Chapter 299: Chapter 240: Adventurers in the Land of Extreme Cold
Legend has it that for millions of years, the vast, uninhabited, and frigid region of the Northern Lands has been occupied by the Beast Race. This entire place is their territory!
But in reality, only those who have truly been here would know that as far as the eye can see, for miles around, there is only a vast expanse of white snow. Forget Beastmen—it’s hard to spot even a single ordinary wild animal!
Their strength was enough to ward off the cold, but in a place like this, all they could do was walk slowly and steadily, step by step, deeper into the north.
According to an ancient map in Ling Xiao’s possession, to the north of this Land of Extreme Cold lay vast glaciers. Some icebergs were said to be as high as ten thousand meters! Beyond those glaciers was the Polar Ice Sea, one of the continent’s ten great forbidden lands—and one that was solidly ranked in the top three.
In fact, in many people’s minds, even if the Polar Ice Sea wasn’t as terrifying as the number one forbidden land, the Desert of Death, it was at least on par with it. The Desert of Death was located west of the Zichuan Empire, far from the Lanyue Empire, and was also a place of certain death.
Both locations possessed unique resources so valuable that many Adventurers would pay with their lives, yet they still flocked there in droves, vying to be the first.
The Desert of Death was known for a strange fruit called the Dream Fruit. After eating one, a person could live out things they could normally only imagine, things impossible to accomplish or do in real life. In the dream, everything would feel incredibly real, as if it were truly happening!
A single one of these fruits was worth a fortune. They were always in short supply, madly sought after by the wealthiest princes and nobles on the continent.
Although some called it the Fallen Fruit, a tool used by demons to tempt humanity into depravity... it was undeniable that its value increased year after year, having never once dropped.
Another specialty from the Desert of Death was the Venus Silver-Ringed Snake. An adult was over three meters long and as thick as a man’s arm. Its body was black, and at short intervals from head to tail, it was encircled by bright, finger-wide silver rings. Its skin glittered with countless golden, fingernail-sized spots, from which it earned its name.
The snake’s meat was exceptionally delicious; even members of the reclusive aristocratic families and sects were quite fond of the Venus Silver-Ringed Snake. Not only was the snake beautiful, but eating its meat was said to prolong one’s life and even enhance their power.
The Desert of Death was home to at least thirty other types of Magical Beasts and special fruits, their value no less than that of the Dream Fruit and the Venus Silver-Ringed Snake. Therefore, despite being ranked as the greatest of the ten forbidden lands on the East Canglan Continent, countless Adventurers still went there every year to strike it rich.
The Polar Ice Sea, on the other hand, saw far fewer visitors. As a result, many of its unique resources were two to three times more expensive than those from the Desert of Death.
To reach the Polar Ice Sea, one first had to cross over five hundred kilometers of snowfields. The temperature here was so low that spit froze the moment it hit the ground. Because the terrain was flat, fierce winds howled all day, whipping up pellets of snow and making every step a struggle. Even just thinking about it was terrifying. Take one step into this land, and you would immediately miss the warmth of your own bed.
That was why most Adventurers would rather spend a fortune on a Space Ring, fill it with water, and venture into the Desert of Death than come to this truly bitter, cold land to suffer.
Having grown up in the south, Song Mingyue had never even seen snow before. She certainly got her fill of it this time; as far as the eye could see, there was nothing else. On the first day, she felt a bit of novelty and excitement. But by the second day, Song Mingyue had grown quiet. The reason was simple: the moment she opened her mouth, a fierce wind would blast its way in, carrying with it icy pellets of snow. Even with her strength as a Sixth Rank Demon Sword Master, the sensation was deeply unpleasant.
But she didn’t voice a single word of complaint. She knew very well that if it weren’t for her father, Ling Xiao would have absolutely no reason to come to such a dangerous and miserable place. Deep down, Song Mingyue was incredibly grateful to Ling Xiao for everything he was doing for her. Even if, in the end, her father couldn’t recover his former strength, she would hold her head high and tell him, ’We truly did our best!’
The days here were short. It felt as if just a short while after noon, the sun was already sinking toward the western horizon, casting a golden ray of light for countless miles across the vast white snow and evoking a sense of desolate loneliness.
Ling Xiao felt as if he had returned to his previous life, to those days of quietly cultivating alone in the Cultivation Realm. The only difference was that this time, he had a beautiful woman by his side.
With a single palm strike, Ling Xiao blasted a large crater five or six meters deep into the snowfield. Only then did Song Mingyue realize with a start that the packed snow beneath their feet was actually over ten meters deep!
