Lush green meadows and forests stretched endlessly forward. The clear, azure sky was vast and distant. A layer of white, hazy mist shrouded the faraway mountain peaks, crowned with snow that had not melted for a thousand years. By the cliff's edge, several plump flower buds jutted out.

On both sides of the cliff entrance were waterfalls formed from the melted snow on the peaks, gurgling down the mountain walls. Below, they formed layers of semi-circular terraced pools. The water was crystal clear, its surface shimmering with light. The mere sight of it was enough to make one's mouth water. The morning light had not yet faded, and through the fine, mist-like sunlight, she reached out and caught a few drops of water tinged with the fragrance of peach blossoms, filling her heart with a cool, sweet scent.

'This is the world-famous Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff!'

To have seen this mountain is to see no other mountain in the world; to have seen this water is to see no other water in the world.

The beauty of this scenery took Cai Zhao's breath away. She suddenly felt that staying here for three years might not be such a terrible thing after all.

Song Yuzhi slowly walked over and smiled at the little girl who was staring up with her mouth agape. "Junior Sister Cai, is there anything you'd like to say?" It was rare for anyone to not be astonished upon their first visit to Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff. He was prepared to hear some excited remarks.

Cai Zhao was taken aback, as if waking from a dream. "Oh? Ah! Yes, yes, I do have something to say! Eldest Martial Brother..."

"I am not Eldest Martial Brother." Song Yuzhi's proud brow smoothed out.

"Oh, Second Senior Brother."

"I am not Second Senior Brother either," Song Yuzhi continued to correct her.

"Third Senior Brother?" Cai Zhao asked cautiously.

Song Yuzhi nodded.

Cai Zhao couldn't help but look around for Cai Pingchun and his wife, wanting to say that the Qingque Sect had only sent their third disciple to receive Falling Blossoms Valley. This was a clear sign of disrespect, so they might as well just turn back home. Annoyingly, after searching for a long time, she found that her parents had disappeared somewhere with Cai Xiaohan.

She could only turn back, take a deep breath, and continue with the previous topic. "Third Senior Brother, I..."

"Do you think my father and elder brother are too concerned with pageantry, that their attire is too ornate and unbecoming of people from the Wulin?" Song Yuzhi suddenly asked.

Cai Zhao said in surprise, "Not at all, it's not too excessive."

Business required one to be observant. Seeing the 'Junior Sister is just being polite' expression all over Song Yuzhi's face, Cai Zhao quickly added her reasoning. "Actually, anyone in the know would understand that things that look shiny aren't necessarily truly valuable. Take you, for example, Third Senior Brother. Although you appear to be dressed simply, that robe you're wearing should be made of Ice Silkworm Gauze, right? How many people in the Jianghu wish for even a pair of fire-and-water-proof gloves made from Ice Silkworm Gauze and can't get them? And the hidden gold thread embroidery is likely the handiwork of Divine Needle Grandma Zhuo, isn't it? Ai, back then, our Falling Blossoms Town wanted to invite Grandma Zhuo to open a branch store, but we couldn't even find a trace of her."

Song Yuzhi: ...

The little girl's implication was: 'Your father is just a tasteless nouveau riche; you're the one who's actually dressed excessively.'

"Third Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, Third... I, uh, still have something to say," Cai Zhao said with an apologetic smile.

Song Yuzhi closed his eyes. "Junior Sister, feel free to speak."

"It's like this." Cai Zhao put on a serious face and said formally, "I know there are many retired Jianghu heroes in Qingque Town, and the hidden reasons for this cannot be told to outsiders. I understand the reasoning well, but—"

She raised her voice slightly, adopting her usual pleasant and persuasive tone. "But Senior Brother Song, could you please ask our master to reconsider? Everyone has their own specialty, and they are not cut out for business—there are many other things they can do besides business. For example, since those heroes must have had very exciting life experiences, they could write their memoirs if they have nothing to do."

"For example, the beautiful confidante they once brushed past, the sworn brother who became a mortal enemy, the accidental injury they regretted for the rest of their lives. We have several bookstores in Falling Blossoms Town with fair prices, cheating neither the old nor the young. The covers are specially drawn by a famous scholar-painter in the Jianghu, and the customers have good taste too."

"The shopkeeper at the head of town likes stories of love-hate entanglements and difficult choices between beautiful confidantes. The one at the end of town likes stories about dreams of swords and sabers, falling off cliffs to find secret martial arts manuals, and having internal energy forcibly transferred. But the old shopkeeper is planning to go back to his hometown to hold his grandson, and his son, the young shopkeeper, likes stories of old grudges and generational feuds... In any case, the manuscript fees will definitely be generous."

