Chapter 96: Heart-Stopping

Not just Xia Cuo, but everyone else from the Climber's Alliance and the Storm Climbing Team stared in stunned silence at the scene far away, one that shattered their common sense.

Yang Jia opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

Each strike of that figure's ice axe seemed to shatter her understanding, making her feel that her years of mountaineering had lost much of their pride.

The livestream viewers, watching the tiny "ant" on the ice wall where pure white and pitch black interwove, grew even more eager for what came next.

At this altitude, ordinary people struggle to breathe, let alone perform such an intense extreme sport.

Although most people can adapt to altitudes of four to five thousand meters, for the vast majority it remains a tremendous challenge.

Oxygen deprivation, freezing cold, rock climbing—any one of these is beyond the easy reach of an ordinary person.

But these hardships, before Qin Yun, were now being shattered one ice axe strike at a time.

Fortunately, the weather was good, no snow falling; otherwise, climbers could only choose to wait.

Qin Yun glanced toward the direction of Camp C2, then adjusted his course; soon, the drone's camera abruptly switched, revealing below a thousand-meter abyss, no longer the original Camp C1.

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

"Bro Qin is legendary, so bold, my palms are sweating."

"666, one misstep and it's Amitabha."

"The streamer is insane, hardcore to the extreme."

"…"

Comments flew wildly, gifts poured in endlessly, and the like count in the top-left corner had surged to an astonishing number—thirty million.

Beneath him lay a thousand-meter abyss; above him stretched an endless ice wall, yet Qin Yun walked as if on flat ground.

This extreme pressure and contrast made viewers utterly hooked. Every viewer entering the livestream was instantly locked in by the visuals within seconds.

Even without speech, only the "huh-huh" of wind and Qin Yun's breathing, the visual allure was so potent that no one who entered could bear to leave.

After advancing about seventy to eighty meters, Qin Yun gripped his ice axe in his left hand and hooked his right hand onto a protruding rock ledge. He paused briefly as the camera slowly pushed in.

He glanced at the viewer count on his display and smiled: "Friends, there are quite a few of you now, so I guess I should reintroduce myself."

"Bro Qin, no need, you're just a temporary climber."

"Yeah, we don't need to know much about temporary workers."

"Pfft… temporary worker? What's that?"

"Bro Qin, just climb your mountain—everyone knows you're a temporary worker by now, anyone who doesn't is just ignorant."

Seeing these comments, Qin Yun couldn't help but laugh and sigh.

"No, that won't do—you know, many new viewers might not know. Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary mountaineering enthusiast, currently challenging Yaomei Peak in Xiao Jin County, Sichuan. I'm currently at roughly 5,280 meters, about a hundred meters from Camp C2."

"The stretch from Camp C1 to Camp C2 is extremely dangerous, among the most difficult sections of Yaomei Peak. It includes steep mixed ice-rock terrain, rated M5, and a rock face rated 5.8. I must emphasize: this is a dangerous activity—do not imitate."

"Bro Qin is hilarious."

"Haha, I don't understand a word Bro Qin says."

"Look, what do you say to that?"

The livestream viewers laughed, spat out drinks, the atmosphere lively and chaotic.

Some viewers asked: Bro Qin, what does this difficulty rating mean?

Qin Yun saw this and immediately replied: "Dengshan difficulty has many standards—there's the French International system, the North American system; we generally use the North American grading system."

"For example, the route I'm on now is rated M5/VI. M5 means some sections are near-vertical or completely vertical, requiring free-climbing techniques to complete. The VI after it refers to time—from I to VII, it ranges from hours to over a week."

"VI normally takes several days to complete."

After speaking, Qin Yun pointed to a place in the distance: "That's where Camp C2 is located. I'm planning to set up camp there today and make a push for the summit in one go tomorrow."

As he finished speaking, suddenly—*crack! *—a faint snapping sound echoed through the livestream.

A patch of ice beneath Qin Yun's foot suddenly loosened and broke away; his body instantly lost support and began sliding downward.

"!!!"

"Holy shit, ice cracked? What happened?"

"Did Bro Qin slip?"

Hearing the sound, every livestream viewer was startled, hearts leaping into their throats.

At this critical moment, Qin Yun's eyes sharpened; his right hand instantly seized a secondary ice axe on the side of his backpack. As his body plunged downward, he yanked the secondary axe free and slammed it violently into the ice above.

*Hssss—! *

The secondary axe held firm, and with his primary axe already securely embedded, his body halted midair, feet dangling, entirely suspended by the two ice axes.

The drone's AI understood livestreaming perfectly—in the instant of crisis, the camera instantly pulled back, capturing the entire scene.

Watching Qin Yun hanging from the ice wall, the tension surged to its peak; danger and thrill reached their zenith simultaneously.

"Shit shit shit shit… a plant."

"6666666"

"Bro Qin is legendary (screaming from the soul)"

"Damn, scared the hell out of me."

For an ordinary person, holding on with just both hands wouldn't last seconds—but veteran fans who knew Qin Yun's wilderness survival feats knew this was already a very safe situation for him.

Qin Yun's voice came through the microphone.

"Brothers, death is like the wind—it always walks beside me. To you, it may be dangerous; to me, it's just a snack."

"Damn, still showing off at a time like this—but I have to admit, he's got guts."

"Bro Qin, stop showing off and just stabilize yourself!"

"666"

After speaking, Qin Yun showed no panic. He engaged his core, a terrifying strength surging around him, found his footholds again, and steadied himself, stepping firmly onto a harder layer of ice.

