Chapter 30: Ice Flood Dragon Python

Before Jiuyou’s eyes, a flash of light flickered, and the surrounding scene shifted rapidly.

A bone-piercing chill rushed toward him, and in an instant, the world before him was covered in ice and snow. As far as the eye could see, there were only vast expanses of white snow and deep blue ice crystals, with the cold wind howling like blades cutting into his skin.

“The Path of Ice.”

Jiuyou muttered to himself, and as he flipped his palm, the Nether Capital Ghostfire suddenly blazed to life. That deep blue flame danced, its temperature even more biting than the surrounding cold, as if it could freeze heaven and earth.

A cold smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. His fingertips gently stroked the flame in his palm, sensing the faint trace of ghostfire origin attached to it.

“Once hit by this old man’s ghostfire origin, no matter where you flee to the ends of the earth, you can’t escape the grasp of this Grand Ancestor. Soul-Eating Insects—a legendary bug long extinct from the outside world. Truly something to look forward to.”

What he had in mind was that emaciated, sallow-faced middle-aged man at Early Golden Core stage—more precisely, the Soul-Eating Insects in the hands of that young man surnamed Gu.

But unfortunately, earlier he had sensed that man teleport to the mountainside, yet he had entered the Path of Gale. After traversing all four paths, one would be directly teleported to the mountaintop. For now, there was simply no time to hunt that man down.

“Oh well. We’ll talk after leaving the secret realm.”

Jiuyou collected his thoughts, took out the Communication Jade Token linked to Canfeng, and probed it with his Divine Sense for a moment. He found that Canfeng’s position was only about six hundred miles away. At his grand-disciple’s pace, it wouldn’t take long for him to arrive and rendezvous.

He looked up toward the depths of the Path of Ice, his gaze shifting slightly.

“The cold energy here is so dense. If I could find a place where cold energy converges and absorb it for refinement, I might be able to enhance a few of this Grand Ancestor’s divine abilities. Too bad time is short, and I can’t linger here.”

Jiuyou shook his head and leisurely walked forward.

The wind howled around him, and the deeper he went, the more intense the cold became. But at this level, it was only somewhat threatening to Golden Core cultivators. To him, it was no different than a gentle breeze brushing his face.

Jiuyou walked with his hands behind his back, his steps unhurried. He casually dealt with any low-ranked exotic beasts he encountered along the way, not even bothering to raise an eyelid, never slowing his pace.

Suddenly, from about a hundred miles away, a familiar cry for help reached his ears.

“Grand Ancestor, save me!”

Jiuyou’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. His Divine Sense instantly shot out, sweeping in that direction.

With a single sweep of his divine perception, he took in the scene from a hundred miles away.

Canfeng was frantically fleeing for his life in his direction, his appearance ragged. The Late Golden Core Soul Wraith Puppet was tightly following him, its aura weak. Behind them, three massive exotic beasts at the seventh rank were in hot pursuit, their roars shaking the heavens.

Canfeng’s clothes were torn, his hair in disarray, and he had wounds in several places. He was in an extremely sorry state. Though he barely managed to hold them off with the help of the Soul Wraith Puppet, fighting one against three was beyond his strength, leaving him with no choice but to desperately flee.

Jiuyou’s gaze turned icy.

Just as Canfeng was about to be caught in a life-or-death moment, Jiuyou’s figure vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, he appeared in front of Canfeng.

He flicked his finger lightly, and a Cyan Chain, wrapped in Nether Capital Ghostfire, shot forth like lightning, swift as an arrow, breaking through all obstacles. The chain traced a deep blue arc in the air, instantly piercing through the head of the exotic beast at the very front.

The beast didn’t even have time to let out a scream before its massive body crashed to the ground, sending a cloud of snow into the air.

The Cyan Chain didn’t lose speed; its momentum was overwhelming. In the span of a single breath, the other two exotic beasts were also pierced through the skulls, crashing to the ground, lifeless.

Canfeng gasped for air, stumbling and rolling as he scrambled behind Jiuyou. His eyes were full of the relief of having narrowly escaped death, his voice even trembling.

“Grand Ancestor, mighty!”

“Hmph.”

Jiuyou let out a cold snort, shooting Canfeng an icy glare.

“Still unable to break through to Late Golden Core, and you can’t even deal with three minor beasts? What does this old man have to say about you?”

Canfeng shrank his neck, swallowed his saliva, and lowered his head, not daring to meet Jiuyou’s eyes. His words came out stammering.

“Grand… Grand Ancestor… this place is exceptionally cold. Grandson has to constantly use mana to shield his body from the cold’s corrosion, s-so… that’s why…”

“Oh? The cold? That’s your excuse?!”

