North of the Great Tang's borders, beyond the mountain pass and another three thousand li onward.
This place lay close to the far north.
Nothing remained between heaven and earth but pure white.
An ordinary mortal who set foot here would freeze into an ice sculpture in less than half an incense stick's time.
Even accomplished martial artists and thick-skinned demons had to keep their energy circulating constantly to ward off the cold in such harsh conditions.
At this very moment.
This rarely visited expanse of ice and snow was unusually lively.
Figures crowded the wind and snow.
Dozens of rogue cultivators huddled in scattered groups behind several ice-covered rocks sheltered from the wind.
All of them stared ahead.
Following their gazes.
Deep within the blizzard, a continuous stretch of Frost Ridge could faintly be seen.
At the center of Frost Ridge, a precious radiance flickered in and out of sight.
An opportunity lay right before their eyes.
Yet not one of these rogue cultivators dared take even half a step forward.
More than a dozen corpses lay strewn haphazardly around the outskirts of Frost Ridge.
Blood had stained the surrounding ice and snow crimson.
The bodies had yet to stiffen; clearly, they had only recently died.
Farther inside, several enormous dark shapes could faintly be seen prowling through the blizzard.
Behind an ice-covered rock.
A gaunt old man frowned and spoke. "Are we really just going to stand here and watch?"
A sword-bearing man beside him sneered. "What else? If you've got the guts, go ahead and try."
The man raised his chin slightly, indicating the corpses on the ground.
"See those? They refused to believe their luck could be that bad either. They never even caught sight of an immortal-god relic before one of the lesser demons outside