Where Immortals Once Walked

The group continued onward.

Heaven, for once, was in a cooperative mood. The day was overcast, and flowing cloud and drifting mist rolled across the peaks, brushing through the late-autumn maples and turning the whole place into the sort of lofty spiritual realm one imagined in old tales.

The peaks lifted their heads through the fog, seeming to float in immortal radiance.

However, Jiang Tao grew increasingly curious and asked, “Old Ge, I’ve heard there are several immortal cave abodes here?”

“There are, there are!” Old Ge pointed them out. “Mount Xu has six immortal cave abodes scattered among the various peaks. The largest one lies ahead on Tianquan[1] Peak.”

“Immortal cave abodes?” He Lingchuan asked. “Wasn’t this originally the site of the Grand Return Sect? How are there extra immortal cave abodes on top of that?”

Jiang Tao laughed. “Brother He, you might not know, but immortals often go into secluded cultivation, and each of them has their own cave abode. Naturally, the ones qualified to claim land inside the sect for closed-door cultivation were all figures of rank and standing within the immortal order.”

Gao Jilin added further explanation, “When it comes to the term cave abodes, while some really are separately opened blessed lands and hidden realms, others are simply whole mountaintops claimed for private use.”

He Lingchuan nodded, thinking of Perfected Dongli, who had died in meditation within his cave abode by Immortal Spirit Lake. The old turtle monster’s divination art had come from him, and Perfected Dongli himself had been a disciple of the Grand Return Sect. Everything he knew had originated here.

Jiang Tao asked, “So in those immortal cave abodes, are there really cultivation manuals, magical artifacts, and spirit artifacts?”

“Oh, there certainly were.” Old Ge leaped lightly onto a railing and walked along it as steadily as if on level ground. “They say that when the cave abodes were first opened, Lingxu City hauled treasures out of them cart after cart, with there having been more than a hundred cartloads in all!”

“Then are there still undiscovered cave abodes left?” Jiang Tao pressed eagerly. “I’ve heard there are hidden cave abodes on Mount Xu even now, ones that still haven’t been found!”

Old Ge cast him a sidelong look. “If there really are cave abodes no one has discovered, how is it that you’ve heard about them?”

“Uh...”

Gao Jilin stepped in to rescue his companion. “Six cave abodes on Mount Xu have been made known, but the records say that the Grand Return Sect had ten or more. So naturally, everyone thinks there are still others that haven’t been found.”

Old Ge bared its teeth and said, “Heh, you’re really underestimating Beijia. How many greater monsters and mighty cultivators does Lingxu City have? Do you really think that with the millions of visitors that Mount Xu has received over the past six hundred years, no one has discovered any hidden mysteries? Or are you saying even the gods, whose gaze rests on this place, haven’t noticed Mount Xu’s secrets?”

That completely stopped Jiang Tao’s mouth.

Only then did Old Ge let out a smug little chuckle. “That said, there is one place on Tianji Peak that people suspect may be a cave abode.”

At once, the tourists’ spirits lifted, and someone asked Old Ge, “We’ve heard that one can divine fortune and misfortune on Tianji Peak?”

He Lingchuan’s ears pricked immediately.

That was one of the main reasons he had come to Mount Xu in the first place.

“That’s right. Shu is Heaven, Xuan is Earth, Ji is Man, Quan is Time, Heng is Sound, Kaiyang is Law, and Yaoguang is Star[2]. Tianji Star is the wealth star of the mortal realm, so anyone troubled by the hardships of life ought to come and pay respects there.” Old Ge recited this with practiced ease, swaying his head as he did so. “To be honest, more than half the visitors who come to Mount Xu are really here for Tianji Peak. From high officials and nobles all the way down to peddlers and laborers, everyone wants to know what lies ahead in life.”

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “You must have had your fortune read there yourself.”

“Of course I have.” Old Ge sighed. “I’ve come four times in all. Two readings foretold misfortune, two foretold good fortune. The two bad ones came true. The good ones never showed themselves.”

“Getting fifty percent right is already very impressive.” Wen Daolun had once told He Lingchuan that after the upheavals in heaven and earth, fate had grown chaotic, and divination had become erratic and unreliable. If a diviner could be right twenty percent of the time, that was already decent.

But clearly, Perfected Dongli’s sect had been far more proficient in such things.

