Xu Yuan felt quite foolish, really.
He had actually been hoping that an idiot who could freeze a hostage to death would be able to distinguish directions in the wilderness.
After a two-second silence, Xu Yuan gently patted Ran Qingmo's shoulder for comfort, put away the map, stood up, and whispered,
"You take me to the highest point around here first, maybe I can figure out where we are."
Ran Qingmo's eyes flickered, somewhat skeptical.
Xu Yuan knew what the other was doubtful of and said softly,
"Over the years, I've been idle but still learned a few things."
"Oh."
Xu Yuan walked to the cave entrance, looked at the hazy rainforest outside, glanced back at the woman in black who was packing up, and murmured,
"It's still raining outside."
Ran Qingmo glanced at him, then at the water bladder tied to his waist.
Xu Yuan sighed softly, eyeing her drenched black clothing,
"I know with this Spiritual Liquid, we don't have to worry about catching a cold for the time being, but don't you think it's uncomfortable wearing wet clothes?"
Ran Qingmo blinked, felt her clothes, and nodded in agreement.
Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then glanced at the Ice Crystal cone still piercing the snake's corpse despite the rainfall.
......
One minute later,
A man and a woman stood in the sky, dozens of meters above the ground.
The man was dressed in a Brocade Robe, holding a parchment scroll, while the woman, her face veiled thinly, her figure graceful, held an umbrella made of Ice Crystal at his side.
The pouring rain was easing up, but the wind had not stopped, the heavy rain in the mountains now reduced to a drizzle.
They stood on a transparent platform created by Qingmo's "qi," with a forest sea of towering trees stretching out below them, the vast expanse too far to see its end.
The Wanxing Mountain Range stretches across the southwestern border of the Dayan Empire, spanning tens of thousands of miles.
The fog greatly hindered Xu Yuan's vision, but upon reaching this high ground, he realized he didn't need to figure out the direction at all.
Looking distantly at the end of the forest sea, a colossal mountain cast a shadow vast enough to eclipse the sky.
Even separated by who knows how many miles and through the misty veil of rain, its sheer size was discernible, like a titanic behemoth crossing heaven and earth—next to it, the highest point of his former world would appear as a mere infant.
When the map from the game became reality, the sight before him was too overwhelming for words.
Xu Yuan squinted, focusing on that giant silhouette,
"Is that... Tianmen Mountain?"
Ran Qingmo, holding her umbrella, with her robe sleeves fluttering gently in the wind, said,
"Mm."
"Can we climb up there?"
"Is the cave dwelling you mentioned up there?"
"Yes."
That cave dwelling atop Tianmen Mountain was a hidden map within the "Cangyuan Chronicles" main storyline of a passionate and exciting world.
The conditions to trigger it were quite cliché.
Being chased, escaping into the Wanxing Mountain Range, climbing Tianmen Mountain, being forced to jump off a cliff—if your luck was over 80, jumping off the cliff would allow you to enter that hidden cave dwelling.
Luck less than 80? Then prepare for a free fall.
As his thoughts flashed by, Xu Yuan shook his head gently.
In the game's guidebook, he remembered the original Third Young Master's luck was only at 3, not even close to entering the cave after jumping off the Hanging Cliff a hundred times—it was as if he had used up all his luck in his lifetime.
But now that Xu Yuan had Ran Qingmo, a top expert by his side, they could just fly down from the Hanging Cliff and search slowly.
Ran Qingmo looked at the massive Tianmen Mountain for two seconds before saying,
"Alright."
As her voice fell,
She dissolved the platform of "qi" beneath their feet.
"......" Xu Yuan.
...
The feeling of free fall wasn't pleasant, but luckily Ran Qingmo, the idiotic woman, knew that falling from such a height, he, as an ordinary person, would turn into a meat patty on impact.
Just before hitting the ground, a deft force enveloped Xu Yuan's entire body, and in a princess-carry position, they successfully landed in the forest.
