Chapter 56: Immortals Arrive Amidst the Smoke

In the Great Rock Hall, the figure clad in gauze and a precious crown bowed her head and asked

"State Preceptor, the Heavenly Mountain collapsed yesterday; does this portend an approaching calamity?"

The person seated below had hair and beard as white as snow, his brow furrowed in a deep frown. It took a long time before he replied: "To answer Your Majesty, according to our ancestors, the Heavenly Mountain is the pillar that supports the heavens. For reasons unknown, it has collapsed without cause; I fear the danger of the heavens collapsing."

The King was greatly alarmed. Clutching his crown, he asked repeatedly, "Does the State Preceptor have a solution!"

The white-haired State Preceptor let out a heavy sigh, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

The ancestors had only passed down the techniques of observational algorithms and nothing more. Though he had mastered a portion of the true teachings, when it came to matters of the survival of the world, he truly found himself powerless to act.

Even with the State Preceptor declaring there was no way, the King’s expression turned sorrowful. He slumped despondently into his seat, unable to utter a word.

Suddenly, the sound of someone running and shouting drifted in: "Immortal! There is an immortal in the sky!"

The King was in the midst of his distress; upon hearing this, he thought it was merely the nonsense of his subjects. Anger rose in his heart, and he stood up, shouting, "Who is making such a racket outside!"

An attendant hurried into the hall, knelt, and bowed: "To answer Your Majesty, there is indeed a small, snow-white boat in the sky outside. The palace believes it to be the dwelling of an immortal, hence the commotion!"

"It is actually true!" The King strode out of the hall. The attendant hurriedly rose to assist the State Preceptor as they both headed outside.

The royal palace sat upon the highest terrain in the city. Upon exiting the hall doors, one could see a white boat drifting through the air, traversing the sky without the need for external force.

As for the person in the boat, it was none other than Zhao Chun, who had come to investigate!

Since entering the encirclement of the Rock Mountains, although she had not detected any traces of cultivators, her vigilance had not diminished. Looking down, she saw what was actually a miniature city.

It was called "miniature" only in comparison to the Hengyun World; in all fairness, the size of this city was comparable to Pingyang County, where the Zhao family resided, within the Flying Gourd Small World.

The population numbered only tens of thousands, and there seemed to be no presence of cultivators.

Zhao Chun shook her head; she had miscalculated. There was no spiritual energy here, so naturally, no one could enter the Dao.

Since that was the case, she might as well go down and take a look. With this thought, the smoke boat followed her will, slowly descending into the city.

Since the palace was on the highest ground, Zhao Chun chose that spot to land.

The King and the other onlookers saw the white boat grow from small to large as it approached them. Everyone grew somewhat panicked, until the white-haired State Preceptor, leaning on his staff, stepped forward to stand beside the King.

Just as the white boat was about to land upon the high platform of the palace, it suddenly transformed into a mass of mist. The crowd cried out in alarm, having never witnessed such immortal transformations.

The mist gradually dispersed and condensed into strands, revealing a young girl in the center. Her countenance was tranquil and her figure well-proportioned; judging by her appearance, she was nearing the age of puberty.

Once the mist condensed into strands, it slowly returned into the yellow talisman in her hand.

The King was utterly astonished and did not know how to speak. Seeing this, the white-haired State Preceptor bowed deeply and said, "Greetings, Immortal..."

This action prompted the others, who hurriedly bowed in unison: "Greetings, Immortal."

Seeing that it was the white-haired elder who had spoken, Zhao Chun asked him, "There is no need for such formalities. I ask you, where is this place, and what are your identities?"

The question left the crowd looking at one another in confusion, yet none dared to discuss it in front of the immortal. They heard the State Preceptor say slowly, "This is the Great Jun Kingdom, the only nation within a thousand-mile radius. This man is the Sovereign of our Great Jun Kingdom."

The man wore brilliant gold gauze and a jeweled crown; his status was extremely noble, indeed the Sovereign mentioned by the elder.

As for the elder himself, he identified as the State Preceptor of Great Jun, named Mao Wu. His gaze held reverence rather than fear, suggesting he was a man of great experience.

