Yunzhou felt a strong sense of belonging to the sect; to him, this place was home. Shi An loved it not only because it was also his home, but more importantly because his master was here.
When the divine palace collapsed, Shi An had already fallen into the mortal cultivation world while still just a dragon egg. The spiritual energy in the cultivation world was not as abundant as that in the divine palace. At that time, although he had already developed spiritual intelligence, he was unable to assume human form.
Suppressed by the laws of heavenly Dao and his own cultivation, he stumbled along and drifted for a year until an accident forced him to transform into his true form. It was then that Immortal Yunzhou scooped him up with both hands and brought him back to the Pinglan Sect, providing him with a stable refuge from that day onward.
Yunzhou only remembered that he was originally a person from the divine palace, the young prince of the nine-tailed fox clan. Ill-fated, he encountered the collapse of the heavenly gates in his youth, after which the divine palace ceased to exist, leaving only scattered bloodlines lingering in the mortal cultivation world. As for the antecedents and consequences, he remained completely oblivious.
Straying into the cultivation world, he was encountered by Yunzhou’s master, Venerable Xingyin, while traveling. The venerable scooped the unconscious little dark bundle up with both hands, bestowed upon him the name Yunzhou, and meticulously tended to his recovery, ensuring that his quiet life was accompanied by a lively little white fox.
Venerable Xingyin knew that this little white fox had an extraordinary background and might be related to the turmoil in the divine palace, but he harbored no ulterior motives toward him. He brought him back to the Pinglan Sect, and once Yunzhou transformed into human form, he accepted him as his closing disciple, serving as Yunzhou’s backing and shield.
As a nine-tailed spirit fox, Yunzhou along with Shi An the azure dragon was born a divine beast and possessed the cultivation of an upper god from birth, only to be stranded here with his spiritual power suppressed by the laws of heavenly Dao.
Although Venerable Xingyin knew he was no ordinary being, upon seeing the newly transformed little white fox a seventeen-year-old youth dressed in white divine robes embroidered with dark gold thread, who channeled his spiritual power with a solemn expression before turning back to look at him with lingering attachment while a barren mountain peak collapsed behind the youth even the venerable could not help the twitch of his lips.
Venerable Xingyin and Yunzhou resided on Canglan Peak. The venerable instructed Yunzhou not to wander down the mountain at will to display his cultivation, fearing that the still-naive little white fox would come to harm.
During one of Yunzhou’s secret excursions down the mountain out of curiosity about the outside world, he spotted a little cyan snake coiled in a corner. Cupping it in both hands, Yunzhou felt the snake was exceptionally striking with its dark cyan body and cyan-gold horns upon its head. He suddenly realized this was a guardian divine beast, an azure dragon, and should be one of those stranded just like himself.
In order to sneak back to Canglan Peak undetected, Yunzhou transformed into his fox form and carried Shi An back in his mouth. However, Venerable Xingyin discovered them nonetheless. Calculating that the two shared a fated affinity, Venerable Xingyin had Yunzhou take Shi An in as his disciple and settled him on Canglan Peak to live together.
At that time, Yunzhou was nineteen years old, while Shi An was seventeen.
A century passed quietly. Under Venerable Xingyin’s guidance, the two learned to conceal their divine palace aura, masquerading as high-level demonic deities from the demon realm. They learned the ways of human society, learned how to integrate into this world, and inherited the entirety of Venerable Xingyin’s skills.
When Venerable Xingyin’s lifespan was nearing its end, the two wanted to use their blood as a catalyst to forge a medicinal pill that would prolong his life.
Venerable Xingyin refused. He said that since he was merely a traveler of ephemeral existence who had witnessed the good and evil of the world, he had no remaining regrets and preferred to let nature take its course. With that, he passed away, his physical body turning to ash and scattering with the wind as he continued his journey to observe the world.
Though the world possessed myriad forms, there were always certain people worth protecting with one’s entire repertoire of skills. Venerable Xingyin had instructed them that human nature is complex and filled with both good and evil; they should neither hold excessively high expectations nor completely write off the world.
Following Venerable Xingyin’s passing, the entire sect fell into mourning. Moreover, due to the passing of the esteemed Yunzhou, the Pinglan Sect’s status became surrounded by a pack of wolves eyeing it hungrily. The sect leader, who was a close friend of Venerable Xingyin across an age gap and held him in deep respect, was overwhelmed by grief following his death. Depleted in mental energy, even though he maintained his usual decisive and swift demeanor, he could not conceal his weariness.