Floating Cloud Mountain

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Floating Cloud Mountain
Original Name	浮云山
Type	Spiritual mountain that develops into an immortal mountain range 93 181 241
Location	Fengyang Commandery, Great Xuan; originally a branch of Azure Dragon Mountain 30 152 257
Affiliation	Truth-Seeking Abbey 93 180
Role	The abbey’s cultivation grounds, spiritual foundation, and defensive stronghold; later a staging ground for the Netherworld campaign 99 148 277
Spiritual Manifestation	An earth-vein spirit that takes a three-clawed dragon-like form 180
Standing	Recognized as the foremost mountain of the Four Commanderies and renowned throughout Great Xuan’s Northern Frontier 257

Power Progression

The mountain advances through the nourishment and transformation of its earth vein and subsidiary veins, rather than through a cultivator’s named realms.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Ordinary spiritual mountain	30 93	Begins as an ordinary offshoot of Azure Dragon Mountain. By the time it supports three True Persons, its spiritual expenditure exceeds its replenishment.
Additional spirit vein	93	Xuanming buries a weakened spirit-vein pearl and a Flood Serpent’s corpse beside the existing vein. The veins absorb the serpent’s draconic nature, renewing the mountain’s vitality.
Flood Dragon earth vein	98 99	Dragon breath from Azure Dragon Mountain’s main vein triggers an advancement during Xuanming’s Golden Core breakthrough. The mountain triples in size and reaches a thousand zhang in height; its earth vein becomes a Flood Dragon, flanked by two Flood Serpent spirit veins in a yin-yang configuration.
Chi Dragon nourishment	161	Xuanming binds the captured Chi Dragon to the earth vein, allowing it to consume the prisoner’s flesh, blood, and qi to strengthen the mountain.
Water-Fire Two Principles Formation	171	Several unstable fire veins are brought into the mountain and combined with its water veins, strengthening its elemental foundations.
Extension into Azure Dragon Mountain’s remnants	177	Xuanming guides the earth vein into the surviving half of the devastated main range, sustaining its vitality while Floating Cloud Mountain assimilates the dragon remains he obtained.
Earth-vein spirit takes form	180 181	The mountain expands to five thousand li and rises five thousand zhang. Its two principal spirit veins become Flood Dragons; smaller veins become Flood Serpents, and its water and fire veins become elemental Flood Dragons. The earth-vein spirit manifests between a Flood Dragon and a True Dragon, with three claws.
Thirty-thousand-li immortal mountain	241	After years of assimilating half a true dragon’s body and the remaining dragon-vein essence, the mountain undergoes another major advancement. The coordinated transformation leaves the surrounding population unharmed and enables the Yellow-Horned Immortal and Taiyi to become Great Gods.

Background / History

Floating Cloud Mountain originally belongs to Azure Dragon Mountain’s network of twelve branch ranges. It is one of the three branches in Fengyang Commandery, alongside Emerald Screen Mountain and Green Cliff Mountain. Its connection to the main range makes it both a possible exit route for the True Dragon and dependent on the condition of the larger dragon vein 147 152 178.

An Evil Flood Dragon’s divided spirit had previously perished on Floating Cloud Mountain, creating a karmic entanglement between the mountain and the dragon’s lineage. Xuanming later kills two Flood Serpents in succession and uses their draconic resources to strengthen the abbey’s grounds. This intervention addresses a practical problem: the mountain’s original spiritual reserves cannot comfortably sustain its growing number of True Persons 93 94 99.

Appearance & Geography

• Landscape: Cloud-wreathed peaks, bamboo forests, ancient trees, waterfalls, spirit herbs, secluded valleys, and snow-covered heights 100 119 120.
• Later height: Described as towering a hundred thousand feet when Xuanming returns from the Peaceful Heaven Sect 257.
• Persistent phenomena: As its immortal-mountain character deepens, dragon qi rises in billows, auspicious clouds linger throughout the year, and radiant light persists through all four seasons 264.
• Surrounding basin: Following its earlier ascension, Floating Cloud County occupies a fertile, five-hundred-li basin plain enclosed by the mountain range 181.
• Access and remoteness: At that stage, one broad road leads outside, and the distance to Fengyang Commandery’s capital has increased to a thousand li. Cultivators below great Spirit Refining can no longer observe the range or spy on the county 181.