Gao Jilin suddenly said, “If the Grand Return Sect truly excelled at this, then why didn’t they foresee their own extermination?”

The Grand Return Sect had been struck by a surprise assault from the northern monster state, forced into battle in haste, lost the initiative, and perished in humiliation. The black stele at the mountain gate said as much in gold characters.

“At the time, circumstances were what they were.” Old Ge dug in one ear. “Who knows what the exact circumstances were?”

“Even if the Grand Return Sect’s divinations were precise, whether the people governing the sect could actually make proper use of them to avoid harm and pursue advantage is another question entirely,” said He Lingchuan. “A Daoist sect was never as tightly organized or as disciplined as a state. The big figures all have their own private calculations, and once something major happens, if they start shirking and bickering, then by the time they finish, the daylilies are long cold.”

No matter how brilliant the blueprint, no matter how sound the regulations, it still took the right people to carry them out.

In the rise and fall of sect or state, people were always the decisive factor.

“Exactly!” Old Ge applauded him. “It still takes someone like Brother He to have real insight.”

Gao Jilin fell briefly thoughtful, then asked, “If one wants to ask about fortune or misfortune, there has to be something or someone to ask. The Grand Return Sect vanished six hundred years ago. So who exactly are people asking?”

He Lingchuan gave him a thumbs-up. “Excellent question!”

If one wanted to seek a divination, there had to be an object of inquiry. Otherwise, were they asking heaven, earth, or empty air?

Old Ge snorted at Gao Jilin. “So you’re the only clever one, eh? Then the hundreds of thousands who’ve come to Tianji Star before you must all be fools, is that it?”

He Lingchuan had never seen such an overbearing tour guide in his life.

Gao Jilin, however, had an even temper. He raised a hand and laughed. “I don’t dare, I don’t dare.”

Old Ge gave him a smile that moved only his skin, not his flesh. “Once we get to Tianji Peak, you’ll understand.”

The group continued climbing, and the scenery only improved.

From here, one could overlook the entirety of Lingxu City. It was no wonder that the gods had established the Heavenly Palace on Mount Xu.

He Lingchuan stepped closer to Old Ge and asked in a low voice, “Do you know where Guihua Pagoda is?”

He still had to place Perfected Dongli’s token into the pagoda, thereby fulfilling the old man’s last request.

After all, the divine bone amulet had swallowed the very core of that little world.

“Guihua Pagoda?” Old Ge stared for a moment. “I think I’ve seen it, but no guest has ever asked to go there.”

He Lingchuan flipped his hand over and let silver gleam in his palm. “Then can you open a private line for me?”

Old Ge said, “Wait here a moment.”

He called the two mandrills bringing up the rear.

The three primates huddled together, chattering and scratching their heads in turn, though no one nearby could make out a word they were saying.

At last, Old Ge turned back to He Lingchuan and said, “Looks like I remembered right. There is such a place. However, it wasn’t included in the Late Emperor’s rebuilt plan for Mount Xu, so it’s pretty desolate now.”

“Is it far?”

“Not far from Tianshu Peak. On the way down the mountain, we can swing past it.”

“Many thanks.” He Lingchuan tossed him the silver.

At the same time, Jiang Tao and Gao Jilin were murmuring to one another nearby.

Gao Jilin said to Jiang Tao, “Didn’t you say you wanted to make more friends in Lingxu City? This He Yun would be a good candidate.”

“Him?” Jiang Tao glanced at He Lingchuan’s back. “His bearing and appearance are both excellent, but it’s a pity he comes from some tiny state. His prospects can only rise so far.”

In a place like Lingxu City, anyone from a small state or a little backwater who wanted to climb upward is at a disadvantage from the outset. It’s like a little fish swimming into the open sea; it would have to endure who knows how many dangers before it could ever grow into a whale.

This guy’s chance of success? Hah, one in ten thousand, at best.

“Look at the old ape’s attitude toward him. It’s far more respectful than the way he’s treated any of us,” whispered Gao Jilin. “So either the man has ability, or he has backing.”

Though Old Ge was in the sightseeing business, his service attitude was genuinely bad. Having long since become one of Lingxu City’s local apes, he was always faintly condescending toward outsiders, the sort who looked down on people the way some humans looked over the rims of their noses.

“Didn’t you pick Old Ge’s tour to Mount Xu because you’d heard he had some ability and wanted to get onto that line?” Gao Jilin said with a smile. “Then why not pay attention to the sort of person he treats respectfully?”

