Shimen
The snow has stopped, and the sky has cleared.
The bright, yet cold, winter sun bathed the entire jade stone platform, gilding its cold surface with a pale gold. The silver mask lying alone on the platform reflected a blinding silver light from its edges, like a final farewell, coldly reflected on the unmelted snow.
On and off the stone platform, the four people remained kneeling silently, as if they had transformed into four snow-covered statues.
This was a silence that Cangmin Mountain had never known before. There was no sound of swords breaking the wind, no debates about studying formations, no chattering from Baiji. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, leaving only a deathly silence.
A monk's body may never tire, but his heart may grow weary. To wallow in this immense sorrow for too long is ultimately not a solution.
With their master gone, Yun Qian, as the senior sister, had to shoulder the responsibility of looking after and guiding her junior brothers.
After a long while, Yun Qian seemed to wake up from a long nightmare. Supporting herself on the cold ground, she slowly and weakly rose from the stone platform. Her knees were stiff from kneeling for so long, and the sunlight made her vision blur.
"Go back and rest." Her voice was terribly hoarse, as if it had been sanded, and her face was bloodless, as pale as the snow under her feet.
“Senior Sister…” Bai Chuan looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed, filled with dependence and helplessness. At this moment, Yun Qian was their only pillar of support, the last pillar in this suddenly collapsing world.
Yun Qian stepped down from the stone platform and came to her three junior brothers. She reached out and helped them up one by one from the cold ground. She forced a smile, trying to create a comforting curve, but it only turned into a smile that was uglier than a grimace.
"Go back and rest well, so that Master's spirit in heaven will not worry about us."
Yes, Bai Yan certainly wouldn't want to see his disciples, whom he had poured his heart and soul into teaching, kneeling here so dejected and broken. But, even though they understood the reasoning, how could their hearts, with a piece torn out, truly find peace? Their departure now was merely a return to their respective courtyards to continue ruminating on their boundless pain.
Bai Yan is gone, but life, or rather, the responsibility of Cangmin Mountain, must continue.
The immense burden that was originally borne by that white-clad figure alone now rests heavily on Yun Qian's still slender shoulders.
Inside the quiet courtyard, Yun Qian sat on a chair by the window, her gaze calm and almost empty, fixed on the cold silver mask on the table.
Master... he really does know everything.
Over the years, despite the many suspicious aspects surrounding her and the chaotic divination results associated with her, Bai Yan never criticized or interrogated her. He remained steadfast, like a silent mountain, embracing all her differences. He knew of her uniqueness and accepted it with equanimity.
He truly believed that she could lead her three junior brothers to complete the path they were meant to walk and fulfill the mission borne by the disciples of Cangmin Mountain. Therefore, in the final moments of his life, he entrusted the heavy responsibility concerning the future of Cangmin Mountain, which he had been unable to complete himself, to her in such a vague yet utterly trusting manner.
Yun Qian raised her hand and forcefully wiped away the cold tears that had fallen onto her face again without her noticing. Her heart felt as if it were being crushed by a huge boulder, so heavy that she could hardly breathe.
According to the original story, Bai Yan's departure was not so hasty. Before his spiritual power was exhausted, he should have had enough time to calmly arrange his affairs. Now, what Yun Qian needs to do is to continue the path he didn't have time to pave.
She remembered everything Bai Yan did before leaving in the original book. Now, she had to complete those tasks.
Forbidden area in the back mountain.
The snow on the main peak of Cangmin Mountain has stopped, but the cold wind inside the forbidden area is still biting and howling as it winds between the platform and the stone gate.
Yun Qian had always wondered why the chill here, even with her five senses completely shut off, could still penetrate her limbs and bones so clearly, like a bone-deep infection, reaching the depths of her soul.
She stood silently before the massive, ancient stone gate, dressed only in a thin, light-colored dress. Her figure appeared exceptionally slender against the backdrop of the enormous stone gate, as if she were trying to single-handedly support this door that separated her from the unknown and the heavy burden with her seemingly frail body.
Only now did she truly understand that this forbidden area itself was the core of a massive array. Or, to be more precise, the entire Cangmin Mountain was an enormous and profound array!
The primary purpose of the legendary mountain-protecting spirit array may not have been to protect Cangmin Mountain from external enemies, but rather to completely isolate Cangmin Mountain from the outside world!
And this forbidden stone gate is the core of the array that maintains the operation of the entire array!
