Chapter 91: Chapter 5: Volcano in the Snow
BOOM!
Without even assuming a defensive stance, Su Zhou fell ramrod straight from dozens of meters in the air, not even bending his knees. He slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and snow.
When the swirling snow and dust settled, Su Zhou adjusted the slightly crooked strap of his backpack and calmly climbed out of the crater in the snow.
’It seems the altitude before teleporting is related to the altitude of arrival. Before teleporting, I was in my home on the seventh floor, and I just fell from about seventy or eighty meters up.’
Thanks to Wind Aid, he wasn’t injured. At worst, the snow was surprisingly deep and got into his pant legs, which was a bit uncomfortable.
Su Zhou briefly tried to figure out the rules behind it but didn’t dwell on it. In any case, the orb of light before Teleportation had given him a rough view of the arrival area. Thinking back, the snowy mountain forest he’d seen had indeed been from a bird’s-eye view, so it made sense that it was high up.
’I’ll have to be more careful next time,’ he thought, the lesson etched into his memory by the firsthand experience.
To get a quick look at his surroundings, Su Zhou found a sturdy tree and climbed it to get a higher vantage point. He found himself in a world of ice and swirling snow. The land was a blanket of silver, and the falling flakes obscured his vision. Even with his eyesight, he couldn’t see clearly into the distance.
The sky above was a stretch of pale gray, with hints of inky black within the clouds. He couldn’t see the stars or the color of the sky, let alone tell where the sun and moon were. That made it impossible to judge how the celestial phenomena here differed from back home, or how to determine his location if they were the same.
’I can at least tell I’m in the mountains. With these majestic, overlapping snow-capped peaks all around, if this is within Zhengguo’s borders, it’s probably near Hei State or Liaozhou. Of course, Zang State is also a possibility.’
’And the Spiritual Qi... it’s a good thirty percent richer than back home!’
Having managed to figure that much out, Su Zhou was quite pleased. Ignoring Yara’s sarcastic retort, ’Is that all you care about?’, he nodded. "Looks like finding anyone soon is out of the question. But even if I just go into seclusion to practice here, my Spiritual Qi Cultivation speed will be more than double what it is on Earth. That’s already a huge win. If I can find some Spirit Plants and Celestial Materials or run into some tough Demon Fiends, it’ll be an even bigger jackpot."
RUUUUUMBLE!!
But before the words were even out of his mouth, a thunderous roar echoed from the distance!
Not too far away, at the highest peak of this mountain range, black clouds suddenly billowed upwards as smoke and fire shot into the sky!
The smoke and ash erupting from the earth surged through the atmosphere like a wave. A torrent of gray and black poured into the pale clouds, staining the heavy sky with that inky color—it seemed this was the source of the darkness he’d noticed earlier.
It was the roar of a volcano!
’Damn, this is a volcanic zone?! Don’t tell me this is Fusang?’
’But Fusang doesn’t have this many snowy mountains, does it?’
This unexpected discovery startled Su Zhou. He immediately turned, his feet itching to move.
After all, if he were to get caught in a real volcanic eruption, the area would become extremely dangerous. An Awakened Level cultivator was certainly much stronger than an ordinary person, but why pick a fight with the forces of nature?
However, after sensing his surroundings for a moment, Su Zhou relaxed slightly. His Perception, more sensitive than any animal’s instinct, and his corresponding Spiritual Power senses told him that the molten veins beneath the earth showed no signs of erupting, let alone a riot of Earth Vein Spiritual Power.
The plume of smoke just now was merely a slight cough from the Earth Veins.
Even so, there was no need to linger in a place like this. When he had scanned the area with his Spiritual Vision earlier, he hadn’t seen any notable Spiritual Light. There were no Demon Beasts or Spirit Plants, so it wasn’t worth staying.
The snow fell heavily, blanketing the world in white. It was difficult to navigate in such conditions, but with the volcano behind him as a landmark, Su Zhou easily chose a direction: the farther away from that thing, the better. Once he’d decided, he pushed off with his feet and charged forward like a snowplow, kicking up a white wave and leaving a neat, sunken trail in his wake.
It wasn’t that Su Zhou didn’t want to be more graceful and elegant; he just had to resort to being a human snowplow. He had never learned Qinggong, and with a large pack on his back, he simply didn’t have the finesse.
But he was strong, so ordinary snow was no different from air to him.
About half an hour later, while still running at high speed, Su Zhou came across a strange mountain path in the snow.
It wasn’t so much a path as a series of black wooden stakes protruding from the snow in this endless white mountainscape. The stakes were clearly man-made, arranged in an arc that led deep into the distant mountains.
They seemed to be there to mark a path and prevent people from accidentally falling into ravines or pits hidden by the snow.
"If there are guiding Dao Marks, it means people come and go through here."
He stopped, circled one of the wooden stakes a few times, and observed it closely. Su Zhou scratched his head, perplexed. "But the path leads toward the volcano—a volcano in a snowy plain, no less. Who would be bored enough to go deep into the snowy mountains during a blizzard?"
Just as he was pondering this, Su Zhou’s ear twitched. He had heard something.
He turned his head and peered into the distance, which was obscured by the heavy snow.
There, a few small, relatively dazzling dots of Spiritual Light were rapidly approaching.
"Looks like there really are people," Su Zhou said, his tone full of interest. "Yara, what do you think? Should I wait here for them, or hide and observe?"
"Whatever," Yara replied lazily. The Snake Spirit seemed to dislike the icy environment and was content to stay nestled in the warmth of the young man’s hair by his ear. "It’s your Trial. You decide."
He narrowed his eyes, gauging the intensity of the Spiritual Light and comparing it to the Wood Centipede and the Dusk True Demon. After a moment, Su Zhou came to a conclusion. He whispered, "They don’t seem very strong... Even if it comes to a fight, I’m not afraid."
