Unexpected Discovery

"Liang Jingtang, your duty as master and disciple is to lead the way, not to dodge and flee. If there's a next time, Xiong Feiye's fate will be yours!" With a stern and authoritative gaze that forced the martial masters to lower their heads, Xu Zhiji's eyes finally settled on Liang Jingtang.

"Yes!" Liang Jingtang replied, his head bowed. Humiliation and anger burned deep within his eyes, but he dared not show it.

An Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master was simply too powerful; he was no match for him.

Seeing this, Xu Zhiji's expression softened slightly. After glancing at Xia Daoming again, he looked away.

Xia Daoming's sharp reaction had indeed surprised Xu Zhiji, but that was all.

The Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master realm was clear, and it didn't warrant him overthinking things.

Seeing Liang Jingtang being reprimanded and forced to continue scouting ahead for everyone, none of the surviving martial masters showed any sympathy. On the contrary, they were all secretly relieved, and some even wore expressions of schadenfreude.

Xu Shisen even sneered mockingly.

Xia Daoming took in everyone's reactions one by one, secretly sneering to himself.

This is human nature!

The group continued to advance.

Three days later.

A group of people stood on the peak of a mountain, looking down.

At this point, only eighteen people remained from the five major forces, with the Xu Family still having seven.

Below was a valley surrounded by mountains.

The valley was filled with clouds and mist. As the sun shone down, the mist churned, allowing only faint glimpses of the scenery below.

"Below us lies Cold Mist Valley, our destination," Xu Zhiji said, his gaze solemn yet tinged with excited anticipation.

Everyone's heart trembled upon hearing this. Their expressions grew serious, and they peered intently into the valley below, as if wishing to part the clouds and see clearly.

Only Xia Daoming seemed to be lost in thought.

Unlike the others, he wasn't focusing on the valley below. Instead, he was excitedly gazing at three mountain peaks in the distance.

These three peaks, like three giant emerald swords, pierced straight into the sky, exactly matching the drawing in the tattered, old map Liu Qiaolian had given him.

"I never expected to stumble upon the place where the Dragon Transformation Fruit grows by such a twist of fate!" Xia Daoming's heart surged.

The Dragon Transformation Fruit was the key to him becoming a Grandmaster!

However, Xia Daoming quickly composed himself and joined the others in looking down into the valley.

As the saying goes, looking at a mountain can exhaust a horse!

Those three sword-like peaks, though seemingly not far, actually required crossing countless mountain ranges and enduring numerous dangers to finally reach.

Xia Daoming was only at the Sixth-Rank realm now. Even though his internal energy far surpassed that of Great Martial Masters in the same realm, he wouldn't dare venture alone into those mountains.

The immediate priority was to find a way to obtain the Ice Rabbit and the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma to further strengthen his meridians and improve his cultivation as soon as possible.

"Haste makes waste; stay calm, you must stay calm!" Xia Daoming warned himself internally while intently observing the valley below.

"Liang Jingtang, you and your disciple go down first!" Xu Zhiji said coldly.

"Yes!" Liang Jingtang nodded, then moved closer to Xia Daoming and whispered, "Be careful, Daoming."

"You too, Master!" Xia Daoming nodded.

With that, the two approached the edge of the cliff.

Looking down, one could see a sheer cliff face about ten yards below, requiring ropes or vines to descend.

Further down, through the mist, the slope appeared to gradually lessen, allowing for careful climbing down by hand.

Old vines hung from the cliff edge, so there was no need to find separate ropes.

"I'll go down first, you follow," Liang Jingtang said, stepping forward to grab a vine.

Before Liang Jingtang could finish speaking, Xia Daoming had already rushed forward, grabbed a vine, and leaped down.

"You brat!" Liang Jingtang cursed upon seeing this and quickly followed suit, grabbing a vine and leaping down.

"You all go down too!" Xu Zhiji said calmly to the others after watching Liang Jingtang and his disciple quickly disappear into the mist and carefully climb down the gentler slope.

"Elder, the area below is covered in mist, and the scenery is unclear. How about we wait until Liang Jingtang and his disciple scout the path first?" an Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master, nearly seventy years old, asked Xu Zhiji cautiously.

"Yes, yes!" the other martial masters chimed in.

Xu Zhiji did not reply. Instead, his gaze, as cold as a sword, swept over everyone, finally resting on the nearly seventy-year-old Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master. "Yan Shushan, take your people down first. The rest will follow."

Yan Shushan's expression changed drastically. He moved his lips, then finally nodded helplessly, "Yes, Elder!"

Soon, Yan Shushan, along with two Fifth-Rank Martial Masters, descended using the vines.

With Yan Shushan's precedent, the other martial masters dared not say another word and followed suit down the mountain.

The seven members of the Xu Family were at the very back.

Below the mist.

Xia Daoming and Liang Jingtang carefully made their way down the steep slope.

The mountainside was not only steep, but the mist on it had also frozen into ice, making it very slippery and difficult to traverse.

Moving cautiously, the master and disciple duo finally landed safely at the bottom of the valley, having narrowly avoided disaster.

The valley was shrouded in mist, severely limiting visibility.

What's more, the mist that clung to their skin was bone-chillingly cold.

