Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Brief Stroll

The figure of the Taiyin Human Emperor dissipated, leaving behind only a blocky, expressionless figure constructed of pixels and a young girl dressed in traditional ancient robes.

The girl bowed her head slightly, maintaining the respectful posture of a descendant before an ancestor, and remained that way for a long time.

Fang Zheng was busy wandering about, having spent several minutes dashing through the air before noticing her. He looked left and right, the atmosphere becoming somewhat awkward. He gave a light cough, breaking the silence first: "Uh, you can look up now. Miss, big sister, fairy—what should I call you?"

Jiang Tingting responded softly, then raised her head and answered respectfully, "This junior's surname is Jiang, given name Tingting. By the grace of the Taiyin Human Emperor, I have received the *Taiyin True Scripture*. Since you are a friend of the Taiyin Human Emperor, please address me as you wish and feel free to give any commands."

Looking at this scene, which he had only ever seen in television dramas, Fang Zheng felt increasingly awkward. If the blocky character had toes, he would have been curling them in embarrassment.

He said uncomfortably, "Uh, there is no need to be so formal. I am not much older than you; we are peers. Please, just speak normally. This feels quite strange to me."

Jiang Tingting replied with continued reverence, "Senior jokes. This junior is only 205 years old and is merely at the second stage of the Sendai realm. How could I dare to be mentioned in the same breath as you?"

"What? 205!" Fang Zheng stared at her face, which looked at most sixteen or seventeen, and said in astonishment, "But I'm only in middle school, thirteen years old—ah, no, counting the MC world, I suppose I'm eighteen now. But my great-grandmother, who passed away when I was in elementary school, wasn't even eighty!"

"People in your world of cultivation look so young! You're actually older than my great-grandmother's great-grandmother," Fang Zheng sighed, unable to help himself.

Hearing the childish tone of surprise in Fang Zheng's voice, Jiang Tingting felt a bit bewildered. Although the Taiyin Human Emperor had informed her through divine sense that this block-man was his friend, he possessed the heart of a youth, and she, as a junior, should show him around.

She had originally assumed that the senior block-man had practiced some secret technique, like the God King Jiang Taixu of the Jiang family, having lived a second life and shed his old body, thus restoring his youth in both body and mind.

She had not expected him to claim he was only eighteen, and that his deceased great-grandmother hadn't even reached eighty? For a cultivator, this age was incredibly young. Furthermore, if his great-grandmother wasn't even eighty, did this block-man named Fang Zheng only begin his path of cultivation in this generation?

However, despite her inner surprise, Jiang Tingting did not ask further questions; she simply stopped being as constrained as she had been when facing an ancestor-level figure.

With a faint smile, she said, "The Taiyin Human Emperor has instructed me to show you around properly, Senior, to ensure you enjoy your visit."

"Except for the restricted areas of the Jiang family, you may go anywhere you wish within our territory. For now, allow me to take you to appreciate some of the finer scenery of the Jiang family."

Seeing the magnificent spiritual mountains and rivers, the likes of which could never be seen on Earth, Fang Zheng grew excited. "Then please, introduce me to all the interesting places. I intend to have a good time."

Jiang Tingting smiled slightly and began to walk with Fang Zheng through the vast mountains. She watched as the blocky legs of the cube-man hopped along the ground without bending, and as they strolled, she explained, "Senior, please look. We are currently on one of the many sacred practice mountains of my Jiang family, called Qingming Mountain. The earth veins here are rich in Yin energy, which can be used to draw forth the Yin fire of the earth to temper pure Yang energy..."

As they traveled, they saw the mountain range winding like a dragon resting in an abyss. The main peak pierced the clouds, its summit perpetually sealed in ancient ice. Amidst the swirling mists, one could faintly discern the sword marks and Dao patterns left by the Sages of the Jiang family from the ancient era.

Below the waist of the mountain, dense, thousand-year-old trees stood with bark cracked like the scales of a true dragon, and thick vines coiled like knotted dragons, some even taking the shape of the mythical beasts.

Mountain streams cascaded from cliffs, the water mist refracting the sunlight to form seven-colored rainbows. At the bottom of the stream lay the unhatched egg of a cold flood dragon, obtained after an ancestor of the Jiang family slew a demonic dragon; on nights of the full moon, it would emit a faint, ghostly blue luminescence.

For Fang Zheng, the biggest impression this scenery left on him was simply that it was beautiful. He was only a middle school student who hadn't read many books, and his language skills were poor; he couldn't come up with more flowery vocabulary.

He had never traveled far in his life, and the only mountains he had climbed were a few small, barren hills near his hometown. After transmigrating to the MC world, all he had seen were mountains made of pixelated blocks—each uglier than the last. They looked decent from afar, but were eyesores up close.

In the Law-bound Pass of the Path to Immortality, although there were various mountains and trees, those things were ridiculously large. Fang Zheng was not a cultivator, so he could not see very far with his own eyes and a telescope. Inside that pass, a single leaf could be as large as a mountain, and the mountains were as vast as planets; from afar, he could only see dark outlines, and up close, he couldn't make out any scenery at all.

Only until he was brought here by the Taiyin Human Emperor did Fang Zheng finally see the cultivation world he had imagined in his mind while secretly reading Xianxia novels in class.

Although Qingming Mountain was rich in subterranean Yin energy, that energy did not stifle life. The mountain was tens of thousands of meters high and covered hundreds of thousands of square kilometers—a spectacle of such grandeur that it could never be seen on Earth.

Its height alone was several times that of Mount Everest, and its land area was comparable to a medium-sized nation. It was less of a mountain and more of a high-altitude country, teeming with countless rare beasts and lush with all manner of flowers and trees.

Although Fang Zheng couldn't identify the types of plants, he felt that the scenery was beautiful everywhere he looked.

Reaching the middle of the mountain, Fang Zheng spotted a kingfisher, its feathers as brilliant as amethyst, its song melodious and pleasant. Fang Zheng laughed heartily and activated his "floating dash" to rush toward it. The startled bird, which had been chirping joyfully, turned to see this strange, blocky creature and was terrified. With a sharp squawk, it panicked and flew away in a rush.

Continuing on, a white ape with silver fur, standing over two meters tall, approached cautiously, holding two large, crystal-clear peaches. From the kind and gentle face of the ape, Fang Zheng saw a look of cautious fawning.

The old white ape knelt respectfully, seemingly offering the peaches to Fang Zheng and Jiang Tingting. Seeing that Fang Zheng did not move, Jiang Tingting remembered what the Taiyin Human Emperor had said—that this senior block-man seemed unable to hold things with his hands—so she reached out and took the peaches from the ape.

Afterward, she flipped her palm and used the Taiyin energy within her to condense a drop of moon-essence liquid, flicking it into the white ape's mouth.

Fang Zheng asked curiously, "Is this big white monkey a monster? How old is it?"

Jiang Tingting explained to Fang Zheng, "It doesn't count as a monster; it is merely a spirit creature. It is an elder of the ape tribe living in these mountains. I encountered it by chance when I came to this mountain to cultivate thirty years ago."

Jiang Tingting tucked one of the peaches away and took a small bite. The sweetness of the peach spread in her mouth, and she said, "Senior Fang, the spiritual peaches in these mountains, though not of great age, are sweet and delicious. It is a pity, however, that you seem unable to taste them."