Li Younan planned to go back to the car and take a nap, but before he could lie down, someone lightly tapped on his window.

As he turned his head, he saw Ma Jing beckoning to him.

Li Younan rolled down the window, and Ma Jing leaned in and said, "Are you planning to sleep?"

Li Younan nodded, "Just resting for a while, what’s up?"

Ma Jing blinked and then pointed in a direction, saying, "There’s a small path over there. It seems to lead to the hillside on the opposite side. The view from there should be great. Want to go take a look with me?"

Li Younan leaned over to take a look and then thought for a moment, "Alright, wait for me a second."

Li Younan changed into a pair of non-slip hiking boots and also brought along a pair of military tactical gloves.

After all, being outdoors, these tactical gloves not only prevent punctures but can also help clear away some obstructive shrubs. In places where you need to use both hands and feet, even on slippery stone surfaces, they can significantly increase friction, providing an anti-slip effect.

He then used a tactical belt to attach a walkie-talkie and a small dagger.

Seeing Li Younan’s gear, Ma Jing was momentarily surprised and then chuckled, "You’re so professional."

As for Ma Jing, she wasn’t dressed as lightly as she was back in Chengdu. She wore a dark-colored windbreaker.

The two of them told Qi Shunyi, and then slowly ventured out in the previously decided direction.

The so-called small path was probably just a trail made by the local villagers going up the mountain, perfectly exemplifying Lu Xun’s saying: "There was no road originally, but as more people walked, a road was made."

Soon, low shrubs blocked their way.

Li Younan and Ma Jing exerted quite a bit of effort to get through the small shrubs.

The view ahead became somewhat clearer, but then both of them were stunned.

The hillside Ma Jing talked about was higher up, but there was no more path ahead, just a seven or eight-meter-high small rock cliff blocking their way.

To reach that hillside, they had to climb this little cliff.

Li Younan smiled and said, "Looks like there’s no choice, let’s head back to the camp."

Just as he finished speaking, he paused because Ma Jing had already turned her gaze to a small path extending from the corner of the little cliff.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a path. It was overgrown with weeds, but there were some traces that indicated someone had indeed walked there.

Ma Jing said, "There’s a path here, we can definitely go up."

Li Younan sighed slightly. He wasn’t particularly eager to see the view from the hillside.

Seeing through Li Younan’s thoughts, Ma Jing straightforwardly said, "You wait here, I’ll go ahead and scout the path."

With that, she squeezed through some branches and went in.

To be honest, Li Younan really admired this girl Ma Jing.

She came from a well-off family, but she was decisive and efficient. If she were an adventure partner, she would combine the delicacy of a girl with boldness and a spirit of exploration without being squeamish.

While thinking this, Li Younan looked up at the cliff again, and a strange thought suddenly occurred to him...

This small cliff was actually very short, like a marble-paved stepping stone.

He blinked, and the judgment of this cliff in his mind naturally stemmed from one of his two Level 2 skills... rock climbing.

The definition of Level 2 is master level; if Level 1 is world’s elite, Level 2 is the strongest in the world, and Level 3 would be the strongest in history, akin to a legend...

For someone who is the strongest rock climber of our time, what’s the difference between this small cliff and climbing a step of the same height?

He looked at it a bit longer, and suddenly a very easy climbing route appeared before him.

Li Younan thought for a moment and reached out to grab a protruding spot on the rock wall.

The entire formation was a single piece of rock, with no risk of loosening. It was as if he had climbed countless peaks before, and in an instant, he made a confident judgment.

Very safe.

Then, with a slight exertion of his arm, he placed his other hand up, and moved his feet accordingly.

He didn’t employ any exaggerated physical poses, with the most stretch being suspending his body with both hands while gradually raising a foot to step on a chest-high protrusion, and then using it to propel himself upward to grab the next climbing spot.

Truthfully, from others’ perspective, Li Younan’s movements could be called dangerous, but he himself felt it was very easy and safe.

In just a few dozen seconds, he effortlessly climbed the seven or eight-meter-high rock wall.

Once he reached the top, he heard Ma Jing excitedly shouting in the direction they came from: "Li Younan, I found a path, there’s a way up."

But after shouting twice, she didn’t see Li Younan, and with a confused look on her face, she looked around.

Ma Jing searched around with her gaze, then suddenly lifted her head to find Li Younan already on top of the rock wall.

Her expression was like she’d seen a ghost, stunned and with her mouth slightly open, "How... how did you get up there?"

Li Younan didn’t answer Ma Jing’s question; instead, his attention was suddenly drawn to something not far away.

... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Ahead, there was a small stream gushing down from a higher rock wall.

However, it wasn’t the stream that caught Li Younan’s eye.

The stream formed a small pool about two or three meters in diameter.

Li Younan walked over leisurely, squatted down, reached into the pool, and then pulled out a stone the size of an apple.

The stone was entirely black; apart from being darker than the surrounding stones, there was nothing extraordinary about it to the naked eye.

Li Younan washed the stone in the pool again, cleaning off the dirt and sand to reveal its more genuine appearance.

Still black, but very fine and smooth.

He took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe the stone clean, held it up to the light, and saw that it wasn’t translucent.

But relying on his experience from stone carving skills, Li Younan was already certain of the type of stone it was; this was ink jade.

He held the stone for a moment longer.

Ma Jing had circled around and climbed up a smaller path beneath the cliff, panting as she said, "Finally made it up here."

She noticed the stone in Li Younan’s hand and curiously asked, "What do you have there?"

Li Younan replied, "A piece of jade I found."

"Is this really jade? No way." Ma Jing walked over and reached out, "Can I take a look?"

Li Younan nodded and handed the stone to her.

Ma Jing examined it closely but didn’t see anything special, so she handed it back to Li Younan unimpressed.

Not minding, Li Younan put the stone away, internally amused that it was no surprise she couldn’t recognize it.

So far, despite a few minor hiccups, Li Younan was satisfied with this trip.

He tested his plant identification and climbing skills, got a good idea of what a traversing expedition was like, and earned the team’s respect through skill... This kind of journey was becoming clearer in his mind.

Oh, and besides all that, he also gained a new hobby.

He recalled his attempt at almost catching a fish and the feeling at that moment.

He pinched the stone in his hand, another unexpected gain.

This stone was ink jade, but unlike many wild fantasies, just picking up a stone in the mountains doesn’t mean you’ve found a treasure worth a fortune.

In terms of quality, ink jade rough stones like this sell for at most four figures on the market.

But even though the stone wasn’t highly valuable, it represented a sense of accomplishment that was highly satisfying.

Ma Jing took a long detour and climbed quite a bit to get up here.

But they were still far from the hillside they had seen from below.

From where they stood, it was clearer that the path to the hillside was completely blocked by a higher and steeper cliff.

Li Younan said leisurely, "We can’t get up there, let’s head back."

Ma Jing, somewhat deflated, glanced at the cliff blocking their way and sighed, as she had worked quite hard to get up here...

With no other option, she followed Li Younan down.

Fortunately, the scenery was still quite beautiful here, and soon, their conversations blended into the sounds of the forest.

"I’m exhausted. How did you get up there?"

"I climbed up that rock wall."

"Ha!"

"Really."

"Is that stone really jade?"

"Once it’s polished, you’ll see..."

"You can do that too..."

"I know a little..."