Chapter 586: Chapter 586

Since Xu Zhengyang knows there is a "Crystal Ice Orchid," a life-extending spiritual object, in the Endless Snowfield, it indicates he must have been here before and is quite knowledgeable about how to reach the habitat of the "Crystal Ice Orchid."

Zhouyang followed him across the snowfield, sometimes flying, sometimes walking. Although their progress was not fast, they skillfully passed peacefully along the borders of the territories of five or six Tier Five Demon Beasts without attracting their attention.

This clearly shows the completely different attitudes between the Snowfield Demon Race and the Broken Cloud Mountain Range Demon Race in coexistence.

In the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, under the restraint and guidance of the various Great Demon Kings on Heaven-Reaching Peak, except for a very few Tier Five Demon Beasts who are extremely unfriendly to each other and are mutual archenemies, most Tier Five Demon Beasts, especially those under the same Demon King’s command, have pretty good relations with one another.

These Tier Five Demon Beasts will also delineate territories, but they do not completely prohibit other Tier Five Demon Beasts from entering their territories. Some herbivorous demon beasts even allow carnivorous demon beasts to enter their territories to prey on low-tier compatriots.

Moreover, once a Tier Five Demon Beast discovers a human cultivator entering its territory, it immediately assesses whether to call for help based on the human cultivator’s power. Upon sending out a distress signal, Tier Five Demon Beasts in other nearby territories will promptly come to its aid.

However, the Snowfield Demon Race is different; their living habits are more similar to those of the Demon Beasts in the Wilderness Jungle. They view their territory as extremely important and strictly prohibit other same-tier demon beasts or any entities of similar power from entering their territory.

If an entity of the same tier enters their territory, they regard it as a grave provocation, and the more short-tempered ones will initiate an attack directly.

The Tier Six Demon Kings in the Endless Snowfield do not wish to change this situation, but after trying, they found it utterly unchangeable.

The Endless Snowfield is not the Broken Cloud Mountain Range; the natural environment is much harsher here, and the concentration of spiritual qi is not as high as in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range. The territory areas occupied by high-tier demon beasts need to be several times or even dozens of times larger than those in the same tier in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to sustain themselves and their species.

When one’s granaries are full, etiquette comes naturally. The Snowfield Demon Race struggles even to fill their bellies, making it unrealistic for them to engage in "wolf-friend deer-courtesy" acts.

Moreover, the Demon Race is not the only dominant force here. The Bingyi People, who also live in the snowfield, are more powerful than the Snowfield Demon Race.

Not to mention that the north and south are bordered by the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm and the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm. The human cultivators in these two places, including the Bingyi People, would not want another Demon Race like the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to rise.

For these reasons, the Tier Six Demon Kings in the Endless Snowfield can, at most, slightly restrain the high-tier demon beasts, preventing them from mutual slaughter.

For this reason, Tier Five Demon Beasts in the Endless Snowfield rarely venture near the edges of their territories. There usually exists a considerable buffer zone between the territories of two Tier Five Demon Beasts.

Xu Zhengyang utilized this point, leading Zhouyang through these buffer zones, smoothly passing through the territories of several Tier Five Demon Beasts without being detected.

It all seems simple, but Zhouyang knows that behind these seemingly simple actions lies the outcome of countless trials and summarizations.

Many cultivators might know about the buffer zones between the territories of high-tier demon beasts. However, discerning the boundary between the territories of two Tier Five Demon Beasts and identifying where the buffer zone is requires the arduous work of adventurous repeated probing and observation.

Zhouyang doesn’t believe that Xu Zhengyang, who is far away in the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, would have the time to accomplish such a task here in the snowfield.

Therefore, the other party probably obtained a detailed map from someone in advance, tried the routes once or twice themselves to ensure safety, and only then led him along this path.

As for how Xu Zhengyang acquired the map and discovered the existence of the "Crystal Ice Orchid" within the depths of the snowfield, that’s not something Zhouyang needs to concern himself with.

On this journey, Xu Zhengyang also explained to him why he asked for his help instead of involving other cultivators from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect.

Aside from avoiding a sense of indebtedness, another reason is that his "Qianyang True Flame" divine technique can effectively counter the "Frost Wolf King," suppressing the two talent divine techniques of the "Frost Wolf King."

