Every Step Akin To Climbing To The Sky (2)
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Allenwa
Climbing 10,000 metres in 4 days was an incredible speed.
At this altitude, the temperature was now -70 degrees Celsius, which was about the coldest temperature at the South Pole on Earth. It was impossible for ordinary humans to withstand such a temperature. However, Ling Chen was an exception. During the years he spent in ‘Heaven’, the Mad Scientist had subjected him to -100 degrees Celsius for 2 whole days… he had survived, but only by a few breaths. Even after bathing in the Mad Scientist’s medicine for a week, he only barely recovered.
He had experienced this sort of low-temperature torment many times. Every time he endured this sort of torture it caused his resistance to the cold to skyrocket… However, even though he could endure it, that didn’t mean he could adjust to it. Moreover, the chill wasn’t the most difficult aspect about climbing the Godchild Peak- it was the incredibly thin air. In this sort of environment, no matter what one did, even if it was just breathing, the effort it took was more than 10 times greater and consumed more than 10 times as much strength.
The cold sapped him of his physical strength and the mental toll was like 3 gigantic mountains that weighed down on Ling Chen’s body. He felt as if his body was tens of millions of kilograms heavy, and every single step was taken with great difficulty. In this sort of environment, he didn’t even have any mindpower to keep track of the time. All of his strength and willpower was concentrated on taking each step.
“Little master, the temperature’s approaching the limit that my damaged soul can take… I need to seal myself off, so keep working hard on the rest of the journey~”
Ling Chen was barely able to hear and register the voice in his mind, which then disappeared.
He raised his right hand with great difficulty and shattered the teleport scroll that appeared within it.
A white light flashed and Ling Chen appeared in the town near the Fairyland Mountain Range. In comparison to the extreme coldness, the normal temperature felt scalding to Ling Chen. Ling Chen, who had barely escaped from the brink of death fell to the ground on his knees. His palms were pressed against the ground as he opened his mouth wide and crazily gulped in air. The air that he exhaled felt incredibly chilling against the back of his hands.
After gasping for breath for a few minutes, Ling Chen’s face finally recovered to its normal colour, but he didn’t remove his coat. He looked at the time, and found that it was already 6pm, causing Ling Chen’s expression to flicker.
In the first 4 days, he had covered 10,000 metres.
Today, he had spent the entire day… as well as 10 teleport scrolls and 9 Spatial Orbs to climb only 300 metres.
In other words, it had taken Ling Chen 10 trips to cover 300 metres. He had to return to town every 30 metres on average!
“That Shield Bearer who rushed to 11,000 metres in one attempt was simply a monster!” Ling Chen said as he gnashed his teeth. He had said this when he reached the 9000 metre mark, but his emotions when he said it this time were completely different.
After restoring his body to its normal temperature, 30 minutes had passed since his strength and mind had completely recovered. Ling Chen gritted his teeth as he took out a Spatial Orb, preparing to do the final trip of the day.
After crushing the Spatial Orb, Ling Chen returned to the 10,300 point. Immediately, he felt the piercingly-cold wind that was like countless cold knives stabbing into his body. Ling Chen wasted no time, and while his body was still warm and hadn’t been frozen, and while his body and mind were at their peak conditions, he activated [Broken Shadow] and roared as he rushed forwards.
However, before he even covered 100 metres, his strength left his body. He had only climbed a bit more than 50 metres, but his body already felt like it weighed thousands of kilograms and would barely listen to him.
Ling Chen originally thought that with cheat items like the Spatial Orbs, the journey would be an easy. However, he now realised that he had been completely wrong.
Climbing, returning to town, climbing, returning to town…
Ling Chen repeated this cycle many times, but the higher he climbed, the slower it became.
Unknowingly, Ling Chen had climbed 11,000 metres. He was only 1000 metres from the summit, and had broken the record for humans climbing the Godchild Peak. However, Ling Chen did not feel delighted, as he had cheated tens of times to achieve this.
From the 10,000 metre point to the 11,000 metre point, he had used a whole 5 days to climb those 1000 metres.
The 11,000 metre point caused Ling Chen to truly experience what ‘hell’ was.
His head felt as if it had been stuffed with iron blocks. If it wasn’t for his extraordinarily powerful mental energy supporting him, he would have long since lost consciousness. He couldn’t even feel his hands or feet anymore, as if they weren’t part of his body. Every part of his body felt as if it had been frozen into a rock, and even the slightest movement costed him incredible amounts of strength.
Moreover, these last 1000 metres were so steep that they could make anyone despair.
The path for the first 6000 metres was incredibly easy to walk, and as long as they spent some time and energy, most people could make it past those first 6000 metres. After the first 6000 metres, the temperature started to fall, but the terrain did not become any steeper. Up until the 10,000 metre mark, Ling Chen did not run into any obstructions from the terrain. However, after the 10,000 metre mark, the terrain became much steeper, and he was susceptible to sliding down at any moment.