And it was obvious that Ling Xiao’s palm strike hadn’t even reached the bottom. In other words, the snow in this area, which had been accumulating for who knew how many millennia, was incredibly deep!
Ling Xiao leaped down into the crater he’d made and quickly carved a person-sized opening into the wall. He then began clearing out the snow. In just a few moments, Ling Xiao had fashioned a five-meter-square "room." He casually tossed a few Luminous Pearls inside, and the entire cave was instantly bathed in light. Listening to the howling wind outside only made the warmth within seem more profound.
Song Mingyue watched from the side in amazement. "How is this snow like earth? How could you dig such a big cave without it collapsing?"
Ling Xiao smiled gently. If anyone from the Northern Lands heard Song Mingyue’s question, they would probably laugh at her. But Ling Xiao knew that she had never seen snow before and didn’t understand its properties at all. It was no surprise that she thought this packed snow was the same as loose snowflakes.
"This snow has been accumulating here for years and years," Ling Xiao explained. "It’s long since been compressed into hard, ice-like granules. A cave like this is even sturdier than one dug from earth!"
As he spoke, Ling Xiao slapped the wall of the cave hard a few times. THWACK, THWACK! With each strike, the wall only seemed to grow more solid.
He took some thick, plush blankets from his ring and spread them on the snow-packed floor. Then he took out some firewood, arranged it into a pile, and lit a bonfire. Propping a small pot over the flames, he smiled at Song Mingyue and said, "You stay here for a bit. I’m going out to hunt some small game so we can have meat soup tonight."
A hint of vulnerability surfaced in Song Mingyue’s voice as she said softly, "We haven’t seen a single living creature on these snowfields all day. Where are you going to hunt? Besides... don’t we still have plenty of food in our rings?"
Ling Xiao chuckled. "Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t here. And the food in our rings can’t compare to fresh wild game. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back. It’s warm in here, so you can rest. If you’re tired, feel free to take a nap."
"No, I’ll wait for you right here," Song Mingyue said softly, her face blushing slightly. "You... you have to come back quickly."
Ling Xiao nodded, then leaped up the five or six meters to the surface. He immediately dropped into a prone position on the snow. Although the snowfield was generally flat, it was dotted with dips and hollows. With Ling Xiao lying low, it was impossible to spot anything unusual from a distance.
The sky was now dark. Night fell with startling speed here, and the nights were exceptionally long. The stars scattered across the deep sky seemed particularly stark and cold, emitting a light that held not a trace of warmth.
In the distance, a few torches flickered. A group of about twenty people was still struggling forward. Normally, even an adventurer party would have dug a snow cave to rest by now. Traveling overnight in a place like this was a death sentence.
So, it was obvious their goal wasn’t just to travel. They were searching for something.
Ling Xiao had sensed something was amiss during the day. He felt as if someone was tracking him and Song Mingyue from afar. ’Considering we flew deep into this snowfield on Clown’s back,’ he thought, ’the possibility of being followed from the very beginning is minuscule.’
’That means they must have spotted us after we were already on the snowfield and are now following our tracks!’
’What a brilliant Tracking Skill,’ Ling Xiao thought, his eyes glinting. ’The wind howls here all day, covering your tracks almost as soon as you make them. But an extremely experienced person could still find the faintest traces. The group I’ve run into must be that type—exceptionally experienced.’
’They might even be people who live on this snowfield year-round!’
A cold glint flashed in Ling Xiao’s eyes. ’This kind of pursuit rarely comes with good intentions,’ he thought. ’It’s common for Adventurers to prey on each other, but it’s never a good feeling when it’s your turn to be the prey.’
Ling Xiao began to crawl forward through the snow. His movements were incredibly swift as he covered several dozen meters before hiding behind a small, raised hillock to listen to their conversation.
Because of the howling wind, they had to shout to be heard.
"Boss! We came to this godforsaken place to trade with that Silkworm Raiser! Why are you after two random people?" a man’s rough voice, laced with complaint, carried intermittently on the wind.
Another, more feminine voice spoke up. "Ah Ku, stop complaining about the boss. You’re just like your miserable name, complaining day in and day out. The boss has his reasons! We’ve followed him for so many years; when has he ever led us astray?"
The rough voice roared back, "Leng Yu, you damn sissy, this is none of your business! All you do is lecture me. If I hadn’t saved your life back then, you’d be fucking dead already!"
"Fuck off! You saved my life, but you made me lose the most important thing a man has! Ah Ku, I will hate you for the rest of my life!"
"It’d be more fitting for you to call yourself ’this lady’..."
"Go to hell!"
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