Chapter 412: Let’s Follow Them
Right Han Li was lost in thought, the snow dove suddenly spread its wings before swooping down from above, gliding past the pair of snow apes in the blink of an eye before lashing out with its talons at the black-robed middle-aged man, who was still slightly off balance after throwing a punch.
The black-robed man was quite startled by this abrupt sneak attack, but he seemed to have quite a vast wealth of battle experience, and seven specks of blue light appeared over his chest and abdomen, immediately following which 11 more specks of blue light emerged over the rest of his body.
A layer of starry white light then surfaced over his entire body, just in time to protect him from the snow dove's talon strike.
The hideous sound of metal grating on metal rang out as the snow dove's talons scraped over the black-robed man's neck and shoulder, causing the layer of white light over his body to shudder, but it was ultimately able to remain intact.
After passing by the black-robed man, the snow dove suddenly twisted around and opened its beak to release a strand of silver ice, which shot forth directly toward the black-robed man's heart like a speeding arrow.
At this point, the black-robed man had already managed to withdraw his fist, and he immediately threw another punch toward the silver arrow as a ball of dazzling white light erupted out of his fist.
A resounding boom rang out as the silver arrow and the white light around the black-robed man's fist exploded in unison. A cloud of glacial qi immediately spread through the air, while a layer of blue ice crystals appeared over the black-robed man's right arm.
Before he had a chance to remove the layer of ice crystals, one of the snow apes that he had been locked in battle against barreled into him from the side, sending him flying through the air.
Another resounding boom rang out as the black-robed man crashed into a stone wall, and his entire body was embedded into it, while a series of cracks spread out over the wall around him in all directions.
However, the black-robed man was quickly able to pull his arm out of the wall, then slammed his fist into the wall to propel his own body forward, and it didn't appear as if he had suffered any injuries.
A displeased look appeared on the black-robed man's face as he yelled at his companion, "Fellow Daoist Xiong Shan, if you continue to insisting on holding back and refrain from displaying your full power, then I think it would be best for us to go our separate ways."
The elderly man was also quite disgruntled, and he countered, "What right do you have to criticize me? If you hadn't insisted on taking this detour, we wouldn't have fallen into this trap. Not only have we not managed to reap any rewards here, we've been forced to engage these frost beasts in this pointless battle."
"I only made a suggestion to come down here, and you raised no objections. There's always an inevitable element of risk when it comes to searching for treasures in a place like the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor. There are only a few frost beasts here, so let's just take care of them and move on instead of wasting any more time here," the black-robed man argued.
"I said that we should focus on our primary objective, but you were determined to come down here, so what could I do but agree?" the elderly man grumbled.
The two cultivators in the cave were none other than Xiong Shan and Patriarch Cold Flame, both of whom Han Li was quite familiar with.
What was rather perplexing to Han Li was that one of them had clearly come here as part of the Ghost Wail Sect, while the other had concealed himself among the Southern Dawn beings, so how had they met up with one another?
Furthermore, not only had they appeared in the same place, judging from their conversation, it appeared that they were working together. Could it be that they had been acquaintances prior to entering the immortal manor.
Patriarch Cold Flame knew that he wasn't going to be able to win this argument, so he conceded, "Fine, I'll admit that I'm at fault on this occasion. If you insist on assigning blame, then once we get to that place and find what we're looking for, you can go first and pick out whichever item you want. For now, let's take care of these frost beasts and get out of here as soon as possible."
Xiong Shan didn't waste any more time with words upon hearing this, and with a flick of his wrist, he stowed the golden halberd away before making a hand seal.
Immediately thereafter, late-True Immortal Stage spiritual power fluctuations began to emanate from his body, and layers upon layers of golden sword projections appeared behind him like the unfurling train of a peacock, radiating dazzling golden light.
All of the golden sword projections then instantly shot forth at his behest, surging toward the pair of snow lion frost beasts before completely inundating them like a turbulent wave.
Loud clangs rang out in rapid succession within the wave of sword projections, and white and golden light flashed incessantly.
By the time all of the sword projections had swept through the air, the bodies of the pair of snow lions had been completely stripped away to reveal their frost cores, which were hovering in mid-air while absorbing the nearby snow and glacial qi.
Xiong Shan lunged forward with his golden longsword held in his grasp, instantly shattering the pair of frost cores with a single slash of his sword to put a complete end to the pair of snow lions.
