"Climb! Climb! Climb!"
The ice axe in Victor Wang's hands grew lighter with every swing. Though he was suspended on a sheer, bottomless snow-clad cliff, stripped of his elemental power, he climbed as if walking on solid ground, steadily pressing closer to the summit.
"Climb! Climb! Climb!"
Leonard's fragmented memories resonated with Victor Wang, always maintaining that not-too-distant, not-too-close distance, urging him on.
When exhaustion struck again and the sharp pain in his arm startled him awake, Victor Wang finally found a ledge large enough to rest on. He lit a portable heat source, gnawed on some dry rations, and washed them down with a recovery potion.
As warmth and strength slowly returned, he found himself idly swinging his ice axe, recalling that single-minded fervor for climbing. Part of it was due to Leonard's hypnotic encouragement, but truly, here in this dream, his goal was only one—to reach the summit.
"All things hold intent… Could it be that I've stumbled so quickly upon the Intent of Climbing?"
"Climb! Climb!! Climb!!!"
"Just how strong is your obsession? Yet… it is precisely because of such unyielding resolve that you became a great adventurer, that you could even invent the Wind Glider."
"Climb on, the end is near."
"The end? No… the end is still far away."
Lifting his head to glance at the sky, Victor Wang realized that six hours had passed, yet the summit of Pilos Peak was still nowhere in sight. Then, suddenly, he froze. "You… you're conscious?"
"Climb!"
Victor Wang exhaled silently, ending his rest and rising to his feet. He thought perhaps that earlier line had only been another encouragement from the great adventurer. But an hour later, when he climbed higher, the sight before him left him shaken.
The mountain body of Pilos Peak had vanished—not abruptly, but as if it had begun breaking apart from above.
Like the floating stones of Tianqiu Valley, chunks of the peak fractured and then hung suspended by some unknown force. The higher he climbed, the more fragmented they became, until at last, the entire upper half of Pilos Peak had completely vanished—not even rubble remained.
"The end… is this the end?"
"Climb… keep climbing…" Leonard's voice grew faint, but his tone never wavered.
As Victor Wang reached out to touch the broken fragments, his spirit was instantly drawn out of Leonard's body, soaring skyward. Darkness swallowed his vision, and he was pulled from the dream.
The hands of his pocket watch still pointed at five o'clock. The meteorite lay at his side. Little Wen, startled, leapt up.
"Pilos Peak… broken. Was it the mountain itself… or Leonard?"
Touching the meteorite again, he reentered the dream, only to find the same scene. The moment he crossed a certain height, he was forced back into reality.
"Let's try another one."
Victor Wang recalled the wide, nearly one-meter meteorite that Xiao had sent flying. Using an Anemo current, he lifted his brick-sized meteorite, and while it was still early, swapped it for the larger one.
"What are you doing?"
Turning, Victor Wang found Xiao standing silently behind him, gaze fixed on the large meteorite.
"Ahem, well… if you touch these meteorites, you fall into a dream. In the dream, you climb mountains. Climbing mountains builds resolve. Building resolve strengthens swordsmanship. So, I'm… using it to train."
"Oh?" Xiao's golden eyes glimmered with curiosity as he extended a hand.
"Wait—don't! If you touch it, you'll fall asleep instantly!"
The hand swiftly withdrew.
"You can try the small one. Lie down, prepare yourself first."
"Forget it." Xiao waved dismissively, then vanished in a flash.
"Then I'll be taking this one."
Back in his room, knowing now that climbing to the summit in the dream would wake him automatically, Victor Wang instructed Little Wen to rouse him after ten hours. Then, once again, he entered the dream.
This time, he appeared not at the foot of Pilos Peak, but halfway up. Though the environment had shifted slightly, with his perfect memory he recognized the fragments above—they matched those from his previous dream.
"Different meteorites, yet always the same dream. The progress carries over. And the larger the meteorite, the more complete the dream… seems that way."
Leonard's encouragement filled his ears once more, vigor restored. But Victor Wang had only one purpose.
"Climb!"
This time, he climbed for nine straight hours before Leonard once again spoke of the "end."
Victor Wang paused briefly to recover. His claim about sword practice had not been false—here, he truly felt progress. The twin ice axes were no longer limited to ice walls; even solid rock crumbled like paper beneath his sword qi, greatly accelerating his climb. Yet with that speed came a deeper sense of the peak's terrifying height.
