Crossing through the ripples of space, Bai Qiuran found herself in another world, where the Hanging Mountain Peaks hung upside down. Suddenly, gravity reversed, and she fell straight down, unable to fly in the void without a place to land. However, she was prepared, adjusting her posture in midair. While this pressure may not be deadly for other cultivators, it hit home for Bai Qiuran. Without a landing point, she couldn't soar through the air. Falling endlessly wouldn't kill her, but who knows what lay in the abyss below and how deep it was.
As she descended about twenty-five zhang, she became enveloped in dense clouds and mist. After a few minutes of walking through the fog, it gradually disappeared, revealing a peculiar cave. Standing before a stone tablet, she saw several lines of text glowing faintly, identical to those she had come across earlier. However, the next words that appeared were "First Suffering: The Unattainable Yearning."
This pressure was particularly poignant for Bai Qiuran. After all, there was no landing point, and she couldn't perform aerial maneuvers. Continuing to fall would not lead to her death, but the uncertainty of what awaited below was terrifying.
"Life has eight great sufferings: birth, aging, illness, death; love and separation; resentment and hatred; unattainable yearning; the burning of the five aggregates; inability to attain release; only those who escape the sea of suffering may ascend to immortality." With no turning back, Bai Qiuran continued forward, crossing a bridge to reach the base of a high platform.
With a thud, she landed on the flat peak of the mountain. Looking up, the sky above was a deep blue, devoid of any trace of the nine provinces. Walking along this nearly vertical cliff was as easy as walking on solid ground for Bai Qiuran. Though she could not fly, wherever there was a foothold, she maintained greater stability than other cultivators who could use flying swords.
Seeing her landing point vanish, Bai Qiuran reluctantly stepped onto the pathway. As the words on the stone tablet appeared, a bridge suddenly materialized in the depths of the night sky, connecting to a gap in the railing of the octagonal pavilion. Simultaneously, the pavilion began to shake, urging Bai Qiuran to take the next step.
The flickering flames dispelled the surrounding darkness, and a familiar figure appeared before Bai Qiuran, with her back turned towards her.
"Alright." She cautiously formed a spell with her hands, careful to approach the girl’s back within five meters, the distance allowing her techniques to achieve their maximum power. Then she asked, "Might I ask who you are?"
"This is the Wisdom Immortal's Cave, right?"
This girl bore only one difference from Bai Qiuran: the pair of nearly world-class assets she possessed. With over twenty years of professional observation, Bai Qiuran could tell at a glance they were genuine, not padded.
The height of the platform was daunting, and Bai Qiuran could not see what lay above. She had no choice but to ascend the white stone steps.
Bai Qiuran looked around. "This is the Wisdom Immortal's Cave?"
With another thud, she landed on the flat mountain peak and looked up; the sky was pure blue, and the traces of the nine provinces had completely vanished. In her exploration, she found a stone tablet nearby. As dark flames ignited in her heart, Bai Qiuran began to understand the meaning of "the eight sufferings and the unattainable yearning."
The cave began to tremble violently, as if they were within the stomach of some giant beast, now undergoing intense contractions for digestion. When he arrived on the platform’s edge, Bai Qiuran looked down. Below was a nearly seventy-degree slope carved into the cliff, covered with trees growing from the cracks, clinging tenaciously to the rock. The clouds masked the depths, occasionally revealing hints of misty light, the details hidden from view.
Though she could not enter those depths, signs evidently pushed Bai Qiuran onto this solitary path. The stone tablet shone a brilliant blue light, forming several lines of text. As she stepped towards it, the words transformed again, revealing more secrets of this cave.
After a series of dazzling tremors, Bai Qiuran found herself out of breath. Yet with a steady mind and detailed observation, she realized she stood within an octagonal pavilion, floating in the dark night sky, only a stone tablet grasped her attention inside.
Without a way to return, the girl could only walk along the bridge and enter the dark expanse of the night sky. Approaching halfway across, she glanced back, and to her astonishment, the octagonal pavilion had vanished into the sky, whether drifting far away or collapsing entirely, she could not tell.
"Perhaps this is the entrance to the Wisdom Immortal’s Cave," Bai Qiuran marveled. The stone tablet glowed again, illuminating the cave in a quite striking manner.
Just then, the words on the stone tablet shifted once more, indicating "First Suffering: The Unattainable Yearning." The hold of this unyielding pressure was not so deadly to other cultivators but struck a deep chord within Bai Qiuran. With no ground, she could not fly; continuing to fall was risky with unknown depths below.
Bai Qiuran looked poised, taking in her surroundings once more, grateful for every foothold she could find in this much-altered landscape.