Heaven Gate Mountain

Xu Yuan felt that he was quite the fool, truly.

He had actually been counting on an idiot who could freeze a hostage to death to navigate in the wilderness.

After two seconds of silence, Xu Yuan reached out to pat Ran Qingmo on the shoulder in a gesture of comfort, then stowed the map away, stood up, and whispered:

"Take me to the highest point nearby first; perhaps I can manage to identify our location."

Ran Qingmo's eyes flickered, her gaze filled with suspicion.

Xu Yuan knew what she was doubting, so he said softly:

"All these years, I may have been idle, but I did learn a few things."

"Oh."

Xu Yuan walked to the cave entrance, looked out at the misty, rain-drenched sea of forest, glanced back at the black-clad woman packing their bags, and murmured:

"It's still raining outside."

Ran Qingmo glanced at him, then at the water skin tucked at his waist.

Xu Yuan sighed slightly, looking at her sodden black robes:

"I know that with this Flame Spirit Fluid, we don't need to worry about illnesses like the common cold for now, but don't you find wearing wet clothes uncomfortable?"

Ran Qingmo blinked, carefully felt her state, and nodded in agreement.

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then glanced sideways at the ice spike that remained embedded in the corpse of the Flame Spirit Python amidst the curtain of rain.

A minute later, A man and a woman stood suspended in the air, dozens of meters above the ground.

The man wore a robe of fine silk and held a parchment scroll, while the woman, her face veiled, stood gracefully at his side, holding an umbrella made of ice crystals.

The rain was easing, though the wind had not yet died down, and the torrential downpour in the mountains had turned into a lingering drizzle.

Standing on the transparent platform Ran Qingmo had condensed with her "Qi," they looked down at the vast sea of forest formed by giant trees dozens of meters tall, stretching out into an endless horizon.

The Wanxing Mountain Range spanned the southwestern border of the Great Yan Dynasty, stretching for tens of thousands of miles.

The thick white mist greatly hindered Xu Yuan's vision, but upon reaching this high ground, he realized he didn't need to identify the direction at all.

Gazing into the distance, at the very edge of the forest sea, a massive, shadowy mountain peak blotted out the sky.

Even from an unknown number of miles away, visible through the hazy curtain of rain, its sheer scale was apparent—like a gargantuan beast straddling heaven and earth; even the roof of the world from his past life would seem like an infant before it.

When the map from a game turned into reality, the shock was beyond words.

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, staring at that massive shadow:

"Is that Heaven Gate Mountain?"

Ran Qingmo held the umbrella, her sleeves fluttering gently in the wind:

"Yes."

"Can we climb it?"

"Is the cave dwelling you mentioned up there?"

"Correct."

That cave dwelling on Heaven Gate Mountain was a hidden map within the "Cangyuan" heroic, blood-boiling world line.

The conditions to trigger it were quite cliché.

One had to be hunted, flee into the Wanxing Mountain Range, climb Heaven Gate Mountain, be forced to jump off a cliff, and possess a Luck stat exceeding 80; only then could one enter the hidden dwelling after the fall.

Luck less than 80? Then one could just wait for a free-fall to their death.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan shook his head slightly.

In the game's official guidebook, he remembered that his original self, this Third Young Master, had a Luck stat of only 3. He could jump off Hanging Heaven Cliff a hundred times and never get in; it was as if he had used up all the luck of this lifetime just to be born.

However, Xu Yuan now had the expert Ran Qingmo by his side. Once they reached Hanging Heaven Cliff, she could simply carry him down, and they could search slowly.

Ran Qingmo stared at the massive Heaven Gate Mountain for two seconds, then said:

"Fine."

As the words fell, She directly dispelled the platform of Qi beneath their feet.

"." Xu Yuan.

The sensation of free-fall was not pleasant, but fortunately, this idiot woman knew that if they fell from such a height, he, a mere mortal, would be smashed into a meat patty.

Just before they hit the ground, a subtle force gently enveloped Xu Yuan's body, and the two of them successfully landed in the forest in a bridal carry.

