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At the foot of Tianshi Mountain, disciples and travelers were constantly arriving.
The man tilted his head back and drained the last drop of yellow wine from his gourd, then returned it to Xu Mu.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," Xu Mu took back the wine gourd and peered down its neck. The murky yellow was gone, leaving only the bare bottom of the gourd.
"You have a great capacity for drink."
Xu Mu clicked his tongue. This was a magical gourd gifted by the Wine Immortal. The wine it contained should have lasted him a month or two, but in the blink of an eye, the man had emptied it.
A hint of intoxication appeared on the man's weathered face. He waved his hand and looked at the tall mountain before him, smiling as if in release.
"If I hadn't joined the Great Thousand Pure Spring Sect four years ago, I should have ascended this mountain long ago."
"Back then, a True Person on Tianshi Mountain wanted to take me as a disciple. I promised him I would go up the mountain to cultivate four years later, but due to my child, I ended up joining the Great Thousand Pure Spring Sect by chance, without even a word to the True Person."
"If it weren't for your wine, I truly wouldn't have known how to face him."
Xu Mu nodded in silence upon hearing this.
Zou Jing also fell silent for a moment, then his expression turned resolute. He gazed at another mountain path shrouded in mist and said,
"Young brother, are you ascending this mountain merely to admire the scenery?"
Xu Mu shook his head.
"No."
"If possible, I'd like to stay on Tianshi Mountain for a while longer."
Zou Jing nodded.
"So, you intend to seek discipleship and learn the Tao."
"You are different from others. You must walk up this mountain path. There are many restrictions and traps in the mist. They will test you based on your own cultivation level. Be careful."
Xu Mu smiled and cupped his fists upon hearing this. "Thank you, fellow Daoist, for the reminder."
Zou Jing nodded, took three large strides, and then leaped into the misty steps, his figure vanishing rapidly.
"Young brother, we shall meet at the summit!"
The man's figure disappeared.
Xu Mu turned his head and looked at the Wine Immortal, who stood silently beside him.
"You go up first. It's not convenient for me," the Wine Immortal said, then walked towards another crowded staircase. He sighed slightly, "It's been many years since I last visited Tianshi Mountain. This time, I'll just be an ordinary tourist."
"Xu Mu, be careful yourself."
"Mm."
Xu Mu nodded, watching the Wine Immortal disappear into the throng, then he too ascended the misty steps.
"—Hum."
The moment his boot landed on the bluestone slab, Xu Mu heard a buzzing sound in his ears.
He turned his head and looked around, finding that his line of sight was now limited to within ten paces.
In the white mist surrounding him, Xu Mu observed carefully. Occasionally, he could see a fleeting wisp, like an invisible formation enveloping this space.
So, the mist was a formation.
Xu Mu nodded, thinking no further. He began to climb the steps by feel, his pace steady and upward. He quickly passed fifty steps without encountering any obstruction.
Where was the test?
Just as Xu Mu harbored doubts, a fork appeared on the mountain path before him, and it was an identical fork.
Xu Mu chose the left path.
For no particular reason, he just picked one randomly.
Then, he continued forward and soon encountered a second fork, so he once again turned left, then a third, a fourth… Xu Mu still chose left.
After ascending an unknown number of steps, the mountain path ahead gradually leveled out, and the mist also thinned. Xu Mu could see the surrounding green mountains and the birds flying in the distant woods.
Before him, there was a main road and a small path overgrown with weeds, leading to an unknown destination.
This time, Xu Mu stopped and looked up at the sun.
"It's very sunny."
"There are more trees on this side."
Xu Mu, satisfied, walked onto the small path, stepping on the weeds and the subtly agitating but unactivated restrictions, steadily moving forward.
As he ascended, the mist around Xu Mu grew thinner and thinner, descending from above his head to his chest, then from his chest to his waist and knees, finally becoming a sea of clouds beneath his feet. The path gradually leveled, and the trees thinned. There was no longer a road before Xu Mu, or rather, there were paths everywhere.
Xu Mu's expression was calm. The mountainside was boundless, and he didn't know which way to go, so he chose to go straight.
Soon, he saw a tombstone.
"Tomb of Daoist Liang Zhong. Died during the Battle of Cangshan in the Jinghai era. His remains were later buried on the mountain."
Xu Mu approached the tombstone, casually broke off a willow branch, and brushed the dust off the inscription. After reading the biographical record, he nodded slightly, his expression becoming solemn.
Based on the inscription, this tombstone was at least sixteen hundred years old. The Great Xia Dynasty at that time was not yet called by this name, but was known as Yanhuang.
Xu Mu stood up, bowed slightly to the tombstone, and then prepared to proceed further.
At this moment, a swirling mist suddenly appeared around the tombstone. The mist emitted a faint glow and a profound sound. The characters on the inscription shifted, recombined, and sparkled, as if inviting Xu Mu to approach.
Sensing a call from his origin, Xu Mu stopped. He stared at the tombstone, at the four characters for Liang Zhong Daoist, for a long time, then shook his head.
"Thank you."
