Ian Song's gaze fell upon the mountain wall of this range. Its color was a deep obsidian-gold—not like ordinary rock, but more like some strange metal.
On a whim, he flicked out a strand of qi energy with his finger.
"Ding!"
A spark burst forth, but the qi energy that could kill an Innate Ninth Layer expert didn't even shake loose a speck of dust from the wall.
For a moment, Ian's eyes widened in shock. How could the stone of this mountain wall be so hard? Unwilling to give up, he flicked out another strand of qi energy at full force.
Another 'ding' rang out, sending a spark flying, but still not a single speck of stone dust was shaken loose—not even the faintest mark appeared on the wall.
"How can it be this hard?"
Ian was stunned. He summoned his flying sword and drove it with full power, stabbing toward the mountain wall.
Clang!
With a dull, heavy sound and a burst of sparks, the bronze flying sword was bounced back.
Ian withdrew the bronze flying sword and stopped testing the mountain wall's hardness. He was certain that even a Core Formation expert might not be able to damage it.
On a sudden impulse, he activated his Clairvoyant Vision and tried to peer inside the mountain wall.
But this time, his usually infallible Clairvoyant Vision failed completely—he couldn't see through the mountain wall at all.
Giving up on divine sight, he searched the area, hoping to find any loose rocks he could take back for scientists to study—maybe they'd discover something useful.
Unfortunately, he was disappointed again—there wasn't a single loose stone anywhere nearby.
Suddenly, something occurred to Ian, and he stared intently at the mountain wall.
This colossal mountain range sprawled endlessly across the land, its height and length unknown. The wall's surface was uneven, yet on closer inspection it seemed like one seamless whole—and not a single blade of grass grew anywhere, no sign of life at all.
Suddenly, Ian remembered that the Origin-Nurturing Scripture mentioned the existence of Immortal artifacts and divine artifacts above ordinary spirit tools. Could this massive mountain range be a divine artifact left behind by a god?
To be fair, Ian's imagination was running wild—but the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Still, even if it was a divine artifact, so what? With his current strength, he couldn't do a thing to it.
He tossed out the bronze flying sword, stepped onto it, and began soaring upward along the mountain wall—he wanted to see just how tall this mountain really was.
1,000 meters.
Another 1,000 meters.
3,000 meters.
......
10,000 meters.
Ian flew higher and higher, sticking close to the mountain wall. He'd already entered the clouds, but still hadn't reached the summit.
He kept flying.
Ian silently calculated his altitude. After several more minutes, he estimated he'd climbed fifty thousand meters—but still, the summit was nowhere in sight.
"Damn, just how tall is this mountain?"
Muttering to himself, Ian kept flying upward.
Finally, after flying a hundred thousand meters, Ian saw the summit.
He activated Clairvoyant Vision, letting his gaze sweep forward.
The mountaintop resembled a sword's edge, only five thousand meters wide. Crossing the summit would bring him to the other side.
In the blink of an eye, Ian flew over the summit and began descending along the far face.
Ian didn't fly fast—ten minutes passed before he broke through the cloud layer. As he emerged, he looked out curiously.
No longer forest—below the mountain wall lay a river five or six thousand meters wide, its waters rushing. As he descended, Ian could hear the thunderous roar of the current.
He sped up, and soon landed on the riverbank.
Ahead lay a vast, desolate plain with no sign of human life.
After a brief pause, Ian continued flying by sword.
After flying about two hundred li, a village with hundreds of house-sized buildings appeared in his sight. Most were built with earth or stone walls, with a few wooden huts.
He didn't enter the village directly, but landed several hundred meters away and activated Clairvoyant Vision to investigate.
Soon, he withdrew his Clairvoyant Vision.
From his investigation, he learned several useful things: the village's tools were primitive, but the crops in the fields thrived, likely due to the rich spiritual energy of this world. Still, all the crops were unfamiliar to Ian.
The villagers' clothing and appearance resembled those of ancient Yanhuang.
There were martial artists in the village, but none strong—the best were only late Postnatal stage. Ordinary people's physiques, however, were clearly superior to those in modern Yanhuang, again due to the abundant spiritual energy.
Ian decided to investigate the village, but first, he needed to change clothes.
He had several robes in his Storage Ring, brought back from the Great Qin World.
He put on a robe and walked toward the village.
A two-meter-high wooden palisade surrounded the village, clearly built to keep out wild beasts.
To avoid standing out, Ian decided to enter the village openly through the main gate.
Soon, he reached the village entrance, where a stone stele stood upright. Three strange characters were carved on it—likely the village's name, Ian guessed.
Seeing the characters, Ian frowned. Different writing meant the language might be different, too.
He focused his hearing, trying to listen to the villagers inside.
Soon, he heard the voices of villagers speaking.
After listening for a while, Ian's expression darkened—he couldn't understand a word.
How could he gather information if he couldn't speak the language?
Still, he entered the village. Soon, someone noticed the outsider.
It was an old man in coarse linen clothes who noticed him.
The old man was friendly, smiling as he spoke a few words to Ian.
The annoying thing was, Ian couldn't understand a word. Still, he guessed the old man was probably asking who he was and what business he had in the village.
Suddenly, Ian had an idea.
He deliberately pointed at his mouth and ears, signaling that he couldn't speak or hear.
The old man understood, and a look of sympathy and pity appeared on his face. Such a handsome young man, yet deaf and mute.
What followed was a very difficult exchange between them.
Next, Ian took out a small piece of silver, pointed at his stomach and then his mouth, meaning he wanted to buy some food. He'd seen silver in villagers' pockets earlier, so he knew they used it here.
The old man nodded and motioned for Ian to follow him.
The old man seemed well-liked in the village—people greeted him along the way, and many curiously eyed Ian.
Soon, Ian arrived at the old man's home.
The house was fairly spacious, with walls built entirely from bluestone.
The old man brought Ian two black steamed buns and a bowl of water.
Ian stuffed the piece of silver into the old man's hand, who accepted it with a smile.
Seeing the silver accepted, Ian was delighted. As long as they took silver, things would be easier. He pretended to be famished and began eating the black buns hungrily.