The group were entering a small canyon with only a few passages among high rocky walls, going side by side sometimes connecting to one another, already not far from the mountain they cfrom, the sounds of the beast horde's stampede now reaching their ears.
Though it seemed a lot less vibrant and the tremor of the ground was not as intense compared to the past at the sdistance. The number of beasts which were running toward the passage to the Winter Forest were likely finally dwindling after such a long period of time.
Meanwhile, the path from the small paradise-like forest to this canyon did not turn up anything good. At least in the eyes of the beauties, although Wu Long did pick up sores and rocks on the way from sof the smaller impact craters that had long since beccovered in ice.
The Core Disciples already inwardly gave up on finding something, plenty satisfied with the harvest and were mostly just exploring the world and admiring its views.
But upon traversing the canyon they entered Wu Long soon gave a signal for caution and lowering their speed.
They carefully went up onto an elevated path on the side wall, moving along it to the neighboring passage, soon feeling a chilling cold from the area they approached as the temperatures began rapidly dropping so that they noticed even in this already cold climate.
There they saw crystals growing out from the walls of the canyon, and Demonic Beasts, exclusively cold attributed ones which were the only ones able to approach this zone, gnashing their teeth on sof them, with occasional fights breaking out.
"This is... Cold Qi Birth Crystals...? But..."
A tiny gasp of the Core Disciple caused a smile to appear on Wu Long's face since that was a resource the ladies of the Frozen Garden Palace were all too familiar with.
But the ones they saw in their Spiritual Land on the surface of the world above their heads were of completely different quality from these.
It was a resource incredibly valuable to them but which held little to no value to him. However, the fact he led them here showed his intentions quite clearly.
This tall of the ladies participated in hunting down the beasts, as there were beasts of comparatively lower strength mixed in, with Hua Ziyan and Xue Bing taking on the more powerful ones and Wu Long dealing with the few beasts only he could handle.
They swiftly overwhelmed their opponents with a surprise attack, slaying them all and then collecting the crystals, as Wu Long even gained two blood samples in the process as an added bonus.
"There are more going through that route"
Xue Bing looked at the passage that was covered in thick icy fog to which the trail of crystals was going, the ones closer to the depths even larger and visibly more powerful.
"Mm, there are Primary Crystals there, but they are guarded by a Profound Grade Beast"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtWu Long nodded, following her gaze as the beauty gasped.
"Then we should get ready to move, no need to linger on it"
She quickly cut off any greed for it as soon as she heard his words.
"Haha, that would indeed be a rational choice, PrDisciple Xue... but then again, not all things must be rational in life"
Wu Long chuckled, signaling the group to stay within the veil covering them as they traveled these lands, and moved toward the fog as they looked at each other in worry.
"Daoist Wu-...!"
Xue Bing tried to stop him the moment she noticed his intention, but could only raise her hand since he was already gone the next instant.
They knew that he already was not in his top condition, and even though he absorbed a large amount of Spiritual Qi to replenish his depleted reserves, the actual speed with which he could refine it was not as fast so he was still in the process.
"Haha, there may be a lot of room for discussions over the decisions he is uncertain of or conflicted about, but once he did make a firm decision it takes an incredibly convincing argument to make him budge.
At least that's what Sister Ye Ling told us once"
Hua Ziyan made a wry smile as she looked on into the fog he disappeared into.
She was worried as well, but she believed that if he made a decision he judged it safe to do or had sufficient reasons to take a risk.
Not to mention that she was not oblivious to the fact he was subtly starting to court Xue Bing, for whom a crystal such as the ones in the depths of this passage was a difference between reaching Mortal Transcendence Realm in the next century and reaching it in the next decade.
And even though she quickly abandoned any hopes of obtaining it, that was only because of her physique which cut off any emotional interference.
Any normal person in her position would at least have a little regret, much less someone whose emotions were repressed for so long it was bound to someday explode.
She was already exhibiting a much wider range of emotions in the recent months, and it beceven more apparent and accelerated in her interactions with Wu Long.
'As Wu Long said... she is close to a breakdown...'
