Fan Zhuxuan (1,300 Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter)

Little Merchant Mountain was an exceptionally unique mountain range in Shang Commandery, even throughout Yongzhou. Snow drifted year-round among its twenty-seven peaks, and the cold was intense. Without inner power to protect the body, the chill could easily invade one's flesh and leave one gravely ill beyond cure.

Among them, the central peak, Snowfall Peak, was where Fan Zhuxuan ordinarily stayed to train and refine medicine. Nine interconnected ice caves had been carved within it. In terms of icy cold, it was the greatest of all twenty-seven peaks. Without his permission, no one could enter.

That day, Sun Tao returned to Snowfall Peak with more than ten experts born on Little Merchant Mountain. Braving the risk of punishment, he climbed the peak and entered the cave, finding Fan Zhuxuan training in a stone cavern whose smooth walls shone like crystal and reflected human figures.

"Master, this subordinate failed in his task. I encountered an expert in Chen County and was unable to establish our foothold. Lü Xingde died, and Xie Fei was crippled as well, his martial arts destroyed. I beg Master to punish me."

Sun Tao knelt on one knee, head lowered, wearing an expression of shame and unease. As he spoke, his breath condensed into beads of white vapor that fell to the ground with crackling pops.

His brows and hair were coated in a layer of white frost. If not for the inner force endlessly flowing from his Qi Sea through his entire body, he would already have frozen into an ice sculpture. This showed just how vicious the environment here was.

Yet in such freezing conditions, the master Sun Tao spoke of was bare-chested, circulating his power and refining his spirit. Spiritual energy visible to the naked eye transformed into two white pythons and was drawn