"But I already have my inheritance. I am not the disciple you are looking for."
As Xu Mu spoke, a sigh seemed to echo through the heavens and earth. The ball of light then slowly dissipated, and the inscription on the tombstone gradually returned to its original state.
Xu Mu bowed to the tombstone, then turned to continue forward.
Just then, a gust of wind swept through, stirring the sea of clouds beneath his feet. It surged incessantly, like pear blossoms in the rain, wetting the hem of Xu Mu's sleeves.
Xu Mu looked up, gazing at the continuous valley before him, and fell into a long silence.
As far as the eye could see, there were tombstones.
Tall and wide, narrow and flat, the inscriptions shifted densely, all shimmering with golden light.
Streams of clouds rose, emitting humming sounds, as if waiting for Xu Mu to reach out and accept them.
Everywhere on the mountain, there was inheritance.
The offer was too generous to refuse, what could he do?
Xu Mu looked up at the sky and realized that a considerable amount of time had passed. He might need to quicken his pace.
Otherwise, being eliminated and not being able to enter Tianshi Mountain would be too embarrassing.
So, he calmly walked through the tombstones, ignoring the calls of the light orbs, passing them by as if he saw nothing.
Until he reached a tomb situated at a very high altitude, sheltered by nine fir trees. The mist enveloped him again. In the mist, a large luminous circle blocked his path, and no matter how Xu Mu tried to evade it, it remained unyielding.
"True Person Xu Jing, the 176th Heavenly Master of the Daoist sect."
"Ascended to immortality at Wanghai Tianlou in the first year of Taichu, 1074."
Xu Mu read the inscription on the tall, white tombstone and bowed respectfully. He then prepared to walk past, but the luminous circle still blocked his way.
"I am not the successor you are looking for," Xu Mu said with a frown.
The luminous circle vibrated slightly, unmoved, as if to say, "You are the one I am looking for."
"I already have my inheritance," Xu Mu said, refusing again helplessly.
The luminous ball hummed twice more, very gently, leaving no room for doubt, as if to say, "Your inheritance will not be as good as mine."
Xu Mu fell silent for a moment. With a slight movement of his mind, the Innate Bagua Array Plate instantly appeared beneath his feet. Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kan, Gen, Dui, the eight directions rotated incessantly, intersecting with the texts of the Dao plates on other layers, undergoing myriad transformations.
First snow of winter, warm breeze of summer, cool autumn leaves, firm earth, bubbling spring water – various phenomena flashed beneath Xu Mu's feet without lingering for a second, finally disappearing along with the Bagua as Xu Mu willed it.
He looked up and calmly gazed at the luminous circle.
The luminous circle fell silent. After a moment, it let out a complex sigh, as if regretting not having met Xu Mu sooner, and then dissipated into the heavens and earth, no longer blocking his path.
At the same time, all the tombstones in front, behind, and to the sides of Xu Mu, upon seeing the Bagua beneath his feet, fell silent and then returned to tranquility.
The mist drifted back in, and Xu Mu continued to walk forward. The tall, ancient tombs became increasingly numerous, but no more luminous circles blocked his path. However, a patch of thorns appeared ahead.
Xu Mu's expression was calm. He took out his hunting knife and began to hack at it, just as he had when hunting on the mountain in the past, carving a straight path with brute force.
He actually didn't know where he was going, only that he was moving straight ahead.
After a long time, his hunting knife swung through empty air.
Looking up again, Xu Mu found that there were no more thorns to clear ahead. He raised his head and rubbed his sore waist slightly.
He realized he had reached the summit of the mountain.
The surroundings were still shrouded in mist, only a hundred paces visible. In the surrounding woods, there were faint calls of cranes, and a gentle breeze blew, carrying bursts of fruity fragrance.
Xu Mu looked up and saw a sturdy peach tree laden with ripe fruit.
Xu Mu looked down at his empty wine gourd, then at the peaches overhead. His throat bobbed slightly.
Just as he was about to reach for a peach, there were a few sparse rustling sounds from the weeds on the other side of the peach tree.
Xu Mu's brow furrowed instantly. He gripped his hunting knife and looked over with extreme caution.
He had spent a lot of time reaching this point.
Xu Mu believed he must have taken a wrong turn, otherwise he wouldn't have seen so many tombstones. He must have stumbled into some extraordinary place.
And now, at the end of this extraordinary place, an unknown creature had appeared. He didn't know what it was, but it was certainly extraordinary.
Xu Mu cautiously circled to one side of the peach tree, walking towards the pile of grass, and then was stunned to find that behind the peach tree, not far away in the shadows, there was a small grave.
This grave was covered in weeds, with no tombstone. Only a wine offering table had a few blurry characters carved into it, but they were too far away for Xu Mu to see clearly.
"Come out."
Xu Mu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. He pointed his hunting knife at the pile of grass and said coldly.
The pile of grass rustled.
A small hand with yellow fur reached out first, followed by a long, spoon-shaped tail.
A gust of wind swept by, flattening the weeds.
A monkey, not exactly young in appearance, emerged into Xu Mu's field of vision, scratching its head.
...