Spirit Mountain Transformation

The next morning.

At the summit of North Spring Mountain, Gu Yuanqing and Li Miaoxuan stood side by side. A gentle breeze brushed their faces, setting their sleeves and hair fluttering.

The sun rose, its rays piercing the clouds and mist over the mountain range opposite, casting streams of golden light upon them.

Birds circled nearby. A Mountain Eagle landed beside Gu Yuanqing, tilting its head as it watched the two of them curiously.

Of the two wild foxes, one lay atop a rock while the other sat beside it, now looking at the mountains, now looking at Gu Yuanqing and Li Miaoxuan.

A long while passed.

Li Miaoxuan said softly, "Thank you for accompanying me to enjoy the scenery for more than a day."

Gu Yuanqing smiled. "A guest who has come from afar deserves a proper welcome from this half-host of yours. Besides, the movement technique you taught me, Miss Miaoxuan, is worth a fortune. I should be the one thanking you."

"Gu Yuanqing."

"Hmm?" Gu Yuanqing turned his head. This was the first time the woman had called him by name. Their gazes met, and for a moment, he felt an inexplicable familiarity.

"Miss Miaoxuan, is there something you wish to say?" Gu Yuanqing looked away.

Li Miaoxuan turned to look into the distance and said calmly, "After we part today, perhaps we will never meet again."

For no reason, Gu Yuanqing's heart tightened.

Suppressing his emotions, he smiled. "You make it sound like a parting of life and death. Where do you live, Miss? If I have the chance in the future, I'll come down the mountain to find you. When that time comes, you'll have to accompany me to enjoy the scenery for a day as well."

Li Miaoxuan did not answer. Only after quite a while did she softly say, "I should go."

A trace of reluctance rose in Gu Yuanqing's heart. He cupped his hands and said, "Then I wish you a smooth journey, Miss."

Li Miaoxuan suddenly broke into a smile. It was the first time Gu Yuanqing had seen her smile, and he suddenly understood what it meant for a single smile to bring forth a hundred charms.

She took a Silver Hairpin from her sleeve and slowly inserted it into her hair.

In an instant, before Gu Yuanqing's eyes, Li Miaoxuan's face changed. That face was so familiar, gradually merging with the vague figure in his heart.

Gu Yuanqing could not describe how he felt at that moment. There was astonishment, and there was guilt; a thousand flavors churned within him. He had somewhat guessed that the woman before him was Li Miaoxuan, but he had never imagined that Li Miaoxuan was the woman from that night!

Before Gu Yuanqing could say anything, Li Miaoxuan had already leaped off the cliff.

"This is the third time we have met. If you become a Grandmaster in the future and seek the path ahead, you may come to Lingxu Sect to find me!" Her voice drifted from afar.

The third time? Gu Yuanqing was stunned for a moment, then hurried to the cliff's edge and looked down. Li Miaoxuan's figure had already vanished into the mist. He opened his mouth, yet did not know what to say.

"Gu Yuanqing, Grandmaster is only the beginning of cultivation. The Great Gan Dynasty has always been... too small!"

Li Miaoxuan's voice carried over from afar, then there was no more sound.

Gu Yuanqing stood dumbfounded atop the mountain. Only after an eagle's cry, when his right shoulder sank and a fierce wind brushed past his ear, did he come back to himself. The Mountain Eagle had jumped onto him, flapping its wings.

"So it was her. Was she also the one who sent me the Heart Zen Unity Art? No wonder so much of what she spoke of last night matched the insights in the manual exactly."

Gu Yuanqing felt that he had never owed anyone so much.

Miaoxuan, a daughter of the Imperial Family, Lingxu Sect—once all this information came together, how could Gu Yuanqing still not know who the woman he had shared flesh and blood with was?

At such a young age, she possessed such cultivation; calling her heaven-gifted would not be an exaggeration. What Gu Yuanqing could not understand was how, with her cultivation, she could have fallen for Gu Yuanxuan's scheme.

Suddenly, he recalled the Grandmaster Dao Embryo described later in the Heart Zen Unity Art. When True Martial broke through to Grandmaster, one's qi and blood and mind would fuse into one, using the Heavenly Martial Secret Treasure as a foundation to nourish the Dao Embryo. At that time, one was most vulnerable to external tribulations. Thus, anyone breaking through to Grandmaster would seek an absolutely safe place to pass through the period of weakness.

