Gathering

Li Xuantong's identity and background had never been clearly explained in the original novel. It was only mentioned that his family had close ties with the Goddess Clan and bore the duty of protecting the Luo Goddess imperial family.

Li Xuantong and Luo Li had grown up together. Though he admired Luo Li, he had not acted like other villains and mindlessly caused trouble for the protagonist out of jealousy. After meeting Mu Chen, he had merely proposed a spar to test Mu Chen's strength.

Once he confirmed that Mu Chen possessed strength worthy of his recognition, he stopped causing trouble. Later, he even contributed quite a bit, making him an outstanding supporting character in the early stages.

Liu Bai was not at all surprised by the rumors of his identity as a Spirit Crown Holder, or by his feat of killing a Heavenly Beast alone.

At a time when Shen Cangsheng was still wholly devoted to bitter cultivation, Li Xuantong was unquestionably the number one!

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Liu Bai met Li Jing at their agreed location. However, several young men and women stood beside her, all of them clearly formidable.

The moment they met, Li Jing scrutinized Liu Bai for a while before asking in surprise, "You've already fused with a Spirit Beast Core? Was it the Spirit Beast you mentioned three days ago?"

Liu Bai had previously told Li Jing that he was preparing to kill a Spirit Beast. That was what she was referring to now.

But Liu Bai had not told her that the Spirit Beast he intended to kill was a Heaven Tier Spirit Beast. Now that she sensed the changes in his aura, Li Jing immediately realized something, and her face filled with shock.

Seeing this, Liu Bai knew the girl before him had guessed something. There was no need to hide it, so he smiled and said, "That's right. But I have to thank you for the array diagram. Otherwise, killing that beast would not have been easy."

"An array diagram? So you really are a Spirit Array Master? Then what grade are you? Are you very good?" A childish-looking girl suddenly popped out.

The girl wore a pale yellow dress, her dark hair tied into a ponytail. Her skin was as fair as snow, and with her large eyes and delicate little nose, she was indeed a lovely young beauty.

"Ling'er, don't fool around!"

The next moment, another stunning girl standing beside her gently rebuked her.

The gentle girl was tall and slender. Though her figure was not as exaggeratedly curvaceous as Li Jing's, it was well-proportioned. Her long dark hair fell like an inky waterfall, giving anyone who looked at her a sense of comfort, like warm spring water.

Seeing that the two girls had spoken, Li Jing suddenly realized she had yet to introduce everyone. She hurriedly said, "Sorry. This is Liu Bai, a Second-Grade Spirit Array Master and the last person I recruited for this mission."

"Liu Bai, this is Su Xuan. She is one of the kings of the Spirit Road, known as King Su, an extraordinary genius who ranked among the top five in the Spirit Road."

"This is Su Ling'er, King Su's younger sister. She is only fourteen this year, yet she has already reached the late Spirit Wheel Realm!"

"This is Guo Xiong, whom I met in the Spirit Road. The other two were brought by Guo Xiong to help."

Listening to Li Jing's introductions, the three men could not help feeling awkward. Why were the introductions getting shorter and shorter? The last two did not even get names...

Liu Bai smiled inwardly. He had not expected everyone before him to be "old acquaintances." Aside from those two nameless extras, were these not the very group that explored the White Dragon Supreme's Treasury in the original novel?

So they had already known each other back in the Northern Cang Realm. No wonder they had gone together to explore a treasury. For a mission like this, no one would dare casually let outsiders join the team unless they were friends who trusted one another.

"Liu Bai greets the two Miss Sus, Brother Guo, and these two brothers. A pleasure to meet you all!" Liu Bai cupped his fists toward them.

They were all quite curious about Liu Bai. They returned the greeting, but only the lively little girl Su Ling'er continued staring at him with curious eyes, seemingly wanting to see what was so remarkable about him that Sister Li Jing had specifically invited him.

"Now that everyone is here, let's set off. I'm not the only one who knows about that place." Li Jing spoke directly, her expression serious.

Clearly, waiting three days for Liu Bai had already been her limit. Li Jing was extremely anxious now.

Liu Bai had no objections.

After traveling at high speed for an entire day, their pace finally began to slow around noon on the following day. Liu Bai noticed that the temperature between heaven and earth was dropping at an astonishing rate.

Everyone exchanged glances, their hearts trembling. It seemed they were not far from their destination.

