Chapter 1: The Seven-Colored Dragon Boat, Azure Pearl...
Compared to a few days ago, apart from being familiar with the terrain below one-third of this steep mountain peak and knowing how to climb more efficiently, the young man's physical condition has actually deteriorated slightly. He has over ten obvious wounds on his body, most of which were left from the first day of climbing. At that time, the young man refused to give up, and when he was exhausted, he almost couldn't hold onto the chain and slid down by relying on the friction between his hands and feet and the iron chain. The climate in the Luofu mountain range is humid and hot, and now most of these wounds have become red, swollen, and festering. Even slight movements cause piercing pain. However, the unfavorable conditions are not limited to this. The stored food in the Miao village hut at the foot of the mountain can only support him for another three or four days. In the past two days, the young man has had to spend a lot of time searching for food that can fill his stomach in this place infested with poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts. Although he thought of using a cloth rope to tie himself to the iron chain when he was exhausted, resting for a while, it's impossible to fully recover like this. When climbing to an altitude close to the mountain waist, the young man felt that his hands and feet were as heavy as if they had been filled with lead. At first, after fixing himself in place and resting for a while, he could climb another seven or eight meters before resting again. However, now every two or three meters, he has to stop and rest again.
The boy knew he was near his limit, and looking up, still didn't know how far the distance was. But in the boy's heart, there wasn't a single bit of despair or loss, what he thought about was whether this method would really work, and that he had already climbed twice the height as before. If he couldn't climb today, then he would try again tomorrow, as long as he could climb higher each day, there would eventually be a day when he reached the top of the mountain.
He wasn't particularly clever, but he had a tenacity and simplicity that most people didn't possess. If it were another boy of his age, they might not have even made it one-third of the way up. Now, as the boy continued to climb, his teeth clenched in determination, he carefully observed his surroundings with an unrelenting gaze. The area around the iron chain was overgrown with shrubs and vines, and the scenery and terrain were different from below. Suddenly, a rustling sound startled the boy, and with his left hand, he steadied himself on the iron chain while his right hand swiftly grabbed the hatchet stuck in his waistband. Before climbing, the boy had discarded everything unnecessary to lighten his load, but he still carried this hatchet for two reasons: one was to chop away obstructing thorns and vines to clear a path, and the other, more important reason was that during a previous climb, he had spotted a withered yet thick-as-an-arm venomous snake on a nearby vine.
Following the sound, the young man suddenly let out a breath of relief. It turned out to be a small gray monkey, which blinked its shiny eyes at him and then disappeared into the rocks and trees like it had been startled.
"This is terrible, it's going to rain!" The young man had just reinserted the axe he found in Miao Yi's small hut back into his waistband when a strong gust of mountain wind blew by, almost blowing him off the iron chain and scaring him so much that he was drenched in cold sweat. In an instant, the originally sunny mountain pass suddenly turned dark with thick clouds, and the sky turned black.
Waaah! Waaah!
The young man suddenly heard such a strange sound in his ears again. The sound was like someone blowing a huge conch shell in the distance, both loud and hollow.
Another blast of icy mountain wind blew by, and the strange sound grew louder. This time, the young man looked more closely, and just above his head, not far away, several withered branches and leaves were blown away by the wind, as if swallowed up by something.
Originally, a violent rainstorm was approaching, and the faster one slid down the iron chain, the safer it would be. However, the young man's curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't resist climbing up instead. "Whoosh" - a branch of shrub scratched his clothes and left a bloodstain on his back, but the young man let out a cheer instead. What he saw before him was a cave hidden behind vines, and the strange howling sound was just the wind blowing into the cave.
The cave, which was only large enough for one person to enter by stooping, was pitch black inside, and it was impossible to see how deep it was. The mountain wind blowing in brought out a damp, musty smell. To an ordinary person, this would be a gloomy and frightening place, but the simple-hearted young man thought it was a delightful place to take shelter. If he could bring food here tomorrow and rest properly, perhaps he could make it to the summit in one go. Even today, it could provide him with temporary refuge from the wind and rain. Without further ado, he pushed aside the vines and crawled inside.
The withered branches and leaves at the entrance were very thick, and the footfall was as soft as cotton. The young man took a step forward, his heart relaxed, and his whole body suddenly collapsed like a scattered frame, sitting down at the entrance of the cave. He had only sat for a moment when the raindrops began to fall like pearls that had broken off a string.
The entire Luofu was instantly a vast expanse of gray, with thick greenery above emitting layer upon layer of white mist. This scenery might be something that people who live in luxury and comfort may never get to see in their lifetime. However, the rainwater brought by the mountain wind quickly drenched more than half of the youth's body. Without any poetic or artistic thoughts in his mind, he let out a bitter laugh, then gritted his teeth and stood up, beginning to explore this cave.
