I forge immortality with spiritual treasures.

Chapter 2 Ten Thousand Mountains

Changguo is far from Dawanshan, and people's knowledge of it is mostly limited to written records.

The book "Zaiwuzhi" states: "East of Changzhi there are boundless mountains." This is also frequently mentioned in poems, essays, local chronicles, and travelogues throughout history.

They call it the Endless Mountain, and also the Ten Thousand Mountains, the Heaven-Reaching Mountain, the Nine Heavens Mountain, the Immortal Peak Mountain... It carries countless imaginings.

Only by experiencing it firsthand can one realize that even the most vivid imagination can only scratch the surface.

……

On the fourteenth day after Ying Chan encountered the colorful sparrow, a heavy rainstorm struck.

He took shelter under a towering tree, calculating his journey.

For the past ten days or so, he has not dared to delay for a moment, except to ensure he gets the necessary rest.

Even so, they had only covered less than half the distance.

Crossing mountains and valleys is difficult, and there are no roads in the Da Wan Mountains. Ying Chan can only find his way and make his way forward.

Sometimes, when you lose your way, you can only climb to a high place to get a better view and re-establish your route. Sometimes the road ahead is rugged, and sometimes you have to avoid wild beasts, so you have to take a detour or turn back and start over...

After a while, they were still far from the Taoist temple that Cai Que'er had mentioned.

Ying Chan knew he couldn't rush things, but the thought that every step he took brought him closer to the direction he had been longing for made him feel a little impatient.

He looked at the rain, opened his water bag and took a big gulp to suppress his anger, thinking, "I'm afraid it will take another twenty or thirty days to get there. I should hurry."

The rain is gradually subsiding, and this stretch of road isn't too difficult to travel, so it should be fine for continuing our journey.

Upon realizing this, Ying Chan decisively jumped up and set off again.

The direction had been determined before the rain.

Ying Chan trudged through a muddy area and carefully jumped across the slippery rocks, his path leading downwards.

Suddenly, a babbling brook came along and traveled with him for a while.

When it was time to part, Ying Chan looked through the rain and mist and gazed at the end of the stream in the distance.

It was a cold pool, hidden in the valley. The surface of the water resembled an ancient well, and even when the stream flowed into it, there were no ripples. Its depth was unknown.

Ying Chan inexplicably felt as if something was lurking in that cold pool, and after looking at it a few more times, he felt as if he had thorns in his back.

He frowned and quickly moved away from the cold pool. After walking for a while, he felt the pricking sensation on his back gradually subside.

The rain had stopped by then.

Ying Chan slowed his pace, wiped the water droplets from his forehead, and as he looked up at the sky, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dazzling color in the corner of his eye.

Before his gaze could follow, a crisp voice called out, "Taoist!"

Ying Chan turned around and indeed saw a figure in colorful robes and feathers: "The Fairy of the Colorful Sparrow."

During these ten days, Cai Que'er often came to visit, perhaps taking Ying Chan as a newly acquainted friend.

Ying Chan was happy to communicate with it, and over time, their relationship became much closer.

"Taoist priest!" the colorful sparrow called out. "Why did you come from that direction? It's too dangerous."

"Danger?" Ying Chan immediately realized something: "Is the fairy referring to that icy pool?"

"good."

Cai Que'er folded her wings and perched on Ying Chan's shoulder: "You don't know, there's a seven or eight-zhang-long white-scaled snake in that pool! It's extremely ferocious."

"A white-scaled serpent, seven or eight zhang long?"

"It's true! I've seen it with my own eyes. It can eat tigers and leopards raw, and sometimes it will even break rocks to devour them..."

Ying Chan was speechless upon hearing this.

He had never heard of such a large snake before, in either his past or present life; its ability to devour tigers and leopards and swallow rocks was utterly inconceivable.

Fortunately, it wasn't disturbed.

I wonder just how terrifying this ferocious creature is?
As Ying Chan pondered this, he listened to the colorful sparrow chirping. After it finished speaking for a while, he interjected, "Did the fairy come here specifically to find me?"

