The journey passed beneath clear winds and gentle sun.
Hearing this, Lu Qing sighed inwardly. "At a time like this, the mountain rain is about to come."
Lu Qing returned to the Dao Abode in a single step. No heaven-shaking divine ability was needed; with one step, the stars shifted and the constellations turned.
Having learned what he wished to know along the way, he also understood why the fate of the Nine Heavens was so turbulent, so fierce, so surging at this moment.
Like a blazing sun about to rise, it carried a terrifying majesty.
He returned to the Dao Abode.
The Bixin Mountain Range of old, now the Clearless Dao Abode, remained a place beyond the mortal world, a realm of immortals.
A boundless sea of clouds spread into an unbroken road beneath one's feet. From the foot of the mountain to its summit were craggy peaks, ancient pines bathed in mist, rosy flowers blooming in clusters, and fragrant jade grasses carpeting the ground.
Lu Qing concealed neither his face nor his appearance.
Yet the spirit beasts at the mountain's foot continued about their own affairs, never noticing that someone had just passed by them.
Ripples spread across the lake. A White Crane lowered its head over the water.
The boy's eyes shifted.
As though he had sensed something.
Up on the mountain, a wisp of gentle Qing Feng appeared, carrying a White Crane upward.
"Lu Qing, you're back."
White Crane Boy reached the mountaintop.
The moment he saw the figure, joy filled him.
"Mm."
"Boy, what would you like to eat?"
Lu Qing turned around. Seeing White Crane Boy, an idea stirred in his heart. He grew interested and prepared to display his cooking once more atop this mountain peak wreathed in immortal mist.
The buildings within