The atmosphere at Wind and Snow Pass has been tense.
Each team was much more cautious when patrolling out of the customs. Their walking route was more concealed, and the distance between their turns was also wider. News about Devil Race in the customs spread quickly, which area was not peaceful recently, and which direction Demon General frequented - every evening in the restaurants of Fangshi, you could always hear someone exchanging this information in a low voice.
The name Nangong Yao gradually spread throughout the country.
"Deputy Nangong of Team 36, Divine Sense can detect three miles away."
At first it was only spread among the disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect, but later Ice and Snow Pavilion and monks from other sects also began to ask her for help. Nangong Yao was not easy to refuse - in a place like this, one more friend is better than one more enemy.
And she herself knew that in this environment, it was normal for the teams to help each other. So she received many requests, either to go out in advance to help detect threats in an area, or to go with the teams she was not familiar with during the holidays to help them confirm whether there was an ambush by Devil Race on the patrol route.
The reward was generous, but as a result, she accompanied Qin Tiexin and Li Yun out of isolation less often.
Every time before she left, she would specifically call Qin Tiexin aside and repeat the three rules, "Escape immediately if you encounter Demon General, you are not allowed to act alone, and you must come back before dark."
Qin Tiexin nodded.
She glanced at the newly made bone dagger at Qin Tiexin's waist, and then at the heavy, dark knife behind his back, without saying anything else. She knew that her junior brother was not a reckless person, and after his cultivation level broke through to Qi Refining Eighth Layer, his combat power had increased. Plus Li Yun After Foundation Establishment, the ice type Law Technique restrains Northern Frontier and most of Devil Race. The two of them have been cooperating for a while. As long as they don't go too deep and don't be greedy for too much, there should be no big problem in peripheral activities.
The exit rhythm of Qin Tiexin and Li Yun has not changed. They still set off early in the morning on holidays, search northward along the edge of the forest, return in the afternoon, and return to customs before dark.
In the past half month, the two of them worked together to kill an intermediate Demon General - that was a lone Shadow Devil, with a cultivation level roughly equivalent to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
That battle was very stalemate, Shadow Devil was extremely fast, and Qin Tiexin's javelin was dodged every time. Later, he still relied on Li Yun's ice-type Law Technique delayed its action, and the two of them got close. Qin Tiexin used Edgeless to force it to dodge, and finally Li Yun seized the opportunity and struck a fatal blow.
But beyond the harvest, what they were looking for never appeared.
The map in Li Yun's hand is almost filled with crosses by now. Every time she rushes to the marked point with great expectations, what she finally finds is either an abandoned mine pit or an ice crevice that has been mined long ago. Occasionally, there are a few pieces of Profound Frost Crystal of ordinary quality, but they are not old enough and cannot meet the standards she needs.
It's the same today.
The two left the customs at dawn and walked north along the edge of the forest for nearly two hours. The snow in the forest became thicker and thicker, even reaching the knees in some places. On the way out in the morning, some footprints left by the patrol team could still be seen, but the further north they went, the fewer the footprints were, and by the end they were almost invisible.
They arrived at a newly marked location on the map - a low-lying valley. The terrain was about two to three feet lower than the surrounding area. The bottom of the valley was covered with thick snow. On the surface, it looked no different from other areas.
Li Yun stopped at the edge of the valley and checked the map several times to confirm that this was where it was.
She put away the map, walked into the valley, squatted down, and reached out into the snow. A light blue spiritual light lit up in her palms, and the ice spiritual power spread around, sensing the temperature changes and spiritual power fluctuations underground.
Qin Tiexin stood on the edge of the valley and did not follow. He kept [Spirit Material Sense] open and alerted the surroundings.
After a while, Li Yun stood up and patted the snow on his hands.
"Not here." she said.
Her tone was calm, and there was not much disappointment. She put away the map and was silent for a while before she said, "Let's go. Change the direction and look for another place. If you can't find it, go back."
Qin Tiexin said nothing, nodded, and followed her out of the valley.
He could see that Li Yun was more silent today than usual. She came with high expectations but found nothing. But she didn't show it. She still walked ahead to identify the direction, her steps were neat and without hesitation.
Qin Tiexin didn't say anything to comfort him. He knew that Li Yun didn't need comfort. She knew there was little hope before coming here, but she still had to come. This is how she made her decision.
The two turned south along the edge of the forest for a while and searched two more marked points. One was an abandoned mine, and the gravel at the entrance was completely covered with snow. It was obvious that no one had been there for a long time. The other was a dry glacier river bed. There were sporadic low-quality Profound Frost Crystal debris under the ice, but they were not pure enough to meet the refining standards.
The sun begins to turn westward.
Qin Tiexin was planning to turn around and return. Just as he was about to speak, at that moment, a strong signal appeared on the light blue halo in [Spirit Material Sense]'s field of vision.
About thirty feet away in the southeast, there was a concentrated source of spiritual materials with extremely rich ice properties. The fluctuations captured even made the [Spirit Material Sense] picture in his mind tremble slightly.
This has never happened before, and it is an extremely rich mine of spiritual materials.
He stopped.
Li Yun took two steps, noticed the movement behind him, and turned around. "What's wrong?"
Qin Tiexin did not answer immediately. He kept [Spirit Material Sense] turned on, turned to the southeast, and carefully sensed it for a few breaths. The signal was still there, clear and stable, and he spoke after confirming the direction, "There is something over there." He paused, "It's ice-based, and it's very large."
Li Yun followed his gaze and looked to the southeast - there was only a denser forest with overlapping tree crowns, blocking the view, and nothing unusual could be seen.
She didn't ask any more questions and just said, "Let's go."
The two adjusted their direction, passed through a sparse bush, bypassed several boulders covered with vines, and headed in the direction sensed by Qin Tiexin. The further they walked, the colder the air became, as if a large sheet of ice nearby was slowly releasing Cold Qi.
Not far away thirty feet, the trees soon began to become sparse. The terrain in front suddenly opened up, revealing a huge ice cliff.
The ice cliff was about ten feet high. The cliff surface was as smooth as if it had been cut by a knife. The surface was covered with a thick layer of ice, showing a color between light blue and transparent. It was not covered with snow, as if it had been cleaned by something. The weak light in the afternoon shone on the ice through the clouds, refracting tiny spots of light.
Qin Tiexin stood in front of the ice cliff and activated [Spirit Material Sense] again.
The signal was just behind the ice, about two feet deep inside the cliff. The ice-attributed spiritual power fluctuations were extremely pure, as if they were compressed in a very small space, condensing and not dissipating.
He stepped forward and reached out to touch the ice. His hands were extremely cold, and a biting coldness instantly passed through his fingertips. But he also felt that the combination between the ice layer and the cliff was not as seamless as the natural one. There were small gaps in some places, traces of melting and refreezing, and even some barely noticeable arcs could be seen, as if something had expanded or moved inside. The feel accumulated through years of refining told him that this was not a naturally formed ice layer, but had been artificially processed.
He took back his hand and turned to Li Yun.
"There is something." He paused and then added, "It's ice-based. It's very large and very pure."