Tian Shan Mountains lie in the western regions, a place of breathtaking beauty. The range stretches far from east to west, with the southern and northern slopes offering dramatically different scenery. Across this vast expanse, you’ll find everything: towering peaks, forests, rivers, waterfalls, grasslands, deserts—every landscape imaginable. Even in an era before "tourism" was a thing, Tian Shan was already shrouded in mystery and splendor.
Of all the things people talk about when it comes to Tian Shan, two stand out: the Celestial Lake and the Celestial Snow Lotus.
Celestial Lake—sometimes called the Jade Pool in legend—is said to sit at the very summit of Tian Shan, surrounded by icy, snowbound wilderness. The water is colder than cold, way beyond freezing, yet it always shimmers with emerald waves and never freezes over. Rumor has it, the lake possesses magical powers: most people would freeze or die within minutes, but if you survive the cold, the benefits are out of this world.
Legend says it can beautify your skin, cure all sorts of illnesses—especially age spots, acne, pimples, freckles, crow’s feet, you name it. Soak in it often enough and you’ll stay young forever, which, let’s be real, is a huge draw for women everywhere. Martial artists love it too, because word is, anyone who bathes in the Celestial Lake gets a massive boost in their skills.
But besides the Celestial Lake, the second most coveted treasure is, of course, the Celestial Snow Lotus.
The saying goes: "Ashamed to mingle with common weeds, how proud and fragrant it stands alone." The Celestial Snow Lotus is something else entirely. It grows where no ordinary flower could survive, drawing in the essence of heaven and earth. It’s a priceless gem, and the snow lotus found at the very peak of Tian Shan is the rarest of the rare—a treasure among treasures. As for its effects? Basically, it’s the ultimate upgrade: beautifies, heals, boosts your power, extends your life—like the Celestial Lake, but even better.
In short, the rumor in the martial world is: soak in the Celestial Lake, eat the Celestial Snow Lotus, and you’ll level up, power up, marry (or become) a rich beauty, and rocket straight to the top of your career! Any martial artist will drool over this and talk your ear off for days, all full of deep longing for the mysterious heights of Tian Shan.
If you ask them, has anyone actually soaked in the lake or tasted the lotus? Any real-life reviews? They’ll have no answer—Celestial Lake and Snow Lotus are just too legendary, basically never seen in the martial world.
Push a little further and ask, if no one’s ever really benefited from them, how do you know they’re so amazing?
Then they’ll flip open ancient history and tell you: Tian Shan is home to immortals! Ages ago, a bunch of eternally young, ageless immortals lived there! The Celestial Lake and Snow Lotus? Special supply for the immortals!
By now, everyone should get the gist. After all this rambling, the point is— the Freewind Sect has long since become the stuff of legend in the martial world. In some folk tales, they've even been straight-up mythologized.
Misty Peak, towering high into the clouds, is so steep it could make your legs shake. Spirit Eagle Palace isn’t even at the top—just nestled halfway up, where it’s still nice and warm. Behind the palace runs an ancient mountain path, but don’t even think about wandering up there if you’re just a regular palace maid. The trail wraps around sheer cliffs and keeps climbing, and it’s dangerous as heck. As you zigzag up, you can literally feel the temperature nosedive. Once you cross the snowline, the steps are buried deep in snow.
The mountain wind howls, and this lonely, desolate path feels like it’s heading straight for the heavens.
Keep going, and once you’re deep in the clouds, you’ll stumble upon a cluster of ancient buildings. These are the old digs left behind by Freewind Sect generations ago. Legend has it, Master Freewind himself first set up shop here, living in a humble hut before he started teaching and founded the sect. Considering the whole ‘super-longevity’ thing with Freewind folks, it’s only been a handful of generations, but these buildings are still hundreds of years old.
So, this place basically counts as the Freewind Sect’s ancestral temple. Every few days, a trusted palace maid gets sent up here to sweep and tidy things. Inside, there’s even a secret chamber that only the sect leader can use for closed-door training—pretty high-class stuff.
But even these ancient palaces aren’t the end of the road. If you want to go higher, forget about paths—there aren’t any left. You’ve got to rely on some seriously epic lightness skill, braving bone-chilling winds and scrambling up slick, bare rock. Up and up you go, and finally, when you break through the clouds, you hit the summit.
The sky’s a perfect blue, the sea of clouds stretches forever, and if you can handle the freezing cold, the view up here honestly looks like something out of a heavenly palace.
