The eastern sky was only just beginning to brighten, the morning mist still clinging to the treetops as the entire Qingyun Mountain gradually emerged from the faint dawn light.
The main peak rose straight from the earth, soaring into the clouds, its summit swallowed by the drifting mists and nowhere in sight. On either side stood two lesser peaks. Their slopes were gentler, their peaks nearly a third lower than the main summit, curving around it like two outstretched wings.
Qi Tian followed the flow of people, slowly making his way up the winding stone steps.
The newly admitted disciples, together with those who had been exempted from the Heaven-Ascending Stairway test, numbered a total of 262. All of them were gathered together now, led by more than a dozen senior disciples at the front. The procession stretched on, with the sound of footsteps and murmured conversations echoing through the mountain valleys.
The higher they climbed, the denser the spiritual energy became.
