The woman’s nose was small and delicate, her lips exquisitely shaped. She wore a clean white robe, stained with mud, and held a Xuan Tie dagger, its tip pressed against Xu Mu’s throat.
“A disciple of Xianyou Peak?”
The woman narrowed her eyes, a cold killing intent glinting in her clear black and white pupils. She looked Xu Mu up and down, her voice like a frigid spring, raspy as she asked, “A disciple of Xianyou Peak, why are you on my Luosha Peak?”
A faint sheen of sweat appeared on Xu Mu’s brow. He could feel that this maiden, who appeared to be around his age, had the genuine ability to kill him.
“Because I was lost,” Xu Mu said, forcing a wry smile and suppressing the urge to resist, steeling himself. “True Master Taiwu summoned me for a question, and when he let me go, I got lost on my way down the mountain. I followed a monkey, thinking it could lead me out.”
“But as we walked, the monkey disappeared, and I ended up here.” Xu Mu spoke with feigned innocence, his voice trembling.
According to his senses, this maiden, despite her soiled clothes, possessed a strikingly clear and elegant appearance, with sharp, spirited eyebrows. Her cultivation level was likely at the Third Stage Upper Realm. Even in their brief encounter, Xu Mu was certain of her immense strength. The moment she rushed out, it was silent and swift, so fast that he could only catch a fleeting afterimage. At her age and cultivation, even in the recently concluded Ten Thousand Races Assembly, she would have ranked very high, comparable to Xuanyuan Shen Nian and Nangong Huai Tian.
Yet, strangely, Xu Mu didn’t recognize her. There was only one possible reason: this maiden had not participated in the Ten Thousand Races Assembly. Could she, perhaps, be an old monster who had mastered the art of staying young, her true bone age exceeding a hundred years?
The woman stared at Xu Mu, scrutinizing him for a long time. After confirming that he was indeed of similar age, she slowly lowered her dagger, but the faint killing intent emanating from her never dissipated. She turned her head towards a jagged rock and asked, “Is what he said true?”
A golden-haired monkey, holding a蟠桃 (pan tao), peeked out from behind the rock, its head bowed. It looked at the woman and nodded.
Seeing the monkey, Xu Mu’s eyebrows shot up. “This is the one I met.”
The monkey took a bite of the蟠桃, made a face at Xu Mu with a smirk, and then leaped into the clouds and mist cascading down the cliff. The woman turned back, her guard completely down. She looked at Xu Mu and asked, “What is your name?”
Xu Mu: “Xu Mu. And yours, senior sister?”
Maiden: “Zhao Qingdong.”
Xu Mu: “A beautiful name.”
“Senior sister, which peak do you belong to? Can you tell me the way down the mountain?”
Zhao Qingdong’s expression turned solemn for a moment. Her clear black and white, almond-shaped pupils narrowed slightly as she replied, “I have no peak.”
“The way down the mountain is everywhere. Just walk down.”
Xu Mu was taken aback. On Mount Tianshi, there were people without a peak? Curiosity piqued, he didn’t rush to leave and continued with a smile, “Senior sister, may I ask where exactly this is?”
Zhao Qingdong tucked the Xuan Tie dagger into the sash of her plain robe, casually walked to the edge of the cliff, and gazed into the mist below, saying indifferently, “This is Yin Peak.”
Xu Mu: “Yin Peak?”
Zhao Qingdong nodded and calmly stated, “Yin Peak is divided into east and west sides. Both are sheer cliffs. On the east side reside the elders of Tianshi Mountain who live in seclusion, undergoing closed-door cultivation to seek a breakthrough. The west side is where prisoners are held, akin to the mortal world’s celestial prison.”
Hearing this, a sudden sense of foreboding filled Xu Mu. He dryly asked, “Then, senior sister, are we on the east or west side?”
“West,” the maiden replied directly, not batting an eye.
Xu Mu’s expression turned blank. He had inexplicably stumbled into the place where Tianshi Mountain imprisoned criminals. What kind of luck was this? Would he ever get out?
Xu Mu asked, “Senior sister, do you mean you violated Tianshi Mountain’s rules, committed a mistake, and were thus imprisoned here on Yin Peak?”
Zhao Qingdong shook her head. “No. I chose to stay here voluntarily.”
Xu Mu was stunned again. He didn’t doubt her words, for despite her disheveled appearance, the maiden didn’t resemble an imprisoned criminal. He then asked, still bewildered, “Why?”
Zhao Qingdong stopped looking at the mist and turned her gaze to Xu Mu. Her clean, elegant eyes held a calm, cold intensity. She said, “You have too many questions?”
Xu Mu immediately covered his mouth. The maiden looked at Xu Mu and inexplicably smiled, then said, “Because I don’t wish to live on any of Tianshi Mountain’s five peaks, so I came to Yin Peak.”
“I have been in seclusion for a long time. Tell me, what has been happening in the mountains recently?”
Xu Mu asked, “What aspect would senior sister like to hear about?”
“Actually, I only just joined a few days ago and am not yet familiar with the overall situation of Tianshi Mountain.”
“Zuo Mingqiu,” Zhao Qingdong said after a moment of silence. “In the Ten Thousand Races Assembly, was he enfeoffed as a Supreme?”
“No,” Xu Mu shook his head calmly. “He didn’t make it into the top four.”
“What did you say?”