At this altitude, heaven and earth blurred into one.
Below, the ground had vanished, replaced by a yawning, black abyss trying to swallow the ice-pillar of Pilos Peak. Above, the sky stretched vast and unreachable. The stardust, once hidden by storm, flickered faintly again, lonely and cold.
Ten minutes later, Victor Wang reached Leonard's so-called "end." It was not the summit he had hoped for, but yet another fragmented stretch of mountain.
"It goes even higher? Does this mountain seek to pierce the heavens themselves?"
"The end…"
Leonard, for once, offered no encouragement. Instead, his tone carried memory, and sorrow.
"This is where I stopped. This was my limit. The snow mountain that conquered me. Beyond this point lies a sight I never saw…"
Sharing the same body, Leonard's broken soul whispered in Victor Wang's mind. Gone were his earlier fervor and zeal—only loss and helplessness remained, seeping into Victor Wang as well.
"Senior, don't give in. Climb! Climb!" Victor Wang urged instead.
"This is as far as I reached. To the very end of my life, I never saw the true summit of Pilos Peak… I lost my courage…"
His despair was palpable, so deep it even threatened Victor Wang's control over his own body.
Victor Wang drew a long, freezing breath, then let it out slowly. Here, in this forgotten corner of the world, silence pressed from all sides. He could hear his own heartbeat, surrounded by nothing but endless white. And whether climbing higher or retreating, it seemed only unending darkness awaited him.
A mountain too high, or an abyss too deep—what difference was there?
No exaggeration: here, there was only true loneliness, solitude, and cold.
If he hadn't known this was a dream… if he were truly just an ordinary man… if Leonard's nearly nagging voice hadn't accompanied him—perhaps Leonard's endless encouragement was born from knowing this exact solitude, filling the void with words so those who followed would not collapse.
If he could not see the summit from here… if he did not know how long his heat, food, or potions would last… if he lacked the Wind Glider to descend swiftly, forced to retrace his grueling path…
These were no "ifs." They had been Leonard's reality two thousand years ago, when he challenged Pilos Peak.
As if sensing Victor Wang's thoughts, Leonard whispered: "So, give up."
"But you didn't give up."
Victor Wang lifted his gaze skyward and murmured:
"'Humans invent tools, conquering nature. Yet when conquered by nature, they invent even better tools. When legs cannot reach, tools take their place. When tools fail, wings can carry us. United before the unknown, so long as humanity lives, we will reach every place we can see.' Those were your words.
Perhaps you retreated here once. But you did not give up. You created the Wind Glider, and with it, the Wind Cqatcher. Together, they let humans soar, and mountains are no longer obstacles.
And if you truly gave up… then why push me to climb this far? Then, you too must want to see the view beyond."
Leonard's emotions surged, soaring like a storm.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes! My life's wish was to conquer Pilos Peak. How could I ever surrender? Find its true end! Climb! Climb! Keep climbing!"
Encouraged, Victor Wang reached out to touch the broken mountain. His spirit was once again drawn out, soaring into the sky.
But this time, he gazed upward with burning eyes. The mountain had vanished, but a strange, familiar presence lingered. Perhaps the summit was not far. Perhaps the secret he had climbed so long to find… was within reach.
Bright sunlight pierced through the broken window of his room. It was only 9 AM when Victor Wang opened his eyes.
"So… is the true end of Pilos Peak a more complete dream, or its actual summit?"
Pilos Peak—the mountain now called Musk Reef.
Suddenly, an eye covered the hole in the window. "Guest, did you damage your window again while practicing swordplay?"
"Uh… no. A meteorite smashed it yesterday."
"You have a meteorite in your room?! Don't touch it, or you'll faint instantly!"
Huai'an's eyes shifted, and when he noticed the massive rock—far larger than the hole itself—his face twitched.
"Well, that's a long story," Victor Wang said, opening the door. "Actually, a small meteorite crashed into my room. I brought the big one in myself."
Seeing Huai'an's brows furrow, Victor Wang quickly added: "For sword training."
"I see… then there's no helping it. So, you're not afraid of this meteorite?"
Victor Wang nodded.
"There are more near the inn. Could you help clear them? I'll reward you."
"I'll try."
The meteorites, infused with spiritual energy, could not be stored in Inner Space, and had to be physically hauled away to secluded spots far from people. But while clearing them, Victor Wang could also search for larger ones—perfectly aligning with his own plans.