Chapter 3: Entering a Dream to Achieve Millennia

Under the veil of night, Mount Sanqing exudes a sense of tranquility and mystery. The rolling mountain ranges stretch out into the darkness, merging with the horizon and evoking the grandeur and magnificence of nature.

Overlooking the Sanqing Blessed Land, the layout—supported and guarded by Jinsha and Fenshui—transforms the area into a Taoist Bagua labyrinth filled with profound mysteries. The Taoist architectural system, with its mystical aura, is truly spectacular in the night. Since ancient times, it has enjoyed the reputation of being: "A blessed land unparalleled in the world, free from the dust of the mundane; a celestial peak towering above the clouds, the finest in the Jiangnan region."

The pavilions are brightly lit, as the disciples of Sanqing Palace generally come here in the evening to review their studies and gain new insights.

As one of the lowest-ranked participants in the previous Demon Hunter Competition, Anzhi naturally found that her fellow disciples were unwilling to speak much with her. After finishing the dusting of the Scripture Pavilion and organizing all the ancient texts, she returned once again to the pavilions of the Blessed Land.

Just as she was agonizing over where her future lay, she did not notice a small, golden snake crawling out from among the ancient books.

"Beautiful one, do not be sad. There will come a day when you rise above this."

Anzhi turned her head toward the source of the voice and saw that the spirit snake had already crawled to her windowsill. It was entirely golden and a full foot (30cm) long, with two antennae on its head, looking somewhat like a tentacle snake.

Spirit snakes are the spirit beasts of Mount Sanqing. Like leopard cats, their "Dream Realm" can lead people into dreams.

"Where did you come from, spirit beast? Do you know what place this is?" Anzhi recognized it as a spirit beast at a glance.

The spirit snake wiggled its body to the window, looked out into the distance, and repeated in a murmur, "There will come a day when you rise above this!"

These words truly touched Anzhi’s heart. What did it mean, "there will come a day"? She shook her head in despair and said, "Heh, there is no chance. Truly, that day will never come."

"Oh my, don't be discouraged. That you and I can meet here is fate. Tell me, what if I can help you?" After the spirit snake finished speaking, it continued to look in the same direction as Anzhi, having sensed her sorrow.

Thinking of the grievances she had suffered today, and then reflecting on her cultivation over the past year, Shen Anzhi shook her head in bitter frustration: "Sigh, forget it, forget it. No one can help me, no one..."

"If you don't say it out loud, how do you know no one can help you?" The spirit snake looked down at the pavilion below and said, "Look, your fellow disciples are still practicing their demon-hunting arts so late at night. Don't you want to be there with them?"

Anzhi wanted to, deep down, but she knew she was currently unqualified, so she still shook her head.

"Young one, if you have a dream, you must chase it. If you don't even dare to speak of it now, how are you any different from a salted fish?" The spirit snake crawled onto Anzhi’s palm and continued, "Speaking it out is also a form of courage."

Looking at the spirit snake curled up in her palm, Anzhi felt that it made sense. She waved her sleeve and wiped away her tears fiercely.

She wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered over the past year. In an instant, she was weeping uncontrollably, her face drenched in tears.

The spirit snake sat silently coiled at Shen Anzhi’s side.

Shen Anzhi cried to her heart's content, while the spirit snake remained quietly dormant, seemingly guarding its new master.

Late at night,

Exhausted from crying, she wiped her face, stood up shakily, and looked toward the Sanqing Palace, which towered into the clouds in the distance. She said firmly, "I want to become a demon hunter like Menghong, so that there will be no demons left in the world."

The spirit snake immediately stretched its neck out long, seemingly shocked. It appeared that it hadn't taken in any of Anzhi’s previous complaints, but this one sentence had struck home: "Menghong is the first sect leader of Sanqing Palace, a Ten-Coin Demon Hunter."

"Yes." After Anzhi replied firmly, the expression on her face gradually faded: "How could I ever be that? Heh."

The spirit snake said excitedly, "No, you can succeed, truly. To tell you the truth, I know that great man from Sanqing Palace."

"You!" Anzhi did not believe it and gave a disdainful smile: "Heh, stop joking."

"Don't disbelieve me." The spirit snake jumped onto the ancient scriptures and continued, "Back then, Menghong fought the Demon Emperor for thirty days at Yuhua Peak. That scene was simply spectacular. Although a thousand years have passed, it feels like yesterday."

Anzhi had heard the story the spirit snake told a thousand times over, so she comforted it: "Heh, stop daydreaming. Time to sleep; I have to clean the main hall tomorrow morning. Remember, don't damage the ancient books, or I will kick you out."

After venting, Anzhi felt a little better. She stretched and prepared to go to sleep.