"What I mean is, attending to food and drink, attracting customers, and greeting people with a smile is a profound art. If these great heroes don't have the talent for it, they shouldn't open shops. It just makes Qingque Town deserted and doesn't even earn much money. Isn't that a waste of such a good location and storefront?"

The Qingque Sect's status in the Jianghu was foremost among the descendants of the Six Sects of Beichen, and even at the top of the entire Wulin. The number of Jianghu travelers coming and going each year was unknowable, so the foot traffic in the town was imaginable. To be starving while sitting on a mountain of treasure, Cai Zhao's liver ached with pity.

"S-Senior Brother, Senior Brother Song, Senior Brother Song, why aren't you talking..."

Song Yuzhi's smile was completely gone. He stared at Cai Zhao for the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, as if a morning glory had suddenly sprouted on her face. Then, he turned and left with a blank expression, ignoring her calls no matter how she shouted.

'So this is the girl raised by Cai Pingshu, the one his father hates to the very marrow of his bones? Well, if Cai Pingshu was this infuriating back then, his father has shown considerable self-restraint by not sticking pins in a voodoo doll of her to this day.'

Watching Song Yuzhi's retreating back, Cai Zhao didn't quite understand why he had suddenly gotten angry. At that moment, Cai Zhao suddenly felt out of place on Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff. People were coming and going all around her, full of busy sect disciples, either moving things or guiding various other disciples to different buildings.

Song Shijun, the sect master of the Vast Heaven Sect, which was second only to the Qingque Sect among the Six Sects of Beichen, happened to arrive at this time. He was not here to attend Cai Zhao's apprenticeship ceremony, nor to visit his third son who was studying abroad, but to attend the 200th death anniversary ceremony of Grandmaster Beichen.

Besides the descendants of the six branches, several other sects that were usually on good terms with the Beichen Lineage also came to observe the ceremony. Just now, Cai Zhao had seen several bald monks and nuns organizing their luggage by the cliffside; the people from Qielan Temple and Xuankong Nunnery must have already arrived. The abbess of Xuankong Nunnery, Abbess Jingyuan, had never quite gotten along with her aunt, Cai Pingshu. Not wanting to run into her, Cai Zhao slipped away.

Cai Zhao wasn't in a hurry to find her parents. Thinking that the spring day was lovely, she decided she might as well take a stroll first. So, with her hands clasped behind her back, like a happy and leisurely little female shopkeeper, she ambled forward to inspect the area.

Legend had it that Jiuli Mountain was originally a profound iron pillar that connected the mortal realm to the heavens, used to guide fated individuals to ascend. Later, during a turmoil in the heavens, the top of the pillar was broken off, and the celestial palace above it also collapsed. The remaining part of the pillar that stayed in the mortal realm became a massive mountain range.

Due to the rich spiritual energy on the mountain, it attracted nine ferocious beasts from the Primordial Era to cultivate there, and numerous demonic creatures came to build their nests. Thus, the immortal ladder became a demonic mountain. Not only did it devour countless living beings, but it also rampantly spread miasma and poisonous swamps, plaguing the mountains, rivers, and fields, leaving the lands littered with white bones. The rest of the story was just as Cai Pingshu had told little Cai Zhao: the immortals pacified the demonic mountain, and Grandmaster Beichen, who was left behind to guard it, renamed it Jiuli Mountain.

The reason for telling such an ancient story was that Cai Pingshu actually wanted to familiarize little Cai Zhao with the terrain of Jiuli Mountain.

The main peak of Jiuli Mountain used to have a name, Sky-Piercing Peak. As the name suggests, it was very, very high. It was said that to this day, no one had been able to cross its summit. Just like the abyss Cai Zhao had passed earlier, any master who was determined to climb Sky-Piercing Peak never returned.

Not only was Sky-Piercing Peak covered in snow year-round, but because the snow had been accumulating for so long, it had turned into solid ice that was difficult for any weapon to break. It also continuously encased any creatures that died on it within its layers of ice. In theory, Sky-Piercing Peak shouldn't have any mechanisms or traps; its most terrifying aspect was its height, its boundless height.

According to a senior who managed to escape halfway up, he had climbed day after day, spending every day in bone-chilling cold. For three whole months, it was so cold that he almost thought he was already dead. His initial fighting spirit had vanished in the howling, cold wind. The path ahead seemed endless. The clear blue sky was right before his eyes, yet no matter how he climbed, he could never reach the top.

