Every step they took, every inch they descended, called for caution, and more caution.
Volume 7
Chapter 662: To the Bottom of the Cliff (3)
The darkness and the fear of the unknown made time slow to a crawl, making it impossible for them to gauge just how far a distance they had covered.
The cold and clammy fog swirled around them, condensation on the ropes caused them to get wet and they were soon covered in a thin layer of frost.
The chill from the frost would cause the dampened ropes from the high humidity to freeze easily. After ropes freeze, they become weak. If that happened, they would not be able to hold their weight!
In order to disperse the frost, Jun Wu Xie and her companions had no choice but to infuse their spirit powers into the ropes. Although the the amount of power required to do that was small in amount, but the length of the rope was unusually long and they would need to remain in that state for an extended period of time. For if the rope was to freeze, it would snap off in the middle and the fall would be long and fatal.
“This place is entirely not fit for humans to come to. How in the world did the people from the Dark Regime come upping such a ghastly place?” Qiao Chu’s voice rang out within the darkness. His usually loud and and boisterous voice had now turned a little weary and tired.
He was even too tired to ask Jun Wu Xie how long they had been climbing. Although he was painfully aware that his hands were now numb and tired, while the joints in his legs were already slightly sore.
Just the descent down the Heaven’s End Cliff was already so torturous and Qiao Chu did not dare imagine how terrifying the actual bottom of the cliff would be.
“For someone like the Dark Emperor who was able to unify the whole of the Middle Realm, would his final place of eternal rest be carelessly chosen? If not for these layers upon layers of hurdles and obstacles guarding the place, the Twelve Palaces would have found the Dark Emperor’s tomb centuries ago and emptied it completely. The fact that the people from the Dark Regime made this place so treacherously dangerous is also their way of showing their unwavering loyalty. After the passing of the Dark Emperor, they had actually expended so much resources and efforts to bury all the Dark Emperor’s treasures and magical artifacts together with him. It can be seen, in the hearts of the people of the Dark Regime, just how highly they regarded the Dark Emperor and their unshakable faith.” Hua Yao’s voice slowly rose out of the darkness. His tone was neither fast nor slow, as he was trying to drain as little of his spirit power as possible.
“As someone so incredibly powerful, how did he get killed?” Fei Yan asked, feeling rather puzzled.
To have unified the entire Middle Realm, fully subjugated the Twelve Palaces, Nine Temples, and Four Regions, such unbelievable power, to the youths who had lived less than just two decades, was just completely inconceivable.
With the power of one man and one army, taking on the entire Middle Realm, that was such a glorious and impossible accomplishment!
With the Dark Emperor as powerful as that, how did he die so suddenly?
The stronger one’s spirit power was, the longer his lifespan was extended. An indigo spirit would already allow one to live beyond a hundred. While Qiao Chu and the others had never met the Dark Emperor, and did not know how powerful he actually was, they nevertheless knew what kind of powers the twelve rulers of the Twelve Palaces who were suppressed and subjugated by the Dark Emperor held.
In their eyes, the powers of the twelve rulers of the Twelve Palaces were almighty and the fact that they had to defer to the Dark Emperor told them on no uncertain terms that the Dark Emperor’s power superceded the combined powers of all the rulers.
The Dark Emperor’s passing, had always been an unacceptable fact to many.
“No one knows.” It might be the darkness and anxiety that caused the youths to be so tensed they began to transmit their voices, to somehow reassure themselves that they were not completely alone within the suffocating darkness.
However, Jun Wu Xie’s voice cut in suddenly.
“If you don’t want to fall, what all of you should be doing is to hold on to your ropes tightly, and not get so curious about a dead man’s business.”
Just as Jun Wu Xie’s voice faded into the darkness, Qiao Chu and the others who had just descended a few more metres suddenly felt a strong gust of wind rush past them from within the blinding mist!
