Chapter Twelve: Tracking

Wanxing Mountain Range, Immortal Lake.

The disheveled man carrying a sword stood by the lake, glanced at the lakeshore hundreds of meters away, and then turned his gaze toward the center of the lake.

What should have been a rippling lake heart was now occupied by an ice pillar that pierced the sky.

The hundred-zhang tall pillar, as clear and transparent as crystal, radiated a bone-chilling cold as if it were eternal, spreading unceasingly under the cascade of moonlight, the vast surface of the lake now completely frozen over.

The stubbled man smacked his lips, seemingly frozen by the chill, and rubbed his arms, sighing with some wistfulness,

"Tch tch, good thing I didn't chase after them alone. With this scale, by the time you got back with a report, I reckon I would have been frozen inside that giant ice block already."

The two were the man and woman who had appeared outside the Buddhist hall previously.

The woman was still in tight-fitting black and red attire, her curvaceous figure striking, her high ponytail fluttering slightly as she also looked toward the huge ice pillar in the center of the lake, and said in a clear voice,

"It's Ran Qingmo from the Sword Sect."

The stubbled man's eyes narrowed, suddenly stomped the ground, and his figure instantly vanished, reappearing at the top of the enormous ice pillar at the center of the lake.

The woman flashed up after him, and by the time she arrived, the stubbled man was half-crouching on the ice, gently running his hand over the surface of the Ice Crystal.

The woman looked around, surveying from her high vantage point.

The forest, composed of hundred-meter-tall trees around Immortal Lake, had been leveled by a large area, indicating the intensity of the previous battle.

After pausing, the woman asked the man,

"Have you found anything?"

The man crouched on the ground, touched his stubble, and said hesitantly,

"The other person who fought with Ran Qingmo doesn't seem to be human."

"A monster?" The woman frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "In the Wanxing Mountain Range, there are only a few monster beasts capable of fighting Ran Qingmo to this extent."

The stubbled man cracked a smile, sniffed a palm-sized scale he had picked up, and casually threw it to the woman, saying,

"It's not those old monsters; it's a female serpent."

The woman looked down at it and frowned, "A female serpent? Can you tell what it is?"

The stubbled man pondered for a while and said in a low voice,

"The Qi left behind is somewhat like the Qi of a Seven-Life Mang python, and judging by the methods and the residual Origin Qi, this Seven-Life Mang python has probably molted into its sixth life."

The man smacked his lips, his tone somewhat wistful, "Tch tch... A six-molt Seven-Life Python, one more life and it could completely stabilize its human form, probably an important figure from the Serpent Monster Clan on the side of the foreign monster nation."

After a pause, the man stood up, an unusual seriousness appearing on his face,

"It has been frozen by Ran Qingmo with this ice pillar, revealing its true body in an attempt to escape. Judging by this, Ran Qingmo doesn't seem to want to confront it directly."

The woman's frown deepened,

"Are you saying that the Third Young Master was captured by Ran Qingmo?"

The man didn't immediately answer, pondered long and hard, and then shook his head,

"Not sure, but at least at the time at Immortal Lake, Ran Qingmo wanted to protect the Third Young Master. Notify the Eldest Young Master and the others on the different paths that we've found the whereabouts of the Third Young Master."

Confusion flickered through the woman's eyes, "But we right now..."

"We've been tracking all along; the person who took the Third Young Master didn't take any detours."

The man waved his hand to interrupt, standing atop the hundred-zhang ice pillar, staring at the distant mountain ranges that loomed like a titanic beast,

"They are heading to Tianmen Mountain."

......

The wound on the White Tiger's back was ghastly and horrifying; although it had already scabbed over, the blossoming redness that had spread across the snowy fur of the White Tiger was still jarringly visible.

Having only recently arrived in this world and not yet acquainted with cultivation, Xu Yuan could not infer more information from the shape and depth of this wound.

But the mere fact that the White Tiger was injured was alarming enough.

Unconscious, he and another had managed to arrive at Tianmen Mountain in four days from their starting point, undoubtedly the White Tiger carrying him all the while.

And yet the White Tiger, serving as his mount during his unconsciousness and accompanied by Ran Qingmo, had been injured due to an external attack.