After spending over a month this way, Zhouyang and Xu Zhengyang reached their destination, the outskirts of a vast coniferous pine forest, with almost no danger encountered.

This place is situated in the deep regions of the Endless Snowfield, tens of thousands of miles in depth. The pine trees in the forest have grown for thousands of years. Each tree stands dozens of feet tall, and their trunks are harder than ironwood.

However, without the nourishment of spiritual qi, these pine trees, even after growing for ten thousand years, remain ordinary mundane wood, incapable of becoming Spirit Wood.

"Within this forest reside two Tier Five Bear Demons. The bear demons frequently indulge in long slumbers, so the wolf pack often invades their territory to hunt when they are satiated and asleep. However, only demon wolves below Tier Five lead these hunts; otherwise, they risk provoking and awakening the slumbering bear demons."

"Next, we must wait—wait for the bear demons in the forest to fall asleep. When the wolf pack ventures into the forest to hunt, that will be the perfect time to rapidly strike into their lair, as the guarding forces will be the most vulnerable then."

In the biting cold wind, Xu Zhengyang pointed towards the snow-laden pine forest in the distance and solemnly laid out his plan.

Listening to his words, Zhouyang slightly frowned and couldn’t help asking, "How long will we have to wait? If it takes a long time, I suggest we charge straight in. They’re just Tier Three or Four Demon Wolves, merely a bit more effort to deal with, but they won’t change the overall situation."

Leaving Xiao Ying to oversee Chongxuan Mountain alone made him uneasy, so he was eager to return as soon as possible without any unnecessary delays.

"It won’t take long, a month at the shortest, two to three months at the longest—that will definitely suffice."

Xu Zhengyang shook his head, clearly disagreeing with Zhouyang’s suggestion of charging straight in.

It’s not that he doubts Zhouyang’s strength, but because the "Crystal Ice Orchid" is extremely important to him, he must succeed in one attempt. Otherwise, if they alert the enemy, the "Frost Wolf King" might consume this item in advance.

"Alright then, let’s wait," Zhouyang glanced at him and said no more, thereby tacitly agreeing.

As Xu Zhengyang had predicted, after waiting with him for more than a month, the piercing howls of wolves filled Zhouyang’s ears—a signal for the pack to start hunting and attacking.

"Let’s go, follow me."

Xu Zhengyang’s eyes snapped open. He abruptly stood up from the ground, quickly soaring into the clouds towards the Ice Stream Valley, where the Frost Wolf King resided.

After flying for over half an hour following Xu Zhengyang, Zhouyang saw before him an enormous ice ravine, thousands of feet wide, stretching endlessly. From the snowfields above to the bottom of the ravine was a drop of several hundred feet, with a complex cave system below. The wolf pack usually made their den in those water-formed ice caves.

However, to guard the Crystal Ice Orchid, the Frost Wolf King had to dwell in the Ice Stream Valley where the orchid grew.

Xu Zhengyang and Zhouyang pressed forward with unhidden intent, alerting the Wolf King as soon as they entered its thousand-mile range.

In an instant, sensing the threat, the Wolf King unhesitatingly howled to summon its pack from all directions to gather around.

But those wolves already deep in the forest were too far to return promptly; even with the signal, they couldn’t possibly rally within two or three hours.

This time was more than enough for Xu Zhengyang and Zhouyang to end the battle.

A thousand-mile distance for Zhouyang now took no more than a quarter hour. Soon, he spotted the enormous Frost Wolf King below in the ice ravine.

This demon beast measured over fifty lengths, standing seventeen or eighteen tall. Its coat of white wolf hair, three to four feet long and as hard as Profound Iron, could be plucked and slightly refined to produce a decent Flying Needle Spiritual Artifact.

Beside it, a Frost Giant Wolf, about a third smaller in size—its mate, a Tier Five Middle-Grade Frost Giant Wolf—stood.

With the howls, Zhouyang and Xu Zhengyang were greeted by a deluge of ice spikes and ice spears.

The Frost Giant Wolf matures as a Tier Three Demon Beast; its most favored magic, the Tier Three Middle Grade Ice Magic Ice Spear Technique, when used by the entire pack, sends a rain of ice spears like arrows, easily pinning prey to the snow, awaiting the wolves to harvest.

Although almost half of the adult Giant Wolves were hunting in the pine forests, over two hundred mature Frost Giant Wolves answered the Wolf King’s call to defend, including fifteen Tier Four Wolf Demons.

