Chapter 2058: Snow Lady
“This kind of feeling...” Zu An muttered with a frown. He just felt a mysterious sense of familiarity.
He put away the Wind Fire Wheels and entered the ice hole. Energy quickly moved around him to dispel the chill. As he ventured deeper inside, he saw that it was even larger than he imagined. Compared to the tattered temple where the Ninefoot Mirror was, this place had likely been been preserved even better because it was hidden deep inside the ice hole.
The place looked like a sacred temple that both humans and fiends would use to hold offerings to the heavens. Next to a perfectly straight main path towered two rows of giant humanoid ice sculptures. Every single sculpture was strange in appearance, and they bore some complicated rune engravings. They all gave off a mysterious sense of divinity. Zu An figured they were probably deity-like beings that the Fiend races had offered sacrifices to in the past. In the past, perhaps he would have treated these things as mere folklore, but now that he had experienced all kinds of strange and bizarre things, in that instant, he even wondered if these deities truly existed...
As he walked deeper inside, he discovered that there were some ancient murals on the walls. As he followed them, he saw that they seemed to record the heroic deeds of the Fiend races as they fought off the monsters from worlds beyond.
Suddenly, he focused on one part, noticing that there were some collapsed and broken mechanisms there. He could tell that there were traces of a formation having been there previously. He felt a sense of unease. There had probably been some shielding and protective formations here before, which was why no one had discovered it. The only reason he"d been able to find this place so easily was because of the map provided by the higher-ups of the Fiend races and his own powerful divine sense. Only now did he realize that it was the unnatural ki leaking out from this place that had drawn him to it.
Before he arrived, he"d been worried about whether there was some really hard problem he had to solve. Now, it seemed there was nothing for him to solve, because someone had already gotten ahead of him.
He didn’t stall any longer and quickly flew inside. Soon after, he arrived in front of a narrow pathway and heard strange roars coming from inside.
Is there some kind of beast inside?
As he looked at the pitch-black path, Zu An frowned slightly. Even so, with his current cultivation, he naturally didn’t fear any beast. He took out a talisman and tossed it over. Soon after, the talisman lit up everything in front of him like a flare. This path seemed to be hundreds of meters long, but it wasn’t that s.p.a.cious and could only barely allow a single person through. Some individuals with larger builds would just barely be able to crawl through it.
And yet, what drew his attention was that there were many deep, chaotic scars all over the surrounding walls, as if they had been cut open by an extremely sharp blade. Zu An reached out and touched the surface. He couldn"t sense any sword or blade intent from them. He was worried that someone would get to the divine artifact before him, so he didn’t think about it any further and decided to go inside first.
After he walked a few dozen meters ahead, the low roar became louder and clearer. A faint yellow Tranquility Bell projection appeared around his body. At the same time, he put up several defensive formations.
Just then, the roar suddenly became extremely sharp. When he saw the blast of wind surging at him, he finally knew what it was.
Wind! An incredibly berserk and wild wind!
There were many wind element cultivators in this world. Apart from excelling in speed, they also had a similar ability, which was the Wind Edge. It was as hard to block as a powerful swordsman’s sword ki. However, even all of the wind element experts added together couldn"t compare to the gust of wind in front of Zu An.
The defensive formations around Zu An were shattered almost instantly. Immediately after, the Tranquility Bell only lasted for a few breaths of time before it was covered in cracks and shattered. Fortunately, Zu An reacted quickly and used the Heaven Devouring Sutra. His entire body became like a black hole, absorbing and converting the berserk winds, thus avoiding disaster.
...
After pa.s.sing through the narrow path, Zu An saw that it was connected to a void. The one who created this place had probably used some ingenious method to guide chaotic tribulation winds into this place, so it was no wonder that they were so powerful. Forget about a grandmaster, even earth immortals would quickly have all of their flesh stripped right off of their bones.
That Imperial Gate Bei Qing woman really is a two-faced b.i.t.c.h! She actually set up such a dangerous trap here? Wasa she not scared of her descendants being shredded to dust here?
