Chapter 228: Disparity
"How much more of this Fire Drop Wine do you have, Junior Martial Brother Sun?" the first young man to have drunk the wine asked, and everyone turned to Sun Ke upon hearing this question.
One cup of wine could keep them warm for half a day, and there were six people in the group. They were going to have to stay in the Profound Ice Mountain Range for close to a month, so this one flagon of wine most likely wasn't going to be enough.
"Rest assured, everyone, I still have a few jars left, so we'll definitely have enough to weather this trial," Sun Ke replied with a smile, and everyone was quite relieved to hear this.
"You have my thanks, Senior Martial Brother Sun. If you need help with anything in the future, feel free to call on me," a tall young man in the group said in an earnest manner, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"You're all far too kind. All of us come from the same sect, so it's only right that we help out one another," Sun Ke replied in a calm manner, but internally, he was quite pleased with this reaction.
He had only been in the Blaze Dragon Dao for a short time, so he was eager to make connections, and some spirit wine was certainly a fine price to pay for this purpose.
Meanwhile, several thousand kilometers away, a hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes, but it was then quickly replaced by a contemplative expression.
At some point, Su Tongxiao had already vanished without a trace.
Sun Ke and the others continued onward without any delay, and shortly thereafter, they encountered their first real battle since entering the mountain range.
It was a group of snow foxes with powers that ranged between the Nascent Soul Stage and the Deity Transformation Stage, and there were around 40 to 50 of them. They had come rushing out from either side of the mountain range while howling in unison, presenting an intimidating sight to behold.
Everyone in Sun Ke's group was quite powerful in their own right, and thanks to Sun Ke's wine, they had all developed a sense of camaraderie, so they were able to quickly get into a battle formation.
The three cultivators in the group with the highest cultivation bases, namely Bai Suyuan, Sun Ke, and another young man were situated at the very forefront, and the three of them summoned a a crescent-shaped flying sword, four flying daggers, and a purplish-golden staff, respectively.
The flying sword transformed into a streak of silver swordlight that was over 1,000 feet in length in a flash, then came slashing down from above.
Meanwhile, the purplish-golden staff released several hundred purple staff projections amid a flash of bright light, all of which hurtled through the air with astonishing power.
As for the four azure flying daggers, they were glowing bright in unison as they expanded to dozens of times their original size, swooping downward as a set of giant azure blades, each of which was several hundred feet in length.
The skulk of snow foxes were instantly sent flying back by the barrage of attacks, and the dozen or so Deity Transformation Stage snow foxes were killed on the spot, instantly halting the momentum of their charge.
In the next instant, the three disciples behind Sun Ke's trio sprang into action as well, and a flurry of attacks were sent raining down upon the snow foxes
Bursts of dull rumbling rang out alongside flashes of light of different colors.
A few moments later, all of the light subsided, and the skulk of snow foxes had already been reduced to sets of dismembered bodies, while a large area had been stained red with their blood.
Han Li gave a slight nod as he observed the group in action from afar.
These disciples had decent reactions. In particular, Bai Suyuan and Sun Ke had endured some life-and-death situations outside of the sect, so they were naturally more capable in situations like these than the other disciples who had grown up their entire lives in the sect.
As a major sect in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, the Blaze Dragon Dao possessed a cultivation environment that was unimaginable to those in the outside world. It had all of the resources and treasures that these disciples could ever want for, thereby allowing them to progress rapidly in their cultivation, but there were downsides to this as well.
For the sake of the development of these core disciples, the higher-ups of the sect had spared no effort.
Sun Ke and the others only took a short while to regroup before they continued onward.
Meanwhile, the other two groups had also been attacked by demon beasts.
On the Snow Camel Mountain route, Qi Huanyu and the others encountered a flock of vicious snow birds with vulture-like heads, but excessively large beaks, out of which they were able to shoot a relentless barrage of white ice arrows.
There were over 100 of these birds in total, and around half of them possessed Deity Transformation Stage power.
A volley of white ice arrows descended out of the sky, interspersed with a bone-chilling aura, and the occasional bird came swooping down from above as well.
Qi Huanyu's group was quite large, and all of them were carrying extremely powerful treasures, but none of them had any experience when it came to life-and-death battles.
Hence, the violent killing intent displayed by the flock of birds and the relentless storm of attacks caught them completely off guard, and they were looking a little panicked.
All of them were standing in a circle with their backs facing one another to form a ring-shaped protective barrier that warded off the oncoming attacks.
Qi Huanyu's face was slightly pale, and he yelled, "Don't panic! These are just some Deity Transformation Stage demon beasts! Everyone, listen to me. Half of you continue to support the barrier, while the other half retaliates!"
He was the leader of the group, and his instructions instilled within everyone a sense of confidence as they immediately began to carry out his orders.
Before long, bursts of dazzling light were erupting into the air to strike at the white birds in the sky.
The disciples were feeling very intimidated, so their attacks were quite feeble, but thanks to the massive cultivation base advantage they had, they were able to strike down the birds one after another.
Around 15 minutes later, the battle finally drew to a conclusion.
Most of the birds had been slain, while the rest had fled the battle.
Qi Huanyu and the others were uninjured. They looked at the bird carcasses around them as they inhaled the bloody scent in the air, and even though their faces were quite pale, they were gradually regaining their composure.
"I can't believe a bunch of mere Deity Transformation Stage demon beasts had all of you in such a panic! You should be ashamed of yourselves! You saw what happened just now. As long as we maintain our composure, these demon beasts are no match for us!" Qi Huanyu yelled in an attempt to raise morale.
Everyone immediately nodded in response.
Qi Huanyu was just about to say something further when a more experienced individual in the group stepped forward and cautioned, "Young Master Qi, the scent of blood here is too strong, so we should leave this place as soon as possible."
