Chapter 160

  Eternal Range (II)

  It's now been almost a year since I came to this world.

  No, seriously.

  A freakin' year.

  I can't believe it. Not in the slightest. Not just that I've come here, that's for sure, but that I survived all this while. And as though to celebrate the anniversary, Dai Xiu decided to give me a present--her breaking through into the Foundation Establishment.

  As I had dozens of herbs stashed away to help with this exact thing, I've handed her like six, in addition to over five thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones. At the same time, Long Tao drew a formation around her to hide Qi fluctuations while the rest of us retreated into the trees, watching.

  That's right, we were back in the forest--just temporarily, though.

  In these past few months, we mostly stuck to the main roads, occasionally visiting villages in a desperate search for other means of travel until we did actually stumble upon one that was selling exactly three horses.

  Hey, it's better than nothing.

  As such, for about a month and a half now, really, Light rode with me, Dai Xiu and Wan Lan rode together, and Long Tao tolerated Xi Zhao riding with him. Because of that, our speed... well, it wasn't as fast as I thought it'd be--I forgot that horses needed to rest, too--but at least I no longer wanted to put a hole in my lungs just so I could breathe better.

  And the blisters on my feet finally went away. Another cause for celebration.

  Anyway, according to Wan Lan, we weren't actually that far away from the Eternal Range--a mountain range so wide that it walled off the entire region all by itself. Nobody's ever measured it, apparently, but some 'mathematicians,' or whatever they called themselves here, estimated that it was at least fifteen hundred miles.

  At which I scoffed.

  Because there's no freakin' way that there existed an uninterrupted mountain range that ran for one thousand and five hundred miles.

  Nope.

  I'm not buying it.

  Even if it's a fantasy world.

  I mean, if I ignore Qi and the weird beasts we ran into once or twice, the world itself, actually, wasn't all that different. For all the supposed 'towering mountains' and 'sky-piercing trees', every single tree or mountain I've seen so far in my life here fell very much within the line of expected.

  Now, I'm not saying a mountain range of that length doesn't exist; I'm just saying it doesn't exist in this backwater place.

  My best guess is that it's around 500 miles, give or take a few dozen; still massive, and probably kind of incomprehensible for people here, which is why they project it to such a massive size.

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  ... hmm. Am I being a bit of a modernist snob? 'cause I feel like I'm being a bit of a modernist snob. I mean, these people can fly--why wouldn't they be able to mathematically calculate the length of a mountain range? Because they don't have calculators?

  Yeah, I don't know.

  These are the kinds of thoughts that swarm me when I've got nothing else to do.

  According to my previous experiences with breakthroughs, they tend to take a while--at least a few hours--and Dai Xiu just began, not five minutes ago.

  Just like with Wan Lan, Qi began to coalesce around her into a misty haze, slowly drifting over and converging toward her. She appeared ethereal, honestly, under the slight mist of the strange colors that Qi produced, like a tiny little fairy or something. But all I could feel was nervousness--what if something went wrong?

  With Long Tao, I never have to worry. That guy will only die if he lets himself die.

  Wan Lan? I was a bit worried, but I also hadn't really known her for too long at the time, so I wasn't that worried.

  With the other kids?

  Oh boy.

  Is my heart ever at risk of a nice little attack?

  Anyway, I calmed myself by repeating a very simple mantra: she's a protag, so she won't die. She's a protag, so she won't die.

  All the same, the wait was nerve-wracking. With each passing hour, the Qi seemed to swell and grow even more excited, if that's even the right word. Colors, too, began to brim with more saturation, all until it peaked at the precise moment of her body starting to levitate off the ground.

  All Qi began to swirl and sink toward her abdomen, converging as though sucked in by an invisible force.

  She abruptly heaved her head backwards as a pillar of dangerously golden light pushed out, yet before it could announce to the world the presence of somebody special, it was quickly eaten up by the array.

  At the same time, the expected happened--the windows started to swarm my periphery. Dai Xiu has been my disciple from her beginnings, and she's used the method I created from the start, meaning that I'm finally going to get the full breadth of breakthrough rewards.

  I still remembered to first ensure she was fine, but when I saw her open her eyes and brightly smile before pointing at poor Xi Zhao and laughing, taunting him in the process, I turned and quickly checked the rewards... only to be met by a window I hadn't seen before.

  [Choose one of two rewards]

  Huh.

  That's new.

  But hey, choice is always better than getting something random, right?

  [Reward 1: a standard breakthrough reward, including Creation Points, progress in Body Purification, a one-time 1000 CP art creation geared toward the disciple, and a small potential for an extra reward]

  [Reward 2: obtain a new trait, Springroot (Mythical)]

  [Springroot (Mythical) -- Qi naturally gathers around you in its purest form. Though it has no tangible benefits to you directly, it allows others around you to cultivate 25% faster with far fewer impurities to deal with. Has a very minor chance to evolve into the Mandate of the Tranquil Flow (???) trait]

  ... huh.

  Would you look at that?

  I'm actually kind of... stumped.

  In the short term, the first reward is, by far, better. I'd immediately get more points and could create an art specifically geared toward Dai Xiu, making her even stronger. Furthermore, I'd probably get an item or two as I always did, and make some nice progress towards that 100% body purification goal.

  But long term?

  It's even less close.

  While art for Dai Xiu is nice, she'll probably outgrow it in a couple of years at most. Points can be earned in many ways, and it's not like I'm really in a hurry to completely purify this body. I mean, yes, yes I am, but I can wait for a little while longer. The only potential twist would be the items, but they're completely random. What if I get something stupid, like a mirror in which you always look beautiful because your face is slathered with some primitive-form filters?

  Everyone around me, though, cultivating 25% faster... I mean, for now, it wouldn't be otherworldly--but what about in a year? Theoretically, it could save literally three months of cultivation... per person.

  It... it has to be the trait, no? Ah, screw it! Trait it is! It's 'Mythical', for crying out loud! At last, there's something more special about me than just having slightly increased Demonic Qi sensitivity!