After trekking for another two days through the vast outskirts of Kunlun,
Li Qingshan finally reached the designated area, guided by his calculations from the star chart and his sensing of the earth Qi.
Before him lay an ordinary-looking valley in the snowy mountains, its terrain relatively gentle and surrounded by several snow-capped peaks that pierced the clouds.
Aside from the stronger wind and snow and the colder air, it seemed no different from the other valleys he had passed along the way.
But Li Qingshan's expression grew exceptionally grave.
He stood still at the mouth of the valley and closed his eyes. The Divine Seed in his sea of consciousness began spinning faster than ever before, bathing it in a clear radiance.
His powerful divine sense carefully scanned every inch of the space ahead.
"This is the place," he murmured.
In his perception, a barrier of energy lay across the space ahead, invisible and intangible, yet as massive as a mountain from primordial times.
It distorted the light and blocked all traces of presence, sealing everything deep within the valley securely away.
The barrier was no inert thing. It operated slowly according to some extraordinarily profound and complex pattern,
answering the stars in the sky and the dragon veins beneath the earth to form a terrifying grand formation that encompassed heaven and earth.
Its intricacy and power far surpassed anything he had imagined.
Had he not calculated the pattern of the node's fluctuations beforehand, he would not even have been able to sense its existence.
"An ancient grand formation. It certainly lives up to its reputation."
Li Qingshan took a deep breath, his gaze growing ever more resolute.
He sat down cross-legged, regulated his breathing, and brought himself to peak condition.
Then he began forming a series of complex, profound hand seals.
A faint golden light flowed from his fingertips, the divine power he had condensed to an extraordinary degree.
At the same time, he exerted himself fully, carefully reaching out to the vast but dormant dragon vein Qi deep beneath his feet.
It was an exceedingly delicate and dangerous process.
Like a master locksmith, he had to use his own power as a key
to precisely reproduce the particular frequency generated at this moment by the convergence of the stars and the earth veins.
Only then could he briefly pry open a gap in the exceedingly sturdy barrier of the grand formation.
Time passed bit by bit.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Qingshan's forehead, a rare sight, only to freeze into ice crystals in the surrounding cold.
He concentrated with all his might, not daring to make the slightest mistake.
If he got the frequency wrong and triggered the formation's backlash, the consequences would be unthinkable.
At last, the void about a zhang in front of him suddenly rippled like water.
A tiny, distorted gate of light appeared without a sound, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Energy fluctuated violently around its edges. It was extremely unstable and clearly could not last long.
Now!
A sharp light flashed in Li Qingshan's eyes. He moved in an instant, like a wisp of azure smoke,
and shot into the gate without hesitation!
The instant he entered, the gate flickered violently several times
before vanishing completely, as though it had never appeared. The valley returned to its former "ordinary" and "peaceful" state.
The moment Li Qingshan passed through the gate, he felt heaven and earth spin around him.
An immense pressure bore down on him from every direction, seemingly intent on crushing the intruder.
But he had come prepared. He circulated his power to protect his body and landed steadily.
The next moment, however, he was utterly stunned by the sight before him.
The vast, icebound mountain range outside was gone!
It was as though he had stepped into another world!
The sky here was a pure azure, with wisps of spirit mist drifting through it.
The essence Qi of heaven and earth permeating the air was so dense it could barely disperse.
A single breath made every pore in his body open and filled his limbs and bones with indescribable comfort. It was more than a hundred times as dense as outside!
Looking into the distance, he saw layer upon layer of verdant mountains and ancient trees towering into the sky.
Many of the trees were astonishingly thick and stood a hundred zhang tall, with spiritual light flickering among their branches and leaves.
Nearby, exotic flowers and rare plants covered the ground. Many were ancient spirit herb roots long extinct in the outside world,
giving off a refreshing medicinal fragrance and old enough to be frightening.
Farther away, a waterfall plunged down like the Milky Way, its roar rumbling faintly in the distance. The pool beneath it shimmered with seven-colored radiance.
From time to time, auspicious beasts such as spirit deer and immortal cranes could be seen leaping and flying through the mountains and forests, a peaceful, tranquil scene from an ancient, primordial age.
"This is the true Kunlun, an immortal paradise!"
Li Qingshan could not help exclaiming, his emotions surging like the tide.
But he did not dare let his guard down in the slightest.
Countless deadly threats lay hidden beneath the peace.
The seemingly ordinary grass beneath his feet might trigger a lethal restriction with his next step;
a terrifying guardian beast might be lurking beside that tempting ten-thousand-year spirit herb in the distance;
even the spirit mist drifting through the air might have hallucinogenic or corrosive properties in certain areas.