The final 1000 metres of the Godchild Peak were almost vertical. Moreover, after being covered in snow for countless years, none of the original mountain was visible. It was almost impossible to find footholds to climb with.
Ling Chen stared for a while without moving. 10 or so seconds later, he breathed out a breath of cold air and returned to the town near the Fairyland Mountain Range.
Ling Chen now understood why the Shield Bearer who had created the record had stopped at the 11,000 metre mark. He more so understood what he meant in saying that every step was as difficult as climbing to the sky. He was sure that after reaching this point, that Shield Bearer had never challenged the Godchild Peak again, as he had to endure unimaginable torment for every second he was here. The pain was akin to being stabbed ruthlessly by millions of blades, and he was sure that it was comparable to the traditional execution method of death by a thousand cuts. Only one in a million people would probably be able to endure the pain. Even the legendary Shield Bearer wouldn’t want to experience such a thing again.
Ling Chen knew that in facing this last 1000 metres, he would have to suffer this sort of torment perhaps hundreds of times.
Thinking to there, all of his hesitation and indecisiveness disappeared, and his eyes became incredibly calm. As long as there was a slight hope in resurrecting Shui Ruo, even if he had to endure this sort of pain thousands or tens of thousands of times, he would be willing.
Half an hour later, Ling Chen was fully recovered. He took out a Spatial Orb and shattered it.
The Great Ravager and Twilight Spear appeared in Ling Chen’s hands. He tightly closed his mouth, trying to prevent any of the cold air from rushing into his lungs. He gripped the weapons in his hands as he slashed towards the solid wall of ice in front of him.
Ding! Ding!
As the icy sounds rang out, two 10 or so centimetres long scratches appeared on the ice. The ice on the Godchild Peak had been accumulating for countless years, and could truly be called ‘ten thousand year mystic ice’. It was incredibly tough, and was incomparable to ordinary ice. Even with Ling Chen’s Attack Power and the Destruction element from the Scorpio Orb, he could leave 2 long scratches on it.
Ling Chen’s eyes stared in concentration as he gave a low shout.
“Soul Sacrifice!”
“Battle Soul Possession!”
Having increased his Attack Power to the limit, Ling Chen sent out 2 Ling Tian Slashes towards the wall of ice.
Ding! Ding!
The resulting sounds should have been clear and crisp, but were instead harsh and ear-piercing. Under Ling Chen’s full-powered strikes, fragmented ice shards chaotically flew into the air. In the area where the Great Ravager and Twilight Spear’s attacks had struck, two gaps that were around 10 centimetres long, wide and in depth appeared.
These gaps weren’t very big, and Ling Chen attacked again, increasing their size.
After attacking 3 times, Ling Chen’s body felt incredibly numb. He took a step forwards and spent much effort in stepping on the first gap with his right foot, with his left hand holding on to the gap above. He gritted his teeth as he raised himself up and hefted up the Great Ravager in his free hand, opening up a third gap above him. He then gripped on to the third gap as he once again lifted himself up and attacked…
After smashing out 8 gaps and climbing around 5 metres, Ling Chen had reached his limit. He couldn’t feel his hands or feet at all, and much less was he able to climb any further or attack any more. Ling Chen’s body fell from the ice wall and landed in the snow, and his only option was to leave.
Half an hour later, Ling Chen once again recovered and returned to the Godchild Peak. When he appeared, his right hand firmly gripped onto the highest gap that he had created previously.
The Spatial Orbs allowed the user to return to any place they had been to before. Ling Chen could immediately teleport to any place he had physically been in before, and he wasn’t limited to teleporting to the ground. As such, even if Ling Chen fell, he wouldn’t have to worry about his efforts being wasted. As long as he didn’t use up all of his Spatial Orbs, he could immediately return to the highest point he had been.
During the first 24 hours of climbing that last 1000 metres, he had climbed up 28 times, and had used 28 Spatial Orbs. He had fallen down 5 times, and had covered 102 metres in total. The time it took him to recover was 20 times the amount of time he actually spent climbing.
On the second day, he climbed 31 times and used 31 Spatial Orbs. He fell 11 times and covered 90 metres.
On the third day, he climbed 27 times and used 27 Spatial Orbs. He fell 8 times and covered 82 metres.
The fourth day…
The fifth day…
……
The tenth day…
The fifteenth day… ………… ………… Every step Ling Chen took on the Godchild Peak made him experience why it was said that every step was as difficult as climbing to the sky.
The steep mountain of ice was snow-white and unblemished, and Ling Chen looked extremely striking in contrast to his surroundings, as well as extremely insignificant. His hands and feet were powered on by sheer willpower as he slowly smashed out more gaps. Below him was a long line of gaps in the ice wall, which were all spaced quite evenly. In order to minimise the distance he had to climb, the gaps formed two lines that were almost completely straight.
Today was the thirtieth day since he had started climbing the Godchild Peak.
It was also the twenty first day since he had started climbing the last 1000 metres.
Ling Chen was now only 100 metres away from the goal that he had been dreaming of for the past few days.