Chapter 16

Meixue woke up with a severe headache, not just a regular one, but a pain so intense it felt like his head was about to split open. It was as if something foreign had been forcefully inserted into his brain, causing unbearable agony.

Suffering alongside Meixue was the little fox who had illegally sneaked in. While Meixue had a headache, the little fox felt pain all over its body, from its ears to the tip of its tail. Every part of it felt as if it had been trampled by an elephant multiple times, making the pampered young princess of Qingqiu want to burst into tears.

What had gone wrong? Qingqiu Jiuyue, racking her brains, couldn't figure it out. She had only used the Mirror Flower Water Moon technique to sneak into Meixue's dream to see how he was doing over the past two years. But as soon as she entered, everything went black, and when she woke up, she was in this miserable state.

Now, she was so weak that anyone could trample her. Not to mention using the powers of the Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, she couldn't even move her tail. It was a truly pitiful state.

The morning light penetrated the transparent crystal window, shining on the human and the fox who were huddled together. Amidst the sound of waves and the beginning of human activity, both were in a half-dead state, unable to get out of bed, let alone stand up.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour passed, and Meixue, whose symptoms were mainly in his head, managed to move his fingers and then struggled to sit up by the bed.

This simple action, which usually took no time at all, took him a full five minutes, clearly showing how terrible his condition was.

However, compared to the little fox, who was still trembling and curled up in pain, Meixue was relatively fortunate. At least he wasn't so weak that he couldn't even turn his head.

"Guanyin Bodhisattva... Prajna Paramita..." Meixue pressed his temples and recited the Heart Sutra ten times, finally regaining some energy.

This headache was utterly inexplicable. Meixue didn't remember doing any intense exercise or fighting any monsters. He had just slept in his room and had a strange dream. How could it have drained so much of his energy that he couldn't even stand up?

"Dream?" Recalling that incredible dream, Meixue instinctively opened the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* in his mind and discovered a complete new map within it.

The map was of his place of study—Tiantai Mountain. In the deepest part of the mountain, which was previously blank, a small stone tablet had appeared.

Though small, the patterns naturally emerging on the stone tablet gave off a transcendent aura. Each line was perfectly formed, without any trace of artificiality, like the veins in a human body, naturally appearing on the stone tablet. However, upon closer inspection, most of the lines were interrupted halfway, giving a sense of incompleteness and sadness.

This was Tiantai, the legendary celestial object that could grant enlightenment to those who ascended it, the "Immortal Platform" that had sparked wars among the seas and mountains thousands of years ago.

Legend has it that in the realms of the seas and mountains, there were several platforms floating in the air, condensed with countless laws of nature. If one could ascend these platforms and obtain the immortal treasures they contained, even mortals could become immortals.

Therefore, these platforms, which occasionally approached the seas and mountains, were called "Immortal Platforms," symbolizing the path to immortality.

Some say these Immortal Platforms are fragments of the ancient starry sky, while others believe they are treasures naturally formed by the essence of nature. Regardless of the explanation, all agree that these Immortal Platforms do not belong to the human world but are embodiments of the laws of nature.

Every time an Immortal Platform appeared, it would cause chaos in the seas and mountains. Countless great cultivators would vie for the power of the Immortal Platform, hoping to transcend and become immortals, achieving eternal life and freedom.

However, the appearance of Immortal Platforms had no discernible pattern, occurring once every hundred years or once every ten thousand years. The duration of each appearance varied, with the shortest lasting about an hour and the longest lasting seven days and nights, leading to the bloodiest battle in the history of the seas and mountains.

To date, a total of seven Immortal Platforms have appeared, causing thirty-nine wars. Only one person has ever truly ascended to the top of an Immortal Platform and become an immortal.

That person is the eternal legend of the seas and mountains, the third Immortal Platform "Dao Lian," which appeared with the name "Heavenly Sword," sweeping through countless cultivators with a single sword, breaking all laws, and becoming the only sword immortal to ascend the "Immortal Platform" in thousands of years—Xuanyuan Hong.

According to legend, during those seven days and nights, the sea below the Immortal Platform was filled with corpses for thousands of miles. The bodies of cultivators from the seas and mountains who came to vie for the Immortal Platform surrounded it in three layers. In the end, only one person and one sword remained, ascending the Immortal Platform with supreme sword energy and achieving the body of a sword immortal.

