Chapter 24: Tianxuan Continent

Qingxue took half a step back, her eyes widening in utter shock. "It... it grew?!"

"Basic manipulation of spiritual mass," I chuckled, immensely amused by her childlike wonder. "Once you condense a Golden Core and refine your natal weapon, altering its size and density is as simple as turning your wrist. Now, come along."

I extended my hand toward her, smiling invitingly.

Shen Qingxue looked at the floating blade, then at the sheer precipice dropping thousands of feet into the misty abyss below our peak. A flicker of instinctive hesitation surfaced in her eyes. But she had climbed ten thousand stone steps on shredded knees without shedding a tear; backing down from a flying sword was simply not in her nature.

She bit her lower lip, set her jaw, and firmly placed her hand into mine.

Her fingers tightened around my hand with remarkable strength, just like she had on the grand plaza yesterday. I pulled her lightly onto the widened sword deck, positioning her in front of me so my presence naturally shielded her from the biting winds.

"Hold on tight," I said.

With a thought, the flying sword trembled, hummed with a crisp metallic chime, and shot directly into the azure heavens.

WHOOSH!

The ground dropped away in a fraction of a second. The wind roared against our sleeves, but I cast a thin, invisible barrier of golden qi around the perimeter of the sword, turning the violent gale into a gentle, refreshing breeze.

Shen Qingxue gripped my hand tightly, her breath catching in her throat as she leaned forward to look down over the edge.

Her initial tension melted away in an instant, replaced by sheer awe.

Below us, the entirety of the Mystic Cloud Sect unfolded like a breathtaking, living landscape painting. The sect comprised a total of nine colossal peaks, each piercing through the rolling white sea of clouds like divine jade pillars.

Connecting these majestic summits were ancient, shimmering sky bridges, massive suspension paths carved from spirit conducting stone, spanning thousands of feet across dizzying chasms where waterfalls of mist plunged into the dark valleys below.

And towering majestically above all of them was the central summit, Heavenly Sovereign Peak, the residence of Sect Master Su Wan’er, its gilded pavilions glistening brilliantly under the morning sun as if touching the dome of heaven itself.

"It’s.. so vast..." Qingxue murmured under her breath, completely mesmerized. "I never imagined an immortal sect could look like this."

I smiled, looking down at the magnificent sea of mountains. "How much do you actually know about the world outside your kingdom, Qingxue?"

She turned her head slightly, shaking it with an embarrassed, helpless smile. "Almost nothing, Master. I was born in a border fortress of the Dayun Kingdom. My father was a commander, and my life was confined to garrison walls, military maps, and royal court intrigues. To me, the mortal kingdoms and their borders were the entire universe."

"That’s how most mortals live," I said, nodding understandingly. "Let your Master widen your horizon a bit."

I pointed toward the sprawling expanse of mountain ridges stretching endlessly toward the eastern horizon.

"The world we live in is called the Tianxuan Continent. It is divided into five massive, distinct regions, though you don’t need to burden your mind with the other four for now. The land beneath our feet is the Eastern Wilderness, a territory so unimaginably vast that even a high-tier cultivator flying at top speed for a solid year could scarcely cross from one border to the other."

Qingxue gasped softly. "A whole year for a cultivator to cross?!"

"And that’s considering average cultivators move dozens of times faster than mortal steeds," I chuckled. "Now, look toward the northern boundary of this Eastern Wilderness. Do you see those colossal, jagged silhouettes piercing through the haze?"

She squinted, nodding as her eyes traced the distant, jagged horizon.

"That is the Heavenly Cloud Mountain Range," I explained. "It is shaped like an enormous, natural pentagon, formed by five gigantic, primordial mountains standing at its five vertices, interconnected by long, sweeping reaches of smaller ridges and jagged cliffs. Each of those five main peaks is a sovereign pillar of this region."

I raised a finger, tracing the five distant points in the sky.

"The five great mountains are Mount Taixuan to the north, Mount Crimson Flame to the south, Mount Jade Maiden to the west, Mount Black Dragon to the east, and Mount Mystic Cloud right beneath us. Our Mystic Cloud Sect occupies this entire mountain; the nine peaks you see down there are merely minor branches and summits carved out of this single, colossal mountain titan."

Shen Qingxue’s eyes widened to their absolute limit. The grand, sprawling sect that felt like a whole kingdom to her was just one corner of a single mountain among five.

"And what lies inside that pentagon, Master?" she asked, her voice hushed.

"In the hollow center enclosed by those five great mountain walls lies the mortal realm," I answered calmly. "An expanse of fertile valleys and plains where dozens of mortal dynasties rise, wage war, and turn to dust, including your homeland, the Dayun Kingdom."

Shen Qingxue stood completely frozen on the deck of the flying sword, staring out into the boundless sea of clouds.

"The entire kingdom... all those kings, ministers, and bloody wars..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly under the crushing weight of the revelation. "They are all just living in the backyard of five mountains?"

She turned toward me, her eyes filled with shock. "Master... is the world truly this vast? I thought the mortal empire was everything, yet to the Tianxuan Continent, it is barely a grain of sand..."

Looking at her shocked, bewildered expression, I couldn’t help but chuckle warmly, giving her narrow waist a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

"The world is endless, Qingxue," I said with a smile, letting my voice carry a quiet, unshakeable confidence. "And as long as you stay by my side, one day, we will stand at the very peak of it."

And I meant every word of that. I was going to stand at the top of this world with my wives.