Watching Anzhi sway as she walked, the spirit snake on the windowsill excitedly crawled onto her shoulder and said, "If you trust me, after the dead of night, I will take you to a place to meet someone."

Anzhi put down the bedding she was organizing and opened her palm again. The spirit snake crawled into it. Although she didn't believe the spirit snake's words, thinking of the grievances she had suffered over the past year, Anzhi looked at the spirit snake with a mix of doubt and hope.

The tiny spirit snake curled up in Anzhi’s palm. Seeing her hesitation, it encouraged her again: "I am a spirit snake, you must trust me. What if that person wants to take you as a disciple?"

"Who is that person?" Anzhi blurted out, her eyes filled with anticipation.

The spirit snake jumped out of Anzhi’s palm: "The Hour of the Ox (1 AM to 3 AM). Remember the time. At the back door of the pavilion. I will only say this once."

Watching the spirit snake crawl into the thousands of ancient books with a golden flash, Anzhi’s heart was filled with ten thousand questions...

The Hour of the Ox,

Mount Sanqing was extremely quiet. Except for the lights in the pavilion, everything had entered a state of dormancy. Even the two junior sisters guarding the gate of the Sanqing Blessed Land were slumped over the stone lions, fast asleep.

Anzhi carefully crept out from behind a pine tree and happened to meet the spirit snake wandering outside.

"Quick, go out and turn right, all the way to the summit." After saying this, the spirit snake quickly jumped onto Anzhi’s shoulder.

Anzhi didn't care about anything else; she followed the spirit snake's instructions and ran toward the summit, her mind a complete blank.

She didn't know how long she had been running, stumbling and stopping along the way. When Anzhi finally stopped, a look of terror appeared on her face.

Before her stood a tower towering into the clouds, magnificent and grand, though it already showed signs of decay after enduring the erosion of time.

"Wind-Thunder Tower!" Anzhi looked up at the tower, the sense of oppression intensifying.

The Wind-Thunder Tower is a forbidden area of Mount Sanqing. Legend has it that the first sect leader of Sanqing Palace, Menghong, suppressed the Demon Emperor, General Black Python, inside the tower back then.

"Do you want to meet the Grandmaster?" The spirit snake crawled onto the stone steps of the Wind-Thunder Tower.

Anzhi was stunned and asked in disbelief, "Is, is it Menghong?"

"Who else? Actually, Menghong has been cultivating all this time, in a state called 'Dreaming,' so you must enter a dream to meet him." The spirit snake jumped onto Anzhi’s shoulder again, slightly excited: "If you want to become his outer-realm disciple, sit in meditation. I will help you."

Anzhi couldn't believe this was real, so she immediately sat cross-legged facing the Wind-Thunder Tower.

The spirit snake crawled around Anzhi, left and right. After a string of incomprehensible incantations, Anzhi suddenly felt dizzy...

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Deep within Mount Sanqing, it was as quiet as a poem, accompanied only by the sound of the wind and the chirping of birds.

Anzhi walked on the bluestone path, and the frogs by the roadside seemed to be croaking to welcome a guest.

Through the woods, she saw a man holding a long sword, practicing. His magic was powerful; he controlled the long sword with his mind, and the sword split a rock blocking his path like a beam of light. Then, he soared to the top of a tree and struck down with his palm, causing the tree to burst.

Anzhi’s jaw dropped. Before she could react, the man had already appeared before her.

"Shen Anzhi?" The man called her name casually.

"Ah, yes, yes..." It took Anzhi a long moment to react: "Anzhi pays respects to the Grandmaster."

From such powerful martial arts, Anzhi felt that the man must be the first sect leader of Sanqing Palace, Menghong.

Menghong nodded with satisfaction: "I already know about your situation. Do not be discouraged. Becoming a generation of demon hunters cannot be accomplished overnight. The spirit snake was once my personal spirit beast, and it has been cultivating in the Sanqing Blessed Land."

"I know, I know, it was the one who brought me here." Anzhi was full of anticipation, having finally met her idol: "I, I was born in Lanmo Village at the foot of the mountain. I grew up listening to your stories, especially your thirty-day battle with the Demon Emperor. That is why, last year, with the village chief's recommendation, I came to Sanqing Palace to cultivate, but, but..."

Anzhi couldn't bring herself to speak of what happened next.

Menghong nodded and smiled contentedly: "En, the spirit snake can lead you into dreams. If you have any matters, you can have it bring you to see me. You and I have a bond; I will gift you a strand of spiritual energy and an introductory sword technique."

After speaking, Menghong exerted force with his feet and soared into the air, then stepped onto his long sword and flew away.

(End of chapter)