Occasionally, they would see some incomplete Taoist temples and ruins. These temples and ruins were likely left from a very long time ago, and most of them were no longer inhabited.
The first day of entering the mountains.
The two had only walked a third of the way when it got dark. They then found a relatively intact abandoned Taoist temple in the mountains to spend the night.
The courtyard of the abandoned Taoist temple was overgrown with weeds, and there were also some rubble, mud walls, and wooden beams lying on the ground. It looked like the temple had been abandoned for at least several decades.
At the entrance of the Taoist temple, Ning Beichen also saw a water vat.
However, the water vat was filled with stagnant, putrid water. As soon as anyone approached, mosquitoes and insects in the water vat buzzed and flew around, making people feel disgusted.
Fortunately, they had brought plenty of bottled water with them, and they also found a small mountain stream nearby. Although the water flow was not large, they could use a collapsible bucket to collect water to wash their bodies.
After walking in the wilderness for a day, their bodies were covered in sweat. Anyone who had the chance would want to take a bath. Even if there wasn't much water, they would at least want to wipe their bodies to feel comfortable.
The two cleared a relatively clean area inside the Taoist temple, removed the weeds from the ground, set up two simple tents, and then Ning Beichen went outside to find some dry firewood to boil water.
In the mountains, it got dark quickly. It was not yet six o'clock in the evening, and it was already pitch black. Especially at night, strange sounds would occasionally come from outside, making people feel uneasy.
Ning Beichen sat cross-legged in the tent, refining his Qi, and at the same time, he extended his senses, covering a radius of about ten miles outside.
He also sensed that Chen Mingyue in the adjacent tent was also cultivating, and her aura was strong, indicating that she was not far from breaking through to the next level.
Ning Beichen shifted his senses away from her. Liu Yilin's cultivation speed made Ning Beichen, a Grandmaster, feel a little jealous.
It seemed that some people were truly favored by heaven and earth, excelling at everything they did compared to ordinary people.
However, Ning Beichen did not think about himself. Was he not also favored by heaven and earth?
At his age, he was already a Grandmaster. Not to mention unprecedented, but at least in modern times, finding someone as outstanding as him would be like finding a phoenix feather.
Ning Beichen cultivated for a while and then ended it perfunctorily.
For some reason, after reaching the realm of Grandmaster, Ning Beichen could clearly feel a certain law in the world restricting him every time he cultivated, like shackles, firmly trapping him in this realm. No matter how hard he struggled and cultivated, it was useless.
This was why Ning Beichen had gone to great lengths to find the Nine Palaces Strategy, hoping to gain some enlightenment from it, at least to know if the Grandmaster realm was the end of the human path.
If not, then did Heaven and Man truly achieve unity in this world?
And where were those who had already reached the state of Heaven and Man unity now?
Had they turned into dust?
Or were they still alive in this world, unknown to others?
Just as Ning Beichen was feeling restless, he suddenly sensed movement not far from the Taoist temple. As he was about to sense it carefully, he found that the movement had already disappeared.
However, this had already alerted Ning Beichen. He got up and left the tent without disturbing Chen Mingyue, who was cultivating, and walked to the entrance of the Taoist temple.
Logically, there shouldn't be any large wild beasts roaming in Zhongnan Mountain, but many things are unpredictable.
It was pitch black outside. Even with the starlight illuminating the sky, this was not a plain, but deep in the mountains. Human vision could barely see anything here.
However, Ning Beichen was not an ordinary person, but a Grandmaster. His senses had long been strengthened.
He stood motionlessly at the entrance of the Taoist temple, with his eyes and ears open, and the slightest movement within a radius of ten miles could not escape him.
After standing for about ten minutes, he found nothing. Ning Beichen frowned, then returned to the Taoist temple. Chen Mingyue was still cultivating.
One night passed.
There were no dangerous creatures that appeared last night. Ning Beichen no longer paid attention to these matters. After eating and drinking with Chen Mingyue and packing their belongings, they continued to head towards the coordinates.
The deeper they went, the more desolate it became. There wasn't even a path anymore, with waist-high weeds and plants taller than humans everywhere.
In some places, Ning Beichen and Liu Yilin had to use Qinggong to bypass them.
"Beichen, we should be close to the coordinates provided by the Nine Palaces Strategy."
Liu Yilin held the coordinates and compared them with the map. After looking for a while, she said.
"Okay, let's hurry up. We should try to reach the coordinates today before resting."
Ning Beichen said.
Liu Yilin nodded and continued to hurry with Ning Beichen, as it would soon be dark here.
After about two more hours, Liu Yilin stopped in a certain place, looked around, and then said to Ning Beichen.
"This is it. The coordinates calculated by the computer using the Nine Palaces Strategy should be in this area. However, there seems to be nothing here. Could it be a mistake?"
Ning Beichen had also observed the surroundings. Just as Chen Mingyue said, there was nothing special here. The ground was bare, and there were trees in the distance. It looked like a very ordinary place.
"Perhaps it's not here, but somewhere nearby. However, it's getting dark, let's set up camp here for the night. It might rain tonight."
Ning Beichen looked at the clouds in the sky and said to Liu Yilin.
"Alright, this place is at a higher elevation, so we won't be flooded even if it rains. We'll spend the night here. I hope we can find something tomorrow."
Chen Mingyue looked at the sky and agreed with a nod.
Soon, Ning Beichen and Chen Mingyue took out their tents and other equipment and began to set up camp. After setting up the tents, Ning Beichen also collected as much dry branches and leaves as possible from the surrounding area.
Because if it rained, without dry firewood, they wouldn't be able to make a fire.
Fortunately, while collecting dry firewood, Ning Beichen accidentally found several pheasants and knocked them down with a few pebbles.
"Yilin, look at this! We're in for a treat tonight."
Ning Beichen took out the pheasants, which made Chen Mingyue exclaim with delight.
As Ning Beichen had predicted, before it was completely dark, a strong wind began to blow around, and the sky turned dark and hazy.
Soon after, heavy rain began to fall.
Fortunately, Ning Beichen had already set up the rain tarp in advance, so he didn't have to worry about the rain soaking the bonfire and tents.