Xianyun

According to the "Thrice Annotated Version of the Full Record of Pristine Pavilion," a roaming adeptus travels with the "Spirit of Eight Pure and Mighty Rose-Clouds," dancing through the air as though "riding light and striding lightning." Their lives, too, are long beyond mortal reckoning. What humans call a millennium is but time for a short rest for the adeptus in their abode. As the saying goes, "Night and day belong not in paradise." As for where the adepti dwell, the "Full Record of Pristine Pavilion" asserts that the sky is their pillow and the earth their mat, and that they may dwell in the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas — and this indeed seems to explain the countless adeptal encounters recorded in the annals of Liyue's history. This is one school of thought. Another can be found in the classic treatise on metal and stone, "Void-Pacing Stone Catalog." While showering praise upon the weird and wonderful rock formations of Jueyun Karst, "Stone Catalog" also proffers a warning: "The peaks of Jueyun tower up to lofty heights, striving to outdo one another... each belonging to a different master — Qingyun Peak to Moon Carver, Mt. Hulao to Mountain Shaper, Mt. Aocang to Cloud Retainer. The wise climb not a mastered mountain, nor quarry its rocks." Out of a similar veneration, descriptions of what the adepti actually look like are few and far between. Based on a handful of allusions to Cloud Retainer's appearance in the historian Zichang's "Stone Tablet Compilations," as well as scattered references in ancient songs, we can know that the adepti are ever-changing in form. To take Cloud Retainer as an example, when in human form, she is said to be "of elegant countenance, dressed in purpled robes and made up like a flower in full bloom"; whereas in bestial form, she "flies with grace, soaring among the clouds and crying out to the moon." Interestingly, one particular tale recounted in "Full Record of Pristine Pavilion" gives a further idea of the sublime character of the adepti. Once upon a time, a traveler happened upon Cloud Retainer while passing through Jueyun Karst. Taking out a self-made timepiece which he proudly dubbed a "Jade Bottle Float-Type Water Clock," he sought to impress his ingenuity upon the adeptus. But to his surprise, she instead summarily pointed out the flaws of using a float-type water clock to record the passing of time. Hearing this, the traveler begged for her guidance, which he eventually received before being sent back down the mountain. Such tales are apt to make mortals lament — it is only after meeting an adeptus, free and unfettered by the material world, that one can truly realize how insignificant our lives are.