"Then let’s see what’s what."
With that, he tossed his backpack into the snow beside him. Su Zhou picked up his cloth-wrapped Cross Spear and stood atop a Black Wood Road Marker, silently waiting for the points of light to approach. His steady breaths were filled with what seemed to be anticipation.
「On the other side, in the snowfield.」
A small party of fourteen was hurrying through the snow.
No one in the group spoke. The only sound was their rhythmic breathing, and the atmosphere was as frigid and tense as the world around them.
The party was not on horseback. In this northeastern Taibai Mountain Area, not even mountain beasts, let alone horses, could travel with ease. They each had smooth, light wooden boards strapped to their feet, inscribed with Dao Patterns. Aided by the long staffs in their hands or propelled by their Inner Strength, they moved nimbly and quickly through the snow, unhindered, even if their speed wasn’t exceptional.
Everyone was bundled up tightly, with only half of their faces visible. The fourteen consisted of men and women, old and young. The leader was a tall young man with clear eyes and a ruddy complexion, but for some reason, his temples were streaked with white. The other thirteen had subtly formed an Array Formation, with twelve of them guarding an old man in the center who carried a large box on his back. They seemed to be protecting and escorting something.
"Halt."
The young man at the front suddenly raised his hand, ordering, "Someone is ahead."
The command was followed instantly. Everyone stopped and quickly formed a circular defensive formation.
"Nephew Zhou, how many are there? Are they from the Undying Demon Army, or are they Northern Hunters?"
The old man with the large box coughed, his hand reaching into a waist pouch to grip something. He scanned their surroundings warily and asked, "You’ve reached the realm of Heart-Eye Clarity. You can observe auras from afar. Are there any Demon Army ambushes nearby?"
Though the young man’s temples were white, giving him a prematurely aged look, his gaze was resolute and profound, and his aura was steady. He, too, rested a hand on the longsword at his waist. After staring into the distance and then scanning the surroundings, he frowned. "There’s only one person, and no ambush. But... I can’t gauge his depth. He seems to be an ordinary hunter with no Inner Strength."
"But how could an ordinary hunter be out in a blizzard like this, and standing perfectly still for so long?"
The young man, Zhou, pondered for a few breaths before saying gravely, "...We cannot afford any delays. The Relic of Fa Kong Divine Monk must be delivered to Taibai White Mountain as soon as possible. If we stray from the path marked by the Black Wood Road Markers, heaven knows how we’ll get back to the Righteous Dao."
"We go straight ahead. If he’s an ordinary person, advise him to leave quickly. This is no longer a land of peace. If he’s one of those Anx Dynasty Demons..." He didn’t say more, simply making a sharp, downward chopping motion with his hand. Everyone else nodded in silent understanding.
With that settled, the group once again channeled their Inner Strength and sped through the snow.
Before long, the party saw the figure who seemed to be waiting for them.
It was a young man dressed in thin, light-gray martial attire, standing atop one of the Black Wood Road Markers.
He had short black hair, sharp eyebrows, and starlike eyes. His presence was like a fire, and he was strikingly handsome. He carried a seven-foot-long spear, its head wrapped in white cloth, slung over his shoulder. His posture was casual, yet for some reason, it felt perfectly composed.
The black-haired young man was also sizing them up, seemingly lost in thought.
The sight of him compelled one to look closer, but then it was as if one was pricked by something sharp, forcing an instinctive glance away. Only those with Spirit Communication could know that this was because waves of danger emanated from him, stimulating their latent Spiritual Mechanism!
’This is clearly no ordinary hunter!’
From a distance, the young man named Zhou couldn’t help but tighten his grip on his sword hilt, ready to draw. His intuition told him that this man, who looked much younger than himself, was unquestionably stronger than him!
And because of that, his heart sank.
’No luggage, just a weapon... a highwayman? No, that’s not right. He’s wearing such thin clothes in a blizzard, and his Spiritual Light is contained while his True Qi is hidden... He must be at least a Postnatal realm expert who has reached the state of ’Immunity to Heat and Cold.’ And with that appearance and level of power, if he’s not a heaven-sent prodigy, then he must be a Grandmaster approaching the Innate realm, one who has touched upon the mysteries of Rejuvenation!’
"Friend, may I ask your name? Why are you blocking the path and obstructing our way?"
He called out from a distance, probing with his words. Though it seemed like a normal question, his party had already fanned out into a semicircle, surrounding the man.
The three strongest among them—two men and a woman, wielding a straight sword, a thick-backed long saber, and an Ironwood Long Staff respectively—began to close in. Their clothes were also quite thick, seemingly lined with a layer of soft armor. The entire group was subtly led by these three.
Sensing their obvious hostility and unease, Su Zhou blinked and scratched his head.
’They’re speaking Chinese. And judging by their clothes and gear, this should be within Zhengguo’s borders... But hey, Yara, is what I’m doing considered really provocative in ancient times?’
His mental fluctuations carried a hint of innocence. ’And what principles does this transmigration even follow? Why does it feel like I’ve run into trouble right off the bat? They seem to be in a hurry.’
"Who knows? You’re just blocking the road to ask a question. That’s normal, right?" The Snake Spirit also feigned innocence, shaking its head. It thought for a moment before adding uncertainly, "But from what I know, the Celestial God Scale’s transmigrations might have a tendency to drop you into the center of a ’conflict’ in the new world. Or maybe you’re just unlucky."
’Really? Why would the Celestial God Seal have such a strange function?’ Although he thought this, in the real world, Su Zhou simply spoke in a detached tone. "My name is Su Zhou. I stopped here only to ask for directions. Might I ask you, friends, what this place is, and how I might get out of these mountains?"
