The Sima clan of Fengshan was once the race closest to the gods in the ancient continent. However, as the gods dispersed from heaven and earth, the power of all races began to wane, including the Fengshan clan. After the deity they served perished, they pursued blood purity to extend their greatness. This indeed produced many brilliant talents, but the Sima clan’s numbers dwindled.
In the weighty history of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion, the Sima clan’s glory occupied nearly half. Yet as time passed, this once-powerful race declined rapidly. Meanwhile, the Shi clan who served them, along with other families of Gengchen Immortal Mansion, grew stronger generation after generation. Their numbers greatly exceeded the Sima clan members. After this reversal of power, the former masters became “birds in a cage.”
In the past few thousand years, the few remaining powerful cultivators of the Sima clan died from various accidents, leaving only young children who had not yet matured. Even the most extraordinary talent and potential needed time to develop. Under the Shi clan’s “care,” they gradually lost their freedom.
Driven by greed and ambition, the Shi clan betrayed their former master clan. They exploited the Sima clan’s trust, controlling the young Sima clan members, preventing them from becoming powerful, and reducing them to puppets isolated on Three Saints Mountain.
Of course, in the eyes of the world, the Sima clan always maintained a transcendent status. Even ordinary disciples of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion believed this. Who knew they were being carefully raised in “golden cages” like precious exotic beasts?
As the Sima clan dwindled, Sima E, the last pure-blooded daughter of the Sima clan, made one final act of resistance with her life. She secured an opportunity for the last bloodline of the Sima clan to grow.
Enduring immense pain, she used her flesh, blood, and spirit bones to purify the Spirit Mountain Fire, persuading this powerful spiritualized flame to willingly undergo rebirth and become a newborn spirit fire. She then implanted this purified newborn fire into her child’s body, linking his life completely with the Fengshan Spirit Fire.
Sima Jiao was just a child then, and similarly endured great suffering before fully accepting this weakened newborn spirit fire.
The spirit fire was the most important treasure of the Fengshan clan and the foundation of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion. It was the most vital root system—without the spirit fire, the territory of Gengchen Immortal Mansion would lose all spiritual energy, transforming from an Immortal Mansion into barren wasteland, and their fortunes would decline.
For many years, countless Sima clan members had nurtured the spirit fire like Sima E, but Sima Jiao was different. He completely merged with the spirit fire, sharing life and death—no other Sima clan member capable of nurturing the spirit fire remained in the world.
Because of the spirit fire’s empowerment, Sima Jiao’s cultivation advanced extremely rapidly. The Shi clan and other Gengchen Immortal Mansion families became wary of him because of this fire and instead tried to entice and recruit him. However, Sima Jiao possessed the Oath of True Words and the unique ability to see through others’ hearts. No matter how gentle the smiles these people showed him, he could only sense being surrounded by various terrible intentions.
All he could feel were deception, greed, fear, and various malicious intents.
He was wary of everyone and naturally fierce. Unlike his naturally kind mother, he could kill without hesitation even at such a young age—to enhance his cultivation, he absorbed the energy of several people from the Shi clan.
His “caretakers” had never seen such a cultivation method before, ferocious and near-demonic, yet not exactly demonic. This was because the spiritual energy circulation in demonic cultivators was opposite to that of immortal cultivators. Sima Jiao showed no signs of demonic cultivation; he simply killed without concern and devoured others’ cultivation. After he drained the elite disciples of the entire Three Saints Mountain, they dared not send anyone else.
“If he cannot be used by us or controlled, he will endanger the entire Gengchen Immortal Mansion!” The families that had been leeching off the Sima clan grew fearful and attempted many schemes.
Each attempt failed. Not only could they not control Sima Jiao, but he seized every opportunity to grow stronger. Finally, with no other options, they sacrificed many disciples to imprison him for several hundred years.
…
Liao Tingyan awoke, flew to the cushion on the table, raised her paws to meticulously wash her face, smoothed her fur and whiskers, then sat by the plate and picked up a soft, snow-white cake to nibble.
After taking two bites of the sweet, flower-scented small round cake, she glanced to the side.
Sima Jiao was leaning there with his eyes closed. His sleeves were messily bundled together on his thigh, left from when Liao Tingyan had been sleeping there earlier. Since becoming an otter, she was often scooped up in Sima Jiao’s hand to be petted whenever she slept, and having slept on him many times, she had grown accustomed to it.
Usually, when she woke up, Sima Jiao would open his eyes too, but this time there was no movement.
Could he be asleep? No, that flame had said Sima Jiao hadn’t slept for many years.
She watched Sima Jiao’s motionless form and took another bite of the round cake. After finishing one cake, he was still in the same position, leaning there, truly appearing to be asleep.
A small droplet of water leaped out of the teacup, following the wave of Liao Tingyan’s paw, and landed on Sima Jiao’s face. Sima Jiao’s eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes. The water droplet happened to fall on his eyelid, and with this blink, the droplet slid down his cheek like a tear.
Sima Jiao looked over at her.
The fur on Liao Tingyan’s body bristled.
Sima Jiao, expressionless, took the otter and wiped his face with her, using her fur to dry the water on his face.
Liao Tingyan: “…”
She raised her paw to smooth her flattened fur, preparing to take out some melon seeds to crack.
“I just had a dream,” Sima Jiao suddenly said.
Liao Tingyan was so startled that she dropped her melon seeds. What were the odds that this ancestor had fallen asleep and even dreamed? This was as rare as a meteor shower that occurs once every five hundred years. She turned her head to look at Sima Jiao, waiting for him to continue. She was quite curious about what kind of dream would be had by an ancestor who hadn’t slept for hundreds of years and had exhausted himself so thoroughly.
