Chapter 1 Unknown Place

"I've arrived!"

Atop the peak of Muztagata Mountain, part of the mid-section of the Kunlun range, white clouds swirled around, merging seamlessly with the snow-capped summit.

A robust and exhilarated voice echoed through the misty clouds and snow, carrying far and wide. If heard by a fellow enthusiast of mountain climbing, it might evoke a shared sense of awe and triumph.

'I've arrived…' Though it sounded like a simple statement, it carried a profound meaning. For every mountaineering challenger, it marked both an endpoint and the beginning of something new.

Surveying the expanse of snow-covered mountains below, the one who declared this bold proclamation was a young man with a close-cropped hairstyle.

His physique was solid but not overly muscular, with sharp eyebrows and a demeanor brimming with vitality. Even though his eyes were slightly squinted at this moment, the sliver of his gaze revealed an unrestrained zest for the future.

The young man's right bore three scars, as if clawed by some beast, and his lips are thin, which weakens the heroic feeling coming on the face, while his lightly tanned wheat-colored skin added a rugged charm.

Overall, he could be considered handsome, but the scars on his right eyebrow slightly marred his appearance.

This man is named Lawliet, an unconventional gourmet. However, more than a culinary connoisseur, he resembled an adventurer who embodied the spirit of exploration.

Standing atop Muztagata Mountain, Lawliet stretched out his arms like a great eagle spreading its wings. Facing the fierce wind and the freezing air, he closed his eyes slightly, wearing a look of contentment as if embracing the unforgiving environment that defied human survival.

Considering the altitude, his attire was astonishingly thin. He wore only a lightweight black tracksuit, and the same is true for his gear. He only carried a simple backpack, and it is not even a professional mountaineering bag.

To any mountaineering enthusiast, this scene would appear bizarre and surreal.

Among the mid-section peaks of the Kunlun range, eight mountains exceed an altitude of 6,000 meters, including Muztagata Mountain, where Lawliet stood.

It is a glacial peak reaching a staggering height of 6,920 meters. At such an altitude, not only is the oxygen scarce, but the temperature is conservatively estimated at -38 degrees Celsius.

What is this concept mean? Spit would freeze into ice before hitting the ground, but Lawliet wears only thin sportswear, which seemed utterly unaffected by the extreme cold, and he does not need the assistance of an oxygen bottle at all.

"Whew..."

Lawliet exhaled a puff of hot air, which instantly crystallized into frost. Shielding his eyes with his hand, he gazed into the distance toward another towering peak. It seems as though his true destination lay there, and this summit is only a temporary vantage point.

"The 'Unfrozen Lake' referred to by Uncle Atam is above the highest peak. Although it is only a legend, the world is so big that there are no wonders!"

Lawliet bent slightly, grabbed the backpack at his feet, and slung it over his shoulder. He then leapt onto the steep snowy slope, sliding down like a black shadow against the white expanse.

This scene is really shocking, but luckily, no one witnessed it. Otherwise, they would have been astounded.

A year ago, Lawliet would have scoffed at legends spun from words. As an adventurer, he only believed in what he could see with his own eyes.

However, a year later, he had become a firm believer that not all ancient tales were baseless, such as the 'Unfrozen Lake' only known to the older generation of Uyghurs.

The turning point for this was a year ago, during a moment when he nearly died, and it was also when he was reborn.

The mountains of the Kunlun range are countless, and Lawliet had ventured there for the first time a year ago, driven by a reckless 'you won't die if you don't push it' mentality.

However, his first climb ended disastrously. This is an inevitable result, as he didn't have meticulous preparation or the support of a team. Despite his decent physical fitness, failure was a foregone conclusion.

However, Lawliet is lucky. As he became exhausted and fainted, tumbling from a mountainside into a gorge, he landed on an outward-facing cliff. A small, lush green tree cushioned the impact of the fall, so that he did not immediately fall to death. Even so, he suffered four broken ribs and clean fractures in his arm and thigh.

