Sky Gate Mountain.

The wondrous sound of a zither, ding ding dong dong, was melodious and flowing, like the clear babbling of a brook beside the ear, light and airy as if from the soft clouds deep within, bringing an indescribable comfort to all the meridians of the body.

Lu Yang lay lazily in the grass, using his hands as a pillow, with a blade of foxtail grass in his mouth. Listening to his Third Senior Sister’s zither music, he felt the fatigue from his trip to Chunjiang City vanish almost entirely.

While listening to the Third Senior Sister’s zither music, Lu Yang picked a lotus seed from a plate and tossed it into his mouth.

If there were a connoisseur around, they would recognize these as seeds of the Twin Lotus; the surface of the Twin River was covered with them, and Lu Yang had plucked several lotus heads when he left.

The Third Senior Sister was truly a cultivator skilled in music. Lu Yang didn’t know much about this and couldn’t make sense of the musical scales and modes, but just as an ordinary person listening, it was already very soothing.

"Senior Sister, what’s the name of this piece you’re playing?"

The Third Senior Sister stopped the strings, and the music ceased, giving way to silence around them, "This is an ancient piece given to me by Elder Lianyi, called ’Phoenix Perches by the Stream.’ It was created by the elder during a moment of inspiration while resting by a stream."

Jiang Lianyi wielded a jade flute as her weapon, unrivaled in the realm of music.

Even the Fairy Eternity, who always strived to be the first, had to concede defeat.

"Senior Sister, how did you come to be a disciple of our master?" Lu Yang asked curiously.

The Third Senior Sister sighed rarely, "My parents were just Gold Core Period Cultivators and didn’t know much about our sect. The entrance test back then was organized by our master, who saw I had an exceptional talent and wanted to take me as his disciple."

"At the time, I didn’t know what kind of person our master was, I just knew he was the sect leader."

"Since the sect leader wanted to take me in, of course I was willing."

"I never expected that, after just two lessons, the teaching location would change."

"To where?"

"To the prison. During that time, Eldest Senior Sister was in seclusion, and the Second Senior Brother had gone to the Buddha Country. I could only take advantage of the times I went to visit the prison to have lessons with master. It was truly hard studying, and the people in the jail praised me for being a filial daughter when they saw me."

"Thankfully, after Eldest Senior Sister left seclusion, the learning environment improved significantly."

"Eldest Senior Sister taught you?"

The Third Senior Sister shook her head, "Eldest Senior Sister acted as a guarantor to get our master out. She is not skilled in music, so she couldn’t teach me."

"Master himself knows music?"

"He does, and he’s even more skilled than me. He can play the sword and sing at the same time, producing a variety of sounds and imitate the sounds of different musical instruments. It’s said that he developed these skills in his youth while doing storytelling, playing music on the side to enhance the entertainment."

Lu Yang hadn’t expected his master to have such a high level of skill.

The Third Senior Sister continued to play, and Lu Yang enjoyed the zither music until discordant sounds disrupted his peaceful mind state.

Fairy Eternity huffed coldly, offended that Lu Yang had underestimated her, "Who says I do not understand the way of music? The pieces I play inspire people."

"You know the way of music, Fairy? I’ve never heard you play before," Lu Yang said, his respect temporarily elevated due to Fairy Eternity finding the Twin River, thus addressing her more honorably by changing from "you" to "you." Experience new tales on freewebnovel

"The music I play is not something a mere Nascent Soul Stage cultivator has the privilege to hear."

"When I play my music, I do not use an Immortal Artifact, but instead use the essence of the Dao as the strings, making heaven and earth tremble, resonating with the great Dao. The pieces carry a majestic presence, revering all through the ages. Those who listen cannot help but tremble with excitement."

Now even more curious, Lu Yang asked, "So how do you play it?"

"Self-destruct."

"...No wonder the body was trembling."

"Speaking of which, didn’t you have time to self-destruct when you were being assassinated, Fairy?"

According to Fairy Eternity’s temperament, her first reaction should have been to self-destruct, which would both injure the assailant and save her own life.

"Now that you mention it, that does make sense. Why didn’t I self-destruct?"

Fairy Eternity frowned and bowed her head, trying to recall the events of that time, but everything remained chaotic. She was unsure whether it was due to the methods used by the hidden assailant or her own condition at the time.

"Damn it, if I hadn’t encountered trouble back then, I would have already broken through to a level above that of an Immortal!"

"Immortal Jiuchong became the first amongst the Immortals. It should have been my turn to be the first."

Lu Yang felt invigorated when he heard this subject, even forgetting to eat the lotus seeds by his mouth: "Is this the breakthrough to a realm above Immortals that you mentioned before? The one where you sever all causality and advance your cultivation?"

Fairy Eternity rolled her eyes: "That’s what Immortal Jiuchong and his ilk theorize. I advocate that the more causality one has, the higher their cultivation can be, which is how one truly breaks through."

"According to the theory held by Immortal Jiuchong and the others, the realm above Immortals is called ’Transcendence,’ untouched by all causality and existing beyond everything."

"According to my theory, the realm above Immortals is called ’Omniscience,’ connected to all things in the world, reaching a state of omniscience and omnipotence, perfectly matching my intelligence and wisdom!"

Lu Yang appraised Fairy Eternity from head to toe. After returning to the Seek Dao Sect, the grandiose palace in the spiritual space disappeared, reverting to the simple room decoration.

As Fairy Eternity explained about the realm above Immortals, she was rolling around and talking, with disheveled hair, her clothes in disarray, giggling and laughing, a sight hard to associate with words like "intelligence" or "omniscience."

Fairy Eternity grabbed her little feet with both hands and, grunting, sat up cross-legged like a Weeble, swaying from side to side: "It would be great if my cultivation insights were still here. Maybe I could remember what happened back then."

"By the way, I suggest you hold the plate and run far away now, so you can keep the lotus seeds in the plate," Fairy Eternity suddenly said.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Lu Yang was surprised: "What do you mean?"

The sound of the qin ceased, and Third Senior Sister suddenly said to Lu Yang: "Junior Brother, hurry and distance yourself from here, your Senior Sister is about to have a breakthrough."

As she spoke, dark clouds gathered above Sky Gate Mountain, with the distant sound of thunder beginning to rumble.

Lu Yang quickly realized—Third Senior Sister was about to break through to the Void Refinement Stage, and the thunderstorm she had summoned was her Thunder Tribulation!

After reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, every subsequent realm breakthrough would invite a Thunder Tribulation—it was a rule set by Ying Tian Immortal!

Run!

Without a word, Lu Yang abandoned even the lotus seeds on his plate and sprinted down the mountain!

Having just read "Discourses of Immortals," he was now most fearful of encountering a Thunder Tribulation!

Lu Yang was fast, but Invincible Nascent Soul was even faster, quickly outpacing Lu Yang.

Lu Yang: "..."

When Invincible Nascent Soul reached the foot of the mountain and stopped running, Lu Yang also halted, understanding this to be the safest place as deemed by Invincible Nascent Soul.

"Why suddenly have a breakthrough?"

"It’s not really sudden. This young lady was performing the ’Phoenix Perching on the Stream’ gifted by Elder Lianyi. Unlike my self-destructive technique, this tune soothes the mind state. As her realm in the Void Refinement Stage fluctuated, this piece was perfect for stabilizing her state, and given she was already on the cusp of a breakthrough, this occurrence is well within reason."