In a ruined temple in the valley sat a dozen burly men, all wearing long faces. Each carried a herb basket on his back, so it seemed they had come to gather herbs. One man in black said, "Senior Brother Xuan Ming, come up with a plan already. With that beast around, how are we supposed to gather Snow Soul Essence? If we fail to deliver it, that little vixen Ru Shuang won't let us off."
The man addressed as Senior Brother Xuan Ming had a face full of coarse flesh and clearly wasn't a good sort. Yet when he heard this, he replied listlessly, "What plan could I possibly come up with? Forget that we've all been poisoned by her—even if we were in perfect health, we wouldn't be a match for her, let alone the person backing her. That beast may be powerful, but it's already badly wounded. We have strength in numbers, so we have to kill it and gather the Snow Soul Essence to complete our task."
The man in black spoke up again. "Senior Brother Xuan Ming, that beast is truly formidable. Even if we get rid of this menace, I'm afraid we'll lose quite a few men."
Xuan Ming said, "We have no choice. If we don't gather the Snow Soul Essence, what she'll put us through would make death seem preferable."
At this, the man in black seemed to recall something. "That's true. It really is worse than death."
Just then, a voice came from outside. "The wind is strong out there. May I rest here for a while?"
The men were slightly startled. Someone had come here without them noticing; they had clearly let their guard down. The man in black said, "Can't you see we—" In a foul mood, he was about to send the visitor away.
But Xuan Ming suddenly said, "This temple belongs to no one. The wind is strong outside, so come in and escape the cold, brother." Ordinary people couldn't possibly make it this far into Ice Snow Valley. Since the newcomer dared to come alone, he was probably no ordinary person. Xuan Ming didn't want to offend him.
When the man in black heard Xuan Ming speak, he fell silent. The temple doors opened, and a youth of sixteen or seventeen walked in, a long sword tucked across his back. Seeing so many fearsome men in the temple, he showed no trace of fear. He simply said, "Thank you," then found a corner and sat down to rest.
For a moment, Xuan Ming couldn't tell where the youth came from. Then the youth asked him, "Big brother, I heard you talking about some kind of monster nearby. Could you tell me about it?"
The men's expressions changed. Clearly, the newcomer had been listening outside for some time, and they hadn't noticed at all. Worse, they had just discussed secrets that outsiders must not know.
Xuan Ming felt that the other man's strength was unfathomable. He brushed his right hand across his robe—a signal telling the others not to attack yet. Instead of answering the question, he asked, "Little brother, what are you doing in Ice Snow Valley alone?"
"Looking for someone."
Xuan Ming laughed. "Little brother, you certainly know how to joke. Ice Snow Valley is rarely visited by anyone. You came here to look for someone?"
The youth furrowed his brow slightly, then said, "You still haven't answered my question. If you're willing to tell me, this Snow Soul Essence is yours." As he spoke, he took a snow-white fruit about the size of an egg from his robe. It was crystalline and translucent—the very Snow Soul Essence the men were searching for.
The men's eyes immediately lit up. Xuan Ming asked, "Where did you get that Snow Soul Essence?"
The youth seemed impatient. "Why do you ask so many questions? What is that monster?"
Xuan Ming gave a sinister grin. All the men stood up, drew their weapons, and surrounded the youth. He seemed taken aback. "You're going to attack me?"
"Have you never heard that one shouldn't flaunt one's wealth?" Xuan Ming said. "Tell us where you found the Snow Soul Essence, then leave everything else you have behind. We'll grant you a quick death."
The youth shook his head. The man in black from before roared and slashed at him with his blade. The youth didn't move a muscle or shift a foot. He simply tapped the blade with two fingers. The man in black felt a sharp pain in the web of his thumb, and the steel blade flew from his hand.
"Not bad," Xuan Ming said. With a flick of his hand, he thrust a sword at the youth. Before it even came close, an extremely fierce killing intent bore down on him.
"Ah, it's a Talisman Artifact too." The youth drew the long sword from his back and brought it down in a single slash, scattering the Sword Qi and driving his blade straight toward Xuan Ming's throat.
Before the sword could reach him, Xuan Ming felt a tremendous force pressing down on him, so powerful that he could hardly breathe. Horrified, he pushed off with his toes and retreated several dozen feet, only to crash into a thick pillar in his haste, making a sorry spectacle of himself.
Afraid his opponent would take advantage of the moment to attack, he sidestepped another several feet before looking up. The newcomer was still standing there, utterly unconcerned.
Xuan Ming flushed red and shouted, "You ignorant brat! I'll show you what your grandpa can do!" He began chanting an incantation, and the long sword in his hand gleamed. A moment later, he thrust it forward. A stream of cold air burst from the sword tip and rolled toward the youth.
The youth merely shook his head. He twisted aside, avoiding the cold air, and extended his right arm. His long sword came to rest against Xuan Ming's neck. Xuan Ming felt a tremendous force pressing down on him, as if it would shatter every bone in his body. He cried out, "Spare me, senior!" By then, he had realized that his opponent was also a cultivator—and far stronger than him.
The youth was Yan Chihuo. He had painstakingly made his way to Ice Snow Valley, yet still hadn't found the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon. Now that he had happened upon this temple and heard the men talking, he had an idea: he could ask what kind of monster they meant and perhaps learn something about the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon from them as well.
Of these men, only Xuan Ming had reached the early Body Tempering stage. The others had merely dabbled in the Daoist magic of the cultivation world and hadn't even crossed its threshold. They were only a little more skilled than ordinary martial artists like Qu Wuxing and the others. Yan Chihuo hadn't taken them seriously at all.
He had accidentally gathered this Snow Soul Essence along the way, and it was the only one he had. The item was useless to him, so he had planned to trade it for information. He hadn't expected the men to try to rob him. He couldn't help wondering whether they hadn't noticed his cultivation level.
In truth, cultivators with higher cultivation levels could indeed conceal themselves from those below them. But cultivators of the same level couldn't do so without some special technique for concealing their presence. So Yan Chihuo hadn't expected these men to be so recklessly ignorant of their own mortality. He had no idea that although he was using only the ordinary presence-concealing technique of the Cloud Soaring Sect, it was already a rare secret art to these Rogue Cultivators. How could they possibly see through his cultivation level?
His fight with Xuan Ming had really only been a test of how much his strength had improved lately. Xuan Ming was simply too weak. Though he could cast the low-level ice-attribute spell Mystic Ice Technique, his skill was clearly lacking. Yan Chihuo's sight and hearing were now exceptionally sharp, and he could see at a glance that Xuan Ming's swordsmanship was riddled with flaws. So he hadn't even used a spell before easily taking him down.
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