According to Li Jing, their target this time was an extremely rare Snow Demon Beast. It resembled neither bear nor ape, its entire body covered in thick white fur. Standing upright, it reached dozens of zhang in height. It was a powerful Heavenly Beast ranked sixty-third, with strength comparable to the late Heaven Fusion Realm.

Even though everyone in their group possessed considerable strength, and they even had a king-ranked expert among them, Liu Bai still did not think they could kill the Snow Demon Beast on their own.

Unless he used a Third-Grade Spirit Array to trap it, while Su Xuan and the others had some other means to quickly kill the Snow Demon Beast, there might be a slim chance.

But all they had offered was a damaged Third-Grade Spirit Array. That was not enough for Liu Bai to go all out. Besides, Li Jing had provided the Demon Vine Strangling Array. If he used it, would she not immediately discover that he had repaired the damaged array...

Unless necessary, Liu Bai would not reveal all his trump cards.

Thus, the group quickly swept up the mountain before them. Looking out, they were all slightly stunned...

The lush mountain forest before them abruptly vanished, replaced by a vast world blanketed in silver and white. Icy snowflakes mixed with biting cold winds howled through this frozen world, producing mournful whistling sounds.

The sight reminded Liu Bai of the Great Snow Mountain. It had also been within an ice valley that he and An Ran had snatched the Northern Nether Golden Patterned Eagle from Zhou Fan.

But the Snow Demon Beast and the Northern Nether Golden Patterned Eagle clearly had different habits. Though both were ice-attributed magical beasts, the Snow Demon Beast was not a bird. It did not like high mountains, preferring deep valleys instead.

"This is Ice Valley..." Li Jing and the others stood atop rocks at the mouth of the valley, exhaling frosty breath.

Liu Bai gazed at the icy world hidden amid layer upon layer of mountains and exhaled softly as well. Just as he was about to speak, a roar like that of an ancient giant beast suddenly swept out from the depths of that snowy world.

Boom!

The snowflakes throughout heaven and earth were blasted apart, and an astonishing chill swept over them.

Liu Bai stood atop the heights like an immovable boulder, his gaze fixed upon the depths of the snowy world. Amid the endless wind and snow, he could vaguely make out a colossal creature summoning the blizzard.

Though they remained extremely far from that colossal creature, its spiritual energy pressure had already spread toward them.

"What a vicious big fellow!" Guo Xiong, tall and powerfully built, could not help saying as he felt the spiritual energy pressure rushing toward him.

Li Jing looked at everyone and said, "The rest of us will feint an attack. Liu Bai, find a way to set up an array and restrain the Snow Demon Beast. King Su, the final blow will be up to you!"

Among them, Liu Bai would serve as support. Li Jing and the others would act as shields and distractions, while the true main damage dealer would be Su Xuan.

Naturally, no one objected. Liu Bai, meanwhile, wondered whether he should steal the kill later...

After making the arrangements, everyone except the little girl Su Ling'er immediately headed toward the depths of the valley.

Su Ling'er was not useless, either. The clever little girl found a concealed crevice in the ice to hide in, from where she could monitor the entrance to Ice Valley. If anyone else arrived, she could immediately send word to Su Xuan and the others within the valley.

The moment Liu Bai and the others stepped into the depths of Ice Valley, violent beast roars rang out beside their ears.

The howls formed shockwaves that swept outward, stirring up the snowstorm as they surged toward them like sharp blades.

"Be careful, everyone! That beast is coming out!" Guo Xiong, walking at the front, shouted, his voice rolling outward with spiritual energy.

Boom.

The icy ground seemed to tremble at that moment. The wind and snow suddenly howled toward the depths of the snowy world, and then everyone saw an enormous Snow Tornado, roughly a thousand zhang in size, sweeping wildly toward them from the depths.

The sight changed the expressions of Liu Bai and the others.

The Snow Tornado was incomparably fast, appearing before them in just a few breaths. Then, the icy storm was torn apart, and a giant beast crashed down toward Liu Bai and the others as though it had fallen from the heavens.

Without needing any reminder, six figures scattered in all directions.

Boom!

The enormous figure slammed into the ground, and massive chunks of ice instantly shot outward with piercing shrieks, enveloping all six of them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Liu Bai's figure shifted, leaving behind afterimages. Some punched, some kicked, smashing the chunks of ice apart.