But Sima Jiao didn’t elaborate; he lowered his gaze and looked out the window with a hint of boredom.
Liao Tingyan thought: People who only tell half a story like this would be beaten to death in modern society.
Sima Jiao had dreamed of his childhood, on a stormy night when his mother Sima E came to his bedside, woke him from sleep, and tried to strangle him. This was something that had happened; if Shi Yongyou hadn’t discovered and stopped it, he probably would have been strangled to death.
The most absurd part was that he could feel intense malice from all those who claimed to protect and care for him, while his mother, as she tried to strangle him, conveyed only tender love and treasured affection.
Thinking of this, Sima Jiao glanced at Liao Tingyan again. She had already flown to the table and was lying there, nibbling on a five-colored round cake, taking a bite of each color as if comparing which had the best texture.
This person was the strangest he had ever met. Others who saw him typically had one of two emotions: either fear and disgust, or admiration and flattery. But she was different—she had neither. She felt neither strong aversion nor much fondness toward him, treating him like roadside flora, and this faint emotion made Sima Jiao feel at peace. Despite being so weak and having encountered so many things, she still managed to arrange herself comfortably.
Sima Jiao thought she was smarter than many people he had met before. Truly intelligent people can live well anywhere.
Liao Tingyan held the round cake suspended in the air as she brought it to her mouth, then tried to control the nearby tea. In a moment of distraction, the cake fell and smeared all over her face, cake crumbs scattering all over her body.
Sima Jiao thought: I take back what I just thought about her being smart.
“Senior,” Old Master Yan called from outside the door. “The people who’ve come to guide us to Hundred Phoenix Mountain have arrived.”
They had stayed here for two days and were finally preparing to depart. Liao Tingyan watched Sima Jiao stand up, then patted her paws and shook her fur, flying toward him, ready to continue being his accessory.
However, Sima Jiao blocked her with one hand and flicked her away, sending her flying—biu—into the soft cushion.
“You stay here.”
Liao Tingyan: What? Not taking me along? Is this some kind of treat?
She had just sat up, but upon hearing these words, she promptly lay back down. She didn’t want to go, because going would certainly lead to discovering some great secret, possibly even witnessing many bloody murder scenes. She didn’t want to know too much or watch a bloody horror show.
Sima Jiao took two steps toward the door, made a grasping motion with his hand to produce a small flame, and flicked it toward Liao Tingyan. “Take this.”
After saying this, he left decisively.
The small flame, enclosed in a transparent spherical barrier, landed next to Liao Tingyan’s tail. Liao Tingyan moved closer to look, and the tiny flame immediately started loudly berating her: “What are you looking at? Stinky gray fur!”
Liao Tingyan pulled the ball closer. “How did you become so small?”
“Haven’t you heard of dividing one’s spirit? This is just a small flame split from my main body! It’s meant to monitor you!”
Liao Tingyan: “Oh.”
When the boss goes out on business, employees naturally slack off. Liao Tingyan, a lone otter, lazily occupied the entire large bed, stretching comfortably. The flame was noisy, so she added another soundproof cover.
This flame was truly like a conceited yet lonely child—with no one to play with and often confined, it talked incessantly when it saw anyone, unable to communicate normally, only knowing how to insult others. Liao Tingyan suddenly thought of something, removed the cover, and started chatting with it.
“You mentioned before that when Master Sima dreams, you also dream. Does that mean you can see his dreams?”
The flame had been fuming earlier, but hearing her question now made it incredibly smug, with even a small flame exuding an overwhelming aura of arrogance. It said, “Of course! I know all his little secrets, and I can see his dreams too.”
Liao Tingyan was still curious. “The old master just fell asleep and had a dream. What did you see?”
The flame immediately started laughing loudly: “He dreamed of his mother, hahaha! That milk-fed pretty boy!” As it continued, it began fabricating and slandering, “In his dream, he was wailing loudly, calling for his mother! With snot running down his face!”
Liao Tingyan thought: I don’t believe a word you’re saying.
“Spreading rumors might feel good for a moment, but if he finds out you said this, he might make you wail loudly in pain.”
The flame hesitated. “I… you think I’m afraid of him?”
“Yes, I think you’re truly afraid of him,” Liao Tingyan said, instantly placing the soundproof cover back on, immediately blocking out the flame’s obscenities.
Sima Jiao, using Young Master Yan’s appearance, followed behind Old Master Yan and met a Yuan Ying stage cultivator who had come to guide them. This cultivator had an ordinary appearance, was taciturn, and possessed a boat-shaped flying artifact. He glanced at the baby girl in Old Master Yan’s arms, then let him board the flying artifact.
“Previously, only you came, but this time there’s an additional person,” the Yuan Ying cultivator said, raising his chin to indicate Sima Jiao.
Old Master Yan smiled ingratiatingly: “This is… my son. He will inherit my business in the future and will be the one to deliver children then, so I’m bringing him to learn the process.” As he spoke, he passed over a bag of spirit stones.
The Yuan Ying cultivator accepted the spirit stones without further comment and allowed Sima Jiao to board the flying artifact.
Old Master Yan relaxed slightly, then held the sleeping baby girl tighter in his arms. This baby girl was born to one of Young Master Yan’s concubines. Among all the children born to Young Master Yan’s women, only this baby girl had inherited the bloodline. If she could stay at Hundred Phoenix Mountain, their Yan family could continue to prosper for another two hundred years.
However… Old Master Yan secretly glanced at the mysterious cultivator beside him, feeling uneasy. He sensed that something significant might happen on this journey.