Apart from the entrance of the cave, which was wet due to the rain, the ground inside the cave was dry and there were no signs of snakes or insects. At first, it became narrower as one went deeper, but after a few dozen meters, the cave suddenly became wider and brighter. The young man walked for a while longer, supporting himself on the stone wall, when suddenly the space in front of him opened up, revealing a vast cavern with an area of several tens of square meters. There were several holes in the roof that connected to the outside, through which rainwater was pouring down like a beaded curtain, casting a faint glow. The young man stood there for a moment before he understood - no wonder the air inside the cave, except for the few meters near the entrance, which was damp and musty, didn't feel stuffy at all. It was probably because the mountain wind blew into the cave through the entrance and then rushed out of these holes, creating a flow of air that produced that strange humming sound.
Below the cave entrance, clusters of shrubs grew densely, rustling with every raindrop. At a glance, except for a small half of strange rocks in the cave, most of it was still flat and could serve as a foothold. Who would have thought that inside the cave would be such a unique world? The young man couldn't help but feel delighted, even thinking to himself that on sunny days, the sunlight outside would form beams of light, shining down on these shrubs.
"There are still fruits, I don't know if they can be eaten?" The young man suddenly saw a cluster of shrubs with dark branches, like fern leaves, only a few pieces left, but each branch had 5 or 6 thumb-sized red berries, which looked very tempting.
The young man couldn't help but walk up to the front, just thinking of taking action to pick one down and take a look. Suddenly, a sharp "squeak" sound came from his left side.
The sound suddenly rang out in the empty mountain cave, and the young man was startled. He immediately turned his head around, and a cold sweat broke out all over his body. He saw four fiery red eyeballs staring at him, and the owner of these four fiery red eyeballs was actually a monster with two heads that looked like a human but wasn't!
This monster was only three feet tall, standing upright like a human, with two heads on either side, clear facial features, white hair, and a face full of wrinkles like a spider web. If it weren't for the pair of bright red eyes, its appearance would be no more than that of an ugly old man, not enough to shock the world. This monster also had a pair of hands and feet, but they looked weak and powerless, especially the hands which were shriveled up like chicken claws, curled up in front of its chest. The supporting point that kept it upright was actually a terrifying tail, similar to an alligator's tail.
The young man took two steps back, subconsciously grasping the hatchet stuck in his waist. "Hiss!" The faces of both heads of the monster suddenly showed a fierce and poisonous expression, and with a sudden movement, it jumped up from the standing stone and pounced on the young man. The young man's heart contracted, his hair stood on end, and he raised the hatchet to strike at the monster. With a whooshing sound, the monster didn't dodge or evade, its tail swept horizontally, and the young man's hatchet was like a defeated drum, only leaving a white mark on the monster's tail. The monster looked weak, but this sweep of its tail was incredibly powerful, the young man was shocked, half his body numb, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and he couldn't hold onto the hatchet, which fell to the ground with a clang.
The young man took advantage of the momentum and grabbed a stone from the ground, throwing it at the monster. The monster dodged too late, and was hit twice by the boy, seemingly becoming even angrier. With a loud "whoosh", the boy's eyes widened as the monster suddenly opened its mouth and spewed out a blazing flame, which not only made the stones he threw next sizzle with high heat, but also cut them into fragments.
"It will spit fire!" The young man was shocked and suddenly found that there were no more stones to throw around him, and he himself was already exhausted, and didn't even have the strength to stand up and run!
At the summit, Yu Tianyi's figure in the wind and rain seemed a bit blurry, faint and lonely, as if the ink on a piece of paper was slowly fading away, about to disappear at any moment. In fact, from thirty years ago when Yu Tianyi stood at the edge of the cliff facing the mountain wind, Lao Zhao Nan had this feeling, he always suspected that one day he would suddenly disappear with the wind, vanishing into thin air. Lao Zhao Nan knew that Yu Tianyi was already a being at the top of the world's pyramid thirty years ago, and people like him didn't have much to do with ordinary cultivators, let alone those who were still in a state of confusion, such as mountain spirits and monsters, and ordinary humans. But it was Bi Xue that bound him, the iron chain and the height of this nameless mountain peak were the only rules he set for the young man, and he would never allow anything to change the rules under his nose. "Audacious!" In the midst of the wind and rain, Yu Tianyi coldly spat out these two words, one hand slightly extended as if to catch the raindrops falling from the sky, a faint red sword light suddenly appeared, pouring down from the mountain top.
In terms of color and light, this pale red sword glow seemed to be in no way comparable to those flying swords in Mount Shu, but just like the laws in Luofu Mountain, sometimes the less noticeable things are, the more dangerous and fatal they can be.
"I don't want to die like this! I finally found a place to settle down, and yet I encounter such a monster!" In the cave, looking at the monster pouncing towards him, the young man's heart was filled with resentment and anger. In an instant, his eyes also turned bloodshot, just like a wounded lone wolf, even if he had no strength left, he would still use his teeth to bite his opponent. "How dare you!" But at this moment, Yu Tianyi's voice thundered down from the sky.
That faint red sword light was actually faster than sound!
The young man had just been shaken with a buzzing in his ears, his whole body as if struck by lightning, and the pale red sword light had already appeared in his line of sight, wrapping itself around the monster.
