Chapter 766: Death Wind Mountain |
And so, they set off for Death Wind Mountain and it took them less than half a day to reach it. While Ming Yue could've just flown there and arrived with them in less than an hour, Hongyu had to get accustomed to longer trips on foot. As talented as she is, she was still in the Human Realm and a trek like this would be good for her.
By the time they reached the mountain, the girl seemed a bit drained, taking in a deep breath as she stood beside Ming Yue, looking at the view.
"Hmm, Death Wind Mountain, I haven't been here since my very first mission", she thought.
Her gaze trailed off the desolate mountain before turning to Xiao Yin.
"The Snow Ape Mission..."
When it all began, she was tasked with finding and killing that beast as it had been terrorizing a village. It was a success as she chanced upon the Snow Ape on its way to attack the village. Once slain, she had traced it back to its dwelling where there was an egg, and out came Xiao Yin, the Star Owl.
She couldn't help but smile, reminiscing for just a few moments.
The woman quickly snapped out of it when she saw Hongyu looking up at her waiting for her to say something.
She looked at her with a smile, waiting for Hongyu to go.
The child clutched her sword tightly and nodded before entering the mountain's territory. Xiao Yin and the other two beasts watched, they looked quite worried for the child but stayed by Ming Yue.
It wasn't until Hongyu was out of sight that she spoke to the trio.
"You three go watch her carefully. If something truly dangerous comes, bring her out."
They responded with nods before entering the mountain as well, leaving her alone.
And Ming Yue just stood there, watching from afar. But it wasn't long before she made her move, flying towards the mountain peak. The cultivator didn't have much memory of this place, after all, she hadn't explored it in its entirety.
"If Hongyu is going to be around here, I should at least see how dangerous this place really is.", she thought.
It took her a few minutes to get there and when she did, there was a look of disappointment on her face.
"Even though it's called Death Wind Mountain, does this really count as wind? Or even a breeze?"
There was a questionable look on her face when she stood at the peak. The wind up there was quite rough, constantly pushing at her. Most noticeably, it was very loud here.
While the mountain itself was barren, it was structured in a way that forced wind to travel upwards through the narrow ravines and crevices. And because of the rock formation, this wind would often make sounds.
Perhaps if things were slightly tweaked, it would've been music to one's ears, dozens of notes that joined together into a beautiful song. Unfortunately, that could not be further from the truth.
Many of these crevices and ravines produced nothing more than shrieks and shrill cries. It was eerie and quite intimidating to many. Could that cry just be the wind or is that just a poor soul nearing its end?
To the untrained ear, it could be hard to tell. Even worse for those whose hearts are pounding, whose minds were struggling to stay sane. But as she was, none of this had an effect on her. It was closer to the buzzing of a bug than a death-like scream.
It was fortunate that Ming Yue did not suffer such a fate when she was younger.
After all, the clash between two Rank 5 beasts was enough to disrupt the entire mountain.
"The Earth Tortoise and the Thunder Roc... If it weren't for them battling each other, I wouldn't have been able to harvest as much as I did. But it doesn't look like they're around anymore... unless they're hiding", she muttered.
Looking down from the peak of the mountain, the woman scanned every inch of it. Spreading her energy around, it practically covered the entire range like a thin net.
"Mm, so Hongyu and over there, and those three are following her. They're not too far away but enough for her not to notice them, good."
She had already spotted the group at the base of the mountain, seeing them move forward slowly.
"They've already caught the attention of a few beasts but none of them are Rank 2. I wonder how long she's going to take."
She watched for a bit longer before gazing at the surrounding areas.
Sitting at the peak, Ming Yue searched for anything that might interest her, whether it was a strong beast or a rare plant. With the amount of power she had, searching through the entire mountain without moving certainly made things easier for her.
However, there wasn't much that caught her attention. Death Wind Mountain certainly didn't seem as dangerous as its name intended. Time flew by as she gazed down from above, checking on Hongyu and the others every now and then. The girl had already caught a few Rank 1 beasts but she had yet to encounter anything at Rank 2.
"She needs to venture deeper", Ming Yue muttered.
Resting her chin on her palm, she went back to searching.
Time flew by before, something did catch her eye but for a different reason.
"What's this?"
She quickly descended to one of the most remote parts of the mountain, standing before one of the narrow ravines.
"How strange, this wasn't here before", she thought, "I just checked the entire area, how could a new ravine have appeared just now? It hasn't been more than a few minutes!"
Ming Yue looked at it closely, studying it and trying to understand just what had happened.
"This isn't man-made, it wasn't created by a blade or some sort of attack. It looks natural but... what happened here?"
The crack itself wasn't that big but it was incredibly deep.
But seeing as nothing dangerous had come out, Ming Yue looked away. And as she did, her gaze spun to a different location where a similar crevice had just formed. There was a bit of crumbling from that direction. It was quiet, barely noticeable but it would grow louder.
Her eyes suddenly moved, quickly examining the entire mountain.
Pebbles started to fall as the cracks continued to spread before the whole mountain started the tremble. The tremors grew stronger, spreading past the mountains and through the entire land.
"This... an earthquake?!"
She quickly turned towards where Hongyu was, seeing as the girl was brought away from the vicinity by the three beasts. She flew to their side, joining them as they all escaped from the destruction.
The ground itself trembled and broke apart, trees fell and deep chasms formed as the mountain suddenly fractured into several peaks.
Ming Yue turned around, watching it and noticing some strange movement.
"The Quintessence Energy, it's being siphoned from the ground and... towards the sky..."
Her eyes trailed off, tracing the path that the energy went. Looking up, her eyes widened with shock and terror.
"Where is that energy going?"
She saw it.
It wasn't very easy to notice but now that she spotted it, she couldn't look away. There was a crack in the sky, it was small but she saw it, veiled by a thin layer of clouds. The space around it was warped beyond recognition, it had an otherworldly aura around it.
Ming Yue didn't know what to make of it but she kept quiet.
"I have to get Hongyu to safety first. And then I'll come back."