Although Lawliet survived the fall, his predicament was dire. Trapped in a remote, desolate place, grievously injured, and with no help in sight, his chances of survival seemed slim.

Yet, as if fate had chosen him as a protagonist in a story, his luck turned. On the small tree that cushioned his fall, a translucent white fruit, about the size of a baby's fist, glistened like a jewel.

At that time, driven by the instinct to survive and the thought of not dying hungry, Lawliet mustered all his strength to pluck the fruit. He swallowed it whole, ignoring the possibility of poison. Then, he lived.

This miraculous event, the foundation of his transformation, was a secret Lawliet never shared with anyone.

…

Descending the peak in a manner that defied human norms, Lawliet reached into his shirt to touch a pendant hanging around his neck. He considered it his talisman and often touched it after a risky endeavor.

The pendant was something Lawliet had dug out from the rock wall where the small tree grew. It was a smooth, snow-white jade about the size of a quail egg, flawless, without any markings, and as clear as crystal.

Lawliet doesn't think this jade is ordinary. He even thinks that this jade is the 'culprit' that gave birth to that miraculous fruit.

Since consuming the fruit, not only had his injuries healed almost instantly, but within a day, he had gained an acute awareness of the life energy flowing through his body. The fruit seemed to have awakened this ability in him.

This life energy, which Lawliet called 'Aura', was initially faint, but guided by an instinctive understanding, he discovered how to nurture and strengthen it without anyone teaching him. Then, the more robust the life energy grew, the more vibrant he felt.

Lawliet referred to this practice as 'Aura Training'.

In his view, Aura represented the essence of life itself. It is a vitality present in all living beings, from the mightiest beasts to the smallest ants.

As his abilities grew, so did his ambitions.

Keeping the secret of his transformation to himself, Lawliet's dreams evolved into tangible goals. He wants to set foot in the 'human forbidden zone', go to places that others have not seen, encounter things that others have not seen, and seek ingredients unknown to humankind.

A week later, Lawliet set foot on the peak at 7,500 meters above sea level. Amidst the towering peaks, a mirror-like lake appeared before him. The area is roughly 20,000 square meters in size, about the equivalent of 50 basketball courts.

"This must be it, the Unfrozen Lake."

Looking at the calm lake with white clouds reflected in the sky, Lawliet murmured with an excited smile. He leapt from the snowy slope, sliding swiftly to the lake's edge.

High-altitude lakes are often lifelines for ecosystems, usually surrounded by abundant birdlife and wild animals. Wild animals often appear. However, when the altitude is higher than 7000 meters, not a single sign of life could be seen near this lake.

According to Uyghur legends, the Unfrozen Lake was a mystical place. Judging by its terrain, it seemed nestled within a volcanic crater. The lake is hidden by the surrounding elevated peaks, so if ones don't climb higher peaks, it's very difficult to find the lake here.

Lawliet did not know the exact location of the Unfrozen Lake. By following a general path and traversing mountain after mountain, he had finally stumbled upon this lifeless lake.

"At this temperature, it should have frozen solid, yet..."

Dropping his backpack to the ground, Lawliet crouched and dipped his hand into the water. It was icy cold, but no trace of ice shards could be felt.

He smiled faintly, his eyes gleaming with intrigue.

"Let's see if this is a dead lake or a living one."

A wave of excitement surged through him. Stripping off his tracksuit, Lawliet revealed a dark, full-body wetsuit beneath. This time, he had come prepared.

He tossed his clothes aside, then retrieved a headlamp resembling a miner's lamp from his backpack. After turning it on, a focused beam of light shot into the distance.

Securing the lamp to his forehead, Lawliet also pulled out an underwater camera, slinging it around his neck, along with a pair of goggles. However, he didn't bring any oxygen tank. After making these preparations, without any fear, he jumped directly into the lake.

After diving, his whole body came into contact the bone-chilling water, encasing him in layers of icy cold, yet it remained within Lawliet's tolerance.

