Chapter 63: The Rock-Climbing God Is Online

In the end, Qin Yun only caught a few willow-root fish, each about the length of a middle finger—a small cold-water fish that lives at the bottom of rivers, best fried in oil.

But he had no oil, so he cleaned the fish and boiled them in water, adding some forest seasonings and a few hazelnuts; a simple, unadorned fish soup was soon ready.

After drinking his fill and drying his clothes and backpack, the sky grew dark.

After chatting with his online viewers for a while, Qin Yun chose to end the stream, checked today's earnings, and found they still totaled over eighty thousand after the platform's cut—the highest of the past few days.

Indeed, twists and danger stimulate fans to tip; plain, uneventful streams barely draw any gifts.

After carefully calculating his four days of streaming income, he had already netted two hundred and forty thousand—far exceeding the sponsorship fee for this stream. But the sponsorship was always extra income; even without it, he would still have done this stream.

This checkpoint task is the longest-duration one released so far; he didn't know what reward it would bring.

As Qin Yun thought about it, he drifted unconsciously into sleep.

But he woke up several times in the middle of the night—either startled by creatures in the water or by noises from the forest. Though no danger occurred, waking four times in one night meant terrible sleep quality.

The next morning, he packed his things, kicked the ash into the river, cleaned everything up, and started streaming on time.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun…"

After his usual opening, as the number of viewers increased, he raised the secondary drone and flew it directly along the river.

"Let's see what's ahead—could it be a waterfall, as I suspected?"

Under Qin Yun's control, the drone skimmed the water's surface one moment and soared high the next; the forest and river unfolded in magnificent, beautiful scenery unseen in the city, making viewers feel like they were watching a documentary.

But when the drone picked up a "Boom—" of water crashing down, a white ribbon suddenly appeared before them, plunging straight down and slapping against the river below, spraying waves of spray.

"Holy shit, it really is a waterfall! Judging by the drone's flight time, it's only about two kilometers away—thank god the host got ashore yesterday, or he'd be dead."

"Qin Ye's minor luck's bad, but his major luck's great—he narrowly escaped."

"So majestic! I never expected a waterfall to exist in the Greater Khingan Range."

"Beautiful—I really want to go adventuring with Qin Ye."

"Qin Ye moves so freely alone; if you tagged along, you'd be half-dead from exhaustion."

Watching the drone's screen, Qin Yun retracted the secondary drone, deployed the main one, and flew it above the river, locking the camera on his angle. Then Qin Yun walked along the riverbank toward the waterfall's location.

He walked nearly an hour to cover the two-kilometer distance.

Most of the riverbank was impassable, so he had to detour.

Soon, his eyes and ears both registered the waterfall's presence. He sent the main drone forward, pulling farther and farther away from the waterfall until he looked like a tiny ant.

Qin Yun spoke through the microphone: "This waterfall's no small thing—the cliff's height is unexpectedly sheer. Based on my experience, it's at least one hundred and twenty meters—extremely high."

"Below is still a river, but jumping from this height is no different than hitting stone—thank god I got ashore yesterday, or I'd really be dead."

Qin Yun observed for a while, thought hard, but couldn't think of a practical way down.

Facing the drone, Qin Yun helplessly spread his hands: "You all saw the drone footage—if I go down, I either jump straight down or detour. But detouring would mean I won't get out today. Also, from the drone's distant view, I can faintly see the terrain ahead."

"Today is my fifth day of streaming, but in terms of time, I've already been in the Greater Khingan Range for five days since last night—I must leave this area today."

"So how are you going down, making a rope?"

"Qin Ye, I advise you to detour—unless you plan to fly down."

Meanwhile, in Hangzhou, Su Huan had already guessed Qin Yun's plan; her heart lurched, and her pulse shot up.

Qin Yun walked along one side of the cliff to the left, chatting with viewers as he went.

"Don't worry—I won't detour, but I won't blindly jump off the cliff either. As for how I'll get down, interested viewers can check out my first video."

At these words, some viewers froze, then erupted in excitement.

"Oh my god, is the host going to climb down?"

"Qin Ye, don't be crazy—you've got no gear, this climb's way too dangerous."

"Don't be reckless, play it safe."

"Otaman gifted the host ten Carnivals—after watching your climbing video, I believe you can do it."

"Admiral of the Navy gifted the host a red heart—go for it."

Qin Yun looked up at the cliff jutting diagonally, seemingly endless; though he could see the terrain slowly sloping downward and knew walking sideways would eventually let him cross, it would waste too much time.

Besides, since today was his final streaming day, not pulling off something spectacular would insult the fans who'd sent so many gifts.

But even if he climbed, he had to pick a safer spot—too close to the waterfall was out of the question; the humidity was too high, he had no gear, and doing this wouldn't be adventure—it'd be suicide.

After walking several hundred meters, he touched the rock layer beneath his feet and spoke to the drone: "Climbing mountains is always harder going down than up—climbing cliffs even more so. I've got no proper tools, so I must find a rock face I can trust—preferably one with a slight incline, since I only need to descend, not to challenge myself."

Qin Yun continued forward, walked another hundred meters, peered over the cliff edge, and saw only forest stretching across his vision—but from this angle, he could clearly see the cliff's sloping curve.

"Look here—this is perfect. The rocks jut out, plenty of footholds. It might still be dangerous for you, but for me, it's like walking on flat ground."

"Qin Ye's climb isn't smooth at all."

"Qin Ye is arrogant—but he's got the right to be."

"You're awesome, you call the shots."

Qin Yun judged the distance from cliff to base, carefully checked the rock condition, confirmed it was safe enough to risk it, rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, grabbed a rock ledge and lowered his feet.

