A giant wolf as large as an old ox, its body covered in silver fur, slowly entered the cavern.
The silver hairs on its back stood on end, its ears flattened, and its ferocious scarlet eyes fixed on Fang Hong atop the ritual altar. It slowly circled the altar, seemingly waiting for a chance to pounce.
Demonic qi filled the cavern, and an icy pressure comparable to that of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator spread outward.
Fang Hong brushed his hand over the storage pouch at his waist, and a talisman gleaming with emerald light appeared in his hand.
At the same time, a bracelet-like magical artifact slipped off his wrist and transformed into a glittering golden sword three inches long, which flew nimbly around him.
Suddenly, a low growl rose from the giant wolf's throat. Its four limbs coiled with strength, and it sprang onto the altar, jaws gaping, its stark white fangs snapping straight at Fang Hong's thigh.
Fang Hong flicked the talisman in his hand, turning it into a streak of light that landed on the wolf.
Emerald light flashed in the cavern, and the giant wolf froze in place like a statue, still in its lunging posture. Emerald radiance rippled over its motionless body.
A supreme-grade first-tier talisman, the Immobilization Talisman!
Immediately afterward, a streak of golden sword light swept through the giant wolf's body, utterly smooth and utterly silent.
The giant wolf was instantly cleaved in two.
Fang Hong beckoned, and both the Immobilization Talisman and the flying sword flew back, disappearing into his sleeve.
He walked up to the giant wolf, examined it briefly, put away its corpse, and slowly headed out of the cavern.
This late-first-tier demonic beast's defenses could only be called ordinary.
The golden flying sword, however, had been personally forged by a Foundation Establishment elder of the Fang Lineage who excelled at artifact refining. Its quality could originally have qualified it as a second-tier Dharma Treasure, but the elder had deliberately left room for improvement so Fang Hong could use it.
Ordinary first-tier demonic beasts could hardly withstand such a keen blade.
Inside the dark cave, the protective spiritual radiance formed by his talisman illuminated more than a hundred feet around him. Looking out, he saw an enormous, deep passage. The cavern housing the teleportation altar was merely a dark hole in its rocky wall.
Bitter winds howled through the passage, and thick ice covered everything around him.
Fang Hong advanced against the cold wind and spotted a flickering white glow in the distant darkness. He examined the Fate Mirror in his sea of consciousness and found that the candlelight within it had risen slightly-a sign of minor good fortune.
He immediately rose into the air and flew toward the light. Drawing close, he saw a massive, many-faceted block of ice jutting from the ground, over ten feet tall. Its entire body was lustrous white, like a mountain shrunk countless times into miniature.
White crystal clusters studded the surface of the enormous block of ice, while fine, lustrous white lines flickered within. Its substance was dense and hard, and it emanated rich spiritual qi.
"Could this be the ice-soul mystic crystal?"
Stirred by the thought, Fang Hong took an iron-hammer magical artifact from his storage pouch, raised it in both hands, and smashed it down hard on the enormous block of ice.
Crack!
The enormous block of ice shattered at the blow, scattering across the ground, with five or six dazzling, lustrous white crystals strewn among the fragments.
Each crystal was the size of a walnut, its surface shimmering with spiritual light and giving off a piercing chill.
Fang Hong put the mystic crystals into a jade case, then continued along the passage, searching as he went.
Giant wolves occasionally sprang out of the pitch-black cave to attack him, but he dispatched them cleanly with his Immobilization Talisman and flying sword.
I still have a lifesaving measure bestowed by the original owner's father that can withstand one strike from a Golden Core cultivator. I probably won't need it in a trial of this level, will I?
Now I just hope I can rely on these treasures the original owner carried to get through this year safely and hold out until I formally start working at the Hetu Company.
With a plan in mind, he settled down.
Walking and stopping along the way, he spent half a day gathering more than fifty ice-soul mystic crystals. Light appeared ahead; he had reached the cave's exit.
He flew out of the cave, only to be met by snow swirling across the sky. The world was a vast expanse of white.
Ice and snow blanketed the earth, white as silver. Several mountains rose in the distance, bearing many strange flowers and unusual trees that looked like crystal and jade from afar.
Wherever spiritual qi gathers in this world, there are grotto-heavens and secret realms. Even Yunchuan Island has similar secret realms, though the Fang Lineage's secret realm produces Spirit-Washing Dew, and its environment is entirely different from this place.
Fang Hong rose into the air on a streak of light, gazed into the distance, and surveyed his surroundings. He consulted the Fate Mirror again and discovered that when he faced to the right of the cave, the candlelight in the mirror soared, its flame blazing brightly-a sign of great good fortune.
There should be treasure over there!