The lake's water was startlingly clear, so the beam of his headlamp could illuminate far ahead. However, no aquatic plants, debris, or signs of life were visible.

It is reasonable to say that since the lake is so clear, sunlight should be able to penetrate the lake's depths, which would make the bottom of the water bright. However, after Lawliet swam deeper, he found that the bottom of the lake was actually dark and silent.

Perhaps it was the desolate quiet or the freezing temperature, but even Lawliet, with his extraordinary abilities, felt an eerie chill spreading from his chest.

'I can't feel any Aura, there should be no living things here.'

Without using any tools, Lawliet dived to a depth of two hundred meters. At this time, his headlamp's beam finally struck the lakebed.

"Huh?"

Bubbles rose from Lawliet's mouth and nose as he reacted to what he saw.

"Is that... a ruin?"

Lawliet's eyes widened in shock behind his goggles as the beam of his headlamp illuminated what lay before him.

'How could there be ruins in a place like this?'

'If this were in a desert or deep in the mountains, it might not be so extraordinary, but I am at the bottom of a lake above 7,500 meters above sea level at this moment.'

Suppressing the surge of astonishment in his heart, Lawliet continued to dive, and finally reached the ruins on the lakebed. Without hesitation, he raised his camera and snapped several photos.

'This is an incredible discovery.'

Lawliet thought excitedly. Before he could take in the full view of the ruins, his attention was drawn to some strange markings on a stone pillar. After he approached, he could see the unknown characters clearly with the light of his headlight.

'These look like hieroglyphics.' Lawliet stretched out his hand and gently stroked the glyph-like patterns carved into the stone. His mind filled with questions.

Suddenly, his body jolted violently.

At some point, an overwhelming and indescribable life energy had appeared behind him, seemingly out of nowhere!

Lawliet's heart raced. He instinctively spun around, but before he could make out anything, the world around him was consumed by endless darkness.

There is no pause or dormancy in his consciousness, it was as if he transitioned instantly.

One moment, he felt the immense water pressure crushing against him, but the next, he was enveloped by the stench of decay and covered in a tangle of hard, unrecognizable objects.

The darkness was the same, but this was an entirely different place.

Struggling to make sense of what had happened, Lawliet held his breath and began clawing his way upward through the debris pressing against him.

Whatever had occurred, he was sure of one thing, that is, the place where he is now is not the bottom of the lake, but an unknown place.

After climbing for a while, Lawliet pushed aside something resembling an old television, and the light poured into his eyes, causing Lawliet to squint his eyes slightly. Crawling out of the pile, he finally saw where he was.

He stood atop a mountain of garbage, surrounded by a wasteland of trash, and the thing he had pushed aside was indeed a broken, old-fashioned television.

"Where… am I?"

Lawliet scanned the desolate surroundings, with a mix of smoke and toxic fumes rising from the countless heaps of refuse, with blank expression.

Suddenly, Lawliet noticed the gaze from below, and immediately looked down. He saw three people in white hazmat suits staring up at him from below. Their gas masks concealed their expressions, but their attention was unmistakably fixed on him.

'Humans… hazmat suits… garbage dump?' The words popped into Lawliet's mind as he took in the scene.

He remained oblivious to the changes in his own body.

Through the sunlight becomes faint after piercing through the smoke and toxic fumes, the three people's protective goggles reflected the image of a shirtless, black-haired boy standing atop the garbage heap, frozen in bewilderment.

Although this place accepted anything, including life and corpses, but seeing someone alive, let alone a boy who looked about ten years old, was rare.

Perhaps sensing the oddity in the gazes directed at him, Lawliet looked down at himself, and his jaw immediately dropped.

Not wearing clothes is not the point.

It was the fact that his… 'little friend', which is was swaying slightly in the breeze, had gotten smaller!!!

Check out my other Novel: I'm Really Not A Nen Exorcist (HxH Fanfic)