Having done this, Qin Yun pulled his left ice axe free and thrust it upward with force, driving it deep into the ice and snow, his voice sounding again.

Whether climbing a mountain or scaling a rock face, it's always like this: no matter how certain you are about the stability of your foothold, you never know what might happen next, so you must never panic—if you panic, you're already done.

"Don't think what I just did looked dangerous—my heart rate never went above ninety."

"From now on, I'm calling you the King of Showboating."

"Mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching livestreams."

"Qin Ye may be showing off, but he's undeniably awesome."

"That reaction speed, that mental fortitude—unbelievable."

"I almost threw my phone away just now."

"Qin Ye, you're a god."

Not just them—Liu Wei from Douyin, Qin Yun's classmates and friends, his ex-wife Song Ya, and some others who knew him—all stared at the man in the livestream as if he were a stranger.

Especially his ex-wife Song Ya—every time she watched Qin Yun's livestream, she felt he must have been possessed by a Saiyan; otherwise, how could he be so incredible?

No matter how little she cared for Qin Yun, she knew the Qin Yun she'd been with was never this outrageous.

But after the divorce, it was like he'd unlocked a cheat code.

It was as if divorce had lifted the seal from Qin Yun—two parts separate, yet how am I supposed to be at peace?

Song Ya claimed she had no regrets, but comparing the wealthy Zhang Tao to the man in the video, her heart felt as if being gnawed by insects.

The more successful that man became, the more she felt like a failure.

Su Huan, far away in Hangzhou, had nearly missed a heartbeat just now—every time she watched Qin Yun's livestream, her heart raced violently; she wanted to stop watching, but couldn't.

Qin Yun—a man who made her heart race every single time.

At that moment, a flood of Carnival gifts suddenly appeared in the livestream—in an instant, the top donor's position changed, replaced by someone else.

"What the hell? The top donor just turned into a top donor sister—is that Feng Liu Jie?"

"Feng Liu Jie? That's just Han Wei."

"Han the beauty, mighty and grand!"

"I counted those Carnival gifts—fifty of them. Damn, fifteen ten thousand yuan just vanished."

"Bo Lang Ge, don't let Feng Liu Jie overshadow you."

Bo Lang Ge, Zeng Luo, watching this, smiled faintly and ignored it.

He knew Han Wei—since she wanted to be top donor, he naturally wouldn't make things awkward for himself.

At this moment, in the livestream, there were not only Bo Lang Ge and Feng Liu Jie, but also many top Douyin streamers and some celebrities.

Especially those streamers—their expressions were complex. Such a brutally strong streamer had risen so suddenly, with zero warning.

Compared to this streamer's hardcore moves, they all felt insignificant.

Because they could be replaced—when the old fade, the new naturally emerge. But Qin Yun? He's irreplaceable—he's simply too rare.

He's a natural traffic magnet.

Even if they had the ability, none would dare operate like this. As the saying goes: walk by the river often enough, you'll get your shoes wet. This kind of extreme sport—if you slip even once, death is certain.

In the video, Qin Yun continued climbing upward—this stretch was truly the extreme section.

Had his climbing skill not reached Master level, and had he not possessed the Sherpa's adaptation ability, even just oxygen deprivation alone would have been enough to cripple him.

But now, one after another, terrifying extreme points were effortlessly dismantled under his masterful maneuvers.

Another hour passed; the sky had begun to darken.

Qin Yun gripped his ice axe in his right hand, flicked his left wrist, and a Casio watch appeared on camera: "It's now 6:30 p. m., temperature minus twenty-eight degrees Celsius. Sunset is in just over ten minutes—I must speed up."

He put away the watch, pulled down his face gear. In the camera's view, with each breath, frost instantly coated his eyebrows and eyelashes; his breath carried thick white vapor.

Yet his eyes remained bright, showing no sign of fatigue.

"See that?" he readjusted his gear and said, "This temperature is truly freezing—a natural giant refrigerator. Luckily, the sportswear sponsored by Huan Teng Sports keeps my body temperature stable. And the drone? Even at this low temperature, it's rock-solid—no issues at all. Can't help but say: Made-in-China is awesome."

Qin Yun casually dropped three ads in a few sentences—many hadn't even reacted yet.

By the time they realized what had happened, Qin Yun had already resumed climbing.

"666, Qin Ye's ads hit like a surprise punch—you'd never notice unless you thought hard."

"Hahaha, Qin Ye's storefront items are crazy expensive, but undeniably a point of national pride."

"Since Qin Ye's working so hard climbing, I'll reluctantly place an order."

Soon after, all three brands in Qin Yun's storefront saw massive sales spikes—this made the brand representatives monitoring his livestream feel their contracts were worth every penny, especially Casio and DJI.

'Whoosh—!'

A falling windstone skimmed past his body; Qin Yun twisted, lunged sideways, and landed firmly on a narrow ledge.

"Friends, I've reached Camp C2 on the north face of Yao Mei Peak. It's tiny—look up at my head, doesn't it look like an eave? This platform barely holds a sleeping pad; there's no room for a tent. I'll just 'make do for the night'—tonight's bound to be a miserable one."

He sat cross-legged on the ledge. Though overhead was sheltered, there was no protection on either side—the wind howled, the temperature was brutally low.

"Watching Qin Ye sit there, I feel so safe—I want to go there too."

"Same. Qin Ye looks pretty smug."

"Minus thirty degrees? Are you trying to die?"

Qin Yun chatted with viewers for a while longer; as darkness fell, he ended the livestream.