He immediately flew in the direction indicated by the Fate Mirror. Before long, he spotted a small hill ahead. A great cluster of enormous ice-soul mystic crystal ice formations stood at its summit. By a rough count, he should be able to harvest more than twenty crystals in one go.
He took out his iron hammer and began breaking the ice again, the hammering carrying far into the wind and snow.
Before long, a streak of light flew toward him through the distant snowstorm, seemingly drawn by the sound of his hammer.
Once the person within the light drew close and saw Fang Hong breaking ice on the summit, he was first startled, then exclaimed in delight, "Young Master Hong!"
Fang Hong's hammer paused. Turning to look, he saw a handsome man with a broad back and a narrow waist. It was Fang Li, a member of the Fang Lineage.
Azure radiance also encircled him, helping him resist the bitter cold of this secret realm.
"Younger kinsman, what are you doing here?" The Fate Mirror in Fang Hong's sea of consciousness turned slightly, and his brows furrowed.
"I happened to be passing nearby and heard someone breaking ice, so I came to take a look. I never expected to run into you, Young Master Hong." Fang Li's streak of light descended, bringing him to a spot several dozen feet in front of Fang Hong. His gaze lingered on the enormous mystic crystal ice formation before Fang Hong.
Fang Hong's brow relaxed. "What a coincidence."
"Not entirely," Fang Li replied. "This teleportation seems to have had something to do with where we stood in the hall earlier. Most of our Shangqing Sect's cultivators were transported to this area. I've already encountered three fellow disciples along the way."
"I see." Fang Hong betrayed nothing, a smile appearing on his face. "How has your harvest been? How many ice-soul mystic crystals have you collected?"
Fang Li gave a bitter smile. "My luck has been poor. I still have fewer than ten. If you don't mind, Young Master Hong, I'd like to travel with you so we can look out for one another."
Leaning on his iron hammer, Fang Hong nodded. "Naturally. Fang Qingsheng's fate is still unknown, and now only the two of us from the Fang Lineage remain. If we manage to join the Yin-Yang Sect in the future, we'll need to support each other all the more."
"You're right, Young Master Hong." A mysterious look appeared on Fang Li's face. He stepped closer to Fang Hong and lowered his voice. "Young Master Hong, I found that Divine Ability Treasure Tree they mentioned. But there are some obstacles..."
Fang Hong's eyes brightened, and he raised his brows. "Really? Are you sure you saw correctly?"
"Absolutely. There's no mistake!" Fang Li looked utterly certain, then glanced around cautiously. "Lean closer, Young Master Hong. I'll tell you its exact location."
Looking somewhat tempted, Fang Hong leaned toward Fang Li.
Suddenly, a streak of silver sword light as thick as a chopstick shot from his sleeve.
Carrying a fierce, murderous sword intent, the sword light abruptly pierced the protective radiance of the high-grade first-tier talisman before Fang Li's astonished eyes and swept around his neck!
Fang Li's eyes went wide, his face filled with shock and unwillingness as he asked, "Wh... why?"
Before his words had faded, his head slid off his neck and fell into the snow.
"Because you aren't Fang Li."
Fang Hong raised his hand, catching the silver sword light as it flew back and transformed into a silver-patterned talisman. It was the Upper Clarity Sword Talisman Su Wan had given him.
He casually lifted "Fang Li's" sleeve and saw that his right hand was pitch-black, its nails three inches long and gleaming with an eerie, dark light. Clearly, he too had been preparing a sneak attack.
He crouched down and peeled a sheet of human skin from "Fang Li's" face. Sure enough, a young, cold, hard face appeared beneath it.
"A human-skin ghost mask. So you were a Ghost King Sect cultivator... who gave you such confidence?"
In fact, he had noticed something amiss through the Fate Mirror the moment this man appeared.
This man's configuration of auspicious and baleful stars was entirely different from Fang Li's.
Earlier in the hall, the Shangqing Sect disciples had stood beside the Ghost King Sect cultivators. Presumably, they had been teleported to the same area.
The real Fang Li had most likely already died at this Ghost King Sect cultivator's hands.
He had also been flayed and had his soul searched using the Ghost King Sect's secret arts; otherwise, the impostor could not have played his part so convincingly.
Whether this Ghost King Sect cultivator had been taking a desperate risk or had simply been too confident, he had actually tried to ambush Fang Hong.
Fang Li's fate bore the Emolument Star, premature death through clash, emptiness, and the Robbery Star. His life was short, and he was easily schemed against.
He had been fine while living on the Fang Lineage's ancestral grounds on Yunchuan Island, but once he left the protection of his lineage's fortune, he met his end, his body dead and his path extinguished.
Looking at Fang Li's human skin, gradually twisting as it froze, Fang Hong suppressed the flicker of compassion as soon as it arose.
"Younger kinsman, I've avenged you. Rest in peace."
Before you continue