Hua Ziyan's eyes stealthily turned to the dark blue-haired beauty whose eyes revealed turmoil even through the icy turquoise blizzard that covered them from the outside while looking at the distant foggy canyon passage.
Meanwhile, Wu Long's figure traveled in the canyon with almost no visibility, snow and frosty air coming on from the direction he traveled to.
The hems of his clothes becfrosted despite his Spiritual Qi guarding them.'Haa~... what timing, to think she would approach so close to her breaking point so abruptly and unexpectedly within this Secret Realm...'
He revealed a wry smile himself, as he did not plan to confront this beast initially. And while it seemed like a small matter, the situation just before was dangerously close to a very unfortunate result.
"Haha, the Frozen Soul ExtrYin Physique turned out to be quite dangerous to its user if left uncontrolled for long"
He then chuckled at this realization.
He soon reached the depths where snow and freezing air flew past the passage he was traversing at incredible speeds, resulting in the frosty fog he was in.
He knew that there was a roughly circular opening ahead, and this deadly blizzard he stood before was actually rotating within it around his goal.
"Haa~... the things we do..."
He sighed with a wry smile and galvanized his Spiritual Qi, talismans floating around him, and then rushed into the storm ahead which would quite easily rip into shreds even a 5th-tier beast.
"Ugh..."
The velocity of the wind made the small icy particles becdeadly weapons, and the powerful natural Cold Qi in it froze even his Protective Qi enhanced and heated by the talismans.
He started moving fast through the storm, not cutting across it but moving in a circular pattern, letting the wind accelerate him rather than cutting through it.
'...!'
At one point, he felt something vague in the movement of the wind. It was something he already experienced once before in a rain.
His thoughts immediately accelerated.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe slightly hesitated, and then let go, letting the wind completely carry him, feeling its flow and the way it moved, emptying his mind and concentrating on the sensations.
He slowly lowered his protection, letting the wind hit his skin as it started to cover with a thin layer of frost as did his clothes.
Because he stopped making a spiraling motion toward the center, the strong currents freely moved his body which completely relaxed in natural way with no distinct direction, as he felt the movement of air that both pushed him and then traveled around, finding it similar to a moving stream of water and yet different at the stime.
The biting cold could not penetrate his tempered body, and could not make him feel as much pain as it would with any normal person.
'Movement... I see...'
His eyebrows twitched as he finally got a piece of puzzle he did not have before. He had his mind on the Wind Rune for quite stime, but he could not simply accumulate wind like he did with lightning or water, and could not put his finger on what he was missing.
It was the nature and essence of the wind, which was constant movement. His mind was too focused on perceiving it as an element when it was not, it was simple constant movement. Though he knew that there was Wind Qi which the very rare Wind Attribute Cultivators used, he suddenly understood that what he stumbled on was somehow inherent in their way of controlling, and yet fundamentally different.
With this realization, a new Rune started appearing within him, one which he could not strictly call a Wind Rune, but which essence embodied it, and which he already had within both the Lightning Rune and the Water Rune as well as within his own very body.
As he perceived its everchanging form he instantly made a Soul Connection with it.
His eyes flashed open and electricity flashed all around his figure, melting the layer of frost covering him as he resumed his movement to the center.
He soon reached his destination, and as if there was an invisible imperceptible wall, he cout of the blizzard storm seeing a tranquil clearing with slowly falling snow.
There were three large crystals in the center of it, with a large amount of smaller ones haphazardly strewn all around them.
He also saw large icy columns around this place, which he knew were no columns but the eight legs of the giant spider up above.
*Screeeeech!!!*
And just as he appeared, raising his head to look at it, it perceived Wu Long as well, making a loud screech resounding throughout the canyon.
It jumped, and instantly shrank to only a five-meters in leg diameter form which was giant as well but much more suited to fighting such a small target as Wu Long, with the force of its earlier jump flying backward and disappearing into the snowy blizzard.
"Haha, I guess it's not going to be as easy"
He chuckled, his senses heightening in preparation while his eyes flashed with profound patterns.
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