This was the only confirmed immortal in the seas and mountains since the first immortal who passed down the immortal techniques. From then on, the combat power of sword cultivators was recognized throughout the seas and mountains, becoming a legend on par with the ancient families possessing supreme powers.

The Immortal Platform "Dao Lian," which ultimately led to the "Heavenly Sword" becoming an immortal, became the clan treasure of the Xuanyuan family.

This unique Immortal Platform, which fell from the sky, continuously nurtured numerous geniuses for the Xuanyuan family over the following thousands of years, solidifying its reputation as the first sword immortal family.

Thus, the legend that ascending the "Immortal Platform" could lead to immortality became an open secret in the seas and mountains. Every time an Immortal Platform appeared, it would cause bloodshed, with all major forces vying for the opportunity to become immortals, leading to battles that shook the earth and spilled rivers of blood.

After all, this was the only place in the seas and mountains where immortality had been truly achieved.

The "Tiantai" on Tiantai Mountain was once considered the celestial object closest to the "Immortal Platform." Thousands of years ago, the immortal aura within the "Tiantai" began to manifest, showing signs of ascending and transforming into an "Immortal Platform."

The major forces in the seas and mountains, discovering this sign, launched a bloodbath to vie for the "Tiantai." In the end, the transforming "Tiantai" was shattered, with most of its body being seized, leaving only a broken and spiritless remnant on Tiantai Mountain.

Time passed, and the last bit of spiritual light of the Tiantai slowly decayed and deteriorated, irreversibly heading towards its end.

Dust to dust, earth to earth, everything in the world has a lifespan, and this broken Tiantai should have turned to dust and returned to the earth.

However, it encountered Meixue, who possessed the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, the first book of the universe.

Thus, the Tiantai shattered, but the thread of spiritual light within it was attracted by the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, eventually forming a small Tiantai in Meixue's consciousness.

This was not the Tiantai that was almost an "Immortal Platform" when it was complete, but the Tiantai that had just been born, nurtured by the power of nature, growing from the remnants of the original Tiantai.

Now, this Tiantai was only about one square meter. However, despite its small size, it possessed all the abilities of the original Tiantai, just in their initial state, waiting for its owner to inscribe their own path on this blank Tiantai.

Thus, Meixue obtained his first immortal treasure—the Tiantai, the prototype of the legendary "Immortal Platform" in the seas and mountains.

However, Meixue clearly didn't know what he had obtained. He just looked at the small Tiantai curiously and came to a reasonable conclusion—it was a gift from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, a mysterious reward for recording everything about Tiantai Mountain.

This answer wasn't entirely wrong, but Meixue clearly underestimated the value of this reward. He had no idea that thousands of years ago, this Tiantai had caused a storm in the seas and mountains.

"Well, this stone tablet is quite nice." Looking at the stone tablet, about one meter in length and width, which could勉强 serve as a chessboard, Meixue was satisfied and began to look forward to the reward for the next map.

Alright, let's forgive this ignorant youth.

Compared to the mysterious stone tablet rewarded by the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* (which Meixue still didn't know what it was), he was more concerned about his experience last night.

Clearly, the completion of the map meant that it wasn't a dream but reality. Last night, he had truly transformed into a young demon with the bloodline of the Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, walked into the deepest part of Tiantai Mountain, and climbed the ninety-nine steps of the Heavenly Stairs, ascending the mysterious Tiantai.

After that, he had no memory, but the memory of standing on the Tiantai, in the center of it, was crystal clear. Even the feeling of using the innate power of the Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, "Charm," was vivid.

It was a feeling of complete control. When facing the group of wild monkeys, he just needed to glance at them to know that these creatures, whose brains were full of muscle, could be controlled by him.

Not only that, but on the Heavenly Stairs, he had also used the Mirror Flower Water Moon technique, which allowed him to quickly pass the first eighteen steps. However, he encountered an obstacle on the nineteenth step, as if something was holding him back, preventing him from moving forward.

So, he used the immortal technique "Cloud Mist" he had inherited from the little dragon, floating over it and all the way to the Tiantai...

Indeed, it was all real. Meixue saw the evidence that he had been to Tiantai Mountain—the several wine gourds in the corner of the room, which were the secret "Monkey Burn Wine" from the Tiantai Mountain monkey colony.

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