The group left Mount Heng and flew together to Emei.
Emei Mountain was now sealed off. Its main entrance had been completely shut, and could only be opened once Qi Shouming and the others had perfected their Immortal Arts and exhausted their trials and tribulations.
On the rare occasions anyone came or went, they used Flying Thunder Cave on the rear of the mountain.
Flying Thunder Cave had originally been the abode of the Bearded Immortal Li Yuanhua. After Emei inaugurated its immortal mansion, they had smelted the mountains and rivers and recast the mansion, hollowing out much of the mountain's interior to construct the Five Palaces of Primordial Origin. Flying Thunder Cave's connections to the interior had also changed, turning it into a back entrance linking the mountain to the outside world.
It was not normally open either. Clouds and mist shrouded the mountain's surface, while the rock within was harder than tempered steel. No amount of calling at the entrance could have opened it.
Today, however, the hosts had divined that guests they could not refuse were coming, and had waited inside the cave in advance. As soon as the group landed before the mountain, before anyone could call out, the clouds and mist sealing the entrance suddenly parted of their own accord. Waterfalls cascaded into ravines on either side, where a delicious species of Reverse Fish lived. The two overlapping curtains of water now parted to the left and right.
The cave entrance opened. Lady Miaoyi, Xun Lanyin, Master Canxia, the Bearded Immortal Li Yuanhua, and seven or eight male and female disciples, including Zhuge Jingwo, greeted them with smiles. In order of their closeness, they first welcomed Xiao Shijiu and Xiong Manniang, then Luo Ziyan, and finally the Jade Cave Perfected One, "Yue Yun," warmly inviting