The wind between the peaks was cold. Su Ming stood balanced on the Crimson Heaven Sword, his hands tucked in his white sleeves. The blade glided smoothly through the clouds, its runes keeping the freezing mist at bay. Below, the core mountain range stretched out like a sleeping stone dragon, blanketed in fog.
Illusion Moon Peak rose in the eastern quadrant. Unlike the fiery Vermilion Flame Peak or the metallic Golden Qilin Peak, this was a quiet, spectral mountain. Purple-and-silver flora clung to the cliffs, their leaves humming with a vibration that warped the surrounding light.
Su Ming guided his sword downward, landing on the outer boundary plaza—a stone platform jutting from the cliff. With a thought, the sword shrank and slid back into his storage ring.
Beyond the plaza, there was no bridge. Instead, a massive, mirrored fog hung suspended over a deep abyss, completely blocking the main gate from view.
This was the Endless Mist Barrier, a high-grade illusion array widely known throughout the sect. Designed to disorient spatial and spiritual senses, it was a frustrating formation. Even Golden Core elders often wandered in circles for hours, their senses trapped by mirrored reflections until they were forced to call for a guide.
Su Ming did not hesitate. He walked toward the edge of the stone platform where the path ended, and the mirrored fog began.
Focusing his mind, he activated his Essence Sight.
Once again, the world before him lost its physical colors. The stone platform, the deep abyss, and the towering mountain ridges dissolved into a quiet grey background. In his vision, the mirrored fog before him dissolved into a dense network of glowing purple runes and shifting spatial coordinates.
The array shifted its nodes every three breaths, rotating through five paths to bend a cultivator's sense of direction. As he stepped into the mist, a faint, whispering vibration tried to creep into his senses, the array's mental distortion.
Within his soul sea, Su Ming quietly circulated the Tranquil Lotus Mantra. Combined with his now strong soul power, the ripples of mental distortion were immediately smoothed over. His mind remained perfectly calm.
Relying on Essence Sight, Su Ming casually stepped through the fog. He ignored his eyes and ears, looking only at the grey runic lines of formation. He took a long step, paused as a node shifted, and stepped diagonally onto a narrow stone path hanging over. With a few quick paces, he walked straight through the foggy mist, crossing the barrier as if it were a simple path.
As the purple-tinted fog parted, Su Ming stepped out onto the main mountain path of Illusion Moon Peak.
"As expected of Peak Master Su," a smooth, melodic voice greeted him. "You are indeed talented to see through our peak's gate formation so quickly."
Standing near the exit was a female elder of the peak. She wore flowing lavender robes embroidered with silver crescents. Her posture was relaxed, her eyes carrying a sharp, observant look as she saluted.
Su Ming returned the greeting, his expression as flat and unreadable as ever. "Elder Mei."
"Peak Mistress Yue is currently in the main hall," Elder Mei said, gesturing for him to follow her up the paved mountain path. "She is waiting for you. Please, follow me."
As they walked, Su Ming observed the geography of Illusion Moon Peak. The buildings were constructed from a dark, polished stone that reflected the pale light, giving the entire peak a dream-like, spectral quality. True to the rumors, not a single man was allowed to reside on this peak; every disciple, patrolling deacon, and stationed elder he passed was female.
Unlike the other peaks, the disciples here walked in absolute silence, moving through the silver and purple flora with distant, glassy eyes, their minds surely wandering through their own internal reflections and dream-arts.
They reached the main gate and walked into the quiet reception hall. Sitting at the head of the chamber was Peak Mistress Yue. She was a beautiful, poised woman wearing dark purple robes that flowed like water, her long silver-tinted hair pinned back with a jade crescent. Her eyes carried a deep, shimmering light that seemed to shift with every breath she took.
"White Lotus Outer Peak Master Su," Peak Mistress Yue said, greeting him with a polite nod.
Su Ming bowed. "Peak Mistress Yue."
As they sat down, Peak Mistress Yue's gaze drifted over him. She leaned slightly closer, her voice suddenly softening into a gentle, melodic purr. A subtle, rhythmic vibration hummed in the air around her—a hypnotic voice technique designed to bypass a cultivator's defensive guard.
