CHAPTER 151: CHAPTER 149: ICE AND SNOW GREAT WALL (SEEKING SUBSCRIPTION)

Cao Wenjin clearly valued the "Profound Sun Order" that Zhouyang possessed, so when Zhouyang asked if the journey would be safe, he confidently answered affirmatively.

"Don’t worry about that. I personally lead the team. Even if a Tier Five Demon Beast blocks the way, I can ensure your safety!"

Such confident words, coming from a cultivator of his status, certainly put Zhouyang at ease.

Therefore, he didn’t say much more and readily agreed to the proposal.

Next, Cao Wenjin personally handed Zhouyang a "Nether Blood Contract" to sign, the main content of which was to forbid him from revealing details of the journey to the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm.

After signing the "Nether Blood Contract," Cao Wenjin returned the deposit of five thousand spirit stones that Zhouyang had previously paid to Guo Shuyun, the Vice Hall Master of the Yellow Sand Sect, and gave him half a year to prepare.

During this half-year, how many spirit stones and treasures he could gather and take to the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm for sale depended entirely on Zhouyang’s abilities.

With time pressing, Zhouyang didn’t dare delay even for a moment. After leaving the mountain gate of the Yellow Sand Sect, he didn’t even have time to visit his elder brother Zhou Yuanchen, who was cultivating there, and hurriedly returned to the Zhou Family.

Upon returning to the Zhou Family, Zhouyang immediately recounted his meeting with Cao Wenjin to Zhou Minghan, intending to leverage Zhou Minghan’s influence to borrow spirit stones from other clans.

Rarely did such an opportunity arise to be a "wholesaler," so naturally, he wanted to seize the chance to do something big.

However, restricted by the "Nether Blood Contract," he couldn’t directly mention going to the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm and could only say that he had secured a substantial deal with the Yellow Sand Sect, requiring the collection of spirit stones, the more the better.

Zhou Minghan, being a two-hundred-year-old veteran, realizing that Zhouyang was summoned personally by Cao Wenjin, didn’t need an explanation to perceive that he was involved in something significant.

Therefore, as soon as Zhouyang spoke of borrowing money for a grand endeavor, Zhou Minghan didn’t hesitate to deplore his sword and left the clan, seeking spirit stones from Foundation Establishment Cultivators with close ties.

When it came to borrowing spirit stones, only he could do it, securing loans with his status as a Tier Three High-grade Refiner and the clan’s reputation as collateral. Without daring to over-promise, borrowing a thousand or two spirit stones from each individual and family was achievable.

Meanwhile, Zhouyang didn’t sit idle. In the Baisha River Oasis Cultivation Realm, if any clan had the most spirit stones, it would undoubtedly be the Chen Family.

Thus, he promptly traveled to Baisha River Oasis to request a loan of twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones directly from the Chen Family Ancestor, offering to pledge the Foundation Establishment Pill previously promised as collateral.

The Chen Family Ancestor, aware of his "Qianyang Treasure Body" and Cao Wenjin’s favoring of him, and the fact that Cao Wenjin personally summoned him post-reclusion, relayed through the Chen Family, agreed after careful consideration.

Initially, being a "wholesaler" and directly taking spirit stones to the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm was deemed futile; converting spirit stones into various special spiritual objects from the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm for sale was the prudent approach.

Regrettably, Zhouyang knew neither which special spiritual objects were unavailable in the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm, nor could he access truly valuable special spiritual objects already monopolized by the Yellow Sand Sect’s shops spread across large oases, which had long absorbed all goods.

Consequently, Zhouyang returned to the clan, mobilizing family members to liquidate assets, purchasing spirit stones and special spiritual objects with contribution points, while personally organizing the family vaults to select precious items worth transporting.

After six months of such hectic preparation, the total number of spirit stones in his possession astonishingly surpassed the eighty thousand mark!

Among the over seventy thousand spirit stones, a significant portion was borrowed. Zhouyang knew not how many individuals Zhou Minghan approached to gather thirty to forty thousand spirit stones.

Among the over eighty thousand spirit stones, ninety-nine percent were low-grade spirit stones, and when piled, they nearly filled a storage bag with a volume of three zhang!

When Zhouyang eventually departed, he carried as many as five storage bags, among which two had a volume reaching five zhang.

Loaded with so many belongings, Zhouyang didn’t dare venture out of the clan alone, so for safety assurance, Zhou Minghan accompanied him to the Yellow Sand Sect.

Upon arriving at the Yellow Sand Sect with Cao Wenjin, a Golden Core Stage Cultivator overseeing protection, Zhouyang was genuinely safe.

"Haha, seeing those big bags on you, it seems I underestimated your Zhou family’s operational prowess,"

Within the Yellow Sand Sect, upon seeing the bulging storage bags at Zhouyang’s waist, Cao Wenjin’s eyes flickered with curiosity as he chuckled teasingly.

Zhouyang’s movements after returning home were actually well-known; even the approximate quantity of spirit stones in Zhouyang’s storage bag was guessed by him.

Faced with Cao Wenjin’s teasing, Zhouyang felt no embarrassment. Although the bags detracted from his image, he clearly prioritized profit over appearance.

With a shift in gaze, he directed his attention toward a third cultivator in the cave dwelling, a Purple Mansion Cultivator he’d never seen before, someone akin to Chen Ping’an, apparently newly established in the First-Layer Purple Mansion.

Previously, Jiang Ming, the Golden Core Stage Cultivator from the Yellow Sand Sect, traveled to the Liuyun Continent’s Cultivation Realm, purchasing three portions of "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect. One portion enabled Chen Ping’an to advance into the Purple Mansion Stage, while two others were used successfully by two Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivators within the Yellow Sand Sect, one being the very cultivator Zhouyang was observing.