Right at the top, there’s this sweet little spot with a pool—not too big, not too small—this is the legendary Celestial Lake. And lounging in the water is a tall girl, totally at ease, floating on her back with her arms behind her head, letting the waves do all the work. She’s even got cucumber slices over her eyes, and her platinum hair fans out in the water like a shiny curtain. She lets out a huge, satisfied sigh: “Sunbathing up here is just—so—freaking—nice~~~”
Who else could it be but Jill Young?
“Open up!” A pale little hand reaches for Jill Young’s mouth. She does as told, and something soft and tender gets placed on her lips. She puckers up, takes a bite—nom, nom, chew, chew, swallow. Jill Young peels off her cucumber slices in delight and exclaims, “Whoa, this stuff tastes amazing! Is it the legendary Celestial Snow Lotus?”
“It's just a Western peach! Seriously, didn't I just give you some the other day? You already forgot?” Next to Jill Young, a girl balanced a whole tray in her arms. She looked about fifteen or sixteen, with delicate features—basically a tall, elegant big-loli. This was Wu Zhengfeng. She was sitting cross-legged... on the surface of the water. The wind stirred the pool, and Wu Zhengfeng drifted gently with the ripples, looking for all the world like an actual fairy.
With over a hundred and thirty years of breakthrough cultivation under her belt, in another martial arts universe she’d be a Saint-level master. Compare her to the three old legends from the Freewind Sect’s heyday—those guys spent half their lives tangled up in drama, and hit a wall at the century mark. Wu Zhengfeng, though, just kept grinding, laser-focused. So honestly, she’s a cut above those old-timers. Even if her power isn’t totally back yet, her lightness skill is already next-level.
In this world’s timeline, it’s been two months since she met Jill Young. With sixty years’ worth of cultivation restored, she’s starting to get back that Empress Tianshan vibe. But here’s the thing—while her power’s coming back fast, her body’s stuck at big-loli mode, which kinda bugs her... Actually, maybe it doesn’t bug her that much. She might even secretly love it!
Wu Zhengfeng’s one big regret is not mastering the Supreme Technique before turning eighteen. Now she’s stuck at the peak of youth—sure, she might pout, but deep down she’s probably loving it. The palace maids are always speculating, gossiping about the secret to her eternal youth and beauty. Some say the Young Palace Mistress’s blood is a miracle cure, some swear her magical water keeps you young, and others claim her cultivation method is the real secret. Either way, among a bunch of beauty-obsessed ladies, the Dragon Elephant Technique is selling itself these days.
“Here, this is the real Snow Lotus Fruit—try one!” Wu Zhengfeng’s fingers, pale as scallions, picked up a fruit and popped it into Jill Young’s mouth, her eyes full of admiration: “In less than sixty days, you’ve hit the eighth layer of Postnatal—your speed is unreal.”
“Between the spirit herbs, the magic fruit, and soaking in this awesome pool, how could I not level up fast? Once again, it proves—having money and power is just the best!” Jill Young suddenly grabbed Wu Zhengfeng and, with a yelp, pulled her into the water: “This pool is way too comfy for you to just sit out—come play! You’re not even cold, so why the heavy clothes? Come on, swimming’s all about letting loose!”
With a splash, Wu Zhengfeng’s coat went flying onto the shore—stripped off in a split second.
Wu Zhengfeng gave an exasperated sigh, then relaxed, paddling around and enjoying the bath. Water splashed, the icy pool skimmed her creamy shoulders, and her black hair floated like silk. The Celestial Lake isn’t quite as magical as the legends say, but it does help. Soaking here clears your mind and chills your temper, making it way less likely you’ll go off the rails in your cultivation—kinda like a Cold Jade Bed, but with a better view.
“So, how’s your brother doing?” Wu Zhengfeng asked, kicking up water, curiosity in her voice. “From the look of you, things must’ve gotten pretty gnarly.”
“All good, it’s sorted—he’s in deep sleep now, so it’s my turn to shine.” Jill Young munched on a Snow Lotus Fruit and clapped her hands in excitement: “This stuff is seriously amazing! Too bad there’s so little of it. If we had unlimited supply, a hundred years of cultivation would be just around the corner! I’ll go hunt for more, and help you max out your power too!”
“It’s not that easy. Before you break through, munching on these is fine, but at my level, they don’t do squat anymore.”
“Hey, getting sixty years out of it isn’t bad! It’s just that Celestial Snow Lotus is so rare, you can barely keep one person supplied, let alone more.” Jill Young mused, “Maybe we should get someone to research it, see if we can grow it in bulk. If we could mass-produce these, that’d be the dream.”
