Qing’er Mountain, originally named Vermilion Bird Mountain due to its resemblance to a soaring Vermilion Bird, had parts of it eroded over time. With the passage of time, in the maps of Dafen, it is now known as Qing’er Mountain.

Qing’er Mountain has a Mountain God, a belief that has been held by the locals for a long time. They even self-organized to build a small stone Mountain God Temple, placing a stone slab altar and an incense burner.

But as the older generation passed away, fewer and fewer people believed that Qing’er Mountain had a god. Besides the Feng Family’s annual ancestral sacrifices, very few Believers came to the Mountain God Temple.

The Mountain God Temple had long since collapsed; a stone statue with broken hands and feet lay askew to the side, with only a few strokes on its face, representing a female Mountain God. The incense burner was also broken and the stone slabs were covered in moss, making it hard to discern that this was once a Mountain God Temple.

Qin Liuxi picked up the statue and used a Dust Cleaning Technique to clean the dirty stone statue, examined it for a moment, and placed it aside. She then rebuilt the stone temple simply, stacking it to the height of a child. Inside was a stone platform for placing the statue, but around the stone temple, she buried a few talismans to ensure the temple wouldn’t collapse.

She re-sculpted the Mountain God statue, placed it on the stone platform within the temple, propped up the broken incense burner, took three incense sticks, respectfully offered them as incense, and placed them before the statue.

Upon entering Qing’er Mountain, she realized that the mountain no longer had a god, for the mountain lacked Spiritual Energy, and even before autumn, the trees were no longer lush, as if lacking water, lifeless, and gradually heading towards decay.

Yet she also knew that all things hold spirit; as long as the mountain still stood, one day a new Mountain God would appear to safeguard this land.

What Qin Liuxi now did was merely with a hopeful heart, wishing to invoke a god; even if one didn’t come, she could at least offer sacrifices to the Mountain God.

She lit the incense and placed a few Spirit Fruits, then drew a Summoning Talisman and burned it. Taking out the Sanqing Bell, she stepped in the Gang Step before the stone temple, chanting the Summoning God Spell: "The incense ascends, responding to Heaven and Earth, igniting Divine Incense that reaches the Heavenly Gate... In Ziwei Palace, opens the Holy Temple, Taohua Jade Girl invites Immortal. I beseech in the name of Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, to invite the god of this mountain to arrive."

The bell’s sound was long and spread out; the wind stirred the treetops, rustling.

Qin Liuxi waited silently, yet no god appeared. Her eyes glanced as the incense she offered drifted towards the statue, wrapping around it.

Hmm.

Suddenly, a thought drifted from the statue towards her spiritual platform.

Qin Liuxi shuddered, instinctively wanting to dodge, but a gentle voice sounded by her ear: "Don’t avoid."

She stayed still, allowing the broken thought to enter her spiritual platform. She saw a woman in green attire, with a vine wreath on her head, looking very gentle.

This was the remnant thought of Qing’er Mountain’s Mountain God.

She was originally a vine on the mountainside by the Spirit Pond of Qing’er Mountain, nurtured by the Spiritual Energy of the pond’s water, plus Vermilion Bird Mountain originally having a Spirit Vein. With the world’s blessing, soaked in Spiritual Energy, she gained spiritual wisdom and became the Mountain God of Qing’er Mountain through a chance encounter.

Previously, this place was called Vermilion Bird Mountain. Her first believer was a pregnant woman who, fleeing disaster, arrived at Vermilion Bird Mountain. She suddenly went into labor, prayed to the god, and the Mountain God saved the mother and child. Thus began the believers, gradually assisting many lost in the mountain.

Gradually, believers became firm in the presence of the Mountain God, who would protect the people. They built her a temple, offered sacrifices, and with the Power of Faith, she grew stronger, able to protect more land and people.

With time passing, Vermilion Bird Mountain was abruptly struck by lightning and a minor earthquake. She expended much Divine Power to protect it, preventing the mountain from collapsing. Yet, from then on, Vermilion Bird turned into Qing’er Mountain, and she became significantly weakened, having to retreat. However, due to the earthquake, people blamed the Mountain God for not providing protection, causing her faith to fade, resulting in fewer visitors.

Eighty years ago, a powerful soul thought emerged within the Spirit Vein of Qing’er Mountain, coveting the Spirit Vein, making her shiver. But she had no choice but to use Divine Power to nurture the Spirit Vein; after all, losing the Spirit Vein would mean the mountain collapsing and the forest dying, causing many deaths.

The Feng Family’s ancestral grave was built on the Spirit Vein, with Qi Fortune continuously returning to the Spirit Vein. The Feng Family witnessed growing deaths, and she became less and less believed in by the people, further weakening her power.

Without belief, gods will die.

As long as that powerful soul thought competed for the Spirit Vein, hindering her with no time to focus, her belief would be lost, even causing the Feng Family to cease offerings, weakening her further.

As days passed, she grew weaker, on the brink of disappearing at any moment. She also saw that soul thought transform into an entity, or maybe the person merely retracted the soul thought.

"A futile struggle is useless," he said, "Gods existing solely by the Power of Faith will also die by the Power of Faith."

No, he intends to extract the entire Spirit Vein!

The Mountain God grew anxious, seeing an old Taoist arrive. She witnessed their battle, realizing the Evil-Slaying Sword that changed the Heavens and Earth hindered him momentarily, yet the old Taoist was no match.

Seeing the old Taoist suffer severe backlash, with no power to resist, the Mountain God used vines to send the old Taoist away. Watching the man extract the entire Spirit Vein, the mountain trembled, hearing the lamentations of all creatures, animals fleeing in all directions.

Below the mountain lay a small town of ten thousand people.

The Mountain God, filled with compassion, sacrificed her Divine Soul to the sky, pouring all Divine Power to protect Qing’er Mountain. Only a few stones rolled, some large trees fell, the mountainside reversed, the Spirit Pond dried up, and she was left with a very weak remnant thought on the statue.

The Mountain God gazed towards the man sliding down his hood; the remaining moonlight cast on his profile, disappearing into the Void.

Qin Liuxi suddenly opened her eyes, breathing heavily, her hands clenched in fists, standing up.

"Even gods can be killed."

A gentle voice lingered in her mind as an echo and then faded away.

Qing’er Mountain’s deity exists because the mountain exists, reverting to the remaining Spiritual Energy to protect it in peril, a return of each grain consumed. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A turbulent mix of emotions surged through Qin Liuxi’s eyes. She offered a grand bow to the statue, honoring her sacrifice to protect the land.

Qin Liuxi draped a red cloth over the statue, then leaped swiftly towards the Feng Family’s ancestral grave, where the Spirit Vein had been extracted, the entire graveyard falling into an abyss, now a desolate ruin.

She leapt down, reaching out to probe the ground, finding not a trace of Spiritual Energy.

Qin Liuxi stood there for a while, then following the memory from the remnant thought, headed to the Spirit Pond. Indeed, there the pond had dried up, and above the pond, a massive vine had turned into dead wood, clinging to the mountainside.

She buried a Spirit Talisman at the root of the vine, touched it, murmuring: "As long as the mountain stands, one day the god will reappear."

For she too is a Believer.