The base of Dragon's Tooth Peak was a quiet monument to the past. The skeletons of spiritual beasts and the occasional remains of a cultivator were scattered among the rocks. The air itself felt different here—heavy, charged, and humming with a low-level energy that was almost tangible.
The trail he had been following ended at the base of a sheer, hundred-meter cliff face. There were no obvious handholds or a gentle slope. The only way forward was a vertical ascent. This was the mountain's first challenge.
Li Chen looked at the imposing wall of granite, then down at his hands. He flexed his fingers, the obsidian talons of the Gecko-Talon Gauntlets scraping lightly against each other. He had engineered them for this exact moment and needed to trust in his own work.
He placed his hands and feet against the rock. The tacky polymer pads gripped the surface, and the hard talons found purchase in small fissures. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up, transferring his weight onto the narrow holds. They held firm.
The climb was a slow and technical vertical journey. It was a test of not just his equipment, but his own, newly recovered endurance. He moved with a focused, methodical pace, knowing the ascent required his complete concentration. The wind pushed against him, forcing him to brace himself with every powerful gust. He kept his gaze fixed on the path above, his architect's eye scanning the rock for the most stable placements.
He was about halfway up the cliff face when a piercing shriek echoed from the sky above. He paused, pressing himself against the rock. A shadow passed over him. High above, a falcon-like creature with wings that seemed forged from slate circled. A Wind-Shear Falcon, a predator native to these high altitudes.
It had spotted him and seemed to view him as an intruder in its territory.
The falcon banked sharply, folding its wings for a dive. It descended towards him, a streak of grey against the sky, its shriek turning into a high-pitched whistle as it cut through the air.
Li Chen's mind worked quickly. He was on a cliff face, completely exposed. Fighting was not his way. Instead, he would use the environment itself. He recalled a minor formation from the codex, a principle used to create stable air for delicate experiments.
He focused his will, channeling a thread of Qi through both gauntlets into the rock face. He wasn't creating a pulse; he was creating a subtle Thermal Updraft Array. He used his Qi to create a minor temperature differential on the rock surface around him, causing the air to warm and rise, forming a localized, upward current.
As the falcon entered the final stage of its dive, it hit the column of rising air. The updraft disrupted its flight path, forcing it to adjust. The falcon, a creature of precision, found its flight becoming clumsy and inefficient.
After two failed attempts to correct its course against the subtle but persistent air current, the falcon seemed to decide its target wasn't worth the effort. It gave a frustrated cry, pulled out of its dive, and soared away to find prey in a location with more predictable winds.
Li Chen clung to the wall, his heart beating fast. His intellect had provided a solution once again—one of finesse, not force.
Exhausted from the effort, he finally hauled himself over the top of the cliff onto a narrow, windswept ledge. He found a small alcove that offered shelter from the relentless wind and took a moment to recover.
The summit was much closer now, a jagged spear of black rock against the sky. The storms were a constant, vortex above him. The hum of power was no longer a background noise but a dominant, impressive force.
As he watched the storm, his architect's eye caught something. The lightning that arced through the dark clouds wasn't random. It followed distinct, repeating pathways, flashing between specific, needle-like rock formations on the peak. It was a functioning system. An immense and wonderfully complex system.
A sudden, clear realization washed over him. The storm wasn't a natural phenomenon.
"System," he breathed, his voice filled with awe and respect. "Analyze the storm patterns. Cross-reference with the [Master Blueprint Archive]."
[Analyzing… Storm displays non-random energy discharge patterns consistent with a large-scale array. Searching Archive… Match Found.]
[Blueprint Identified: [Heavenly Bastion Array - Primal State]. A semi-sentient, self-sustaining defensive formation designed to use ambient atmospheric energy. It is one of the Three Great Heresies of the Celestial Formation Sect.]
Li Chen stared at the swirling vortex of lightning and wind. He wasn't just climbing a mountain. He was approaching the single greatest and most impressive creation of his ancestors. The "lock" to the Heart of the Mountain wasn't a door.
It was the storm itself.