Along the way, they encountered several more corpses. The Qianlin Guards examined each one. All had been killed with a single strike, and their storage bags were intact, untouched.
This ruled out the possibility of a demonic beast attack or murder for treasure.
Wen Qiao keenly sensed that this Lintai Hunting Valley training was not as simple as it seemed and suspected interference or sabotage by an unknown force.
She glanced at Ning Yuzhou and the Qianlin Guards, her thoughts drifting to the various disciples participating in this training. She wondered whether this was an internal conflict among cultivators of the Dongling Kingdom or if an external force was behind it, and what their motives might be.
Judging by the cultivators who had been killed with a single strike, it was evident that the perpetrator possessed exceptional strength and a ruthless nature.
After safely crossing the plain, they arrived at a mist-shrouded area on the opposite side.
Upon closer inspection, the white mist was not like the kind that enveloped Lintai Mountain. Its density was only about half as thick, allowing a vague view of the surroundings.
Qian Shou first sent two Qianlin Guards inside to scout. They didn’t go far and soon returned, reporting, “Your Highness, the visibility inside is ten zhang (~108 ft), and we haven’t discovered anything unusual so far.”
Ning Yuzhou responded with a faint hum, took Wen Qiao’s hand, and stepped inside.
The Qianlin Guards formed a protective circle around them and followed into the white mist.
The moment they entered the mist, an inexplicable chill enveloped them, causing an involuntary shiver.
Wen Qiao rubbed her arms and found that the mist seemed to be a type of ice mist, exuding a freezing aura. As the Qianlin Guards had mentioned, the visibility was indeed about ten zhang. Sparse shrubs grew around them, the soil was moist, weeds thrived, and the water-saturated ground made squelching sounds underfoot.
Soon, a faint layer of ice mist covered their bodies, making them feel increasingly cold.
Ning Yuzhou placed a spiritual pill into Wen Qiao’s mouth and took one himself.
After swallowing the pill, Wen Qiao’s body gradually warmed, and the surrounding ice mist could no longer affect her.
The Qianlin Guards also consumed spiritual pills, and with the protection of the pills, the ice mist’s impact on them was minimized to the point of being negligible.
Wen Qiao couldn’t help but glance again at her calm and composed husband. It seemed they had thoroughly prepared for this trip to Lintai Hunting Valley. They had all kinds of spiritual pills at hand and handled unexpected situations without any panic.
“Croak—croak—”
Suddenly, a croaking sound echoed from deep within the white mist, harsh and jarring in the otherwise silent surroundings.
The sound seemed to emanate from everywhere, as if coming from all directions. The Qianlin Guards swiftly formed a defensive formation, enclosing Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou at the center.
Swish, swish, swish! The sound of projectiles cutting through the air filled the mist. The Qianlin Guards braced for battle, and the sharp clashing noises of strikes echoed around them.
Wen Qiao gripped a slender sword in one hand while holding her husband with the other, her eyes darting in all directions and ears tuned to every sound. She soon spotted sharp ice spikes shooting rapidly out of the white mist. These spikes gleamed with a biting cold light and, when knocked to the ground by the Qianlin Guards, dissolved into ice mist within moments, merging with the surrounding fog.
The croaking grew louder, and the ice spikes rained down in increasingly dense and relentless waves.
The sheer number of ice spikes was overwhelming. Without the Qianlin Guards’ defensive formation, which overlapped and reinforced their resistance, they would likely have been riddled with holes by the spikes.
After observing for a moment, Wen Qiao noticed that the environment was unfavorable to them. The surrounding ice mist continually supplied energy for the spikes, ensuring their endless production. As long as the mist remained, the ice spikes would not diminish.
“Use fire!” Ning Yuzhou commanded.
The Qianlin Guards split into two groups of twenty, one for defense and one for offense. Upon hearing Ning Yuzhou’s order, the outer defensive group immediately retrieved a stack of fire talismans, activated them, and launched the talismans into the air.
The sky was filled with fire talismans that transformed into fiery dragons, roaring as they surged forward. Not only did they devour the incoming ice spikes, but they also burned away the surrounding ice mist. The mist began to thin around them, and soon, they could see up to a hundred zhang away.
Wen Qiao’s gaze sharpened as she clearly saw the frost-covered trees not far away, where countless white ice frogs were perched. With each croak, dozens of ice spikes materialized around them and shot toward the group.
“It’s third-tier Ice Tear Frogs,” Ning Yuzhou remarked knowingly.
It seemed they had intruded into the Ice Tear Frogs’ territory.
Wen Qiao observed them carefully and found the Ice Tear Frogs to be aptly named. Below their eyes were two darker markings resembling tear streaks. If not examined closely, it looked as though they were crying, giving them a unique appearance.
Fire was the nemesis of Ice Tear Frogs. Under the onslaught of numerous fire talismans, the frogs leaped away in droves, fleeing in all directions. The Qianlin Guards seized the opportunity to hunt down a large number of Ice Tear Frogs. These frogs often attacked in swarms, and cultivators who encountered them without adequate strength would be frozen into ice sculptures and perish beneath the ice. However, the meat of the Ice Tear Frog was exceptionally tender and flavorful, making it a rare delicacy. Naturally, the Qianlin Guards would not let this opportunity slip by.