Notable Locations

Location	Description
Dao-Treasuring Peak	Contains Xuanming’s Path-Seeking Courtyard and thatched cottage, as well as the three-story Scripture Pavilion 39 97 180.
Cleansing Heart Peak	Site of Xuan Yu’s breakthrough to the True Person realm 94.
Mystic Law Hall	Hosts discussions of the Dao among True Persons; nearby mountain animals gather to listen 83.
Spirit fields	Terraced herb gardens covering a thousand qing, with numerous varieties of spirit plants 180.
Lake among the spirit fields	A hundred-mu lake containing Green Jade Lotuses, Clearheart Cattails, Tricolor Gorgon Nuts, Yin-Yang Narcissuses, and a pavilion used by the Daoists 180.
Blazing Fire Peak / Flying Fire Hall	Sites used for Xuanming’s artifact refinement and preparations for conflict 134 171 269.
Passing Peak cemetery	A burial ground with soul-refining formations, pines, cypresses, locusts, and willows. Its feng shui allows yin energy to flourish while discouraging resentful baleful intent 184.
Earth-vein and Fire Vein spaces	Underground spaces used for cultivation, refinement, and later Netherworld-related institutions 174 186 241.

Abilities & Spiritual Properties

Awareness and Resonance

The mountain displays spiritual responses to Xuanming and can enter deep communion with him.

• Its earth vein radiates joy when he supplies the spirit-vein pearl and Flood Serpent corpse 93.
• During winter-solstice meditation, Xuanming experiences its emotions and seasonal breathing: spring as an inhalation, autumn as an exhalation 97.
• His homecomings stir the mountain’s spiritual mechanism; on a later return, its earth vein responds excitedly and auspicious clouds spread across the sky 120 257.

Cultivation Nourishment

The mountain’s advancement benefits its inhabitants and neighboring land.

• Surges of spiritual energy improve spirit plants, strengthen beasts, and provide opportunities for Daoist breakthroughs 99 180 181.
• Its blessings extend into Floating Cloud County, improving soil, crops, health, and the spiritual potential of future generations 99 181.
• Plants can gain greater spirituality or begin evolving during an ascension 180.

Its reserves are not unlimited. Before Xuanming’s Spirit Refining breakthrough, drawing all the required energy from the mountain would have killed its living creatures and collapsed its terrain. He instead absorbs stellar power to spare it 161.

Earth Immortal Foundation

The mountain offers a route to longevity through a cultivator’s union with a blessed land.

• Xuanming’s Golden Core develops a connection with Floating Cloud Mountain that could greatly extend his lifespan if he chose to deepen that union 99.
• He does not adopt this path himself, but teaches its principles to his fellow Daoists as a possible means of overcoming their limited cultivation prospects 99.
• Xuanxu and the other six True Persons later make continuing progress in the earth immortal method 285 286.

Defenses & Spiritual Resources

Protective Formations and Treasures

• Eight Trigrams Four-Images Grand Formation — Linked to the mountain’s earth veins and spiritual mechanism. Its four runic walls expand with the terrain, contain most ascension tremors, and protect vegetation and buildings. It also serves as the abbey’s principal defense against invading demons 148 152 180.
• Yin-Yang Mirror and Truth-Seeking Sword — Fortune-anchoring Spirit Artifacts. During the mountain’s ascension, the mirror shields the surrounding land while the sword’s light overawes the area 180.
• Peachwood Sword and Fly-Whisk — During the Golden Core-era transformation, the sword protects nearby villages and helps local gods stabilize the county; the Fly-Whisk regulates earth-vein energy and suppresses tremors 98.
• Pure Bright Bell — Xuanming uses it to reinforce protection for nearby living beings during the later earth-vein advancement 181.
• Taiji Diagram and Taishang Daoist — Protect the entire mountain and Truth-Seeking Abbey during the attack surrounding Xuanming’s Great Power breakthrough 282.

