Chapter 402: Chapter 400: Defeating an Enemy with One Glance
「Within Broken Tooth Valley.」
Two Icefield Barbarian Elephants stood quietly in the valley, trembling all over, not daring to move an inch.
Atop the Icefield Barbarian Elephants, the numerous experts from the Cloud Sea Business Alliance wore grave expressions. They stared at the figures scattered across the snowy mountains on both sides, their faces exceptionally grim.
Zhao Hongluan’s face was frosty. Flames flickered around her as she stared at Lin Fan from across the distance and said in a low voice, "Lin Fan, does your Lin Family truly wish to completely sever all ties with my Cloud Sea Business Alliance?"
The Lin Family was one of the esteemed Four Great Clans of the Flying Snow Dynasty.
Their power was immense, not the least bit inferior to the Cloud Sea Business Alliance.
But before this, the two sides had never had a large-scale conflict. In fact, they even shared many mutual interests and dealings.
This delivery mission was extremely important to the Cloud Sea Business Alliance. If successful, they would fully secure the friendship of the Purple Wind Clan, one of the three major tribes of the Icefield Race. In the future, the Cloud Sea Business Alliance would have a powerful backer in the Profound Celestial Ice Field, which could even elevate the Business Alliance’s strength to a new level.
They could leap to become the head of the Ten Great Business Alliances!
The stakes were high, and failure was not an option.
If Lin Fan ruined this transaction, the Cloud Sea Business Alliance would fight the Lin Family at any cost!
A cold smile played on Lin Fan’s lips, not quite a genuine smile at all. "Zhao Hongluan, stop trying to scare me with that nonsense. Once I kill all of you, the Cloud Sea Business Alliance won’t know shit."
"Lin Fan, are you really that confident you can kill all of us?" Zhao Hongluan sneered.
Her gaze shifted toward Jiang Chen, who was enveloped in the Light Cocoon.
If she were alone, facing Lin Fan who was ranked in the seven thousands on the Human Venerable List, she wouldn’t dare be so confident.
But with Jiang Chen present, Zhao Hongluan had no worries at all.
Of course, Lin Fan knew what she was thinking.
His face alternated between pale and ashen, and his eyes pulsed with a venomous, bone-deep hatred.
Never in his life had he suffered such a crushing defeat as the one he’d experienced at Jiang Chen’s hands that day.
It was the shame of a lifetime!
Lin Fan snorted coldly, raised a hand to gently stroke his chin, and said sinisterly, "Zhao Hongluan, do you really think I would have come here if I wasn’t completely certain of my success?"
"Hm?"
Zhao Hongluan’s heart skipped a beat, her sense of foreboding growing stronger.
Lin Fan laughed heartily and boomed, "Seventh Prince, if you’re not going to show yourself now, then when?"
"Hahaha, Lin Fan, I have been waiting for quite some time!" As the resonant voice arrived, a fierce gale howled toward them.
On the vast, white, snowy mountainside, a hundred tornadoes of wind and snow suddenly appeared, spinning rapidly just above the ground. They flew over, and in no time, arrived at Lin Fan’s side. The tornadoes gradually dissipated, revealing the figures within. They were people with skin as pale as snow, so translucent that one could faintly see the blood flowing through the veins beneath.
There were a hundred of them in total, each clad in ice-blue battle armor that looked as if it were forged from solid ice.
These people were the masters of the Profound Celestial Ice Field—the Icefield Race.
The one in the lead had long, ice-blue hair and eyes that emitted a faint blue glow. The tips of his ears were slightly more pointed than those of Jiang Chen and the others.
He was the Seventh Prince that Lin Fan had mentioned!
"The Icefield Race Royal Family? The Seventh Prince, Bing Yu’ang?" Zhao Hongluan’s expression turned grave as she slowly stated the newcomer’s identity.
The Icefield Race consisted of three major tribes: the strongest, the Royal Family; the second strongest, the Purple Wind Clan; and the weakest, the Ice King Race.
The harsh environment of the Profound Celestial Ice Field made many materials and resources extremely scarce, so conflicts between the three major tribes were common.
For Bing Yu’ang to appear here meant that the Lin Family had already partnered with the Royal Family.
Bing Yu’ang sized up Zhao Hongluan, raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Lin Fan. "So this is the Fire Phoenix, Zhao Hongluan, ranked 8,325 on the Human Venerable List? Tsk tsk, not bad-looking at all..."
Lin Fan’s expression changed slightly. "Seventh Prince, we had an agreement. You only want the Spirit Medicines and the Alchemy Master that the Cloud Sea Business Alliance is delivering to the Purple Wind Clan. This Zhao Hongluan is mine!"
"Relax!"
Bing Yu’ang waved his hand dismissively. "This woman is pretty, but I don’t like the aura about her. The Fire Phoenix? I hate fire most of all... By the way, Lin Fan, you mentioned some fool who needs me to take care of him for you? Which one was it?"
