The next day.
When He Xiuyuan woke up, the Tiger beneath him was still lying there obediently, seemingly having accepted its fate.
He Xiuyuan couldn't help but smile at this.
"Go, head up the Mountain."
He Xiuyuan patted the Tiger, signaling it to climb the Mountain.
The Tiger let out a low growl, seemingly a bit displeased, but still shook its massive head and climbed towards the Mountain.
The Tiger's stamina was indeed good; it carried He Xiuyuan without any effort, reaching a point slightly above the mid-Mountain at noon.
However, upon reaching this spot, there was pretty much no path further ahead.
He Xiuyuan thought for a moment, then told the Tiger to go around and see if it could find a path elsewhere.
The Tiger didn't know what He Xiuyuan wanted to do, but it couldn't afford to offend the person on its back, so it could only let out a muffled roar and walk around.
After spending more than two hours like this, still unable to find a way up, He Xiuyuan finally stopped.
Then, He Xiuyuan's gaze fell upon a Pond not far away.
He Xiuyuan was somewhat surprised to find a small Pond in this location.
However, with this small Pond, He Xiuyuan would be able to perform the Water Manipulation Technique, which would make reaching the Mountain Peak much simpler.
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan had the Tiger walk towards the Pond.
Perhaps it was thirsty, as the Tiger was much quicker this time, reaching the Pond in a few steps.
Upon arriving at the Pond, it lay down by the edge and began to drink water.
He Xiuyuan dismounted from the Tiger's back and patted its head.
"Last night you wanted to eat me, and today you carried me for most of the day. Let's call our grievances even. From now on, if you see other people, you must not harbor ill intentions again."
He Xiuyuan admonished the Tiger.
Normally, after being dealt with by him like this, the Tiger would likely retreat far away upon seeing other people.
The Tiger was still drinking water at this moment, so it probably didn't understand the meaning of He Xiuyuan's words.
Seeing this, He Xiuyuan shook his head, pointed a finger, and a ball of water was drawn into his hand, then it carried He Xiuyuan as he flew towards the Mountain Peak.
The sudden appearance of this flying water ball instantly caught the Tiger's attention.
The Tiger lifted its head and watched as He Xiuyuan stood on a mass of water, directly flying upwards.
Seeing this scene, the Tiger was clearly stunned for a moment.
But very quickly, the Tiger leaped into the nearby forest and disappeared moments later.
Meanwhile, He Xiuyuan was flying towards the Mountain Peak.
Having flown to this extent, He Xiuyuan's clothes were flapping loudly, his robes billowing, presenting the posture of an Immortal flying through the sky.
After a moment, just before He Xiuyuan's Spiritual Qi was depleted, he finally arrived at the Mountain Peak.
As for the water he had brought up, He Xiuyuan was wondering whether to put it into a water pouch, lest he have no way to perform Water Manipulation when descending the Mountain, but then he saw a clear spring on the Mountain Peak.
The entire Mountain Peak was quite flat, with a few birds resting nearby.
He Xiuyuan waved his hand to disperse the water from the Pond, his gaze filled with surprise as he looked around.
He hadn't expected it to be so flat up here, and the surrounding scenery was surprisingly good.
It seemed like a very good place to build a Daoist temple.
He Xiuyuan stood on the edge of the cliff, feeling the mountain winds whistling around him, and looking down at the surrounding Mountain Peaks, he felt a sense of being above all other mountains.
"Next, I need to find that Immortal Crane...."
He Xiuyuan stood on the cliff edge for a moment, then began to wander around the Mountain Peak.
Finding the Immortal Crane wouldn't be easy, unless it was at dusk and he could see the Immortal Crane pecking at the evening glow; otherwise, it would be too difficult to find an Immortal Crane in such a large mountain.
Moreover, even if he saw the Immortal Crane pecking at the evening glow, it might not be easy to catch up to it then.
He Xiuyuan ultimately didn't know the art of flight; he was currently using Water Manipulation to barely fly for a certain distance.
With just this Spell, it would be truly difficult to fly to the horizon to find the Immortal Crane.
The only way was to watch where the Immortal Crane flew after pecking at the evening glow, and He Xiuyuan would follow behind it.
In that case, he should be able to find the Daoist who raises the Immortal Crane.
Thinking this, He Xiuyuan calmed himself down. After exploring the Mountain Peak, he was very satisfied with the summit.
There was water up here, and he had some dry food with him, so staying for a period of time shouldn't be a problem.
With that thought, He Xiuyuan sat down with peace of mind.
It had taken a lot of time to climb up, and by now, the distant sun was gradually setting.
Moments later, streaks of evening glow appeared on the horizon.
A line of birds flew in a V-formation into the distance, adding other colors to the landscape painting at this moment.
He Xiuyuan sat on a stone and watched for a long time, but even after the sun had completely set, he still didn't see any Immortal Crane flying out.
Knowing that the Immortal Crane wouldn't appear today, He Xiuyuan felt a bit disappointed. After eating some dry food, he sat cross-legged and began to Cultivate with his eyes closed.
A slightly incomplete moon rose, surrounded by brilliant stars.
Around He Xiuyuan's body, Spiritual Qi surged, then flowed into He Xiuyuan's body.
As this Spiritual Qi entered his body, He Xiuyuan's Dao cultivation also increased little by little.
.......
The next day.
He Xiuyuan finished his Cultivation, went to the spring to wash up, then gathered some branches and leaves from around him.
He had seen a place with several standing stones on the summit earlier, and he planned to build a thatched hut there.
This way, if it rained, he would have a place to shelter.
Although He Xiuyuan knew the Water Manipulation Technique and could avoid the rain, if everything around him got wet, it would feel somewhat uncomfortable.
After He Xiuyuan spent some time building a simple thatched hut using some large leaves, He Xiuyuan immediately smiled with satisfaction.
The thatched hut was blocked with stones around it, so it wouldn't be drafty.
However, in the past few days, apart from Cultivating at night, He Xiuyuan had spent the rest of his time waiting for the Immortal Crane to appear.
But after several consecutive days, he could often see the evening glow, yet the Immortal Crane's trace was consistently absent.
This made He Xiuyuan somewhat disheartened; he hadn't waited for it for days, and he didn't know how much longer he would need to wait.
If he could wait for it, that would be fine, but if he couldn't, then it would be a waste of time.
Thinking about it, He Xiuyuan still suppressed his restless thoughts.
The Immortal Crane must be quite difficult to wait for; otherwise, the people in Shifang Village wouldn't have only seen it once, and only the children.
He just didn't know if he was destined to wait for this Immortal Crane.
He Xiuyuan walked out of the thatched hut, glanced at the sky, and seeing that there was still plenty of time until sunset, he sat down cross-legged, preparing to Cultivate for a few hours and continue waiting for the sun to set.