One wrong step, and he would be beyond redemption.
He concealed all traces of his presence, heightened his spiritual perception to its limit, and carefully chose his path forward.
Every step was like walking on thin ice.
Along the way, he saw quite a few bones, some human, others belonging to various enormous beasts.
They were clearly the remains of beings who had strayed or forced their way into the formation over countless years, only to perish here, silently attesting to the dangers of this place.
Just as he was concentrating on avoiding a stretch of swamp where energy ran wild,
he suddenly felt a stir in his heart and sensed the faintest hint that he was being watched.
Without betraying any reaction, he quietly spread his divine sense toward it like mercury spilling across the ground.
In the shadow of an enormous lingzhi mushroom not far away, a little snake, snow-white from head to tail and translucent as jade, had poked out nearly half its body.
Its deep green, utterly pure eyes were studying him, the "uninvited guest," with curiosity and caution.
The snake was only about a chi long and as thick as a finger, but two small bumps protruded slightly from the top of its forehead.
Something was about to grow from them, giving it a rather extraordinary appearance.
Its presence was perfectly attuned to this world; it was clearly a creature born and raised here.
What an unusual little fellow.
Li Qingshan was surprised. He could sense that the snake was highly intelligent, far beyond any ordinary beast in the outside world.
The snake seemed to realize that Li Qingshan had spotted it and immediately retreated behind the lingzhi, disappearing from sight.
But the feeling of being watched did not entirely disappear. It was clearly still nearby, observing him in secret.
Li Qingshan smiled, paid it no mind, and continued cautiously onward.
In a place fraught with deadly danger, meeting a little creature that seemed to bear him no great ill will was something of an amusing diversion.
He continued for roughly another half hour.
Suddenly, from deep within a dense grove of purple-gold bamboo ahead,
came a rapid hissing and violent fluctuations of energy, mixed with a savage beast's roar!
Li Qingshan frowned, concealed his presence, and quietly made his way over.
He parted the dense bamboo leaves and saw a chase unfolding in a small clearing among the trees.
The snow-white little jade-horned snake from before was slithering frantically away.
Clenched tightly in its mouth was a small purple herb shimmering with rosy light, its medicinal fragrance filling the air.
Pursuing it was a fierce-looking strange beast!
It resembled a red leopard, with a single horn on its head and five long tails trailing behind it like steel whips.
Its roars were like thunder, its movements like the wind, and a savage, violent presence radiated from its body!
"A Zheng?"
Li Qingshan recognized the fierce beast described in ancient texts.
The Zheng had clearly been drawn by the spirit herb in the snake's mouth.
It moved with tremendous speed, slashing with its claws and sending streaks of bloody light striking again and again along the snake's escape route,
carving deep furrows into the ground.
Though agile, the snake was far weaker than the Zheng and narrowly escaped danger again and again.
Several bloody gashes had already appeared on its snow-white scales, and its green eyes were filled with panic and despair.
The Zheng let out a roar, and a ball of bloody light gathered on its horn as it prepared to deliver a fatal blow.
At that critical moment!
A figure in azure appeared silently before the snake like a ghost.
It was naturally Li Qingshan.
Seeing this highly intelligent snake, which had previously shown no ill will, suffer such a misfortune,
and seeing how savage and brutal the Zheng was, he decided to intervene.
More importantly, he needed a guide who knew the area, and the snake seemed an excellent choice.
"Vile beast, how dare you run wild!"
Li Qingshan gave a low shout, joined his fingers like a sword, and pointed forward with an apparently casual motion.
There was no earth-shaking display, only a stream of faint golden finger force, condensed to the utmost, shooting through the air.
Though launched later, it arrived first, striking the ball of bloody light on the Zheng's horn with perfect precision just as it was about to erupt!
Pop!
With a soft sound, the bloody light burst apart like a balloon pricked by a needle.
The Zheng roared in pain, driven back several steps by the tremendous force contained in the attack.
It looked at the suddenly arrived Li Qingshan with shock and suspicion. Wariness flickered in its beastly eyes, but there was more of its enraged ferocity.
Clearly accustomed to ruling this place and unwilling to tolerate a challenge, it roared, pushed off with all four limbs, and turned into a streak of bloody lightning.
Its five steel tails lashed viciously at Li Qingshan from different angles like venomous pythons, tearing through the air with piercing shrieks!
Li Qingshan's expression did not change. He shifted slightly, like willow fluff in the wind, and dodged every lash with perfect timing.
