Chapter 80: Sunrise

Actually, thinking about it, there didn’t seem to be any explicit rule on Yonglu Mountain forbidding disciples from climbing onto the roof of Juyong Hall to watch the sunrise. Then again, no disciple in the past had ever… harbored such a bold and beautiful idea.

As expected of the Divine Dragon Master, he knew Yonglu Mountain like the back of his hand.

Juyong Hall was in a highly conspicuous location, situated directly opposite the main gates and suspended high above the mountain peaks. Only a single, steep cloud stairway led straight to the hall. Shrouded in spiritual clouds year-round, it was rich in spiritual energy and bathed in glowing mist. Ordinary disciples could only enter Juyong Hall openly when they first joined the sect. At other times, opportunities were rare, unless one’s cultivation reached the pinnacle, achieving the status of a sect elder or the sect master, allowing them to come and go as they pleased.

“The last time I came to Juyong Hall was during the apprenticeship ceremony.”

There were no flight-restriction arrays around Juyong Hall, but unfortunately, none of the three had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage yet, so they couldn’t fly on objects. Thus, if they wanted to reach Juyong Hall, the cloud stairway was their only path.

Tonight was New Year’s Eve, and there weren’t many disciples on duty in the sect. They were only stationed at the front and back gates and key array locations, with none near the cloud stairway. Of course, even on ordinary days, Juyong Hall was left unguarded.

It wasn’t that Juyong Hall’s security was poor, but rather that it was a part of the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array itself.

Even the wide opening of the gates on New Year’s Day was the result of the array automatically drawing spiritual energy and operating. In other words, if they triggered the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, the three of them would have to spend at least ten New Years in the Punishment Hall.

But with their level of cultivation, triggering the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array? That was pure fantasy.

“It really is unguarded. There shouldn’t be any traps or arrays on the Floating Cloud Steps, right?”

“I don’t smell any danger,” Chen Zui said.

Wen Xu: …Why does it feel like these two are even more enthusiastic than me?!

Bian Chunzhou waved his hand frantically. “Wen Xuxu, hurry up! It looks like some patrolling disciples are coming this way!”

It was confirmed: they were definitely more enthusiastic than him.

The three of them quickly climbed onto the Floating Cloud Steps one after another. These steps were quite similar to the Heart-Inquiry Realm they had climbed when they first joined the sect, even feeling the same underfoot. It was just… boundless, feeling as if there was no end.

“Have we… been walking for nearly an hour?”

“Just about. One thousand five hundred and thirty-six steps.”

…You’re really something, counting them so clearly. Don’t tell me we took a wrong turn?

Bian Chunzhou looked up at the dark sky. The black floating clouds layered upward like soft, black cotton candy. He couldn’t help but reach out and poke them. They felt surprisingly good. “Do you think we’ve already walked past it?”

They had only been looking up and hadn’t paid attention to the scenery behind them.

Bian Chunzhou glanced back. Although he didn’t have a fear of heights, falling from here would definitely kill him, right? Oh no. He hadn’t felt it just now, but thinking about it now, his legs were suddenly shaking. What was he supposed to do?!

Wen Xu was blindfolded, “seeing” through his perception of the wind. He had been walking in the middle, protected by his two friends, which was why he had the spare energy to count the steps. Hearing this, he shook his head. “We haven’t walked past it. The wind on the cloud steps rises from below, and the spiritual energy it carries is steadily increasing.”

If they had passed it, the spiritual energy would have been blocked by Juyong Hall, and it wouldn’t still be this abundant.

“Then that doesn’t make sense. Could it be that we’re walking too slowly?”

Bian Chunzhou looked up, but he couldn’t see the entrance to the hall at all. He tried hard to recall how he had come to Juyong Hall last time. Oh, right, he had been brought up by someone else on a flying Dharma treasure.

“Forget it. Since we’ve come all this way, we absolutely can’t give up!”

So the three of them kept their heads down and forged ahead. By the time they reached the three-thousandth step, they could already see the brilliance in the direction of Langyuan City, where firelight lit up half the sky. Although they couldn’t see it clearly… it was the New Year!

“Wen Xuxu, Chen Zuizui, Happy New Year!!!”

“Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year, Chunzhou, Chen Zui.”

Hehe, although the three of them were still “halfway up the mountain,” this didn’t dampen Bian Chunzhou’s good mood. With such good sports by his side, even Wen Xu, who hadn’t been very enthusiastic at first, now felt that they absolutely had to see today’s sunrise.

Otherwise, wouldn’t they be letting down these three thousand cloud steps!

And so, it was three thousand steps, and then another three thousand, and another three thousand. Until a thin mist began to shroud the clouds on the horizon, the three of them finally saw Juyong Hall, veiled in clouds and mist, not far ahead.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“What?”

“These Floating Cloud Steps might have nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps!”

Chen Zui and Bian Chunzhou exchanged a look, then in perfect sync, they grabbed Wen Xu and started running upward. They had to run; they had already come this far, and if they didn’t run now, they would miss the sunrise! Having climbed all these Floating Cloud Steps, if they missed it, they would be plagued by bad luck for the entire year!

Driven by this determination, the three of them ran faster and faster, even leaving afterimages behind. It was only thanks to the stamina of cultivators that they managed to reach the plaza of Juyong Hall just as the first ray of morning light burst forth.

“Holy crap, I actually climbed all the way up! I even impress myself!”