"Holy shit, the host's serious—I thought you were joking."

"Bro, I'm scared, I think I'm having a heart attack."

"Qin Ye says he lives for the thrill, haha."

"Bo Lang Ge gifted the host ten Carnivals—witnessing a miracle in real time."

"Feng Liu Jie gifted the host ten Carnivals—Qin Ye is awesome."

"Too intense—I just wet my pants. Oh, I peed. Never mind then."

With the boost from a few Carnival gifts, the stream exploded with presents; hundreds of thousands of red hearts appeared. Though each red heart only cost one diamond, their sheer number soon equaled the value of a single Carnival.

That's the power of numbers.

Qin Yun kept the main drone beside him for easy interaction, the secondary drone behind him capturing his full view, and turned on his action camera.

He wasn't joking—this cliff face was genuinely easy for him. After free-climbing the Fanzi Cliff and the East Cliff Wall without gear or protection, this cliff with all obtuse angles was no challenge at all.

As he spoke, he descended about ten meters.

But only he knew how hard it was; the online viewers had no idea—they only saw the angle of the cliff in the camera, and even just looking made their legs feel weak.

Not to mention experiencing it firsthand.

To create a better atmosphere, he even had the drone fly far away, capturing the entire cliff's panoramic view.

Waterfall, forest, cliff, climber!

This scene was undoubtedly shocking.

Qin Yun moved like a tiny ant, inching slowly along the sheer cliff face, challenging the height of life.

"Master Qin is insane, calm as a dog."

"If it were me, just standing at the cliff's edge would make me want to leap off."

"Hey… come to think of it, I feel the same physical reaction."

At this point, Qin Yun had climbed to roughly the midpoint—neither up nor down, with no room for retreat. But with his current physique, his stamina remained abundant; this level of exertion was nothing.

If not for the sake of better livestream effects, he could have gone even faster—or if the rocks were sturdy enough, he could have rappelled straight down.

But the online viewers didn't know that.

Each of them held their breath, watching the screen in dread, listening to his breathing, feeling their own breaths tighten involuntarily.

Qin Yun stabilized his left foot and reached his right foot downward, when suddenly the rock grip in his left hand cracked with a "crack"—the rock shattered, his left hand lost its hold, and his entire body tilted backward.

But as he tilted to a certain angle, he stopped—his right hand, steady as a boulder, firmly anchored his center of gravity.

But this moment terrified the viewers.

"Holy shit, you scared the hell out of me."

"Too close! I thought I was having a heart attack."

"If it were me, I'd have fallen for sure."

"Be careful, streamer! You're halfway there—success is within reach."

Qin Yun feigned a look of barely surviving, took a deep breath, and looked toward the drone: "Everyone, when you go rock climbing, always remember: your body must have four points of contact with the cliff face. Otherwise, like just now, when my left hand lost its grip, my right hand and both feet stabilized my center of gravity—the triangular structure kept me from falling."

"Also, fear is useless at this point. You only need to hold onto one thought. The rest? Leave it to heaven."

"Too amazing, damn it, so damn good."

"Streamer, you're way too calm—your mental strength is insane."

"Awesome."

Watching the rolling comments and constant gifts, Qin Yun smiled and continued climbing. Meanwhile, the livestream's viewer count had surpassed twenty thousand, reaching over twenty-five thousand—and still rising.

Remember, it was only just past nine in the morning.

On the Douyin side, Liu Wei kept his eyes fixed on the screen, his heart racing. He felt that if Qin Yun joined a wilderness survival contest, he'd definitely make it to the end and win the championship.

If the champion came from within China, it would be a huge achievement for him.

"Give him traffic!"

The staff member beside him froze, staring at Liu Wei in surprise.

"Boss Liu, you mean…?"

Liu Wei nodded: "Give him traffic. Put him in the biggest traffic pool. See how far it pushes him."

The staff member was stunned. Official traffic boosts weren't unusual—they often did this when promoting influencers.

But right now, the streamer's viewer count was already quite good. There was no need to boost him further.

Yet with official intervention, the livestream's viewer count surged dramatically.

Thirty thousand… forty thousand… fifty thousand… His follower count also skyrocketed. Unaware, Qin Yun had quietly reached the milestone of one million followers during his climb.

Netizens across the platform paused their scrolling fingers, staring in astonishment at the man on screen.

Office workers, laborers, students, shop employees… people from all walks of life encountered Qin Yun's livestream. Even if only half stayed, it was an unimaginable number.

This was the effect of official recommendation.

As for not yet reaching one hundred thousand, it was due to the time—many people had only just started work.

As Qin Yun continued climbing and time passed, sweat poured down his body, but he paid no attention to the livestream's viewer count. Only when he stabilized his posture, ready to rest and chat a bit, did he notice the number in the upper-right corner had changed to 100,000+.

"Holy shit, did Douyin glitch? How'd it jump past one hundred thousand?"

Seeing Qin Yun's terrified expression, the viewers burst into laughter.

"Haha, I love seeing Master Qin look like he's never seen the world before."

"Streamer, awesome! Keep going, streamer!"

"Master Qin got official recommendation."

"100,000+ reached—Master Qin's becoming a top streamer."

"Master Qin becoming a top streamer and making big money? I'm not jealous. He earned every penny with his life on the line."

"Yeah, that money belongs to Master Qin."

Qin Yun glanced at the comments and roughly guessed what had happened.

He smiled, thanked everyone, gave a brief self-introduction, then continued downward.

"About forty meters left to the cliff base—let's push through to the end!"