In the four days of his unconsciousness, it seemed much more had happened than he had imagined.

His thoughts flashing, Xu Yuan looked around once again.

Flakes of snow drifted down with the desolate cold wind from the sky, falling on the thick layer of snow, under which the outline of a blood-stained beast skeleton was faintly visible.

This discovery caused Xu Yuan's heart to sink as he glanced at the fine snow wolf on the ground and sighed softly.

The blood-stained skeleton was likely the prey the White Tiger had captured and eaten earlier, and judging by the size of the beast's skeleton, they had stayed in place for at least one day.

One day... With pursuers behind them, what could have compelled Ran Qingmo to stop and rest?

Xu Yuan looked at the black-clad woman sitting cross-legged on the snow.

The moonlight caressed her veil, and the ink-like robe fluttered with the wind, like a beautiful sculpture.

With myriad thoughts crossing his mind, Xu Yuan took a deep breath,

"You... are injured."

His voice was gentle, quickly scattered by the mountain wind.

After a moment of silence, Ran Qingmo continued to keep her eyes closed, regulating her breath, but did not deny it:

"Hmm."

"Is it very heavy?"

"Somewhat."

His guess was confirmed, Xu Yuan raised his hand to rub his forehead, then turned to glance back at the endless forest sea below the mountain:

"What about the other party?"

"Her injuries are lighter than mine."

"..."

Xu Yuan fell silent.

He thought of the wound on the back of the white tiger, and he knew he must have dragged her down.

The cold wind whistled, and the stars were scattered across the sky.

After a long time, Xu Yuan spoke again, his words very serious:

"I'm sorry."

"...."

Ran Qingmo didn't reply, just said calmly with her eyes closed:

"Since you are awake, take it and go up the mountain together. I will wait here for her."

With that, she gently raised her hand and tossed a small object to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan instinctively caught it and looked down to see that Ran Qingmo had given him a small Ice Crystal sword, its body clear and shining like crystal.

Xu Yuan instinctively asked:

"What is this?"

Ran Qingmo opened her eyes and glanced at the large white tiger beside her:

"If it acts up, crush it."

A flicker of realization passed through Xu Yuan's eyes.

He had been wondering why the white tiger had become so obedient to Ran Qingmo in just four days; it turned out, Ran Qingmo had tampered with the creature's body.

After a short silence, Xu Yuan said no more and, clutching the Ice Crystal sword in his hand, climbed onto the back of the white tiger.

When he touched the crusty wound on the back of the white tiger, Xu Yuan distinctly felt the huge creature beneath him tremble.

Fortunately, besides that, the white tiger showed no other major reaction.

Riding on the back of the white tiger, Xu Yuan once again looked towards the black-robed woman sitting in meditation and said softly after a brief silence:

"I will wait for you at the Tianmen Mountain's Precipice Edge."

"..."

After a quiet moment, Ran Qingmo's voice was as serene as when they first met:

"There's no need."

Xu Yuan stared at her, repeating unhurriedly:

"I said, I will wait for you at the Precipice Edge."

"......"

Ran Qingmo's beautiful eyes blinked, her gaze slightly puzzled.

She was trying to understand why this man insisted on waiting for her.

Xu Yuan offered no explanation, just calmly stared at her.

If Ran Qingmo didn't come, he would have to jump off the cliff.

With the original 3 points of Good Fortune, forget about finding a cave, jumping down he probably wouldn't even make it halfway before a protruding rock killed him.

Ran Qingmo, unable to understand, gently shook her head:

"I've left a trace of Qi on you, I can find you."

Xu Yuan randomly made up an excuse, pausing after each word:

"A cave abode can shield Qi."

Ran Qingmo was silent.

After a while,

she slowly opened her eyes, slightly tilted her head back to look at the brocade-clad young master riding the white tiger in the moonlight.

They looked at each other in silence.

Finally, she nodded gently, and beneath the cover of her black veil, her red lips parted slightly:

"Alright."

Xu Yuan smiled lightly: "Come early."

Without a sound,

the white tiger instantly transformed into a white blur, racing towards the mountain peak, leaving behind only that figure in black robes like dried ink, sitting alone on the vast snowy ground....