The journey westward was undertaken in complete silence and shadow. Lin Fan and Yue Qingqian flew low, skimming the darkened valleys and ridges, their movements synchronized and efficient. The bulky cold-weather gear felt cumbersome, but necessary, as the temperature dropped noticeably with every hour they traveled further from the sect's core region.
Lin Fan led the way, his spiritual sense constantly scanning, not just for other cultivators (unlikely in this desolate region), but for natural hazards – sudden downdrafts, territorial nocturnal beasts, hidden energy fluctuations. His paranoia, honed over centuries, was now their most valuable navigational tool. Yue Qingqian followed closely, her own senses alert, trusting her Senior Brother's pathfinding implicitly.
After roughly six hours of relentless, low-altitude flight, they reached the Cloud-Sea border. This wasn't a physical boundary, but a dramatic shift in the landscape and atmosphere. Below them, the familiar, forested mountains gave way to a vast, roiling ocean of clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see, obscuring the land beneath. Rising from this sea of white like jagged black islands were the truly untamed peaks of the Tianxuan range – taller, steeper, and radiating a wild, primal energy utterly different from the sect's tamed territories.
And dominating the horizon, still impossibly distant but undeniably massive, was the silhouette of Sky-Piercer Peak. Its summit was lost in a perpetual vortex of dark, violent storm clouds, occasionally illuminated by flashes of internal lightning. It looked less like a mountain and more like a fortress of nature's fury.
"We cross here," Lin Fan's voice was a low whisper, transmitted via a simple sound-carrying technique. "Activate Wind-Breaking Amulets. Maintain altitude just above the cloud layer. Energy fluctuations become chaotic above this point."
They activated the amulets. A faint, almost invisible shield shimmered around them, instantly lessening the bite of the high-altitude wind. They rose slightly, skimming just over the endless, undulating surface of the clouds.
Flying here was immediately more difficult. The spiritual energy was thin and turbulent, making sustained flight require significantly more effort. Sudden, violent crosswinds would buffet them without warning, forcing them to constantly adjust their balance. Lin Fan navigated by landmarks only – the specific shapes of the peaks piercing the clouds, cross-referenced with the fragmented maps he had memorized.
As they flew deeper into the untamed region, the air grew even colder. Ice crystals began to form on the edges of their cloaks. The wind intensified, no longer just buffeting them but howling with a predatory force, carrying shards of ice that pinged sharply against their protective amulets.
Visibility dropped. The sea of clouds below began to merge with swirling grey mist above, trapping them in a disorienting, featureless void. Lin Fan slowed their pace, relying almost entirely on his Direction Sense talisman and his memory of the peak formations.
"Storm front approaching," his voice came, tight with tension. "We can't reach the summit directly through this. We need to find shelter and wait for a lull, or ascend on foot through the worst of it."
He scanned the swirling chaos below, searching for a suitable landing spot. According to his maps, there should be a small, relatively sheltered glacial basin on the northeastern flank of Sky-Piercer Peak, about two-thirds of the way up – a place occasionally used by ancient herb gatherers as a temporary camp.
Following the Direction Sense talisman's guidance, Lin Fan led them downwards, plunging into the disorienting grey mist. The wind howled, threatening to tear them from their swords. Ice shards hammered against their amulets, the protective light flickering under the assault.
After several tense minutes of near-blind descent, they broke through the lower cloud layer. Below them lay a breathtaking, terrifying landscape of sheer ice cliffs, deep crevasses, and jagged black rock swept clean by perpetual winds. The glacial basin Lin Fan sought was visible – a small, bowl-shaped depression sheltered on three sides by towering walls of ice and rock.
He guided them towards it, fighting against a vicious downdraft. They landed heavily on a relatively flat expanse of wind-packed snow and ice, their swords immediately retracted. The Wind-Breaking Amulets provided some relief, but the sheer, biting cold of the place seeped into their bones instantly. The howling wind echoed off the surrounding cliffs, creating a deafening roar.
"This is it," Lin Fan shouted over the wind, pulling his hood tighter. "Base camp. We rest here, acclimatize, and wait for the precise timing of the conjunction. The final ascent begins in approximately eighteen hours."
He immediately began assessing their surroundings, his eyes scanning the cliffs for potential beast lairs or avalanche risks. Yue Qingqian, meanwhile, took out tools to carve a shallow trench in the packed snow, creating a slightly more sheltered space for them to rest.
They were high on the slopes of a deadly, indifferent giant, surrounded by ice and storm, racing against a celestial clock. The relative safety of Xiao Xiao Peak felt like a distant, half-forgotten dream.