A frigid, biting gust of wind lashed mercilessly at Ji Wuye's exposed skin, the stinging air pressure forcefully pummeling against his face and body.
He squinted, struggling to keep his eyes open against the onslaught. But Ji Wuye, fearlessly diving downwards from the sky, refused to be deterred - his crimson eyes burned bright and defiant through the swirling veil of mist.
The mist enveloped him from all sides in a disorienting blanket of vaporous white, the howling winds threatening to seal his eyes shut.
But in an instant…
image [https://i.ibb.co/n6FQDZv/Notif-1.webp]
The obstructing fog and oppressive forces vanishing to reveal the clear, verdant view of the surrounding forest far below. The suffocating blanket of darkness stood no chance against Ji Wuye's formidable passive skill.
As he plummeted with ever-increasing velocity, rows of jagged rock spires jutted outwards in menacing formations from within the raging waterfall - Their craggy, earthen surfaces twisted into unnaturally sharp protrusions, as if sculpted by some cruel, malevolent hand.
Ji Wuye's lips curled into a disdainful smirk. Without hesitation, he directed his Qi to flow through the meridian pathways of his legs and feet.
This treacherous waterfall represented the very reason none dared recklessly leap from the heights above.
Only those capable of dispersing the blinding mist simultaneously stood a chance, for even a sword slash to cut through the fog would prove futile as the vapors regenerated instantly.
image [https://i.ibb.co/mbGZMKt/Skill.webp]
As his Qi poured forth, his plummeting body shimmered with a phantasmal aura. The concentrated Qi coalesced around his legs, his feet, enveloping his sworn jian and his entire form in a luminous emerald radiance.
BOOM!
The first jutting rock spike erupted in a thick cloud of pulverized gravel as Ji Wuye's Qi-shrouded foot made catastrophic impact.
Shards and dust scattered wildly as he channeled his Qi, his legs kicking outwards to shockingly part the heavy curtain of falling rainwater.
In transcendent defiance of gravity, he agilely used the displaced liquid as fleeting footholds, droplets scattering from his rapid leg movements as he weaved between the deadly stone fangs.
...
The thunderous roar of the ceaseless waterfall echoed all around, as if attempting to drown out the cacophony of Ji Wuye's dynamic descent.
As the dusty haze cleared, it revealed Ji Wuye in a half-kneeling posture, chest heaving with exertion. His white-knuckled grip clenched the hilt of his sworn jian, the blade embedded deeply into the unforgiving stone surface that had nearly ended his life.
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"Even knowing the way...it's still..." Ji Wuye rasped, scrambling upright on trembling legs. With regret, he wrenched his treasured jian free - the very blade that had been his constant companion through countless battles within the Tower floors.
But its sacrifice was not in vain.
After all, to have leapt from over 2,250 zhang and safely landed, his beloved jian the only casualty...it was an astounding, near-impossible feat.
The shrouding mists had concealed the lethal trap - the protruding rock spires intended to impale those foolish enough to attempt diving into the waters below.
Even if one miraculously stuck the first landing, their feet would be savagely lashed by the dense field of stone fangs lying in wait.
Survival was all but impossible.
Finally catching his ragged breath, Ji Wuye turned to face the waterfall's punishing deluge. Enveloping his body in a shimmering emerald aura of Qi, he strode forward, the liquid bombardment proving no match for his defenses.
He passed through the raging curtain of water and entered the dark, enclosed space behind the cascading veil.
But this lightless chamber proved no obstacle. Thanks to his passive skill, the enveloping blackness slowly receded to unveil a vast, echoing cavern nearly half the size of his abandoned courtyard.
Unexpectedly, a winding series of carved stone steps ascends higher to where the Kunlun sect is located. These stairs likely lead up and are carved into the body of the waterfall.
"Well...it's still the same," Ji Wuye murmured, his crimson eyes narrowing as he surveyed his surroundings.
This hidden, watery path - a clandestine entrance granting access into the legendary Kunlun Sect itself - had been discovered in the aftermath of that tragic "incident"...
