Night of the Broken Gliph

Now, Apex Temple was gifted a complete copy of this precious style.

It was priceless beyond measure, and if news were to spread about Apex Temple owning a copy of this legendary style from the ancient past, the entire sect would be in danger of being exterminated. There were definitely scary organisations out there that were interested in this legendary style from the ancient past.

However, the thought of his master’s power put Yuen Yau at ease.

“Understood, your humble disciple will arrange it well.” Yuen Yau signed to Mute.

“You’re Man Fai, right?” A voice rang out of nowhere, scaring Man Fai. He didn’t see Mute moving his mouth, yet someone was speaking to him!

Man Fai nodded after a short silence, which earned him a loving smile from Mute.

“Are you interested in learning from me?”

Knowing that he had come across a precious chance, Man Fai immediately knelt and kowtowed to Mute, yet a gentle strength shook the teen back to his original position without Mute making the slightest movement!

“Don’t get it wrong; you are not acknowledging me as your master, just practising and learning here.”

“From today onward, you’ll be an ascetic monk of Apex Temple, who practices with hair unshorn.”

Man Fai looked at Mute in a daze. He had never heard of an ascetic monk before.

The path of an ascetic monk who practised with hair unshorn was considered popular back in ancient times, mostly consisting of clans and sects that had good relations with a Buddhist sect who wished to learn the martial arts of Buddhism yet not become a Buddhist.

Despite not being actual members of the Buddhist sect, they learned and grew from the sect, thus ascetic monks were all connected to the Buddhist sect and had to render a helping hand if the Buddhist sect faced trouble in the future.

Man Fai still didn’t know that he was about to be the first ascetic monk in a thousand years.

Chui Yim sat on the fire cloud in an ugly manner. He deliberately drove it to a higher altitude to prevent scaring the commoners.

Downing some wine, he swirled it in the air only to realise it was now empty.

He shook his head and returned the empty jar to the Divine Bracelet of Five Elements. Focusing forward, he could see a small hill.

The hill was way shorter compared to the huge Cerulean Mountain where Cloud Palace was located, nor could it be compared to the lone peak of Great Wisdom City, the Heavenly Silver Waterfall.

This hill had two peaks, one growing out from the middle of the hill, and the best description for it would be a double-headed snake. Yet, it did not seem weird in the slightest; it looked perfect, just like how it was born to be.

Chui Yim was no stranger to this sight, as he once passed this place during his long journey from Southary to South Imperial City.

This was Ceremony Mountain, located next to Hidden Vanguard City.

Hidden Vanguard City could be considered a popular city in the South even before water-casting Grandmaster Mok Ching Sau gained fame. It was a place where many cultivators resided, and it was all because of Ceremony Mountain.

Ceremony Mountain’s unique shape embodied the ancient Taoist concept of the Two Principles. This mountain enhanced the abilities of cultivators who had mastered special dual-attribute styles.

Just like how there were numerous clans in the world, there were countless styles that had arisen. During ancient times where elites were commonplace, there would be talents every minute of the day coming up with a new style of their own. A thousand years had passed and cultivation had declined, but there were still people coming across great chances that gave them styles or allowed them to successfully create weird styles.

Thus, dual-attribute styles were nothing rare.

Even non-dual-attribute cultivators would come; cultivators would also practice positive or negative styles, thus, there was a small boost to them when cultivating near the mountain as well, and it was a great help to cultivators without an organisation or clan supporting them.

Well, not every cultivator could fork over 6,000,000 to buy a statue to help with their clan’s cultivation like the Wong Clan.

Things were tough for cultivators without a background, as it was costly to cultivate.

Firstly, gliphers required gliphists to tattoo gliphs for them, including precious ingredients that gliphers needed to provide themselves, and it cost an arm and a leg to find a well-known and powerful gliphist to tattoo the gliph for them. Money alone was insufficient to get gliphists of a certain state, as they only wanted legendary or lost gliphs or even rare ingredients.

Gliphists needed treasures and gliphers needed weapons too… All of these cost money!

Things were better in the South, which focused on education and heritage. In contrast, the North, where people frequently killed for treasures, exemplified the phrase “survival of the fittest,” making cultivation difficult.

Every cultivator would definitely treasure a place that allowed them to cultivate safely and improve rapidly.

A place like this would be Hidden Vanguard City, and Ceremony Mountain was like a precious treasure.

Ever since Mok Ching Sau gained fame, the city became increasingly popular. Contrary to the city’s name, Hidden Vanguard, the city showed off its brilliance instead, and it was a popular and sacred spot for many cultivators and water-casters!

People even calculated that, in a short fifty years, the number of people in Hidden Vanguard City would increase threefold.

All of this was because of the city's unique topography and Mok Ching Sau.

Even before landing, Chui Yim could feel the uniqueness of the city. It was not winter when he came previously, but autumn, and back then, the aura wasn’t that strong. Now, he could feel it strongly as it was currently snowing heavily, but with Ceremony Mountain as the center, it felt less cold as he got nearer. He subconsciously turned to Ceremony Mountain far away to see a white cloud spinning above the mountain.

So this is what Ceremony Mountain is like in the twelfth lunar month?

With that, Chui Yim neared it without thinking much.

The closer he moved, the stronger the feeling was, which Chui Yim disliked.

It was odd deliberately making the place feel less cold when they knew clearly that it should be weather that makes every shudder from the chill. Chui Yim also couldn’t help but gasp at the number of cultivators in the city.

Back when he first came to this city, he had yet to break through his innate chamber, thus he was unable to feel it.

But now, Chui Yim was in the two-chambered state and cultivated the ancient method, so he could clearly feel the powerful aura. The man selling buns was in the two-chambered state, while the old man selling candied hawthorn was in the ten-gliphic state!

Back in Southary, Chan Shue Gun was in the single-gliphic state and he was already the most powerful person, but he would be a nobody in this city!

Not every cultivator was like Chan Shue Gun, who didn’t mind leading a peaceful life in a small city. Most had big dreams and the desire to make themselves powerful. The path of cultivation was going against the heavens, and those like Chan Shue Gun who desired peace and preferred a stable life would only turn into weaklings.

Because they had already lost the desire to become stronger.