I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 226 - 139: Lotus on the Summit of Wind and Snow

Chapter 226: Chapter 139: Lotus on the Summit of Wind and Snow

The characters "Heavenly Mountain" in Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus don’t mean this thing only grows in a place called Heavenly Mountain, it refers to mountains reaching the clouds and touching the sky, commonly known as high altitude.

"Yikes~" Little White was trembling from the cold.

"Don’t be afraid, this is a good opportunity to do some cold resistance training. Once we’re down, you’ll have an advanced cold resistance," Gu Shanhai was not intentionally torturing Little White; the geographical environment here was just too perfect for this kind of training.

Little White understood the rationale, but it was mainly just really cold.

Gu Shanhai wasn’t enjoying it alone, mainly because his strength was strong and he had various resistances provided by the natural mark; he didn’t mind the low temperature at all.

"Yikes~~" Little White could only resign itself to the situation, knowing that it probably wouldn’t be harmed and might even become stronger, but it was really too cold to bear.

"I remember there’s a Heavenly Mountain Sect or Snow Mountain Sect around here. When we get there, we can have a rest and I can flash my number one title in the world," Gu Shanhai joked, offering Little White a goal to quell its thirst.

But then again, what kind of people would build a sect in a place that’s perennially cold, with unfrozen snow and at a high altitude? Just transporting supplies up there is a big problem.

The Middle Martial World is not a high martial world where you don’t need to eat or drink. Even for martial arts experts, living at such a high altitude comes with many inconveniences.

Gu Shanhai really wanted to criticize this thing as problematic, but since people actually lived there, his desire to complain was ultimately suppressed.

Soon, Gu Shanhai realized that those people probably didn’t lack money, whether it’s any sect— they all need the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus produced by them.

This thing only grows in this kind of environment, and once it’s obtained and resold, there’s money to be made.

With money, there were no worries about many other messy things. Money might not be omnipotent, but being without money is truly incapable of anything.

In essence, this sect was a monopolist of the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus, with customers being the Heavenly Sect Demon Gate and the imperial court. They weren’t short of channels.

As for the possibility of these three major powers seizing control, it’s unlikely. First is the cultivation method. Secondly, this place is a bitterly cold land; who would want to come here?

To send exiles or prisoners? They dared, but what if out of resentment, they damaged the ecosystem?

Besides, the cost is also high. Growing it themselves is not as good as buying it, and large-scale cultivation requires costs. It’s not like just occupying the land and then continuously growing it. It’s not petroleum.

Hence, this sect had found its way to survive.

As Gu Shanhai and Little White moved upward, they could feel the snowstorm getting more intense. They didn’t have altitude sickness—as a sturdy human-deer pair with various resistances, they had a firm grasp on that aspect.

"Huh, the concentration of Spiritual Energy seems to be about ten percent higher than on the ground, what’s the principle behind that?" Gu Shanhai was curious.

"That being said, the overall strength should... oh, no good, there aren’t many people here." Gu Shanhai initially thought the sect above must be strong, but then he reflected that even gathering five hundred disciples might be problematic.

"Disciples" might all just be lotus pickers.

This sort of thing is normal; if it were a business association rather than a sect, it would have been annexed by the larger powers.

"However, on the other hand, why does this thing have to grow on cliffs and precipices? The one I’ve got my eye on is even positioned on the very top of the snow mountain," Gu Shanhai complained, suggesting that the method of plantation left much to be desired.

Couldn’t they just plant it uniformly, making it easier to pick? They really had to make it so complicated.

"Who goes there, daring to trespass into the Snow Mountain forbidden land!" Amid the snowstorm, a stern shout came through.

Two men dressed tightly wrapped, with even their eyes covered with black veils to prevent snow blindness, came into view from afar, looking rather like fat penguins.

"Elder, could you have seen it wrong? In such a big snowstorm, where could anyone be?" A male voice followed, hesitant in tone.

"But I clearly saw a huge shadow carrying someone, moving through the snowstorm just moments ago," the Elder also hesitated for a moment.

The two disciples were rendered speechless. A huge shadow carrying a person—did you have that much courage, does the Sect Leader know?

Regardless of whether that shadow was a person or not, it’s generally not wise to call out. If it were a person, there might be a chance for communication, but if it weren’t, then they’d be done for.

There were always many strange legends in the Snow Mountains, just never encountered.

"Let’s forget it, it might just be my imagination. We should hurry up the mountain. The Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus at the peak is about to mature; we need to pick it in time. This flower is extraordinary, it might have caused some natural phenomenon," the Elder quickly regained his composure.

Their mission up the mountain was naturally for that extraordinary Snow Lotus at the peak.

The more the two disciples heard, the less confidence they felt. If the Elder had straight up said "person," they could’ve boldly followed up, but now, talking about natural phenomena was daunting.

The path up the mountain was peaceful, with the only downsides being the cold, the freezing, the big snowstorm, the difficult pathway, and the decreasing temperatures.

As they reached the peak, they observed the huge figure the Elder spoke of.

"Yikes~"

The deer-like call and the bizarre giant antlers, together with the fear brought on by the snowstorm, made them feel a tingling on their scalps.