115 Maiden in the Clouds!

Watching the old bear rub against the tree for a while, Chen Jue gained many insights into the principles of "bear-form" power generation.

Once it ambled away—presumably to forage—Chen Jue descended from the towering arbor, hooking his fingers into the bark to slide down bit by bit.

Glancing at the mist-shrouded mountain forest and observing the direction of the sunlight, Chen Jue moved in the opposite direction of the black bear. Cutting through the woods, he eventually reached the final tributary of the Dulong River within the borders of China.

"Have I walked this far already?" Chen Jue pulled out his phone to check the offline map, discovering that he was now over two hundred kilometers away from Wazhai.

Moving any further forward would likely mean crossing the border. Deciding against it, he knelt by the clear, emerald-green riverbank to scoop up water, washing his face and clearing the sleep from his eyes.

He took the opportunity to practice three newly acquired hard-style martial arts, dispelling the chill he had caught in the dense forest. Once his body felt warm and energized, he took out some compressed biscuits and a functional sports drink for breakfast.

The river section before him lacked the shallow banks he had encountered earlier. Afraid of starting a forest fire, he didn't dare to build a fire to roast any white fish from the river, so he had to settle for his dry rations.

After finishing his meal and resting for a while to let his digestion settle, Chen Jue felt fine and began trekking back along the river for over two hours.

At a Z-shaped bend in the river, Chen Jue spotted several peculiar creatures grazing, drinking water, and playing with each other by the shore.

They had greyish-black fur, were less than two meters long and under a meter tall. Their horns were not like a deer's, their hooves were like a cow's but weren't, their heads resembled a sheep's but weren't, and their tails were like a donkey's but weren't. Their leaping and running gait was incredibly strange!

Chen Jue recognized them instantly: they were Chinese gorals, a national second-class protected species, often referred to as the "four-unlikes." He had seen information about them on a display board while accompanying Wang Biao to a scenic spot.

However, the information had been in text and images—static, failing to capture their lively movements.

Now observing these living gorals up close, Chen Jue suddenly realized that the movement technique used by the girl with the bamboo basket earlier contained the essence of the goral's agility!

"No wonder I couldn't identify it; it was the 'four-unlike' movement style!" Chen Jue had an epiphany, but his gaze was soon drawn away by the cry of an ape from the forest on the opposite bank.

In the tall trees of that forest, a group of macaques with red faces, short tails, and long fur—looking exactly like characters from Peking Opera—were playing in the morning light.

This was another species unique to the Gongshan area: the stump-tailed macaque. They were sturdy, short, and chubby, looking quite adorable and a bit like hunched, furry little old men.

What was most striking, however, was not their build, but the fact that one of the more robust macaques was wearing a wreath woven from wild flowers!

"Monkeys can weave flower wreaths?" Chen Jue was surprised and curious, wanting a closer look. He stepped back, then suddenly accelerated and leapt, his silhouette skimming across the river like a swallow in flight, covering over ten meters in a single jump!

He landed directly on the other side of the ten-meter-wide river.

Normally, such a powerful leap would result in a loud thud upon landing, likely startling the forest creatures. However, thanks to the "Light as a Swallow" status bonus from his wall-vaulting skill, combined with the "silent cat-step" essence he had gained from observing the tiger, his feet landed as softly as if stepping on marshmallows. He touched down in the weeds on the opposite bank without making a sound.

If an outsider had seen this, they might have thought Chen Jue wasn't wearing boots at all, but rather had tiger-paw pads on his feet!

As for the adorable stump-tailed macaques, upon seeing such a distinctive human, they began to chirp happily. They leaped down from the forest and gathered around him, tugging and touching him—even more enthusiastically than the macaques he had encountered earlier!

"They aren't afraid of people at all?" Chen Jue found it amusing; he thought these macaques were delightfully silly and patted each of their heads.

Just as he reached out toward the macaque wearing the wreath, a crisp, melodious female voice came from behind him: "That’s a wreath I wove as a birthday gift for the little monkey. You’d better not touch it; it will get angry!"

