Chapter 83

The wind suddenly picked up, and Gu Xuyao's hand paused in mid-air. In the next moment, he leaped high into the air!

A dull thud came from below, and the spot where he had been standing exploded!

Landing steadily, the young Yunze Flower Deer in his arms was frightened and began to cry. From the front, an angry roar could be heard.

At this moment, the Yunze Flower Deer before Gu Xuyao completely changed his usual perception of the gentle nature of deer. The deer's eyes glowed with a deep green light, and it crouched, its antlers pointed at Gu Xuyao. Parallel to it was a black shadow, which was much larger than the Yunze Flower Deer, a shadow that was undoubtedly a cheetah.

"I didn't expect such a fierce deity to reside within this Yunze Flower Deer..."

The shadow cheetah made no sound and emitted no light, but Gu Xuyao could fully sense the aura of a powerful being it emitted.

Looking at the young Yunze Flower Deer in his arms, he couldn't help but feel a headache. The sudden return of the deer made his task of taking the antler much more difficult.

In fact, he could have ignored everything and cut off the soft antler directly, but once Gu Xuyao made a move, the Yunze Flower Deer would certainly attack him. Under such an attack, Gu Xuyao couldn't guarantee the accuracy of his move. If he accidentally killed the young deer, the Yunze Flower Deer would surely pursue him relentlessly, leaving him no time to quietly ponder the way to leave the White Mist Yunze.

The Yunze Flower Deer kept making threatening low growls, but Gu Xuyao couldn't possibly return the hard-won young deer. For a moment, the two were at a standoff. The young deer in Gu Xuyao's arms stopped its cries, looked at its mother, and then at Gu Xuyao, and it actually let out a joyful cry.

This joyful cry didn't mean much to Gu Xuyao, but the adult deer, upon hearing it, seemed to relax. Seeing this, Gu Xuyao wasted no time and burst forth with all his cultivation. In a flash, he turned into a bolt of lightning and was far away. By the time the adult deer reacted, Gu Xuyao was already out of sight!

In the next moment, the deer, realizing Gu Xuyao's escape, roared in anger and gave chase.

But it didn't chase for long. The deer stopped because there was something on the ground that attracted it more: its child.

The joy of regaining its child made the green light in the Yunze Flower Deer's eyes fade. The shadow cheetah merged into the deer's body and disappeared. The adult deer carefully lifted the young deer with its antlers, brought it to its eyes, and lovingly licked it before running back to its former nest.

With a "bang," the bog exploded, and Gu Xuyao emerged from the ground, holding a gray shovel he had used to dig holes outside Meteor City.

Watching the deer leave, Gu Xuyao smiled in relief. In the end, no one was hurt. The temperament of the Yunze Flower Deer was actually good; as long as it and its offspring were not threatened, any problem could be resolved.

Putting the antler into the Hundred Treasures Gourd, he took a deep breath. Now that he had all the items he needed, it was time to leave.

But soon, a new problem arose. The unknown cultivator had given him the Lazy Birth Grass but hadn't told him how to reach the center of the White Mist Yunze. Since Gu Xuyao couldn't determine his exact location within the Yunze, he had no way of knowing which direction to fly.

The White Mist Yunze wasn't small. Gu Xuyao was actually very lucky. The position of cultivators entering the White Mist Yunze was random, and the Yunze wasn't inhabited by just one type of spirit beast. Each had its own territory. By coincidence, Gu Xuyao, who had come for the Yunze Flower Deer, entered the area where the Yunze Flower Deer lived, which was why everything went so smoothly.

Though he didn't know the way, one truth remained unchanged: moving was always better than standing still. Maintaining a moderate speed, Gu Xuyao began to search for clues leading to the center of the Yunze, which was sparsely dotted with stumps.

Five days passed, and at first, he had no clue. But gradually, Gu Xuyao noticed that as he changed his direction of flight, the direction in which the trunks of the low trees tilted also changed. After another five days of verification, Gu Xuyao finally confirmed his observation.

"These trees actually all tilt in the same direction; it just looks chaotic from different angles..."

Ten more days passed, and Gu Xuyao felt his skin becoming increasingly loose. Without time to think too much, he clung to the only clue he had and flew in the direction the trees tilted.

During this time, Gu Xuyao also encountered other creatures in the White Mist Yunze. Fortunately, though this place didn't easily let cultivators leave, these spirit beasts were peaceful. They merely glanced curiously at the hurriedly flying Gu Xuyao. These Yunze creatures were ones Gu Xuyao had never seen before.

