A Distant Place

Five days later.

Su Yao stood at the very front, with Liu Yunhe and Li Siyi behind him. Little Red and Little Orange chirped noisily as they circled overhead.

Clouds rushed past them as the South Star Boat sped forward.

Su Yao gazed at the immortal mountain ahead, an unreadable look in his eyes. His voice reached the two behind him:

"Whose immortal mountain is that ahead?"

Liu Yunhe's expression shifted slightly. He thought to himself:

Could the Dao Child not know this mountain?

A moment later, he understood the deeper meaning:

"That is Qingcang Radiant Light Mountain. It has been sealed off for three thousand years."

Su Yao nodded at his words and sighed:

"Now that I have come down the mountain, I cannot let the loyal and worthy lose heart."

He paused.

"But the matter is urgent, and the Zhang household's mountain is still sealed, so it would not be right to go up and visit. I should write a letter to show my sentiments."

With that, he took a sheet of xuan paper from his Storage Bag, then turned to look at Li Siyi.

"Stop the boat."

Li Siyi assented, then formed a Method Formula with her hand, and the South Star Boat came to a halt.

Seeing this, Liu Yunhe hurriedly took out a brush and ink. Su Yao waved a hand.

"There is no need for brush and ink."

Then, before their eyes, he took down the ancient sword Zhengji from his waist.

He drew the sword and looked at its blade.

"This sword has a history of hundreds of thousands of years, yet it has never changed since the day it was forged."

He paused.

"Ten thousand ages cannot wear it down; cold and clear, it rings within its sheath."

Then he looked at the sheet of xuan paper Li Siyi had laid out and waved Zhengji. Rosy light began to gather.

The rosy light traveled along the blade. Using the sword as a brush and the light as ink, Su Yao began to write on the paper.

Li Siyi watched intently. Su Yao wrote for a short while before stopping. What he had written on the paper was a poem:

"Passing Qingcang Radiant Light Mountain, sent to Master Zhang"

Three thousand years on Qingcang's radiant height, smoke and mist seal the immortal gate from sight.

Your house has kept Qixia's pact through every age; I too have come south to the South Sea's shore.

Zhengji's frosty blade remains unworn and old; rainbow light now stains the faint ink strokes.

Say not the Dao's lineage has vanished on the wind; heaven's own heart awaits the drying sun.

Another day, the Zhongnan path shall open once again; together we shall ride white cranes and gather clouds on our return.

"Dao Child, what a talent you have."

Liu Yunhe's voice had already rung out.

Li Siyi thought to herself:

This man really has no shame.

Yet her face lit up with a smile.

"Dao Child, your poetic talent is unmatched. Why don't I take this poem to the mountain?"

Liu Yunhe was furious. He was about to speak up and compete for the task, but the next moment, Su Yao's voice came:

"Then you may go."

Li Siyi assented and stepped up beside the paper. She first took out a wooden box, then looked at Su Yao.

"Dao Child, would you like to add your seal?"

Su Yao shook his head. Then, under their astonished gazes, he took out Qixia Temple's Daoist talismanic edict and stamped it on the paper.

At once, their eyes turned red with envy.

Li Siyi regretted it inwardly, but her hands did not stop. She carefully placed the paper in the wooden box.

She bowed to Su Yao again, picked up the box, and mounted her Law Artifact.

Her Immortal Foundation, Bathe in Five Vapors, activated. Five-colored vapor wreathed her body as she flew toward Radiant Light Mountain.

Li Siyi flew onward and, a quarter of an hour later, arrived above Radiant Light Mountain.

Holding the wooden box, she looked down at the mountain, then raised her voice, transmitting it with the support of Law Power:

"By the decree of the Qixia Dao Child, the Qingcang Zhang Clan is to come at once to receive it."

Bolstered by Law Power, her voice stirred echoes from the mountain, reverberating through the surroundings for a long time.

In an instant, flames shot into the sky from Radiant Light Mountain.

Then a dozen or so figures flew out from the mountain.

Li Siyi looked over and saw that the one in the lead was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with people both old and young behind him.