Zhao Qingdong whirled around, an extreme killing intent erupting from her simple robes. The black and white in her pupils became more starkly contrasted, creating an inexplicable sense of dread. “Zuo Mingqiu, the Dao Child of Tianshi Mountain, the First Sovereign of the Nine Heavens, participated in the Ten Thousand Races Assembly and didn’t make it into the top four?”
The maiden gripped her Xuan Tie dagger and stared coldly at Xu Mu, saying, “I’ll give you one more chance.”
Xu Mu chuckled dryly and replied, “It’s true. In the battle for the top four of the Ten Thousand Races Assembly, Zuo Mingqiu encountered someone. After a mutual destruction, he lost and fell outside the top four.”
Zhao Qingdong fell silent for a long time, her eyes closed. Then, she opened them and asked, “Are you telling the truth?”
Xu Mu nodded seriously. “Absolutely true.”
“If it’s a lie, I will kill you.” Zhao Qingdong took a deep breath, and cracks began to appear in the rock beneath her feet. “Who did he lose to?”
Xu Mu said, “He is from the Great Xia Dynasty, went undercover in the Hundred Races Alliance, competed as an adopted member of the Jiang family, under the name Xu Mu.”
“He once entered Alfheim, found the Dwarven kingdom, and rescued over ten thousand enslaved people imprisoned there. He is also rumored to possess the sacred artifact, the Heavenly Book…”
Xu Mu spoke with clarity, emphasizing the details of his participation in the Ten Thousand Races Assembly. Upon hearing that Xu Mu had won first place in the Ascension Staircase segment and then directly defeated Zuo Mingqiu, Zhao Qingdong’s expression clearly became unnatural.
“Zuo Mingqiu lost to someone named Xu Mu, and lost twice?” Zhao Qingdong stood frozen, her black and white eyes dazed, murmuring in disbelief, “How could that Xu Mu possibly defeat Zuo Mingqiu twice?”
*If there were a third time, I would still win,* Xu Mu thought silently. “Failure is the mother of success,” Xu Mu said with a dry chuckle, then added as a comfort, “He might win next time.”
“There must be something fishy,” Zhao Qingdong shook her head, looking at Xu Mu with a serious expression. “I don’t believe Zuo Mingqiu would lose.”
Xu Mu was silent for a moment, then explained quietly, “Senior sister, that Xu Mu is truly strong.”
Zhao Qingdong remained silent. Xu Mu chuckled awkwardly, then asked, “Senior sister, may I ask what your relationship is with Zuo… the Dao Child?”
This time, the maiden did not remain silent. She gazed at the mist below the cliff and said calmly, “Before him, I was the Dao Child of Tianshi Mountain.”
Xu Mu was slightly taken aback and asked, “Meaning, you lost to him?”
Zhao Qingdong nodded. “Lost by one move.”
Xu Mu praised, “That’s still very impressive.”
“Even that Xu Mu only won by a small margin.”
Zhao Qingdong turned her head and stared at Xu Mu intently, asking, “Are you implying I am inferior to that Xu Mu?”
Xu Mu chuckled dryly and shook his head. “I didn’t mean that, but he defeated Zuo Mingqiu, and senior sister, you lost.”
Zhao Qingdong fell into silence once more. Clouds drifted, and the mountain stream flowed.
“I am going down the mountain,” the maiden suddenly said.
“Alright, together?” Xu Mu offered.
“No, you go first,” Zhao Qingdong replied.
“Oh.” Xu Mu nodded and then walked towards a seemingly gentle slope ahead, only to be stopped again.
“Go the other way.”
Xu Mu paused, turned to look at the maiden, and asked, “Why?”
A hint of unnaturalness flickered in Zhao Qingdong’s eyes as she calmly said, “Just go the other way, it’s for the best.”
Hearing this, Xu Mu walked to the other slope. He discovered it was very steep, and the rocks on the cliff face seemed to be subtly embedded with formation restrictions, making it extremely dangerous. It was clearly designed to prevent prisoners from escaping. Xu Mu gasped, “Senior sister, although I inadvertently came here and disturbed your cultivation, it shouldn’t be a capital offense, right?”
“Can this path really lead down the mountain?”
Zhao Qingdong replied, “You just need to follow the location of that small blade of grass, descend four hundred meters, four hundred and sixty-seven meters, and five hundred and fourteen meters respectively, and then make left turns at the location of the Snow Lingzhi. Only then can you safely descend the mountain.”
Xu Mu was silent for a long time, then asked with a wry smile, “Senior sister, I’d like to know why I can’t go down that way?”
Zhao Qingdong smiled charmingly, as beautiful as a snow lotus on the Tianshan mountains. Looking at Xu Mu, she blinked and said, “Three hundred meters down that way, there is a hot spring hanging on the cliff edge.”
“I want to bathe there.”
“Junior brother, do you want to take a look?”
The smile in Zhao Qingdong’s eyes felt like three thousand knives piercing Xu Mu’s flesh. Thinking of Zhao Qingdong undressing and bathing, a heat seemed to rise in Xu Mu’s nostrils. He quickly turned away and slid down the cliff along the small blade of grass.
“No need, senior sister, I’m heading down now.”
“I wish you… a pleasant bath!”
Zhao Qingdong’s expression changed upon hearing this. She chased after him, intending to deliver a blow, but in a flash, Xu Mu had vanished into the cliff’s mist, as if he had fallen.
“Quite fast.”
Zhao Qingdong nodded slightly, gazing at the mist below the mountain, her expression placid as she repeated the name.
“His name is Xu Mu.”
“Are you called Xu Mu?”