The Calamity of Frostmoon Altar

Whew! The heavy snow in Frostmoon Altar Gorge still raged on.

Fierce winds swept snowflakes through the gorge.

An ordinary person walking through it would probably be unable even to open their eyes.

Amid the whirling snow, at the bottom of the gorge, beneath a thick mound of accumulated snow—

An arm suddenly thrust out from the deep snow covering the ground and dug out a hole.

The youth first poked out his head, his narrow eyes cautiously sweeping the surroundings.

As far as he could see, there was nothing but wind and snow, without a trace of any cultivator.

After confirming there was no danger, he slowly crawled out of the snow pit.

Casually brushing the snow clinging to his clothes, Kong Jiao narrowed his eyes against the storm and raised his head to the sky, seemingly checking the time.

It was now noon at Frostmoon Altar.

Yet the sun at the center of the heavens had been obscured by the wind and snow, leaving only a faint outline visible.

The warmth it cast down could not dispel the cold of Frostmoon Altar in the slightest. The frigid wind still ran rampant here, while goose-feather snow continuously thickened the layer already covering the ground.

Kong Jiao had only been out for a moment, yet another layer of snow had already settled over his body and hair.

He could not even be bothered to clear it away.

Clutching the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture in his hand, he felt his way slowly toward Frostmoon Altar.

The Frostmoon Altar that usually saw cultivators passing through from time to time, or scenes of combat, had now fallen into utter deathly silence.

The lingering aura of slaughter in the air made this stretch of heaven and earth all the more bleak and cold.

Even with Kong Jiao's resistance to cold, the killing intent left in the air made him shudder.

What kind of person is this Han Dong? He's only at the seventh level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm, yet his killing intent is already this tyrannical. Though he grumbled inwardly, the wariness on Kong Jiao's face deepened.

After walking for roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he saw the first corpse.

Most of the body had been buried beneath the snow. Only a face wrapped in skin, gaunt and shriveled like a desiccated corpse, remained exposed above the snow.

By now, it too had frozen into an ice sculpture.

From the expression lingering on the corpse's face before death, Kong Jiao could see profound terror.

He merely glanced at it before silently passing by the corpse.

As he gradually drew closer to Frostmoon Altar, more and more corpses appeared before him.

Their deaths all shared one feature: they had been drained dry by some sort of power.

Kong Jiao knew this was Han Dong's method.

It proved that these people had all died at Han Dong's hands.

This guy really is bold enough to defy heaven. These dead people came from several different sects. Isn't he afraid those sects will join hands and hunt him down? As Kong Jiao pondered this, he revealed a self-mocking smile.

That's right. He was already on the bounty list of the Cangwu Sect. It probably wasn't only the Cangwu Sect that wanted him. What else did he have to fear?

In truth, Kong Jiao's hiding place was not far from the center of Frostmoon Altar.

He was simply moving very slowly, every step filled with trepidation, his body pressed tightly against cover.

A distance that could have been crossed in the time it took to drink a cup of tea took him the time it took for an incense stick to burn.

Fortunately, he finally entered the ruined cluster of buildings within Frostmoon Altar without incident.

With the broken walls and crumbling ruins as cover, Kong Jiao gained a measure of security. Seizing an opportunity, he leaped into the remains of a building and slowly advanced through the gaps in the collapsed structures.

It was slow, but safe.

At last, he reached a high point near the central altar of Frostmoon Altar.

This position offered an excellent view. Kong Jiao crouched down and used the gaps between the buildings to survey the current state of Frostmoon Altar from above.

Everywhere he looked were horrifying corpses, more than half covered by wind and snow. All had been sealed in ice by the chill, becoming ice sculptures standing amid the storm.

There probably isn't a single living person left in all of Frostmoon Altar.

Kong Jiao swallowed quietly as he thought this.

Suddenly, his eyes contracted. Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to have spotted something.

He immediately fixed his gaze on the red-clad figure atop the Frostmoon Altar altar, nearly buried beneath the snow.

Han Dong!

The culprit behind the massacre at Frostmoon Altar had not left yet.

He sat atop the altar, allowing the falling snow to wrap around him.

His hands formed some kind of seal, as if he were guiding a Dao technique.

Throughout the process, Han Dong was like a clay statue or wooden carving, seemingly devoid of awareness.

This gradually eased Kong Jiao's body, which had tensed taut with fear upon seeing Han Dong.

Looks like my luck is pretty good! Kong Jiao touched the cold sweat that did not exist on his forehead and smiled in relief.

The first time Kong Jiao had seen Han Dong, he had not gotten a clear look at his face.

From this position, however, Han Dong's features were clearly visible.

The lines of his cheeks were soft, his brows and eyes somewhat feminine. His nose bridge was high, and his long hair had been combed without a strand out of place.

Judging by his features alone, he was unquestionably the most beautiful man Kong Jiao had ever seen.

His red robes further accentuated that beauty with a touch of flamboyant splendor.

Who could have imagined from his appearance alone that he was the notorious fiend who had slaughtered all of Frostmoon Altar?

