The entire Four Seasons Land was divided into four great domains — Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter — each with its own distinct environment and complex climate. Where any two domains met, the terrain grew especially peculiar.
The Two-Season Mountain ran through the entirety of the Four Seasons Land like a continuous, winding dividing line, separating the four closely packed regions from one another.
Yang Kai had already read this intelligence from the jade slip, so when Hua Qingsi mentioned the Two-Season Mountain, he wasn't particularly surprised.
However… from the information Hua Qingsi had let slip, it was clear the Qingyang Temple was still withholding certain things from him. At the very least, the intelligence concerning the Temple of Years had not been shared.
That was only natural, after all. He was an outsider.
Murong Xiaoxiao had likely only been able to hand over the jade slip containing most of the Four Seasons Land's intelligence with Gao Xueting's tacit approval. Anything beyond that would have been leaking Sect secrets.
Still, Yang Kai was certain that those from the Qingyang Temple must all know about the Temple of Years — if the Temple of Years truly existed.
The location marked on the map Hua Qingsi had given him placed the Temple of Years squarely on the Two-Season Mountain between the Summer Domain and the Winter Domain. So for Yang Kai, this detour was really just along the way.
He stowed the map, had Hua Qingsi hide inside the Mysterious World Bead as well, and summoned his wooden boat, hurtling forward at breakneck speed toward the direction of the Winter Domain.
A day passed in a blur. Ahead, a continuous mountain range suddenly appeared. From a distance, the forests between the peaks were lush and verdant, with deep valleys and dense woods. The side facing him blazed under a scorching sun, while the mountain tops were wrapped in white, blanketed in snow.
On the other side of the range — out of Yang Kai's sight — it was certainly a world of bitter cold.
This was clearly the Two-Season Mountain.
Yang Kai didn't hesitate long. Sending his spiritual sense outward to probe the surroundings, he plunged straight into the range.
Within the forests, the climate was muggy and stifling, though for a warrior of Yang Kai's caliber, it posed little hindrance.
Keeping the map's information fresh in his mind, he began searching for the Temple of Years while trying not to stray too far from the direction of the Winter Domain.
He had thought it through clearly. Since the Temple of Years was such an ethereal, elusive thing — one that had barely been found in all the times the Four Seasons Land had opened — he naturally couldn't pin too much hope on finding it, lest he waste both energy and time for nothing.
For him, finding it would be great. Not finding it wouldn't matter either — he could simply cross the Two-Season Mountain and enter the Winter Domain directly.
The Calamity Tribulation Difficult Fruit remained his primary objective on this trip.
With this take-it-or-leave-it mindset, Yang Kai felt completely at ease. He piloted the wooden boat at low altitude, gliding through the air.
The mountain forests seemed to bear traces of demon beasts, though none were particularly powerful. Yang Kai had no interest in seeking them out and simply ignored them. Occasionally he spotted one or two rare medicinal herbs, which he carefully harvested and transplanted into the Small Mysterious World's herb garden.
Half a day slipped by. He hadn't found any trace of the Temple of Years, but it hadn't been a complete waste either.
At one moment, as he was flying low and probing his surroundings, his expression suddenly shifted, and he looked up in a specific direction.
From that way came a rustling sound, growing rapidly from far to near, as though something was fleeing at full speed. But the dense foliage blocked his view, preventing Yang Kai from seeing clearly.
He extended his spiritual sense and immediately detected an aura roughly equivalent to the Dao Source Realm's second stage emanating from that direction.
However, the aura's owner was clearly severely injured. The fluctuations of their energy were extremely unstable.
While Yang Kai was still probing, a demon beast suddenly burst out of the forest ahead.
The creature resembled a lizard scaled up several dozen times — a pointed head, an elongated body, and two fiery red wings sprouting from its back. On its forehead sat a diamond-shaped mark, as if seared on by a branding iron, giving it an extremely bizarre appearance.
It had apparently fought a desperate battle against someone or something. One of its wings had been sliced clean off, its tail was nowhere to be found, and its entire body was drenched in blood, riddled with countless wounds where flesh curled back from bone.
It leaped through the air in a blind panic, never even registering that Yang Kai stood directly in its path. In the span of a blink, the giant lizard charged with bloodshot eyes, opened its maw, and attacked.
Yang Kai caught sight of a flash of crimson light as a sharp, piercing force bore down on him head-on.
He saw it clearly — the giant lizard's attack was nothing other than its tongue, launched outward. The scarlet tongue shot straight as a blade, razor-sharp and deadly.
In a rush, Yang Kai shifted his body and flickered aside, letting the tongue strike hit empty air. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and more than a dozen Moon Blades hurtled toward the giant lizard with pinpoint accuracy.
The lizard was still midair with nowhere to dodge. The Moon Blades struck its body all over.
But the creature's hide proved remarkably tough. Yang Kai's hastily launched Moon Blades failed to deliver a killing blow, instead producing only sparks across its surface and inflicting minor wounds.
Riding the force of the impacts, the giant lizard plummeted downward.
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. He stamped his foot against empty space and dropped like a meteor from the heavens, trailing close behind. He actually overtook the falling beast and closed the distance to a position directly above its head.
In the next instant, he activated the Dragon Transformation Secret Art. His right fist morphed into a dragon claw, clenching tight, and he hammered it down upon the back of the giant lizard's skull.
Boom…