The words caused Chen Jue’s outstretched hand to freeze in mid-air. With his current martial cultivation and sensory reactions, he hadn't sensed a single soul behind him!

He turned around in astonishment to see a girl carrying a bamboo basket, dressed in a seven-colored striped robe with a necklace of seven-colored beads, watching him with a discerning gaze.

"It's you!"

At such close range, Chen Jue finally saw the girl's features clearly.

She had soft black hair draped over her shoulders, a fair, rosy face, slender willow-leaf eyebrows, a petite nose, and a small mouth. Her eyes were full of spirit, seeming to contain infinite vitality.

The morning breeze ruffled her bangs, revealing a faint, cloud-like cyan marking on her forehead. The pale golden sunlight falling upon her made her look incredibly sacred.

With such ethereal beauty, paired with the murmuring emerald river, the distant snow-capped peaks, the vast forest, and the adorable macaques gathered around, she looked like a goddess who had stepped out of nature itself—one could not even conceive of a disrespectful thought.

"What is your name?"

"Why are you out in such a remote place all by yourself?"

"Are you one of those hikers I read about on the internet?"

Seeing Chen Jue staring at her without speaking, the girl asked, her red lips parting slightly as she comforted the monkeys.

At the question, Chen Jue’s frozen thoughts finally cleared.

His momentary daze wasn't due to him being a lecher; it was because the girl possessed a marvelous, natural aura—like the "Dan-forming fetal breath" technique—that made her seem one with nature. He had been so caught off guard that he had been momentarily entranced.

Previously, separated by twenty meters of river, he hadn't noticed. But now, face-to-face, Chen Jue realized just how extraordinary this Dulong girl was!

Her heartbeat and breathing were so steady they were nearly imperceptible. If Chen Jue hadn't been focusing all his senses, he wouldn't have detected the faint fluctuation of her inner energy.

Furthermore, as she spoke, he caught a glimpse of her teeth—forty of them, flat and white as snow!

"Forty teeth! The cultivation of marrow-cleansing and tooth-replacement?"

"Her energy is gathered into a ball; has she formed a Golden Core? No! That doesn't seem right either!"

"In this day and age! In such a remote, primitive place, there exists such a master!" Chen Jue felt it was incredible, his mind reeling.

However, Chen Jue was also an extraordinary person who had awakened a system panel. Coupled with his recent training in the mountains, his contact with all living things, and the blessing of his perfected "Celibate Technique," his heart had returned to the pure, innocent state of a child.

He quickly suppressed his complex thoughts and answered her, "My name is Chen Jue. I'm just an ordinary person who practices martial arts, not one of those hikers who goes around causing trouble! We saw each other by the river before, remember? By the way, little sister, what is your name?"

"My name is Yun. People in the village call me Sister Yun, so you can call me that too!"

"Of course I remember you! You have an aura that makes people feel as comfortable as I do! The little monkey says you’re a good person; you fed them biscuits yesterday. Flower Tiger says you took it to the village outside for a feast, and the big black bear says you gave it honey last night. They aren't afraid of you at all; they all want to play with you and say you’re a good person." The girl smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

The pure, childlike innocence and the "innate fetal breath" aura Chen Jue radiated made her feel particularly close to him.

It was as if she had met a kindred spirit.

Having grown up in the village surrounded by the spirits of the forest, this was the first time Sister Yun had met an outsider as unique as Chen Jue.

"You're called Sister Yun?"

"Wait... the little monkey? Flower Tiger? The black bear? They said I'm a good person?"

"You can communicate directly with these animals???" Chen Jue muttered to himself, quickly realizing the implication, and his expression turned extremely strange.

He watched as she took a bag of popcorn-like snacks from her basket and began feeding the gathered monkeys bit by bit, crouching down to hug them, whispering in a low tone that sounded eerily like the macaques themselves.

Chen Jue realized that this unique Dulong girl must be the "Born Mountain Sovereign" from the legends Wang Biao had mentioned—a figure who only appeared in the Dulong tribe once every few centuries!