These wolf demons had long hidden themselves around the canyon, blending with the environment with the Wolf King at their center.

Seizing the moment when Zhouyang and Xu Zhengyang first arrived, they acted on the Wolf King’s command and launched a concentrated attack.

Faced with the overwhelming onslaught of ice spikes and spears, Zhouyang had several methods to protect himself, yet he chose what seemed the most dangerous but was, in fact, the safest route—using his body to withstand the attack!

With a low shout, green-gold dragon scales suddenly grew over him, forming a full-body scale armor, covering all but his eyes, mouth, and ears.

The ice spikes and spears, upon striking him, only shattered with crisp cracks, without leaving the slightest mark on him.

Only attacks from some Tier Four Wolf Demons could leave faint marks on those green-gold dragon scales, but Zhouyang only needed to circulate his magical power to make these marks vanish instantly.

In contrast, Xu Zhengyang relied on a Tier Five High-Grade Defense Spiritual Artifact to block these attacks, yet his magical power consumption was considerably higher.

This underscored the advantage of a Body Cultivator over a Magic Cultivator.

A Body Cultivator with a physique as strong as Zhouyang’s could completely ignore and be immune to any Tier Three Magic attack, and even reduce ninety-nine percent of damage from most Tier Four Magic.

This was something a purely Magic Cultivator like Xu Zhengyang could never achieve.

An ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivator’s physical strength is akin to that of a Tier Three Demon Beast, and without defense, Tier Three Magic could cause them significant harm.

Thus, over a month ago, Zhouyang had said that even a large number of Tier Three and Four Demon Beasts were nothing to worry about.

But the wolf pack’s attack was just a feint, a cover for the real assault led by the Frost Wolf King and its mate.

While Zhouyang and Xu Zhengyang handled the feigned attacks, two giant wolves in the canyon howled concurrently, spewing frost spheres formed by Extreme Cold Qi at the pair.

With a flash of white, the two giant wolves left the Ice Stream Valley, charging like two white bolts of lightning straight for the humans in the sky.

This time, Zhouyang dared not merely endure them bare-skinned. With a thought, he channeled the power of the Qianyang Treasure Pearl to unleash the Qianyang Celestial Fire Shield Divine Technique.

The frost sphere struck the golden flame shield and instantly scattered into a blue-white Extreme Cold Qi, attempting to freeze the shield and Zhouyang within it. Yet, under the burning of the utmost yang Qianyang True Flame, this Extreme Cold Qi swiftly evaporated like unrooted water.

At that moment, a massive wolf paw suddenly struck the golden flame shield, sending Zhouyang flying back several hundred feet with it.

Before he could stabilize himself, another wolf paw came smashing in, sending him flying again.

"Will you not stop it already?"

Zhouyang’s heart burned with fury. Suddenly, he voluntarily withdrew his protective shield and clenched his fist, striking fiercely at the wolf claw coming for the third time.

He was only six feet tall, and his fist was the size of a cooking pot, yet the wolf claw was larger than an iron pot, with a toe as thick as his arm.

However, the result of this clash was both parties being sent flying backward, with the wolf claw’s owner letting out a pained howl of "awoo."

Zhouyang also let out a muffled humph, but as a human, the difference from a demon beast was that humans did not easily show their pain to the enemy. Even when the pain reached the bones, a strong-willed human would endure it without a sound.

After reversing the situation with one punch, he immediately waved his sleeve, releasing several magical artifacts to launch a counterattack.

His opponent was the mate of the Frost Wolf King. Naturally, this demon beast was much weaker than the Wolf King, and once Zhouyang launched his counterattack, the two Tier Five High-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber" and "Fiery Sun Heart-Burning Spear," quickly left hideous scars on it.

However, the wolf demon’s body was so massive that unless it was a fatal wound, it wouldn’t be gravely injured in a short time, let alone lose its life.

Seeing its mate injured, the Wolf King fighting with Xu Zhengyang immediately let out an angry howl.

Instantly, over a dozen Tier Four "Frost Giant Wolves," and more than two hundred Tier Three "Frost Giant Wolves" that had been casting spells for support, suddenly opened their mouths to let out a long howl, spewing the purest extreme cold qi into the sky.

After releasing this extreme cold qi, the "Frost Giant Wolves" immediately wilted like eggplants struck by frost, their spirits significantly weakened.