At the same time, he clenched his right hand and drove out a simple, direct punch!
The air itself seemed to collapse wherever his fist passed.
"Boom!"
A muffled impact rang out!
The Zheng flew backward faster than it had come, crashing heavily through several purple-gold bamboo stalks before it stopped.
Its chest had visibly caved in, and blood spilled from its mouth as it wailed in pain.
The ferocity in its eyes was finally replaced by fear. It struggled to its feet and gave Li Qingshan a terrified look,
then whimpered
and fled deep into the bamboo grove with its tails between its legs, vanishing without a backward glance.
Li Qingshan did not pursue it.
He turned to look at the little white snake, which had yet to recover from its fright.
The snake was coiled where it was, its little head raised and its deep green eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.
The panic in them had faded, replaced by intense curiosity and gratitude, along with a lingering trace of wariness.
It still held the purple spirit herb tightly in its mouth.
Li Qingshan smiled faintly, doing his best to make his presence seem peaceful and approachable.
He slowly crouched down and extended his index finger toward the snake, a wisp of exceptionally pure, gentle and soothing essence Qi curling around its tip.
He said nothing, instead trying to send out a friendly mental message:
Little fellow, it's all right now. I drove that fierce beast away.
This is for you.
That wisp of pure essence Qi was a temptation no spirit creature could easily resist.
The little white snake's pupils contracted slightly, and it drew back a little in caution. But its nostrils twitched, clearly drawn by the pure essence Qi.
It sensed no ill will from Li Qingshan.
He carried a trace of the Natural Dao that made it feel comfortable and close to him, far more peaceful than the other fierce beasts in this secret realm.
It hesitated for a moment, then looked again at Li Qingshan's gentle eyes. At last, it cautiously stretched forward
and quickly sucked up the wisp of essence Qi.
As the essence Qi entered its body, the snake narrowed its eyes in comfort. Even its snow-white scales seemed to grow more lustrous.
All wariness vanished from its gaze as it looked at Li Qingshan, leaving only affection and gratitude.
It opened its mouth and pushed the purple spirit herb, shimmering with rosy light, in front of him.
It gave a soft hiss and bobbed its little head, seemingly saying that it was a gift for him.
Li Qingshan smiled. He could clearly receive the snake's feelings of gratitude and its desire to share.
He shook his head and replied with a mental message:
You risked your life to pick it, so keep it for yourself. I don't need it.
He thought for a moment, then sent another message:
I've only just arrived and don't know this place very well. I could easily get lost or wander into somewhere dangerous.
You've lived here all your life. Could you show me the way?
I can give you the same kind of essence Qi as before every day in return.
The little white snake tilted its head, seemingly trying to understand Li Qingshan's words.
A moment later, it seemed very excited and nodded its little head vigorously, its green eyes brimming with delight.
It slithered twice around Li Qingshan, then carefully touched the hem of his trousers with the tip of its tail, sending him a clear thought:
Agreed! I know lots of paths. Follow me!
At the same time, it conveyed a hint of reliance and longing,
clearly eager to stay by the side of this powerful being, who could provide pure vital essence and whose presence made it feel comfortable.
"All right, then we'll travel together from now on."
Li Qingshan was in a cheerful mood.
"How about I give you a name? You're snow-white all over, so how does 'Xiaobai' sound?"
The little white snake seemed to like the name, nodding happily.
It slithered ahead of him and looked back, signaling Li Qingshan to follow.
With Xiaobai as his guide, a native of the area who was full of spiritual intelligence and familiar with the terrain, Li Qingshan immediately felt much more at ease.
Sure enough, Xiaobai knew the area extremely well and chose the safest route.
From time to time, it would stop and point its little tail in a particular direction,
conveying thoughts like Danger, We can't go there, or There's something good over there.
"Xiaobai, the Qi in that mist-shrouded valley ahead feels very chaotic. Is it dangerous?"
"Hiss, hiss!"
Xiaobai immediately nodded nervously and pointed its little tail in another direction, signaling that they should take a detour.
"There seems to be a fine spirit fruit on that cliff to the right?"
Xiaobai raised its head and sniffed, then nodded its little head before shaking it,
conveying the thought, A formidable big bird is guarding it. We can't beat it.
Li Qingshan couldn't help smiling.
With Xiaobai's help, in the Kunlun Secret Realm, where dangers lurked on every side and opportunities lay everywhere,
he was no longer completely in the dark, and both his safety and efficiency improved greatly.
The man and the snake formed an unusual alliance and began exploring deeper into the secret realm.