At first, Kong Jiao had wondered what Han Dong was doing.

He soon received his answer.

Strands of blood-colored mist began to peel away from the corpses scattered throughout Frostmoon Altar.

They gathered toward Han Dong at the center of the altar.

Then they entered his body.

With every wisp of blood he absorbed, Han Dong's aura grew stronger.

Seeing this, Kong Jiao could not help recalling what the woman who had blocked his path had said.

She had once mentioned the words "blood food."

Now, Kong Jiao seemed to understand what those words meant.

Han Dong is actually cultivating with cultivators' spiritual blood. Is that why he massacred Frostmoon Altar? Horror flashed through Kong Jiao's eyes.

No wonder he's wanted.

With that, Han Dong's purpose in coming to Frostmoon Altar became clear as well.

Across the territories controlled by the surrounding sects, there was nowhere else like Frostmoon Altar—a place filled with vast numbers of cultivators below the sixth level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm.

This place, which supplied herb gatherers from several sects with Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi, was practically tailor-made as the perfect place for Han Dong to cultivate.

He has no awareness right now. Should I... Lying behind a crack in the stone, killing intent flickered in Kong Jiao's eyes as he hesitated over whether to strike.

But he quickly cast aside this unrealistic thought.

His Fragmentary Scripture could not even kill that woman guarding the gate at the sixth level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm.

Setting aside whether Han Dong truly lacked awareness at the moment, his current state was clearly even stronger than before.

If Kong Jiao failed to kill him in a single blow and alerted him—

Even a hundred Kong Jiaos would not be enough for Han Dong to kill. There was no need to take such a risk.

Moreover, Kong Jiao could clearly see the cloud above Han Dong's head, the one representing his fortune.

That fortune was white as snow, on par with Shangguan Yuzhou's.

A genius blessed with such fortune was not so easy to kill.

Fine. At least no one will disturb me while I search for my opportunity. Kong Jiao did not wish to risk killing someone, but if he was merely searching for an opportunity, there would be no problem at all.

After giving Han Dong's location one last look, Kong Jiao once again slipped into the broken walls and ruined remains.

In the brief moment after Kong Jiao left—

What he never expected was that, at the instant killing intent had flashed through him—

At the center of the altar, Han Dong's tightly shut eyes twitched imperceptibly beneath his brow.

Yet as Kong Jiao's killing intent faded, Han Dong returned to looking as though nothing had happened.

The Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture emitted light toward a certain direction. Following its guidance, Kong Jiao arrived in an ancient, dilapidated stone chamber.

The ground here bore many traces left by people trampling over it.

This proved that more than one herb gatherer had once come here.

The light of the Fragmentary Scripture shone upon the wall of this stone chamber.

Kong Jiao stepped closer to inspect it.

The material of the stone wall was ordinary, seemingly built from common bluish-green mountain stone.

It also bore obvious marks of age. Many cold-resistant mosses had crept across the wall, making its already plain and unadorned surface even less conspicuous.

Could there be a hidden passage behind this wall?

Kong Jiao narrowed his eyes. After pondering briefly, he gathered spiritual energy in his palm and tentatively struck the wall with a palm blow.

Boom!

The blow, enough to pierce a stone wall, only produced a dull sound when it hit the stone barrier.

Other than some moss being shaken loose, not even a chip of stone fell from the wall itself.

Instead, when Kong Jiao's palm touched it, the rebounding force from within the wall made his hand go slightly numb.

There really is something strange about it! The hardness of the stone wall made Kong Jiao abandon the idea of forcing his way through.

He crouched down and began feeling along the stone wall inch by inch with his palm. The wall was cold as solid ice from the climate, while his sharp eyes scrutinized every inch of it.

In the end, he found a depression five feet above the ground.

Kong Jiao's eyes lit up as he cleared away the remaining moss inside the indentation.

It revealed a crescent-shaped mark.

At this point, there was no need to hesitate. Kong Jiao picked up the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture and slowly set it into the depression.

The stone chamber fell silent.

The development Kong Jiao had expected did not occur.

Hm? Kong Jiao's brows knitted together uncontrollably.

Looking at the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture perfectly embedded in the stone wall, he recalled how it had reacted to his spiritual power.

He immediately extended his hand and tentatively infused Frostfall Spiritual Power into the Fragmentary Scripture itself.

This time, there was indeed a reaction.

Rumble! The stone wall that had not budged even beneath Kong Jiao's full-strength strike now let out a violent roar, and the entire wall trembled.

The mosses that had spread over the stone wall through countless years fell to the ground in swathes.

The wall's original dark bluish-black appearance was revealed.

Then, mysterious white patterns of light slowly emerged, centered around the Fragmentary Scripture into which Kong Jiao had infused his spiritual power.

They formed something like an array upon the stone wall.

The next instant!

Clang!

Blinding white light erupted from the array on the stone wall.

It enveloped Kong Jiao's entire body, swallowing even the whole stone chamber in its radiance.

When the light faded, Kong Jiao and the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture embedded in the stone wall had vanished without a trace, as though they had never existed.

The stone chamber returned to silence.