For "Frost Giant Wolves" below Tier Five, this extreme cold qi was equivalent to a cultivator’s essence blood. Once expended, it was very difficult to replenish in a short time, so they usually wouldn’t use it unless facing life or death.

But now, under the Wolf King’s command, they had no choice but to regard this life-critical extreme cold qi as expendable, aiding the Wolf King and Wolf Queen to defeat their enemies.

Only to see the stream of extreme cold qi spewed by the wolf pack absorbed into the bodies of the Wolf King and Wolf Queen, their magical power atmosphere surged rapidly.

The Wolf King was already a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast, its aura change not so obvious. However, as a Tier Five Middle-Grade Demon Beast, the Wolf Queen’s aura, with the assistance of the extreme cold qi, rose directly to the strength of a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast, albeit the weakest kind.

Simultaneously, a flash of white light appeared on the bodies of the two giant wolves, rapidly donning crystalline armor akin to ice.

The defense of this frost armor was ridiculously formidable. Even Zhouyang’s extremely sharp "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber" could only leave a scar about a foot deep on it, while the armor’s thickness was nearly three feet!

If that were all, it would be bearable, but even more annoyingly, the scar left by the silver saber quickly restored as soon as the saber left, directed by the demon wolves’ circulating magic.

In this situation, Zhouyang found himself in the same awkward position the wolf pack had earlier.

He couldn’t break through the demon wolves’ defenses, while they could attack him with full force without reservation.

"No wonder Xu Zhengyang didn’t find anyone else but sought my help. With this trick up the Wolf King and Wolf Queen’s sleeves, even a Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator would struggle to break this layer of frost armor,"

Zhouyang thought with hidden shock, his expression growing much more serious.

With a solemn expression, he let out a low shout, infusing his magical power into the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" within him, instantly unleashing an enhanced version of "Qianyang True Flame."

Next, he waved his hand, casting the golden flames onto the "Fiery Sun Heart-Burning Spear" and "Qianyang Golden Tower," using the magical artifacts as mediums to attack the Wolf Queen.

Even more daring, he himself, bathed in golden flames, charged toward the Wolf Queen in an aerial punch, intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast!

The collision of ice and fire soon brought results.

"Qianyang True Flame" was extremely pure and scorching, and the flames, enhanced by the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl," became unstoppable.

With the golden flames’ reinforcement, the "Fiery Sun Heart-Burning Spear" finally broke through the Wolf Queen’s three feet thick frost armor, creating a bowl-sized wound, while the golden flames and extreme yang power attached to the spearhead continued penetrating her body, causing further destruction.

Then, the "Qianyang Golden Tower" came crashing down from the sky like an iron hammer, driving the spear, nearly ten feet long, into the Wolf Queen’s body over a foot deep, deeply embedding the spearhead in her abdomen.

The gravely injured Wolf Queen let out a horrific wail, then, disregarding the spear still lodged in her body, charged at Zhouyang with murderous intent filling her wolfish eyes.

Soon, during their close quarters combat, the golden flames once again made her suffer.

Under the blaze of golden flames, the seemingly invincible frost armor on her body visibly thinned.

"Wretched beast, prepare to die!"

Zhouyang shouted fiercely, launching a powerful counterattack.

And this time, to prevent the Wolf Queen from drawing power from the wolf pack, he shook the Spirit Beast Ring in his hand, releasing the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle," which had already advanced to a Tier Four High-Grade Demon Beast, to harass and attack those Demon Wolves.

The mature "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle" not only possesses powerful Thunder Magic Divine Techniques but also masters the "Thunder Escape Technique," a formidable escape technique comparable to instant teleportation. Even though the Tier Four Wolf Demons outnumbered it by a dozen times, Zhouyang didn’t have to worry about its safety at all.

Sure enough, after the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle" was released, rather than being deterred by the massive number of enemies, it flapped its wings excitedly, letting out a loud eagle cry and proactively swooped towards the wolf pack.

Eagle strikes the wolf pack.

Under normal circumstances, Zhouyang might have been interested in watching this spectacle.

But now, he can only pour all his strength into wildly attacking the Wolf Queen.

He had no choice but to do so, as Xu Zhengyang was already being severely suppressed by the Wolf King, completely caught in a disadvantage.

