Frostmoon Altar Grand Canyon

Nothing happened that night.

When dawn broke, the team set out again for Frostmoon Altar.

They traveled until noon before the gathering team encountered its first wave of attack.

It was a ravenous snow leopard.

Its fur was snow-white, smooth as satin.

The route the team took happened to pass near its den.

Under normal circumstances, a demonic beast would retreat when faced with so many cultivators.

But hunger had stripped it of the instincts it relied on to survive. Rather than leaving, it lay in ambush in the shadows.

It was clever, specifically targeting the weaker members of the team. In a sneak attack, it pounced directly on a disciple at the third level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm, biting through his throat.

Then it tried to drag the corpse away.

Kong Jiao shot it in the foreleg with an arrow, slowing its escape.

Zheng Gang then arrived and killed it with a single palm strike.

"It was a Snowstalker Beast at the fourth level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm. Its fur can conceal its aura, so I failed to notice it." Zheng Gang showed no emotion as he looked at the corpse of his fellow disciple, who had died so miserably in the Snowstalker Beast's jaws.

He merely offered the team a detached explanation. Then he skinned the Snowstalker Beast, collected the deceased disciple's Cangwu Sect identity plaque, and returned to the front of the group.

The others silently watched it all. Not a single word of blame was raised as they quietly followed Zheng Gang.

It was as though the one who had died had not been their fellow disciple, but a stranger.

Even Kong Jiao, who prided himself on not being overly compassionate, frowned.

Zhou Tingyu could not bear it. She even said to Kong Jiao symbolically, "We should at least bury him. Otherwise, wild beasts will surely eat him, and he won't even have an intact corpse left."

Kong Jiao merely gave the girl an indifferent glance and said in a low voice only the two of them could hear, "If you don't want to be ostracized, don't make yourself stand out too much. Those who are different never fit in with the crowd."

"This is how the world is. You need to get used to it sooner."

Zhou Tingyu fell silent.

Instead, Feng An reminded Kong Jiao of something.

"This Snowstalker Beast was injured first by you, Junior Brother Kong Jiao. By the rules, Zheng Gang took the most valuable hide, and everything else belongs to you. I took a look—there are still some useful materials. The claws and fangs are worth a few Spirit Crystals and can be sold to the Artifact Refining Pavilion."

Kong Jiao looked at the scraps of his fellow disciple's flesh still caught in the Snowstalker Beast's mouth and immediately shook his head. "They aren't worth many Spirit Crystals. I'll give them to Senior Brother Feng as thanks for your guidance these past two days."

Feng An did not refuse and accepted with a smile.

His movements were quick and efficient. In just a few strokes, he stripped away everything valuable without delaying the team.

Before leaving, Feng An hesitated slightly, then said behind Kong Jiao and Zhou Tingyu in a voice so faint it was nearly inaudible, "When we reach Frostmoon Altar, be careful not only of disciples from other sects. If possible, stay farther away from our own sect brothers too."

Zhou Tingyu froze, not yet understanding what Feng An meant.

"Mm." Kong Jiao had already nodded silently.

The Snowstalker Beast materials had not been given to Feng An for nothing.

Moonlight washed over a canyon stretching dozens of miles below.

The winter cold was bitter. Snowflakes fell without ever melting, and the canyon below had accumulated several days' worth of snow.

The snow reflected the moonlight, making the entire canyon gleam like silver paper.

Deep within the canyon stood a towering altar, built from white stone blocks of some unknown material.

The altar's highest point nearly reached the surface.

Around it stood layer upon layer of ancient pavilion buildings.

Having fallen into disrepair over countless years, they had long become a field of broken walls and crumbling ruins, without a single intact structure in sight.

Led by Zheng Gang, the eleven Cangwu Sect disciples hurried onward and finally reached the edge of the canyon.

Looking at the sprawling cluster of ancient buildings below, Kong Jiao, visiting Frostmoon Altar for the first time, felt an ancient, desolate air of passing ages rush over him.

"We're finally here!" Kong Jiao tightened his hold on the Frostfall Fragmentary Scroll in his arms and took a deep breath.

But as he looked at that expanse of buildings, he began to worry again whether he could truly find that opportunity within Frostmoon Altar through his own strength alone.

This place was simply too vast.

While Kong Jiao's thoughts churned.

Zheng Gang, the leader, had already leaped down from the steep cliff at the canyon's edge.

Before leaving, he coolly tossed out a single sentence.

"Move separately. Don't forget to carry the identity plaques marking you as Cangwu Sect disciples. If something happens, I can at least bring them back to the sect."

It seemed Zheng Gang's duty as leader had ended the moment everyone arrived at Frostmoon Altar.

He intended to act alone.

The remaining ten also had their own groups.

After fastening their identity plaques, they silently departed from the spot where Zheng Gang had just jumped down.

Only Kong Jiao's group of three remained.

"From here on, it's every man for himself." Feng An seemed long accustomed to this scene as he watched the departing figures with some melancholy.

Kong Jiao was in no hurry. He raised his head to look at the bright moon in the sky and asked unhurriedly, "Senior Brother Feng, you've been here so many times. Do you have any advice? Where should we go next?"

Feng An did not answer immediately. After a moment of thought, he looked at Kong Jiao and Zhou Tingyu.

"Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi mostly grows amid the broken walls and ruins of Frostmoon Altar. There is some elsewhere in the canyon too, but not nearly as much. If you want to gather more Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi, you'll have to venture deep into those ancient buildings."

"But that is also where the fighting is fiercest. Whenever Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi appears, if you don't harvest it at once, it may draw the covetous eyes of others."

"You can naturally gather it elsewhere in the canyon too. The place is just too large, so it'll be slower—but safer."

Kong Jiao nodded silently. He understood what Feng An meant. Rather than directly answering his question, Feng An had given him two choices.

I came here in search of an opportunity. That opportunity certainly won't be on the canyon cliffs. The ancient building complex is where it's most likely to be.

But he did not immediately answer Feng An. Instead, he glanced at Zhou Tingyu.

The girl, who had been silent all the way, pursed her lips. "You decide. I'll follow you two either way."

Zhou Tingyu's response caught Kong Jiao off guard. She had grown quite a bit along the way.

"Senior Brother Feng, where do our strengths rank within those ancient buildings?" Kong Jiao turned and threw the question back to Feng An.

Feng An immediately understood what Kong Jiao meant. He grinned, revealing several yellow teeth.

"If we were two ordinary cultivators at the fourth level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm, we would only rank around the middle."

"But if it's the two of us, we should rank in the upper-middle. Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi is merely a spiritual herb for the Wheel-Nourishing Realm, and it is of little use to those in the later stages of that realm. So the cultivators here will be no stronger than Zheng Gang at most—at the sixth level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm."

"Then let's go to those ancient buildings. What do you think, Senior Brother Feng?" Kong Jiao already had his answer when he asked.

Feng An was already itching to make a move. His original reason for seeking cooperation with Kong Jiao had been to go to the ancient building complex.

How could he possibly object now?

"Excellent!"