As they traveled ever deeper westward, the land below gradually changed.
The primeval forests, once lush with vegetation, gradually disappeared. Even the fortified settlements and tribes they occasionally encountered became scarce, and boundless desolation replaced everything.
The rolling mountains also grew increasingly massive. Each peak resembled a wall of death standing solemnly upon the earth, giving the creatures below a suffocating sense of Mount Tai bearing down upon them. Though glaciers and vast lakes lay among the valleys, there was not the slightest sign of living activity.
Xie Jinhuan sped through the mountains, feeling like a fledgling that had only just learned to fly and plunged headlong into the Kunlun Secret Realm-or perhaps the dwelling place of gods.
Because the landscape was so desolate, Linghu Qingmo, held in his arms, kept comparing their surroundings against the booklet and checking their bearings with a small compass.
Zhao Ling held the Thousand-Li Telescope, searching for their destination.
Although the information Duan Yuechou had provided included a map, these were clues from his own past explorations, not a detailed survey of Western Rong's terrain. The contents lacked detail, and the annotations were quite vague, roughly amounting to-after reaching the Zheluo River, continue west for about eight hundred li. When you see two equally tall Snow Mountains, pass between them and keep going straight...
Finding their way with directions like these was clearly laborious, but having a route was better than the three of them searching aimlessly.
After winding this way and that until afternoon, the three finally found the mountain hollow described in the booklet.
The hollow consisted entirely of exposed cliffs and accumulated snow, but unlike elsewhere, there were cracks in the rock faces that looked as though forceful energy had shattered them. The scattered rocks did not look like the result