Chapter 10: Taiyin Divine Mountain
What manner of divine mountain is this?
Its geography anchors the vast ocean, where surging silver tides drive fish into their caves; its majesty stills the jasper sea, where breaking snow-white waves send sea-monsters fleeing from the abyss.
White cranes often come to rest among the cypress and pines, while dark apes frequently cling to vines and creepers; exotic birds cry in disarray through the green bamboo, and golden pheasants spar together amid wild flowers.
The sun illuminates the clear forest, where thousands of layers of red mist coil around; the wind stirs the gloomy ravines, where myriad strands of colorful clouds float and fly.
Below the pools, dragons dance; in the clear streams, colorful carp play.
In the forests are longevity deer and celestial foxes; in the trees are spiritual birds and dark cranes.
To the east, the boundless ocean stirs up billows, as a thousand streams seek the dragon and snow-white waves fly; sea winds blow ceaselessly year after year, and river moons shine down dependably season after season.
Earth piles high where water and fire meet, and towering peaks rise on the banks of the East Sea; these sheer mountains are rugged and steep in their grandeur, bearing the peerless title of Taiyin.
This was the number one divine mountain in the Tianyun Realm.
On this day.
Suddenly, a streak of white rainbow descended from the sky. When the rainbow light dissipated, three figures appeared, landing upon a steep, precipitous solitary peak covered everywhere in stone pillars and runes.
A squad of cultivators guarding the teleporter array walked over swiftly at the sight. The man at their head wore standard-issue armor, carried a precious sabre on his back, and strode forward like a tiger or a dragon.
"Jiang Xia, elite disciple of the thirty-ninth squad under the Law Enforcement Hall of the Taiyin Sect, pays respects to the three Senior Uncles!"
Cui Dongli stepped forward first, smiling as he said, "The three of us hail from the Moon Palace, coming here under the decree of the Patriarch True Monarch. We ask you gentlemen to accommodate us!"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Please follow me, three Senior Uncles, and simply record your Daoist titles and names in the roster!"
The group arrived at a side hall, where Jiang Xia, the elite disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, produced a scroll Dharma Treasure crafted with exquisite detail. He opened it and laid it flat upon a table.
Cui Dongli walked over first, raising a hand to write down his Daoist title and name swiftly upon the scroll.
Immediately afterward, Fang Baiyu also left behind his Daoist title and name.
Finally, Jiang Runyue followed suit, writing down the five characters "Guanghan Jiang Taizhen" stroke by stroke.
After confirming their identities without error, the three of them finally left the solitary peak where the teleporter array was located.
Jiang Runyue continuously surveyed her surroundings.
At this moment, she was like a girl born in some remote mountain village who had ventured brashly into a metropolis for the very first time, her eyes filled entirely with towering skyscrapers.
"Is this the Taiyin Divine Mountain?"
Seemingly even the lowest mountain peak here was far taller and grander than Tongtian Peak, while places like Dazhufeng, Xiaozhufeng, and Zhaoyang Peak were ten a penny here.
Fang Baiyu smiled and said, "This is merely a tiny corner of the Taiyin Divine Mountain. The main peak side is ten times, a hundred times more majestic and magnificent—you'll have plenty to marvel at once we get over there!"
Jiang Runyue rubbed the bridge of her nose in embarrassment, her expression rapidly growing calm once more.
"Let's go!"
Cui Dongli produced a small wooden boat no larger than a palm, which grew in the wind into a black-awninged boat that hovered in mid-air before the three of them.
"This black-awninged boat is a flight Dharma Treasure I refined myself. It's quite nice for getting around ordinarily, and it's somewhat more effortless than flying on a sword!"
Fang Baiyu possessed a superior flight Dharma Treasure, and naturally looked down upon such a crude-looking little boat.
"Senior Brother Yuchan knows how to refine flight Dharma Treasures? Could you help me refine one?"
Jiang Runyue asked, looking eagerly at the boat.
Although the Azure Luan Hairpin was prettier, and its flight speed was faster and steadier, it was all too easily targeted by villains with evil designs.
The three of them boarded the boat one after another, and only then did Cui Dongli ask gently, "What kind of style does Junior Sister Guanghan want?"
As he asked, he maneuvered the boat to rise into the air.
"Anything is fine, I'm not picky!"
Jiang Runyue smiled somewhat shyly. "When Senior Brother refines it, please make the appearance as ordinary as possible, otherwise it might draw the greedy eyes of bad people!"
Hearing this, Cui Dongli looked at her speechless for a moment, and said, "Junior Sister Guanghan, I think you might be underestimating your own strength, as well as the colossal influence standing behind you!"