Elemental Roots and Veins

• Endless wood — A fire-aligned spiritual root that anchors fortune, calms earth qi, and regulates spirit and fire veins. Xuanming acquires it during his travels to Crimson Radiance Mountain 119 180.
• Purple jade lotus — A water-aligned spiritual root obtained from the Dragon Palace and planted in the mountain’s largest lake. It works with the endless wood through mutual nourishment and restraint 180 181.
• Fire veins — Provide earthfire for artifact refinement; Xuanming first brings a vein from Crimson Radiance Mountain for relocation, then later adds several more 119 171 186.

The mountain’s increasing fortune eventually outgrows the capacity of its two fortune-anchoring Spirit Artifacts. By that point, three profound-grade spiritual roots can only keep it temporarily stable, prompting Xuanming to seek a Dharma Treasure-level solution 185.

Relationships

• Xuanming — Principal cultivator and steward. He nourishes its veins, develops its defenses, and ultimately identifies cultivating the mountain and Truth-Seeking Abbey as his genuine aspiration 93 141 242.
• Truth-Seeking Abbey — Resident sect. Its Daoists and spirit beasts collectively regulate the mountain’s transformations and protect nearby communities 180 241.
• Azure Dragon Mountain — Original parent range. Floating Cloud Mountain inherits part of its dragon-vein legacy and extends its own veins into the surviving range to restore vitality 30 177 180.
• Central Yellow Pole Yellow-Horned Immortal — Closely connected divine guardian. The mountain’s earth-vein advancement transforms his Dharma Aspect into a Dharma Body, and a later ascension provides his opportunity to become a Great God 181 241.
• Taiyi, Savior from Suffering — Protects and restores the surrounding land, assists with the Netherworld Bureau beneath the mountain, and uses his authority to open a passage into the Netherworld 158 241 277.
• Floating Cloud County — Protected neighboring community, later enclosed within the mountain range. Its safety and prosperity attract refugees, merchants, and settlers 158 171 181 257.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Demon Tide and Refuge

• Xuanming identifies the mountain as a likely frontline because it is one of the True Dragon’s routes out of Azure Dragon Mountain. The abbey prepares formations and alerts regional allies 147.
• The defensive battle costs many Daoists their lives or leaves them wounded. More than a thousand outside reinforcements establish formations and traps at the mountain’s foot 152 153.
• The abbey ultimately resists the demon tide and drives off the True Dragon. Its protection allows Floating Cloud County to remain comparatively safe, becoming a destination for refugees 158.

Restoration of Azure Dragon Mountain

• After the yellow dragon dies and its vein is divided, Xuanming receives the remaining dragon body and its final lucid spiritual light. He turns these gains toward repairing the devastated land and strengthening Floating Cloud Mountain 177.
• The mountain’s expanding earth veins reconnect with the surviving half of Azure Dragon Mountain, stabilizing it and allowing life to return 180.

Pilgrimage and Regional Prestige

• Following the ascension, pilgrims flock to the reopened mountain to worship and seek blessings. The lower slopes receive visitors, while the upper mountain remains reserved for quiet cultivation 182 185.
• Its rise draws imperial scrutiny: newly appointed Spirit Refining Censor Divine Officials in the Four Commanderies are understood to be guarding against Floating Cloud Mountain rather than the former Dragon Suppression Formation 259.
• After Xuanming becomes a Great Power, Great Xuan’s pressure on the mountain abruptly ceases, and Truth-Seeking Abbey increasingly gains recognition as a sacred land 283.

Netherworld Campaign

• The Yellow-Horned Immortal and Taiyi establish a Netherworld Bureau within the mountain’s earth veins during its major advancement 241.
• An expeditionary army assembles beneath the mountain, and Taiyi opens a stabilized passage into the Netherworld 277.
• Netherworld retaliation brings a siege by Ghost Kings. Gouchen, the Great Emperor of Antarctic Longevity, the abbey’s Daoists, and Phoenix Clan reinforcements nearly annihilate the besiegers and secure the mountain 278 279.