Sang Dai fell silent, and Su Xuan also said nothing. Ji Cang’s face was cold, and even Tan Huai, who was always laughing and joking, was unusually quiet.
The Snow Qilin trembled and stammered, “I’ve said everything I needed to… She really is in the Snow Abyss…”
She’s in the Snow Abyss now. Surely these people won’t actually go there, right? That’s a place even it didn’t dare to enter. Aside from the Tian Yuxue, no one who has gone in has ever come out alive.
The Snow Qilin lay flat on the ground, motionless, its beastly eyes darting from one person to the next.
Having lived in the Snow Realm for so long, it could count on one hand the people brave enough to enter. Even fewer had ever made it out. The Snow Qilin had met very few of these people—and this was the first time it had seen so many awakened with Heaven-grade spiritual roots.
There were only seven in the Four Realms, yet four of them were here in the Snow Realm.
For a beast, this was an eye-opener.
Suddenly, Sang Dai spoke, “Take us there.”
The Snow Qilin responded vaguely, “Mm-hmm, okay—huh?”
Halfway through its response, it finally sensed something wrong and turned its head sharply to look at them.
Startled, it raised its head, and the sword cultivator sitting cross-legged on its forehead wobbled unsteadily.
The nearest person, Tan Huai, instinctively reached out to catch her, only to see a shadow flash past. Su Xuan, who had been standing in front of the Snow Qilin just a moment ago, had already leaped onto its head.
He wrapped one arm around Sang Dai’s waist, his face cold as he lowered his gaze to the Snow Qilin.
“Quiet down for me.”
The Snow Qilin clutched its head and started bawling, “Waaah!”
If it had known, it wouldn’t have followed these two here. Now it had encountered two even scarier ones. What kind of people were these?
Worried that the spirit beast might act up again, Su Xuan carried Sang Dai and jumped down.
The sword cultivator stepped out of his arms, calmly shaking her head. “I’m fine.”
Su Xuan tightened the cloak around her shoulders and asked, “Are you cold?”
“No, I have the Hellfire Orb.”
She lifted the cloak, revealing the small Hellfire Orb she was cradling. The orb was just big enough to keep the sword cultivator warm.
Su Xuan increased the size of the Hellfire slightly. “If you get cold, tell me.”
“Okay.”
The two had just turned around when they were met with three pairs of complicated gazes.
Ji Cang stood with his arms crossed, staring at them. Tan Huai covered his eyes, but left a crack between his fingers to sneak a peek. The Snow Qilin blinked its large beastly eyes in a daze.
Sang Dai, Su Xuan: “…”
Ji Cang: “Tch.”
Tan Huai: “Wow, congratulations on a hundred years of harmony.”
The Snow Qilin tilted its head, “Oh, so you’re Dao companions?”
Sang Dai asked it expressionlessly, “Take us to the Snow Abyss.”
The Snow Qilin licked its paw and muttered, pouting, “You still want to go, huh? Your head isn’t quite right, is it? The Snow Abyss is very dangerous.”
Su Xuan shot it a cold glance.
The Snow Qilin whimpered, “Wuu…”
It shivered as it stood up, grumbling in a pitiful tone, “Fine, fine, I’ll take you there. No need to be so fierce.”
This was outright bullying of a beast!
It dared not show its anger and could only sullenly lead the way.
“If you’re not afraid of dying, then come along. I’ll just take you there, but I’m not responsible for anything else.”
If that Tian Yuxue creature caught them, it would end up getting beaten again. Tian Yuxue’s punches were as terrifying as that female sword cultivator’s—one punch could grind it into the ground and drag it hundreds of miles.
The Snow Qilin’s broad footprints left a trail in the snow as snowflakes continuously drifted down from the void. Apart from the Snow Qilin, Sang Dai and the other three wrapped themselves tightly in spiritual energy barriers.
The snow in the Snow Realm melted into one’s meridians, as it was formed from the ancient cold energy left behind during the Great Cold. Even Tribulation Crossing cultivators would be eroded by the cold energy here.
Even though they used spiritual energy to fend off the snowflakes, they still couldn’t stay in the Snow Realm for too long. The cold energy in every breath was intense, suppressing their cultivation to some degree. Years ago, Sang Dai had spent just ten days with Tian Yuxue and had been left with a chronic ailment that nearly cost her life.
Now, entering an even colder region of the Snow Realm, the cold energy here was far more penetrating than the great chill brought by Tian Yuxue. Thus, the complexions of Tan Huai and Ji Cang gradually turned pale—they had already spent a night here.
Su Xuan held Sang Dai’s hand, noticing that her body temperature had dropped slightly compared to before. He frowned and asked her, “Are you cold?”
Sang Dai shook her head. “It’s just that we’ve stayed here too long. We need to leave as soon as possible. Prolonged exposure to the Snow Realm will damage our meridians, and my cultivation is already faintly suppressed.”
After all, this was the burial ground of the ancient divine beast, the Snow Owl. It was equivalent to them stepping into the skeleton of the Snow Owl itself. The divine beasts of the Great Wild Era were different from those that had undergone thousands of years of inheritance.
