Seven Splendors Mountain

The others let out relieved breaths as understanding dawned.

"So that's why! Senior Brother Xie hates the smell of alcohol more than anything. No wonder he changed his clothes."

This time, it was Zhu Lianqing's turn to be slightly taken aback.

She looked up at Xie Lingchuan. His indifferent gaze swept over her face, and he did not deny it.

Xie Lingchuan hated the smell of alcohol, yet he had still helped her back to the inn last night?

What a loyal friend.

Xie Lingchuan said, "Junior brothers and sisters, if you're ready, let's head to Falling Snow Mountain now."

"I'm ready!"

"So am I! Senior Brother Xie, Eldest Senior Brother, let's go!"

After a good night's rest, the younger disciples were positively glowing, lively enough to leap three feet into the air.

And so the group set off toward Falling Snow Mountain in the morning sunlight.

The Falling Mountain Snow blossoms were in full bloom at this time, so many people were traveling the same way.

At the foot of the mountain, the crowd grew even thicker, heels treading on heels.

Among the surging crowds coming and going, Zhu Lianqing spotted many women dressed in seven-colored robes.

Veils covered their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.

They carried themselves with distinction, but their eyes were cool. Even in their brightly colored dresses, they still seemed aloof and unapproachable.

Zhu Lianqing knew that these women were disciples of Seven Splendors Mountain.

Seven Splendors Mountain was an immortal sect in the Northern Territory. It accepted only female disciples and required a face veil as part of its disciple uniform, making it a rather mysterious presence in the cultivation world.

But Seven Splendors Mountain did not have a very good reputation.

Rumor had it that Seven Splendors Mountain recruited female disciples openly while secretly gathering talented male cultivators for dual cultivation with them, and that this was the source of all their cultivation.

For precisely this reason, Seven Splendors Mountain was known as the cultivation world's sect of temptresses, because a cultivation art that relied on dual cultivation was no different from the demonic cultivators' arts of joined bliss.

Thus, whether Seven Splendors Mountain truly counted among the Thirteen Sects had long been a subject of considerable dispute.

These rumors had hung over Seven Splendors Mountain for years, their truth or falsehood difficult to verify.

Zhu Lianqing had visited Seven Splendors Mountain before.

Back then, she had gone to borrow Seven Splendors Mountain's sacred treasure to eliminate a particularly troublesome vengeful ghost.

The sacred treasure was a mirror, an object of utmost yin, ideal for dealing with a vengeful ghost born at a time of utmost yang.

The paths of Seven Splendors Mountain were difficult to traverse. She had walked a long time from the foot of the mountain to the sect's main gates without seeing a single man coming or going.

Zhu Lianqing had borrowed the mirror without any trouble.

Standing before the gates of Seven Splendors Mountain then, she had looked at the eight characters carved into its stone-"Since I find no favor here, I cannot turn back"-and felt the mirror in her hands, unable to help scoffing at the stupidity of the rumors.

To think anyone would believe that a sect capable of refining a treasure of utmost yin relied on dual cultivation with men to advance its cultivation.

"Dao Lord, do you know who those people are?" Beside her, A Man looked at the women in colorful robes, envy unconsciously showing in her eyes.

Zhu Lianqing answered, "They're disciples of Seven Splendors Mountain. The Falling Mountain Snow blossoms are in full bloom right now, and crowds make it easy for trouble to break out. They're probably here to drive away demons, monsters, and ghosts taking advantage of the chaos to do evil."

A Man nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Why haven't I seen any male disciples with them?"

"Seven Splendors Mountain has only female disciples."

A Man paused, and a trace of admiration joined her gaze toward Seven Splendors Mountain's disciples.

"So sects like that exist in the cultivation world, too."

Zhu Lianqing smiled. "Yes. One of the cultivation world's Thirteen Immortal Sects, skilled in spellcraft and music. They're very formidable."

A Man watched those women in colorful robes until they had gone.

Falling Mountain Snow blossoms grow at the summit, their petals snowy white and their fragrance pleasant. They took their name from the expanse of pure white they form in bloom, like snow covering a green mountain.

By the time the group reached halfway up the mountain, a thick layer of white petals already blanketed the stone steps.

As they walked through them, even the hems of their robes picked up the fragrance.

The scenery was finest at the summit, where Falling Mountain Snow blossoms covered the entire mountaintop. Amid that dreamlike expanse of pure white, Zhu Lianqing saw an ancient tree whose trunk would take five people linking arms to encircle.

Clusters of flowers bloomed profusely on the ancient tree. When the wind blew, white petals drifted down, truly resembling a snowfall.

Shen Ji was the first to walk beneath the tree. Unable to help touching its trunk, he murmured, "It's actually a full ten thousand years old."

Hearing this, Jiang Tingxue skipped over, looking very surprised. "Ten thousand years? Doesn't that mean it's lived longer than Master's master, and even Master's master's master?"

Shen Ji smiled. "Perhaps. But there's no way to determine how old Grandmaster is this year, or when he was born, let alone his master."

Song Wensheng said thoughtfully, "Then all we can be sure of is that it's older than Master."

An old man sat beneath the tree, his hair and beard grizzled, his bearing as spare and upright as a crane or pine. He looked like an elderly cultivator practicing at an ancient temple nearby.

Stroking his beard, he smiled at the young people standing before the trunk. "Youngsters, since you know this tree has ten thousand years of spiritual age, and such opportunities are hard to come by, why not hurry and make a wish?"

They looked toward the elderly cultivator, and Shen Ji smiled gently as well. "May I ask what opportunity you mean, Senior?"

The elderly cultivator's eyes narrowed into smiling slits. Pointing at several couples nearby and farther away, he said, "If you're showered by the Falling Mountain Snow blossoms' rain of petals, you can walk hand in hand through this life until your hair turns white."

At these words, Shen Ji's first reaction was to look behind him.

Sure enough, Jiang Tingxue and Song Wensheng immediately jumped up like bristling cats behind him, pointing at each other.

"Quick, quick, quick! Get out! Hurry up and get out!"

"Why should I be the one to leave? Why don't you get out?!"