The trek into the Qinling foothills was a test of raw endurance, but we traveled with the efficiency of a high-speed blade. There were no clunky caravans or pack animals to slow us down. Everything—from our high-grade medicinal scrolls to the specialized elemental reagents—was tucked away in the silver-banded Space Rings glinting on my brothers' fingers. We moved as an unburdened strike team, our boots crunching rhythmically against the jagged shale.
I didn't have to struggle with the steep incline. Li Jun, the third brother, had a constant, gentle current of Wind Element swirling around his feet, occasionally lifting me up to glide over the more difficult rock faces as if I were weightless. To any observer, we looked like a wealthy family on a mountain excursion, but the way my brothers' eyes constantly scanned the ridgelines told a far more lethal story.
We reached the "Cloud-Reach Outpost," a rugged stone fortress built into a cliffside that served as the final checkpoint before the true High-Danger zones. It was a place where the air tasted like iron and the mages all looked like they hadn't slept in weeks.
As we approached the communal resting area to consult the mountain maps, the atmosphere shifted. A group of mages dressed in matching, high-end tactical robes—the "Azure Dragon" emblem of a famous Shanghai mercenary guild stitched onto their sleeves—were holding court. Their leader, a man with a scarred face and a visible aura of Wind-element energy radiating from his boots, watched our approach with a sneer.
"Check it out," the leader laughed, loud enough for the whole outpost to hear. "The Qinling trails are getting soft. Now we've got families bringing their elementary schoolers on a mountain hike. Hey, kid! You lost? The petting zoo is three hundred miles back toward the city."
Li Wei stopped mid-stride. A dangerous, predatory spark flickered in his eyes, but Li Shen placed a calm hand on his shoulder.
"We're just passing through," Shen said, his voice level and cold. "Keep your jokes to yourself."
"Passing through?" A woman from the Azure Dragon team stepped forward, her eyes scanning our group with blatant disrespect. She noted the lack of heavy gear and the expensive Space Rings on my brothers' hands, her eyes flashing with greed. "This is a High-Danger zone. We've got a permit to clear the Giant-Winged Vulture nests up ahead. Amateurs like you just get in the way and end up as bird feed. Why don't you hand over those fancy rings and turn back before you get hurt?"
She directed her gaze at me, her lip curling. "And leave the brat. Maybe the military can find him a foster home after you lot get eaten."
The temperature in the outpost plummeted instantly. Frost began to bloom across the stone floor, spreading from Li Shen's feet like a crystalline web.
Li Zhu, the fifth brother, let out a soft, jagged laugh. He didn't look at the woman; he looked at me, his hand resting protectively on my shoulder. "Yuzi, cover your ears for a second? The grown-ups are being noisy."
The Azure Dragon leader's eyes narrowed, his hand moving toward his magic tool. "You think I'm joking? I'm an Advanced Wind Mage. If I want this road clear—"
He didn't get to finish.
Li Shen didn't even weave a visible Star Chart. With his Shadow Element at Level 3, the movement was instantaneous. One moment he was standing by my side; the next, he was a silhouette standing directly in the leader's shadow. The ground beneath the mercenary group turned into a literal abyss of darkness.
"Shadow Element: Giant Shadow Spike – Puppet Control," Shen's voice was a cold whisper that seemed to echo from the earth itself.
Six massive, obsidian spikes erupted from the shadows, pinning the shadows of the Azure Dragon team to the stone. The mercenaries gasped, realizing they couldn't move a single muscle. It was as if their bodies had been welded to the mountain by their own reflections.
"Hey, watch this, Yuzi!" Li Wei grinned, stepping forward. He didn't use a high-tier spell; he didn't need to. He simply snapped his fingers.
Lightning Element: Silent Thunder – Lv. 2.
A singular, heavy pillar of violet lightning dropped from the clear sky. It didn't hit the mages—it hit the center of their campfire. The logs didn't just burn; they were vaporized instantly, leaving a smoking, glass-lined crater in the middle of the outpost. The shockwave sent the "Elite" hunters stumbling back as their shadow-shackles broke, their robes singed and their hair standing on end from the residual static.
"The kid stays with us," Li Wei said, his voice dropping the playful tone for something much darker. "And the trail? It's ours. If I see your 'Azure Dragon' patch on the path ahead of us, I won't miss the fire next time."
The mercenaries were pale, their bravado evaporated. They had spent years reaching the Advanced tier, but they had just realized they were looking at a group of outliers who treated Advanced-tier magic like a playground toy.
Li Shen stepped out of the shadows, his expression once again calm as he looked back at us. "Jun, Han, let's move. We're wasting daylight."
As we moved past the frozen mercenary team, Li Zhu reached up and ruffled my hair, handing me a piece of dried fruit he'd pulled from a pocket. "See, Yuzi? That's why we don't skip practice."
I watched as we headed toward the high peaks, the "Elite" team still staring at the smoking crater where their fire used to be.
"Brother Shen," I said, looking up at the eldest. "Can I see the Level 5 Fire Fist when we get to the vultures? Please?"
Li Wei barked a laugh, his eyes fixed on the jagged peaks ahead. "Kid, for you? I'll turn the whole mountain into a fireplace."
______
The higher we climbed, the thinner the air became, turning into a sharp, biting cold that smelled of ancient stone and ozone. The Cloud-Reach Outpost was far below us now, a mere speck against the vast, jagged spine of the Qinling Mountains.
We stopped at the edge of the "Sky-Shatter Ravine." Above us, the sky was no longer blue; it was obscured by a swirling, chaotic cloud of grey feathers and screeching cries. Thousands of Giant-Winged Vultures circled the peaks, their wingspans wide enough to eclipse the sun. In the center of the flock, a massive entity—the Storm-Call Commander—perched on a jagged spire, its feathers shimmering with a metallic, electric sheen.
"Now what? Should we start?" I asked, my gaze fixed on the monsters circling the sky like vultures.
"No, Yuzi. We wait," Brother Li Shen replied, his voice a low rasp. "Our new allies will be here any moment; we move then. Until they arrive, we stay in the shadows—this place is crawling with Commander-level demons."
To Be Continue.....
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