Humans are, after all, mortal flesh and blood, and cannot survive without food and water. There were no plants or animals on Sky-Piercing Peak, so climbers could only bring their own dry rations. However, they couldn't bring much, because over time, the rations would freeze and turn into sand-like ice fragments, which were not only difficult to eat to sate hunger but could also easily cause illness if eaten for a long time.

Those climbers who died on the mountain were often individuals of extraordinary willpower, who would never give up until they reached their goal. When their rations were exhausted or about to be, they would either freeze and starve to death on their way back, or simply continue forward and die on the path ahead.

Those like this senior, who became disheartened and gave up halfway, were numerous.

In Ning Xiaofeng's opinion, there was no mountain in the world that couldn't be climbed to the top. There must be a formation on Sky-Piercing Peak similar to a ghost wall, which makes people walk in circles. However, this formation was likely set up by immortals in ancient times and was so brilliant that it couldn't be broken by mortals.

Given that many high-level experts in formations had also died on the mountain, Ning Xiaofeng merely boasted and had no intention of challenging the limit himself.

Cai Pingshu often told Cai Zhao that the Qingque Sect was the most easily defensible and hardest to attack place in the world, and this was the reason.

The main residence of the Qingque Sect, Twilight Palace, faced south towards Wind and Cloud Peak and was backed by Sky-Piercing Peak. In front was a bottomless abyss, and behind was a sky-reaching snowy ridge. As long as they retracted the iron chains, no enemy could cross, no matter how capable they were.

What infuriated their enemies the most was that while Sky-Piercing Peak was icy and deathly still, the area below where Twilight Palace was located was like spring all year round. There was sweet spring water from the melted snow above, and forests, orchards, grasslands, small streams, and even wheat fields, rice paddies, vegetable gardens, and livestock farms left behind by some poverty-alleviating former Sect Master below. There were fruits, vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and meat in rich variety and diverse flavors—in short, Twilight Palace could not be starved out.

Relying on this uniquely advantageous terrain, the Qingque Sect had withstood countless sieges during the peak of the Demonic Cult's power, and was ultimately able to launch a counterattack and achieve victory.

During sieges, the Demonic Cult's favorite taunt was 'You turtle grandsons of the Qingque Sect, come down if you have the guts!' while the Qingque Sect disciples would unceremoniously retort, 'You bastards of the Demonic Cult, come on up if you have the guts!' ...This cycle of tit-for-tat has continued to this day.

There was once a talented member of the Demonic Cult, full of an investigative spirit, who had a flash of inspiration and came up with the idea of attacking with poison gas. He lit a raging fire on Wind and Cloud Peak, using the rising hot air to spread the poisonous smoke to Twilight Palace.

Then, the poisonous smoke was blocked by the clouds and mist lingering between the two cliffs. If the mountain wind were to blow again, the smoke would drift back towards the Demonic Cult's forces, a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait.

You ask why the mountain wind, which usually blows back and forth, doesn't disperse the clouds and mist, and why it only blows in the direction of Wind and Cloud Peak when there's poisonous smoke?

...No one knew. Perhaps this was the miraculous work of nature.

Anyway, when Cai Zhao stood on Wind and Cloud Peak, her vision was completely blocked by thick clouds and mist. She couldn't even tell if Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff on the other side was round or flat. But when she stood on Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff and looked back at Wind and Cloud Peak, she was surprised to find that there was only a light layer of mist floating above the abyss, and she could see clearly what the people on Wind and Cloud Peak were doing.

Alright, nature is truly miraculous.

Plucking a charming peach blossom with a twisted neck and a defiant stance from beside the clear stream, Cai Zhao swayed as she walked into the fruit-scented forest. It was now mealtime. She stopped under a tall fruit tree and looked for a while at several plump fruits hanging from the branches. The fragrant and hot images of shumai with braised pork, seafood rice, and pan-fried eel noodles paraded through her mind like a revolving lantern.

Cai Zhao considered herself a low-key epicurean and refused to settle for such an unrefined lunch. So she turned on her heel and decided to give the Qingque Sect another chance; perhaps the sect's cooks were extraordinarily skilled.

The fire of hunger in her belly grew stronger. She quickened her pace. As she passed through the orchard, she suddenly heard a clamor of voices from the side, among which was the sharp and urgent voice of a girl.