Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1339: 436: Qingxun Treasure Tree, Black Wind General and Toll, Blood and Rescue
Previously on Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely...
Ninth year of Great Xia, August 25th, nighttime
Woo woo woo……
A piercing whistle echoed from the Black Wind's furious rampage within the Bone-Eroding Path.
Dressed in black robes, Xia Hong's expression grew somewhat grave as he advanced northward at a measured pace. Razor-like Black Wind lashed out unpredictably from every direction, forcing him to carefully channel his bone energy to fend off the corrosive Black Wind encircling him.
“Zhu Yan possesses merely 19 Jun of power. From two kilometers away, without unleashing my bone energy at full strength, he can't sense my presence. Although two kilometers lies beyond my sight, the heat shifts he creates leave clear trails, allowing simple tracking!”
Gazing northward, Xia Hong noted Zhu Yan had vanished from view. His brows knit together momentarily, but after a short reflection, he eased his expression and pressed on through the warmer zones.
Upon reaching Jinyang Village on August 6, he had immediately scouted the Bone-Eroding Path, rendering the swirling Black Wind around him familiar territory now.
The Black Wind's might stood out primarily through its raw power, delivering casual half-Jun impacts, with the fiercest gusts surging past 2 Jun. Such forceful winds made flight impossible; even Xianyang Level cultivators of lesser prowess struggled to leap.
Next came its razor sharpness, apparent from the eerie whistling alone. While compressed ordinary air posed little threat, infused with 2 Jun force, it turned deadly;
Lastly, the chill factor. Curiously, shielded by Moao Mountain on both flanks, the Bone-Eroding Path blocked the sky's cold gleam, so it ought to feel warmer than the exterior. Yet the Black Wind plunged temperatures here to several times below outside levels.
Considering all this, solo passage demanded far more than mere Cold Resistance Level.
This gave Xia Hong insight into Cai Qiu's reluctance to dispatch forces south despite knowing of the route.
“Flanking mountains likely tower tens of thousands of meters, rendering overland crossing unfeasible. Flight proves impossible even for Xianyang Level experts. Lacking alternatives, Cai Qiu had no choice but the Bone-Eroding Path.
Exercising such caution at 19 Jun Xianyang Level strength leaves no room for mass troop movements here, and……”
Xia Hong creased his forehead while scanning the path forward, his features deep in contemplation.
An hour of tailing Zhu Yan had carried them 15 kilometers north. This snail-like pace contrasted sharply with the Bone-Eroding Path's ferocious winds.
Though Xia Hong lagged intentionally behind Zhu Yan, he gauged his own maximum speed at about 40 kilometers per hour.
With Zhu Yan's 19 Jun—roughly half of Xia Hong's—having advanced 17 kilometers, it suggested the man had pushed his utmost since entry.
“Does that mean additional perils lurk in the Bone-Eroding Path, demanding even Xianyang Level wariness?”
After a moment's thought, Xia Hong's face turned grim. He retrieved the Shattered Star Sword from his storage pack, readied it, slung it at his waist, and resumed the pursuit.
“Since Zhu Yan traversed it unscathed, it likely holds little danger for me. Still, caution trumps rashness!”
For two more hours, Xia Hong shadowed Zhu Yan, winds escalating from half-Jun near the entrance, to 2 Jun at 20 kilometers, peaking beyond 5 Jun at the 50-kilometer mark.
Woo woo woo woo……
“Small wonder he rested three hours after guiding over fifty people. Mastering such gales to shepherd them through was no small feat. How exactly did he ferry more than fifty?”
The Black Wind battered Xia Hong's ears as he matched the pace, bewilderment clouding his gaze.
Xianyang Level experts could deploy bone energy to deflect nearby gusts and boost body heat—a known tactic. Evidently, Zhu Yan employed it to lead fifty across the Bone-Eroding Path.
Yet at these intensities, even Xia Hong would falter escorting fifty. How did Zhu Yan succeed with just 19 Jun?
“Some Dan Medicine must rapidly replenish bone energy…”
Xia Hong's musing halted as a blue gleam flashed in his vision.
“That’s…… a tree?”
Far from a mere glimpse, it formed a broad blue swath.
Ahead on both sides stretched immense tree-like growths.
Tree-like due to their upright trunks, mirroring ordinary trees in form—all vivid blue, varying from five or six meters thick at the thinnest to over ten at the widest, each soaring past a hundred meters high;
Just like regular trees, they sprout from beneath the soil. The bizarre aspect lies in their underground attachment, which relies solely on slender blue vine tendrils as thick as a thumb.
These trees swayed in the air much like seaweed, seeming on the verge of snapping loose at any instant, but they stayed firmly anchored to the earth by those thumb-thick blue vine tendrils.
For a moment, Xia Hong stared at the vine tendrils, and suddenly, his eyes gleamed with excitement.