Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Twelve Peaks of Cangyun

Gently shifting my gaze, I exchanged a brief yet meaningful glance with the Old One-eyed Man, whose single eye held a hint of respect and insinuation. The girl’s silver-blue eyes revealed a touch of depth, only to suddenly break into a light laugh.

“How interesting, truly interesting ~ Well, with such skills, you truly deserve the title of ‘One-eyed Mystic.’”

Seeing that she didn’t hold a grudge, the Old One-eyed Man finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed his head, cupping his hands in salute.

“Not at all, just some trivial art of peeping into destiny, decades of minor training; please don’t laugh at me…”

“No, Miss Vilyric, so what does this fox actually mean? Have you figured it out?”

“Hey… Little Bai’er, you can’t let that slip.”

“Hey, hey, why are you in on this too? And no adding an honorific before it! You don’t look older than me!”

…

After that, the Old One-eyed Man, following their agreement, located the whereabouts of the Princess Ling.

Of course, due to the injury from Vilyric’s previous divination, the Priestess and the others did not insist that he act to divine for them.

This One-eyed Mystic already had all the information he needed from the beginning.

Just two days prior, a group of people came to request the same service—that is, to find the current location of the Princess Ling—but those folks lacked the connections that Murong Yun had and had to cough up a staggering sum of over ten million gold coins for him to reluctantly assist.

Vilyric and the others were on the right track; the Princess Ling, sharing a name with Hen, was indeed on Cangyun Mountain at this moment, and according to the divination, she wouldn’t be leaving that area for at least a month, likely engaged in something very important.

As for who those people seeking her were…

Under normal ethical standards, the Old One-eyed Man shouldn’t casually reveal client-related information, but perhaps due to the high status of Vilyric and the others, along with their connection to Murong Yun, and considering that the clients were no good folks either, he pondered for a moment and eventually decided to share some information.

Those folks were disciples of the Demon-Suppressing Sect.

Of course, this was definitely not something he expressed openly, but it was easy for the Old One-eyed Man to judge just by observing their faces.

By the way, according to the intel Ling Feng had, the headquarters of the Demon-Suppressing Sect was actually hidden in Xiangshou County, as it was close to Cangyun Mountain, where various spirit beasts and monsters were densely populated, making it convenient for them to capture and train at any moment.

In other words, it was the rich resources and culture surrounding Xiangshou County that gradually gave rise to the Demon-Suppressing Sect, which developed in a direction of controlling demons and beasts, and continued to grow until it reached its current extent.

Such organizations were not acknowledged by the public and were naturally hated by the majority in Xiangshou County, though their strength was indeed vast and quite mysterious, they still dared not establish any openly visible bases. Otherwise, if discovered, they would be immediately besieged by many local powers.

The Old One-eyed Man also didn’t like the Demon-Suppressing Sect, but being a fortune teller with a clear-cut business, since they approached him sincerely asking for divination, it wouldn’t be wise to turn on them.

The principle of a fortune teller is to remain aloof from worldly affairs; being tied to fewer karmic threads allows them to avoid heavenly retribution and detection, so they wouldn’t take sides.

At this moment, those people should have already set off for Cangyun Mountain to seek out the uncertain situation of the Princess Ling.

Time swiftly passed to nightfall.

The area of Xiangshou County was quite large, and although Xiangshou City, which sits along the canal, is inclined eastward, it still requires a considerable journey to reach the Cangyun Mountain area, which does not belong to the border of the Spirit Kingdom.

After receiving news from the Old One-eyed Man, the four of them did not pause and directly left Xiangshou City, renting a carriage to head to the foot of Cangyun Mountain. However, even now, with darkness setting in, they had not yet left the borders of the Spirit Kingdom, and had a bit of distance to go before reaching their destination.

Haste makes waste; although Vilyric wasn’t concerned, the other three weren’t at the point where they could go without food, drink, or sleep and remain energetic. So, they decided to find a place nearby to rest for the night and set off again tomorrow.

Naturally, this task fell upon a certain ‘tour guide’ well acquainted with the local situation.

“This is it; this place is called Cangyun Town. It’s said to have existed for hundreds, nearly a thousand years, originally built as a temporary campsite for locals to communicate with the spirit beasts of Cangyun Mountain.”

Standing on a slight slope, Murong Yun pointed ahead to the buildings that had lit up in the night, warmly explaining like someone who had been there before.

“As time passed, the scale of that campsite expanded due to the comings and goings of people, gradually evolving into a village, a town, and eventually reaching today’s scale, officially named Cangyun Town—a bustling area akin to a trading center at the foot of Cangyun Mountain.”

“Most travelers looking to climb Cangyun Mountain or seeking opportunities in search of favored spirit pets would stock up on supplies, make preparations here, buy intel, or even guides. This place also has plenty of people engaged in spirit pet-related businesses, with quality no worse than that of Xiangshou City.”

“Mm… So, it’s like a tourist-style town.”

Wait a moment, did Murong Yun just say… tourism?

Looking at the brightly lit area nearby, despite being a town, the scale already exceeded the usual standards, Vilyric tilted her head, her expression slightly strange.

“It sounds like Cangyun Mountain isn’t that hard to climb for locals. Didn’t you say it’s very tall and dangerous?”

“Oh, Miss Vilyric, you might not know, but actually, that’s not the case…”

As he gestured for them to move on, Murong Yun began to explain willingly.

“Cangyun Mountain is indeed the most wondrous mountain of our Ancient Spirit Realm, hiding many secrets and mysteries that remain unresolved to this day, but it’s not entirely so.”

“Though it’s called a mountain, Cangyun has a total of twelve peaks, all of which vanish into the sea of clouds above, lofty and unreachable.”

“Each peak has a master who holds a unique, mysterious identity. Their personalities, preferences, and abilities are unknown, but they all share one common goal: to lead and protect the beings of their respective peaks, acting as the guardians of the Twelve Peaks of Cangyun.”

“The attitudes of these peak masters toward outsiders vary greatly; some are very hostile, resolutely excluding any intruders daring to ascend their protected peaks, while others adopt a more hands-off approach, dealing only with those who actively cause trouble.”

“Some are even quite enlightened, encouraging their spirit beasts and demons to communicate with humans, exchange goods, or even establish reciprocal partnerships.”

“Currently, the vast majority of non-cultivated spirit pets flowing through Xiangshou County come from this group of peak masters, and while each peak master governs their own realm, it’s said they rarely interfere with the internal affairs of other peaks.”

“Hence, Cangyun Mountain is both dangerous and safe; the key simply depends on which peak you decide to climb.”

   

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