Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Wang Chen looked up at the mountain peak spanning before him.

This three-thousand-zhang-tall peculiar peak, its upper half enveloped by large swathes of cloud and mist, concealed its entirety from view.

Starting from the lower part of its waist, the mountain's surface was covered with white snow, and the exposed rocks, jagged and rough, resembled a giant beast speckled with spots.

The cultivators ascending the mountain chose different climbing paths, and they soon disappeared from sight.

Some chose the longer, roundabout routes, avoiding the most perilous parts of the mountain terrain.

They clearly did not take the ferryman's warning to heart, believing their luck wasn't that poor.

But Wang Chen was not here to test his luck, nor did he think the Xu-surnamed cultivator was bluffing him, so he embarked on the arduous journey to traverse White Fur Peak.

After climbing up a hundred zhang, the temperature around him dropped suddenly, and the howling mountain wind brought a chilling cold to the bone.

Before long, the surface of the robes Wang Chen and Li Yian were wearing was covered with countless tiny needles of ice, too numerous to count and fine as hair!

This kind of wind was also called the White Fur Wind!

Atop White Fur Peak, the White Fur Wind, anyone wishing to cross this mountain first had to face its test.

Wang Chen and Li Yian were both Purple Mansion cultivators, already having cultivated to the realm where they were impervious to the extremes of heat and cold, so while the White Fur Wind appeared peculiar, it posed virtually no threat to the two of them.

However, as they climbed higher, the White Fur Wind showed no signs of abating, instead growing fiercer and more severe.

The icy breath penetrated the robes, inching into Wang Chen's and Li Yian's skin.

If they had been ordinary people, or low-tier Qi Cultivation cultivators, they would have frozen into ice statues in the blink of an eye under the assault of such White Fur Wind!

Li Yian had no choice but to take out a beast skin overcoat to wear, and cast a Body Protection spell on herself.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to endure.

By comparison, Wang Chen, who had cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method to the fifth layer, neither added clothing nor activated Body Protection, relying entirely on his unmatched stout physique and the extreme vigor of his Qi-Blood to ward off the invading chill.

Conversely, the continuous stimulation of his skin by the White Fur Wind served to temper his body to a certain degree.

But as they approached the middle of the mountain, the White Fur Wind grew even more violent, with the howling wind scouring the air with ice and frost—Wang Chen even had to spur the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method to counter the stronger invasion of the chill.

His body radiated a surging heat, forming a Qi-Blood barrier on the outside.

Li Yian, who stayed close to Wang Chen, felt this acutely. He was like a furnace, and she couldn't help but move closer to him, greedily drawing warmth from his presence.

Wang Chen simply wrapped his arm around Li Yian's waist, taking her with him as he charged towards the summit.

But the higher they went, the stronger the natural forces of heaven and earth became.

Wang Chen had to slow down.

"Ah!"

Li Yian suddenly let out a cry of alarm, her expression revealing a hint of shock.

Just beside a rock not far away, a frozen corpse was propped up.

The corpse's surface was "covered" with "White Fur," its legs and feet buried under thick snow. The position it had fallen in was very twisted and strange, and its pale face barely allowed for the recognition of what it looked like while alive.

Wang Chen recognized that the individual was a member of the Mountain-Breaking Team, not expecting him to have perished on the way so quickly.

The test of White Fur Peak was indeed not that easy to pass!

Wang Chen gripped Li Yian's delicate hand tightly, using his own body heat to dissipate the coldness within her.

Then, they continued onward.

Before long, they found a second and a third corpse...

But these two corpses were not related to the Mountain-Breaking Team, lying there for who knows how many years, to this day unclaimed.

This was actually quite normal. Even for Purple Mansion cultivators, one must be extremely cautious and dare not be the slightest bit careless in the face of the White Fur Wind—let alone interested in collecting the bodies of the deceased!

In such an environment, it was impossible to carry out cremation and liberation rites.

Wang Chen, of course, didn't meddle in these affairs, leading Li Yian to bypass the bodies.

The sky gradually darkened.

The two had climbed several hundred feet, and even without the need to reach the very top, crossing this majestic and perilous peak would still take a considerable amount of time.

As the temperature continued to drop with the night's arrival, Wang Chen decisively stopped moving forward.

He chose a spot shielded from the wind and began to dig into a large boulder.

The exposed rock, connected to the mountain and extremely hard, took Wang Chen, with his Primary Tier Purple Mansion cultivation, over half a "shi chen" to carve out using the Great Perfection level Mudstone Technique to create a cave just big enough for the two of them to take shelter in.

Then he used the excavated mud and rock to create a stone door, sealing the entrance tightly.

Leaving only two air exchange holes.

By this time, it was completely dark, and Li Yian hung a Luminous Stone lantern on the cave wall.

She then took out a thick fleece blanket, along with a case table, tea sets, a stone stove, bowls, and chopsticks, and so on.

It was as if a virtuous wife was preparing dinner.

As the soup base in the pot came to a boil, fresh ingredients were added to the copper pot, and the hot steam rose in misty tendrils, Wang Chen looked at the enchanting female cultivator beside him and felt waves of joy and peace in his heart.

No matter how the snowstorm raged outside, this small stone cave was like a tranquil harbor, offering warmth and safety to the two of them.

After a satisfying meal and wine, Wang Chen and Li Yian tumbled onto the fleece blanket to practice the "Yin and Yang Reunion Secret Technique."

Their cooperation was seamless, hence the practice was extremely effective.

After the clouds cleared and the rain ceased, Li Yian lazily leaned against Wang Chen's chest and suddenly said, "My real name isn't Li Yian."

Wang Chen nodded.

He was not the least bit surprised, as Li Yian had gone to the West Sea Spirit Domain to escape her sect's pursuit.

Using her real name would have been the real oddity!

Seeing Wang Chen's lack of surprise, Li Yian extended a delicate finger and traced on his chest, "Qingxi, my real name is Li Qingxi."

"Hmm, I'll remember that."

Wang Chen stroked her long hair.

He remembered Li Yian/Li Qingxi the person; what she was called was utterly inconsequential.

"After we pass White Fur Peak, I will have to leave you," Li Yian, Li Qingxi, said in a low voice, "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Wang Chen fell silent for a moment before asking, "Can you stay?"

Li Qingxi blinked her eyes, shedding the wetness on her lashes, and a faint dimple appeared on her cheek, "Do you wish for me to stay?"

Wang Chen did not answer directly.

He raised his hand, used his finger as a brush, his mana as ink, and wrote four lines of poetry in the air.

Ten miles of frost across the lake, worrying about the passing of time strand by strand. Facing the moon, I long for protection, envying only mandarin ducks, not the immortals!

Li Qingxi stared intently at the poem for a long time.

She seemed to be lost in thought.

At this moment, the storm outside became fiercer and more violent.

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The second release is here.