Chapter 597: Storm Mountain

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 4: The Wind Rises Overseas

Storm Mountain, a colossal peak, stands in the northeastern corner of the Underworld. From a distance, only its lower half is visible, as the rest pierces directly into the gloomy clouds, its upper reaches completely obscured.

The mountain is composed entirely of barren black rock, where no vegetation can survive. From a height of over a thousand zhang, fierce, chilling winds from the Underworld begin to lash the slopes. An ordinary person would not only find it impossible to climb higher but might also instantly freeze into a black ice sculpture upon entering this zone.

This harsh environment makes the area around Storm Mountain even more desolate and terrifying than typical regions. Electric arcs constantly flash and crackle in the sky, while icy winds howl across the ground, kicking up sand and stones, making it feel as though one has entered a spectral domain.

Despite its grim nature, this region, with its dense Underworld energy, is a favored habitat for powerful Yin beasts. A few exceptionally fierce ones perpetually lurk in the vicinity.

However, on this particular day, Storm Mountain received unwelcome visitors.

The corpse of a giant beast, thirty to forty zhang tall, collapsed heavily onto the ground amidst a flash of silver light. The body rapidly shriveled and shrank, becoming utterly lifeless in a blink. Only then did the silver light, carrying a large cloud of black energy, swiftly fly away.

A majestic roar echoed from the distance, shaking the heavens and the earth, a deep hum reverberating through the air.

Following the sound of a heavy impact, a ten-zhang-tall silver giant ape appeared beside the Yin beast's corpse after a few powerful leaps. The ape was monstrously ferocious, exuding an indescribably astonishing aura with every movement. Perched on its shoulders were a man and a woman: Han Li and Mei Ning.

Han Li glanced at the Yin beast's corpse below, then lightly clapped his hand, and gracefully floated down.

With a flash of cold light, the Yin beast's head beneath his feet was split open, only to reveal it was empty.

Han Li showed a hint of disappointment, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

He had already accumulated over a hundred Underworld Beast Crystals. Although he knew that lower-level Yin beast groups likely contained more, he lacked the time to hunt them all down. He needed to ascend Storm Mountain before the next fissure opened.

At that moment, Mei Ning also leaped down from the giant ape's shoulder.

Instantly, the giant ape shimmered with silver light and shrank to the size of a foot, revealing itself to be the Soul-Devouring Beast, its silver-white fur unchanged.

Han Li turned and saw the Soul-Devouring Beast's transformation, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Some time ago, he had been taking the Soul-Devouring Beast to hunt powerful Yin beasts. Surprisingly, after devouring a large number of Yin beast souls, the creature suddenly gained the ability to transform into a giant ape, and its fur soon changed to this striking color.

This greatly surprised Han Li himself.

According to the jade slip on refining the Soul-Devouring Beast that Yuan Yao had given him, a true Soul-Devouring Beast did not possess such shapeshifting abilities. Moreover, upon advancement, its fur should transform into a deep, glossy black.

However, the beast was merely a semi-finished product, never fully refined. Furthermore, the souls of Yin beasts from the Underworld appeared distinctly different from those of ordinary creatures in the outside world. This unique advancement likely stemmed from a fortunate convergence of these two factors.

It wasn't a mutated spirit beast in the common sense, but rather an unprecedented and unique evolution.

While he didn't know if this evolutionary path would make it more powerful than a true Soul-Devouring Beast, Han Li was certainly pleased to see the changes continue.

After all, the true Soul-Devouring Beast refining method was excessively brutal. Even if Han Li wasn't a benevolent person, he would find it difficult to follow the described steps for the subsequent refining process.

After the Soul-Devouring Beast had shrunk, it flashed with silver light and darted into Han Li's sleeve, immediately falling into a deep slumber.

Han Li smiled faintly, then looked up at Storm Mountain in the distance, a solemn expression settling on his face.

The few powerful Yin beasts remaining near Storm Mountain were utterly defenseless against the current Soul-Devouring Beast; the one that had just perished was the last of its kind in this area.

Now, they could confidently begin their ascent of the mountain.

“Let’s go! We need to reach the summit before the next fissure tears open, or we’ll have to wait several more months,” Han Li said slowly, gazing intently at the colossal mountain in the distance.

