Chapter 1643: Strange Symptoms
A vast expanse of snow.
Outside the barrier, they saw a deep, dark mountain range, but when they actually stepped through, they saw a vast stretch of white.
A blizzard intense enough to cover the entire mountain whirled about, and the howling winds were sharp as knives. Those present had no choice but to waste precious energy maintaining barriers around themselves to ensure their safety.
“It seemed the people who left earlier aren’t in the same place.” Yang Jian glanced at the towering blizzard and muttered. The wind and snow was just too much; it was so intense that not even imperial lords could fly here.
They couldn’t see anyone else’s footprints on the path, which was why Yang Jian made that judgment.
“Not necessarily.” Ye Zichen gently shook his head. “There’s so much snow that even if they left footprints, new snow would bury them quickly. If you don’t believe me, turn around and look behind us. Can you see our footprints?”
When Yang Jian heard that, he looked behind him. They’d already been walking for over an hour.
Although walking was slower than flying, their current pace wasn’t slow. They were already halfway up the first mountain. But Ye Zichen was right; the footprints they’d left on their way here had long since disappeared into the snow.
If anything happened and they needed to turn back, they wouldn’t be able to find their route.
“Isn’t this snow falling a bit too heavily?” Even the Hermit Emperor, a veritable fossil of the G.o.d race, couldn’t help but sigh. When such a turbulent blizzard fell, even the likes of them would be buried alive in but a hundred breaths of time unless they used divine power to defend themselves.
The only fortunate thing was that they hadn’t b.u.mped into a single beast guarding treasure on their way here.
But of course, that also meant that they hadn’t run into any treasure.
“Haven’t you noticed that you’re burning through your divine power rather quickly?” Pu Jingwan suddenly turned around. She seemed flushed, as if she were ill. Despite the piercing cold winds, there wear beads of sweat on her face.
Her bright eyes flashed with hints of exhaustion, and her lips were visibly moving, as if just breathing were difficult.
“Everyone, stop for a moment!” When he saw her condition, Ye Zichen hurriedly called his group to a stop.
Pu Jingwan was now like a fish gasping for breath on the beach. Her mouth was wide open as she struggled to breathe. When Ye Zichen walked over to her, she was already so weak, she couldn’t speak. Her face was a mask of agony.
“Senior Hermit Emperor!” Ye Zichen cried out, but the Hermit Emperor had already rushed to Pu Jingwan’s side. He stretched out his hand to take her pulse.
The others circled around her, then placed a barrier around Pu Jingwan.
“Everyone, out of the way. She needs fresh air.” When he saw the group gather around, the Hermit Emperor quickly sent them away. When Yang Jian and the others heard that, they didn’t delay. They made s.p.a.ce right away.
The Hermit Emperor tightly furrowed his brows as he took Pu Jingwan’s pulse. Suddenly, the group saw a streak of deep green light s.h.i.+ne on his palm. The light entered her body in sync with her pulse. Then, the Hermit Emperor took out a pill and placed it in her mouth.
“How is she?” said Ye Zichen in concern.
The frowning Hermit Emperor withdrew his hand. After receiving treatment, Pu Jingwan’s conditioned seemed to have eased somewhat, and her agonized expression mellowed a little.
“It seems like it’s alt.i.tude sickness, but her spiritual power is depleting extremely quickly. When I checked just now, her divine core was practically empty,” said the Hermit Emperor.
Alt.i.tude sickness?
How was that possible?
They were no ordinary people. Climbing high above seal level shouldn’t have affected their breathing. After all, most of them were imperial lord experts. They flew at higher alt.i.tudes than this mountain range on a daily basis, but they never showed any signs of alt.i.tude sickness.
The key point was actually what the Hermit Emperor said earlier: Pu Jingwan’s energy was flowing away quickly.
It had only been two hours since they entered the mountains, but although they’d been using their spiritual power to ward of the winds and frost, their expenditure couldn’t possibly have been this enormous.
Even Ye Zichen felt full of energy. An imperial lord like Pu Jingwan ought to have expended even less.
“Should we go back?” asked Yang Jian.
Regardless of whether this was really alt.i.tude sickness or not, Pu Jingwan had only wound up like this after entering the mountains. Perhaps flying and hiking were different, and climbing on foot really had led to alt.i.tude sickness.
Even here, Pu Jingwan’s cultivation couldn’t be considered low. Ye Zichen, Gu Li, and An Lu were all weaker in that regard, but none of them had any symptoms. Yet, the Hermit Emperor’s answer was alt.i.tude sickness.
“Don’t…” After taking her medicine, Pu Jingwan raised her hand and shook her head. Her face was still flushed, and her presence was extremely faint.
The struggled to her fate, a hint of a smile on her face. “I’m already better. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll walk in the back and take my time,” said Pu Jingwan. No matter what they said, she couldn’t leave. She was well aware that, should she request to go back down the mountain, Ye Zichen wouldn’t leave her on her own. They’d already come this far, but so many people had gone in before them. They had already entered late. If they took the time to send her back, they’d fall far too far behind.
She couldn’t let Ye Zichen miss out on his rightful good fortune just because of her.
“I’ll take care of Big Sister Jingwan,” volunteered An Lu.
