Icefield Killing Intent

Qin Heng was quite lucky; it wasn't long before he encountered his first Ice Mist Frost Butterfly, which was concealing its form within the mist.

After observing it for a while, he shook his head and walked away, as the age of this particular Ice Mist Frost Butterfly was not suitable for him.

The method for determining the age of an Ice Mist Frost Butterfly is to look at the eye patterns within its wings. Aside from mutated individuals, all members of the species possess beautiful patterns made of natural phosphorus powder that resemble eyes.

White patterns indicate ten years, yellow patterns indicate a hundred years, and purple patterns indicate a thousand years.

For a ten-thousand-year Ice Mist Frost Butterfly, the eye patterns on its wings turn black, and a true pupil grows in the center of its forehead. This pupil allows the butterfly to better utilize its spiritual power, granting ten-thousand-year specimens access to various special spiritual attack methods.

As for determining the specific age of an Ice Mist Frost Butterfly under ten thousand years, one must look at the completeness of the eye patterns.

A hundred-year Ice Mist Frost Butterfly has only the rough outline of a pair of eye sockets. After reaching two hundred years, pupils appear within the sockets; at three hundred years, details like irises emerge; and at four hundred years, a second pair of eye socket outlines appears. This continues until nine hundred years, when three pairs of beautiful eye patterns are present.

Ten-year and thousand-year Ice Mist Frost Butterflies can also be identified this way, though the colors of the eye patterns differ.

For Ice Mist Frost Butterflies over ten thousand years old, one must look at the color of the pupil on their forehead: at the start of the ten-thousand-year stage, the pupil is white; from 20,000 to 50,000 years, it is purple; from 50,000 to 90,000 years, it is black; and at 100,000 years, it is naturally blood-red.

However, according to Guang Ling Douluo, the highest recorded age for an Ice Mist Frost Butterfly is just over 60,000 years; 100,000-year specimens exist only in legends.

The Ice Mist Frost Butterfly before Qin Heng had a cultivation of only a little over a thousand years, which was far from his expectations.

"Let's keep looking!" Qin Heng sighed and continued to explore deeper.

The closer he got to the center of the Ice-Sealed Forest, the more powerful the auras of the soul beasts became, forcing Qin Heng to remain on high alert.

Soon, twilight quietly descended.

The night in the Ice-Sealed Forest did not feel gloomy or dark.

This was a world draped in silver and snow. Cold moonlight spilled through the sparse canopy, reflecting repeatedly off the thick snow and ice, making the entire forest appear as if it were coated in a faint silver glow.

Even without firelight, visibility was sufficient for travel, but Qin Heng voluntarily stopped.

He found a small, sheltered hollow with slightly sunken terrain and towering ice cliffs on both sides, which could effectively block the biting wind blowing from the far north.

Qin Heng first deactivated his Martial Soul Possession, and the Asura Armor turned into a stream of light, retracting into his summoner.

While he could barely maintain his soul power while wearing the armor for long periods, the muscles and joints throughout his body, as well as his long-concentrated mental state, were becoming noticeably fatigued. He needed to truly relax and rest for a while.

A small campfire was soon lit in the center of the hollow. Qin Heng took out dry rations he had purchased in Heaven Dou City from his storage ring—a few coarse flour cakes that looked rather tasteless.

He skewered the cakes on a branch and roasted them by the fire. The surfaces soon turned a light golden brown, and the stiff texture softened slightly, emitting a faint wheaty aroma.

He devoured his simple dinner. After finishing two cakes, Qin Heng took a few sips of water from his canteen, which contained small shards of ice. He then sat cross-legged by the fire, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the Pure Yang Infinite Skill.

Warm Pure Yang True Qi flowed slowly through his meridians, dispelling the cold and fatigue from his body and allowing his depleted spiritual power to recover bit by bit.

Over an hour later, Qin Heng, who had been in deep meditation, suddenly snapped his eyes open!