“We can talk about that later. What I’m more curious about is you and your brother.” Wu Zhengfeng swam over, using her energy to treat the water’s surface like a table, propping her chin on her hand as she watched Jill Young. “What’s up with you two, anyway? Seems like it’s tough for you to meet.”
“Us? Let me put it this way.” Jill Young straightened up, paddling as she pointed at the Celestial Lake: “Suppose we’re both in this pool, and we’re not allowed to swim or get any outside help, but we want to reach the shore. What do we do?”
Wu Zhengfeng got it right away: “Just give each other a push.”
“Exactly! We just push each other—” With a little shove, both slid away in opposite directions. Jill Young spread her hands: “See? Now you’re on the other shore, I’m on this shore. We can see each other, but we’re not together.”
Wu Zhengfeng couldn’t quite wrap her head around the whole ‘this shore, that shore’ bit—sounded super Zen, but kind of confusing. Jill Young, though, was totally speaking from the heart. That glimpse of the world’s axis during the White Night made the twins suddenly realize a lot. In endless void, they’re each other’s only anchor.
It’s been like this since the day they were born, twenty-six years ago—like two sides of a mirror. If one’s here, the other’s over there. If one wants to come here, the other has to go there.
But the twins have a super strong bond. If one ‘pulls’ the other, they can meet in the middle, swap places, and jump to each other’s shore. That’s basically how world-hopping works for them—there’s still a lot they don’t get, and there are exceptions, but this is the gist.
“Forget it, I don’t get it.” Wu Zhengfeng gave up trying to figure out something that didn’t really concern her, swam over, and pinched Jill Young’s arm. “How’s the bone? All healed yet?”
“No way it’s healed that fast—‘takes a hundred days to fix bones,’ right?” When she brute-forced through the solid murky energy, Jill Young’s arm bones shattered, with cracks crawling all the way up to her wrists and even her fingers. Any further and they would’ve turned to powder. She’s not totally wrecked now, but it’s still a bad injury. Tier 8 Dragon Elephant gives crazy recovery, but her bones aren’t ordinary. The better the quality, the harder to break—but also the harder to fix.
For a normal person, this would take a decade or more to heal, and their arms would be useless in the meantime. Jill Young’s recovery is way faster, especially with lower-grade meat pills for backup, but it’ll still take about a month. For now, she’s keeping her muscles tight to hold the bones together—no splints needed, and daily stuff’s fine. But she can’t use more than Tier 3 Dragon Elephant strength, or she’ll really bust something.
“So for now, I’ll just have to kick people instead.” Jill Young rubbed her hot arm—her cells were hard at work repairing the damage. She pouted, clearly frustrated: “Since when have I ever lost out physically like this? Once I’m back in shape, or max out Titan Spirit Method, I’m gonna go find that jerk and settle the score!”
“Alright, I’m rooting for you! But heal up first—here, let me give you a massage.” Wu Zhengfeng reached out her small hand, patting Jill Young’s shoulder as she grumbled, “Ever since the Nine Heavens Nine Divisions disappeared, all the old medical texts are lost. If we could still make those legendary bone-healing meds, I could actually help. Sigh, Lady Simone really dropped the ball…”
Back in the Spirit Eagle Palace’s heyday, they could even swap out eyeballs—top-tier medical tech, basically. But now… even Wu Zhengfeng can’t help but feel a little let down by her spendthrift master.
“No biggie, it’s just a recipe—I’ll figure it out.” Jill Young comforted Wu Zhengfeng, then squinted mischievously: “And since I can’t move much, it’s perfect—I’ve got someone to boss around.” She raised her voice and called out, “Hey! Get over here and serve!”
“Y-yes, ma’am!” came a familiar voice, and a familiar woman stepped forward—Lady Simone! This time, though, she’d dialed back her usual seductive charm, her big eyes now tinged with fear. Carrying a tray, she hurried to the pool, knelt down with a splash, tray in hand and head bowed, cheeks flushed red: “M-mistress, please… please enjoy!”
“You can’t even get a sentence out?” Jill Young raised an eyebrow, shadows flickering in her eyes as she flashed her tiger teeth in a sly grin: “Looks like you still need more training. Guess we’ll have to up the dose tonight!”
Lady Simone trembled at the words, not daring to argue, and lowered herself even further, replying respectfully, “Mistress is right! I—I do deserve… extra punishment!”