Volume Three: Rising Fame - Chapter 75: The Fog Has Risen

Li Yu descended beside Wen Xiangxuan, where more than a dozen pieces of Blowing Snow Ghost Crystal had already been neatly arranged.

"Young Master?!" Wen Xiangxuan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing him.

She was particularly stunned by the Blowing Snow Ghost Crystals hovering behind Li Yu, held in place by his spiritual energy; it was several times the amount she had collected.

"Not a bad haul!" Li Yu remarked, noticing the crystals at her side.

As a Sixth-Rank cultivator—even at the peak of the rank—Wen Xiangxuan could not afford the luxury of using spiritual energy to levitate her crystals like Li Yu did, so hers were all tied together with rope. In fact, most Fifth-Rank cultivators would never use their spiritual energy as extravagantly as Li Yu.

"Don't look at me like that; this is a form of training for me!" Sensing her intense, disconcerting gaze, Li Yu felt a bit uneasy and decided to explain. "Using my spiritual energy this way helps me refine my control and allows for more precise manipulation of the energy within my body."

"Oh, I see! Is there something you need, Young Master?" Wen Xiangxuan snapped out of it, averting her eyes.

"Where are the others?" Li Yu scanned the area, noticing that the rest of the group had wandered off in different directions, their silhouettes now barely visible.

"They shouldn't be far. Would you like me to call them over?" Wen Xiangxuan offered.

"No need," Li Yu waved his hand. "I just had a strange feeling, though I can't quite put my finger on why. I just wanted to check on you all."

"Strange?" Wen Xiangxuan wondered why he would have such a sudden hunch, but given how seriously he spoke, she dared not dismiss it. She mused, "Some cultivators have exceptionally keen spiritual intuition; perhaps you are one of them. What exactly feels strange to you?"

Li Yu had only mentioned it in passing. Prodded for details, he began to think carefully. After a long silence, he replied, "I can't quite describe it. It's just a feeling that something is off, though I don't know where."

Can Yishuang, who had been looking elsewhere, chimed in, "Could it be that you feel guilty because you're snatching other people's treasures?"

"Is that something you should be saying out loud?" Li Yu retorted, flustered. He ruffled her hair vigorously before dragging her away.

*Is he really feeling guilty because he's a thief?* Wen Xiangxuan thought, watching the two retreat. She was startled, but quickly brushed the thought aside and resumed her gathering. If they could talk about it so openly, they were likely only targeting other outsiders. Her main concern now was that if she were too slow, the others would snatch up the bulk of the treasure.

"How strange. When we were outside, it looked like there were so many Blowing Snow Ghost Crystals!" she muttered, burying herself back into her task. As for worrying about other outsiders? She knew that since Li Yu hadn't specifically mentioned any threats, there was nothing to fear.

***

"What are you doing?!" Can Yishuang shoved Li Yu’s hand away, shouting in anger.

"You're the one to talk!" Li Yu gave her hair two more rough tugs before letting go. "You talk so freely about me stealing crystals—do you have any idea how much effort I put into picking these up one by one?"

"It's true, though... look, there are two!" She pointed.

"Where?" Li Yu followed her finger, and only after walking over did he spot two crystals hidden in the grass.

"How are your eyes so sharp?" Li Yu asked, happily picking them up.

Can Yishuang tilted her head, acting proud. "Isn't it easy? Maybe you're just not looking hard enough!"

"You're the best, you're the best!" Li Yu weighed the two crystals, then tossed them into the air. They drifted behind him, gently enveloped by his lightning energy, joining the "stars" that bobbed and weaved in the void behind his back. "Come on, let's go find the next ones!"

Li Yu and Can Yishuang moved swiftly, disappearing into the distance. Behind them, in the holes left by the excavated crystals, white mist began to rise. It dissipated after reaching a height of less than a foot, vanishing entirely within moments. Simultaneously, the same phenomenon occurred in every hole that had been dug. Eerily, the process seemed to "detect" its surroundings—the mist never appeared as long as someone was nearby.

***

"Why haven't we found them yet?!" Xiang Yadan glared at Cai Junshuang, who was leading the way. A flicker of suspicion crossed her beautiful eyes. She knew Cai Junshuang had no reason to betray her—she was aware of his feelings for Shi Jianmu, and she had seen the body—but the lack of any sign of the group was starting to make her doubt him.

