C1 Li Mountain

Atop Clear Brilliance Mountain, a stone house nestled within a bamboo grove stood serenely. Magpies perched on the branches, while deer called from the depths of the tall grass. It was a sight so enchanting that onlookers couldn't help but marvel at this earthly paradise.

Before the stone house, an elder lingered at the door for what seemed an eternity. With a heavy sigh, he finally pushed the door open.

Inside, a man clad in simple linen, his features strikingly handsome, was engrossed in devouring a beast leg larger than himself, oil smearing his face without a care for appearances. The elder's mouth twitched at the sight, his previously gathered composure crumbling away.

"Bai Yu!" The elder's shout caused the stone house to shudder, but a cascade of golden light fortified the walls, preventing collapse.

"What's up?" Bai Yu looked up at the elder, responding nonchalantly before returning to his feast.

The elder, eyes wide with frustration, watched Bai Yu. After a moment's hesitation, Bai Yu reluctantly tore off a fingernail-sized piece of meat and offered it to the elder.

"Here! I can't spare any more," Bai Yu protested. "I'm not even full yet..."

"You eat your M..." The elder nearly lost his temper at the meager offering, but after a deep breath, he regained his composure and gazed at Bai Yu with a calm demeanor, his eyelids slightly drooping.

"Bai Yu, how long have you been on this mountain?" he asked.

Bai Yu pondered for a moment. "Three hundred and ninety-nine years, twelve months, twenty-four days, and four hours. Plus some change..."

The elder nearly lost his cool once more but managed to clear his throat and continue. "It's been four hundred years. It's time for you to leave the mountain..."

Expecting Bai Yu to react with excitement, the elder was taken aback when Bai Yu simply rolled his eyes, showing no sign of hesitation. "No way!"

The elder clenched his teeth in frustration. Golden hands materialized and snatched Bai Yu up. Bai Yu's face turned to one of alarm at the sudden turn of events.

"My meat!"

Yet the elder paid no heed, his golden hand effortlessly suspending Bai Yu midair.

"Weren't you always clamoring to leave the mountain?"

"Now that I'm letting you go, why are you hesitating?"

Bai Yu glanced at the golden hand gripping him before turning his gaze to the elder.

"I was young and didn't know any better!"

"I mean, I am just a four-hundred-year-old baby, after all..."

The elder paused, visibly taken aback.

He seemed on the verge of anger, but ultimately held his tongue.

The golden hand faded slowly, and after setting Bai Yu down, the elder seated himself on the lone stone bench in the room, heaving a deep sigh.

Bai Yu touched down on the ground.

Noticing the elder's demeanor, his eyes briefly shimmered with uncertainty.

Still, he approached the elder.

A mere few steps.

By the time he reached the elder, every trace of dirt had vanished from his body.

"Old man, why the rush to send me off... What's going on?"

The elder didn't even lift his eyelids, simply gesturing dismissively as if nothing were amiss.

Seeing this, Bai Yu instantly dropped his mischievous act.

He squatted down, looking up at the elder with a grave expression.

"You hardly seem like the Divine King who reigns supreme across the cosmos!"

"What's really happening? After all, I am your sole disciple."

"Can't you share it with me?"

Finally, the elder looked up.

His eyes, once so vivid, now carried a hint of cloudiness, startling Bai Yu.

They locked eyes for a long moment.

Just as Bai Yu became frantic with impatience,

The elder began to speak at last.

"Go on, descend the mountain!"

"Head to the Star Cloud Sect and seek out Chen Daoran. Then, all will become clear."

"And once you leave, don't return..."

Before Bai Yu could protest, the elder gestured, and a cascade of golden light enveloped Bai Yu.

Within the glow,

Bai Yu yelled out, his body radiating a fearsome energy to no avail.

He could only watch as the world around him twisted and warped.

When his sight restored, he found himself at the base of the mountain.

The elder, still seated within the stone dwelling, conjured a wine bottle out of thin air. Uncorking it, he tilted his head back and drank deeply. It was some time before he lifted his gaze to the base of the mountain. He seemed to peer through the many layers of obstruction, catching sight of Bai Yu at the mountain's foot, his anxiety akin to that of a restless monkey. "Hehe, emotions have finally surfaced..." he mused. "Is there anything more vexing than having a son?"

With those words, the elder's form began to fade into a grayish white. Moments later, where he once sat, a stone statue stood, a smile etched at the corners of its mouth. Then, with a resonant buzz that scattered the birds, the statue exploded into fragments.

Meanwhile, Bai Yu at the mountain's base had tried every trick in the book, yet he couldn't even ascend the first step. Looking up at the cloud-enshrouded peak, he paused for a long while before deciding to leave the mountain behind. The playful insolence had vanished from his face. "Chen Daoran, is it?" he declared. "Once I unravel this mystery, I swear I'll pluck every last hair from your head!"

Despite his bold words, Bai Yu couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Four centuries earlier, he had arrived in this world, inhabiting the body of an infant merely seven days old. No magical system had awakened within him; he was simply a child abandoned by his parents. On the brink of death from the cold, he was rescued by the elder, who named him Bai Yu and took him on as a disciple. For four hundred years, Bai Yu was raised by the elder, and during that time, he had contemplated leaving the mountain. As a man of the twenty-first century, he found the monotonous life of seclusion unbearable. Yet, over the centuries, the urge to leave had waned. Unexpectedly, today the elder had cast him out. Despite the elder's nonchalant demeanor, he had tried to maintain an air of normalcy. But Bai Yu had lived for four hundred years; he knew something was amiss.

Bai Yu knew the elder down to his bones after four centuries of life together. He had long sensed that something was off, yet as a fledgling practitioner with only four hundred years of cultivation, he was utterly powerless against the elder's tactics. With this realization, a spark of determination flashed in Bai Yu's eyes. With a mere thought, he found himself back in the small town nestled at the mountain's base, surrounded by the clamor of vendors. His face remained stoic; the once alluring delicacies now seemed bland and unappealing.

Humans are not devoid of emotion like plants; how could they be indifferent? The old man had become his sole kin over the past four hundred years. But the elder's recent demeanor had left Bai Yu feeling restless and agitated. He was desperate to locate Chen Daoran to uncover the truth behind the unsettling changes.

After inquiring around, he finally learned the approximate location of the Star Cloud Sect from a robust man. As onlookers watched in stunned silence, Bai Yu shot into the sky, vanishing into the horizon in the blink of an eye. The townspeople, initially shocked, resumed their composed demeanor. They offered a respectful bow towards Clear Radiance Mountain and then turned their gaze to where Bai Yu had disappeared, murmuring to themselves.

"Wang, we can't be certain if the one you chose is the right person," they whispered. "But as long as we draw breath, we'll lay down our lives if necessary to clear the path for Bai Yu. It's our debt to you. And in return, you must endure..."

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