If he doesn’t quickly deal with the Wolf Queen to offer help, Xu Zhengyang might have to make a quick escape, which would mean complete failure of their mission this time.

Even though failure would mean Zhouyang wouldn’t bear responsibility, he couldn’t quite accept the result of running two million miles only to end up empty-handed.

At this moment, the Wolf Queen had already been severely injured by his previous spear strike. Now, its Frost Armor was also being restrained by him, and defeat seemed inevitable, difficult to reverse.

In such a situation, it was a matter of who would fall first, the Wolf Queen or Xu Zhengyang; whoever couldn’t hold on would be the one to face complete defeat.

After a small half-hour, it was ultimately the Wolf Queen who fell first. After Zhouyang severed one of its wolf legs with a blade, it howled miserably and ran towards the Wolf King seeking aid.

The Wolf King obviously couldn’t watch the Wolf Queen being slain by Zhouyang, and therefore had to divert part of his focus from dealing with Xu Zhengyang to help the Wolf Queen.

But with Zhouyang’s intervention, the Frost Armor on its body soon began to melt away.

With this, they continued fighting for another half-hour, and suddenly, the Wolf King let out a wolf howl, giving the retreat signal.

Immediately, the heavily injured Wolf Queen was the first to retreat from the battlefield, quickly escaping into the depths of the ice caves within the Ice Stream, followed by the Demon Wolves that had been besieging the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle," halting their attacks and looking for the nearest ice caves to enter. Fınd the newest release on n0velfire.net

Seeing this, Zhouyang furrowed his brows, about to shout to Xu Zhengyang to stop the Wolf King.

However, seeing this situation, Xu Zhengyang was the first to shout, "Let it go; our target is the [Crystal Ice Orchid]!"

With that said, he was already rushing towards the Ice Stream Valley where the Wolf King had previously been, seemingly afraid the Wolf King would destroy that Spiritual Object before retreating.

Without his help, Zhouyang couldn’t ensure they would capture the Wolf King alone, and could only watch as it jumped into the Ice Stream and disappeared within an ice cave.

In the sky, Zhouyang shook his head and sighed, regrettably returning the still eager "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle" to the Spirit Beast Ring, and then descended towards that Ice Stream Valley.

The [Frost Wolf King] was a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast; if they could have slain this beast, based on Zhouyang’s contribution in this battle, he could definitely have claimed the most precious Demon Pill and Demon Soul, making this trip not entirely fruitless.

Unfortunately, Xu Zhengyang was not willing to take such a risk, leaving Zhouyang helplessly lamenting.

Of course, he wouldn’t blame Xu Zhengyang for anything. From Xu Zhengyang’s perspective, making such a choice was undoubtedly the wisest.

Xu Zhengyang came primarily to extend his lifespan by seizing the [Crystal Ice Orchid], and now that he could perfectly achieve his goal, he naturally wouldn’t risk his life to slay the Wolf King.

If cornered, should the Wolf King decide to self-destruct its Demon Pill, none of them could be certain of survival.

In the Ice Stream Valley, Xu Zhengyang had already begun harvesting the [Crystal Ice Orchid].

This lifespan-extending Spiritual Object grew atop a massive "Ice Crystal Profound Jade," its roots deeply embedded within, and Xu Zhengyang needed to exercise considerable effort to harvest it intact without damaging the Spiritual Object.

It was precisely because of this that he had initially wanted Zhouyang to defeat the Wolf King and Wolf Queen first, rather than asking him to hold off the two Demon Wolves while he harvested the Spiritual Object alone.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, my objective is only this [Crystal Ice Orchid]. All other Spiritual Objects here are yours. I believe there should be more than just this [Crystal Ice Orchid] in the nests of these two Tier Five Demon Beasts."

Perhaps thinking it unsuitable for Zhouyang to end this trip empty-handed, Xu Zhengyang noticed Zhouyang watching him picking the [Crystal Ice Orchid] upon his descent, and instead offered a compensatory proposal with an apologetic smile.

"Then I won’t be polite with Senior."

After a brief contemplation, Zhouyang smiled and accepted.

However, just as he was about to start searching the vicinity for other Spiritual Objects, he suddenly froze as if sensing something, his expression turning grave as he sternly shouted towards a certain spot in the Ice Stream, "Who’s spying there? Show yourself!"

Before his words landed, he had already swung his sleeve to launch a fireball over.