He paused slightly before continuing, "In this Tianyun Realm of ours, there live hundreds of millions of cultivators, but the vast majority of them remain stuck in the Qi Refining Stage."
"Often, out of every thousand Qi Refining Stage cultivators, only a single one manages to form a Golden Core. As for Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators like us, our numbers are fewer still."
At this, his tone grew serious. "Moreover, even if someone sets their sights on your Dharma Treasure, they would first have to weigh whether they possess the capability to snatch it, and after snatching it, they would still have to consider how to evade our sect's hunt."
Fang Baiyu added from the side, "Junior Sister, this is your first time coming to the Taiyin Divine Mountain, and you haven't witnessed the strength and terror of our sect just yet—that's why you harbor such thoughts!"
"For thousands of years, those fellows who dared to provoke our Taiyin Sect—whether it was the Buddhist Sect, the Demonic Sect, or the demon and barbarian sea tribes—not a single one came to a good end."
"Hiss, is our Taiyin Sect really this tyrannical?"
Jiang Runyue asked in astonishment.
"That's right, we are just this tyrannical!"
Fang Baiyu said proudly, "As the preeminent sect of the Tianyun Realm, it's already merciful enough that we don't go around bullying others. Could it be that they actually expect to overturn the heavens and reverse the cosmos?"
Jiang Runyue: "..."
Fine, I suppose I was just being overly cautious!
The black-awninged boat beneath the three of them was nimble in the extreme, darting through the air rapidly like a flying bird.
Its speed was so astonishing that it took one's breath away. In the blink of an eye, it had already crossed layers of clouds and mist, speeding toward a towering, magnificent ten-thousand-fathoms giant peak amid the mountain ranges.
This giant peak was exceedingly sheer and lofty, and the rolling ocean of clouds and mist wrapped only around its waist, obscuring the scenery upon the mountain. The black-awninged boat drifted in and out of the clouds, blending seamlessly with the surrounding environment.
"Junior Sister Guanghan, that giant peak ahead which connects to the heavens is the headquarters of our sect. Its original name can no longer be verified; Ancestor Changxi named it Jietian Peak!"
"Upon Jietian Peak is set the Great Five Elements Yin-Yang Magnetism Execution of Immortals and Annihilation of Gods Grand Array. Once triggered, anyone who is not a disciple of our sect will either die or be heavily injured, and even disciples of our sect must tread carefully!"
Cui Dongli introduced it to her considerately.
The black-awninged boat flew swayingly for nearly an hour before finally arriving atop Jietian Peak, where vast expanses of resplendent palaces stood imposingly upon the summit.
"Junior Sister, what does that group of palaces over there look like?"
Fang Baiyu asked suddenly.
"What do they look like?"
Jiang Runyue stared closely for a long while before suddenly bursting into loud laughter. "What a huge toad!"
Cui Dongli: "..."
Fang Baiyu reached out and gave her a gentle shove, saying with feigned annoyance, "What toad? That is a three-legged golden toad! This cluster of palaces is also called the Toad Palace, and it is a Dharma Treasure personally refined by Ancestor Changxi to anchor the array base of the Execution of Immortals and Annihilation of Gods Grand Array!"
"Impressive, impressive!"
"Aside from past sect masters, cultivators of our sect are not permitted to dwell here permanently. Therefore, once we pay our respects to the sect master, we must leave this place quickly!"
As he spoke, Cui Dongli guided the black-awninged boat to descend slowly, flying toward the plaza in front of the Toad Palace.
"Forbidden grounds of Taiyin, halt!"
A cultivator clad in armor and holding a long halberd looked at the three of them expressionlessly and spoke.
"Cui Dongli, Fang Baiyu, and Jiang Taizhen of the Moon Palace lineage under the Taiyin Sect come under orders from our master to pay respects to the sect master. We trouble Senior to please announce our arrival!"
"Wait here for a moment, and do not cross this boundary!"
With that, the armored cultivator turned and strode toward the Toad Palace, returning only after the span of a quarter of an hour.
"The sect master has decreed that you may proceed to Yaoyue Peak to reside temporarily and await the day the secret realm opens!"
Cui Dongli and Fang Baiyu immediately bowed deeply toward the Toad Palace, and then pulled a bewildered Jiang Runyue away.
Deep within the Toad Palace.
True Monarch Shenying, the Master of the Taiyin Sect, sat high upon the throne, divine light flashing brilliantly within his eyes as he watched Jiang Runyue and the other two depart Jietian Peak aboard the black-awninged boat.
"What a dragon-like bearing and phoenix-like carriage, a person of boundless destiny!"
Even though True Monarch Shenying had already witnessed it once above the Moon Palace, viewing it once more still left him inexplicably shaken.