Absolute Destiny Game.

Chapter 515 The Mountain Is Without Me
However, Xiao Jie could not fly indefinitely. The Nine Fiends Yin Wind caused his health to drop continuously. Xiao Jie did not dare to linger in the air for too long and flew rapidly northward. After flying several thousand meters away, seeing that his health bar had dropped by nearly half, he hurriedly plunged back into the sea to recover health while swimming frantically.

The giant Kun above them caught up again, slowly but with an overwhelming sense of pressure. Xiao Jie glanced around and realized that there were no more aquatic creatures he could enlighten.

Fortunately, he still has his underwater form to use.

Its essence takes form—Azure Scaled Golden Dragon!
Its body swelled up, instantly transforming into a dragon tens of meters long.

Of course, it was still tiny compared to that giant Kun. Without saying a word, Xiao Jie swam north at full speed.

The Kunpeng chased for quite a while until Xiao Jie completely shook it off, and only then did it finally give up the pursuit.

I swam for half an hour straight, but still couldn't see any sign of Guyunzhou ahead.

The transformation time for the Azure Scaled Golden Dragon was almost up. Fortunately, Xiao Jie possessed the mythical talent [Myriad Manifestations of Demonic Spirits], which allowed him to extend the transformation time by consuming mana. Xiao Jie also had high mana, so he could afford to wait it out.

This visit lasted for more than two hours.

Just as their mana was about to run out, an island finally appeared ahead.

Xiao Jie didn't have time to figure out what kind of place the island was at the moment. He urgently needed to find a place to rest, so he leaped onto the island and instantly transformed back into human form.

Phew, finally I can rest for a bit. Xiao Jie quickly sat cross-legged and began to recover his mana.

Once his mana was fully restored, he finally had time to properly observe the island.

The island is several miles in size, barren and devoid of any vegetation, with only layers of rock forming a stone mountain. At the very top of this stone mountain in the center of the island stands a huge stone monument.

Xiao Jie's interest was immediately piqued. The island's appearance in the North Sea, right on the only road to Guyun Prefecture, was definitely not without reason.

Since the game designers placed such an island here, it's highly likely that it's related to the path of seeking immortality.

The pursuit of immortality is itself a hidden questline. The various events and details that Xiao Jie encounters on his journey north reveal that the game's designers definitely designed the path to immortality intentionally.

According to general game design principles, for such a difficult task, the designers would inevitably arrange a lot of hardships and obstacles for the players, and would never let them complete it easily.

However, at the same time, this task must also have a chance of success. No game will create a task that players cannot complete, unless it is an unfinished project or a half-finished task for the next expansion.

Although this game cannot be judged by common sense, at least in terms of game design philosophy, from Xiao Jie's perspective, the designers seem to have designed it entirely according to the rules of a real game. This is the source of Xiao Jie's confidence that he can succeed in seeking immortality.

At that moment, he had a feeling that this island was definitely an important link in this mission chain.

As you slowly walk up to the top of the mountain, you will see a towering stone tablet with an extremely smooth surface. The material is clearly the same as the one in the Snowfall Valley Ice Cave.

But there was a poem written on it, as if carved with a knife and axe—

Seeking immortal traces is a perilous journey; mortals should not venture into the realm of illusion.

The sea is cold and the sky is frigid, making it impossible for boats to cross; the journey through the clouds is ten thousand miles, making it difficult for cranes to cross.

I urge you to stop here; if you decide to continue, remember this advice:
Do not seek a cave in the vast ocean, but look at the mountains; can they accommodate me?
If you understand the inverted method within, why bother searching for a pearl in the vast ocean?

Otherwise, we would have returned by boat much earlier, when the bright moonlight would have filled the rivers and lakes.

After silently reciting the poem, Xiao Jie understood. Sure enough, this poem must have been left by an immortal to warn those who wished to seek immortality.

Of course, it can also be understood as a hint given to the player by the quest designer.

Xiao Jie looked at the poem on the stone tablet and silently analyzed its meaning.

"To seek the path of immortality is a perilous journey, and a mortal body should not venture into the realm of the Great Void." This speaks of the perilous path to immortality, where a mortal body is powerless... But what does this "Great Void" mean?

Xiao Jie looked up at the sky. Although it was daytime, the sky was still pitch black, and he could even see some stars. Could it be that Taixu refers to outer space?
【The sea is cold and the sky is frigid, making it impossible for boats to cross; the journey through the clouds is long and difficult for cranes to traverse.】 This sentence is quite easy to understand. The North Sea is subject to an extreme cold debuff, and flying in the sky is subject to a bone-chilling wind debuff. Even if one can travel by boat or fly, it is difficult to cross.

Fortunately, this isn't a big problem for me.

【I advise you not to move forward any further; if you must proceed, remember this advice.】 This means that you should not go any further. If you must go forward, remember the following words. The word "諨" also has the meaning of a riddle, which obviously needs to be solved by the player.

【Do not seek a cave in the vast sea, but look at the mountains, can they be my refuge?】 This sentence is clearly a riddle, but what does it mean? Xiao Jie frowned and pondered, but could not figure it out.

