Three days had passed since the incident in the Forbidden Zone.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
In the outer courtyard of the Eternal Heaven Sect, two young girls walked side by side, carrying water jars. They whispered to each other excitedly—though loud enough to catch the attention of nearby disciples.
"Hey, did you hear? They say Li Feng and Yu Chen were saved… by a mysterious disciple from inside the Forbidden Zone!"
"Seriously?! But isn't that zone... well, forbidden? Why would a sect disciple be in there?"
"Shhh! Rumor says he's not one of the Nine Core Disciples. But his strength is off the charts. They say he defeated 14 bandits alone… barehanded!"
The other girl's eyes widened.
"If not a Core Disciple, then who? Don't tell me… an outsider?"
"Impossible. No outsider can get past Nie Ruoshui."
At the mention of that name, both girls instinctively bowed their heads.
Unbeknownst to them, from four kilometers northwest, a pair of sharp eyes had locked onto their conversation.
Nie Ruoshui, the eternal guardian of the sect's hidden zones and all Forbidden Territories, sat atop a jagged cliff stone. The wind whispered gently past, yet her body did not flinch.
"Who… is the strongest disciple hiding in the valley I protect?" she muttered.
"I've monitored every forbidden zone for two hundred years. Not even the trail of an ant escapes my watch. Three days ago, only two foolish kids and a pack of idiot bandits entered…"
Her eyes narrowed. A faint unease stirred in her chest. She, an eternal cultivator fused with the surveillance formation, now felt… shallow.
"It's impossible for someone to escape my notice. Unless…"
She didn't finish the thought.
A flash of light burst from her body—and in the blink of an eye, Nie Ruoshui vanished, diving into the silent depths of the valley.
Far from the sect's crowds and the noise of the mortal world, atop the tallest peak west of the Eternal Heaven Sect, stood a mountain wrapped in eternal mist.
Even the elders avoided it.
No paths led there. No beasts roamed. Not a trace of spiritual energy flowed strongly through it.
But behind that deadly stillness, inside a narrow cave hidden behind gray stone…
Shen Liang sat cross-legged.
Silent. Motionless.
Eyes closed, breath barely present. His body had fused with the mountain—like stone, like a dead tree… like time itself.
Ding!
Congratulations! You've ascended to Foundation Establishment.
Next stage requirements:
Qi Required: 200,000
Shen Liang slowly opened his eyes.
"…What the—? From two thousand to two hundred thousand? Are you kidding me?"
He opened his system interface. A large number blinked:
Current Qi: 18,000
"What the hell… I'm not gaining any more Qi from meditation. Usually, I get at least ten points every three days. Now… nothing?"
The system answered calmly.
[Due to Host's passive skill [Unmoving Like the Mountain], Qi gain from meditation has been disabled. Instead, Host gains permanent increases in Attack, Defense, and Spiritual Root Purity.]
Shen Liang raised an eyebrow. "That passive… the one that makes me a living rock?"
[Yes. This passive erases Host's spiritual presence from existence. Host becomes undetectable to higher cultivators, tracking artifacts, and celestial formations.]
"…Then why make the next stage so expensive?"
[Because Host's enemies will always be stronger, the system deems rapid advancement too risky. Difficulty is adjusted to maintain balance.]
He sighed deeply. "This system… kinda evil. But also makes sense…"
He glanced at his left hand—Qi veins beneath the skin glowed faintly.
He smiled.
"Hehe… system is the best!"
Three hours later.
Nie Ruoshui had scoured nearly the entire Forbidden Valley.
She had checked the formations, sniffed out residual Qi, summoned earth spirits, even reread the sky records. But found… nothing.
"Impossible… If someone that powerful fought here, there should be signs. And yet…"
She stood within a circle of stones—the very place the battle occurred three days prior. Even the spiritual energy there had fully neutralized.
Silent. Far too silent.
