The clouds hung over the sky like a canopy, white snow drifted like dust. The various peaks stood silently amid the snow, their forests blanketed in white, resembling countless cotton clouds.
A rainbow-colored streak of light pierced through the sky from the first main peak, soaring like a shooting star.
Nearly all the peak masters of the Great Snow Mountain turned their gazes toward it.
"The Ancestor has issued another command."
"I wonder who will receive the task of collecting immortal materials this time…"
"Hopefully it won't be me."
The rainbow arc traced a graceful curve through the air before plunging directly into the third snow peak.
Many peak masters secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Within the third snow peak, Li Shan the Mountain Fairy wore a brocade fur-lined skirt with a base of polished silver, its surface embroidered with a design of fragrant grasslands under moonlight.
This was the fashion of the Northern Plains.
Li Shan the Mountain Fairy wore a sapphire-blue pearl ribbon in her hair. At this moment her eyes were closed, her mind almost entirely devoted to her Immortal Aperture.
Within her Immortal Aperture, birds sang and flowers bloomed, warm as spring — a complete opposite from the icy caverns and snowy landscape of the Great Snow Mountain.
Dense forests stretched across vibrant green mountains and rivers like a tapestry, filled with rare crops, a scattering of wild flora, and even ancient wild flora.
At the center of her Immortal Aperture, hidden within a patch of waist-high grass, nestled a small mountain.
At first glance, this small mountain was less conspicuous than a mere hillock.
But it was Fangcun Mountain — one of the rare secret realms recorded in the Chronicles of the Human Ancestor.
Within Fangcun Mountain, vast numbers of Little People flew in and out.
They darted through the extremely lush grasslands, and relative to their tiny bodies, each blade of grass towered like a great tree.
The Little People worked diligently among the grass like a swarm of bees.
Li Shan the Mountain Fairy quietly observed with her mind's eye for a while, feeling satisfied.
Ever since she had seized Fangcun Mountain, the Little People had initially refused to cooperate, fiercely resistant.
But Li Shan the Mountain Fairy was no incompetent. She applied both kindness and severity, installing puppet leaders among the Little People while ruthlessly killing off the stubborn resisters.
The Little People did not share the stubbornness of the Feathered Men. But among them, there were also those of unwavering loyalty.
Li Shan the Mountain Fairy killed approximately forty percent of the Little People before finally bringing the Little People of Fangcun Mountain under her control.
Afterward, Li Shan the Mountain Fairy formally moved Fangcun Mountain into her own Immortal Aperture. With the assistance of the Little People, her Wood Path resources began to increase exponentially!
The Hairy Folk were born with Refinement Path Dao marks, and thus possessed a talent for refining Gu. The Feathered Men had Cloud Path Dao marks, with wings growing from their backs that allowed them to fly freely through the sky. And the Little People, from the very moment of birth, carried Wood Path Dao marks upon them. Wherever they lived and moved, plants and trees would grow extraordinarily lush. Moreover, they possessed generational knowledge passed down through the ages, making them the most skilled plant cultivators across the entire Five Regions.
"The Little People are truly extraordinary! This patch of Jade Yin Grass is a Seventh Transformation immortal material. It has always been withered and sparse, but after the Little People lived here for half a year, they expanded it into a miniature pasture, with every stalk of Jade Yin Grass thriving with vitality. It's just a shame that the Little People are still too few. That previous battle cost the Little People most of their population. If I still had the former numbers, my current burden would be reduced by more than half. Hmm? Two Message Gu at the same time?"
Li Shan the Mountain Fairy's mind stirred as she sensed two Information Path Gu insects — one coming from the outside world, streaking across the sky toward her, and the other drilling out from deep within her blessed land, the Cup Exchange Gu.
Li Shan the Mountain Fairy opened her eyes. First, she casually waved her hand, drawing the rainbow streak from the sky into her palm.
She sent her mind probing inside to take a look.
As she had expected — another task from Snow Beard Ancestor to collect immortal materials.
"Heavenly Covering Dust, Stone Dragon Pupil, Ivory Flame… this time he wants me to gather these three types of immortal materials." Li Shan the Mountain Fairy's brows furrowed deeply.
These three immortal materials — Stone Dragon Pupil and Ivory Flame were both Seventh Transformation grade, while Heavenly Covering Dust was of the Eighth Transformation grade, exceedingly precious.
Ivory Flame was a small flame that burned quietly inside the tusk of an ancient wild beast elephant after death. This flame was only as large as a bean. Once it burned through the tusk and contacted the outside air, it would be extinguished.
Ancient wild beast elephants were existences comparable to Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu Masters. Not every elephant would produce Ivory Flame within its tusk upon death.
Taken all together, one could see just how rare Ivory Flame was. Even in the Treasure Yellow Heaven — the largest market across the Five Regions — it was a rarely seen immortal material.
And compared to Ivory Flame, Stone Dragon Pupil and Heavenly Covering Dust were even harder to obtain.
Heavenly Covering Dust was a unique atmospheric phenomenon found only in the Yellow Heaven of the Primordial Nine Heavens. But the Yellow Heaven had long since collapsed due to the Ten Children of the Human Ancestor. Li Shan the Mountain Fairy would first need to locate a fragment world of the Yellow Heaven.
And this fragment world had to be sufficiently large, with enough Dao marks to support her entry and exploration.
Once inside the Yellow Heaven fragment world, Li Shan the Mountain Fairy would still need to prepare special methods to properly collect the Heavenly Covering Dust. The collection process would naturally be fraught with danger.
As for Heavenly Covering Dust, Li Shan the Mountain Fairy would rather spend a fortune to purchase it through the Treasure Yellow Heaven.
And Stone Dragon Pupil referred to the eyeballs of ancient wild beast Stone Dragons.
These Stone Dragons were no ordinary fierce beasts.
They were formed in the graveyards of the Stone People clans, where the accumulated stone corpses of Stone People piled up over countless ages, until at a certain moment, they attracted a bolt of lightning from a clear sky.
The lightning would obliterate the graveyard, and from within, a Stone Dragon would be born.