The phrase "Do not seek your cave in the vast sea" likely means that Guyun Prefecture is not located at sea, which is quite obvious, as Guyun Prefecture is naturally in the sky.

But how do you interpret the following sentence? The only thing he can think of is the saying, "If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain." But what does this mountain refer to? Is it the mountain right in front of him? The problem is, I'm already on the mountain.

"If you understand the inversion within, why bother searching for a pearl in the vast ocean?" Inversion? Does it require a kind of reversed thinking to view the problem? It seems that if one can decipher the meaning of this sentence, one can successfully reach Lonely Cloud State.

【Otherwise, you'd better hurry back by boat, for the bright moonlight shines over the rivers and lakes.】 This line is quite obvious; if you can't figure it out, you might as well just get lost and go home.

Xiao Jie stared at the stone tablet for a long time, still puzzled. He thought he should take another look; perhaps there were more poems on the back of the tablet, and maybe more clues. He walked around the stone tablet to the other side, but was immediately startled.

Beneath the stone tablet lay a corpse, frozen solid due to the extreme cold.

Scattered around the bodies were many scattered skeletons, which looked to be at least six or seven people. However, these skeletons were scattered and only bones remained; there was not a single complete skeleton.

Even the corpse was still clutching a thigh bone in its arms.

Xiao Jie thought to himself that these corpses must have been left behind by the seekers of immortality back then.

But why is there only one intact body? The other corpses are all mangled, reduced to bones. Could it be that—

Xiao Jie suddenly realized a possibility, and a chill ran down his spine—this guy had eaten all his companions!

Of course, it's also possible that it wasn't a companion, but the corpse of someone who arrived earlier.

Regardless of the reason, it's clear that this person endured hardship here in order to become an immortal, but eventually ran out of supplies and even ate other people.

However, it seems that even after eating his companions, this person still failed to complete his path to immortality and ultimately died trapped here.

Xiao Jie felt a surge of emotion, and at the same time made a silent resolution: "I'm different, I will definitely succeed!"
Thinking about it, I couldn't help but look up at the north.

Suddenly, his gaze narrowed, and in the dark northern sky, he could vaguely see the outline of a shattered continent.

Xiao Jie hurriedly cast an Eagle Eye spell on himself. That's right, it was a shattered continent, suspended in the void. Without a doubt, that must be Guyun Prefecture.

Xiao Jie was overjoyed. Hahaha, I've finally found it!

Xiao Jie couldn't wait to set off again.

He had intended to fly directly there, but judging from the size of the outline, it was probably still quite far away.

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Jie decided to play it safe and summoned the land-based boat again. It rushed down the island and headed towards Guyun Prefecture.

The storm subsided slightly, and the sea became calmer. Xiao Jie was able to navigate the land-based boat with difficulty, but after only a few minutes, the boat suddenly stopped moving.

The wooden wheels on both sides of the boat were still spinning, but the bow was clearly hitting something and could not move forward at all.

what's the situation?
Xiao Jie was somewhat surprised. Could there be a magical barrier?

Xiao Jie raised his hand and launched a hidden weapon, which flew over in a flash and landed in the sea not far away, splashing up a small wave.

no problem.

He drove forward, but still couldn't move. So Xiao Jie jumped into the sea and swam forward. However, he seemed to be stuck against an invisible barrier. No matter how hard he tried to move forward, he couldn't budge an inch. Xiao Jie swam to the left and right for a while and found that moving left and right was not an obstacle, but he also couldn't move diagonally forward. This invisible barrier was unusually straight, almost lying across the sea, blocking Xiao Jie's way.

Xiao Jie wondered what this thing was. Could it be a restriction left by an immortal? Why did it feel so familiar?
"Damn it! Damn it!" Xiao Jie cursed in frustration.

"Brother Jie, what's wrong?" Gu Feiyu poked his head out of the bedroom and asked curiously.

"I've run into a bit of trouble. I'm blocked by an invisible barrier. It's really weird."

Gu Feiyu walked over and glanced at the screen. "Is this an invisible wall?"

Xiao Jie suddenly realized that this was not a spell at all, but clearly an invisible wall!

That's right, it's an invisible wall, something that's all too common in regular games.

However, the game was too free and open, and Xiao Jie had never encountered anything like an invisible wall before, so he forgot about it.

At that moment, I realized that it seemed to be an invisible wall.

Xiao Jie opened the map, and sure enough, at this moment, he had reached the northernmost and outermost part of the map. In other words, the entire game map had reached its end.

Does that mean becoming an immortal isn't part of this version? Impossible, even the Heavenly Venerable became an immortal.

Xiao Jie looked up at the Lonely Cloud State in the distant sky. Surely that thing isn't just a game texture?
Damn it, I don't believe it!

Xiao Jie transformed into a Storm Thunder Eagle once again and flew into the sky. However, no matter how high he flew, or how he flew left, right, up, or down, he could not move forward because there was not a single gap in the air wall.

After rushing around and busying himself for a while, Xiao Jie finally landed on the island again, just as his health bar was about to run out.

He looked at the riddle poem on the stone tablet and thought to himself that he had to solve the riddle.

(End of this chapter)