Clouds and mist shroud Ykong Mountain all year round, cutting it off from the mortal world below, like an ancient land forgotten by the world.
Tu Yu had been living in seclusion at Cangming Pavilion for nine hundred years, never once stepping beyond the mountain gate. Day after day, she watched clouds rise and mist fall, and listened to the wind pass through the layered pavilions. While others devoted themselves to cultivation and fought for fame on the path to immortality, she preferred to laze among the mountain trees and live freely, at ease and clear-eyed. The quiet years on the mountain passed gently, without noise or entanglements. It was probably the most peaceful life in the world.
But every peaceful life in the world must have an end.
In the year she turned nine hundred, her master, Gu Junxiao, allowed her for the first time to accompany her senior sister, Gu Yangzi, down the mountain to a banquet. Newly arrived in the mortal world, she was pure of heart and frank. Acting on impulse, she severed the treasured sword of Cheng Yinyin, the young mistress of Long Sword Mound.
One sword fell, and a feud began.
Long Sword Mound commanded half the sword cultivators in the realm and prided itself on being an orthodox, prestigious sect. Over this one incident, Ykong Mountain was branded the "tyrant of the immortal sects." Rumors swept across the three realms, but no one bothered to investigate what was true and what was false. Everyone at Tu Yu's sect was eager to defend themselves and save face. Tu Yu alone didn't care. She continued to lie beneath the trees and listen to the wind, letting the world say what it pleased.
Her junior brother, Zhong Ling, urged her to bow her head and apologize for the sake of the sect's reputation. She saw through the tender feelings hidden in the young man's heart at a glance and found the whole thing absurd. The so-called integrity of the immortal sects and their struggles for fame and profit were nothing but worldly shackles. They were nowhere near as precious as a breath of fresh wind or a bright moon on Ykong Mountain.
No one knew that this entanglement among the immortal sects, which stretched on for years, had never arisen without cause.
The Hundred-Year Great Wilderness Tournament was a seed planted long ago. When they first entered the desolate wilderness, Cheng Yinyin was on the verge of death from exhaustion. Softhearted Tu Yu reached out to save her. The two had worked side by side to overcome the trials and escape the desperate situation. For a brief moment, they had shared a pure bond of mutual respect. But the hearts of people in the mortal world were hard to predict. Faced with fame and conflicting interests, even a thin layer of kindness could not withstand obsession and scheming.
Ambushes and discord, secret accusations: the game of schemes quietly unfolded.
Consumed by her obsession with winning, Cheng Yinyin resorted to any means to claim a ranking and secretly framed her peers. Meng Da of Tianji Sect was weak-willed, blindly following others, and after wavering several times, quietly disappeared. At the immortal sect tournament that had drawn everyone's attention, the situation shifted dramatically. In the end, only Tu Yu and Cheng Yinyin remained to face off and fight for victory.
One stain on her reputation followed another. People freely invented stories about her character and accused her of cheating to get ahead. Her fellow disciples grew suspicious, the public criticized her, and her rival pressed her at every turn, harassing and making things difficult for her day and night, all to unsettle her and force her to admit defeat and back down.
Gu Junxiao had always been fiercely protective of his own disciples, but they were on someone else's turf and at the mercy of others. All he could do was quietly urge her to give way, hoping to settle things peacefully and protect the greater good.
But Tu Yu had a clear conscience. Beneath her lazy exterior lay a pride that would never bend.
From beginning to end, she said only one thing, coolly: "It's not worth it. She's not good enough."
She did not argue against the rumors or shy away from conflict, and she would not yield an inch. Across six rounds of trials, she faced schemes, endurance tests, and battles of strength. Relying on her own abilities, she narrowly won in the final round. She left covered in criticism, but kept her innocence and stayed true to herself.
When the tournament ended, master and disciple returned to the mountain overnight, shut their doors, and withdrew from the world, no longer paying attention to the clamor outside.
The turmoil beyond their doors continued, and old grudges remained unresolved. Everyone was caught in the game of fame and profit, tossing and turning in anxiety. Tu Yu alone drifted on the mountain lake, reclining in her boat and listening to the wind, as relaxed as she had been for the past nine hundred years.
She never sought to reach the summit of the immortal path, nor did she covet fame across the three realms. The honors, integrity, and sect reputation that people spent their lives pursuing were all illusory dust to her. All she wanted was a quiet mountain, uneventful days, a little idleness every day, and peace throughout the years.
No worldly entanglement could disturb her in the slightest. She turned to her master, eyes lazy and smile carefree, breaking the stillness of the room.
Tu Yu: "Master, how about we slack off together?"
Gu Junxiao glanced sideways at her. "What kind of decent person slacks off every day?"
Tu Yu tilted her head and asked, "Do I look like a decent person to you, Master?"
Gu Junxiao fell silent for a moment and sighed inwardly.
So be it. He and this little disciple of his were hardly what anyone would call proper, decent people.
The world fought over fame and fortune, schemed to win and lose, and tried to whitewash its integrity, trapped in the game of the mortal world with no way out. Only the master and disciple of Cangming Pavilion were too lazy to join the clamor or argue over right and wrong. Amid the clouds and mist of their lonely mountain, they stole a lifetime of leisure and passed the years in peace.
Theme: Day after day, watch the clouds rise and listen to the wind pass through the layered pavilions. In the mist and rain of Ykong, the mortal world lies buried beneath ten thousand feet of ice.