Volume 7
Chapter 663: At the Bottom of the Cliff (1)
The wind was blowing at a very high speed and they were powerful gusts. Suspended from the rope, Jun Wu Xie started to swing. All she could do was to curl up her body and pivot her entire body weight onto her feet pressed against the cliff face.
The sudden cold and strange wind blew for a while before it stopped. But not longer after that, the wind kicked up once again!
Without any specific rhythm or pattern, the wind seemed intent on dislodging all of them to make them fall into the eternal abyss. With the companions already in an torturous situation before, the wind became another agonizing obstacle for Jun Wu Xie and her companions to overcome.
[They need to speed up!]
Jun Wu Xie drew in a deep breath. Faced with the chillingly low temperature while navigating the treacherous wet and slippery cliff face, having to maintain the ropes frost free with something in the mist draining their spirit powers constantly, and now with the erratic strong wind trying to dislodge them from their precarious positions on the ropes, made all the companions start to feel alarmed, and incredibly tensed up.
Constantly and persistently tortured by the elements, Jun Wu Xie’s mind was stretched to its limit.
Not just her, even if the much more highly skilled Ye Sha and Ye Mei were to fall off into the seemingly bottomless abyss, the result would still be certain death!
Caught within such terrifying circumstances, the strength and power of men seemed miniscule and insignificant.
The power of nature, was not a force livings things were able to oppose!
Buffeted by the strong winds, all of them held on tightly to their last vestiges of sanity, and sped up their descent towards the bottom.
After an unknown period of time, Ye Sha and Ye Mei finally felt something other than emptiness beneath their feet. They could suddenly feel the ground as their feet landed upon it!
Needless to mention Jun Wu Xie and her companions, even the two of them were almost driven mad by the endless tortures that assaulted all their senses throughout the unbelievably agonizing descent!
“Young Miss! We’ve reached the bottom!”
Ye Sha’s voice rang out from within the darkness.
Ye Sha cold hard voice suddenly sounded like heavenly music to all the companions!
With their final spurt of energy, Jun Wu Xie and the others climbed as fast as they could to the bottom of the cliff. The moment their feet touched the hard ground, the fears and insecurities they had while suspended upon the ropes immediately evaporated!
Qiao Chu almost wanted to weep with joy!
“We’re down here at last. That was just inhuman! I was almost thinking the Heaven’s End Cliff was truly bottomless!” Qiao Chu exclaimed, patting himself over his heart. Although he was thoroughly exhausted, nothing else was more reassuring to him than the firm ground his own two feet were stepping on at that moment.
The pitch dark bottom of the cliff, had such a low temperature it made their teeth chatter. The long, arduous, and high strung descent had almost taken all the energy out from the youths. After the initial jubilation faded, their exhaustion and weariness hit them very quickly!
They were suddenly finding it difficult to remain standing. Qiao Chu and the others held on to the wet and cold cliff wall, trying their hardest to remain upright.
Jun Wu Xie was not doing much better, but her heart was completely calm as she took out the Spirit Fire Globe they had previously prepared. In a place so cold and wet at the bottom of the cliff, it was entirely impossible to light a fire.
The high humidity would not allow the flame to continue to burn.
But the Spirit Fire Globe she held in her hand was different.
A Spirit Fire Globe did not contain a real flame, but it depended on burning up spirit stones to bring illumination.
The prices of Spirit Fire Globes themselves were extremely high, and to make them light up, one had to burn up spirit stones. That also meant, every minute of usage of the Spirit Fire Globe, was as good as burning up a great amount of money.
Jun Wu Xie had not known that such a thing existed before. She only got to know about it from Mu Qian Fan.
Mu Qian Fan had known of Spirit Fire Globes long before, but the exorbitant prices would cause too big a drain on finances and so he had never purchased them before. But Jun Wu Xie had no lack of money.
Volume 7
Chapter 664: “At the Bottom of the Cliff (2)”
She asked Mu Qian Fan to clean Chan Lin Town out of its stock of Spirit Fire Globes.
