Different from the terrain inside the mist that was filled with all sorts of deadly ravines and holes that one could fall into if not careful, the mountain slope was covered in a thin layer of grass and moss with a few trees appearing from time to time. Making it far easier to traverse.
The only thing keeping Xuan Hao from just spreading his divine sense out in all directions around himself to search for the Three Celestials Gates, was the fact that he had no idea if there were any powerful demon beasts lurking around in the small caves he spotted along his way up the mountain. After all, he had already fought with one demon beast at the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm and had no plans to fight another one if he could avoid it!
Slowly ascending the mountain like this, Xuan Hao soon stepped foot on the peak of the mountain without encountering any demon beasts or anything remotely dangerous along the way.
"Nothing…?"
However, after reaching the peak of the mountain, he was met with nothing more thana barren platform made of stone and a few half-broken benches that were overlooking the surrounding mountains.
Although the few benches located on the edge of the stone platform would have been an excellent place to sit down and admire the expansive mountain range from above, it was not what Xuan Hao had been hoping to encounter at the top of the mountain.
"Looks like I won't be able to count on finding some abandoned abode and get some clues about the possible location of the Three Celestial Gates…" Muttering this to himself as he sat down on one of the few benches that had managed to remain intact, Xuan Hao turned to the other mountains of the mountain range.
Empty… Is the Three Celestial Gates perhaps not located on top of one of the mountains?
Realizing that they were in an empty state without anything on top of them or just covered in a simple viewing platform like the one he found himself on top of, Xuan Hao turned to look down towards the small patches of forest located in between the different mountains of the mountain range.
If the Three Celestial Gates were not on top of any of the mountain peaks, they could only be hidden somewhere inside the small forests below, a place that just so happened to also be perfect for any demon beast that might be living inside the mountain range to live.
Hopefully I won't end up encountering any…
Shaking his head as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao began scaling down the side of the mountain. Heading down towards a small forest that was located in a small valley in between the mountain he was on top of and a few other mountains. Only connected to the rest of the small forests of the mountain range through a small passage located at the base of the two mountains located farthest away from his current location.
Reaching the base at the mountain where the small forest started, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he gazed up at the trees standing more than a hundred meters tall in front of him. The so-called small forest that he had seen from above, was far larger than he had expected.
But this did not deter him, as he soon entered the forest in search of the Three Celestial Gates. Not forgetting to be ready for an ambush at any moment, as the large trees and thick foliage covering the ground would be perfect for any potential ambusher to launch a surprise attack.
…
At the same time Xuan Hao started his search for the Three Celestial Gates, Chu Yang and Qing Yi had already found the hole in the ceiling of the cave that the mole demon beast had fallen through a few days earlier and were currently trying their best to figure out a way to reach the hole in the ceiling.
After all, they were not in the Domain Lord Realm and couldn't fly up to reach the hole in the ceiling and enter the mole demon beast's tunnel this way. Jumping was also out of the question, as the ceiling was too high up for them to reach.
Not to mention, doing any of this also came with the risk of getting noticed by the demon beasts roaming around the underground world. Maybe even resulting in the mole demon beast noticing and following after them!
"Hm?"
As both of them were lost in thought trying to come up with ways that they could actually reach the entrance to the mole beast's tunnel above them, Qing Yi suddenly noticed the large roots sticking out from the cave wall just a short distance away from where the hole was located. "Can we perhaps use the roots over there?" Poking Chu Yang's should as she said this, Qing Yi did not forget to point towards the roots she had spotted.
"Roots?" Hearing what Qing Yi said and feeling her finger poking him in an increasingly energetic manner, Chu Yang turned to look in the direction she was pointing with a confused expression on his face.
"Ah! Of course! Great idea senior sister!"
Seeing the countless roots sticking out from the side of the cave wall, Chu Yang instantly understood what Qing Yi wanted to do and began making his way towards the roots. Not falling too far behind, Qing Yi also made her way over towards the root covered cave wall.
"Hm? The roots are far smaller than they looked from a distance…"
Arriving at the wall filled with roots beside Chu Yang, Qing Yi could not help feeling a sense of unease after realizing that the roots covering the cave wall were far smaller up close.
Given their current size and width, would they even be able to hold up their weight without breaking?
"Do you want to go first, or should I have the honor?" Noticing the small frown that had appeared on her face, Chu Yang could not help jokingly asking this.
"You can go first. After all, we still need someone to test if these roots can even hold or weight in the first place" Rolling her eyes upon hearing what Chu Yang said, Qing Yi took the opportunity to let him test out the durability of the roots.
If he really wanted to make fun of her, he should be prepared to take responsibility for his own words!
"…"
Feeling like he had been caught in some kind of elaborate trap, Chu Yang had no idea what to say as he could only stare speechlessly at Qing Yi for a short moment before turning towards the cave wall filled with roots.
Looking at it again, he noticed that the roots sticking out from the cave wall did indeed look small and fragile.
However, the thing that made him pause for a moment, was the roots located at the top that barely connected the cave wall to the hole leading into the mole demon beast's tunnel. Those roots were barely large enough to grab hold of, let alone strong enough to carry his or Qing Yi's weight for more than a second. Maybe not even that long…
Creak~
Grabbing hold of one of the roots before starting to climb up the root covered cave wall the next moment, Chu Yang ignored the creaking sound of the roots that looked like they were about to break apart under his weight at any moment. In any case, even if one of them broke, he would have more than enough roots available to grab on to. Not to mention, with his strength in the Nascent Soul Realm, he was more than capable of sensing if the root he was using to support himself was about to break.
"Looks like the roots are still strong enough to last for a few seconds…" Muttering this to herself as she watched Chu Yang smoothly climb up the small roots without any of them breaking under his weight, Qing Yi soon grabbed hold of a root before starting her climb up the root covered wall. Not wanting to get left behind by Chu Yang who soon reached the top of the cave wall.
Whoosh~
Not wasting a second after having reached the top of the cave wall filled with roots, Chu Yang launching himself off the side of the wall towards one of the small roots hanging down from the ceiling-
Creak~
Whoosh~
Grabbing hold of the small root that only barely fit in one of his hands, Chu Yang launched himself forward in the direction of the next small root on the way towards the hole leading inside the mole demon beast's tunnel before the root had a chance to get pulled out from the cave ceiling.
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Continuing this all the way until he finally managed to reach the hole in the ceiling that luckily had a large rock hanging down just inside of it where he could wait for Qing Yi to catch up with him-
"Wah!?"
Bang~
Something that didn't take long, as his senior sister ended up miscalculating her speed. Resulting in her launching herself straight into the rock he was standing on. Needing him to grab her before she ended up falling back into the cave below.