She had never actually asked why Xu Taiping had come to Ice-Crystal Cave.
"If this goes smoothly, quite a few fewer people will die in the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven."
Xu Taiping nodded.
Because of the Nine Prefectures' instructions, he could tell no one but himself about this matter, so he could only reveal a little to Duan Xiaoyu.
"I understand."
At his words, Duan Xiaoyu suddenly nodded with a solemn expression.
"Don't worry, Brother Taiping. I won't let anyone in."
As she spoke, she turned around and raised her saber, staring unblinkingly at the entrance to Ice-Crystal Cave.
Inside the cave.
After he took out a Luminous Pearl for illumination, the scene within the small cavern appeared clearly before Xu Taiping.
Like the rest of Ice-Crystal Cave, this cavern was almost entirely covered in ice crystals, and the cold was even more intense than outside.
After sweeping his gaze around by the light of the Luminous Pearl, Xu Taiping finally found what he was looking for-the claw marks on the ice walls.
There were seven sets of these claw marks throughout the cavern.
But every mark was shallow and covered in frost. Without knowing about them beforehand and deliberately searching, they would have been very difficult to spot.
According to Huang Que, Xu Taiping had to melt the sections of ice wall bearing these claw marks in order before he could activate this formation node in Ice-Crystal Cave, step by step.
This was also why Xu Taiping had thought it would be troublesome.
"I still asked for too little with three thousand Gold Essence Coins."
Muttering under his breath, Xu Taiping strode over to the first section of ice wall he needed to melt.
He pressed his hand against the ice, transforming the True Qi gathered in his palm