Before him, the path ended abruptly at a sheer cliff face, its summit lost in swirling clouds. But carved into the cliff, seamlessly blending with the natural rock, was a structure of impossible scale.
It was a gate. Not just a gate, but a colossal portal, easily a hundred feet high and twice as wide, forged from a dark, metallic stone that absorbed the faint light, appearing as a pure void in the mountain. Its surface was entirely covered in a thick, iridescent moss that pulsed with a faint, otherworldly green light, casting an eerie glow on the surrounding ice. The moss itself felt alive, vibrant with an energy Xiaochen had never encountered before – ancient, untamed, neither Qi Surgawi nor Void Qi, but something primordial, raw.
"This is it," Xiaochen whispered, his voice an eerie, mu
