Since his master was out visiting a friend, Xu Yunfan didn’t press for details. Zhan Yan was heading to Divine Weapon Ridge, but his exact route was unknown. A man like that had no reason to fear for his life.

After leaving Celestial Craft City, Xu Yunfan looked up at the mountain peak where he had practiced the Sunrise Qi Skill yesterday, hesitated for a moment, and then glanced at the sky.

There was still some time before sunrise, when the Dawn Purple Qi would begin to rise.

Now that his mining skill had reached Great Success, its "Seeking Dragon and Distinguishing Veins" ability allowed him to quickly determine that the ridge where he’d practiced yesterday wasn’t particularly rich in Spiritual Qi.

Now that the Empress had stirred up the Primordial Spirit Breath from the Earth Veins, it was only natural that areas where mountain ranges converged would have an especially high concentration of Primordial Spirit Qi.

The Pure Yang Qi Skill relied on the daily rise of the Dawn Purple Qi to absorb the world’s Primordial Spirit Breath, so he had to choose his location carefully.

He hesitated no longer. With a press of his feet, dirt and stone scattered as he shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.

A few minutes later.

The mountains of Shuzhou were rugged, a tapestry of overlapping ranges with peaks like swords pointing to the heavens. Thirty li east of Celestial Craft Peak.

Xu Yunfan ran his fingers along a sheer rock face. The granular texture under his fingertips made his brows twitch.

This was what the memories from his mining mastery called a "thousand-layer cake" formation: five layers of sandstone sandwiching iron-rich nodules that glowed with an ochre-red luster in the morning light.

He curled a finger and tapped the cliffside. The sound was a muffled thud. ’There has to be a hollow space inside the mountain. And it’s likely a gourd-shaped cavern, carved out by water—the perfect kind to gather Earth Vein Spiritual Qi.’

A hundred zhang below, the Earth Vein had shifted, so naturally a good amount of Primordial Spirit Breath would gather there before slowly diffusing into the world.

This was the very reason Immortal Mountain Blessed Lands existed.

Broken Dragon Cliff on the northern foot of Celestial Craft Peak lay before him. Xu Yunfan’s boot soles crushed a few bits of hematite slag.

The rising sun cast the mountain’s shadow onto the solitary peak opposite. Its shape, resembling a reclining ox drinking water, brought a look of delight to his face.

At the ox’s "head," three basalt rocks were arranged in a triangular formation, corresponding exactly to the "Three Talents Suppressing Qi" pattern in Feng Shui Skill.

The mountain wind carried a faint smell of sulfur, a sign of geothermal activity. A considerable amount of Primordial Spirit Breath was sure to manifest here as well.

’What a perfect treasured spot, sheltered from the wind and brimming with qi.’

He untied the leather flask at his waist and took a swig of potent liquor from the Celestial Craft Cave’s Medicine Hall. Warmth immediately bloomed in his stomach. As the medicinal properties merged with the alcohol’s kick, his pores opened wide.

The Pure Yang Qi Skill focused on using one’s Blood Qi to guide the Yang Qi of the world. The sun was on the verge of rising—the perfect time to gather the dawn’s first light.

Bending his knees, he pushed off. His fingers sank into the rock crevices like iron hooks. The uneven rock beneath his fingertips was silently crushed smooth, leaving only perfectly defined prints.

Using both hands and feet, he climbed like a nimble ape, ascending thirty zhang of sheer cliff in a matter of breaths.

-----------------

"Lamp Master, someone’s going up."

From a corner below the sheer cliff, a voice suddenly spoke, tinged with anxiety.

"He’s heading in the wrong direction. He probably isn’t here searching for something."

A steadier voice drifted from a nearby thicket.

"Eagle’s Beak Rock, three zhang to the west! He’s heading up there. We checked it before—not even a bird would shit on that summit. There’s nothing up there. Maybe he’s just here for the scenery."

The pockmarked man lying in the bushes lowered his voice, the spring mechanism of the Piercing Claw in his hand already taut. "There was a glint from his sleeve—he must have a Sleeve Arrow hidden there! The only people who’d carry a clever gadget like that are probably the disciples from Celestial Craft Cave who just moved in recently...

"From the looks of his clean movements, he’s a handful. Plus, we’re too close to Celestial Craft Cave. If he sends a signal, that flock of ’bird-men’ from Celestial Craft Cave will be here in a flash."

