That day, Li Xuan followed the archaeological team to a cave. The mountain was very remote, thousands of kilometers away from towns, with no nearby transportation lines, so few people came here.\ Spending all day in the studio cleaning relics, it wasn't particularly difficult, but after doing it so often, day after day, year after year, it had become a habit, or perhaps a sort of helpless routine. Occasionally, there would be a few field trips for some firsthand experience.\ 'It's getting late, and we still have two or three hundred li to that mountain. We definitely won't make it today, so let's stay here overnight,' said team member A.\ 'Yes, look around, there's no village or store nearby, nothing much to do, so let's just sleep here for the night,' Li Xuan said.\ 'Alright then, you guys set up the tents. Check the car for some food and water,' the team leader said.\ This team was temporarily selected by the director. Since Ouyang Zibo had taken some elites elsewhere, the director could only pick the better ones from the remaining people. This archaeological team had seven members, and the food they brought was not much, just enough for a week. Considering the round trip and the stay in the cave, it was barely sufficient.\ Darkness quickly fell. The team set up two large tents. Apart from Li Xuan, the other six entered the tents. At that time, Li Xuan was still looking at the night scenery. As he gazed, he started hearing the sound of snoring. Feeling it would be rude to disturb them, he grabbed another tent from the car and lay inside. After driving all day, Li Xuan could finally no longer hold on and fell asleep.\ 'Xuanyuan! Xuanyuan! Wake up!'\ Strange voices came to Li Xuan's ears.\ 'Who's there, disturbing this young master's sleep!'\ Li Xuan slightly opened his eyes and saw a sword standing in front of him.\ 'This sword looks so familiar, I feel like I've seen it somewhere before,' Li Xuan scratched his head.\ The sword circled around Li Xuan, moving in loops. He reached out to grab it, trying to take it, but the sword seemed to see through his intention, dodging left and right, always leaving Li Xuan empty-handed.\ 'What kind of demon is this! Do you not surrender before me!' Li Xuan shouted in anger.\ A green light shone on the sword, the blade exuding a faint green spiritual energy, looking like mist.Li Xuan's body also glowed green, and a white light shot out from his chest. A person who looked extremely similar to Li Xuan appeared. At the same time, Li Xuan, feigning death, lay on the ground with sweat on his forehead and an irregular heartbeat.
"In my eyes, you are nothing but a trash, just a shell. When the time is right, hm hm, I will make you leave with no regrets," the person said quietly.
Li Xuan was too scared to move, holding his breath and thinking that he hadn't done anything immoral recently, so why was he always so unlucky? I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm already dead. Big brother, I have no past grievances or recent conflicts with you, so please be kind and let me go. Li Xuan prayed.
"I'm not far from my target. What I want is within reach. If my body hadn't been destroyed, I could appear in physical form. Otherwise, I would have made you my servant. You awakened me, I remember. Last time I saved you, so now we are even."
The person returned to Li Xuan's body, and the sword also transformed into green spiritual energy and entered his body. The pretending-dead Li Xuan truly fell asleep.
The next day, the team members saw Li Xuan sleeping like a dead pig even when the sun was high in the sky. Without a word, they threw him into the car. Li Xuan's head just hit a hard object, causing him to shout in pain, "Mom!" The whole car burst into laughter, but Li Xuan went back to sleep.
The car drove across the desolate Gobi Desert. The sun overhead was scorching like a fireball. Two of the archeological team members fainted from the heat, but Li Xuan remained like a dead man, unresponsive no matter how the team members shouted.
"We've arrived, get out of the car," the captain said.
"What about this bastard?" said Team Member A.
"Leave the three of them in the car, the four of us are enough," the captain said, pointing at the mountain. "You, go get the climbing rope. You, get the protective gear. You, get the spotlight. Meet at the foot of the mountain."
Interestingly, within a hundred meters of the mountain, the temperature dropped sharply, a stark contrast to the surrounding area—it was like ice versus fire.
This unnamed mountain is over two thousand meters high, and the cave is roughly at 1,800 meters. The cliff is steep and vertical, almost smooth with no footholds. More importantly, the climbing rope is not long enough. The captain only realized this when he reached the foot of the mountain.