They exchanged a look,
Ran Qingmo, holding an umbrella with one hand, gently put Xu Yuan down from his embrace onto the ground and said calmly,
"Let's go."
Xu Yuan steadied himself, patted his clothing to cover up his embarrassment, but frowned upon hearing this,
"Go?"
"Yes," Ran Qingmo nodded.
Xu Yuan roughly estimated the distance between Tianmen Mountain and their current location in his mind and repeated,
"You mean we're going to walk there?"
Ran Qingmo tilted her head slightly, "Otherwise?"
"Aren't you capable of flying?" Xu Yuan asked with a puzzled look, "Walking there would take us at least ten days."
Ran Qingmo was silent for two seconds before staring at Xu Yuan and saying seriously, "I can't fly."
"But just now..." Xu Yuan pointed towards the sky.
Ran Qingmo followed his finger to look at the sky and explained,
"That was the 'Ice Cloud Step' from my cultivation technique."
"Ice Cloud Step?" Xu Yuan, who knew nothing of the cultivation techniques of this world, asked subconsciously.
Ran Qingmo showed no intention of answering him, simply looking at him.
Xu Yuan realized that such questions about cultivation techniques probably counted as a matter of privacy, so he changed the subject to ask,
"Don't you know how to fly with a sword?"
Ran Qingmo pondered for two seconds before speaking softly,
"My cultivation technique doesn't include flying with a sword, it only has the Ice Cloud Step. Flying with a sword is a part of the Hanging Sword Art."
Upon hearing the name Hanging Sword Art, Xu Yuan quickly reviewed the introduction of this technique in the game manual in his mind.
However, he couldn't recall any mention of flying with a sword, concluding that the world must have automatically completed the related information.
After Ran Qingmo's explanation, Xu Yuan also roughly understood what she meant.
In this world, there were means to travel through the sky, but the methods varied depending on the cultivation technique.
After a pause, Xu Yuan asked,
"Then why not use your Ice Cloud Step to carry me over directly?"
Ran Qingmo didn't answer immediately. She sized up Xu Yuan's physique before shaking her head,
"Your body is too weak, you would die."
"But wasn't I fine just now?" Xu Yuan frowned. Just before, when Ran Qingmo had jumped into the air with him to discern their direction, he had not felt any discomfort.
"The speed just now was very slow."
"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.
He realized that he had taken certain things for granted, overlooking an important issue.
Ran Qingmo did not possess the biological stance of a superhero from a past life movie; the human body has limitations on the acceleration it can endure.
Ran Qingmo's method of flying clearly involved condensing qi to form platforms in the air, which she then leaped between.
For him, a Third Young Master whose body had been weakened by indulgence, even an unprotected acceleration of 4~5G might directly send him to his death.
With Ran Qingmo's earlier speed that was invisible to the naked eye, the acceleration must have started at least at 30G.
Thinking this, Xu Yuan took a deep look at the woman in black veil before him.
Although she sometimes seemed a bit dull, she was quite reliable in certain respects.
If she hadn't considered this, a sudden acceleration might have killed him instantly.
In a moment, Xu Yuan thought about asking Ran Qingmo to control her speed.
But this idea was dismissed as quickly as it came.
Ran Qingmo could control her speed, but that would increase their time suspended in the air.
In the Wanxing Mountain Range, where Demonic Beasts were rife, merely randomly catching a Flame Spirit Python was deemed to be a demonic beast under some mysterious force. If they stayed in the air for long, it would be impossible not to be discovered by some Demonic Beast hiding in the dark.
Furthermore, it's not only on the ground that such creatures exist.
The eyesight of some aerial Demonic Birds could be much stronger than that of humans.
If they walked on foot, the trees would provide cover, and with Ran Qingmo's expertise to sense their surroundings, they may not be 100% undiscovered, but at least they could ensure there were no survivors.
With these thoughts,
Xu Yuan sighed softly and scanned the vast and endless sea of trees.
If they had to walk, then so be it; he'd treat it as his first journey in this strange world.