Hantai Prefecture.
The Bai family residence. Bai Mingzhe narrowed his eyes, gazing into the distance. Against the vast expanse of sky and lake light, his sight traced a long, undulating arc—the ridgeline of the Ice Mirror Great Snow Mountain.
The hard, sharp earth and rock were covered by a thick layer of snow, gentle as a maiden's back. Compared to a few months ago, the snowline on the mountainside had retreated steadily. Another summer had passed.
No, it was already September, soon to be October. Autumn had arrived. He had grown up here.
At nine, he went to the Southern Metropolitan Region to study the classics, histories, philosophies, and literature under a great Confucian scholar of the era. At fourteen, he went to the Imperial Capital to receive the most orthodox martial education, with no fewer than three Perfect Manifestation Realm teachers. At twenty-four, he returned.
At forty-two, he became an elder of the Bai family. And within a single sixty-year cycle…
"Ice Mirror Mountain, Blue Lake... I can never tire of my homeland's scenery."
"Master! Master!"
Bai Mingzhe shook off his reminiscences.
"Well? Have you found out the background of those people?"
"Yes... they're from the Southern Metropolitan Region! Third Master Bai recognized the accent immediately."