Hearing that Bing Yu’ang wasn’t interested in Zhao Hongluan, Lin Fan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But when Bing Yu’ang brought up Jiang Chen, his eyes instantly lit up with excitement. He pointed at Jiang Chen, who was still wrapped in the Light Cocoon on the back of the Icefield Barbarian Elephant, and exclaimed, "Seventh Prince, it’s that brat!"
"Hm?"
Bing Yu’ang glanced toward Jiang Chen, his light-blue eyebrows twitching slightly. He said with contempt, "Only at the Union Palace Realm Third Stage? Lin Fan, you’re more useless than I thought. You’re ranked in the seventy-three hundreds on the Human Venerable List, yet you can’t even handle a piece of trash like him? It seems that when I return, I’ll have to tell my father, the Emperor, that we should reconsider whether cooperating with your Lin Family is the right choice!"
"No, no, no..."
Lin Fan’s face paled at those words. The partnership with the Icefield Race Royal Family was the Lin Family’s most important endeavor. If it fell through because of him, he would be doomed to a miserable death.
He hurriedly explained, "Seventh Prince, this kid is incredibly tricky. His cultivation isn’t high, but his combat power is immense. His Swordsmanship, in particular, is even more formidable than some of the geniuses I’ve seen ranked around the six thousands on the Human Venerable List!"
"Oh?"
Bing Yu’ang was taken aback, a spark of interest igniting within him. "A Union Palace Realm Third Stage with such combat strength? Lin Fan, I hope you’re not deceiving me. Otherwise, you will pay a price you cannot afford!"
"Rest assured, Prince. I would never dare to deceive you!" Lin Fan said respectfully.
The man standing before him, Bing Yu’ang, was not only a prince of the Royal Family but also a peerless genius.
He was ranked 6,836th on the Human Venerable List!
Especially here in the Profound Celestial Ice Field, his combat power was even greater. He wouldn’t fear even a peerless genius ranked around 6,000 on the list!
Bing Yu’ang cracked his neck, producing a series of CRACKING sounds, and strode toward Jiang Chen as if taking a leisurely stroll.
Lin Fan and his men followed closely behind.
More than three hundred people advanced, pressing in on the experts from the Cloud Sea Business Alliance.
Zhao Hongluan’s face was pale and grim. She gritted her teeth and said, "Uncle Lei, Lin Fan came prepared today. Tell everyone to be careful."
"Don’t worry, Young Miss!" Lei Tong nodded, his expression grave.
The experts of the Cloud Sea Business Alliance drew their weapons, the atmosphere thick with tension.
Bing Yu’ang merely glanced at Zhao Hongluan before looking to Lin Fan. "Lin Fan, Zhao Hongluan is yours to deal with."
"No problem!"
Lin Fan licked the corner of his mouth, a burning look in his eyes.
Bing Yu’ang raised his arm, his expression icy. "Leave no one alive!"
"Kill!"
The experts from the Icefield Race he had brought, along with the experts from the Lin Family, all charged forward in unison.
Zhao Hongluan snorted, her body wreathed in flames. "Brothers of the Cloud Sea Business Alliance, for every one of them you kill, I will reward you with one million Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals!"
"Alright!"
"Such generosity, Young Miss! Kill!"
The battle between the two sides erupted in an instant.
Bing Yu’ang strode through the air, a haze of frigid ice and snow swirling around him as he walked toward Jiang Chen. A blue light flickered in his palm, coalescing into an incomparably sharp Ice Sword that pulsed with a cold glint. He intended to kill Jiang Chen while the latter was in seclusion, breaking through to a new realm.
’Oh no...’
Seeing this, Zhao Hongluan’s expression changed drastically, and she turned to protect Jiang Chen.
Lin Fan laughed, blocking her path. "Zhao Hongluan, your opponent is me!" he said gloatingly.
"Lin Fan, get out of my way!" Zhao Hongluan roared.
Lin Fan chuckled sinisterly. "Zhao Hongluan, I know you want to save your little lover. But I won’t let you have your way. Open your eyes and watch closely! Watch how your precious lover is killed by the Seventh Prince! Hehehe..."
"Damn you..."
Zhao Hongluan’s face was etched with anxiety. She tried again and again to break through Lin Fan’s defense, but her cultivation was inferior to his, and her efforts were futile.
She could only watch helplessly as the Ice Sword in Bing Yu’ang’s hand neared Jiang Chen’s chest.
It was about to pierce the Light Cocoon and kill Jiang Chen with a single strike!
But just then, Jiang Chen—who had been sitting cross-legged atop the Icefield Barbarian Elephant, motionless within the Light Cocoon like a monk in deep meditation—suddenly opened his eyes. Two beams of incomparably brilliant light shot out from his deep, starry eyes and slammed into Bing Yu’ang’s.
"ARGHHHH!"
The smug, cold expression on Bing Yu’ang’s face abruptly froze. The Ice Sword in his hand shattered, and he clutched his head with both hands, screaming as he was sent flying backward.
Everyone gasped.
"Th-This is impossible!"
This sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded, filled with utter shock and disbelief.
The great Bing Yu’ang, a peerless genius ranked in the six thousands on the Human Venerable List, was defeated by a single glance from Jiang Chen?
All who witnessed this scene were shaken to their core...
