As Zhang Shuyang considered the mission, his thoughts grew heavy.
'Matters of the Royal Family have always been complicated. Even though I'm on the Empress's side, who knows if some hidden old monster from the Taoist Sect or even within the Royal Family will emerge to protect Li Haomiao if I try to capture him.'
'If that happens, I'll probably die here.'
'Since I'm so badly injured, I might as well use this as an excuse to pull out and save my own life.'
Li Miaoyun acted as if she hadn't heard a word Zhang Shuyang said. She gazed silently at the mountain range stretching into the distance, her eyes holding an inscrutable depth.
After a long moment, she shifted her gaze slightly, parted her lips, and coldly spat out a single word.
"Useless."
The word was like a sharp dagger, stabbing straight into Zhang Shuyang.
Zhang Shuyang's expression instantly turned grim, his face flashing from white to red. But in the end, he remained silent, clenching his jaw, his heart filled with resentment and indignation.
Li Miaoyun lingered no longer. She took a graceful step forward.
With each step, her figure flickered, reappearing over a hundred meters away. Her speed was breathtaking.
Even more bizarre, her movements stirred not even the slightest breeze, as if she were nothing but an illusion, a phantom.
In the blink of an eye, her figure vanished into the vast curtain of snow.
Zhang Shuyang stared in the direction Li Miaoyun had gone. When his gaze fell upon the snow she had crossed, his pupils contracted sharply.
On the smooth, undisturbed snow, there wasn't a single footprint.
Stepping on Snow Without Trace!
Such unparalleled Lightweight Skill sent a chill down Zhang Shuyang's spine.
He knew deep down that if Li Miaoyun wanted to kill him right now, he wouldn't even have time to react.
His entire body tensed up. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his back was already soaked through. After a long moment, his tense expression finally eased, and he let out a heavy breath.
A nearby personal guard gritted his teeth. "General, we..."
"Mr. Li is taking over. We're not involved anymore. Gather the bodies of our brothers. We're going home."
Zhang Shuyang's face was grim, a complex light flickering in his eyes.
-----------------
"Once we cross this mountain ahead, we'll be in Qingzhou, right?"
Xu Yunfan gazed up at the majestic, nearly six-thousand-meter-high mountain before them. Looking from side to side, he saw its ranges extending into the distance like two towering walls that pierced the clouds—a magnificent, natural Great Wall.
Fang Mushan also stared up at the towering peak, his eyes filled with emotion.
'Looking back on the last two or three months, it feels like a surreal dream.'
Li Haomiao spoke, his expression complex and his tone hard to place.
"Northern Qingzhou... It's only because this Jiyun Mountain blocks the bitter cold from The Eight-Hundred-Mile Desolate River Ice-Plains that Qingzhou's climate is so pleasant, earning it the name 'Little Zhongzhou.' Once we're over, we'll finally be out of these ice-plains for good."
A broadsword scavenged from a dead soldier hung at Xu Yunfan's waist. He looked up at the mountain. Howling gales raged at its peak, carrying an icy chill. A thick blanket of snow covered Jiyun Mountain from its halfway point to the summit, making it look like a great white dragon lying in repose.
"Let's climb. I want to see just what the Great Zhou Dynasty's Qingzhou is really like."
'Ever since I got here, I've been thrown into a mine, living hand-to-mouth. Now that things are finally looking up, I want to experience the warmth of civilization again.'
'These days of living like a savage have been brutal. The roasted meat tastes of nothing but blood and game.'
Fang Mushan took a deep breath, tightened his fur clothes, and said with a determined look, "Alright, let's cross Jiyun Mountain in one push!"
Without further hesitation, they began their ascent.
Xu Yunfan activated his Flying Leg technique. With every step, his leg muscles tensed and released an explosive burst of force, sinking his feet deep into the snow. He'd follow with a powerful leap, covering six or seven meters in a single bound.
After days of non-stop travel, his Flying Leg technique had reached the Minor Achievement stage. Xu Yunfan found Emitting Force to be more and more effortless. With each stride, his feet seemed to resonate with the ground, a mysterious power from the earth buoying him up and launching him forward as if on springs.
'Flying Leg 378/1000 (Minor Achievement)
Effects: Walking on Thin Ice, Light as a Feather, Explosive Leg Strength, Tireless Movement, Agile Body'
The effects from Flying Leg allowed him to traverse the rugged icefield with even greater ease than Fang Mushan.
'You have used Flying Leg. By Emitting Force, you have touched upon the essence of this Kung Fu. Your Skill Level has increased.'
'You have used Flying Leg. You subconsciously feel you can widen the arc of your hips with each stride. Upon trying, you discover it is more efficient. Your Flying Leg Skill Level has increased.'
...
Late that night, moonlight spilled down through a break in the clouds.
Xu Yunfan stepped onto the summit and exhaled a long breath of Dirt Qi. In the extreme cold, the white plume of his breath was clearly visible, like a wisp of ethereal mist.
He casually took a piece of jerky from his waist, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled, "Once we're over this summit, we'll be completely out of The Eight-Hundred-Mile Desolate River Ice-Plains, right?"
Beside him, Fang Mushan was steaming, his body heat turning to vapor in the frigid air. It looked as if smoke were rising from the crown of his head, shrouding him in a hazy mist.
He was breathing heavily as he glanced at the completely unfazed Xu Yunfan, utterly shocked. He had always thought his own endurance was exceptional, but compared to Xu Yunfan, he paled in comparison.
'Climbing a mountain like this... not only is his Body Technique more agile than mine, but he crossed the dangerous parts with such fluid grace, without a hint of stiffness.'
'Is he really just a servant of the Jiang Family, and not some master cultivated by a Sect?!'
Xu Yunfan glanced over at him.
"Tired?"
"Tired?! Of course not!"
Fang Mushan immediately straightened up and composed himself. "It's just my Martial Arts," he explained. "My Blood Qi surges with every move, which is why it looks like this... Once we're down from the summit, we just have to be careful to avoid..."
"You won't be getting down from this summit."
Startled, they looked up to see a woman in thin gauze standing there on the frozen summit. Her gaze fell upon them as if they were already dead.
"Li Miaoyun!"
On Xu Yunfan's back, Li Haomiao instinctively straightened up. His expression was cold, his eyes grave.
Xu Yunfan suddenly felt something hard pressing against his rear. "Whoa, hang on," he said quickly. "You're poking me. Let me put you down."
With that, Xu Yunfan quickly set Li Haomiao down.
Li Haomiao flushed with shame and anger. 'This guy Xu Yunfan really knows how to kill the mood. If my arms and legs weren't broken, I'd definitely teach him a lesson!'
He composed himself and turned his gaze back to the ever-expressionless Li Miaoyun.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Xu Yunfan silently moved to shield the other two. 'If things go south,' he thought, 'I'm out of here in a flash.'