"What! Damn it! What kind of mountain is this? So tall!""The captain exclaimed, 'Since we're here, we can't return empty-handed. Go get the ice axe; I will climb myself.'"\ After retrieving the ice axe, the captain carried a bundle of climbing ropes and struggled up the mountain. About sixty or seventy meters above the ground, his right foot slipped, and grasping the ice axe, he slid down a few meters.\ "I refuse to believe I can't conquer you!" the captain shouted loudly.\ Li Xuan finally woke up, stuck his head out of the car window, and shouted as he rushed toward his teammates.\ "What's going on here?" Li Xuan asked.\ "You…" Team Member A initially wanted to scold Li Xuan harshly but then swallowed the words and continued, "The captain is brave. He wants to conquer this mountain and asked us to stay put. You should just stay here quietly too."\ "This is the Mountain of Death! Anyone who climbs it will surely die!"\ "What are you joking about? Don't tease us." The team members laughed.\ "I'm serious." Actually, Li Xuan also had a follow-up thought of 'just kidding,' so he made up a story.\ It is said that hundreds of years ago, a celestial deity was trapped on this mountain. Mortals admired the deity greatly and climbed the mountain one after another to rescue him. The Jade Emperor saw this, became furious, and used magic to make the cliff smooth and steep. Those who climbed a hundred meters would all fall and die. Since then, the mountain's resentment grew heavier, and no one dared to attempt to reach the deity.\ "W…well…not bad, keep going," said Team Member B.\ "You saw through it. Okay, I admit I made it up," Li Xuan said.\ While they were talking, the captain had already climbed two or three hundred meters. A team member inside the car saw a huge boulder falling from the mountain and shouted, 'No, no!' But it was too late. The boulder struck the captain's head directly, instantly causing him to lose consciousness and fall vertically.\ "Captain! The Mountain of Death!" Team Member C exclaimed.\ Li Xuan and the others looked down the mountain and saw a person hit the ground heavily, mangled and bloodied, with limbs severed and bones protruding, blood flowing endlessly. Just as they ran toward him, another huge rock tumbled down, crushing the captain, splattering his blood and flesh, a scene too horrifying to look at.\ "Captain…" Everyone fell silent, staring blankly.\ A few drops of rain began to fall from the sky, followed by a pouring downpour. Is it mourning him?Everyone cried as they returned to the car, but only Li Xuan was still looking outside. Thunder rumbled in succession, but Li Xuan could not hear it; all he could hear was someone laughing sinisterly. That person was not around, and Li Xuan did not know where they were, perhaps it was because he was too sensitive.\ The sky tired, the rain stopped, and everyone else fell asleep. Li Xuan got out of the car, a sharp pain hit his chest, and he half-kneelinged on the ground, the person hiding inside him holding a sword standing in front of Li Xuan.\ "Mortals can never become great." the person said.\ Li Xuan tried to sneak away while the person was not paying attention, but a huge fireball descended from the sky. The person grabbed Li Xuan and leapt up, the massive fireball destroyed the car, sparing no one inside.\ "In the name of Xuanyuan, bestow the spirit of Xuanyuan, command!" the person chanted.\ The sword in his hand became gigantic, several times its original size. He grabbed Li Xuan and stood on the sword, flying into the cave along with it. All of this would be unbelievable to a normal person; according to the development of those time-travel dramas, the next thing would be traveling through time.\ The mysterious person brought Li Xuan outside the cave. On a nearby stone stele was engraved 'Book of Time'. The mysterious person said, "Finally here," then stepped forward to examine the stone door, chanting "So it is, so it is." He then stepped back a few paces and struck the stone door with the sword. Seeing the sword blade wrapped in green spiritual energy forming a sword shape in the air to strike the stone door, after which they heard a loud "Boom," the stone door shattered.\ "Who are you? Why did you bring me here?"\ "I did not bring you here; it was you who brought me. All of this has already been predestined under the heavens."\ "What?!"\ "You don't need to know who I am right now. There will be a chance in the future."\ The mysterious person walked into the cave. Li Xuan glanced down the mountain, drew a cold breath, and then followed into the cave.