“Brother Han is right! While the opening times of these fissures vary, the locals here have grasped their general patterns. The next opening is in little over half a month; if we miss this chance, we might have to wait another half a year.” The beautiful woman beside him shivered slightly, pulling her fair neck back, and agreed with parted lips.

Upon hearing this, Han Li smiled faintly and strode towards the towering mountain with Mei Ning.

Fifteen minutes later, they stood at the foot of Storm Mountain.

From afar, its scale wasn’t fully apparent, but now, standing so close, the mountain seemed truly incredible.

There were no other peaks around; it stood as a singular, starkly straight mountain, spanning over ten li in width.

Han Li did not rush to ascend the mountain. Instead, he walked around with Mei Ning for a while before selecting a comparatively easier direction to begin their climb up Storm Mountain.

Soon after, their figures dwindled to two black specks against the side of the colossal mountain, gradually vanishing into the towering rock face.

They easily ascended the first thousand zhang without expending much energy.

However, beyond the thousand-zhang mark, bone-chilling winds from the Underworld began to buffet them. As they climbed higher, these winds grew increasingly fierce.

At this point, both Han Li and Mei Ning donned several flame-attributed demon beast leather garments. Yet, even with these, their faces still turned pale, and their skin stung from the cold.

An ordinary mortal here would likely freeze to death after just a single gust of these chilling winds.

After advancing only a few tens of zhang through the chilling winds with Mei Ning, Han Li frowned and halted.

With a solemn expression, he pondered for a moment, then reached into his robes and produced a fist-sized white spherical bead. The bead emitted a faint, soft glow, enclosing them both within its luminescence.

Strangely, the moment the howling winds touched this white light, their force greatly diminished, becoming weak and powerless. This was, in fact, a very rare Wind-Avoiding Bead.

With this, although the chilling winds remained icy, they could just barely withstand them, thanks to their demon beast leather garments.

They slowly continued their ascent.

They continued for a considerable time, entering an area where the rocks were coated in frost. The ground underfoot became slick, forcing Han Li and Mei Ning to proceed with extreme caution, taking one painstaking step at a time.

With each breath, white mist plumed from their mouths, and both found it difficult to breathe. Mei Ning’s pretty face was flushed, and she was panting heavily.

After an unknown duration of this arduous trek, they found themselves completely within a glittering, reflective glacier. All the rock faces were encased in thick layers of black ice, and the mountain slopes suddenly grew incredibly steep. A single misstep could send them tumbling down a cliff.

Han Li and Mei Ning had long since wrapped their feet in rough scaled hides, as they wouldn't have been able to advance otherwise. Even with this precaution, they occasionally slipped, making progress exceptionally challenging.

“Let’s rest for a while under that colossal rock, then continue once we’ve regained our strength,” Han Li said, looking up at the distant shimmering light and sighing as he spoke to the pale-faced woman beside him.

Though she hadn't spoken, Han Li could see that her physical strength was almost completely depleted, and continuing further would be perilous.

Mei Ning let out a great sigh of relief upon hearing this, then quickly managed a strained smile and nodded.

The “colossal rock” Han Li referred to was actually a slanted mountain stone, over ten zhang high, serving as an ideal shelter from the wind. They hurried towards it. At this point, thick mists swirled, accompanied by continuous, eerie shrieks, reducing visibility to nothing. Han Li and Mei Ning stumbled through it, their footing uncertain.

Both wore extremely cautious expressions, each with a thumb-sized bead on their wrist. These beads emitted a faint green glow, enveloping them in a protective aura. The surrounding grey mist seemed almost alive, eager to engulf them, yet it disintegrated upon nearing the green light.

“If not for these Brahma Beads, Brother Han, even if we had managed to pass the chilling winds, I doubt we could have made it through this peculiar mist!” Mei Ning remarked, glancing at the grey fog with a soft sigh.

Han Li smiled at her words, but just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly shifted. He stopped, then concentrated, inclining his head to listen intently.

Mei Ning was slightly startled by his reaction and immediately, understandingly, pressed her lips together.

“Be careful,” Han Li said softly. “There are others in the mist, and they’re heading this way.”

Simultaneously, a green light flashed as two small green swords dropped from his sleeves, which he tightly clutched in his hands. He then stared in a particular direction, silent.

Mei Ning’s face showed astonishment at Han Li’s words. However, by now, she trusted him implicitly. She silently took two steps back, also fixating on that direction, a trace of nervousness visible on her face.