Chapter 81

The travel group's itinerary ended quickly, and the seven-day tour of Tian Shan officially concluded. After the farewell dinner, the tour guide began to call everyone to board the bus and prepare for the return trip.

Lin Xiao pulled the tour guide aside and said, "Guide Lu, I have some matters to attend to here and won't be returning with the group. Do you think that's okay?"

The tour guide hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's fine, but you'll need to sign an agreement. Any subsequent issues will be completely unrelated to our company."

Lin Xiao nodded, "That's fine, no problem."

"Alright, I'll go get the agreement for you." The tour guide turned and went to fetch the agreement.

After signing the agreement, Lin Xiao officially parted ways with the travel group. The reason he stayed behind was to search for rare flowers and herbs on the snow mountain. Since he had come all this way, he was determined to find them and make the trip worthwhile.

The next day, Lin Xiao packed his bag with professional mountaineering equipment, checked out of the hotel, and set off. His destination was the uninhabited area, where there was a chance of finding rare flowers and herbs.

He set out again towards Bogda Peak, planning to enter the mountains from there. The mountain range was continuous, so it didn't matter where he entered. He opened the map; the uninhabited area was not far from Bogda Peak. This time, Lin Xiao planned to traverse the uninhabited area, taking on a unique challenge.

Standing once again at the foot of the 5,445-meter peak, he looked up and saw nothing but a vast expanse of white, with mist and snow covering the mountain. Two days ago, Lin Xiao had climbed a few hundred meters but had to come down due to time constraints and his lack of superhuman abilities.

Wearing climbing shoes and holding a long ice axe, he pushed off with his feet, leaped into the air, and drove the ice axe into the ice, climbing quickly.

Ten minutes later, Lin Xiao had advanced a kilometer, and it seemed that Bogda Peak might soon be conquered. The higher he climbed, the thinner the air became. Lin Xiao, being human, needed to breathe. As the oxygen levels decreased, maintaining high speed would lead to oxygen deprivation. Reluctantly, he had to slow down and move at a steady pace.

"Thousand mountains and no birds, ten thousand paths and no human traces." The ancient poem aptly described the current situation at Bogda Peak—no birds, no people. Lin Xiao was already shrouded in the mist of the snow mountain. After more than two hours, he was almost at the summit, with only the final fifth left to climb.

However, Lin Xiao didn't see it that way. Those who hadn't climbed a snow mountain couldn't understand the sense of powerlessness. Not only was the air thin, but in a world of endless white, with no visible horizon and the lower part obscured by mist, the psychological challenge was immense.

Lin Xiao had no idea how high he had climbed, and the initial enthusiasm and determination had long faded. His mind was filled with the numbness of continuous forward movement.

As he reached a certain height, the temperature dropped sharply, and the biting cold wind felt like knives. His breath turned into white smoke as it left his mouth. Looking up, Lin Xiao, with his keen eyesight, saw the end, no longer a vast expanse of white.

"Ha ha ha, finally, I see it." Lin Xiao laughed softly.

After nearly two and a half hours of climbing, this record would shock anyone. Climbing a 5,445-meter peak in two and a half hours, averaging 36 meters per minute, would make professional climbers consider giving up.

"Ah~~~~~~~." Lin Xiao climbed to the summit and looked down at the mountains below, letting out a loud roar. Only those who had truly climbed to the top could understand the urge to shout. Each climb was a mental challenge, and only by being resolute could one overcome oneself.

Lin Xiao walked around the summit, feeling a sense of conquest. He closed his eyes with a smile, opened his arms, and embraced nature. Previously, Lin Xiao thought those people in photos who did this were foolish, but now, having experienced it firsthand, he realized that the foolish ones were those who had never understood.

After a moment of reflection, Lin Xiao began his true journey, setting out from Bogda Peak into the depths of the uninhabited area.

Crossing Bogda Peak, the path ahead was difficult, much harder than regular mountain terrain. The ground was covered in ice, smooth and slippery, with jagged ice blocks and no clear paths.

However, Lin Xiao continued, walking and searching along the way. At each peak, he would look for rare flowers and herbs, and if necessary, use brute force to create a path.

The time on his phone showed it was noon. Lin Xiao entered the space, and the temperature difference made him uncomfortable. He quickly took off his down jacket and other warm clothes and lazily ate lunch.

If ordinary people entered the uninhabited area, they would choose a road that vehicles could pass, then drive into the area. Otherwise, they would starve before leaving the uninhabited area.

With the space, Lin Xiao had been continuously throwing food and supplies into it. There was enough to last a month, so he had no worries.

Lin Xiao walked and stopped, not knowing where he was. His phone had run out of battery the day before and was no longer in service. Now, he could only rely on his watch to tell time, eating at fixed times and sleeping in the space at night.

Over the next week, Lin Xiao saw many animals that he couldn't see outside and collected a lot of snow lotuses, though the best were only about ten years old.

Lin Xiao moved forward aimlessly, but rare flowers and herbs were not easy to find. Even the lowest-level ones were naturally grown.

Today, Lin Xiao crossed another peak, reaching an unknown summit. He no longer had the same feeling as when he first climbed Bogda Peak. Repeatedly, he felt only numbness, and he continued his search. However, he didn't notice that this mountain was different from the others—it was a dormant volcano, which meant there was a high chance of finding snowmelt grass, though it also depended on luck.

Lin Xiao walked around the summit, seeing only a white expanse, feeling a sense of frustration. The entire world, except for the sky, was white, almost causing him to develop cataracts. Despite his complaints, he continued searching for any possible rare flowers and herbs.

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