This was the Ice Tear Frogs’ domain, shrouded in icy mist that limited visibility. A moment’s carelessness could lead to being surrounded by a swarm of Ice Tear Frogs and skewered into a bloody mess.
The Qianlin Guards, well-funded and well-prepared, carried an abundance of talismans. Without much effort, they broke through the frogs’ swarm attack. The Ice Tear Frogs, in turn, suffered a crushing defeat, becoming the spoils of war and emergency rations for the guards.
While the Qianlin Guards were busy, Wen Qiao took an interest in studying the Ice Tear Frogs. She asked Qian Shou to bring a few over.
Qian Shou looked at her in surprise, then glanced at Ning Yuzhou. Seeing Ning Yuzhou nod in agreement, he instructed the guards ahead to catch a few Ice Tear Frogs and bring them over.
“Step aside. Don’t come near,” Wen Qiao instructed Ning Yuzhou, worried that her husband, who couldn’t cultivate, might get hurt.
Ning Yuzhou responded with a smile and obediently retreated to Qian Shou’s side, watching her with a look of amusement as she used the Ice Tear Frogs for practice.
The third-tier Ice Tear Frogs were equivalent to cultivators in the Yuan Feather Stage. Their primary attack was the ice spike. A single Ice Tear Frog wasn’t particularly powerful, but their overwhelming numbers—usually in the tens of thousands—made their group assaults nearly unbearable.
However, when there were only a few frogs, they were indeed suitable sparring partners for Wen Qiao.
At first, when the Ice Tear Frogs leaped at her, Wen Qiao clumsily blocked their attacks with her sword. Her swordsmanship lacked fluidity, and she barely managed to dodge in time. An ice spike almost struck her chest, and though she evaded it, several spikes grazed her arm, tearing through her clothing and leaving bloody wounds beneath.
The smile on Ning Yuzhou’s face faded slightly as he fixed his gaze on the wound on her arm caused by the ice spike.
After several close calls, Wen Qiao finally began to grasp the sword techniques, adeptly fending off the ice spikes. Her movements became as light as a swallow, her flexible waist allowing her to dodge and weave gracefully, avoiding the frogs’ attacks.
Moving through the ice mist, Wen Qiao closed the distance between herself and the ranged-attack Ice Frogs. With a precise and elegant slash, she killed one.
Qian Shou released another dozen Ice Tear Frogs toward her.
Wen Qiao continued the battle.
While guarding Ning Yuzhou and staying vigilant of the surroundings, Qian Shou observed Wen Qiao closely. He noted that the young woman’s sword techniques had initially been weak and ineffectual, and she lacked combat experience. For a while, she had floundered awkwardly. However, after shedding blood, her swordsmanship became sharper and more lethal, finally starting to show promise.
The technique Wen Qiao used was the Wen Clan’s “Graceful Maiden’s Swallow Sword”, a Mysterious Grade martial art. This sword technique, practiced by the women of the Wen Clan, was renowned for its elegance, earning the reputation of being as graceful as a swallow and as fluid as water. It was soft like water but could be as hard as ice, descending gracefully with a single strike that could astonish the heavens.
With one strike, the sword’s light scattered into a thousand rays, severing dozens of ice spikes in unison. An Ice Tear Frog plummeted from midair, sliced cleanly in two.
The ground was soon littered with over a hundred Ice Tear Frog corpses, all split in half. Blood pooled everywhere, creating a scene of brutal carnage.
Qian Shou silently recalled the Wen Clan women he had seen in the past. Their use of the “Graceful Maiden’s Swallow Sword” had never been so gruesome. When they defeated their enemies, they always left them intact. What he saw now, however, was utterly different—leaving no corpses whole.
By the time the Yuan Spirit Energy in Wen Qiao’s spirit aperture was nearly depleted, and the surrounding Ice Tear Frogs had been completely slaughtered, her mastery of the “Graceful Maiden’s Swallow Sword” had reached a high level of fluidity and proficiency, its lethality now remarkable.
When Wen Qiao finally sheathed her sword, she took in the scene of carnage around her and noticed Qian Shou’s expression. She too fell silent.
It seemed, indeed, she was not quite like the other Wen Clan women who practiced swordsmanship.
Seeing Ning Yuzhou approach, she explained, “Actually, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Ning Yuzhou smiled and said, “I know. The Wen Clan’s ‘Graceful Maiden’s Swallow Sword’ relies on using softness to overcome hardness, blending hardness and softness. You’ve exhibited its hard side, so naturally, it’s different from the soft side shown by others.”
So, it turned out a little more brutal—no big deal!
Wen Qiao stared at him blankly, silently wondering if there was anything her husband didn’t understand. It seemed like he knew everything…
Then Ning Yuzhou added, “Congratulations, you’ve broken through.”
Wen Qiao’s expression softened, and a smile appeared, revealing a hint of her small tiger teeth. “Thank you! I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly.”
Although she said this, she had already sensed signs of a breakthrough earlier. However, due to the onset of Fire Poison, she had been forced to suppress it. Unexpectedly, after entering Lintai Hunting Valley, drinking a bowl of Six-Yang Seven-Flavor Profound Yin Soup every day, and constantly absorbing the essence of surrounding plants, her body had transformed.
As a result, during the battle with the Ice Tear Frogs, she naturally refined her understanding of the ‘Graceful Maiden’s Swallow Sword’, allowing her to seamlessly break through to the Yuan Feather Stage.