mountain.
He spread out his divine sense and looked around.
The village wasn't small, but it didn't have many people—only a little over a hundred. Most were women, with just a few old men and little boys. There were practically no young men.
By Immortal Commoner standards, they lived on the edge of poverty. They had virtually no cultivation talent and no hope of becoming immortals. They belonged to the lowest class of Immortal Commoners.
The spiritual energy here was abundant, and the immortal soil was fertile. A stream burbled past the village, while Immortal Grain and Immortal Wheat swayed in rippling waves. It was a fine place to live.
So why was the population so sparse?
And where had all the men gone?
Just then, several women returned from gathering spirit wheat at the village entrance, bundles of stalks on their backs. They happened to run into Lu Ya and the two girls.
When they saw Lu Ya, the women's eyes widened. They stared at him as if they'd never seen a man before.
As they watched him, they chatted without the least bit of restraint.
"Look, the Tiger Immortals really did trick a man into coming back..."
"Huh? Xiuchiu didn't come back?"
"Xiuchiu must have flown a thousand li away to find an outsider. How could it have come back so quickly?"
"Then where did this man come from?"
"Look how pretty he is. Could he be a woman in disguise?"
Lu Ya felt a mouthful of blood rise in his throat.
These Immortal Commoners were just as bold as they'd been in the game, showing immortals no respect at all...
According to the setting of Ancient Immortal Court, Immortal Commoners might lack cultivation talent, but they lived in the Immortal Realm and enjoyed long lives. Their folkways were bold, and the Immortal Court protected their lives and property, so they weren't afraid of immortals at all.
The Immortal Commoner NPCs in the game were even more amusing. Their personalities were set to be wildly uninhibited. Though they couldn't cultivate, they still lectured immortals on the affairs of the world, waving their arms and spouting opinions like netizens who had a keyboard at their fingertips. Their words were downright sharp.
In his previous life, some mischievous players had even made ridiculous videos of deep conversations with Immortal Commoner NPCs. They were outrageously funny, and Lu Ya had loved watching them as midnight snacks while staying up late and eating instant noodles.
At that moment, a burly woman called out to Muyu Feifei:
"Tiger Immortals, you have to tell him the truth. Don't go deceiving him."
"He'd need to be at least an Immortal Sect Master to keep the sect leader in check."
"Look how delicate he is. He's still just a child..."
Lu Ya grew more and more curious.
Muyu Feifei, however, was furious. Their round tiger ears sprang straight up, and they bared their mouths at the women with a roar that shook the mountains and woods—
Roar!
The women hurried off, but as they went, they kept glancing back and giggling to themselves.
"The Tiger Immortals are angry."
"The Tiger Immortals are so cute."
"I want to take one home and raise it!"
"Ah, what a pity. The Bamboo Spring Sect probably won't last much longer..."
Turning back, Muyu and Feifei both puffed out their round cheeks and glared up at Lu Ya.
"Why didn't you just fly straight to the mountaintop?"
Lu Ya held back a laugh and stood with his hands behind his back, his expression stern.
"It's my first time visiting the sect. I can't just go straight to the top of the mountain. I have to use the front gate, understand?"
"Then why aren't you walking faster?"
"How am I supposed to walk fast when I'm hungry?"
"Get on."
With a yowl, Muyu transformed into a gigantic tiger and stood imposing before Lu Ya.
Feifei leaped onto the tiger's head, as if they shared one mind, and grabbed the two round, fluffy ears, fiddling with them.
Ride a tiger up the mountain?
Hmm...
Lu Ya cheerfully climbed onto the tiger's back.
He swung his hand around and gave the tiger a sharp smack on the rump.
"Giddyup!"
Muyu yelped, then charged off in a fury, doing her best to throw Lu Ya off.
Lu Ya stayed rock steady, like an old dog.
The tiger's plump body looked a little clumsy, but she dashed up the mountain at a terrific pace, weaving through the verdant bamboo and leaping more than a zhang at a time.
Perfect strength and agility. No wonder she was king of the mountain.
Lu Ya looked over Bamboo Spring Mountain again.
The verdant bamboo canopy blotted out the sky, interspersed with solitary pines and strange rocks. Immortal flowers and wild fruits grew everywhere, blue bees and red butterflies flitted about, birds chirped noisily, and several streams burbled through the mountain. It was a scene of perfect harmony.
Farther up.
There were rows of bamboo cottages where outer disciples had lived. Vines covered the cottages, and green moss blanketed the doorsteps. It seemed no one had lived there for a long time.
The spiritual energy here was abundant, and the scenery was lovely. It could easily accommodate hundreds of cultivators. Why was it so desolate?
Lu Ya was curious. He spread out his divine sense—
There were only two people on the mountain!
A sect with just four people in total?
And two of them were Tiger Immortals?
This was far too strange.
What exactly was the rumor?
The urge to explore, buried deep in Lu Ya's heart, stirred again.
Then he came face-to-face with a beautiful woman standing before the mountain gate.
Before you continue