The climb was extremely exhausting.
Even the strong Zi Linling felt her internal energy rapidly depleting.
An hour later, she had barely reached a quarter of the way up.
But she was already covered in sweat, her fingertips and toes numb with pain.
Yet, she dared not be careless.
At this point, she was already five hundred meters high, and a single misstep would send her plummeting to her death, mashed into a pulp.
In contrast, Shi Jian, standing beside her, was neither red-faced nor out of breath, showing almost no change.
Zi Linling had to marvel at the robustness of the Shi clan people.
This was, of course, due to their stone bodies, which were immune to fatigue and pain; all they needed was to adjust their breathing.
The Shi clan possessed immense strength and formidable bodies.
Logically, they should have had an advantage in climbing.
However, along with these advantages came a significant cumbersomeness to their bodies.
Thus, their advantage in climbing was not very pronounced.
Of course, Shi Jian was not climbing this mountain pillar for the first time, so he naturally had some experience to draw upon.
But even so, with his abilities, it would likely take him over six hours to reach the summit.
Zi Linling, however, could not afford to do that. Her stamina had already been more than half depleted, making every step she took arduous.
If this continued, by the time she reached halfway, she would be completely out of strength.
At such high altitudes, a lack of stamina would lead to an even more perilous situation.
Even staying still would require strength to support her body.
Moreover, even if she managed to reach the summit through sheer willpower,
in such a dangerous place, being exhausted would be tantamount to suicide.
What should she do?
How could she reach the summit while preserving as much energy as possible?
Zi Linling chuckled bitterly, "If only I could fly!"
Fly?
Right!
Fly!
Zi Linling's eyes lit up.
She couldn't fly, but that didn't mean she couldn't borrow someone else's power to fly.
Whose power should she borrow?
Hehe!
Did she not have a little divine dragon among her companions, one that could fly naturally?
Zi Linling acted on her thoughts immediately, contacting Long'er in the contract space.
Without hesitation, Long'er transformed into his dragon form, rushed out of the contract space, and appeared directly beneath Zi Linling.
Flying was an innate ability of dragons, so it was not rejected by the mountain wall.
The moment Long'er's dragon form appeared, Zi Linling loosened her grip and landed steadily on his back.
Then, she had Long'er pick up Shi Jian as well.
However, Shi Jian was too heavy. When Long'er was not prepared, his dragon body sank down a notch.
Fortunately, Long'er reacted quickly and stabilized himself.
But Long'er was still in his juvenile stage, so carrying Shi Jian made him strain considerably.
Zi Linling sighed helplessly. Shi Jian was simply too large. With Shi Jian on his back, Long'er couldn't fly to the summit.
So, she had to ask Long'er to take Shi Jian back to the ground.
Shi Jian stood on the ground, feeling dejected.
Zi Linling shook her head helplessly, took out the Vajra Pills she had previously obtained, and offered them to Shi Jian, saying, "As you can see, Long'er can't carry you. So, you should take these Vajra Pills and return to your clan!"
Shi Jian moved his lips a few times, looking at Zi Linling with a wronged expression, but unable to say anything.
Seeing his demeanor, Zi Linling's heart softened, and she said helplessly, "If you don't want to go back, then wait for me here. Once I capture that hypocrite Fu Liuyun, we can go back together."
Although Shi Jian was still somewhat unwilling, he had no other choice.
Long'er couldn't carry him, and by the time he climbed to the summit, it would be far too late.
So he nodded and said, "I'll wait for you here. You must come back quickly!"
Zi Linling nodded, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon!"
With that said, she turned and stood on Long'er's back, then commanded Long'er to fly towards the summit.
Ten meters from the summit, Fu Liuyun was utterly exhausted.
If not for a force quietly supporting him, he would have long since fallen to the ground.
Over ten hours of climbing had pushed his body's potential to its limit.
However, a voice kept luring him, promising that if he reached the summit, it would bestow upon him power, making him a true Saint King realm expert.
Fu Liuyun had wanted to give up several times, but under the seductive voice, he had no choice.
Nine meters!
Eight meters!
Seven meters!
Fu Liuyun struggled to climb upwards.
At this moment, his consciousness was extremely hazy, his fingers and toes worn down to nubs, leaving only bare soles.
His entire body was covered in countless wounds, inflicted by the fierce winds near the summit.
Six meters!
Five meters!
Four meters!
Fu Liuyun had lost all sensation, blood leaving a long trail along the path he had climbed.
Three meters!
Two meters!
One meter!
He had finally arrived!
Fu Liuyun had completely lost consciousness, relying entirely on the force supporting him to send his body to the summit.
The summit was bone-chillingly cold.
When Fu Liuyun was hit by the cold wind, a flicker of spirit appeared in his hollow, vacant eyes, only to quickly disappear.
Zi Linling, at this moment, had directed Long'er to fly to an altitude of one thousand five hundred meters.
Here, the fierce winds were dense, attempting to shred Zi Linling and Long'er's bodies.
Although their bodies were already as strong as steel, they still couldn't withstand the relentless gale.
In just a single breath, they both sustained several wounds.
Especially Long'er, due to his large dragon body, sustained wounds several times more numerous than Zi Linling's.
Zi Linling had to deploy a spiritual energy shield to protect herself and Long'er within it.
Fortunately, Long'er was hovering in the air carrying her, not touching the mountain wall, so her spiritual energy shield was not devoured by the mountain.
After a while longer, Long'er finally reached the summit, but he had also expended too much energy.
Zi Linling jumped onto the summit, retracted Long'er into the contract space, and let him recover his strength.
She saw Fu Liuyun, covered in blood and on the verge of death.
Blood was still flowing from Fu Liuyun's body, at a rate as if being drawn out by a vacuum.
The place where he lay was already stained red with blood.
Looking at Fu Liuyun's tragic state, Zi Linling couldn't help but shiver.
But upon closer inspection, she realized that the blood was rapidly sinking into the mountain peak.
Zi Linling frowned. She sensed something was amiss, though she couldn't pinpoint what.
Because the mountain peak blocked divine sense, she didn't notice that inside the mountain, the blood being absorbed from Fu Liuyun was rapidly forming a pattern.
The pattern was extremely bizarre, giving one an eerie feeling.