When they drew near, the middle-aged man in the lead looked puzzled, but he still bowed before speaking.

"The Qingcang Zhang Clan greets the immortal decree of the superior sect."

Seeing this, Li Siyi said:

"The Qixia Dao Child has descended the mountain to gain experience. Passing through this place, he saw that the Qingcang Zhang Clan had faithfully fulfilled its duties, and has specially bestowed a poem upon you."

With that, she used Law Power to pass the wooden box in her hands over to him.

The middle-aged man opposite reached out and took it. Li Siyi then prepared to leave.

But the man called out to stop her.

"May I ask where the Dao Child is?"

Li Siyi did not answer, but looked in Su Yao's direction.

The middle-aged man followed her gaze and saw a young man in a navy-blue robe standing on a flying boat not far away.

Rosy light wreathed his body, dazzlingly brilliant.

Moments later, the South Star Boat drew near, carrying Su Yao.

The instant he saw Su Yao, the middle-aged man recognized him, even though he had never left Radiant Light Mountain in his life, had never met Su Yao, and no one in his clan cultivated the path of rainbow light.

But for generations, the Zhang household had served as immortal attendants to Qixia Temple's True Lords and immortals. How could he fail to sense it?

This was a sensation passed down through his bloodline!

The Qingcang Zhang household had always been Qixia Temple's most loyal supporter.

His eyes reddened slightly, and he bowed solemnly.

"Zhang Qingyu, head of the Qingcang Zhang Clan, greets the Dao Child of the superior sect."

Su Yao's voice came in reply:

"I have urgent business in Nanzhao. Passing your household, I offer you a poem first. When Qixia Mountain's gates reopen, you and I shall meet again."

Hearing this, he looked at Li Siyi, then at Liu Yunhe beside Su Yao, and bowed deeply once more.

"Dao Child, the road ahead will be difficult. Would you like me to select a few people from the clan to attend you?"

Su Yao waved a hand.

"Your Zhang Ziyan is studying the Dao on the mountain. I know him. There is no need for attendants."

Zhang Qingyu hurriedly thanked him, then invited Su Yao into the mountain to talk.

Su Yao waved a hand.

"The matter in Nanzhao is urgent. Had the Zhang Clan not faithfully fulfilled its duties, I would not have stopped."

Only then did Zhang Qingyu cease trying to persuade him to stay.

As he watched the South Star Boat disappear into the distance, a surge of heroic spirit filled Zhang Qingyu's heart.

The Zhang household had finally lived to see this day. Unable to wait, he opened the wooden box and saw the xuan paper inside. He handed the box to a clansman behind him, then unfolded the paper.

His eyes grew moist again as he read the lines. In particular, the moment he saw the imprint of Qixia Temple's Daoist talismanic edict, he murmured into the air:

"The Qingcang Zhang Clan shall forever serve before Qixia Temple."

Two days later, Su Yao and his companions had traveled another two thousand li toward Nanzhao aboard the South Star Boat.

Just as they were about to pass through the territory of the Hepu Witch Tribe, a thick fog suddenly rose.

Su Yao immediately thought of the miasma from before.

But he was certain this was not miasma, only fog. He did not know what was happening this time either. By all rights, the Hepu Witch Tribe would never dare make another move.

No one nearby should have dared make a move either.

Qixia Temple's five affiliated households were:

The Qingcang Zhang Clan lay to the southwest, the Blackwater Han Clan to the northeast, the Nacheng Li Household to the east, and the Nanxiao Liu Household to the southeast. The last, the Tidewatching Zhu Household, was on an island in the South Sea.

But he had no time to think further. The next moment, the South Star Boat shook violently.

The fog around them churned without end.

He did not know how much time had passed. When Su Yao opened his eyes, he saw that the South Star Boat had landed on the ground.

Liu Yunhe, Li Siyi, Little Red, and Little Orange were all unconscious.

He was about to wake the two of them when he suddenly glimpsed an immortal mountain off to the side.

He froze.

Suddenly, he noticed that the climate here was unlike the damp shores of the South Sea. It was exceedingly dry.