One Mountain More Shameless Than the Last
Several months after the Battle of Weicheng, in Dongzhou.
Of the five provinces, the sects of Xizhou all bowed to Lingxiao City. By now, most of them were controlled by members of the Ling family and had effectively become subsidiaries of Lingxiao City.
The various cultivation sects of Nanzhou maintained close ties with the Jiuhua Sect. Thanks to Master Qiu’s painstaking efforts, the entire region presented a harmonious picture of everyone getting along splendidly—a state of affairs more than sufficient to stand toe-to-toe with Lingxiao City.
Most of the sects and clans in Zhongzhou kept to themselves. Among them, the two cities of Yao and Wei possessed the firmest foundations and greatest strength. The homeland of the Celestial Fox clan, Qingqiu, was also located in Zhongzhou.
Beizhou was a vast land of rolling mountains, sparsely populated and situated close to the demon realm. It had long been shunned by cultivators of the righteous path. Across the whole of Beizhou, only one sect had any real reputation: Tianyan Sect. No one knew which remote corner it had hidden itself in. It was the very definition of a shut-in—never showing its face, yet impossible to say where it was.
Dongzhou, however, presented an entirely different picture.
Xuanyu Palace was located far out at sea. Although it occasionally came to Dongzhou to recruit disciples, it had no intention of expanding its sphere of influence.
The vast forests in the southeast were the territory of the Qiongzhi Jade Rabbit clan. Aside from ignorant outsiders with no sense of danger, hardly anyone dared set foot there.
In addition, another sect had risen rapidly in Dongzhou in recent years, flourishing to the point that it seemed poised to contend with Xuanyu Palace.
The place where this sect was located was called Qiwushan. Supposedly, the name had been changed only a few years earlier, an unmistakable sign of the current sect master’s grand ambitions.
As for the name of the sect, it was—
“Feng… Yi… Sect?”
At the foot of Qiwushan stood an inn where cultivators could stay. Its main hall was packed to capacity, filled with travelers from far and wide, all dressed in the uniforms of their respective sects and clans.
Their clothing alone made it obvious that they had come from every corner of the world. No one knew what had brought so many of them together in this place.
Amid the lively chatter, a pretty young girl with her hair tied into twin buns propped up her chin and blinked her bright, sparkling eyes at her companion. With childlike innocence, she asked, “A-Tian, tell me more. Is this Fengyi Sect really powerful?”
“Um…”
The boy sitting across from her was a handsome youth with delicate features, around seventeen or eighteen years old. He still had an unmistakably childish air about him. Under the girl’s direct stare, his face flushed, and he awkwardly turned his gaze aside.
“I—I’m also visiting Dongzhou for the first time, so I don’t know much about Fengyi Sect. If Senior Sister Hantan is interested, perhaps you could ask one of the other seniors.”
The girl puffed out her cheeks in displeasure. “No. I want to hear it from A-Tian. Did you forget that Master told you to look after me?”
Sweat appeared on the boy’s brow. His eyes darted back and forth as the blush on his cheeks deepened.
“This… Senior Sister, please don’t make things difficult for me.”
This boy was none other than Bai Tian, the young master of the Bai family of Qingcheng. By a twist of fate, three years earlier he had experienced the “Qiongqi Incident” together with Shu Fu.
After spending some time at Tianyan Sect as an exchange disciple, he had barely returned to Jiuhua Sect when Master Bailian assigned him a new mission:
He was to travel with his senior sister, Handan, to Fengyi Sect, a rising power in Dongzhou, and participate in the “Autumn Hunt” they were hosting.
Fairy Hantan had no family or clan. She was originally a white lotus that had taken human form. She mistakenly believed that Master Bailian belonged to the same race as her and had insisted on becoming his disciple. Little had she expected that her master would turn out to be a Li Yunlong.
She was innocent, lively, and completely unfamiliar with the ways of the world. She loved pestering Bai Tian with question after question, often leaving him at a loss for how to respond.
By “at a loss,” what was really meant was—
What do I do? Senior Sister is so adorable. Am I becoming straight again?
No! I can’t betray Young Master Liu! I’ve already decided that I’m going to like men!
But Senior Sister is so cute. Maybe I could…
No, no, no! I can’t!
…and so on, cycling endlessly.
For the past three years, Liu Ruyi had been straighter than straight—straighter than Brother Monkey’s golden cudgel. He had remained steadfast in his principles:
Wear the prettiest women’s clothes. Be the most ironclad straight man.
His sexual orientation was an uncrossable chasm. Even Bai Tian, who loved him with all his heart, had to admit that he probably had no hope in this lifetime—or the next.
Just as Bai Tian was caught in yet another fierce internal struggle over whether he should return to being straight, a clear, cheerful voice rang out beside him, carrying a hint of laughter.
