Taiyi’s Sword Practice Is Spotted, and the Deer Boy Runs Off with the Pictures to Expose Him
The Immortal Realm was awash in mist and rosy clouds, bathed in auspicious light. Kunlun Mountain rose like a jade pillar supporting the heavens, towering beyond the Ninth Heaven. Rare herbs and immortal flowers bloomed across its slopes, filling the air with fragrance, while wondrous birds and auspicious beasts darted to and fro. Immortal energy swirled without end.
One morning, as the thin mist began to clear, golden sunlight streamed through the clouds and spilled across the mountainside. Taiyi Zhenren, dressed in a long blue robe, walked with his sword to an open space. The sword was called the Clear Void Sword, forged from an ancient divine tree, its blade glittering like the turning stars. With a solemn expression, the Zhenren moved as his sword followed his heart. Sometimes he parted the clouds to reveal the sun, his blade slicing through the mist. Sometimes he chased the moon like a shooting star, his movements so uncanny they were impossible to predict. His footwork was nimble as drifting clouds and soaring eagles, displaying the unmistakable bearing of an immortal.
The Zhenren had no idea that someone was watching him from the shadows. A crane had been playing in the woods when it saw him draw his sword. Curious, it crept quietly behind a nearby thicket. It kept its eyes fixed on him, spellbound by every move, each one as lovely as a scene from a poem. In its infatuation, it forgot itself and pulled out The Taiyi Zhenren Beauty Album to record this remarkable moment. But just as it pressed the jade slip’s shutter, a ripple of spiritual power gave away its hiding place.
Taiyi Zhenren was exceptionally keen. His ears twitched, and his sharp eyes swept over the area, immediately detecting the disturbance. He flashed forward like a ghost and appeared before the crane. It trembled with fright, and the jade slip slipped from its hand, tumbling straight down the mountain. The Taiyi Zhenren Beauty Album was a collection the crane had secretly compiled in its spare time, filled with the Zhenren’s most graceful and beautiful poses, so it could admire them in private. Watching it fall was like having its heart torn out.
Down below, a deer boy was strolling leisurely when he heard a strange sound overhead. He looked up,