Meanwhile, the snow dove circled around in mid-air before swooping toward him.
On the other side, all of Patriarch Cold Flame's profound acupoints were glowing with dazzling blue light as he took a stride forward, and starpower converged toward his fist as he threw a vicious punch toward an oncoming snow ape.
The snow ape retaliated with a punch of its own, and the two fists clashed with immense power.
A resounding boom rang out as a burst of tremendous force erupted out of Patriarch Cold Flame's fist, culminating in a formidable shockwave that spread through the air in all directions.
The passageway that Han Li and Lu Yuqing were situated in wasn't very wide, and as the shockwave swept through it, Lu Yuqing involuntarily stumbled.
Thankfully, Han Li was right beside her, and before she had a chance to cry out in surprise, he grabbed onto her sleeve with one hand while clasping his other hand over her mouth. At the same time, a faint light barrier emerged to encompass both of them.
Only after the shockwaves had subsided did Han Li make a quieting gesture before slowly removing his hand from over Lu Yuqing's mouth.
Lu Yuqing pursed her lips tightly as she pressed herself against the stone wall of the passageway, not daring to make another sound.
Meanwhile, Han Li turned his attention back to Patriarch Cold Flame, and a contemplative look had appeared on his face.
In the wake of the clash, the snow ape's arm had already completely exploded, and there was a rapidly revolving blue vortex where its arm used to be, absorbing the nearby glacial qi in order to facilitate regeneration.
Patriarch Cold Flame naturally wasn't going to give it the chance to heal, and after evading an attack from the other snow ape, he sprang up into the air before stomping his foot heavily down onto the snow ape's head.
A layer of white starlight appeared on the underside of his foot, and a resounding boom rang out as the snow ape's head exploded under the tremendous force of his stomp.
A translucent frost core shot out of its head before being caught in Patriarch Cold Flame's grasp, and he quickly flipped his other hand over to produce a purple talisman that he adhered to the frost core, then hurriedly stowed it away into his storage ring.
Immediately thereafter, he sprang up into the air once again, charging toward the other snow ape.
Right at this moment, a sharp screeching sound rang out from up above, and an enormous streak of golden swordlight swept through the air. The snow dove was struck by the streak of golden swordlight, and its body was instantly torn in half down the middle.
The streak of golden swordlight continued onward, and the roof of the cave was unable to withstand its tremendous power as giant rocks the size of millstones came crashing down from above, opening up a massive rift that was several dozen feet wide.
A ray of natural light shone down through the rift in the roof of the cave, and gusts of fierce wind also blew in through the rift.
Xiong Shan stood atop the pile of fallen rocks as he slowly withdrew his longsword while casting his gaze toward Patriarch Cold Flame.
The battle over there had drawn to a conclusion as well. The second snow ape also proved to be no match for Patriarch Cold Flame's tremendous starpower, and its head had exploded into powder with a single punch along with the frost core inside.
"Let me remind you that the circumstances surrounding this emergence of the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor are far more complex than on previous occasions, so we cannot afford to take any further detours from here onward," Xiong Shan said in a cold voice as Patriarch Cold Flame approached him.
"It was only discovered during the previous emergence of the immortal manor that the already explored area of the immortal manor is collectively known as the Light Frost Region. The Light Frost Region is only the outermost section of the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor, and there's no telling what manners of treasures could be found deeper in the immortal manor.
“With that in mind, it's no wonder that the circumstances have become a lot more complicated," Patriarch Cold Flame sighed.
"We've only managed to sneak into the immortal manor on this occasion through the Transient Guild and the Ubiquitous Pavilion. Surely you don't need me to tell you how much of a risk we're taking here," Xiong Shan said with solemn expression.
"Of course I'm aware of that. However, there's no need to be overly concerned. That place is situated in a very secluded area, and all of the other people who discovered it with us back then have already perished, so there's no way anyone would find that place before we get there," Patriarch Cold Flame replied.
Xiong Shan's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "In any case, let's get there as soon as possible, and after we've obtained what we want from that place, we can split up and go our separate ways."
"That's precisely my intention as well," Patriarch Cold Flame replied with a nod.
With that, the two of them didn't waste any more time as they rose up into the air, flying through the rift in the roof of the cave to emerge into the wind and snow outside.
"Let's follow them," Han Li said to Lu Yuqing, then flew out of the passageway, while Lu Yuqing hesitated momentarily before following along.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)