"Clang!"
The bronze reverberated with a tremor, carrying a sense of age-old vicissitude.
Chu Feng put down the stone in his hand, confirming that this was indeed a copper stele. This discovery left him somewhat incredulous; a several-thousand-jin heavy ancient bronze artifact was no small matter.
If word got out, it would certainly cause a sensation.
The characters "Xi Wang" were engraved on top, bearing the sedimentation of time. They were archaic yet mysterious, captivating one's heart and mind, leaving one to wonder which era they originated from.
"What person buried it within Mount Kunlun?"
Chu Feng tapped the copper stele, producing continuous metallic vibrations. Unfortunately, he wasn't an archaeologist and couldn't draw any valuable conclusions.
"Perhaps there was once an extremely splendid bronze civilization here long ago," he mused speculatively.
He had never been superstitious, even though Kunlun was imbued with too much mythological color. Even upon unexpectedly encountering a massive bronze stele engraved with "Xi Wang," he didn't quite believe those legends.
Chu Feng believed that if Xi Wangmu truly existed, she might have merely been the leader of some powerful ancient tribe, and this place was just a ruin.
"Violent earthquakes triggered abnormal magnetic field values in the mountain, causing cloud layers to discharge electricity. Combined with the large exposed bronze on the mountain, did it attract lightning?"
Chu Feng increasingly felt that this might be the reason.
He really wanted to dig out this copper stele and examine it closely, but unfortunately, half of it was buried underground, making it very difficult without tools.
After lingering for a while, he continued climbing upward.
The large cracks on the mountain were wide and deep, pitch-black and shocking to behold, presenting a scene of desolation.
There was no clear path along the way, with steep terrain and boulders strewn about, making it increasingly difficult to climb higher.
The mountain was vast, and walking alone on it, feeling its grandeur and thinking of the many legends surrounding it, Chu Feng felt something unusual in his heart. Gazing into the distance, the great mountain connected with the sky, presenting a magnificent sight.
Climbing over a thousand meters up the earthquake-stricken mountain was not an easy journey. It was extremely dangerous when loose rocks rolled down.
Ahead, there was a pile of soil and stones where part of the mountain wall had recently collapsed.
From a distance, Chu Feng noticed something unusual. With a startled expression, he quickly advanced, climbing up to confirm what he saw.
"It looks like verdigris!"
From afar, he saw a green trace, rusted and mottled, right at the cliff edge. This wasn't a small patch but a large area.
Finally reaching close, he could see clearly.
"Indeed!"
This was more startling than the earlier copper stele.
A large section of the cliff face had collapsed, revealing a dust-covered truth against the steep mountain side.
Against the stone wall, verdigris covered the area, ancient and mysterious. It was a bronze structure, revealed as part of the mountain slid down.
Three bronze houses, ancient and silent, stood against the stone wall. Some parts were buried under soil and stones, but most could still be seen.
The bronze houses had an ancient style, majestic with a sense of historical weight.
On the bronze houses, the tiles were also cast in bronze, neatly arranged. At first glance, they looked like green scales covering the surface.
Chu Feng was genuinely shocked, unable to calm down.
This was a sensational discovery—such enormous bronze artifacts, these were actual bronze houses built on Mount Kunlun and previously deeply buried.
What era did these belong to, and who built them?
According to his guess, this area must have once harbored a brilliant bronze civilization, existing for extremely ancient times, unrecorded in existing history books.
While astonished, he also felt uneasy and puzzled.
The Si Mu Wu Ding was known as the largest ancient bronze artifact, but now it seemed lighter than both the copper stele and the houses before him.
Undoubtedly, constructing these houses was more challenging than casting a ding.
The bronze houses were cast together, grand and solemn with an air of mystery.
If discovered by the outside world, they would surely be considered treasure-level bronze masterpieces, unprecedented in size and having a disruptive impact.
Chu Feng was usually very calm in dealing with situations, but today he couldn't remain composed. The existence of such bronze ruins in the mountains of western China was truly astonishing!
He tried pushing open a bronze door, producing a slightly harsh metal scraping sound. The copper door opened.