The others each displayed their own abilities. Some dodged with ghostly movement techniques, while others struck out with sheer power, making for a somewhat chaotic scene.

Everyone's hearts sank. They had not expected the beast to give them such a show of force the moment they met. The battle ahead would likely be difficult...

Guo Xiong, who was meant to serve as their shield and spearhead, was the first to attack. A nearly two-meter-long Black Iron Hammer appeared in his hand. He swung it violently before him, and terrifying force tore through the air with a sharp screech.

Liu Bai's eyes lit up. This was a Spiritual Artifact!

Judging from the terrifying force radiating from the Black Iron Hammer, it had to be immensely heavy. Once swung, every strike would carry tens of thousands of jin of force.

Seeing Guo Xiong make his move, the other two young men naturally refused to be outdone. Wind and clouds surged around one of them as he condensed an enormous Azure Storm, sending it crashing directly into the blizzard surrounding the Snow Demon Beast.

The other spread his palms. Flickering silver lightning crackled between his hands, swiftly forming into a lightning spear that shot forth in an instant.

The battle erupted at once!

The crimson in the Snow Demon Beast's giant eyes deepened. Its black-iron claws smashed heavily against the ice beneath its feet. Ice instantly shattered, and visible ripples of force spread out. Wherever they passed, the surrounding frozen boulders cracked, splitting open with numerous fissures.

Roar!

The Snow Demon Beast opened its gaping mouth, unleashing an ear-piercing roar powerful enough to shatter boulders.

Within the terrifying soundwaves, the Azure Storm instantly collapsed. Even the seemingly unstoppable lightning spear was shattered by a single swipe of its claw.

Yet Guo Xiong's Black Iron Hammer smashed heavily into the Snow Demon Beast's shoulder. Terrifying power erupted, forcing even the dozens-of-zhang-tall Snow Demon Beast to stagger back a step. Its shoulder sagged, and it nearly fell.

But that was all!

"What?!" Guo Xiong was horrified.

His full-powered strike, combined with the low-grade Spiritual Artifact Black Gold Hammer, had merely made the beast stumble?

At the same time, the Snow Demon Beast felt the pain in its shoulder. Killing intent flared in its blood-red eyes. Its claws clenched as frigid energy rapidly gathered around them, forming half-meter-long Ice Claws in an instant.

The Ice Claws swept down, clawing furiously toward Guo Xiong's chest and abdomen...

If that strike landed solidly, Guo Xiong would immediately be torn into pulp!

At that moment, a sharp sword light scattered through the wind and snow like a clear moon... Soundlessly, that dazzling sword slash cut through the curtain of snow before falling upon the Snow Demon Beast like a beam of moonlight.

Ssh!

A spray of blood blossomed into the sky. Looking again at the Snow Demon Beast, great patches of its originally pure white fur had been dyed crimson with blood.

Within the moonlight, a dark figure suddenly appeared. Her flawless body stretched fully taut like a drawn bow, her fists serving as arrows and her perfect figure as the bow itself. Then, she punched the Snow Demon Beast directly in the eye.

Roar!

Caught off guard, the Snow Demon Beast's left eye was struck viciously.

It was like being jabbed in the eyelid with a toothpick. The injury was not severe, but it truly hurt!

The Snow Demon Beast instantly flew into a rage. Its iron claws struck back repeatedly, while Li Jing, like an annoying bee, darted up and down before it, never once allowing herself to be caught.

Liu Bai's expression turned grave. Though the scene looked rather comical, he knew it was more dangerous than dancing on a blade's edge.

He raised both hands, sending out one Spirit Seal after another. Keeping the Demon Vine Strangling Array in its damaged state, Liu Bai maintained it at the level of a Second-Grade Spirit Array.

Terrifying demon vines burst from the ice, instantly winding around the Snow Demon Beast's limbs. One demon vine even coiled around its neck, its terrifying force tightening continuously until the Snow Demon Beast could not lift its head.

A good opportunity!

Li Jing, Guo Xiong, and the others' eyes lit up. Even Li Jing, the owner of the array diagram, had not expected the Demon Vine Strangling Array to be so powerful that it could restrain a Snow Demon Beast!

In an instant, all of their attacks crashed down upon the immobilized Snow Demon Beast.

At the same time, Su Xuan, who had yet to make a move, completed her preparations...