A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1174: Scaling the Mountain

All of a sudden, the sound of a melodious horn rang out in the distance, and the sound had a special quality to it that made it impossible for one to ascertain where it was coming from.

Han Li couldn't detect anything special about the sound, but as soon as it traveled into his ears, he immediately felt as if his entire body were filled with boundless strength.

Could this be some type of war song for the primordial tribes?

Immediately thereafter, Han Li heard another sound ringing out directly beside him, and he turned to discover that Xiao Bai had begun emitting a peculiar, snarling sound ringing out from the base of his throat.

"I don't know why, but I was struck by the urge to snarl as soon as I heard the sound of the horn..." Xiao Bai explained to Han Li through their spiritual connection.

Han Li nodded in response, asking no questions on the matter as he began scaling the mountain with Xiao Bai.

As soon as he set foot onto the stone staircase, he immediately felt a burst of indescribable power converging toward him from all directions, making him feel rather heavy and sluggish.

It was a very strange sensation, as if the entire Eight Plains Mountain had transformed into a giant magnet, exerting attractive force upon all those attempting to scale it.

However, this level of interference was not an issue for Han Li, and he was able to continue scaling the mountain just fine.

All of the Heavenly Fox beings and Mountain Moving Ape beings were also largely unaffected, and it didn't take long before all of them ascended past the hundredth step. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Han Li and Xiao Bai were roughly keeping abreast of the Heavenly Fox beings, and the former looked back to discover that there were still several thousand primordial beings standing on the plaza below.

"Le'er, why aren't those people scaling the mountain?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

"Because they're not among the top one hundred primordial tribes," Liu Le'er replied. "They're only permitted to stand at the foot of the mountain because they're all subsidiary tribes to the sixteen premier tribes, the other tribes in the city aren't even permitted to approach the holy mountain at all."

"It looks like it's quite an honor to be able to take part in the blood inheritance ceremony," Han Li remarked.

"That is indeed the case. All of the top one hundred primordial tribes have inherited the bloodlines of the eight ancient True Spirit Kings, and that gives them the right to scale the mountain. That's why even Chief Liu Qing was very surprised that you were given permission by His Majesty to scale the holy mountain with Xiao Bai," Liu Le'er explained.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing, but offered no response.

After climbing several hundred more steps, a series of ancient patterns had begun appearing on the steps underfoot, and at this point, many of the primordial beings were beginning to display signs of physical strain.

The Heavenly Fox beings and Mountain Moving Ape beings were still able to maintain their original speed, but the other primordial beings had slowed down to different extents and were gradually being left behind.

To the surprise of all of the Heavenly Fox beings and Mountain Moving Ape beings, Han Li was able to keep up with them just fine, and he wasn't displaying any signs of physical strain in the process.

That served as motivation for them to scale the mountain even faster for fear of bringing shame upon themselves by being left behind by Han Li.

Of course, Han Li wasn't feeling competitive at all, and he continued to scale the mountain with Xiao Bai at a leisurely pace.

Meanwhile, the little white ape was constantly stealing glances at Han Li and Xiao Bai with a curious yet cautious look in his eyes.

Han Li had taken a liking to the little white ape, perhaps due to the fact that he was also carrying the Giant Mountain Ape bloodline himself, so whenever their eyes met, he would give the little ape an encouraging smile.

None of the other Mountain Moving Ape beings seemed to be opposed to what the little white ape was doing, and he eventually worked up the courage to approach Han Li's duo.

However, he was quite wary of Han Li, so he approached Xiao Bai instead.

"What are you doing here?" Xiao Bai asked in a rather unfriendly manner.

The little white ape was unfazed, and he asked, "I hear you have the bloodline of the Ink-Eyed Pixiu, is that right?"

"So what if I do?" Xiao Bai replied.

"Our ancestor was Master Yuan Hong, one of the eight True Spirit Kings, and he was said to have been a very close friend to Master Mo Yu," the little white ape said.

"So what?" Xiao Bai asked with a puzzled expression.

"It's said that the two of them disappeared together," the little white ape replied, and Xiao Bai fell silent upon hearing this.

After a brief silence, he turned to the little white ape and asked, "What's your name?"

"Yuan Shanbai," the little ape replied.

"My name is Xiao Bai. It looks like we both share the bai character in our names," Xiao Bai said with a smile.