Just as Bian Chunzhou finished shouting, a soaring glow suddenly burst across the horizon. It was magnificent and fantastical, majestic and bold, rich and vibrant. Even the most brilliant colorist in the world could not paint such beautiful and splendid colors.

Bian Chunzhou stared blankly at this display of the Creator’s craftsmanship. It was too beautiful, so beautiful that he subconsciously held his breath. Yet, this stunning sunrise had only just begun.

But in the next moment, his mood fell slightly, because Wen Xuxu couldn’t see the beautiful scenery before them.

He couldn’t help but steal a glance at Wen Xuxu, who was standing still. Cultivators could, of course, perceive sunrises and sunsets. Bian Chunzhou tried closing his eyes. He felt a gentle breeze softly brushing against his face, and not far away, thousands of rays of auspicious light shifted in countless ways, not inferior to what the naked eye could see at all.

Bian Chunzhou thought to himself, Wen Xuxu doesn’t need my comfort.

How wonderful. We watched this magnificent sunrise of the cultivation world together. Oh, those 9,999 steps weren’t climbed in vain!

Compared to Bian Chunzhou’s outward display of emotion, Chen Zui was much calmer. He simply stared unblinkingly at the yolk-like sun, as if trying to discern how its rising today differed from any other day.

After studying it for a long time, he reached a conclusion: for some reason, today’s sunrise was indeed more beautiful.

Chen Zui did not understand why, but he felt his hands itching to swing his blade.

He turned to look at his two friends, then squeezed his own hands, ultimately holding himself back. He felt that practicing his blade right now would spoil the mood.

Even though he didn’t quite understand what spoiling the mood meant.

Meanwhile, Wen Xu had opened his eyes at some point. Through the ribbon covering them, he saw wind leaping out from the depths of the clouds. Accompanying the massive solar disk, like Xihe^[1] driving her chariot to chase the sun, this wind was also pursuing the sunlight.

He couldn’t help but take a step forward, wanting to see clearly what kind of wind this was.

But he couldn’t see it clearly, not at all. His vision grew even blurrier, until he could only see… hazy halos of dark light.

He slowly closed his eyes, but in that instant, he saw the long winds enveloped by sunlight all around him, even close by. They filled the entirety of Juyong Hall without restraint, like mischievous children, wild and scattered.

Wen Xu looked up and saw where the winds were gathering…

The roof ridge.

And it was the very center of Juyong Hall’s roof ridge. He watched the wind gather layer by layer, wrapped in auspicious bands of spiritual energy, growing larger and tighter, before settling onto the ridge and slowly flowing over every tile of the hall.

What did this look like?

With a creak, the doors of Juyong Hall slowly swung open, and the flowing, scattered wind suddenly took shape. I need to go up to the roof ridge and take a look, Wen Xu thought.

And he did just that. He didn’t even need to use any spiritual spells; he only had to follow the wind that swept through the open doors. The wind was naturally close to him, treating him as one of its own, and quickly carried him up to the roof ridge.

The moment his feet touched the roof ridge, Wen Xu looked up at the sky. It was so clear.

He suddenly saw the shape of the wind clearly.

How could Master know even this so clearly?! Could it be that Master also secretly… came here before?!

Seeing Wen Xu rise into the air out of nowhere, Bian Chunzhou and Chen Zui thought he was in danger and quickly gave chase. But when they landed on the roof ridge, they too froze in astonishment.

This was…

“The Mountain-Protecting Grand Array. This is Yonglu Mountain’s Mountain-Protecting Grand Array.”

The wind had taken the shape of the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array. Or rather, it had merged and gathered into the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, fitting so perfectly, so seamlessly, as if it were always meant to be this way.

Although Wen Xu was no grandmaster of formations, he had recently been studying them. Combined with the advantage of his Wind Spiritual Root, which allowed him to see all the shapes of the wind, it was not hard for someone of his intelligence to guess that this was the wind being constrained by the array.

Yet even though it was confined by the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, the wind remained free.

He seemed to understand a little, yet not entirely.

“Then, what’s beneath our feet couldn’t be…”

Chen Zui finished Bian Chunzhou’s sentence. “Beneath our feet is the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array.”

The three of them stood solemnly. Even after the grand and glorious sunrise ended, their minds remained deeply stirred. But even Chen Zui felt that if every sunrise was like this, he wouldn’t mind climbing the 9,999 steps every day to watch it.

Actually, climbing the steps wasn’t all that boring.

“Awesome! Today’s sunrise was seriously amazing!”

Bian Chunzhou spoke excitedly, only to suddenly hear Wen Xuxu beside him say, “Last night’s dumplings were also delicious. Very delicious. Especially the pickled cabbage filling.”

Nonsense, you clearly don’t like sour food and prefer the three-delicacy shrimp dumplings! But whatever, today is New Year’s Day, so I won’t expose the thin-skinned Little Grand-Uncle Master.

“Why bring up dumplings all of a sudden? Weren’t you… mmph!” What’s going on? Why is he covering my mouth again?

Wen Xu smiled slightly. “You don’t want to talk, do you?”

Chen Zui: …Whatever, best to listen to the smart guy.

Juyong Hall was quiet, save for the sound of the wind passing through the wide-open doors. The three had already come down from the roof ridge, and now they faced a new problem.

“So, how are we supposed to get down?”

If they just went down like this, wouldn’t they be boosting the Punishment Hall’s KPIs^[2] right at the start of the year?!