Qi Huanyu faltered slightly upon hearing this, then immediately understood the reasoning behind the advice, and he instructed everyone to continue onward.
Meanwhile, Su Tongxiao appeared in the air above amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then shook his head in dismay before vanishing from the spot.
The situation was much the same over on the White Fox Valley route. Tang Chuan's group didn't have much practical battle experience, either, and they also erupted into a blind panic in the face of the ferocious demon beasts that they were attacked by.
However, thanks to their cultivation base advantage and powerful treasures, they were able to weather the storm, then composed themselves before defeating the enemy without suffering any casualties.
The three groups of disciples continued onward, and seven or eight days passed by in the blink of an eye as all of the disciples ventured deeper into the Profound Ice Mountain Range.
The demon beasts that they encountered along the way were becoming more and more powerful, and some Spatial Tempering Stage demon beasts had begun to appear.
After several battles, Qi Huanyu and the others had become far more proficient in battle than before, but they were still struggling in the face of demon beasts of a similar level of power to themselves.
On the Snow Camel Mountain Route, Qi Huanyu and his group had been surrounded by around a dozen giant ice praying mantises.
These praying mantises were entirely white in color with frosty patterns all over their bodies, and their mouths were split up into four mandibles. Their eyes were large and protruded outward, giving them a fearsome appearance, and their thick and strong front limbs resembled a pair of giant blades that were giving off bone-chilling auras.
Every single one of these demon beasts possessed early-Spatial Tempering Stage power, and they were extremely fast, dashing around Qi Huanyu's group while unleashing a ferocious barrage of attacks, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake.
Just like before, Qi Huanyu and the others had formed a circle, conjuring up a ring-shaped protective barrier that encompassed everyone within it.
However, these praying mantises were far more powerful than the birds from before, and they were able to unleash powerful projections with their blade-like front limbs.
These projections were imbued with ferocious power, causing the ring-shaped light barrier to tremble incessantly.
Qi Huanyu and the others were forced to inject all of their magic power into their protective treasures to maintain the light barrier, so they were completely unable to retaliate.
The praying mantises were letting loose bloodthirsty screeches as they swung their front limbs through their air relentlessly, seemingly only growing more vigorous and powerful as time went on.
The ring-shaped light barrier wasn't just a single cohesive barrier. Instead, it was jointly formed by everyone's protective treasures, and some of the more fragile parts of the barrier were close to giving out.
A tall and thin young man turned to Qi Huanyu with a panicked expression as he asked, "What do we do, Young Master Qi? These things are all at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and there are too many of them for us to deal with!"
The young man was a direct descendant to a True Immortal Stage elder of the Blaze Dragon Dao, and he had been cultivating his entire life in the sect, progressing smoothly to the Spatial Tempering Stage thanks to an endless supply of pills. As a result, he had next to no battle experience.
He had made some improvements in this regard over the course of the trial thus far, but his heart was still shuddering with fear at the sight of these terrifying praying mantises.
Everyone else in the group was in much the same mental state as the young man, and they couldn't help but wonder if they were going to die here, a thought that only made them even more panicked and fearful.
All of a sudden, a loud crack rang out, and a light barrier conjured up by a white handkerchief treasure was destroyed, creating an opening in the overall light barrier.
A bright projection flew straight through the opening, and an agonized howl rang out as blood splattered through the air.
A disciple near the opening had been sent flying with a large gash sliced into his arm, but thankfully, he was wearing a suit of armor of quite a high caliber, so he had managed to escape severe injury.
Bright purple light erupted from Qi Huanyu's glabella as he swept an arm through the air, releasing a purple wheel treasure that conjured up a purple vortex to fill the opening.
"There's no need to fear! There are True Immortal cultivators protecting us in secret during the trial, and they'll take care of all unforeseen mishaps for us. These praying mantises are beyond what we can deal with, so I'm sure one of them will intervene soon!" Qi Huanyu yelled.
Everyone else was ecstatic to hear this.
"I've heard about this before, and I was rather skeptical, but it must be true if Young Master Qi says so!"
"There are only 10 of us, yet we're facing close to 20 of these praying mantises. This is definitely beyond the scope of the trial, so why has there still not been an intervention?"
Su Tongxiao was hovering high up in the sky as a blurry shadow, and he shook his head with a forlorn sigh while flicking a finger through the air.
Streaks of invisible sword qi instantly came hurtling down from above, piercing through the bodies of most of the praying mantises.
All of the praying mantises that were struck instantly exploded silently into piles of dust that were scattered by the wind.
All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and Su Tongxiao vanished once again immediately thereafter.
It didn't take long before Qi Huanyu and the others noticed that most of the praying mantises had disappeared, thereby significantly alleviating the pressure on them.
"How come there are suddenly so much fewer praying mantises?" someone asked with a puzzled expression.
"They were obviously killed by someone! There really is someone protecting us in secret!" someone else exclaimed with an ecstatic expression.
Qi Huanyu was also quite relieved to see this, and a triumphant smile appeared on his face as he yelled, "These filthy beasts must pay the price for attacking us! Don't let any of them get away!"
Everyone else immediately answered his call, then began retaliating against the remaining praying mantises with renewed vigor.
A short while later, all of the praying mantises were slain with the exception of two of them, which had managed to get away.
The front limbs of these praying mantises were filled with abundant spiritual power and were outstanding tool refinement materials even for Spatial Tempering cultivators, so these front limbs were immediately severed before being stowed away by several of the disciples.
"Let's go!"
Qi Huanyu flew up into the air and led the way forward.
Now that it was confirmed that there was indeed someone protecting them in secret, he was instilled with a great deal of confidence and began to continue onward at a faster pace than before.
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