Jiuyou’s gaze turned even icier. A dignified, imposing aura emanated from his body, causing Canfeng to shudder involuntarily—whether from the cold or from fear was anyone’s guess.

He abruptly raised his hand and sharply jabbed a finger at Canfeng’s forehead, then, without a second glance, clasped his hands behind his back and walked forward.

“As this Grand Ancestor’s disciple, you’re afraid of even a bit of cold? After we leave this secret realm, you’ll be punished with ten more years of seclusion in the Cold Domain Island.”

“Th-this… this is…”

Hearing this, Canfeng’s eyes went wide. He sneaked a glance at his Grand Ancestor’s back, momentarily speechless. Reluctance was written all over his face, but he dared not argue or stay put, so he had no choice but to quicken his pace to catch up.

Half an hour later.

With countless ancient prohibition marks covering the sky above this place, Jiuyou dared not fly. He could only lead Canfeng, using spells to move quickly on foot. In half an hour, they had covered barely two thousand miles, which was even slower than a Foundation-Establishing cultivator’s flying speed.

Fortunately, the Path of Ice wasn’t too long. All things considered, they had already covered about one-fifth of the journey.

Along the way, Jiuyou kept his Divine Sense fully extended, observing every movement in the surroundings. He killed a few more Ice Exotic Beasts that came to block their path, ranging from second or third rank to sixth or seventh. None posed any threat, and he dealt with them with a casual wave of his hand.

Compared to the demon beasts of the outside world, Jiuyou noticed that these exotic beasts here seemed to possess little intelligence. Regardless of their cultivation level, they all attacked recklessly, acting purely on instinct.

Following behind his Grand Ancestor, Canfeng gradually calmed down from his earlier terror and began looking around. The ice crystals shimmered with a deep blue luster in the faint light, which was quite beautiful to behold. But the biting cold kept him from relaxing for even a moment.

Suddenly—

The earth shook and the mountains swayed.

The entire Path of Ice trembled violently. Icicles from above came crashing down, and cracks split open the ice underfoot, as if some colossal creature was awakening from beneath the ground.

One after another, enormous blue ice pillars burst forth from the ground. The shortest were over ten zhang tall, and the tallest reached a hundred zhang. Dense and thick, they surrounded Jiuyou and Canfeng, sealing off all possible escape routes.

Canfeng’s face changed instantly, his lips trembling as he felt a strong sense of unease. He fully extended his Divine Sense, carefully examining the suddenly appearing ice pillars, but he couldn’t perceive anything.

“Gr-Grand Ancestor… what are these?”

The wrinkles on Jiuyou’s old face deepened a few more folds.

His Divine Sense had already detected a formidable aura lurking nearby, flickering in and out, as if present yet absent.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, and he suddenly stomped his foot on the ground. The Heavenly Light Mirror had appeared in his left hand at some unknown moment, glowing with blue light. A dense blue mist surged from his body, and the Cyan Chain writhed through the fog like a spirit snake, tightly wrapping around the two of them.

Jiuyou’s gaze shifted slightly, and he spoke unhurriedly.

“A big one is here.”

The moment he finished speaking—

Boom!

A few hundred zhang ahead, the ice suddenly exploded, and countless shards of ice flew in all directions. A massive figure burst out from beneath the ice layer, letting out a deafening roar that shook the entire Path of Ice, making Canfeng’s eardrums ache and his blood churn.

It was a giant ice python, dozens of zhang in length, its entire body covered in deep blue ice crystal scales. Its vertical pupils were as cold as frost, radiating a suffocating, ferocious aura. It coiled between the ice pillars, its crimson forked tongue flickering, its gaze locked firmly on Jiuyou and Canfeng.

It was, unmistakably, an Eighth-Rank Demon Beast!

Canfeng sucked in a breath of cold air, his legs going weak, and he instinctively shrank back behind Jiuyou again. He could barely handle a seventh-rank beast.

An eighth-rank—that was the equivalent of a Nascent Soul cultivator! In one encounter, it could tear him to shreds!

“Eighth-Rank Ice Flood Dragon Python…”

Jiuyou’s gaze condensed, but a slow, playful smile crept across his lips.

“It seems… a bit different from the ordinary eighth-rank demon beasts of the outside world…”

He took a step forward, and the dense blue mist around him swelled violently. The Nether Capital Ghostfire blazed fiercely in his palm, driving back some of the surrounding cold.

The Ice Flood Dragon Python seemed to sense the pressure Jiuyou emitted. A flicker of wariness appeared in its vertical pupils, but it didn’t retreat. Instead, it let out a roar, opened its massive maw, and spewed forth a torrent of ice-blue freezing air, surging toward Jiuyou like a flood!