"She was a Grandmaster. No wonder she said just now that Grandmaster was only the beginning of cultivation!"

He stood quietly atop the mountain for a long time.

"This meeting was the third time. That night was the second. Then what was the first?"

When Gu Yuanqing returned to the small courtyard, his mood was somewhat heavy. He suddenly felt that North Spring Mountain was far lonelier than before.

The abrupt changes had disturbed his state of mind, leaving him with no desire to do anything for the entire afternoon.

Only when night fell did he gather himself and begin cultivating.

"Grandmaster, Lingxu Sect? Perhaps they are not so far away."

He did not know whether, upon truly becoming a Grandmaster, he would go looking for her. But the prerequisite for making that choice was that he possessed the cultivation of a Grandmaster.

He drew the Qi of Earth Sha into the phantom image within his Sea of Consciousness, then slowly guided it into the Profound Martial Secret Treasure once more. As his mind merged with the Secret Treasury, he guided True Qi throughout his body, tempering his flesh.

This was True Qi Body Refining. Only a stronger physique could withstand the power brought by the Profound Martial Realm.

In the blink of an eye, midnight was approaching. Gu Yuanqing sat cross-legged in meditation, waiting for spiritual energy to gather.

But suddenly, ripples rose in his mind. The three-dimensional phantom of North Spring Mountain began to tremble, as though Dao Sound was issuing from within. The sound grew louder, and Gu Yuanqing's body and consciousness began to tremble along with it.

A tingling sensation spread through his entire body. It came from every tiniest part of him, as though every most fundamental particle were transforming beneath the Dao Sound.

In an instant, Gu Yuanqing understood. North Spring Mountain had successfully completed Spirit Imbuing and was beginning to transform.

The sensation was somewhat unbearable, as though ants were crawling all over his body. He clenched his teeth, and as though struck by sudden inspiration, he strained to listen to the Dao Sound, as if trying to engrave it into the depths of his soul.

He did not know how long passed. Amid its constant rippling, the three-dimensional phantom of North Spring Mountain gradually condensed until it resembled something tangible. Threads of spiritual energy emerged from the mountain, slowly winding around the entire mountain like clouds and mist. From afar, the scenery of North Spring Mountain appeared and disappeared through the haze, like an immortal realm.

The Dao Sound grew even louder, becoming deafening in moments. The solid image in his mind shook violently before suddenly leaping out of his Sea of Consciousness and into the outside world. It rapidly expanded, merging with the real North Spring Mountain.

In that instant, Gu Yuanqing felt himself completely merge with all of North Spring Mountain. It seemed that with a single thought, he could control everything on North Spring Mountain!

He did not know how long this state lasted. Gu Yuanqing eventually broke free from it and regained consciousness.

Looking inward at his Sea of Consciousness, the miniature North Spring Mountain was still there, while the text beside it had changed:

Host: Gu Yuanqing

Title: North Spring Mountain Master

Title Enhancement: Mountain Observation, Object Control

Cultivation Talent: Outstanding Among the Ordinary (Exceptionally Gifted)

Sword Dao Talent: Outstanding Among the Ordinary (Peerless)

Comprehension: One in a Hundred (Unmatched Under Heaven)

Residence: North Spring Mountain (Spirit Mountain)

Residence Enhancement: Cultivation Talent +2, Sword Dao Talent +3, Comprehension +3, Spiritual Energy Like a Pool (First Tier), Spiritual Mountain Trial.

Gu Yuanqing carefully examined the changes in the text, his heart filled with delight. This transformation had been comprehensive.

First, although the enhancements to his cultivation talent, sword dao talent, and comprehension had not changed, his own aptitude had risen by an entire tier.

Furthermore, Spiritual Energy Like a Pool meant that his cultivation progress would no longer be restricted by a lack of spiritual energy as it had been before.

Finally, his attention settled on Object Control under Title Enhancement and Spiritual Mountain Trial. As his thoughts touched them, the functions of these two enhancements swiftly emerged in his mind...