Fortunately, both of them were Sixth-Rank Great Martial Masters, and their internal circulation of vital energy could ward off the cold.

The two looked around, simultaneously waiting for the others to descend the mountain and rendezvous.

"Ah!"

A scream broke the silence of the valley.

Then, with a "bang!"

Someone fell from the mountain, blood and brains splattering everywhere.

It was a Fourth-Rank Martial Master!

"Another one!"

Liang Jingtang gazed at the gruesome corpse about thirty feet away and sighed softly.

"Master, be careful!"

Just then, Xia Daoming cried out, his spear striking like a dragon.

"Clang!"

An ice arrow was struck and exploded in mid-air, scattering into fragments of ice that fell to the ground.

Not far away, a white blur flashed through the mist and disappeared.

Liang Jingtang's face turned pale, and his hand involuntarily wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He had been momentarily distracted, and if Xia Daoming hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been hit by the ice arrow.

"You saved my life again!" Liang Jingtang whispered, looking at Xia Daoming with a complex expression.

The stronger a martial artist's vital energy and the higher their realm, the sharper their senses would be, especially their premonition of danger, which was far beyond that of ordinary people.

All along the way, it had been this master and disciple pair scouting ahead.

Naturally, they encountered more dangers than others.

It wasn't strange for Xia Daoming to warn him and avert danger once or twice.

But it was strange that Xia Daoming had sensed the danger before him almost every time on this journey.

"They're here!" Xia Daoming said in a low voice, his gaze warily scanning their surroundings.

Liang Jingtang was slightly stunned, and then he indeed heard the sound of martial artists' footsteps.

Liang Jingtang couldn't help but glance at Xia Daoming again in surprise, but he said nothing.

"Hall Master Liang, what's the situation?" Yan Shushan, who was nearly seventy, approached with two disciples and asked.

"There are indeed Ice Rabbits here. An Ice Rabbit has already fired ice arrows at us. We shouldn't act rashly now; let's wait until everyone arrives before making any arrangements," Liang Jingtang said with a grave expression.

"I hope everything goes smoothly!" Yan Shushan's expression sharpened upon hearing this, and he said solemnly.

Not long after, the martial artists arrived one after another, with the seven members of the Xu family being the last.

There's a cold pond in the center of this valley, and Ice Rabbits usually activity around the cold pond. Adult Ice Rabbits, apart from lacking intelligence, possess pure combat power. In a direct confrontation, even I wouldn't dare claim victory.

Therefore, we can't just charge in with so many people. Once we alert a group of Ice Rabbits to attack, we might all perish in this valley," Xu Zhiji said in a deep voice.

"Then what should we do?" a Sixth-Rank Martial Master asked with a pale face.

"The main force will stay here to set up traps, and we'll send one person to lure one or two Ice Rabbits into the trap. Once the Ice Rabbits are caught, we'll attack them all."

After speaking, Xu Zhiji's gaze slowly swept over everyone.

Upon hearing this, all the martial artists turned pale and lowered their heads, remaining silent.

It was a joke. Young Ice Rabbits were equivalent to Fifth or Sixth-Rank Great Martial Masters, and adult Ice Rabbits were equivalent to Seventh or Eighth-Rank Great Martial Masters.

Going alone into the rabbit's den was no different from a sheep entering a wolf pack.

More likely than not, the person would end up in the rabbit's den instead of luring out a rabbit.

"Heh heh, Uncle-Ancestor, Liang Jingtang and his disciple have been very vigilant along the way. It seems the task of luring the Ice Rabbits out of their den falls to them!" Xu Shisen said sinisterly, looking at Liang Jingtang and his disciple.

"That's right, that's right!" Many martial artists quickly chimed in.

Among them were Yan Shushan and his three disciples.

As long as a fellow Daoist dies, it's better than oneself dying!

Xu Zhiji said nothing, merely raising his eyes to look coldly at Liang Jingtang and his disciple.

"I'll go first!" Liang Jingtang said, his face looking grim.

"With a disciple here, there's no need for Master to risk his life!" As soon as Liang Jingtang stood up and walked towards the direction where the mist was thickest in the valley center, Xia Daoming had already leaped up and disappeared into the dense fog with a few leaps.

"Daoming!" Liang Jingtang called out, and he also leaped up, intending to chase into the thick fog.

"Liang Jingtang, you should come back. It's not good if too many people go. It won't be too late for you to go if your disciple fails!" However, just as Liang Jingtang leaped up, Xu Zhiji blocked him, saying coldly.

"Fine!" Liang Jingtang retreated, his face ashen. He clenched his fists, veins bulging on his arms.

PS: Because the upload time for this book wasn't chosen well, the recommendations came a bit late, with the first trial recommendation only happening last week. The readers were very supportive, pushing this book to first place on the Xianxia New Book Signing List during the first trial recommendation on Sunday. I'm truly grateful.

I ask for your continued support in this new week. Please collect and follow the story if possible, and leave reviews when you have time to increase activity.

We're competing for a spot on the charts on Monday, so the first update has been moved to midnight, with the second update still at noon. Tomorrow's updates will resume at the normal time.

Thanks to Qiu Zhi Shen Guang, Bai Yifei01, 20220317105425710, and other readers for their rewards.