Of those present, her cultivation was the weakest. She was just barely a diviner. Who knew how Gu Li had managed to bring her this far? The level of the mausoleum was quite clear; you needed to be at least a ruler.
An Lu’s cultivation was weak, so her companions had protected her all this time. She wasn’t willing to constantly create trouble for other people.
Now, she’d finally found a way she could help out, so she immediately volunteered. Gu Li glanced at her. He knew what she was thinking, so he nodded his approval.
“Here are some divine-grade spiritual recovery medicines. When your spiritual power runs low, take one.” Ye Zichen still couldn’t quite relax about Pu Jingwan’s condition, so he pulled out a dozen or so pill bottles.
Divine-grade recovery medicines were worth cities. Even the third layer of the Yao-Sealing PaG.o.da had less than a hundred bottles in stock. But this was no time to fuss about the cost. It didn’t matter how valuable the medicines were; they were nothing compared to Pu Jingwan’s life.
“Alright.” Pu Jingwan smiled as Ye Zichen pressed the bottled into her hands.
Ye Zichen then turned to An Lu and patted her on the head. “Take good care of Big Sister Jingwan, alright?”
“I will!” An Lu nodded firmly, then carefully helped Pu Jingwan away, like a dwarf carrying a giant.
“Do you think the G.o.d Emperor’s remnant soul might have tricked us? We’ve been walking for so long, but we’ve yet to see any trace of ‘ferocious beasts.’” Yang Jian arched his brow.
“Isn’t that a good thing? If we really ran into vicious beasts, would you want to fight them?”
“I‘ll do it!” The Great Sage pounded his chest. It seemed that the Great Sage, always hungry for a fight, was starting to run out of patience.
Ye Zichen shook his head and chuckled helplessly, but he really wasn’t worried about running into vicious beasts. Every last great emperor could hold their own. Even if they encountered guardians beasts, they didn’t need to worry about getting wiped out.
“An Lu! An Lu!”
At that moment, Pu Jingwan suddenly cried out weakly.
The group turned to look, then saw a figure streak ahead of them at top speed. “Out of the way!”
The first to rush over was naturally Gu Li. He shoved Pu Jingwan onto the ground, then looked at An Lu, who’d collapsed into the snow.
An Lu’s current state was similar to Pu Jingwan’s a few minutes ago. Her face was flushed, and she looked exhausted, like an ocean fish gasping for breath in shallow water.
“Gu Li, what are you doing?” Ye Zichen helped Pu Jingwan up, then roared at him.
“What do you think I’m doing? Can’t you see An Lu’s condition?” Gu Li’s eyes were bloodshot. An Lu was his life! When he saw her in this state, of course he was frantic!
“Jingwan, what happened to An Lu?” asked Ye Zichen.
“She said she was tired and wanted to rest a moment, so I suggested that we both take a quick break. I was just about to call out and let you know when this happened. Did I… Did I infect her with my disease?” asked Pu Jingwan in concern.
“What do you think?” Gu Li roared, as if he wanted to eat her alive.
The Hermit Emperor had been taking her pulse. He removed his hand. “Indeed, she has the same symptoms.”
“Pu Jingwan!”
A black orb shot at Pu Jingwan. Ye Zichen pulled out the Xuan-Yuan Sword and blocked it, diverting it to the mountainside. When it landed, it leveled that patch of mountain.
“Gu Li!”
“Gu Li.”
As Ye Zichen roared, An Lu limply tugged at Gu Li’s sleeves. “This had nothing to do with Big Sister Jingwan. You’re not allowed to hurt her.”
“An Lu, how do you feel?” asked Gu Li.
“I’m fine, it’s just, I was really tired for a moment there. I already feel much better,” said An Lu with a warm smile.
Gu Li’s eyes filled with pain. He couldn’t bear to go on, so he prepared to carry her back down the mountain.
“Gu Li, what are you doing? I’m already better!”
“We’re going back. I don’t care about transcendence!”
“Don’t throw a temper tantrum,” said An Lu, as if she were talking to a child. She scrunched up her brow. “We’ve come all the way here. How can you go back just like that?”
“I agree that we should go back,” said Ye Zichen.
He’d wanted to take Pu Jingwan back earlier. To his surprise, when Ye ZIchen said that, someone in their group snickered. “How pathetic. Both of the Third Era’s Masters of the Stars are soft-hearted sissies.”
When the group turned, they saw that the speaker was Venerate Spirit Treasure, who’d been silent all this time. He wore a sneer on his face as he looked at Ye Zichen and Gu Li, both of whom wanted to leave out of concern for the sick women. His eyes were full of disdain. “What do you think we’re here for? Playing house? Do you think you can just climb and descend the mountain when you feel like it? Don’t forget what you’re carrying on your shoulders. Going down at a time like this? Why didn’t you think of this earlier? The Transcendent Mausoleum carries transcendent fortune, so danger naturally lurks at every corner. If you didn’t want your women to get hurt, you shouldn’t have brought them here!”
“One look at their symptoms and you want to go back down, just like that. Fine, go right ahead….” Venerate Spirit Treasure pointed down at the clouds surrounding the base of the mountain, his eyes glinting coldly. “That is, if you want them both to die!”