It took Yang Wei just over an hour to reach the Hēi Lóng Mountains.
Now, he was deep into the Frozen Peaks and well past the Monasteries of Isolation.
Riding on a dragon sword, he looked down at the landscape covered by a massive white blanket of snow. Finally spotting the bridge spanning a huge chasm, he dove down, landing gracefully and dispersing his sword into energy particles.
With his hands tucked comfortably in his cloak pockets, Yang Wei strolled ahead, remembering his last visit here with Feng, where they both had to disguise as women. "At least this time, I can come as a man," he muttered to himself.
Approaching the Frost Lotus Temple, Yang Wei knew the nuns there wouldn't easily permit him to cross their sacred grounds. However, showing them the scroll given to him by the second matriarch might grant him entry.
"If not," he yawned, "I'll just have to use force..."
Arriving at the other end of the temple's bridge, he was met by two female guards wielding sharp, curved swords. They unsheathed their weapons swiftly, pointing them at Yang Wei.
The first guard demanded, "What man dares set their unworthy foot on this bridge?"
The second guard stepped forward, sword poised, and warned, "Speak up, or we'll remove your head and feed it to our spirit beasts."
Yang Wei sighed heavily. "Typical," he muttered under his breath.
...
Sun Yuying emerged from the grand pagoda, where the morning prayers had just wrapped up. It was a rigorous six-hour session of devotion and meditation that began before sunrise.
Today's prayers went really well... If I keep this up for one week every month, I'm sure the Heavens will answer my prayers. So, when I'm finally taken to the Sacred Immortal Lands to cultivate my specialized meridians, I'll maybe acquire the Stellar Essence Meridians.
If I manage that, I'll be able to increase my influence in the sect and use it to help Dragon Ridge Township and all my sisters there.
Holding her large wooden prayer beads, she walked silently among the chattering women exiting the pagoda.
Besides cultivating, I haven't been able to make any friends in the sect.
Her expression was calm, but occasionally, a subtle intensity crept onto her face, giving off an air of aloofness that kept others at bay. Over the ten years she'd spent in the sect, this facial expression of hers had left her friendless.
Observing the closeness among the other girls, Sun Yuying approached two of them. "Excuse me," she began tentatively.
The two ladies turned to her, their expressions curious. "Yes? Is everything okay?" one of them asked.
He rubbed his chin and observed it for a moment before nodding.
Hmm, this statue looks an awful lot like Senior Tortoise, except for the six arms... He could be some god they worship here. After all, the first time I ever spoke with him was here.
"What is he doing?" Sun Yuying asked herself, watching him from behind a huge ice pillar where she hid.
Yang Wei tried to open the codex, and to his surprise, it actually opened this time. "So I really did need to be at the peak of the Mortal Realm to access the codex," he mumbled to himself.
He spread it out and began to read.
"I, Shen Bao, has created this sacred cultivation manual as an ancient scroll that will belong to the Celestial Serpent Sect. I have divided it into three celestial illustrations which unveil the path to elevate a cultivator's mastery of the dragon sword beyond perfection.
It is only applicable to those who have reached the third stage of Dragon Vein Cultivation and the ninth level of Mortal Realm, promising a transcendence of mere excellence."
Hmm, it's that Shen Bao guy again...
As he read, Sun Yuying leaned forward, squinting to catch a glimpse of what he was reading. "What exactly is he reading there?" she whispered to herself, wanting to step out and talk to him but restraining herself and staying hidden behind the pillar, watching with complete focus.
"I see," Yang Wei said aloud.
It was then and there he understood what the Celestial Serpent-Dragon Ascendancy Codex really was. Based on the illustrations he was looking at, it was in no way anything powerful in and of itself. It completely related to his entire concept of his mantra—the Frog's Tale of the Living Blade.
Without grasping the essence of his mantra, one would never truly be able to utilize the true state of this inheritance. His mantra was the key, and the codex was the door. He would use both to create a sword that had its own spirit and temper it to be as hard and resilient as his own sword intent.
He nodded proudly as he spoke, "No other person has any grasp over my mantra, so that means even Shen Bao doesn't know how to create the ultimate dragon sword." Then he sighed and shrugged, "Still, I have to say this guy's an absolute genius, I don't think I'd ever have been able to do all this if it weren't for this codex... no wonder it's a foundational inheritance."
Yang Wei weaved several double-handed mudras and then performed the karana mudra, intending to transfer refined dragon vein Qi from his body into the codex to awaken the celestial illustrations.
However, to his surprise, a rift tore open in the skies.
"What?" Yang Wei exclaimed, looking up in disbelief.
Sun Yuying followed his gaze and saw the rift sucking everything into it. "What in the Nine Heavens is going on?" she exclaimed, addressing no one in particular.
Before they could react, the rift instantly sucked both Yang Wei and Sun Yuying into it, and then closed back.
Truly, they were gone...