His gaze shot like lightning into the darkness to the southeast. There, a pair of ghostly green pupils were staring at him unblinkingly, filled with obvious malice and hunger.

The pupils flickered with a cold green light under the reflection of the moonlight and the fire, resembling two flickering will-o'-the-wisps.

Alarm bells rang in Qin Heng's heart. He raised his right hand, activated his summoner instantly, and the Asura Armor rapidly covered his entire body, the helmet's faceplate clicking shut.

Almost at the exact moment the armor fully possessed him, the soul beast that had been lurking in the shadows could no longer restrain itself.

It moved like a bolt of white lightning, pouncing out with a whistling gale. In the blink of an eye, it crossed dozens of meters and slammed heavily into Qin Heng!

The soul beast knocked Qin Heng, who had just finished his Martial Soul Possession, to the ground. Its dagger-sharp canine teeth bit down fiercely toward his exposed neck!

"CLANG!" A crisp, jarring metallic collision rang out.

The canine teeth, capable of tearing through the skin and flesh of ordinary soul beasts, bit hard into the neck guard of the Asura Armor, but only sparked a shower of fine embers. It made a sound like a heavy hammer striking a thick bronze bell; not only did the teeth fail to pierce the armor, but the powerful recoil left them feeling slightly numb.

Cold light flashed in Qin Heng's eyes. He raised his left arm abruptly and clamped a firm grip on the soul beast's thick neck.

The terrifying power granted by the Asura Armor erupted instantly. He let out a low growl, exerted force from his waist, and threw the soul beast that had been pouncing on him away!

"THUD!" The soul beast's massive body flew like a cannonball, slamming heavily into an ice cliff a dozen meters away. The hard ice shattered on impact, sending shards flying with a thunderous roar.

Qin Heng leaped up from the ground with a kip-up. Only then did he clearly see what kind of soul beast had ambushed him.

It was a massive Icefield Snow Leopard!

It was nearly four meters long and nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, covered in thick, supple white fur dotted with faint silver-gray spots, making it almost blend into the surrounding ice and snow under the moonlight.

Had its ghostly green eyes not been so conspicuous in the dark, it would have been extremely difficult to detect in advance. Its limbs were thick and powerful, its claws sharp as hooks, and its thick, long tail flicked flexibly, stirring up gusts of cold wind.

The most direct way to judge the age of a leopard-type soul beast is by the length of its tail. Guang Ling, looking down from the air, glanced at the tail length and immediately judged that this was a three-thousand-year-old Icefield Snow Leopard, its strength far beyond that of the low-level soul beasts on the periphery.

Qin Heng had never studied soul beast lore, so he naturally didn't know its age, but seeing that it failed to bite through his neck guard in one strike, he figured it couldn't be that old.

Thus, Qin Heng decided to slaughter it, treating it as live-combat training.

The Icefield Snow Leopard had by now slowly stood up from the shattered ice. It shook the ice shards from its body, emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat.

Its green eyes stared fixedly at Qin Heng, filled not only with cruelty but also with a hint of wariness.

It clearly had not expected that this human child, who looked to be only eight or nine years old, could actually hurt it.

Qin Heng rolled his neck, the corners of his mouth curling up beneath the faceplate. His voice, transmitted through the helmet, carried a cold, metallic edge: "Ambushing me? You've got guts."

He slowly clenched his right fist, killing intent faintly swirling around his gauntlet: "Just right for a warm-up."

The Icefield Snow Leopard seemed to sense the rising battle intent from Qin Heng. It bent its hind legs slightly, storing power, ready to launch an even more ferocious pounce at any moment.

The temperature in the air seemed to drop even further, and frost began to condense around the snow leopard; it was clearly preparing to use its innate soul skill.

Man and leopard stood in the sheltered hollow, separated by the flickering campfire, locked in a standoff.

High above, Guang Ling Douluo watched everything below quietly, a look of keen interest on his face. He, too, was eager to witness the power of a god-level martial soul.