Chapter 117 - Mountaintop Sanctuary
As the blinding starlight subsided, Su Ming stood on the summit of a black mountain. Beside him, Bai Qingxian exhaled cold air.
Above them, the sky stretched into an endless void, filled with swirling currents of gold and blue. Below them, a mirror-like river flowed through the valley, reflecting the sky so perfectly that the mountain grounds below them felt like floating in empty space. Tiny glass-like shards of snow hung suspended in mid-air, caught in an eternal moment. Still, it looked so real that it confused Bai Qingxian.
"A Grotto-Heaven?" she whispered, the words swallowed by the absolute silence.
She took a slow step forward. She reached out, her fingers brushing one of the suspended snowflakes. It did not melt. It carried no temperature.
"No," she said, her expression softening. "A true Grotto-Heaven possesses its own cycle. It breathes, expands, and moves with the laws of the world. This place is dead. It is a single moment preserved forever."
Su Ming activated his Essence Sight. The golden and blue currents resolved into complex patterns, but they did not circulate. There was no breath of life. He listened to her explanation, realizing the difference.
Bai Qingxian let out a soft breath. "It is like a tomb of sorrow. He painted his grief and locked it away."
As they stood on the summit, the starry sky began to shine brighter. The swirling currents reflected in their eyes, and a heavy pressure settled over the peak. The starlight carried the concentrated intent of the Sorrow.
As if it were a domain of sorrow, it magnified their own grief tenfold. The weight was physical, pressing down on their shoulders like gravity.
Bai Qingxian froze. Her breathing turned shallow, and her eyes grew wide. The silence of the domain dragged her back to the fall of Medicine Valley. She stood paralyzed, her body shivering as the memory of her parents, her junior sisters, and the burning ruins of her home rushed over her. She was the sole survivor of her clan, standing under the weight of ruins only she could remember.
Su Ming felt the weight as well. The starlight resurfaced his own isolation. His mind began to waver under the pressure.
Su Ming used his Void Dragon Will. The authority of the dragon soul surged through his sea of consciousness, stabilizing his mind and shielding him from the crushing emotional pressure.
He took a step toward her. Reaching out, he supported her arm, helping her stand straight against the heavy pressure, and channeled a thread of warm Qi to stabilize her trembling body.
Bai Qingxian shivered, the warmth drawing her back from the edge of despair. She looked at him, shivering under the pressure.
"I survived, but every time I close my eyes, I am still running. There is no one left from my home. I have no one."
Su Ming watched her. He paused, letting a quiet breath escape, and spoke.
"You...you are not running anymore. You have us. White Lotus Peak is your home now."
Bai Qingxian stared at him. The silence returned, deep and absolute. She looked into his eyes, sensing the quiet that lay hidden behind his calm expression. She asked in a whisper.
"And who do you have, Su Ming?"
Su Ming did not answer, his gaze drifting up to the swirling sky.
In the silence, it hit him. He had built those walls for years. Thick, deliberate, meant to keep everyone out. People had said worse. People had tried harder. None of it ever left a mark.
But her words did.
Just a scratch. Barely anything, if he was being honest. Yet it stayed with him longer than he wanted to admit, and it was enough to make him realize she mattered to him.
More than he had ever let himself believe.
’I...’, but his instinct took over. His voice died.
The cold void in his chest expanded a bit, claiming a little more of its inner space.
Bai Qingxian slowly looked away. She did not press further.
As if the quiet acceptance of their grief softened the pressure, the starlight stopped swirling, settling into a gentle glow. The crushing weight vanished.
With the heavy pressure gone, Su Ming noticed a visual anomaly. In the frozen river below, one particular star’s reflection was pulsing with a light that did not match the sky above.
"There," Su Ming said.
They walked down the mountain path, their boots clicking against the black stone, and stepped onto the frozen river. The ice was clear, showing the dark riverbed below. Directly beneath the reflection, a pulsing point of light shone.
Su Ming looked at it, unable to recognize the small spark. It was no larger than a seed.
Bai Qingxian knelt on the ice, her fingers tracing the frozen surface. As she examined the pulsing light, her composure broke. Her eyes widened, and she looked up in surprise.
"Is that a dragon vein?" Her posture went rigid. She could not believe what she was seeing in front of her.
Hearing her name it, Su Ming realized what it was. The name matched the ancient scriptures he had read.
"But the creator did not use it to sustain this world," Bai Qingxian said, her shock turning into wonder. "He sealed it. The seal is so dense that it compressed the entire vein down to this single point."
"Can it stay here?" Su Ming asked.
"Probably yes, but I am not sure," she replied, shaking her head. "Now that the spatial seal is open, it probably cannot host a dragon vein permanently. If it is left here, it will eventually decay and be wasted. It must be planted in a living environment."
She looked at him, her eyes wide with excitement.
"You must take it, Su Ming. Plant it on White Lotus Peak. Once it is removed from this frozen world, it will expand and manifest its full scale. A mature dragon vein can turn a mountain into a blessed land with dense spiritual Qi, generate spirit stones along its flow over time, and, given thousands of years, help a secret realm evolve into a Grotto-Heaven."
"Should we extract it now?" Su Ming asked.
"No," Bai Qingxian said, stopping him. "Do not uproot it yet. If you extract it from the riverbed now, the movement will disrupt the seal and cause it to expand immediately. This painting cannot contain the expansion."
Su Ming nodded, withdrawing his hand.
With their decision made, Su Ming channeled his Qi to exit the frozen space. The world around them began to dissolve, the gold and blue starlight folding back into the canvas as they prepared to return.