"Yes." Cai Que'er's melodious voice was filled with joy as she asked, "Taoist, guess what news I brought you?"

Ying Chan pondered for a moment and asked, "Could it be related to the Daoist academy?"

"The Taoist priest is indeed clever."

The term 'Taoist priest' seems to have become its unique title for Ying Chan, which is quite interesting.

Cai Que'er said, "I've inquired for you. If you want to join the Daoist academy, you need to pay something called 'shuxiu'."

"Tuition fee?"

"Good, did you bring the Taoist priest?"

“This…” Ying Chan frowned slightly, and Cai Que’er immediately guessed: “No?”

“‘Shuxiu’ is not a specific thing, but a gift of respect to the teacher upon entering school.”

Ying Chan knew that although Cai Que'er was intelligent, she lacked knowledge of human learning, so he patiently explained, "I didn't know about the academy beforehand, nor did I know about the tuition fees, so naturally I wasn't prepared."

The colorful sparrow tilted its head.

"Moreover... let alone that I have nothing of value, what if I were as wealthy as a king or nobleman?"

Ying Chan frowned: "The Taoist temple is a secluded place for cultivation, so it probably doesn't accept worldly things."

How should he prepare a tuition fee?
Caique tilted her head: "Then what should we collect?"

“A spiritual object? A magical object?” Ying Chan was also a mediocre cultivator with only a superficial understanding of the world of cultivators, so he could only guess and say, “At the very least, it’s something that people in the Dao Academy can use.”

"Something that even a Taoist temple could use?"

Ying Chan walked along, lost in thought, unaware of the colorful sparrow on his shoulder, its eyes also filled with contemplation.

Suddenly, it let out a joyful cry and exclaimed, "I understand!"

With that, it flapped its wings and flew swiftly forward.

Ying Chan saw a dazzling rainbow streak travel straight ahead and disappear into the bushes in an instant. He exclaimed in surprise, "Fairy?"

The next moment, the rainbow line suddenly circled back and called out, "Taoist, hurry up and follow!"

Ying Chan, not understanding the meaning, could only hurry to catch up and ask, "What is this, fairy?" "Didn't the Taoist priest say that tuition fees are something that the Taoist academy also needs?"

The colorful sparrow exclaimed happily, "I know!"

"There's a spiritual eye in that mountain to the southeast; it only gushes forth for one or two hours each month—"

"On several occasions, I saw Taoist disciples come here specifically to fetch water."

"Does the fairy mean... to use the spiritual spring as payment?"

After careful consideration, Ying Chan's eyes lit up.

"Exactly."

Cai Que'er said, "The spring will gush forth within the next few days, so it's the perfect time to go now."

“In that case.” Ying Chan was a straightforward person and immediately said, “Please lead the way, fairy.”

As he spoke, he gathered his energy and lightened his body, leaping several steps in one bound, overtaking the colorful sparrow with the speed of a rabbit and the agility of a falcon.

"Wow, the Taoist priest is so fast."

With a flap of its wings, the colorful sparrow overtook the others again and led the way southeast.

The trees in this mountain are tall and far apart, and the shrubs are mostly thornless, so a person and a bird can move forward without any restriction.

In just a short while, one could feel the mountain slope becoming gentler.

Ying Chan knew that they had reached a valley between mountains, and that they would soon be going uphill again.

But then, Cai Que'er suddenly cried out, "Oh no!"

Ying Chan raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask a question, the man and the bird had already rushed out of the forest, and the road ahead suddenly disappeared.

He slowed his pace and went closer to take a look.

Below, a deep, secluded canyon stretched out, with a stream seemingly flowing through its depths, its tinkling sound carried on the wind. Opposite, a sheer cliff face, covered in thick vines and green creepers, rose sharply and steeply.

The two cliffs stand almost parallel, as if the two mountains have broken apart here. They are only a few dozen steps apart, yet they are like an insurmountable chasm.

Moreover, the cliff top opposite is eleven or twelve feet higher than this one, which is truly beyond human reach.

"I forgot, humans don't have wings," Cai Que'er said sheepishly. "Does the Taoist priest have a way to get there?"