Jiang Tao thought it over and nodded. “Makes sense.”

After that, he did in fact move closer to He Lingchuan, all smiles and easy talk, probing to see what hidden cards he might have.

But how could He Lingchuan allow himself to be sounded out so easily?

So the men walked on, admiring the scenery and playing verbal taiji in turn, until at last they reached Tianji Peak.

Aside from Tianshu Peak, which remained white-crowned year-round, the other principal peaks were all covered in deep greenery, leaves and flowers shifting through red, yellow, purple, and white.

Various buildings lay hidden amid the riot of color.

That was where the skill of those who had overseen the reconstruction became apparent. Flying eaves and bracketed roofs were half veiled among flowers and trees, while all manner of pavilions and terraces stood poised beside rushing streams and waterfalls.

The whole scene was harmonious, elegant, and picturesque.

But Tianji Peak was different.

There were almost no buildings on it at all.

Old Ge explained that among all the principal peaks, this was the one marked least by human intervention.

As the group drew closer, everyone let out a long, involuntary “wow.”

Dongming Peak was formed of a single craggy, skeletal rock.

But Tianji Peak was formed by a single tree, blotting out the sky and sun!

It was an ancient banyan[3]. Its roots bulged from the surface, like vines, like blood vessels, gripping the rocky peak so tightly that many had even pierced the mountain itself, anchoring the tree atop the perilous summit.

Gao Jilin blurted out, “Don’t tell me people come here to ask the tree for divination?”

“Exactly so.” Old Ge actually chose this moment to be helpful for once. “And when you tilt your heads back, don’t open your mouths. There are a lot of birds in this tree.”

The closer one came, the more majestic the giant banyan seemed.

Its trunk alone was at least wide enough that thirty people joining hands could barely encircle it. Yet the main trunk was not straight at all. Rather, it twisted like a coiling dragon, almost as though brandishing claws and fangs as it flung its vast crown open overhead.

It grew toward the skies in wild arrogance.

Among all the giant trees He Lingchuan had ever seen, this one ranked second.

First place, of course, still belonged to the King of Baoshu, whose bulk surpassed even this mountain banyan by a considerable margin.

Old Ge seized the moment to explain, “This tree’s proper name is the Dao-Seeking Tree. Originally, its seed fell into a cave. The soil was poor, and the light couldn’t get in, so it grew thin and weak, but somehow it refused to die. The immortals of the Grand Return Sect were moved by its tenacity and resilience, and so they used one sword stroke to flatten the summit of the peak. Once it saw daylight, it grew like mad. Not only did it emerge from the cave, but it also wrapped itself back around the whole mountain and created this extraordinary sight of a tree embracing a peak.” Old Ge had, at last, properly returned to his role as tour guide. “It’s said that one of the Grand Return Sect’s great figures, Venerable Muling, passed away in seated meditation beneath this very tree.”

Venerable Muling? Wasn’t that Perfected Dongli’s master?

The path here had been built as broad and level as possible, but the traffic was dense, so everyone could only move along with the crowd, step by step. Jiang Tao tilted his head nearly ninety degrees and stared up at the tree. “Did this tree ever become a monster?”

“No. At most, it’s only a spiritual object.” Old Ge shook his head. “Not every spiritual object is fortunate enough to get that chance.”

This was a relic from the age of immortals, weathered by three thousand years of worldly frost and repeatedly nourished by imperial nectar over the centuries. Yet the Dao-Seeking Tree had never managed to become a monster.

He Lingchuan, however, said, “That may have been a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, when the northern monster state exterminated the Grand Return Sect, it wouldn’t have survived either.”

Wood and stone without consciousness gave the northern monster state no reason to destroy it.

But Old Ge said, “The Late Emperor originally intended not to spare it either. I’ve heard the King of Baoshu and the guardian spirits of Mount Xu pleaded for it several times, saying that a spiritual tree of several thousand years was too rare to destroy. Only then did Beijia choose to show mercy.”

One of the tourists found this strange. “Why wouldn’t they even let a tree be?”

1. Megrez or Delta Ursae Majoris. ☜

2. These are referring to the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, which should be the one most people would be more familiar with. In order, these are: Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. ☜

3. This specific tree is also known as a council tree, grandpa tree, or lofty fig. ☜