Chapter 82: Carefree Grotto-Heaven

Su Xiaoyu couldn’t help but lift her head and look.

On the horizon, a rolling mountain range undulated—that was Cloud Rain Mountain.

Cloud Rain Mountain had existed for a long time and was a well-known spot in the city. People often went there for recreation. A Carefree Grotto-Heaven would be in such a bustling, popular place?

Su Xiaoyu was somewhat surprised. She had imagined the clues Wang Ye found would point to some remote, deep mountain or old-growth forest.

Su Xiaoyu’s question was shared by Li Ru and the others.

Li Ru, who was driving, asked doubtfully, “Cloud Rain Mountain is full of people coming and going; it’s hardly an untrodden place. Every corner must have been searched to death. Can a place like this truly hold an immortal opportunity?”

Wang Ye looked at the distant Cloud Rain Mountain. “Of course it can exist. As for so-called immortal opportunities, even if an ordinary person walks right past one, they might not discover it. It could even exist in a bustling city. If anyone can find immortal opportunities, it can only be us. Ordinary people are simply incapable of perceiving those traces.”

Li Ru thought about it and felt it made sense.

Many things could only be perceived by cultivators. No matter how lively Cloud Rain Mountain was, the people coming and going were all ordinary mortals.

Chu Yongjun asked, “Grandpa Wang, do you know the specific location of the immortal opportunity?”

Wang Ye nodded. “Oriented by water, surrounded by eight dragons, Place of a Thousand-Year Eternity, the Place of Dragon Playing Pearl.”

Everyone: “???”

Chu Yongjun looked utterly confused, and no one else understood either.

Li Ru couldn’t help but ask, “Wang Ye, what exactly does that mean? Can you explain it in plain language?”

Wang Ye replied, “Other than the first line, I don’t understand the rest either. These are words I found in an ancient record, pointing to the location of Carefree Grotto-Heaven. In any case, we’ll go to Cloud Rain Mountain and see if any spot matches the description of this passage.”

Everyone: “…”

Wang Ye smiled. “You don’t need to be too worried. As the saying goes, one will cross that bridge when one comes to it. At first, I didn’t understand the first line either; I only knew that ‘oriented by water’ should refer to the direction of water’s flow. But which water exactly? I carefully consulted more ancient texts to confirm that it indicates a river. Look outside, do you see a river? Is it flowing towards Cloud Rain Mountain?”

Hearing Wang Ye say this, everyone couldn’t help but look outside. Indeed, there was a river running alongside the road.

Wang Ye continued his explanation. “This river points towards Cloud Rain Mountain. At the foot of Cloud Rain Mountain, it splits into many branches, so the ultimate pointer is Cloud Rain Mountain. As for the subsequent lines, they clearly describe the interior of Cloud Rain Mountain. We’ll have to evaluate what ‘surrounded by eight dragons’ and ‘Place of a Thousand-Year Eternity, the Place of Dragon Playing Pearl’ mean based on the environment once we reach the mountain.”

…

Su Xiaoyu was also listening to Wang Ye’s explanation.

“The rest can only be determined once we reach Cloud Rain Mountain? Then I’ll cultivate for a while.”

Although Cloud Rain Mountain was now visible just by lifting her head, as the saying goes, a mountain looks close, but it takes forever to reach. A mountain that seemed nearby would still take considerable time to actually arrive at.

Su Xiaoyu took the Nine-Grade Spirit Stone she had used before from her Storage Ring and began absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy within it.

Though cultivating with an 8th Grade Spirit Stone would yield better results, first, retrieving one required too much Faith Value, and second, the Nine-Grade Spirit Stone she had already exchanged for had no other use right now. Leaving it unused would mean letting it go to waste.

Normally, an untouched Spirit Stone wouldn’t change and would remain perfectly intact.

However, there were two scenarios that could alter a Spirit Stone.

The first was placing a Spirit Stone in a place exceptionally rich in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. There, a Nine-Grade Spirit Stone could, over time, evolve into an Eighth-Grade Spirit Stone, or even a Seventh-Grade one.

The second scenario was the opposite: placing a Spirit Stone in a place where Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy was exceptionally thin. Then, even an Eighth-Grade Spirit Stone could degrade into a Nine-Grade Spirit Stone, and a Nine-Grade Spirit Stone would slowly lose its luster until it became useless.

Even storing it in a Storage Ring couldn’t prevent this occurrence.

Therefore, Su Xiaoyu figured that rather than waste a Nine-Grade Spirit Stone, she might as well use it first.

…

Half an hour later.

The minivan stopped in the parking lot outside Cloud Rain Mountain, and the five people, including Li Ru, got out one after another.

After disembarking, Wang Ye addressed the group. “Cloud Rain Mountain is now a scenic spot. It opens at nine in the morning and closes at five in the afternoon, so our exploration time each day is limited. Everyone be prepared for a long-term search. This is also why I asked you to pack luggage.”

Though they were all cultivators, just ignoring the rules of a scenic spot wouldn’t be wise. After all, there were plenty of security cameras on Cloud Rain Mountain. If they were caught sneaking in outside of opening hours, someone might call the authorities, which would inevitably lead to trouble.

In this society, even cultivators had to abide by the law.

Everyone responded in agreement, “Understood.”

Wang Ye nodded. “Let’s go.”

And so, the group entered Cloud Rain Mountain.

…

At that moment, Su Xiaoyu also stopped her cultivation.

She tossed the Spirit Stone into her Storage Ring, cast the Wind Thought Technique to bring her wheelchair down to the ground, and then, under the state of Water Concealment Art, silently and soundlessly followed them.

For the next hour, Su Xiaoyu tailed Li Ru and the others, watching how they searched for immortal opportunities. What they did was try to find various high points to gain a bird’s-eye view of Cloud Rain Mountain, hoping to see what part matched the descriptor ‘surrounded by eight dragons.’

But finding high points was quite troublesome for Li Ru and the others.

They spotted a fairly tall cliff face and wanted to climb it. Halfway up, Cloud Rain Mountain staff arrived, loudly scolding them to come down…

Seeing this situation, Su Xiaoyu had an idea.

Under the state of Water Concealment Art, nobody could notice her, and the Wind Thought Technique could let her briefly hover… No, there was an even more convenient method!

Su Xiaoyu looked up; a bird swept past high in the sky.

Heavenly Vision!

Su Xiaoyu immediately transferred the Heavenly Vision she had cast on Li Ru onto the soaring bird. Then, using the bird’s altitude, she successfully gained a panoramic view of the vast Cloud Rain Mountain.

“Hm? Could that be the meaning of ‘surrounded by eight dragons’?”

Through her bird’s-eye view, Su Xiaoyu quickly made a discovery.

Cloud Rain Mountain’s range was quite extensive, but in an area to the east, there were eight streams encircling it. From a distance, those eight streams could be described as dragons. In other words, the destination was in the central area ringed by these eight streams.

Understanding the situation, Su Xiaoyu retracted her Heavenly Vision and then cast it onto Wang Ye instead.

She looked at Wang Ye and the others; the group was heading west.

They were going in the complete opposite direction!

Su Xiaoyu watched this scene, unsure of what to say. What could she do to remind these people without exposing herself? If she let them search on their own, it would undoubtedly waste a great deal of time.