Unfortunately, the journey through the Yunze was too rushed, and Gu Xuyao had no time to study them. After another fifteen days of flying, he finally saw the massive stone stele that the unknown cultivator had mentioned, which was indeed enormous.

As he got closer, Gu Xuyao felt that it was more like a mountain with inscriptions than a stele. When he reached its base, he couldn't see its top through the mist.

For some reason, a sense of reverence suddenly rose in Gu Xuyao's heart, and an inexplicable feeling made him want to kneel before the stele!

"Ah..."

A sigh, faint and indistinct, Gu Xuyao looked around but saw nothing. The wind picked up, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if the sound he heard was a sigh or just the wind.

The stele was deeply embedded in the White Mist Yunze, and it was indeed inscribed with many characters. The strokes of the characters exuded a mysterious aura, but unfortunately, Gu Xuyao could only understand a small part of them.

"Recalling the days of traversing the heavens and earth, I laughed and was proud. Today, I am buried in the earth, with much sorrow. Born a hero, I die a hero. The heavens no longer exist, the master is dead, the marsh is alive! If you wish to see the light of day again, kneel to the sky and bow nine times!"

This was the only part Gu Xuyao could understand, and these characters were relatively newer compared to the others, as if they were not written by the same person.

"Kneel to the sky and bow nine times..."

Gu Xuyao repeated the last sentence to himself. Without a doubt, this was the key to leaving this place, and the answer wasn't hard to guess. In this bog, the only place that could be described as "to the sky" was clearly the towering stele before him.

Touching the desolate stele, Gu Xuyao knew that with his current cultivation, he could not cause any damage to it. This feeling was inexplicable, as if an inaudible voice was whispering in his ear.

However, this problem didn't need to be overly worried about. The characters inscribed on the stele provided natural handholds, and climbing wouldn't be too difficult. But the height of this endless stele was unknown.

"There's no time to waste; I can't delay any longer." Clearly, Gu Xuyao had no other choice. Removing the last bit of hesitation, he leaped and began to climb!

The characters on the stele were large and irregular. The only way Gu Xuyao could climb was to use one handhold to push himself to the next, making it more like ascending than climbing.

Regardless, the process was extremely difficult. Even at the Root Birth stage, the continuous use of strength put a great strain on Gu Xuyao's arms, similar to a cultivator continuously using techniques to attack others. Even if the essence energy didn't run out, the physical body would tire.

But that was the reality. Gu Xuyao had no choice but to accept it. The wind grew stronger, and when he looked down, he could no longer see the ground of the White Mist Yunze. The wind began to affect his body, and he had no choice but to use essence energy to resist the sudden strong wind.

"Breath, breath..."

Panting, the consumption of essence energy increased, but the top was still out of sight. Firmly gripping the cold stele, a sense of helplessness rose in Gu Xuyao's heart.

"The essence energy in my body is almost depleted. By the time I've climbed for five days, my lifespan should be less than half..."

Without hesitation, he took out a piece of essence stone, crushed it, and began to absorb the essence energy. At this moment, Gu Xuyao had no time to waste; relying solely on external absorption was too slow.

Thus, Gu Xuyao rested for a while, replenished his essence energy, and continued forward. His arms were already completely numb, and the only thing that kept him going was a strong belief.

The days of climbing were monotonous and increasingly difficult. His strength was waning, and the wind at high altitudes was getting stronger. As the obstacles increased, Gu Xuyao's climbing became less smooth, and he had to rest more frequently.

This was understandable. He had to use more essence energy to resist the wind to avoid being blown off course and missing the next handhold. He also had to climb quickly within the limited time, which was indeed very difficult for a cultivator at the Root Birth stage.

After another thirty days of climbing, Gu Xuyao's hair had turned gray, and his face, though not handsome, was filled with the marks of time, just like the characters on the stele.

The wind grew even stronger at this height, and the essence energy Gu Xuyao used to resist it was terrifying. Rolling into a recess, he finally escaped the strong wind and lay down dejectedly.

His arms had no feeling, but he still reached for the Hundred Treasures Gourd at his waist.

"Turns out, the last piece was the last essence stone..."

Smiling bitterly, he put the gourd back at his waist, moved his body, and looked up. There was still no end in sight.

The page with ads begins

The page with ads ends