Ice Snow Valley

Yan Chihuo saw that his funds were truly running low, so he decided to take on a sect mission. The place where the Cloud Soaring Sect posted missions was called the Merit Pavilion. The missions there were listed on a board and divided into two categories: missions for outer-sect disciples and missions for inner-sect disciples. The outer-sect missions were relatively simple, but the rewards were low; some wouldn't even pay in Jade Essence. The inner-sect missions offered Jade Essence, spirit materials, and spirit pills, but were more dangerous.

Anyone could take either kind of mission. However, given the vast gap in strength, outer-sect disciples almost never took missions from the inner-sect board. Inner-sect disciples, on the other hand, sometimes took outer-sect missions because the tasks they had accepted happened to take them along the same route.

When Yan Chihuo arrived at the Merit Pavilion, he first looked over the outer-sect missions. They were all grueling jobs, such as searching for spirit herbs. Not only was the pay low, but they also took a long time.

After glancing over them, he gave up and went over to the inner-sect mission board. He knew his own limits. Among the inner-sect disciples, his strength was nothing special, so he couldn't take on missions that were too dangerous, such as hunting demons in Dragon-Severing Ridge, which paid more than thirty Jade Crystals.

Yan Chihuo would never go to Dragon-Severing Ridge. He remembered clearly that a Body Forging Late Stage disciple had once gone in, only to fail to slay any demons and come out injured. There was no need to mention someone like him, whose cultivation was only at the Body Tempering Middle Stage.

As he scanned the board, he spotted a mission at the bottom. It called for the death of a Rogue Cultivator named Heavenly Evil Blood Demon, and offered ten Jade Crystals as a reward. Yan Chihuo found it strange, though. The board stated that the man was only at the Body Tempering Early Stage. By rights, inner-sect disciples were all at least at the Body Tempering Middle Stage, so killing Heavenly Evil Blood Demon shouldn't have been a problem. Yet the mission had been posted for over half a year, and no one was willing to take it.

He noticed a kind-faced man who looked to be in his thirties standing nearby, so he bowed to him and said, "Senior Brother, I'm Yan Chihuo. I'd like to ask you something."

The man hurriedly returned the bow. "Hello, Junior Brother Yan. I'm Sha Liang. Ask away. If I know the answer, I'll tell you everything."

"Then thank you, Senior Brother Sha," Yan Chihuo said. "I was just wondering why no one has taken a mission to kill Heavenly Evil Blood Demon."

"So that's what you mean. Heavenly Evil Blood Demon is elusive. Although he usually appears in the Qiong Mountain Range, he has an Illusion Array Map. Even a cultivator at the Body Forging Late Stage would lose all sense of direction inside it. Not only would they fail to kill their enemy, they might be killed instead. Only someone born with a Spiritual Eye could avoid being fooled. But there's no one like that in the Cloud Soaring Sect—or anywhere in the East Sea region, for that matter."

"I see. Thank you, Senior Brother Sha. If you hadn't told me, I might have rashly taken the mission and gone to my death."

"Exactly. Someone once took that mission without knowing what he was getting into. He failed to kill the demon and was killed by him instead."

Just then, someone called out, "Junior Brother Sha, come over here!"

Sha Liang glanced over, then turned to Yan Chihuo. "Excuse me." With that, he went over to the other man, and the two left the Merit Pavilion together. A while later, after everyone else had left the pavilion, Yan Chihuo finally accepted the mission to kill Heavenly Evil Blood Demon.

The disciple in charge at the Merit Pavilion didn't ask any questions. He simply recorded Yan Chihuo's name and promised not to let the matter leak. Yan Chihuo also picked up two Water-Wading Talismans from the pavilion before leaving.

To carry out the mission, he had to cross the Spirit Water River. There were no boats available, and he couldn't very well summon Old Turtle to carry him across. His only option was to use the Water-Wading Talisman.

Talismans were common in the cultivation world. Dharma Tools and Talisman Artifacts were hard to come by, and often couldn't be activated instantly, so people had devised Talisman Seals instead. These could be activated instantly, but they were single-use items, and their power was inferior to that of Dharma Tools and Talisman Artifacts. Moreover, making talismans was no easier than refining artifacts, because most talismans in the cultivation world sealed low-grade spells. Even mid-grade spells were rare.

Yan Chihuo pressed a Water-Wading Talisman against his body, and white light rose from beneath his feet. He cautiously stepped onto the river's surface and found it as solid as level ground. Then he tried running a few steps and discovered that it felt just like running on land. Reassured, he hurried across the water. Although he hadn't mastered the Earth Shrinking Step, his cultivation had improved, and his running speed had naturally increased as well.

After he crossed the Spirit Water River, the white light beneath his feet faded, and the Water-Wading Talisman dissolved into specks of light. It seemed the talisman lasted only long enough to get him across.

The Qiong Mountain Range lay several hundred li away. According to the Merit Pavilion disciple, Heavenly Evil Blood Demon wasn't the only one there; other Rogue Cultivators lived in the area as well. They were bold and ruthless, and might attack someone over the most trivial matter. Demons also roamed there, and they loved to eat people—cultivators in particular.

All things possessed a spirit, but humans were the foremost among living beings, which made cultivation easier for them. That didn't mean birds, beasts, sand, stones, and trees couldn't cultivate. When these creatures and objects stumbled upon an opportunity and cultivated successfully, they became demons. For instance, the Old Turtle in the Cloud Soaring Sect was a demon. But it and the sect's other two spirit beasts had been tamed by the sect and held no desire to harm people. Wild demons, on the other hand, were far less predictable.

Just as he was about to set out, a searing bitterness suddenly surged through his body. His head spun, and he nearly fell over. He knew the poison inside him had flared up, so he hurriedly circulated the Poison Dissolving Art. The poison from the Demon Immortal Fruit hadn't acted up once in the past six months, which had put his mind at ease. But now that it had flared, the Poison Dissolving Art couldn't suppress it. He immediately understood: the poison was too potent and needed another toxin to counteract it.

Trembling, he took a wooden box from his robes. Inside was the poison sac of the Demon Snake. He broke it open, and the venom poured into his palm. As he circulated the Poison Dissolving Art, he felt the venom seep into his body, thread by thread, through his palm. Strangely enough, once the toxin entered him, he felt much better. After about an hour, he had absorbed every drop of venom from the sac. His spirits lifted, and he felt not the slightest discomfort.

He stood up, circulated the Poison Dissolving Art, and lightly pressed his hand against a nearby tree. In a moment, its leaves turned yellow and fell. A little later, several cracking sounds rang out, and countless dead branches dropped to the ground. The great tree had withered and died. Seeing how formidable this poisonous art was, Yan Chihuo couldn't help sighing inwardly. The poison inside him was far too fierce.

Ice Snow Valley lay on the northern side of the Qiong Mountain Range, closer to the Cloud Soaring Sect. But the climate there was bitterly cold, and the snow never melted, which was how the valley got its name. It was spring now, and the weather outside the valley was still cold. Inside, it was colder still.