Wushan lay within the jurisdiction of Lingyun City in the Water Cloud Kingdom, and Lingyun City was situated north of Qingyan City. To reach Wushan, one had to travel straight north, passing through Qingyan City.

Qingyan City was the largest city in the southernmost part of the Water Cloud Kingdom, directly facing the Nine Tribes of the Southern Barbarians, making it a crucial strategic stronghold. It was named Qingyan City because all the stone material for its massive walls was sourced from the hard, black rock found on Qingyan Mountain, the territory of the Ji family.

Legend had it that a century prior, the Southern Nine Tribes were militarily strong, boasting numerous powerful Celestial Masters who could soar across the skies. They had repeatedly mustered the combined forces of their nine tribes to attack Qingyan City, attempting to breach the gateway to the central lands and seize the fertile plains of the Water Cloud Kingdom.

Sixty years ago, one formidable Celestial Master emerged from the Southern Nine Tribes, named Chi Xiao, heralded as the "Nine Tribes' Warrior King." He was the universally recognized sovereign among the Celestial Masters of the Nine Southern Tribes, his power having reached the Eight Trigrams Heaven Realm of Solar Roaming.

It was under his instigation that the Southern Nine Tribes united, launching successive furious assaults on Qingyan City. They repeatedly broke through the gates, entering to wreak havoc through widespread arson, slaughter, and plunder.

With the tacit approval of the "Warrior King" Chi Xiao, many Southern Barbarian Celestial Masters seized the opportunity to infiltrate the central lands of the Water Cloud Kingdom, carrying out bloody massacres against the established Celestial Master sects and families. They looted Primordial Stones, Spirit Medicines, Divine Weapons, and rare treasures, resulting in the annihilation of countless Water Cloud Kingdom sects and clans.

The atrocities committed by the armies and Celestial Masters of the Southern Nine Tribes finally ignited the fury of the Heaven Mountain Cosmos Sect, one of the two great Celestial Master sects of the central lands!

Gu Dan, the Sect Master of the Cosmos Sect, departed Heaven Mountain alone and journeyed to Tianlang Mountain, the sacred ground of the Nine Southern Tribes. Amidst the host of Southern Barbarian Celestial Masters on Tianlang Mountain, he slew Chi Xiao, the Southern "Nine Tribes' Warrior King," and calmly tore out the last three pages of the Nine Barbarian Divine Archery Manual—the secret cultivation scripture housed within the sacred site—taking them with him.

Simultaneously, the three Grand Elders of the Cosmos Sect descended from Heaven Mountain, along with five of Gu Dan's direct disciples. They gathered the remaining masters from the various Celestial Master sects and families of the Water Cloud Kingdom and waged a fierce battle against the Southern Nine Tribes' Celestial Masters at Blood Rain Mountain. They achieved a resounding victory, causing the deaths of numerous Southern Barbarian Celestial Masters who had infiltrated the Water Cloud Kingdom, their bones forever marking Blood Rain Mountain.

With Chi Xiao dead and the Southern Barbarian Celestial Masters utterly routed at Blood Rain Mountain, the morale of the Southern Tribes collapsed. Lacking a central figurehead, the Southern armies fought independently, ultimately suffering a devastating defeat that forced them to flee back to the South in disarray.

Lacking the final three pages of the Nine Barbarian Divine Archery Manual, the Southern Nine Tribes had not produced another "Warrior King" since. The Southern armies withered, and instead of uniting against the Water Cloud Kingdom, the nine tribes turned on each other in ceaseless conflict, leaving them unable to mount further attacks. Qingyan City enjoyed sixty years of peace as a result.

After tearing away the three pages of the Nine Barbarian Divine Archery Manual, Gu Dan left a message: every ten years, the Southern Nine Tribes must select a young Celestial Master, no older than thirty, to travel to Heaven Mountain. If Gu Dan deemed the envoy acceptable upon sight, he would return the final three pages of the Nine Barbarian Divine Archery Manual to the Nine Tribes.

Thus, every decade, the Southern Nine Tribes would select a promising young talent as an envoy, gathering rare Southern Spirit Medicines, Primordial Stones, and precious treasures. They would set out from the South, traverse the Great Marsh of Cloud and Dream, pass through Qingyan City, and then change course, heading directly for Heaven Mountain.

