The journey continued deeper into the mountains. As they traveled, the group encountered strange and beautiful sights that the desolate Wastes could never offer.

  One afternoon, they entered the Canyon of Glass Winds.

  It was a narrow gorge where the rock walls were composed of a translucent, quartz-like mineral. As the wind blew through the naturally formed holes and flutes in the rock, the entire canyon sang. It wasn't a single note but a complex if not haunting symphony of low hums and high, crystalline chimes.

  Li Yu stopped Tekton so they could listen.

  "It sounds like a choir of ghosts," Si Luo murmured. She sat on Tekton’s head with her eyes closed and was letting the vibrations wash over her. "It reminds me of the Void-Winds near the edge of my realm. Lonely, but beautiful."

  "It is perfect," Bai Ruo noted. "The frequency resonates with the Dantian. If you cultivate here it would help break bottlenecks related to sound techniques."

  'It hurts my ears,' Tekton grumbled. 'It's too high pitched. Like a mosquito buzzing inside my brain. Can we move on from here?'

  "Just enjoy it, Tekton," Li Yu said as he was leaning back and watching the clouds drift past the jagged crystal peaks. "It is rare to find music made by the earth itself. We might never be back here again."

  Much to Tekton’s disapproval they spent an hour there, just listening. Li Yu brewed a pot of tea. They didn't speak much. They just sat together—a human, a spider, a worm, and a centipede—sharing a moment of peace amidst the symphony of the stones. It was a reminder that the cultivation world wasn't just about fighting and killing; it was filled with wonders and sound.

  As the days turned into nights, the trio spent their travel time discussing the mysteries of the void. Li Yu wanted to learn more and the girls were happy to share their own understandings.

  Since both Si Luo and Bai Ruo were high-level void beasts, their understanding of space was innate, woven into their very bloodline. Li Yu, on the other hand had learned it through comprehension and force.

  They didn't use lectures or textbooks. Their conversations were abstract, bordering on the philosophical.

  Si Luo would weave complex patterns with her silk, demonstrating how space wasn't empty but a fabric that could be pulled, folded and knotted. She showed Li Yu that distance could be viewed like it was an illusion created by the tension of the weave.

  Bai Ruo approached it differently. She spoke of "consumption" and "digestion." To her, space was matter to be moved. She demonstrated how to sense the "soft spots" in reality—the places where the barrier between layers was thin.

  Li Yu absorbed it all and was sharing his own insights. He didn't gain a sudden level-up but his perspective shifted. He began to see the Void not as a dark ocean he had to conquer but as a medium he could exist within.

  Just like the Leviathan swimming in the ocean, his leviathan should be able to swim in the void as well. His Void Qi became less jagged and a bit smoother. He learned to sense the flow rather than just the obstruction.

  It was a time of mutual growth. Li Yu also taught them about the mortal world, about cooking, and about the different types of Qi he had encountered. In return, they gave him the keys to understand the house he had been breaking into.

  A few days later, they witnessed something truly majestic.

  They were trekking along a high, narrow ridge where the air was thin and crisp. The vegetation here was sparse and was mostly hardy alpine flowers clinging to the rock face.

  "Stop," Li Yu whispered while holding up a hand. "Look ahead."

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Emerging from a fissure in the mountain was a swarm of Frost-Glass Butterflies.

  They weren't giant monsters. They were small, delicate creatures, each no larger than a hand. Their wings were completely transparent, like shards of living ice, veined with faint traces of blue Qi.

  There were thousands of them. They rose from the fissure like a column of sparkling smoke, catching the afternoon sunlight. As they flapped their wings, they refracted the light, creating a dazzling, shifting rainbow that painted the grey rocks in brilliant colors.

  "Beautiful," Bai Ruo breathed. Her eyes were wide. "They migrate to the higher peaks to feed on the pure frost Qi. Their wings are perfectly structured to capture solar energy."

