Boundary Breaking Mountain in April was already lush with growing grass and singing orioles, brimming with green. Warm air currents blowing from the distant southeast could not cross the unbroken mountain range; they piled up layer upon layer, rose higher, and finally met cold air and turned to rain, falling for days without pause.
Juebi City lay at the foot of the mountains and received somewhat less rain, yet a steady drizzle had continued for two or three days and nights. The entire mountain city was shrouded in dense watery mist. Looking down from above, most of the tightly packed houses and courtyards within the city had vanished from sight. Only the especially striking buildings showed the rough outlines of their forms.
As his gaze wandered through the watery haze, You Gongquan seemed to return to Sky Rift Valley, where clouds and mist filled the sky. Only, there were no bloodthirsty beasts or demons there—only hundreds of thousands of common people, and a pitiably smaller number of cultivators.
With that thought in mind, he naturally gazed into the distance. Beyond the spreading mist lay the dark, heavy shadow of Dan Cliff. That was the very heart of the mountain city. The city's most formidable figures all lived there, and every move they made could have an enormous effect on the city.
Yet over the past few days, the city's people had shifted their attention here.
Perhaps because of the incessant rain, there were few pedestrians on the streets below. Around You Gongquan, however, voices roared like a boiling cauldron and crowds surged shoulder to shoulder.
He was currently atop Tianyi Tower—more precisely, on the enclosed corridor bridge extending from its left wing. Visitors streamed around him like a weaving shuttle. There was no clear divide between cultivators and commoners. Beside