Chu Feng didn't immediately enter but stood outside for a moment, waiting for ventilation before cautiously stepping inside. It was very quiet inside, almost isolated from the outside world, with not a single object visible either on the ground or walls.
The other two bronze houses were the same, their interiors empty without tables or chairs.
Careful inspection revealed nothing overlooked; the bronze houses were indeed empty.
Chu Feng stepped out, looking at the three bronze houses, filled with too many questions. Were these structures used for living quarters or for rituals?
In that distant ancient time, this was truly luxurious!
Historical records noted that during the Shang Dynasty, casting the Si Mu Wu Ding required the cooperation of two to three hundred craftsmen, working closely to complete it with great difficulty.
In ancient times, if constructing three bronze houses, how immense would the challenge have been?!
Chu Feng lingered for a long time, finally continuing up the mountain. After several hours, he was nearly at the summit, still about two hundred meters away, sweating profusely.
His physique was excellent, tall and strong, but climbing such a large mountain for a long time was still exhausting.
Approaching the summit, gazing into the distance, the undulating mountains and vast land made one feel incredibly insignificant, like dust.
Standing atop the giant mountain, looking up at the azure sky so close, it made one's heart and lungs feel refreshed, forgetting all worries, personal glory or disgrace, everything seemed trivial.
The altitude here was already very high, but there was no snow accumulation, and vegetation still grew, which surprised Chu Feng.
"There are traces of lightning strikes!"
Chu Feng noticed burn marks on the mountain, evidence of past lightning strikes. Large areas of vegetation had turned to ash, blackened.
Moreover, the mountain rocks had been split apart, with extensive damage to the mountain body.
This further convinced him that days ago, dense fog and blue light swirling around here were actually lightning, indicating that this place had experienced lightning strikes.
The road ahead was treacherous, with piles of boulders forcing Chu Feng to detour, attempting to ascend from another side of the mountain.
However, when he turned around and reached the other side of the summit, his body stiffened slightly, pupils contracting, feeling shock for the first time.
Even upon seeing the bronze houses, he hadn't felt this way.
This side of the mountain had experienced a landslide, with a thick layer of soil and stones sliding down, exposing a metallic luster.
"Bell Mountain!"
After a large area of soil and stones fell away, the revealed scene was extraordinarily shocking.
This area at the summit was actually made of bronze, previously buried under a layer of soil.
This wasn't a small area; almost two hundred meters from the summit, a vast zone had exposed a bronze texture.
How could this not provoke other thoughts? Was this mountain made of bronze, with its exterior covered by soil and stones, hiding the true scene beneath?
Truly inconceivable!
Regardless of the truth, at least this two-hundred-meter-high mountain body being made of bronze was enough to stun the world.
Chu Feng was stunned. This was a mountain within Kunlun, internally made of copper, overturning his thoughts and challenging long-held beliefs.
He didn't believe in supernatural things and always regarded legends as mere stories.
But this place was strange, inexplicable.
After being struck by lightning, the truth of the bronze summit was revealed.
The events here were truly sensational!
Chu Feng climbed up the copper mountain, stopping about a hundred meters from the summit due to the exceptionally steep bronze cliff face, making it hard to proceed further.
At the same time, he smelled a faint fragrance carried by the wind.
This entire area was made of copper material, cold metal. Initially, there were no signs of vegetation, barren and bare.
Chu Feng looked up, carefully searching.
Sure enough, he spotted a plant growing on the bronze cliff!
It was in the summit area. He retreated and searched for a better climbing route from another angle, gradually approaching, wanting to observe more closely.
Not long after, although he still couldn't reach the summit, he could see clearly.
A lush green sapling, over three feet tall, had taken root on the bronze cliff face, bearing a flower bud about to bloom.
Chu Feng confirmed he wasn't mistaken. There was no soil or stone there, only bronze, yet it had taken root on the bronze cliff face—an unbelievable sight.
This was too astounding, incomprehensible.
He changed positions, choosing a spot more conducive to climbing, getting closer and seeing clearly that the sapling indeed took root on the bronze!