He no longer wanted to experience this kind of situation again, where he could be killed at any time, where he did not even dare to leave the door or walk on the road, where even while riding a flying puppet he had to constantly use concealment talismans to hide his presence, afraid of being noticed by others.
The excitement he had when leaving home had turned into unwillingness.
Xiao Shou pressed his lips together and paused for a moment in front of the Snowy Cave Mountain boundary stele. Then he piloted the wooden crane puppet up into the sky again and observing Snowy Cave Mountain vertically from above.
As expected, Snowy Cave Mountain was just as described in the original novel. It was spanning a thousand miles with thin spiritual energy.
However, there were also many details not recorded in the original text.
For example, the mountain itself was about ten thousand meters high, with steep and rugged peaks.
Faint traces of beast shadows and bird tracks could be seen, but most were ordinary beasts.
There were only three demonic beasts that carried spiritual energy and all of them were active near the mountain peak.
Overall, whether wild beasts or demonic beasts, their numbers were sparse relative to the entire mountain's size.
This was because the spiritual energy density of the mountain was far lower than the surrounding regions, causing the vegetation to be sparse and mostly composed of dark green massive rocks.
There was also a gigantic waterfall about seven thousand meters high occupying the entire rear mountain.
The roaring sound of rushing water formed a huge bottomless pool.
Aside from this massive pool, there were several spring sources on the mountain, forming winding streams.
Most of the beasts in the mountain drank from these streams.
According to the map information, within a thousand miles around Snowy Cave Mountain, there was no human habitation.
To the east, four thousand miles away, was the massive Azure Origin City.
To the west, a little over two thousand miles away, was a town called Rong Family Town.
Although it was called a town, it was actually wider than modern first-tier cities.
However, in the cultivation world where land stretched for millions of miles, it was indeed small.
This Rong Family Town was established by one of the three great aristocratic families of Azure Origin City, the Rong family, and served as a residence for branch members of the clan.
Most of the people there had the surname Rong.
The Rong family also sent cultivators to guard the area, so it was not afraid of demonic beast attacks.
In the entire Heaven Origin Realm, only a small number of people could afford teleportation arrays.
Most of them still had to travel on their own.
Therefore, traveling cultivators heading to Azure Origin City would often stop at Rong Family Town to rest and gather information about Azure Origin City.
The locals could make a living simply by charging small fees for lodging, food, and information.
This town itself was originally built by the Rong family to house branch clan members who had no cultivation prospects or poor talent.
As for the southern side of Snowy Cave Mountain, within about three thousand miles there was a vast wasteland with no human presence, only demonic beasts, forests, and vegetation.
Beyond three thousand miles was a marshland spanning hundreds of thousands of miles.
According to the map, the region bordering the marshland was the mortal settlement area called the Sunfall Domain.
The northern side was still wasteland until about five thousand miles away, where there was a large river running straight toward the edge of the continent, leading to the sea region.
That river was marked on the map as the Sea Connecting River.
After looking over the map, Xiao Shou already had a basic understanding of the environment around Snowy Cave Mountain.
In a simple phrase, it was just a wilderness with no human presence.
Fortunately, Snowy Cave Mountain could conceal spiritual energy and would not attract the attention of demonic beasts or cultivators.
There were also no villages or towns nearby, so it would not draw those demonic cultivators or ghost cultivators who relied on human blood, qi, and souls for cultivation.
For him, who needed a quiet place, this was an excellent place to settle down.
Feeling much more relaxed, Xiao Shou put away the map.
He looked left and right and chose to land at a location on the mountainside that most closely matched the description in the original book.
Because it was already night, it was impossible to find the exact spot.
So he first sat in meditation on a nearby tree for the night.
When the next day barely broke with the faint light of dawn, he began searching for what he estimated to be a Golden Origin Fruit that had only grown for a few years.
He searched until noon before finally finding that overly delicate and tiny Golden Origin Fruit.
He took a deep breath and took out from his pouch a specially refined item he had merged.
It was a mountain breaking chisel used specifically for mining in the cultivation world.
His Qi Refining cultivation could not compare to Foundation Establishment cultivators, so even with a sharp tool, Xiao Shou still spent a full three days before finally chipping open a passage into the mountain's inner cavity and welcoming the baptism of spiritual energy that had condensed for over ten thousand years and was nearly liquefied.
He only took a few deep breaths, yet his cultivation directly rose by one level, breaking through to Qi Refining Layer Eleven.
Only then did Xiao Shou gain a profound understanding of the density of spiritual energy here.
To prevent spiritual energy from leaking out, be hurriedly ran to the entrance of the passage and used a formation barrier to seal it.
Only after confirming that the spiritual energy would no longer escape did he finally relax, and his mood shifted to carefully observing the interior of the mountain.