“What, you came to participate in the Autumn Hunt without even knowing this?”
Bai Tian looked up. The speaker was a youth around his own age. He wore white robes and carried a light sword. The ends of his hair curled slightly, and its color was somewhat lighter than ordinary hair, appearing a bright pale brown beneath the sunlight. It was tied behind his head in a crisp, high ponytail.
The boy was full of spirit, his eyes shining like stars. A carefree, unruly smile glimmered in their depths, almost overflowing.
At the sight of him, Bai Tian immediately felt rather self-conscious. He scratched the hair by his temple and asked awkwardly, “May I ask who you are, fellow cultivator?”
“My surname is Qin. My name is Qin Huan.”
The youth answered cheerfully and saluted him as an equal.
“I’m from Bailu Mountain in Xizhou. Our sect has some connection with Jiuhua Sect. Fellow cultivator, how about we become friends?”
“Bailu Mountain…”
The name stirred Bai Tian’s memory. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed in realization, “Right! The sect renowned for taming spirit beasts! I remember Young Master Liu mentioning it before—”
“That’s us. Alas, our sect has fallen on hard times. Each generation is weaker than the last, so I’m touched that you still remember us.”
Qin Huan nodded with a smile. Though he made light of his own sect’s decline, there was no trace of dejection in his expression. Instead, he carried himself with a calm, dignified confidence.
“Bailu Mountain is right next to Lingxiao City. Every few days, they come by and strip another layer off us. We’re barely holding on. To be honest, I came here on my sect master’s orders to investigate Fengyi Sect and see whether we might move the entire sect here and seek their protection.”
Bai Tian was puzzled. “But if you want to attach yourselves to a major sect, wouldn’t Jiuhua Sect be a better choice? Yaoguang Peak helped you before. I thought you had a good relationship.”
Qin Huan shook his head regretfully. “Jiuhua Sect and Lingxiao City are locked in open conflict. Our sect master is worried we’ll get caught in the crossfire. We’re only a small sect. All we want is to live in peace, so we don’t dare get involved in disputes between major powers.”
Seeing the disappointment on Bai Tian’s face, Qin Huan immediately noticed and deftly changed the subject.
“By the way, before coming here, didn’t anyone tell you what the Autumn Hunt actually is?”
“Well…”
Bai Tian grew even more embarrassed.
“Master has never paid much attention to such minor details. He only told us that the Autumn Hunt is an event hosted by Fengyi Sect where we can capture spirit beasts. He told me to bring Senior Sister out to… broaden her horizons.”
He did not dare explain the real reason: Handan had been chasing Tian Xin’s big yellow dog around every day just to pet it, until the poor thing’s fur stood on end. Tian Xin was at her wit’s end, while Xu Yunlong was too lazy to mediate a quarrel between girls. In the end, they simply sent Handan to the Autumn Hunt and told her to catch one of her own.
At that very moment, Bai Tian heard a soft “meow.”
A fluffy white ball climbed onto Qin Huan’s shoulder. Two small, delicate pointed ears trembled slightly, while a pair of round blue eyes gleamed like gemstones.
Bai Tian focused his gaze and realized that it was a white cat with an especially thick, fluffy coat.
The cat was as white as a snowball from head to toe, without a single speck of any other color. It looked just like a little lamb, complete with a large, cloud-soft tail as light and fluffy as a wisp of vapor.
There was, however, one thing that set it apart from ordinary cats: its limbs were exceptionally short. With its tiny paws and stubby legs, its entire body looked like a drifting cloud sliding along the ground. It was, without question, the corgi of the cat world.
If Shu Fu had been here, she would have cried out in excitement:
A Napoleon cat! It’s a Napoleon cat! I’ve seen them in viral videos!
But Bai Tian knew nothing about cat breeds, and at this moment, she had no mind to concern herself with such details. All her attention was focused on her senior sister, who had suddenly gone berserk.
“Senior Sister Hantan, calm down! Don’t just go petting someone else’s cat…”
Handan shouted, “Let go of me! A-Tian, don’t stop me! Even if I die, I want to die on this little cat!”
“…What?!”
The white cat seemed startled. It immediately clung to Qin Huan’s shoulder and took a step back, hanging from him like a piece of fur while poking only half its head out.
“Don’t be nervous, Little Bai.”
Qin Huan patted the white cat’s front paw soothingly, then explained with a smile, “This cat is a new friend of mine. It hasn’t formed a contract with anyone yet, so it’s a little shy around strangers. If Fairy wishes to acquire a spirit pet of her own, just wait a few days until the Autumn Hunt. There will be plenty to choose from.”
Seeing that Bai Tian and Handan both looked utterly bewildered—two complete novices, through and through—he decided to send them all the way across the river and gave them a concise explanation of the rules of the “Autumn Hunt.”
