The moment Xiao Yan stepped through the portal, it felt like his stomach was doing backflips. One second he was in a crowded city, and the next, he was standing in a place where the trees were so tall they literally touched the clouds. The air was thick with energy, making his skin tingle.
"Whoa... okay, that was a trip," Xiao Yan muttered, shaking his head to clear the dizziness.
Clang!
"Move it, trash! You're blocking the way!"
Xiao Yan didn't even have to look to know who it was. Haoran pushed past him with five of his lackeys, all of them looking like they were dressed for a wedding instead of a dangerous mountain trek.
"Watch it, Haoran. The mountain doesn't have a VIP lane," Xiao Yan said, his voice flat.
Haoran stopped and looked back with a sneer. "Enjoy the view while you can, little brother. The further we go up, the harder it gets to breathe. A loser like you will probably faint before we even hit the Mist Forest." He laughed and marched off toward the higher cliffs.
(Michael, can I punch him? Just once?) Xiao Yan asked in his head.
[Master, your priority is the Azure Dragon, not the Arrogant Idiot. Also, look behind you.]
Xiao Yan turned just as Jinyao and Lieya stumbled out of the portal. Jinyao looked a bit pale, while Lieya was already cracking her knuckles, looking for something to hit.
"Finally!" Lieya shouted, looking at the massive peaks. "Look at this place! I can smell the spirit beasts already. I'm going to find the biggest one and make a rug out of it."
"Can we please just find some water first?" Jinyao asked, wiping her forehead. "The energy here is so heavy, it's like walking through soup."
"Stay close," Xiao Yan warned. "The portal scattered people. We're lucky we landed together, but I can feel eyes on us."
They started walking up the first trail, the "Outer Peaks." It seemed easy at first, but after an hour, the path started to twist in ways that didn't make sense. One minute they were walking uphill, the next, the ground felt flat but they were still climbing.
"Is it just me, or have we passed that weird purple rock three times?" Lieya asked, stopping and putting her hands on her hips.
"Wait, you're right," Jinyao said, her eyes widening. "I recognized that bird nest. We're walking in circles!"
Xiao Yan frowned. He closed his eyes and focused. (Michael, show me the truth.)
[Activating Codex Eye. Master, the mountain is using a Soul-Path illusion. It's feeding on everyone's desire to reach the top. The faster you try to run, the more you stay in the same place.]
Xiao Yan's left eye flashed with a faint blue light. Suddenly, the "path" ahead of them blurred and shifted. The wide, easy road disappeared, replaced by a narrow, rocky ledge that looked incredibly dangerous.
"Guys, stop," Xiao Yan said, grabbing Lieya's arm just as she was about to step into what looked like a flowery meadow. "If you take one more step, you're falling off a cliff."
"What are you talking about? The road is right there!" Lieya argued.
Xiao Yan picked up a heavy stone and tossed it onto the "road." Instead of hitting dirt, the stone fell into a deep, black abyss, and they didn't even hear it hit the bottom.
Lieya's face went white. "Okay... noted. I officially hate this mountain."
"Follow my footsteps," Xiao Yan commanded. "Don't look at the trees, don't look at the sky. Just look at where I step."
As they crawled along the real, narrow ledge, they heard a scream from somewhere below.
"Help! Someone help me!"
Xiao Yan looked down and saw a group of young geniuses from a minor sect. They were trapped in a circle of thorn bushes that seemed to be growing at high speed, wrapping around their legs.
"Should we help them?" Jinyao asked, her kind heart kicking in.
Xiao Yan looked at the thorns. They weren't just bushes; they were draining the spirit energy out of the boys.
"If we go down there, we get trapped too," Xiao Yan said. "Wait... Lieya, can you throw a fireball?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Lieya grinned. She gathered orange flames in her palms and launched a massive blast at the base of the thorns.
The plants shrieked—literally shrieked—and shriveled up. The boys scrambled out, running back toward the entrance without even saying thank you.
"Well, that was rude," Lieya huffed.
"Forget them," Xiao Yan said, looking up. "Look."
Further up the cliff, they saw a flash of white. Yan Bingxue was gliding across the rocks like she was walking on air. She didn't use the path at all. She just created ice platforms in the sky and walked over the illusions like they were nothing.
"Now that's how you travel," Xiao Yan whispered, feeling a bit jealous.
[Master, stop staring at the Ice Queen. Someone is approaching from the side. High Killing Intent.]
Xiao Yan immediately reached for his sword, but it wasn't a demon. It was Tang Shuya, the girl with the fan. she was standing on a tree branch, looking down at them with a curious smile.
"Not bad, little man" she said, snapping her fan shut. "Most people are still stuck at the bottom arguing with rocks. You actually found the real path."
"Who are you?" Xiao Yan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"A friend? An enemy? Maybe both," she teased, then jumped down, landing perfectly between them. "The demons have already moved past the first gate. If you keep moving at this snail's pace, there won't be anything left of the 'geniuses' but bones."
"The demons are already inside?" Jinyao gasped.
"They didn't come for the treasure," Shuya said, her expression turning serious. "They came for a hunt. And you three look like very tasty prey."
Xiao Yan gripped his fist, red sparks flickering around his fingers. "Let them come. I've got a dragon to find, and I'm not letting some overgrown goats stand in my way."
Shuya laughed. "I like your style. Follow me, I know a shortcut to the Mist Forest, but it involves a lot of climbing and probably some giant spiders."
"I hate spiders," Lieya and Jinyao said at the same time.
"Great," Xiao Yan sighed. "Lead the way."
To be continued!!!