However, over sixty years, the Southern Nine Tribes dispatched five such talents, carrying vast quantities of Southern treasures, spirit medicines, and primordial stones. After enduring immense hardship to reach Heaven Mountain and meet the Cosmos Sect Master Gu Dan, they received only ten words in total—five pronouncements of "Unacceptable"!

Each time the Southern Nine Tribes received this verdict, they could only swallow their bitterness and prepare to send another envoy ten years later.

The Nine Barbarian Divine Archery Manual was the sacred artifact of the Nine Southern Tribes, and the only secret method that allowed their Celestial Masters to cultivate to the Ten Directions Realm! Regardless of the humiliation or the simmering anger, the Nine Tribes had no choice but to accept the terms. In fact, with each subsequent mission, the treasures, spirit medicines, and primordial stones they gathered for tribute grew larger, hoping to elicit a single word of approval: "Acceptable."

For the world is full of avarice. The treasures, spirit medicines, and primordial stones gathered by the Nine Tribes as tribute were the very rarities craved by any Celestial Master. Especially the supreme-grade spirit medicines and unique primordial stones only found in the South—they drove the Celestial Masters of the world mad with envy.

Although the Southern Nine Tribes had suffered a grievous blow, they remained formidable enough that ordinary Celestial Masters dared not venture into their lands. Therefore, the decennial journey of the Southern envoy to Heaven Mountain presented an opportunity for countless Celestial Masters across the realm!

The ten-yearly trip of the Southern envoy to Heaven Mountain transformed into a grand "spectacle" for the Celestial Masters of the world. At those times, numerous masters from the Northern Savagery, the Western Regions, the Eastern Sea, the Three Central Kingdoms, and famous mountains and rivers would converge upon the small city of Qingyan. They used Qingyan City as their staging point, beginning at the Great Marsh of Cloud and Dream, and proceeded to strip the spirit medicines, primordial stones, and treasures from the Southern envoys along the entire route.

It was a bloody feast of crocodiles fighting over prey!

Whenever this event occurred, Qingyan City would inevitably descend into a storm of bloodshed. The established Celestial Master families of Qingyan City lived in perpetual fear, their clan heads strictly forbidding their descendants from leaving their compound even a single step. The Celestial Masters gathered from all corners of the world, once they tasted blood, cast aside all restraint, paying no heed to imperial authority or the military.

During those times, any Celestial Master with low power who dared participate would be ground down to the very dregs! Conversely, the powerful masters would use this feast as a chance for personal breakthrough, arriving purely for the sake of battle!

Now, only three years remained until the next bloody spectacle...

Half a day later, Ji Wanyun arrived in Qingyan City with Ji Changkong.

"Changkong, we’ll go to the City Lord’s Mansion first. I need to speak with that girl Ruolan about something. Once I'm done, we head straight for Wushan!" Upon entering Qingyan City, Ji Wanyun gripped Ji Changkong's hand and steered him toward the City Lord’s Mansion where Nie Yuanshan resided.

With a slight exertion of force, Ji Changkong gently pulled his wrist free from Ji Wanyun’s tight grasp. Under her surprised and questioning gaze, he managed a wry smile. "Forget it, I won't go to the City Lord's Mansion with you. I'll wait for you at Luo Tian’s place."

"Are you still afraid of that girl, Nie Ruolan?" Ji Wanyun paused, then let out a soft, silvery laugh.

Shaking his head, Ji Changkong’s expression turned strange. He clarified, "It’s not fear! It’s seeing her that makes me uncomfortable. I think seeing me would only make her feel worse, so it’s best we don't meet."

"It’s just that three years ago, when you and I visited, we happened to catch her bathing in the courtyard, right? Such a little brat, yet you have so many strange thoughts. Honestly, it wasn't intentional; she was just careless and unreserved."

A peculiar, subtle smile played on Ji Wanyun’s lips, though her words clearly favored Ji Changkong. After a moment’s thought, she chuckled aloud. "Fine, fine, if you don't want to see her, then don't. Just to prevent that girl from bullying you. But don't worry, after we return from Wushan, once you gain Primordial Power, you won't have to fear her anymore."

"When I saw her last year, she was already at the Two Forms Heaven Realm. I suspect even Ji Changxiao isn't her match. I have no desire to provoke her right now," Ji Changkong said with a hangdog expression, shrugging to convey his helplessness.

"How can you speak like that? No matter what, Changxiao is your elder brother; how can you call him by his given name?" Ji Wanyun shot him a glare before softening her tone. "No matter how poorly they treat you or how much they look down on you, they are still members of our Ji family!"