As the name suggested, the “Autumn Hunt” was held every year in autumn. The organizers would designate an area for participants to enter, capture spirit beasts, and form contracts with them.
However, the Autumn Hunt hosted by Fengyi Sect was somewhat different. It was said to take place in a special secret realm, a world within a world, with a vast and ever-changing terrain far more complex than Jiuhua Sect’s entrance trial.
Once the secret realm opened, all participating cultivators would enter together. Each would rely on their own abilities to see who could capture the strongest spirit beast within the allotted time. Each person was limited to one beast, with no substitutions allowed.
Simply put, it was a grand gathering of Pokémon trainers—except that everyone was allowed only a single Poké Ball.
“This year’s Autumn Hunt will be different from those of previous years.”
Qin Huan lowered his voice mysteriously. “Do you know that the Young Master of Fengyi Sect is about to get married? This Autumn Hunt may well double as his wedding celebration, so the ‘prizes’ will probably be especially generous.”
Before he could finish, the white cat smacked him on the head with one paw. He let out an “Ow!” and immediately covered his forehead.
“Apologies, apologies. That was a slip of the tongue. What I meant was that, to the cultivators of White Deer Mountain, spirit beasts are partners with whom we share life and death. They absolutely aren’t ‘objects.’ It’s just that I’m not sure how Fengyi Sect…”
“What about Fengyi Sect? Don’t they treat spirit beasts as partners?”
Bai Tian grew curious and was just about to ask more when she suddenly noticed the surrounding voices growing faint. The place fell into a strange silence.
For a moment, the loud discussions and casual chatter all became much quieter than before, creating an inexplicable sense that everyone was treading carefully.
“…”
Bai Tian vaguely sensed that something was wrong. Almost instinctively, she turned toward the entrance.
A young man in black stood there, lifting the curtain with one hand as he led a woman in white, her face hidden behind a thin veil, slowly into the room.
The young man had handsome brows and sharp, elegant features. He was tall and slender, with a well-proportioned figure. The joints of the hand holding up the curtain were clearly defined—enough to make any lovestruck girl’s heart race. A heavy black-iron sword rested across his back. It had no sheath and was nearly half a man’s width, with a faint stream of spiritual light visible along its blade. Even merely looking at it gave one a sense of weight and reassurance.
As for the woman, although most of her face was concealed beneath a snow-white veil, her expressive, captivating eyes, delicately furrowed brows, and graceful figure, supple as a willow dancing in the breeze, were enough to reveal her peerless elegance. She was clearly a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
The cultivators throughout the hall were captivated by the bearing and grace of the pair. As if by silent agreement, they all fell quiet, their eyes asking the same question:
Which sect are they from? Which school? How have we never seen them before?
“…”
For some reason, Bai Tian felt an indescribable sense of familiarity emanating from the two of them.
Yet she searched her memories as hard as she could and found nothing. These were undeniably two entirely unfamiliar faces.
No, to be precise, she had experienced this feeling somewhere before—that sense of clearly having seen someone yet being unable to recognize them, of knowing that they were the same person despite looking completely different…
What Bai Tian did not know was that, at that very moment, the thoughts of this celestial couple were as follows:
【Holy crap, why is Little Bai here? Did he come to catch Pokémon too? Master, he’s been staring at us the whole time. Our disguises won’t be exposed, will they?】
【Relax, Fu’er. This outfit I prepared is flawless. It contains an illusion technique cast by Master Qiu, powerful enough to deceive ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. With Bai Tian’s pitiful little brain, there’s no way he’ll imagine that we’re using such a trick.】
【Are you sure? He’s met Senior Brother Liu before. He might not necessarily be fooled by a woman’s disguise.】
【The fact that he fell in love with Ruyi at first sight proves that he lacks the ability to see through disguises. More importantly, there’s someone else here who poses a far greater problem…】
【Who?】
【The other “Little Bai.” Do you see that cat? Although he’s doing his best to conceal his aura, I can’t identify his true spiritual form. But I can say with certainty that he’s Xie Fangnian’s incarnation. It seems he’s just as concerned about Fengyi Sect as we are.】
【Wait, what…? Huh?!】
Shu Fu—the black-clad youth with the heavy sword on her back—had to bite down hard on the tip of her tongue before she could barely stop herself from crying out.
In disbelief, she looked toward the white cat. At that exact moment, she met his sapphire-blue eyes, shining brilliantly. A new voice transmission immediately sounded in her mind:
【…Master Tanhua. I thought disguising myself as a spirit pet and sneaking in was the height of ingenuity. I never imagined someone could outdo me.】
【It seems I’ve lost this round. After all, I’m still a male cat.】