Exchanging a glance, Ran Qingmo held the umbrella with one hand, gently set Xu Yuan down on the ground, and said calmly:

"Let's go."

Xu Yuan steadied himself and brushed off his robes to hide his embarrassment, but upon hearing this, he frowned:

"Walk?"

"Mm." Ran Qingmo nodded.

Xu Yuan roughly estimated the distance between Heaven Gate Mountain and their current location in his mind, then repeated:

"You mean we are going to walk there?"

Ran Qingmo tilted her head: "What else?"

"Aren't you able to fly?" Xu Yuan looked at her with a strange expression: "It will take us at least ten days or more if we walk."

Ran Qingmo was silent for two seconds, staring at Xu Yuan, and said very seriously: "I cannot fly."

"But just now..." Xu Yuan pointed at the sky.

Ran Qingmo looked up at the sky in the direction of his finger and explained:

"That was the Ice Cloud Steps from my cultivation technique."

"Ice Cloud Steps?" Xu Yuan knew nothing about the cultivation techniques of this world and asked instinctively.

Ran Qingmo had no intention of answering him at all, merely looking at him.

Xu Yuan realized that questions about cultivation techniques were likely considered private, so he changed the subject and asked:

"You don't know how to fly on a sword?"

Ran Qingmo pondered for two seconds and said softly:

"My cultivation technique does not include sword flight; it only has the Ice Cloud Steps. Sword flight is part of the Hanging Heaven Sword Art."

Upon hearing the name Hanging Heaven Sword Art, the introduction to this technique from the game's official guidebook flashed through Xu Yuan's mind.

However, he could not recall any mention of sword flight in that description, so he assumed it was an automatic completion of information by the world itself.

Nevertheless, after this exchange with Ran Qingmo, Xu Yuan roughly understood what she meant.

There were methods for aerial travel in this world, but the specific means of flight varied depending on one's cultivation technique.

After a pause, Xu Yuan asked:

"Then why not just use your Ice Cloud Steps to take me there?"

Ran Qingmo did not answer immediately; she looked Xu Yuan up and down, assessing his physique, before shaking her head:

"Your body is too weak; you would die."

"But wasn't I fine just a moment ago?" Xu Yuan frowned. When Ran Qingmo had carried him into the air to get their bearings earlier, he hadn't felt the slightest discomfort.

"The speed just now was very slow."

"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.

He realized he had been taking things for granted, overlooking a very important issue.

Ran Qingmo did not possess the bio-field of a superhero from his past life, and the human body had a limited tolerance for acceleration.

Ran Qingmo's method of aerial travel was clearly to condense Qi into platforms that could be stepped upon, allowing her to leap continuously through the air.

For a young master like him, whose body had been hollowed out by wine and women, an unprotected acceleration of 4-5G might be enough to send him to his grave.

And given the speed Ran Qingmo had displayed earlier—a speed invisible to the naked eye—that was at least 30G of acceleration.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan took a deep look at the woman in the black veil before him.

Although she occasionally seemed a bit dazed, she was actually quite reliable in certain aspects.

If she hadn't considered this, he might have dropped dead the moment she accelerated.

In an instant, Xu Yuan considered asking Ran Qingmo to control her speed.

But as soon as the thought emerged, he dismissed it.

Ran Qingmo could control her speed, but doing so would increase their time spent in the air.

The Wanxing Mountain Range was teeming with demonic beasts, and even the Flame Spirit Python they had just snatched was a beast under the command of that mysterious faction. Prolonging their time in the air would inevitably risk being discovered by beasts lurking in the shadows.

Moreover, demonic beasts were not only found on the ground.

Some avian demonic beasts had vision far superior to that of humans.

Traveling on foot, with the cover of the forest and the perception of a master like Ran Qingmo to monitor their surroundings, wouldn't guarantee they remained unseen, but it would at least ensure that no witnesses were left alive.

With that thought, Xu Yuan sighed softly and looked around at the vast, boundless sea of forest.

Walking it is, then. He would just treat it as his first trip in this other world.