"The monsters started fleeing this valley six years ago… one by one, as if sensing something I cannot…"
Her eyes narrowed. She looked up at the distant mountain peak.
"I'll search up there…"
But as she took a single step forward, her eyes widened. A near-invisible formation cloaked the air above the mountain.
"A formation… natural?"
She reached out, only to be gently repelled—as if rejected by something unseen.
"No… This isn't a man-made formation. This… is a law of nature."
—
Inside the cave hidden in that misty mountain, Shen Liang sat once again in meditation.
Eyes closed.
Back outside, Nie Ruoshui stood frozen before the veil of air. Unable to pass. Unable to comprehend. She stared at it so long, the mist began to feel like it was staring back.
"This is no ordinary formation… but also no technique of man."
She clenched her fist. "I need eyes sharper than mine…"
Without hesitation, she shot into the sky. A golden streak tore through the clouds.
Her destination: the Sky Divination Pavilion, home of the one elder who had not left his chamber in the last hundred thousand years.
His name was Yi Yaozi, the Elder of Destiny, reader of the world's structure, chronicler of heaven and earth, and guardian of the Heaven's Pulse Mirror—a sacred artifact capable of glimpsing folded realities and truths hidden by time.
No ordinary person could meet him. But Nie Ruoshui was no ordinary person.
Moments later, she stood before a six-meter black wooden door. The air carried the scent of ancient incense, aged ink, and the faint sound of a guqin playing in the distance.
She stood tall.
"Nie Ruoshui requests audience with Elder Yi Yaozi."
The door did not open. But a deep, calm voice responded.
"Enter. I've known you were coming since before sunrise."
She stepped lightly into the dim room. Shelves of sacred texts stood tall, scrolls danced mid-air, and at the center sat an old man in worn white robes, hair trailing across the floor. His eyes were covered in crimson cloth, yet his face was serene.
"I saw a mountain's shadow that makes no sound, and a wind that cannot touch it," Yi Yaozi murmured. "Tell me, what did you see?"
Nie Ruoshui dropped to one knee. "I have guarded the hidden and forbidden zones for two hundred years. But this time… there is something I cannot see."
Yi Yaozi nodded gently. He picked up a single ancient coin and tossed it into the air.
It spun slowly—until it struck the floor with a sharp clang.
At that moment, the Heaven's Pulse Mirror behind him shimmered, revealing a blurred image: a quiet mountain, a lifeless valley, and… a silhouette seated in a dark cave.
The face was hidden. But one thing radiated clearly—absolute emptiness.
Not void. But something even light could not touch.
Yi Yaozi fell silent. His fingers trembled slightly.
"That… is no ordinary disciple."
"No," Nie Ruoshui replied. "But he causes no chaos. He left no trace. I believe… he does not wish to be found."
Yi Yaozi smiled faintly. "Which is exactly why he must be found."
He pointed at the mirror.
"That mountain absorbs existence. If he remains there… the world may not realize when he awakens. And when he does, it might be… too late."
Nie Ruoshui clenched her fist.
"Should I capture him?"
Yi Yaozi shook his head slowly.
"No. You will fail. Even the heavens cannot see him clearly. But I can give you one clue."
He snapped his fingers. A small scroll appeared in the air and landed in Nie Ruoshui's hand.
"Seek the Eternal Shadow. If that disciple is truly one of ours… the mark will reveal itself on his body."
Nie Ruoshui opened the scroll—a faint symbol of an upside-down mountain with an empty circle at its heart.
"If you find him… bring him to the Pavilion of Destiny. Tell no one. Not even the Grand Elder."
She nodded firmly. "Understood."
Like a streak of lightning, Nie Ruoshui vanished.
—
Meanwhile, inside the silent cave atop the forbidden mountain…
Shen Liang slowly opened his eyes once more.
"…Why are my hairs standing on end?"
He glanced around.
Still silence.
Still… no one knew he existed.
Yet somehow, he felt as though someone… just tried to see him.