Yun Qian took a deep breath of the icy air, her eyes hardening with determination. She stood at the center of the formation, her hands rapidly forming intricate hand seals before her chest. A surge of Nascent Soul stage spiritual energy erupted from her fingertips, like a river bursting its banks, crashing fiercely towards the heavy stone door that had stood silent for countless years!
The moment the spiritual energy was injected, the intricate patterns on the stone gate, which had been dull and covered with the marks of time, suddenly lit up! The mysterious patterns, like awakened dragons, flowed with a soft yet terrifying golden light!
Yun Qian's gaze swept quickly across the illuminated patterns, then she pointed her fingers like a knife, using the wind as a blade, and without hesitation, she slashed a deep wound in her palm! Crimson blood gushed out instantly, but instead of dripping, it was drawn by an invisible force, merging with the spiritual power she was outputting, transforming into a stream of blood-red light that flowed into the stone gate!
The instant her blood touched the surface of the stone gate.
boom!
A strange sense of connection exploded in her mind! Her consciousness was forcibly connected with that heavy, ancient stone door, which seemed to bear the weight of countless ages!
Every detail of the patterns on the stone gate was magnified infinitely in her mind, so clear it was chilling. At the same time, a vast, ancient, and majestic power that made her soul tremble emanated from the depths of the stone gate, sending a chill down her spine and causing an uncontrollable, primal, and immense fear to rise within her!
What exactly is sealed or guarded behind this stone gate?
Yun Qian felt icy cold all over, her thoughts seemingly frozen by the terrifying pressure and chill. She could only mechanically continue her actions based on instinct and what Bai Yan might expect her to do, according to her memories.
She raised her still-bleeding hand, using her own life essence as a guide, and sketched an extremely complex, ancient-looking crimson rune in mid-air. Then, with a muffled groan, she forcefully severed a tiny but crucial wisp of her primordial consciousness from her own soul!
The wisp of divine consciousness, enveloping the bloodstain, slowly disappeared into the center of the stone gate, like a fledgling returning to its nest.
Buzz—!!!
An invisible yet colossal barrier, powerful enough to shake heaven and earth, spread outwards from the stone gate! Like an inverted giant glass bowl, it rapidly expanded until it completely enveloped and reinforced the sky and earth veins of the entire Cangmin Mountain!
The instant the barrier was completed, all the color drained from Yun Qian's face, leaving her deathly pale. Her vast, boundless spiritual energy was completely drained in the blink of an eye, leaving not a single drop!
"puff--"
She could no longer hold on and collapsed heavily to one knee in the cold snow, a sharp pain shooting through her body as if a thousand blades were simultaneously slicing through her veins. Her vision blurred, and she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, the crimson stain blooming on the white snow, a horrifying sight.
So it turns out... this protective spirit array that has sheltered Cangmin Mountain for millions of years is actually maintained by a wisp of the original divine consciousness of each Cangmin disciple throughout the ages! Over the centuries, countless disciples of Cangmin Mountain have sacrificed themselves one after another... No wonder, no wonder this spirit array is so powerful and so profound, able to isolate the mortal world and protect the mountain gate.
Yun Qian gasped for breath, each breath pulling at her aching chest. She gave up struggling and let herself fall backward, lying on her back in the cold snow, gazing at the sky that appeared exceptionally clear after being filtered by the spirit array barrier.
At that moment, in front of the stone gate, the void rippled, and a token about the size of a palm, neither gold nor jade, with a warm white light flowing throughout, quietly condensed and floated in mid-air.
Sect Leader's Token.
Only now did Yun Qian fully understand the ancient rule passed down through generations of Cangmin Mountain: when a generation of disciples is wiped out or the sect leader falls, the disciple with the highest cultivation among the new generation must come to this array's core within seven days and use his own divine sense and blood essence as a guide to inject into the stone gate in order to summon this token that represents the sect leader's authority and responsibility.
If the token is present, then the sect leader is safe and sound, or the position of sect leader is not vacant.
The absence of the token signifies the passing of the former leader and the need to appoint a new one.
And the new sect leader's final destination was inside this stone door, which was full of unknowns and terror!
Yun Qian gazed at the sect leader's token that floated in the air, radiating a soft glow, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips.
What earth-shattering secrets does this Cangmin Mountain hold? Why do all the sect leaders eventually have to walk behind this stone gate? What awaits them inside—inheritance, protection, or… an eternal prison and sacrifice?
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