"Xiao Bai? Is your name Mo Xiaobai?" the little white ape asked.

Xiao Bai hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then nodded uncertainly in response. With his memories sealed away, he had no idea what his own true name was.

As Xiao Bai and Yuan Shanbai became more and more familiar with each other, the former quickly reverted back to his usual, braggadocious self, rattling off a bunch of stories that had the sheltered Yuan Shanbai jumping with excitement.

After hearing from Xiao Bai that he had an even more powerful boss, Yuan Shanbai's eyes were practically glowing with admiration with yearning.

"I'll introduce you to my boss if I get the chance. She has a rather short temper, but she's a good person at heart. Make sure to prepare a gift for her, and once she accepts you as her lackey, she and I will protect you together," Xiao Bai said.

A look of amusement flashed through Han Li's eyes as he listened to the conversation between the two adolescent beasts.

However, at the same time, he was also in a state of alert, constantly observing the surrounding area for any notable changes.

As he continued to scale the staircase, he discovered that the suction force from the stone steps was only growing stronger and stronger, and many of the tribes had already been left far behind.

On top of that, in addition to the suction force from the ground, bursts of tremendous pressure had also begun to appear in the surrounding space, making it rather arduous for even the Heavenly Fox and Mountain Moving Ape beings to continue their climb.

Upon reaching the halfway mark up the mountain, the pressure in the air had already swelled to over a hundredfold of what could be felt at the foot of the mountain, and even Han Li was beginning to feel short of breath.

Only after channeling the Heavenly Baleful Purgatory Arts did the discomfort fade away, and he continued the ascent.

At this point, all of the other tribes had already been left behind, and many of them had already given up on making further progress up the mountain. Instead, they made their way laterally along the boardwalks to the platforms that were situated partway up the mountain.

Han Li swept his gaze over the mountain to discover a series of round, stone, cushion-like objects laid out over the platforms partway up the mountain, and each of the primordial beings that made their way onto the platforms chose one of those stone cushions to sit on.

As for the Heavenly Fox and Mountain Moving Ape beings, they displayed no intention of stopping as they continued to climb.

The Mountain Moving Ape beings should've possessed superior physical constitutions to the Heavenly Fox beings, but strangely enough, they were collectively slower than the Heavenly Fox beings and were gradually being left behind.

All the while, Yuan Shanbai was leading the way from the forefront while chatting with Xiao Bai.

Upon noticing that his tribesmen were lagging behind, Yuan Shanbai bade farewell to Xiao Bai, then made his way back to the elderly Mountain Moving Ape being's side to continue scaling the mountain with him.

At this point, many of the Heavenly Fox and Mountain Moving Ape beings were stealing puzzled glances at Han Li, wondering how a mere human was able to scale the mountain so easily.

Unbeknownst to them, Han Li currently felt as if he were walking with a huge mountain on his back, and with each step that he took, a shallow footprint would be left behind on the stone step underfoot.

After climbing for several more minutes, Han Li noticed that Xiao Bai seemed to be nearing his limits. Each step that he took was extremely arduous, and he had to take long breaks every few steps.

Han Li slowed down to keep pace with him upon seeing this.

As a result, the Heavenly Fox beings gradually began to overtake him, and only then did they feel a little better about themselves.

Han Li took a glance at Liu Le'er, who had stopped in her tracks and was looking back him with an inquisitive expression. It was clear from the sweat on her forehead and the flush in her cheeks that she was also feeling the strain.

"Go up with Senior Liu Qing, we'll get to the top after you," Han Li said through voice transmission.

Liu Le'er was rather hesitant, but she eventually complied after some urging from Liu Qing.

Han Li knew that Xiao Bai hadn't yet truly awakened his Ink-Eyed Pixiu bloodline, so this was already very close to his limit.

With that in mind, he asked, "Do you need me to help you?"

"No. I heard from Shanbai that scaling the mountain is a test for the eight regal bloodlines in itself. The stronger one's bloodline, the easier it will be for them to scale the mountain. I can't put my bloodline to shame," Xiao Bai replied through gritted teeth, then resumed his ascent with renewed determination.

For a moment, Han Li caught sight of a faint, golden ring of light in Xiao Bai's eyes, but it was only there for a split second before vanishing, leaving Han Li unsure of whether it had only been a figment of his imagination.