Ji Changkong pursed his lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Seeing his expression, Ji Wanyun sighed inwardly. She knew resentment festered in Ji Changkong’s heart. If he couldn't vent it, that knot in his heart might never untangle.

With a weary wave of her hand, Ji Wanyun decided not to press the issue, changing the subject. "Forget it, forget it. If you don't want to see Nie Ruolan, then don't. I’ll go find you at Luo Tian’s place later." Saying this, Ji Wanyun stopped talking and went alone to Nie Yuanshan's City Lord’s Mansion.

Watching Ji Wanyun's figure recede, Ji Changkong let out a quiet sigh and walked alone toward the slums of Qingyan City.

...

Half an hour later, Ji Changkong saw Luo Tian’s residence from a distance: nine dilapidated but spacious tiled houses arranged in three neat rows of three.

The first row of three houses was where Luo Tian slept and where he usually held conversations. The second row of three large tiled houses was where Luo Tian brewed his wine. The area beneath the third row of tiled houses was a cellar used for storage.

In Ji Changkong’s view, Luo Tian was an outright eccentric.

Luo Tian brewed wine but never drank it himself. He claimed brewing was for money, yet Ji Changkong had never seen anyone come to buy his liquor. Luo Tian would often disappear for periods ranging from three to five days, sometimes ten to fifteen, and during these times, the three rows of tiled houses were often left unattended.

Luo Tian never smiled, spoke little, was somewhat reclusive, and met any topic he didn't wish to discuss with pure silence, rarely socializing with anyone.

Aside from himself, Ji Changkong had never seen any other friends of Luo Tian’s there, nor had he ever witnessed anyone purchasing his wine.

But today seemed to be an exception.

In the center of the open tiled house in the first row, a burly man stood—his hair a mess, his stature immense, and his face flushed crimson like that of Guan Yu. The man presented his left side toward Ji Changkong, making his age impossible to discern, as he spoke with the aloof and casual Luo Tian.

"Old Luo, you have a guest?" Ji Changkong entered and greeted Luo Tian easily.

For some reason, every time he arrived here, Ji Changkong felt a sense of total relaxation. At Luo Tian’s place, he could easily forget his misfortunes and chatter with Luo Tian without regard for their age difference.

However, most of the time, it was Ji Changkong speaking alone while Luo Tian sat nearby, listening silently, rarely offering an opinion. Many times, Ji Changkong suspected Luo Tian hadn't been listening, but whenever he tested him with a follow-up question, Luo Tian could accurately recall the content of what Ji Changkong had just said.

"Pfft!"

The red-faced big man inside the house suddenly spewed a mouthful of tea directly onto the wall of Luo Tian's tiled house.

He looked utterly stunned, glancing from the impassive Luo Tian to Ji Changkong, who had just walked in. It seemed the title Ji Changkong used for Luo Tian had shocked him. The man froze instantly, his expression utterly bizarre.

Luo Tian didn't spare the red-faced middle-aged man a glance, instead looking at the approaching Ji Changkong, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he nodded gently.

Luo Tian never smiled. Ji Changkong had known him for ten years and had only just realized that the slight twitch of his mouth seemed to indicate that he had smiled—a conclusion Ji Changkong had reached after years of careful observation.

"Uh... pardon me, pardon me..." The middle-aged man snapped out of his trance, frantically patting his body searching for something. Finding nothing, he acted without hesitation: with a sound of tearing fabric, he ripped a corner off the fine brocade robe he was wearing.

He then used the torn piece of silk like a rag to meticulously and cautiously wipe the spot on Luo Tian’s dirty wall where his tea had splashed.

"Who might this be?" Ji Changkong asked, first addressing Luo Tian in surprise, then glancing at the middle-aged man. Seeing him bending his massive frame, fussing clumsily over wiping the wall, Ji Changkong couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "What's so special about wiping this patch of his broken wall? I’d wager his entire rundown shack isn't worth as much as one of your Cloud Silk Pavilion robes!"

The middle-aged man turned to look at Ji Changkong. A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, seemingly astonished that Ji Changkong could instantly identify his brocade garment as originating from the Cloud Silk Pavilion, the most prized supplier in Water Cloud City.

After a brief pause, the middle-aged man glanced sideways at the indifferent Luo Tian and hastily resumed his work, chuckling dryly, "It needs wiping, it needs wiping!"

...