The mountain road was rugged, its snow still unmelted. Loa traveled alone through snowy forests and plains, stopping from time to time, alternating between travel and cultivation. He encountered several more magical beast attacks along the way, all of which became wealth in his pack. The battle-qi in his dantian grew fuller and more rounded by the day, steadily approaching the peak of mid-stage Rank 6. More gratifying still, the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Pillar Method's tempering of his second tail vertebra was progressing smoothly. At his current pace, he estimated that he could complete its initial tempering by the end of February. On average, tempering one tail vertebra took about two months. And that was without using the precious bottle of earth vein spinal fluid.
Hopefully, using that stuff then will give me an even bigger surprise. Loa felt a measure of anticipation. Steady improvement in strength was always pleasing.
In late January of year 9993 of the Yulan Calendar, Loa finally reached the last location mentioned in Old Dao's intelligence-Windhowl Cliff.
Before he even drew close, he heard it.
It was a continuous, soul-shaking, muffled roar, not merely the howling of a fierce wind. It sounded more like the collective bellow of countless violent currents of air, endlessly compressed, accelerated, collided, and torn apart among jagged cliff faces, natural holes, and fissures! The sound was deep and full, yet mingled with countless piercing shrieks, like a giant wind beast sleeping within the mountain, snoring and muttering in its dreams without end.
Windhowl Cliff lived up to its name. The winds here were utterly different from the relatively "free" winds high above Blackstone Canyon. They seemed to have been tamed-or rather imprisoned-by this peculiar cliff, then repeatedly tormented and enraged until they became this savage roar that filled heaven and earth.