But after thinking about it, anyone who came here would definitely be here for the mission of sealing the monsters from an alien word. Those with lower cultivations wouldn’t be able to do much even if they obtained a divine artifact, and leaving such artifacts in their hands would only result in a bigger risk of the enemy getting their hands on them...
Zu An felt a bit more relieved when he understood that. Still, he felt that Bei Qing was a bit too unreasonably calculating in her thinking. The terrifying cosmic storm had another benefit, however. At first, he had been worried that the Soul Capturing Jade would be seized by someone else first, but now, that possibility no longer seemed too likely. Even he had almost died here, so he refused to believe that there was anyone else who could pa.s.s through.
Soon, he arrived at the altar in the center. He saw a staircase that extended downward, and there were clearly still hidden mechanisms there. If they weren’t triggered, there was no way they would appear on their own. He hurriedly rushed inside, but quickly stopped in his tracks, his smile freezing on his face. There was a hidden room beneath the altar, containing a stone box... but it was already open. The contents were missing.
Zu An’s expression became extremely unpleasant. This was clearly the place that stored the Soul Capturing Jade, and sure enough, it had already been brought away by a mysterious person. If it was a person, that would still be fine, but if it was a monster, the consequences would be too horrible to imagine.
He was still unwilling to give up and searched several times around the vicinity. In the end, however, he could only admit that the Soul Capturing Jade was indeed no longer here. Just who was it that had the ability to get through Imperial Gate Bei Qing’s various mechanisms, and even pa.s.s through the terrifying cosmic storm?
His eyes landed on the stone box, and his finger gently touched the surface. Even though he was surrounded by a world of ice and snow, there was a part of the surface that was even colder. He could still vaguely sense the leftover chill. He closed his eyes and fully relaxed himself. He opened up his sea of consciousness and began to silently sense everything in the room.
A while later, he finally sensed a faint trace of an aura. That aura was extremely familiar,to the point that there was no way he could ever forget it.
“The Snow Lady?” Zu An exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock. In the past, his cultivation had still been lacking and he was chased after by the mysterious Snow Lady. In order to flee for his life, he"d had no choice but to use Keyboard Come. At that time, his body had almost broken down completely, but fortunately, Yan Xuehen had used her own body to save him...
How could he forget such a deeply engraved memory? That Snow Lady’s aura was just too unique, to the point that nothing else was even similar in this world. But why would the Snow Lady be here?
He had already sensed a familiar aura outside the cave. At the time, he"d thought that he was mistaken. After all, this was the Fiend races’ sealed land. It was far, far away from the Great Snowy Mountain. How could the Snow Lady possibly appear in this place?
But now, he had no choice but to believe that this was indeed what had happened. Judging from the traces here, it seemed to have not been that long since the Snow Lady left.
When he thought of that, he didn’t dare to wait any longer. He rushed straight for the exit of the cave. He was initially worried that he would lose the trail, but soon after he left the ice hole, he saw it. Even though there was only wind and snow around him, the Snow Lady’s aura was especially distinct.
As he chased after that aura, Zu An became more and more confused. Normally, with the Snow Lady’s cultivation, her aura wouldn"t be leaking out so prominently. Was this a trap to draw him in, or was there something wrong with the Snow Lady’s body?
He continued for more than ten kilometers before suddenly stopping. He looked at the beautiful figure he saw within a snowy valley. The Snow Lady was sitting on a rock, in a daze. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking about.
In the past, he had only felt that the Snow Lady was horrifying, but now, this was the first time Zu An had examined her appearance. Her entire body was made from ice and snow, and there seemed to be a layer of light muslin covering her body. Her face was clearly a bit hazy, but overall, she looked like a stunning, veiled beauty. There was a pure and transcendent feeling coming from her.
Zu An couldn"t help but think of the incredibly beautiful snow women he had seen before online. In that instant, he became briefly absent-minded.