This individual’s name was Yang Wenxiong, descended from generations of Yellow Sand Sect cultivators. Upon establishing the Purple Mansion, Foundation Establishment Cultivator Zhou Yuanchen within the Yellow Sand Sect from the Zhou family even presented a gift behalf of the Zhou family and informed the clan of the development.

"This is Wenxiong, you should already know his name, right? This time, Wenxiong will accompany you and me to travel and expand our knowledge in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm."

Cao Wenjin gave a brief introduction, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, we still have a long journey ahead, you two will have time to get acquainted."

Having said that, he took the lead and walked out of the cave dwelling, getting ready to depart.

Seeing this, Yang Wenxiong smiled and nodded at Zhouyang, then quickly followed in Cao Wenjin’s footsteps.

Zhouyang naturally followed closely as well.

Upon leaving the cave dwelling, Cao Wenjin did not use the "Soaring Through the Clouds" divine technique to carry them; instead, he released a silver flying boat spiritual artifact and let Zhouyang and Yang Wenxiong board it, then he piloted the silver flying boat which transformed into a silver escape light and flew out of the Yellow Sand Sect.

With a Golden Core Stage Cultivator personally operating the flying spiritual artifact, the speed was naturally extremely fast. In just a single day, Zhouyang saw a series of snow peaks extending to the sky and clouds.

This was his first time seeing such majestic mountains in this world. The towering snow mountains reached the sky, seemingly endless, like the Ice and Snow Great Wall, blocking the wind and sand of the Land of the Far West at the defensive line.

"Elder Yang, it’s said that the Broken Cloud Mountain Range is lofty and towering, and any peak within reaches a height of a thousand zhang. Do you know how tall the highest peak within is?"

Zhouyang stood on the flying boat, looking at the rapidly approaching snowy peaks ahead, and couldn’t help but ask Yang Wenxiong beside him a question that suddenly came to his mind.

He knew the tallest mountain in his previous world was nearly three thousand zhang high. Now seeing the endless snowy peaks ahead, he suddenly wanted to know how tall the highest peak here was.

Hearing this question, Yang Wenxiong first quietly glanced at Cao Wenjin. Seeing that Cao Wenjin gave no indication, he hesitated before saying, "According to the information Yang saw in the sect, the highest peak in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range should be the Heaven-Reaching Peak."

"It’s said that the Heaven-Reaching Peak stands seven thousand six hundred zhang tall, with a spirit vein grade reaching Tier Six Upper Grade. The mountain hosts three different landscapes: below two thousand zhang are lush forests of towering ancient trees, above two thousand five hundred zhang are perennial snow-covered icy domains, and above seven thousand zhang is the Nine Heavens Forbidden Realm, surrounded by Gang Winds and Celestial Thunder!"

Heaven-Reaching Peak!

Seven thousand six hundred zhang!

After hearing Yang Wenxiong’s words, Zhouyang’s eyes widened with amazement.

Although he should have guessed that in this Immortal World, peaks would naturally be taller than those in his previous world, he couldn’t help but be shocked when hearing the exact figures from Yang Wenxiong.

With his limited knowledge, he truly could not fathom what kind of scenery existed atop a peak seven thousand six hundred zhang high!

Foundation Establishment Cultivators may be able to perform Sword Flight, but their flight height typically does not exceed a thousand zhang, as flying above this height greatly increases magical power consumption.

If flying above three thousand zhang, one risks encountering the "Gang Wind" mentioned by Yang Wenxiong.

This Gang Wind, also known as "Nine Heavens Gang Wind," is an extremely dangerous force in the sky. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator caught by it would have all their magical power dissipated, and their body reduced to ashes within mere moments.

Even a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator entangled by Gang Wind would have to expend significant magical power to escape.

And above seven thousand zhang lies the Gang Wind Layer, where "Nine Heavens Gang Wind" rages endlessly, accompanied occasionally by Celestial Thunder, posing a risk of death even to Golden Core Stage Cultivators staying too long.

Understanding this, it’s not hard to see why Yang Wenxiong would refer to areas above seven thousand zhang on the Heaven-Reaching Peak as the "Nine Heavens Forbidden Realm," truly a near-certain death zone for cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage!

"Magnificent! Who would have thought there existed such a majestic peak in the world! To stand atop such a mighty summit and behold the scenery below—my life would be complete!"

He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh full of amazement, his eyes brimming with longing.

The character for "immortal" is composed of "person" and "mountain." Since cultivator’s abodes are often established atop peaks, most cultivators harbor a desire to conquer and stand atop towering mountains, and Zhouyang was no exception.

"To ascend to the top of Heaven-Reaching Peak? Fellow Daoist Zhou, your ambition is admirable! If someday you succeed in forming a Nascent Soul, perhaps this dream might indeed come true!"

Yang Wenxiong shook his head with a smile, assuming Zhouyang was merely dreaming.

Is the Heaven-Reaching Peak so easy to climb?

The Tier Six Demon Kings of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range almost all cultivate on that Spirit Peak. Even an average Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator might be devoured by one of those ferocious Demon Kings, let alone a cultivator below the Nascent Soul Stage!

"Alright, you two say no more. Once we enter the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, none shall speak a word or use telepathy without my command!"

Cao Wenjin, who had been silently piloting the flying spiritual artifact, suddenly spoke up to stop Zhouyang and Yang Wenxiong from continuing their discussion, then accelerated the silver flying boat and plunged straight into the snow-capped mountains ahead.