Back then, the spiritual energy used in cultivation derived from the purest energy of the Guixu. However, thousands of years ago, the Guixu had been contaminated by toxins. New generations of cultivators practicing with this tainted energy naturally carried traces of toxins in their bodies as well.
Though divine beasts like the Nine-Tailed Fox and Bi Fang were formidable, they were no match for the Snow Owl of millennia past.
The Snow Owl was truly a ruler of its domain, its strength unmatched. Even after death, its skeleton radiated an oppressive aura, deterring intruders from disturbing its eternal rest in the Snow Realm.
Silently, Su Xuan amplified the Hellfire he had passed to Sang Dai. A certain monk suddenly leaned in and asked politely, “Beast King, might you gift this poor monk a Hellfire Orb?”
Su Xuan coldly refused, “No.”
Tan Huai wasn’t angry. Instead, he turned to Sang Dai, blinking his eyes.
Sang Dai and Tan Huai got along fairly well. As fellow awakened Heaven-grade spiritual root cultivators of the Immortal Realm, the two had fought together on many occasions. However, more than a decade ago, Tan Huai suddenly wandered off on his own and disappeared from the public eye. Sang Dai hadn’t seen him in a long time.
Tan Huai’s complexion was frighteningly pale. Though he could still manage a smile, Sang Dai could sense a faint trace of deathly energy on him.
After a brief moment of silence, Sang Dai handed the Hellfire Orb in her hand to Tan Huai.
Tan Huai was so moved he was on the verge of tears. “Thank you, Lady Sang! You’re truly a good person!!”
Su Xuan didn’t seem upset, knowing that Tan Huai and Sang Dai had saved each other’s lives many times on the battlefield. Quietly, he condensed another Hellfire Orb for Sang Dai.
Sang Dai obediently held it and then turned to Ji Cang. “Demon Lord, do you want one?”
Ji Cang sneered coldly. “Would you give it to me for free?”
He was nothing like Tan Huai. He didn’t have such a good relationship with Sang Dai and had even fought numerous battles with the Immortal Realm over the years, clashing with Sang Dai many times.
Sang Dai never lied. She shook her head honestly, “No.”
Ji Cang: “…”
Sang Dai said, “You can trade it for a spiritual vein.”
Ji Cang was battle-hungry and had seized numerous spiritual veins over the years, even discovering many himself. Sang Dai thought exchanging one Hellfire Orb for a spiritual vein was a fair deal.
The Demon Lord gritted his teeth. “Even if I freeze to death or die from the cold, I will never accept your Hellfire Orb!”
Sang Dai nodded. “You have integrity.”
A quarter of an hour later.
The Snow Qilin turned its head to glance back. The young man in the dark robe was holding a Hellfire Orb, his face expressionless.
The Snow Qilin sighed. As expected, vows were made to be broken.
It shook its fluffy fur.
Damn it, the closer they got to the Snow Abyss, the more it felt the biting cold.
Sang Dai curved her eyes into a smile and said to Su Xuan, “Let’s place the spiritual vein in Yaoshan County. Weren’t you planning to cut a spiritual vein from the Beast Realm? Now you don’t have to—just have Ji Cang deliver it directly.”
Su Xuan responded with a cheerful smile, “Alright.”
Tan Huai hugged his Hellfire Orb with a silly grin and nudged Ji Cang’s arm.
The monk teased mockingly, imitating Ji Cang, “Even if I freeze to death or die from the cold, I will never accept your Hellfire Orb~”
Ji Cang let out a frustrated laugh. “Bald donkey, give me back my clothes!”
Tan Huai bolted.
What a joke. He’d been beaten plenty by his abbot as a kid. When it came to running away, no one here could beat him—unless Su Xuan revealed his true form, no one in human form could match his speed.
The Snow Qilin’s brow twitched as a sense of doom washed over it. Everything went black before its eyes. It couldn’t shake the feeling that the cultivation world was on the verge of collapse.
These Heaven-grade spiritual root awakeners, one after another, all seemed terribly unreliable.
The oppressive atmosphere had eased considerably. The Snow Qilin led the way in front, with Ji Cang and Tan Huai following behind, while Sang Dai and Su Xuan walked at the rear.
The Snow Realm made it nearly impossible to distinguish directions; all that could be seen was an endless expanse of white light.
Su Xuan held her hand tightly, as if worried she might lose herself in the endless snow.
Sang Dai gripped his hand in return.
Noticing her response, Su Xuan turned to look at her.
Their eyes met, and Sang Dai smiled at him.
The little fox’s long lashes fluttered lightly, his throat bobbed a few times, and suddenly, his fox ears popped out.
[Dai Dai held my hand?]
Sang Dai was responding to him and even tightened her grip on his hand.
[…If it weren’t for the others around, I’d definitely steal a kiss.]
Sang Dai sighed, holding Su Xuan’s hand as she walked forward. “Let’s go, Beast King. The sooner we find Tian Yuxue, the better. If we stay here any longer, we’ll both die.”