Ying Chan said helplessly, "I am not yet capable of flying through the clouds."

“Then we’ll have to take a detour,” said Cai Que’er. “But this canyon runs north to south, so we’ll have to go around it quite a long way.”

"Is it possible to make it in time?"

"Hmm..." Cai Que'er hesitated slightly: "Should we make it in time?"

One should be able to discern the uncertainty in its tone, and one cannot help but gaze at the canyon, a thoughtful expression on one's face.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted, slowly moving upwards from the valley floor to the opposite rock wall, reaching the top of the cliff, and finally returning to the vines covering the wall.

"A Taoist priest?" Seeing him remain silent in thought, Cai Que'er asked suspiciously, "Aren't we going to hurry on our way?"

Ying Chan withdrew his gaze and said, "There's no need to take a detour."

"No longer taking a detour?" Cai Que'er asked in surprise. "Then how will the Taoist priest get there?"

Ying Chan smiled slightly and did not answer, but suddenly raised his hand and made a hand seal, chanting incessantly. After a while, he suddenly shouted: "Wind, come!"

call--

In an instant, a wind actually rose from the bottom of the valley.

The colorful sparrow swayed in the wind, its feathers shimmering with iridescent light, and Ying Chan's long hair also fluttered along with it.

"Whoa!" Cai Que'er exclaimed in surprise, "Taoist priest, you actually know magic..."

Before the words were finished, it exclaimed again, but this time it was not a pleasant surprise, but a look of astonishment.

Ying Chan rushed towards the edge of the cliff against the still-winding wind and suddenly leaped off!
"Taoist!" Cai Que'er flapped her wings urgently, about to rush down the canyon to find Ying Chan.

But then, in mid-air, green vines danced in the air. As Ying Chan leaped off the cliff, he had already fixed his gaze on a thick vine and suddenly reached out and grabbed it!

The vines, weighed down by his weight, suddenly plummeted, and he swung towards the opposite rock wall.

It turns out that the gust of wind that Ying Chan summoned was to blow up the supple vines on the rock face so that they could fly across the canyon!
In the blink of an eye, he landed face-to-face on the rock face. With a heavy push from his feet, he somehow dissipated the force and, like a monkey, climbed up the cliff top using the rocks and vines.

"Alas!"

The colorful sparrow cheered and flew across the canyon, still excited: "Taoist! I didn't know you had such skills!"

Ying Chan gripped the protruding rock at the corner of the cliff with his fingertips, used the force to swing, and his body seemed to ride the wind as he soared into the air. He then landed steadily on the top of the cliff and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but smile.

He dared to travel alone to seek immortality and enlightenment, so he must have some skills to rely on.

However, his actions just now were a flash of inspiration, and looking back at the danger of the canyon cliffs, he was somewhat surprised by his own actions.

"What kind of magic was that? It could even control the wind and qi!"

The colorful sparrow was still chirping: "The cultivator's magic is really powerful! What can they do? I wish I could learn it too, I could definitely fly even faster..."

"The Wind Summoning Technique is just a very common little trick."

Ying Chan was somewhat surprised and glanced at Cai Que'er: "The fairy doesn't know magic?"

“Yes,” Cai Que’er said somewhat dejectedly, “I’ve heard that after beasts become spirits, they all more or less master some kind of magic. I’ve also seen tiger demons ride the wind and fish spirits manipulate water…”

"But I just fly faster."

Ying Chan was even more surprised that Cai Que'er, such a clever and intelligent spirit, didn't even know any basic magic, which contradicted his understanding.

However, its words and actions certainly didn't seem like those of a powerful demon...

Ying Chan was at a loss for how to comfort her. Just as he was pondering this, Cai Que'er, having shaken off her dejection, asked again, "Where did the Taoist learn his magic?"

"Well..." Ying Chan said, "I learned it at Guanzhong."

"Guanzhong?"

"Yunshan Temple. A small Taoist temple you don't know about, located in the southern mountains of Dachang Kingdom, and it's very dilapidated."

(End of this chapter)