Due to the exorbitant prices of Spirit Fire Globes, very few places carried stock of them. Although Chan Lin Town was a busy and bustling town, but most of their clientele were only the disciples from the Zephyr Academy, hence it would be difficult to find many of them due to the low demand.
Mu Qian Fan only managed to purchase three of them and they were all from the Chan Lin Auction House, and the prices he paid for them was even higher.
Jun Wu Xie was still holding a batch of low grade spirit stones they had gathered from the Battle Spirits Forest. As only spirit stones that were of a medium grade and above were accepted by the Chan Lin Auction House, the most numerous in number of low grade spirit stones had been left neglected in Jun Wu Xie’s Cosmos Sack, but would now just come in handy for their needs.
The Spirit Fire Globe pushed back the darkness at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff, creating a small area of brightness.
Hua Yao and Rong Ruo held the other two lights, and they did not hesitate to light them after Jun Wu Xie put the first Spirit Fire Globe to use.
The light from three Spirit Fire Globes finally lit up the nearby surroundings adequately.
And what one look, all of them were dumbfounded!
It was not all firm ground below their feet!
Heaps and heaps of ravaged white skeletons filled the ground around them. Bits of broken bones filled up the gaps between the larger pieces, and the water vapour in the air had frozen the bones together, creating an expanse of firm “bony land”.
“These….. are from people who lives had been claimed by the Heaven’s End Cliff?” Qiao Chu gasped in horror. He had just regained his sight and he had suddenly found himself standing on piles upon piles of bones, his heart almost leapt out of his heart from shock.
“It should be.” Jun Wu Xie replied, sweeping her eyes over the floor of bones she was standing on. Most of the bones were already shattered and she could not see any piece still intact. They were still standing close to the cliff’s wall and judging from the position they were standing at, she assumed all the bones to people who had attempted to climb down the cliff, but had fallen to their deaths here at the bottom, and their bones collected here.
“The people had been dead a long time.” Jun Wu Xie gauged from the clear layers of ice frozen over the bones. It was not possible that these people had just died here in recent years.
The bones could clearly be seen but they were buried in thick layers of ice. Based on her estimation and her observation of the level of humidity at the bottom of the cliff, for such a thick layer of ice to form, it was not something that could happen in just a matter of several years.
When rotting happened on the dead bodies in such wet conditions, the process would be hastened, and only the white skeleton would be left. Frost would slowly form upon them slowly, gradually accumulating to become a thick layer of ice.
“Rumours of the Heaven’s End Cliff was spread a long time ago. In the beginning, quite a number of people had come forward to take up the challenge. But as more and more people died from their attempts, people stopped coming here. Up till now, very few people even know where the location of the Heaven’s End Cliff is.” Fei Yan reaffirmed Jun Wu Xie’s guess with the information she had gathered.
Jun Wu Xie nodded slightly, and took a white porcelain bottle out of her Cosmos Sack. She opened the stopper and poured out several elixirs into her palm.
“There is poison here within the mist. Swallow this first.”
“Little Xie is still the most thoughtful.” Qiao Chu walked up to her smiling, and popped one of the elixirs into his mouth. Not bothering to even ask what kind of elixir it was.
Hua Yao, Rong Ruo and Fei Yan all took one each. Ye Sha and Ye Mei hesitated a moment but they hurriedly took one each and swallowed them when Jun Wu Xie stared impatiently at them.
Towards the various poisons the Dark Regime used, the two of them were very familiar with them, and were already long immune to their effects. But before they can be sure whether this place was the work by the hands of the Dark Regime, it wouldn’t hurt to be extra cautious.
Volume 7
Chapter 665: At the Bottom of the Cliff (3)
After everyone swallowed the elixirs, Jun Wu Xie did not take any other immediate action.
“Little Black.”