"You know, Peak Master Su, our peak focuses heavily on the soul and mind," she said, her eyes locked onto his. "Your disciple, Lin Yao, possesses a cold-yin flame that would thrive under my guidance. Why not give her to our peak in exchange for some of our core inheritance? She would be taken care of very well under my wing, and you will get the things you desire."
Su Ming remained perfectly calm. The hypnotic vibration reached his ears, but under the influence of his Lantern, the Tranquil Lotus Mantra, and his strong soul power, the ripples of the charm dissolved before they could take root.
"You have already received the reply from Lin Yao herself," Su Ming replied, his voice steady and even. He looked ahead, completely unaffected by her charms. "Well, she went toe-to-toe with the best newcomers in the sect. So, I think she is in good hands as well."
Peak Mistress Yue paused, her eyes widening slightly as she realized her charm and hypnotic voice had failed to cause even a single flicker in his breathing. She let out a clear, amused chuckle, dropping the hypnotic rhythm instantly.
"Fine, fine. I shall drop the matter," she said, waving her hand. "You are indeed as cold as I suspected, Peak Master Su. No wonder you rose in the ranks like that so quickly, and that Li Heng could not find a crack in your armor."
She retrieved a glowing purple jade token from her sleeve and held it out to him.
"The Sect Master's instructions have been registered," she said, her tone returning to a professional cadence. "This token will grant you access to the Moon-Shadow Repository. However, you are only permitted to access the first three floors. The fourth and fifth floors are strictly restricted, as they contain our peak's core inheritances, accessible only to our direct and core disciples."
"That is acceptable," Su Ming said, taking the cold jade token.
Peak Mistress Yue turned and called out. "Deacon Hu, guide Peak Master Su to the repository."
A middle-aged deacon in dark lavender robes stepped forward from the gatehouse, saluting politely. "Peak Master Su, please follow me."
Deacon Hu led Su Ming away from the main hall, guiding him along a narrow ridge where the wind whistled sharply through the crevices of the dark stone. They walked toward a quiet pagoda nestled against the vertical cliff face. A suppressive array surrounded the building, humming with a heavy, anchoring energy that kept the surrounding illusion Qi from entering.
"This is the Moon-Shadow Repository," Deacon Hu said, opening the heavy wooden doors. Inside, the air smelled of aged ink, dried parchment, and cold stone. Rows of stone shelves rose to the ceiling, holding hundreds of glowing jade slips and neatly stacked scrolls.
"The soul anatomy records are on the third floor. The seal and formation manuals are on the first and second. You have three days, Peak Master Su. You may only read the materials here and cannot remove them from the peak."
"It is enough," Su Ming gave her a polite nod.
He walked into the silent pagoda, and the heavy doors closed behind him with a soft, echoing thud.
Left alone in the repository, Su Ming did not immediately reach for the shelves. He walked to the high window, looking out at the cold, purple mountains shrouded in mist.
'I must not rush this,' Su Ming thought, his eyes narrowing as he watched the clouds drift. 'After all, this is the soul I am talking about. If I am to forge my soul cultivation and heal my soul, I must build a complete map of this knowledge in my mind. Everything must be aligned perfectly.'
He was not here to study for Wang Tian; the boy's dantian reconstruction required changing his physical body, which he had already gotten the books about. The soul archives of Illusion Moon Peak were solely for his own path—to design a Yin-aligned soul technique that would establish the macro-level Yin-Yang balance across his entire cultivation.
He turned back to the shelves, his hand reaching for the first glowing jade slip on the shelf.
***
Soon, he moved to the second floor, studying the foundational structures of defensive and containment arrays. He analyzed how array nodes draw energy from the earth's spirit veins and how they distribute that energy to maintain stability under external pressure. The third floor contained much useful and detailed knowledge about the soul.
For the next three days, he sat at a small wooden table, his Essence Sight and Halo of Insight running continuously. He read through jade slips detailing the concepts of Formations, Illusions, the complex architecture of the Mind, the delicate structures of the human soul, how spiritual sense behaves, and the methods used to seal or block a cultivator's memory.
Every scrap of information was read, analyzed, and stored in the deep memory of his mind, preparing him for the long, quiet seclusion that lay ahead.