Journey to the End of the Night
Chapter 113 - 113 113 The Young Boy Unaware of Affairs in the Mountains

113: Chapter 113: The Young Boy Unaware of Affairs in the Mountains 113: Chapter 113: The Young Boy Unaware of Affairs in the Mountains Baili An, however, was not intimidated by Fang Geyu’s Mecha warrior that day.

Even though that Mecha warrior had a robust physique, wielding the strength at the pinnacle of the Kaiyuan realm.

But he had the corpse demon’s body and was protected by the Corpse Pearl Dao Fish; actual combat would not be such a difficult task.

What he truly worried about was that the young girl might have other, more powerful Mechas at her disposal, not to mention the several Unicorns by her side.

Although they seemed docile and approachable at the moment, Baili An believed that any one of them could instantly destroy her Mecha.

Lin Guiyuan pondered for a moment, then said, “Young master, your spiritual power has only just begun to emerge; naturally, it cannot leave a mark on mysterious cold iron, and besides, mysterious cold iron has special properties.

It is only suitable for Artifact Refining, but to carry the power of Talisman, it is greatly insufficient.

I think it would be better to use Spirit Stones, which are not only less durable, but can also contain spiritual power within them.

Moreover, they can maximize the effect of the Talisman’s power.”

Baili An’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Lin Guiyuan with surprise and praised, “That’s truly a brilliant idea, though Guiyuan, you seem to know quite a lot.”

Lin Guiyuan scratched his head embarrassedly and laughed, “When I have free time, my mountain father always likes to force me to read books.

If you need Spirit Stones, young master, you can go and take them yourself from the Divine Mansion in the West Realm.”

Beneath the Mountain Realm’s Barrier lies the Divine Mansion, which is divided into four realms: the East Realm, the Southern Realm, the West Realm, and the North Territory.

Among these, the East Realm of the Divine Mansion is the place where Baili An has spent the most time.

It houses three thousand volumes.

Within are amassments of diverse knowledge, including many travel and historical records, spiritual methods, Military Strategy, the arts of Artifact Refining, Alchemy, mental methods, music and Chess Records, as well as various pictorials of exotic flowers and fruits; even books related to Barrier Arrays were comprehensively collected within.

The Southern Realm of the Divine Mansion, also known as the Southern Armory, houses a vast collection of weapons, not as crammed as the other three realms, slightly more spacious.

But the weapons there were all self-sealed, with Spirit condensing eight-direction ice walls, and the weapons were encased within the ice, bestowed only to those fated.

And the Cangyu Blade from Lin Guiyuan’s Golden Crow Vine Garden was also from there, and both were among the best of their kind.

The West Realm of the Divine Mansion resembled a grand treasury, storing a large number of rare treasures, mainly Spirit Stones.

The North Territory of the Divine Mansion was the place where elixirs were stored.

Over thousands of years, Mountain Father had learned a great Alchemy skill, and the elixirs he made in his bored leisure were all hidden there.

Just the thought of the number of years, ‘ten thousand,’ was enough to guess at the astonishing quantity of elixirs stored within.

After hearing Lin Guiyuan’s opinion, Baili An’s interest surged, very much looking forward to what marvelous findings the combination of mysterious cold iron, Spirit Stones, and the Undying Puppet Talisman within the Black Stone Heart might produce.

With the Mountain Seal in hand, Baili An dived into the lake and easily passed through the Barrier without any hindrance.

Soaking wet on the shore, he dried himself with Spiritual Power and then set off towards the Divine Mansion.

In the gradually chilling mountain breeze, Baili An subconsciously turned his head to glance at the spot where Mountain Father had fallen.

That look stunned him.

The ancient Divine Tree had withered, no longer bountiful and thriving nor bearing the gaze of the kindly old man’s undivided attention.

All that remained was a dead tree pit full of fallen leaves and old soil.

Among the fallen leaves and old dirt, however, lay a sleeping young girl.

The girl was clad in a crane robe of pure white, unblemished; a white sash tied around her forehead, with a black pattern stitched along the edges.

Altogether, it resembled a magnificent yet mournful mourning outfit.

The Sword Box and sword she usually kept close to her person had now been taken into her arms.

Curled up into a small bundle, her shut eyes and brows carried her customary slight arrogance and cold detachment, but her thick, curled lashes held a single tear drop…

Baili An’s step froze in mid-motion.

He looked on at this scene with a complex expression.

As the mountain wind picked up, brisk and cold, the leaves covering the girl were swept up by the chill breeze.

As if feeling the biting and cruel night wind, the tear on her lashes trembled before falling into the dust and disappearing; yet she refused to wake up, curling even tighter into herself.

Her lips, tinged a faint blue from the cold, moved slightly, and from between her lips, a choking voice emerged, “Mountain Father Grandpa…”

Baili An withdrew his gaze to look at the sky.

Far off, the mountains loomed majestically with the cold moon hanging high; through the woods, the faint glow of fireflies flickered on and off.

Unaware of the events inside the mountain, he had thought that she had traveled thousands of miles for nothing more than the mountain itself.

Baili An slowly closed his eyes, feeling the cold wind on his face.

So it turned out… she was already a person of the mountain.

All she sought was a piece of pure land, a stretch of lake, just an old tree.

As the ten-day deadline rapidly approached, there was Fang Geyu, sitting inelegantly with her legs crossed on a wicker chair, leisurely peeling a crystal purple grape, the imposing figure of a Mecha standing rigidly by her side.

Before the battle even started, she already wore an air of confident arrogance.

Her slender fingertips deftly peeled the grape, in no hurry to eat it, as if disdainful of the juice staining her freshly applied rouge; she merely held it trembling on her fingertips.

Looking at Fang Geyu in this state, the girl who had slept among the fallen leaves that night seemed like an ephemeral dream, elusive.

She bore no trace of the night’s despondence.

Of course, she didn’t know that Baili An had entered the Mountain Realm that night.

She was as willful and presumptuous as ever, completely unversed in the rules, looking boredly at the crudely made Mecha by Baili An’s side that had been built in just a few days.

She sneered, her eyes filled with disdain, “You dare to show off such a piece of junk?”

Not just Fang Geyu, even Jin Sheng and the others from the Jinsheng Garden felt immense shame.

Compared with Fang Geyu’s Mecha, adorned in radiant gold and draped in a bright red cloak, brandishing a broadsword, with the rose emblems unique to Shifang City etched upon its body and sword.

Its mechanical, cold eyes shimmered with a magma-like glow, exuding a heavy sense of oppression.

Looking at the clumsily standing behemoth beside Baili An, one hardly needed the word ‘crude’ to describe it.

The ten days were neither long nor short; still, Baili An had fashioned a roughly square chunk of iron to serve as the body.

A smaller piece of iron served as the head, with two mismatched holes dug out to vaguely resemble eyes.

Then limbs made of long strips of iron were attached to the body with several iron axles, a sight both cumbersome and comical.

Such a slapdash effort had Jin Sheng wondering if the boy was trying to surrender in some convoluted way.

Fang Geyu swallowed the grape in her fingers and casually patted her Mecha, evidently activating some mechanism.

The Mecha took heavy steps, advancing towards Baili An with full intent to fight.

“Enough, I’ve dallied here for ten days.

Deer boy, considering how adorably foolish you are, I wouldn’t mind keeping you here in the mountain.

If you can hand over the Mountain Seal cleanly after your defeat, I’m willing to reward you with a Mecha to play with,” the girl said arrogantly and generously.