  "They are fragile," Si Luo noted with her voice unusually soft. She extended a finger and one of the butterflies landed on it. It didn't fear her. It just pulsed its wings slowly. "One touch and they shatter. Yet they survive in this harsh wind."

  Li Yu watched the swarm dance in the air. It was a river of light, flowing upward against gravity. It was scenes like this that made him love traveling. The world was full of terrors, yes, but it was also full of quiet miracles.

  "Can I eat one?" Tekton asked while leaning in close to inspect a butterfly that had landed on a rock. "It looks crunchy. Like sugar glass."

  "No," Li Yu said firmly, shooing Tekton back. "Let them be. They are too pretty to be a snack." Li Yu liked them so much that he captured around 50 of them. He didn’t do it by force, he opened his Koi Sanctuary and let the ones that wanted to fly in do so. Since they had connections to ice, they had a faint aquatic bloodline as well. He was hoping they would multiply and fill his Koi Sanctuary with beautiful flight.

  They watched until the last of the butterflies disappeared into the clouds above, leaving the ridge feeling a little emptier but the air a little brighter.

  The landscape changed again as they descended from the high peaks. The jagged rocks smoothed out into rolling mist-covered hills. The air grew moist and cool, smelling of damp earth.

  "We are entering the Cloud-Pine Range," Li Yu said as he was checking his map. "According to the Alliance records, this area is designated as 'Neutral.' No major sects claim it."

  ‘I can see why,’ Si Luo said, back in her ornament form but projecting her senses. 'The spiritual energy here is... strange. It’s thick but sluggish. Like trying to breathe soup.'

  'It interferes with spatial sensing,' Bai Ruo added nervously. ' I feel like I'm looking through frosted glass. I can't see more than a mile ahead.'

  They crested a large hill and looked down into a valley completely shrouded in white mist. In the center of the mist, barely visible, were the peaked roofs of a village. Lanterns glowed with a soft, orange light, creating a warm, hazy halo in the fog.

  "A village?" Li Yu asked. "This deep in the mountains? There are no roads leading here at all."

  "It looks... peaceful," Bai Ruo said.

  "It looks suspicious," Si Luo corrected. "Why build a village where no trade routes go? And why are the lights on at mid-day?"

  Li Yu looked up. The sun was indeed high in the sky, though muted by the fog. Yet the village below was lit as if it were midnight. The silence was absolute. No dogs barking, no roosters crowing, no sound of hammers or carts.

  "Maybe they just like lanterns," Li Yu guessed. "Or maybe it's a festival."

  He sensed no killing intent. No demonic aura. Just the slow, heavy pulse of the strange spiritual energy.

  "We need supplies," Li Yu decided. "And I want to know where we are exactly. Tekton, shrink down. We walk from here."

  Li Yu hopped off. Tekton shrank into his bracelet form, clicking happily at the prospect of a nap. Li Yu adjusted his robes, making sure the spider and worm ornaments were secure.

  "Be ready for anything," Li Yu whispered. "But let's try to be polite. We are guests."

  'I am always polite,' Si Luo scoffed mentally. She shifted her outfit to one that covered up to match how most dressed on these lands. 'Unless they are rude. Then I bite.'

  Li Yu began the descent down the winding path into the mist. As they got closer, the silence of the mountains seemed to deepen, swallowing the sound of their footsteps. It felt less like walking into a valley and more like walking into a dream.

  The village gate loomed ahead—a massive archway made of dark, ancient wood that looked petrified. It was carved with symbols Li Yu didn't recognize—swirling patterns that hurt the eyes if you looked at them too long.

  There were no guards. Just the open gate and the inviting, eerie glow of the lanterns beyond.

  Li Yu stopped just at the threshold. He took a deep breath of the damp air. It smelled of pine needles, rain, and... old paper?

  "Hello?" Li Yu called out.

  His voice vanished into the fog, unanswered. It didn't echo. The mist seemed to eat the sound.

  "Well," Li Yu adjusted his hat, stepping forward. "Here we go."