Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe

Chapter 296 - 289: Exploring Mount Everest

Kunwu had arrived at the foot of Mount Everest.

While still on the ship, Shi Ming had used the Map of the Endless Sea to survey the area again. He hadn’t found any living S-rank or even A-rank sea beasts. The few scattered D- and C-rank sea beasts were too dispersed to pose any threat.

Ah Jian lay dormant in his collar, as always.

The Eye of the World was banned, but Shi Ming wasn’t short on powerful offensive skills. For defensive abilities, he had the Black Tortoise Shield, a skill called Death’s Door, and Sun-Shooter, which allowed him to fly. He had also recently acquired the Twin Mirror, which could create six mirror decoys and had six uses left—more than enough to handle any crisis he could imagine.

And then there was Ah Jian, an absolute cheat with its immense Spiritual Power!

When Kunwu was still thirty nautical miles from their destination, Ah Jian’s Spiritual Power had already reached the mountain.

Its probing was both stealthy and restrained.

It was stealthy because its Spiritual Power was so immense that even a living Holy Hall-level Sea Beast, if its own power was inferior, would have difficulty detecting the probe. It was restrained because Mount Everest held a great secret, and Shi Ming didn’t want to trigger some unknown anomaly by letting it conduct a reckless, carpet-bomb-style search.

"Ah Jian, find anything? Has the Creation Celestial Pillar truly fallen?"

"Master... vaguely sense... inside the mountain... rich... Life Origin Energy... but have not detected... any signs of life from the Creation Celestial Pillar. Probability of it having fallen... 99.99%."

’Has it really fallen?’

’If even Ah Jian’s Spiritual Power can’t detect any signs of life, then the Creation Celestial Pillar must truly be dead. The Eye of the World said it occupied the Life Origin. If it died, it must have been corroded from the inside. I can’t imagine what kind of power could corrode this ancient tree that has survived for who knows how many thousands of years! But on second thought, it makes sense. Even thousand-year-old trees rot from the inside out, let alone a living fossil like this that has survived for tens of thousands of years!’

...

Kunwu anchored in a safe sea zone designated by the Xirang Research Institute.

The group leaped onto the high mountain, beginning their ascent up the damp, eroded rock face. The ecosystem here was primordial, with few traces of human activity. In theory, this place, the only land in the Endless Ocean, should be a pilgrimage site for all of humanity. But for the last thirty years, most people had been struggling just to survive on the seas. Staying alive was a luxury, to say nothing of fulfilling such spiritual needs.

The moment his feet touched the stone, Shi Ming felt a sense of belonging.

Solid ground was the homeland encoded in all human DNA.

This wasn’t their first time on Mount Everest, but for Shi Ming, this particular climb—skipping the base and middle sections to start directly from over 4,000 meters—was a novel experience.

"Land! This is real land!"

Li Jiuyuan spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the great mountain before him.

Rong Bing was also struck with emotion.

"I was born during the Land Era, but I have no memories of it," he said. "It’s hard to imagine the magnificent civilizations that once spanned seven continents. Now, we can only see the great rivers, majestic mountain ranges, and sprawling waterfalls in old documentaries. It’s such a shame. By the way, Shi Ming, this must be your first time climbing Mount Everest, right? What do you think?"

"It’s breathtaking," Shi Ming said, playing along.

"The cold, hard feel of this rock is so much more real than the sea. I’ve seen a few floating islands out on the ocean, but they don’t have a fraction of the sheer substance of Mount Everest. Humanity was meant to live on land, even if the only land left in the world is a single, great mountain!"

"Well said! Humanity was meant to live on land!"

"Our exploration today is for the future of all humankind!"

The plan for this climb had already been formulated back on the Da Yu.

The lull in the Sub-Blade Storm was expected to last for about a day. This didn’t mean the storm had stopped or that the danger was gone. Under normal conditions, the Top of Mount Everest was a death zone, second only to the Sea of Boiling in terms of risk. To balance safety and efficiency, the operation would follow a "split-gather-split" approach:

Split: From the upper snow line to the summit, the team will explore separately to cover the largest possible area in the shortest amount of time.

Gather: Regardless of what is discovered, everyone will rendezvous on the north face of the summit after eight hours. The three of them will then explore the peak together.

Split: Afterward, they will descend via the south face, exploring separately once more. The goal is to reconvene at the Xirang Research Institute for a final debriefing and intelligence exchange before the Sub-Blade Storm intensifies again, thus concluding the mission.

Below the snow line, there was little of note aside from the rock and the unique, ocean-eroded landscape where the snowpack had once melted. The trio quickly ascended to the snow line, where they temporarily split up.

"If you run into trouble, remember not to act rashly."

"Stay in contact."

All three of them possessed peak human survival and self-preservation skills. Spreading out was more efficient than sticking together and increased their chances of finding something unusual. They each carried a short-range communicator capable of maintaining a signal within a 2,000-meter radius even in extreme weather, which was sufficient to cover the target area.

Shi Ming chose the central route and began to climb alone.

This area corresponded to the 7,000-meter elevation mark of the old era. There were few signs of human activity. The bodies of the climbers who had met their end here had long since been shredded by the Sub-Blade Storm, their remains absorbed into the mountain, their essence now howling with the biting wind.

The snow grew deeper.

For Shi Ming, who carried a zero-entropy weapon, the temperature was a trivial appetizer. The wind and snow blowing against his face felt like a kitten scratching an itch—completely harmless.

Each of the three had their own method of ascent.

Rong Bing relied on brute endurance,

Li Jiuyuan relied on willpower,

And Shi Ming was simply unbothered.

"Ah Jian, do a slightly more detailed scan of the surrounding mountain surface for any anomalies."

"Yes, Master."

A standard detector was mostly for living creatures, but Ah Jian’s powerful Spiritual Power could cover a vast distance, sweeping through it bit by bit. With it, not even the interior of the Xirang Research Institute would remain a secret.

Shi Ming could do the same, but he wasn’t as practiced as Ah Jian.

WHOOSH~

Its Spiritual Power rode the storm, passing over unnoticed.

"Find any other anomalies?"

"Large amounts... of rich Life Energy... leaking from several places on the mountain... forming a strange... type of plant. Have located two sites so far. The one closest to your position, Master... is 1,011 meters ahead and to the side. But there is a chance of a Sub-Blade Storm in that area. Be careful, Master."

"Got it!"

He headed straight for the destination.

The higher he climbed, the colder it got. Shi Ming had the bad luck of running into a Sub-Blade Storm. The blade-like winds cut at his skin, managing to leave a gash despite his normal Defense Power of over 200!

’No wonder the Da Yu had insisted on exploring during the lull!’

With a clear target, a distance of one thousand meters was nothing to Shi Ming. He quickly reached his destination on the cliff face and saw a hint of emerald green, well-hidden within the pure white snow.

The Exotic Item ranked #102: Summit’s Emerald.