Jun Wu Xie suddenly summoned the little black cat. The very moment the little black cat appeared, it morphed into the massive black beast. The little black cat immediately leaned its furry body against Jun Wu Xie and curled its tail around her, wrapping its comforting warm body around the slightly chilled Jun Wu Xie.
“You guys come here as well.” The moment she came into contact with the black beast, Jun Wu Xie was finally able to shake off the freezing chill. Under the black beast reassuring warmth, her limbs gradually regained their full functions.
Qiao Chu and the others immediately understood what Jun Wu Xie wanted and they quickly huddled close to the black beast for warmth. Qiao Chu summoned Rolly as well, and the thick furred Rolly stretched out both its arms, enclosing everyone within a warm embrace together with the black beast.
Caught within the freezing cold, they were all unable to recover their strength as they needed to constantly use their spirit powers to ward off the cold. The clothes they were wearing were already covered with a layer of frost and were no longer able to retain their body heat.
With the black beast and Rolly around them, the companions were finally able to release the layer of spirit power they covered over themselves and enjoy a moment of rest within the soft and comforting warm fur, recovering some of their lost strength and spirit powers.
“Meh?” Carried in Ye Sha’s arms, Lord Meh Meh jumped off onto the ground. It shook itself to fling off the water droplets from its body and suddenly transformed itself into its gigantic nine tailed form. Almost half of its enormous body was hidden from their view, lost behind the mist as it obediently laid down on the ground. Its nine gigantic very fluffy tails curled and wrapped the black beast, Rolly, and everyone else close onto its belly, where it was warmest, driving out the chill in all their bodies.
Jun Wu Xie raised her eyes up, to look into Lord Meh Meh’s incredibly earnest eyes. Jun Wu Xie’s eyes softened a little and raised a hand to pat Lord Meh Meh on one of its tails, before she closed her eyes to enjoy the sweet and much needed warmth around her, and concentrated on recovery.
[Does this mean its “feedstress” has forgiven it?]
Lord Meh Meh blinked its eyes happily. Ever since the last incident, it had been eaten with endless guilt and now that an opportunity was presented before it to make its “feedstress” forgive it, Lord Meh Meh was very diligent. It raised its body temperature a little bit more, bringing the warmth within the furry “enclosure” up a notch!
The might of a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast shone brightly at that moment. Lord Meh Meh’s warmth was heaven sent and it almost made everyone forget just how bone chillingly cold it was just moments ago.
Although it was undeniab
ly tempting, Jun Wu Xie and her companions did not dare dally and indulge too long. They had just reached the bottom of the cliff and the exploration of the area was just about to begin. Their supply of water and rations were limited and they would not be able to remain here too long.
They took half a day to recover their strength and spirit powers, and their clothes were dried by the heat, courtesy of Lord Meh Meh’s warm embrace.
“Are you able to ascertain at which point are we on the map?” Jun Wu Xie asked, turning to Fei Yan. Fei Yan was more astute and had a keener eye towards terrains than anyone of them there.
Fei Yan shook her head and said: “Visibility is too low here and I am not able to match the area to the map. It is rather strange though, if the visibility here had always been like this, even with a full map, it would still be difficult to ascertain the direction. Unless, one of the pieces of the maps shows the point where people descending from the Heaven’s End Cliff would land, which would enable us to accurately pinpoint all the landmarks on the map.”
Without an accurate point of reference, they were not able to know where they were on the map, which would make the map useless to them.
“We’ll take a look around, and understand the place a little first. Whatever we see here will definitely help us in the future.”
Fei Yan nodded to agree.
All of them then decided to move out, and carry on with the exploration.
Volume 7
Chapter 666: “Deadly Land (1)”
Without having to be fearful of the poisonous mist, they had one thing less to worry about on the path forward.
The bone filled land beneath their feet stretched out before them. As they moved, the layers of bones thinned and the companions could see the light from the Spirit Fire Globes reflect off soldier’s blades sealed under the ice. The ice glittered under the light, an icy bed of cold starry reflections paved their way forward.
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 7 Page 17