Two hundred li wasn't exactly far, but it wasn't exactly close either.
By dawn, after running in intervals for nearly five hours, Yang Yunhai finally arrived at the outer edge of the mountain range marked on the map.
Looking up, he saw the moon like a curved blade, appearing and disappearing in the thick clouds, spilling faint silver light.
That same light revealed cliffs as if carved by a knife.
"This mountain really is close to ninety degrees! Good thing it's not completely smooth." Yang Yunhai let out a breath of relief.
If the surface had been too flat, with no footholds at all, even with his vines, climbing would have been difficult. He would have had to go around.
With that thought, he summoned his martial soul and split his soul power into four vines that coiled around his waist.
He then controlled the vines to stretch upward along the cliff, probing for anchor points. Once the hooked tips found purchase, he pulled them taut.
With a single thought, the vines retracted, hauling his body upward.
At the top of each pull, he pressed himself flat against the wall to steady his balance, then repeated the process—vines searching, hooking, pulling.
Resting when he grew tired, he still managed steady progress.
Peak after peak fell behind him. Occasionally he encountered soul beasts, but at most they were only hundred-year cultivations. Each time, he quickly bound them with vines, siphoned just enough soul power to maintain his martial soul, and released them alive—he had no intention of harming them more than necessary.
He never absorbed their energy into his body, only enough to sustain his vines.
Eventually, the sky brightened in the east, signaling morning's arrival.
A faint roar reached his ears. Misty cool water vapor brushed his face.
"All that training these past three and a half years wasn't wasted after all!" His heart leapt, his exhaustion forgotten. Pressing against the cliff, he accelerated his climb.
Before long, his feet touched solid ground. He found himself in a forested valley. A small stream trickled nearby, and before him poured a silver waterfall, cascading endlessly from above. Green trees surrounded the area, and Blue Silver Grass carpeted the ground, swaying in the misty breeze.
"This really is a beautiful place," Yang Yunhai couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Stretching his neck, he strode to the water pool, stripped off his clothes, and plunged in, scrubbing himself clean in the cold water.
When he emerged, he dressed again, ate a little food, then sat to recover his strength.
After climbing all night without sleep, even his current stamina was nearly at its limit. But with his goal before him, his heart burned hot.
Half an hour later, Yang Yunhai opened his eyes and stood.
After stretching, he studied the waterfall above. Mist rose where the torrent smashed into the pool, and heavy clouds covered the sky. The dim light made it hard to see details. The stone cliffs were dark brown and slick, shrouded by drifting water vapor. From a distance, it would be difficult to make out anything unusual.
Circling the pool, he stopped at the waterfall's edge.
Then, his eyes brightened.
Faint traces of mud were smeared across the cliff. Though nearly washed away, there was no doubt—those marks were human.
Yesterday, he had seen Tang Hao. The truth was clear.
"If I had come a day or two later, these traces would have been gone completely." Yang Yunhai sighed inwardly.
"Tang Hao, you've saved me some work."
With tracks to guide him, following them upward would make finding the exact height of the cave far simpler.
Without hesitation, Yang Yunhai summoned his vines again and began to climb.
The cliff beside the waterfall was slick, but uneven, with occasional protrusions. For him, this wasn't a problem—his first soul skill allowed his vines to extend without limit.
Reaching a protrusion, he used the hooked tips to dig into the rock until they found purchase. Once steady, he retracted the vines, hauling himself upward.
Each time, he searched for traces of footprints or disturbed stone to confirm the path.
Step by step, he climbed higher until the tracks faded, reaching the middle section of the falls.
"Sometimes being too strong is actually a disadvantage." He chuckled softly.
The waterfall plunged nearly two hundred meters. Its sheer force made crossing impossible. Tang Hao's solution had been brute strength—forcing the flow to recoil with overwhelming power. Such force inevitably damaged the cliff face. Even from here, Yang Yunhai could glimpse subtle scars behind the falling water, marks that no mere stream could leave.
"If not for the dangerous terrain outside and the fact that few soul beasts live inside, this place would've been discovered by hunting parties long ago."
He shook his head.
"Being small has its perks too." Seeing the small gaps behind the waterfall, he relaxed.
If there hadn't been any gaps, he would have had to force his way through the torrent directly. With the gaps, the pressure would be much less.
"If this doesn't work, I'll climb above the falls, anchor vines to the trees and swing inward. And if that fails, I could even use trees as axles to lower a boulder into the river and block the current, opening a path. Plenty of backup plans."
With ideas set, he exhaled, removed the pack from his back and slung it over his arm. Pressing against the wall, he cast a vine to hook a protrusion on the right side. Testing its hold, he secured himself.
Then his left hand summoned another vine, which stretched along the cliff, looping around protrusions and cracks, spiraling until it formed a net of green.
Within moments, a massive vine-web clung to the cliff, spanning a hundred meters and anchoring to multiple points.
Yang Yunhai drew in a deep breath. Keeping his body flat against the cliff, he shifted carefully along the net toward the waterfall's hollow.
Spray lashed his back, water pounding his robes, but he pressed tighter, waiting for the current to pass before moving on.
Bit by bit, he worked his way inward, until he reached a recessed pocket behind the cascade.
Without hesitation, he manipulated the hooked vines to scrape against the cliff surface in all directions.
He didn't know where the hidden switch was, but in the original story Tang Hao had simply pressed a certain spot to open it. If he didn't know the exact place, he'd just press everything.
A low grinding hum echoed. Stone shifted. Ahead, a doorway appeared.
"If this mechanism had been designed by Tang San and his Tang Sect, it never would've been this simple. The engineering of this world is still too crude."
"But lucky for me." Yang Yunhai smiled.
Grabbing hold of the vines, he swung across, seized the doorway, and slipped inside.
(End of Chapter)
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