"Soon, we'll be there soon!" Cai Junshuang murmured. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. *These people claim they couldn't stand to see a comrade die in vain, yet they dug up his makeshift grave during their mourning. If they won't even let Jianmu rest in peace, then I'll find a way to make them pay for it!*

"What do you mean 'soon'?" someone nearby asked, curious.

"We're almost there!" Cai Junshuang forced a grim smile. His eyes lit up. "I’ve found the tracks!" In the direction he pointed, there were indeed signs of trampled grass.

Xiang Yadan turned to a young man, a Sixth-Rank cultivator. "Brother Tiancheng, it's up to you now!"

Seeing the pleading, coquettish smile on her face, the youth boasted, "No problem! You know tracking is my specialty!" He strode forward and crawled onto the ground to inspect the marks. A moment later, he confirmed, "Based on these tracks, they match the youth perfectly. We're on the right path. Follow me, let's catch up!"

"Brother Tiancheng is amazing!" Xiang Yadan said softly, though her eyes filled with disdain as she watched him crawling like a dog.

*A youth... that burly woman must be from the Xiong clan, and since the Xiong clan is on good terms with the Qing clan, if they call him 'Brother Yu,' that youth must be Li Yu of the Thunder Bloodline,* she mused. *If I can eliminate him, it will be a great merit!*

*Does wealth move the heart?* Cai Junshuang thought he was using the crystals to lure Xiang Yadan into acting, but in truth, she would have sought to kill Li Yu regardless if she had news of his whereabouts. Still, Cai Junshuang’s pretext was perfect: under the guise of avenging a comrade, she could eliminate a target while securing a fortune in Blowing Snow Ghost Crystals. It was a win-win.

***

The group, each harboring their own secret agendas, pursued Li Yu's trail with a unified goal.

*Swish!*

Li Yu stepped onto a rock and frowned. "Is this mountain really this high?"

Can Yishuang landed beside him, blinking in confusion. She didn't understand why he would suddenly ask that. He had been focused on hunting for crystals, then suddenly stopped to question everything.

"No, this isn't right!" The youth looked up at the peak, then down at the path behind them. His eyes were filled with bewilderment. "Look up there—can you see the summit? And look down—haven't we been climbing for a while now?"

"I think you're right!" Can Yishuang realized, startled. "What's going on?"

"And the beasts we saw—the Eighth-Rank peak snake, that rhino—wasn't it only at the Seventh-Rank peak?" Li Yu paced back and forth, then stopped dead. "Why would the beasts near the treasure be weaker than the ones guarding the perimeter, most of which were Sixth-Rank?"

Li Yu finally understood what was wrong. It was only when he looked toward the peak that it clicked. A small hill buried among mountains—how could the summit be invisible? Especially when they had already climbed a considerable distance! And before they entered, from the outside, the hill had been covered in crystals. Once inside, they were scattered far apart. How could he have ignored that until now?

*Something is influencing me,* Li Yu thought with a chill. He looked around; it still looked like an ordinary mountain, with no abnormalities.

"What is happening here?" Li Yu paced again, his voice filled with disbelief. "This mountain is larger—far larger than what we saw from the outside!"

Perhaps, through some strange effect, they had seen a miniature version of the mountain from the outside, which was why the crystals appeared so dense. But once they entered, the mountain returned to its true scale, stretching the distance between the crystals.

Realizing this, Li Yu shivered. He grabbed Can Yishuang and leapt into the air. "We need to leave, now!"

"What happened?" Can Yishuang was confused but, seeing Li Yu's frantic expression, she followed him obediently.

"This mountain is treacherous!" Li Yu gritted his teeth. He quickly located the other five members and, without offering an explanation, ordered them to follow him down.

"When did it get so foggy?" Wen Xiangxuan asked in shock as they reached the base of the mountain.

The others gasped as well. They had been keeping a close eye on their surroundings; how had the fog moved in without them noticing?

"We realized it too late!" Li Yu gritted his teeth. He watched the mist rolling in and, refusing to give up, soared into the sky. No matter how high he went, the fog maintained the same distance from him.

They had all seen the horrific, bizarre ways the others had died before entering; the terror of it kept anyone from daring to test the mist.

Li Yu dropped back to the ground and shook his head. "We can't get out. The fog has completely engulfed the mountain."

"Young Master, what is going on?" Wen Xiangxuan asked, her voice trembling as she struggled to maintain her composure.