Great Jun had one major issue: in terms of territory and population, it could hardly be called a great nation. However, according to Mao Wu, it was the only country within a thousand miles. In this world, if the territory were not so vast as to be sparsely populated, it would be that human traces were simply too rare to allow for concentrated settlements.

Mao Wu invited Zhao Chun inside and offered wine.

"May I ask, Immortal, where have you come from?"

Zhao Chun did not drink the wine; she merely requested a cup of clear water, drank it, and replied, "I am not of this world. I entered this place by mistake and intend to return to my original location. I wonder, has any unusual event occurred in this world recently?"

The Sovereign and Mao Wu were filled with doubt, not understanding what the immortal meant by "this world." Assuming she was a being from the heavens, and hearing her ask about unusual events, the Sovereign hurriedly replied, "There is indeed one matter!"

His expression was anxious as he continued, "There is a mountain here that supports the heavens, which suddenly collapsed yesterday, causing continuous earthquakes. We do not know if this signifies some great change."

A mountain collapse?

Zhao Chun keenly caught this key detail, concluding that it must be related to the mountain that had also collapsed within the Fengyan Sect ruins.

Or perhaps, it was the exact same mountain!

But how could the same mountain appear in different worlds? Could it be that she was not in a small world, but still within the Hengyun World?

Faced with many questions and no answers, Zhao Chun said directly, "Can you lead me there to see?"

"This..." The Sovereign felt timid upon hearing this and did not dare to respond.

Mao Wu leaned on the table and said, "Immortal, you may not know, but it is not that we are unwilling to help, it is that we truly lack the power. The Heavenly Mountain is an unknown distance from here; I fear that even if we walked until we died of old age, we might not reach it..."

"That is no matter. I can take you with my smoke boat, and once we reach the Heavenly Mountain, I shall bring you back."

"In that case, it is no longer a difficult matter..." Mao Wu thought carefully. He reasoned that if Zhao Chun went, she might be able to resolve the calamity of the collapsing heavens. He replied, "The Sovereign must remain in the kingdom to manage affairs, so let me accompany the Immortal. Although the Heavenly Mountain is no longer as it was, I still remember its location and can guide the Immortal."

Zhao Chun nodded. After waiting for Mao Wu to make preparations for a while, she summoned the smoke boat, led him inside, and set off in the direction he indicated.

Before their departure, the people of Great Jun saw them off en masse. Knowing the journey was long, they wept profusely, watching the smoke boat rise and fly out of the Rock Mountains.

Seeing this, Zhao Chun remarked, "The State Preceptor is indeed dearly loved by the people."

With tears in his eyes, Mao Wu replied, "The Mao clan has been passed down since the founding of the nation, serving as State Preceptor for generations to protect the royal family. Previously, we were practitioners of the Mysterious Dao, skilled in deducing heavenly secrets and performing sacrifices for rain, which earned us the respect of the people..."

"Sacrifices for rain? Since entering this world, I have seen no farmland."

Mao Wu spoke with even greater sorrow: "That was in the time of our ancestors. It is said that every family possessed hundreds of acres of fertile land, with abundant rice and fish, crisscrossed by rivers and lush vegetation. But I know not when it happened, these words became mere legends. It is as if, from the moment we were born, we have lived in a desolate wasteland..."

Zhao Chun sighed, thinking only that the people's lives were hard and their existence difficult.

It took a full half-month of travel to reach the remnants of the Heavenly Mountain.

From the boat, the Heavenly Mountain could no longer be called a mountain; it was nothing but a field of broken rocks and scorched earth.

Strangely, there was a massive sinkhole in the ground, pitch black inside. Looking into it, the contents did not appear to be rock.

"The heavenly pillar... has broken..." Mao Wu knelt by the side of the smoke boat and wailed, weeping for the calamity and for his people.

Zhao Chun landed on the ground from the boat and said, "Lead the way to this point." Seeing the white-haired old man in such profound grief, yet powerless to reverse the so-called calamity of the collapsing heavens, she took a bottle of Essence-Nurturing Pills from her storage bag and offered them to him.

Once these pills were mixed with water, they could strengthen the body and eliminate chronic ailments for mortals; it was a token of thanks to Mao Wu for his guidance.

With a thought, she commanded the smoke boat to carry him back to Great Jun, while she remained at the Heavenly Mountain, intending to explore the sinkhole.