Scattering Star Mountain was the highest of the summits in Clustering Jade.
Its name originated from a myth about how shooting stars met the ground. It was said that hundreds of thousands of years ago, the light of a star landed on the top of this mountain, blazing like fire, unable to be extinguished.
The great masters of weapon forging recognized that the piercingly cold sword intent, which lingered on the mountain, was unparalleled.
The fall of this star was named the reaping of heaven.
After receiving the nurturing of the Heaven-reaping Sword, Scattering Star Mountain surprisingly transformed from a barren mountain, to a place overflowing with spiritual energy, both beautiful and able to breed talent, and helped create many rare and precious spiritual treasures.
This mountain opened once every four years, allowing Clustering Jade disciples without a lifelong spiritual weapon to enter and search for one.
The first-rate spiritual energies all had awareness, and would choose a master worthy of their strength.
So at this gathering every four years, many were doomed to arrive smug, yet return empty-handed.
“Nervous?” In Alkaid Palace, Chi Ning asked his little disciple.
Gu Lingxiao heaved up his wooden sword, batting his big eyes, “Yes…”
In their last life, Gu Lingxiao received the Heaven-reaping Sword at sixteen years old, showing how talented he was, aweing the entire world.
But right now…
Chi Ning took a look at his little disciple’s messy hair. This little steamed bun hadn’t even built his foundation yet. It was enough for him to broaden his horizons at Scattering Star Mountain.
“Your safety is most important. Don’t be rash.” Chi Ning urged again.
A viewing platform had been built on Scattering Star Mountain, from which the three peak lords would supervise the mountain, as well as take out their bargaining chips, and gamble on which disciple would do the best.
When Chi NIng arrived with Zong Dai, the table was surrounded by people, lively and clamorous.
Upon seeing Chi Ning, Second Peak Lord Qi Yuge waved to him, “Junior brother Chi, who are you betting on this time?”
When Chi Ning walked over, he saw that jade medals were placed around the table in disorder. Disciples were sorted based on the amount of jade medals they had, and listed from top to bottom on the Spiritual List.
Chi Ning threw in all of his jade medals. “I bet on my disciple, Gu Lingxiao.”
As soon as these words were spoken, on the Spiritual List floating in the air, Gu Lingxiao’s name, which had sunk to the bottom of the list, rose to the top.
It even pushed down the eldest disciple of Qi Yuge’s sect to second.
The disciples were all shocked. This little disciple of Chi Ning’s had barely joined the sect for a year, and rumor had it that he hadn’t even entered the stage of building one’s foundation. Meanwhile, Rong Jie was recognized as the cream of the crop of this generation.
In this contest measuring one’s strength, was he good enough for Chi Ning to stake this much on him?
Zong Dai’s heart ached seeing all these jade medals, and said in a low voice, “Shizun, our palace doesn’t have that many spiritual stones. If we lose… we won’t be able to pay it all.”
Chi Ning said in his heart that of course they would lose. The one who won in his last life was Rong Jie.
Just like an incapable yet self-indulgent ruler, he was throwing away thousands of gold just to… hear one sound.
Gu Lingxiao’s laughter.
Qi Yuge said with a laugh, “The entire mountain is watching. You won’t be able to take this back.”
“Alkaid Palace gained a batch of spiritual stones a while ago, and now junior brother is spending quite extravagantly.” Xie Jiuze, who had arrived late, added onto Qi Yuge’s words.
Not often was Xie Jiuze late, yet this time not only was he late, there was a bright white mark on his face, as if he had been scratched by something sharp.
Qi Yuge’s gaze landed on Xie Jiuze’s body, the smile in his peach blossom eyes retreating slightly. “Senior brother, what happened to your face?”
This question was asked very impatiently, as if Xie Jiuze was a fickle youth who had gone out to steal food.
“I’m raising a spiritual dragon that’s very wild.” Xie Jiuze coughed uncomfortably, looking at Chi Ning from the corner of his eye.
Chi Ning pursed his lips and stayed silent. Who asked Xie Jiuze to want to see his true form? Scratching Xie Jiuze’s face with the tip of his wing could be considered merciful already.Chi Ning pursed his lips and stayed silent. Who asked Xie Jiuze to want to see his true form? Scratching Xie Jiuze’s face with the tip of his wing could be considered merciful already.
Qi Yuge’s expression changed a couple of times, and he took a sip of his tea and didn’t continue.
While they were chatting, the disciples entered the Scattering Star Mountain, and the scenes inside the mountain floated in the water mirror at the viewing platform.
Most of the disciples were uneasy, grouping into teams of two and three to proceed.
Chi Ning wrinkled his forehead as he watched Gu Lingxiao leave the crowd of people, walking into the depths of the forest alone. The fog and smoke in the forest was very heavy. The second one let down their guard, they would be sucked into an illusion.
Gu Lingxiao’s silhouette very quickly disappeared into the layers of white fog.
Chi Ning didn’t see his disciple in the mirror again.
As an hour passed, Chi Ning became more and more agitated.
He reached out to the wisp of spiritual energy he had placed into Gu Lingxiao’s jade pendant while fixing it and closed his eyes. A cave entrance dripping with water merged in his sea of consciousness, tangled with branches and tendrils.
In the midst of the blurry rays of light, the vague shape of a jiaolong leapt high up from the center of the pool.
The Fallen Star Cave.
Gu Lingxiao had entered the heart of the Scattering Star Mountain so quickly!
The jiaolong was born with the Heaven-reaping Sword, and had guarded it for thousands of years. Many had been buried in this dragon’s stomach.
The picture created by the connection was broken quickly, and his sea of consciousness faded to an expanse of black.
Chi Ning gripped his Swan-treading Sword as he stood, and told Xie Jiuze, “Senior brother, Gu Lingxiao is in danger.”
Xie Jiuze also sensed that the enchantment on the Fallen Star Cave had been broken. He muttered under his breath, “Upon entering the Scattering Star Mountain, one accepts that they may meet their end.”
The Jade Foliage Lord gave an order, and the disciples guardiing the Scattering Star Mountain blocked Chi Ning. “I’m sorry, Immortal Chi.”