The vicious, unwarranted attack from foreign invaders that had once brought low the pride of Kunlun.
What was truly pathetic was that the one who originally discovered this hidden entrance path was not even a disciple of Kunlun, but rather the enemy itself.
Perhaps the sect had grown arrogant and complacent due to their lofty, secluded location high in the mountains - a place rarely visited or threatened. Their focus and vigilance had lapsed elsewhere.
"Though they surely destroyed and sealed it properly afterward," Ji Wuye mused to himself. How he came to uncover the path's existence in the previous timeline was a grisly incident widely known and spoken of.
But Kunlun had swiftly acted to erase all traces, destroying the hidden stairs and this cavern in the aftermath, removing any potential exploits. This marked Ji Wuye's first time truly experiencing and traversing the treacherous path firsthand.
Now, having confirmed the way forward, Ji Wuye emerged back through the raging waterfall curtain.
He shifted his crimson-eyed gaze downwards to survey the area below, where countless jagged rock outcroppings jutted forth in narrow, precarious formations from the fountain itself - as if painstakingly, cruelly carved by design.
From Ji Wuye's elevated vantage, they vaguely resembled a descending, uneven staircase.
"Once the stairs inside the cave are destroyed, even if they managed to climb up using these, without the hidden stairs, there's no way for a martial artist to simply leap up from a starting height of 2,250 zhang,"
Ji Wuye commented, his eyes scanning the barren cliffside upward. "Not to mention navigating that obscuring mist."
Indeed, no protruding handholds or platforms existed along the sheer rock face to aid an ascending leap, in stark contrast to the carved descending path.
SWOOSH!
SWOOSH!
SWOOSH!
Like an agile mountain monkey, Ji Wuye deftly sprang between the rock outcroppings, easily navigating the gauntlet of spikes and obstructions until he landed safely on the ground.
The burbling creek that fed the tremendous waterfall had widened into a small river, its grassy banks lined with towering deciduous trees.
Without hesitation, Ji Wuye broke into a sprint along the riverbank, dashing nimbly through the forest.
...
Leaping from tree branch to tree branch with the swift, sure-footedness of a primate, Ji Wuye pressed onward.
As his pale white hair and crimson eyes finally caught a glimpse of flickering lantern light through the foliage, his figure, moving between the shadows, began to approach.
The snoring horse tied to the lone carriage suddenly startled awake with a loud whinny, its eyes widening as if detecting some unnatural, ominous presence.
"W-what!" The coachman, wearing a tattered yet meticulously-maintained hanfu, snapped awake at his steed's distressed cries. His face contorted in anger at the horse's fuss disturbing his rest. "Shut up, I'm trying to take a break!"
At this time, the entrance of Kunlun Qiuxiu Village lay deserted in the late hour, the only illumination provided by a few swaying lanterns hanging from wooden pillars and the closest building.
The sight of the lone carriage and cantankerous coachman was an unusual one indeed.
"Sigh, did the young hero lied to me?" The coachman vented his frustration with a heavy sigh. The reason he had lingered so late into the night was due to Ji Wuye's request earlier.
But seeing no sign of the mysterious youth even as midnight approached, the coachman gazed wearily at his fretting horse, coming to a resigned decision.
"Let's go, Han'ma. Perhaps not all of today martial artist keep their promises." With a discouraged sigh, the coachman started to gather the reins - only to freeze as a deathly chill shot down his spine.
The winds suddenly intensified with an unnatural, biting coldness that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
His eyes wide with trepidation, the coachman looked up just as an ominous figure seemed to materialize before him from the shadowy treeline.
"Greetings, Uncle. If the hero of Kunlun have lied, may this brother accompany you instead?"
The stranger's pitch-black garments merged seamlessly with the darkness, while a sheer veil obscured the lower half of his face.
His stark white hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his crimson eyes bored into the coachman with an almost feral, inhuman intensity - as if he could just as easily drop to all fours and scurry about like some uncanny woodland creature, the Bai Guai.