The middle-aged man they called Lamp Master, camouflaged with shrubs and weeds, was using his copper pipe to measure the striations in the rock. At the man’s words, he pulled a Magnetic Stone from his coat.

The iron filings clinging to the surface of the Magnetic Stone suddenly swiveled to the southeast—the exact direction Xu Yunfan was climbing the cliff.

"What are you panicking for?"

He tapped the leather pouch at his feet with his pipe. It was filled with a prepared batch of Enchanting Fragrance Powder. "If he were really after us, he would’ve followed the sulfur markers up. We of Bei Mang Mountain haven’t survived all these years for nothing."

Thirty zhang up, Xu Yunfan suddenly changed direction.

His route, which should have been straight up, suddenly veered to the northeast. His body floated like a willow catkin, and where his fingers passed, a few clumps of Silver Thread Grass used to mark a mineral vein were unintentionally crushed.

This wasn’t some random impulse; the cliff face above had steepened to an almost one-hundred-and-twenty-degree overhang.

The Lamp Master squinted at the shadow moving in the morning light and suddenly sneered, "Heh... This guy’s skills are a real hodgepodge. He’s using the Qingcheng Sect’s Flying Leg, yet he’s trying to imitate the Celestial Craft Cave’s Eight Forged Steps... Now, look at his right shoulder."

The pockmarked man raised a monocular Thousand-Mile Mirror. He didn’t dare to look directly, instead using the Bei Mang Mountain technique of observing people from the corner of his eye. ’These Martial Artists have incredibly sharp senses.’

He saw Xu Yunfan’s right sleeve suddenly pull taut, strained by his bulging muscles.

"That’s it!"

He slapped his thigh and whispered, "Qingcheng Light Skill is all about channeling qi through the soles of the feet, but this guy is using an External Hard Skill to haul himself up. He must be some pampered young master who’s run away from his family."

A few jackdaws were suddenly startled from the top of the cliff. The Lamp Master’s ears twitched; he could tell that Xu Yunfan had crushed half a piece of weathered shale when he landed.

He leisurely put away the Magnetic Stone and knocked three sparks from his pipe against the cliff. "The finger marks he left are deep, but his Qi Force is scattered, not focused. He’s an expert, alright. But a true master of seeking dragons and tapping veins would never take the Xun Position at the hour when swallows return to their nests. Forget him. The man is likely the child of some Elder or Hall Master from Celestial Craft Cave, just messing around because he’s bored... The view up there is admittedly excellent."

Behind the bushes, on three wheelbarrows, the baskets of medicinal herbs used for camouflage trembled slightly.

The Lamp Master used his pipe to flick aside the top layer of herbs, revealing an overturned Luoyang Shovel beneath.

The fresh mud on the shovel’s head was not yet dry; it had just been brought out of the Earth Palace.

"The red string and red cloth we set up at Second Ridge yesterday—did you replace them all? They can’t get wet with dew!" he asked suddenly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Just as you ordered. At the third quarter-hour past Midnight, I reburied them at six spots along the Kan Position."

The pockmarked man took out an oil-paper packet, which contained several bronze nails covered in intricate carvings. "It’s just that the nest of sparrows on the east end was making a racket. I had to scatter two handfuls of millet to quiet them down."

He let out a breath, a flicker of hope crossing his face. "That Old Witch in Jade Capital City should have died long ago, but I guess she did some good. Her actions are letting us get our hands on some treasures. I hope this trip pays off!"

-----------------

The summit opened up into a wide, flat space. Xu Yunfan’s nostrils flared. As he took a breath, the air circulated in his lungs, and he felt his mind clear and his spirits lift.

’What a place!’

The soil here contained Cinnabar, and the cross-section of the rock layer revealed spiral-patterned Blood Jade Marrow. This was precisely a "Red Dragon Spitting Bead" terrain, and the spot where he stood was the very "apex" from which the Primordial Spirit Breath ascended.

As the rays of dawn pierced the clouds, Xu Yunfan had already assumed the stance for the Pure Yang Qi Skill: the Pure Yang Stake.

His feet seemed to grow roots, anchoring him in the rock crevices, while his spine felt like a great dragon, each vertebra connected and flowing.

This Kung Fu required his mind to enter a state that was neither truly empty nor fully aware. As the Dawn Purple Qi rose from the east, he would visualize drawing it into his body through his mouth and nose.