The Feather Race
As the Pansy continued to penetrate deeper into the ice zone, the thickness of the ice layer ahead increased significantly.
The ship accelerated, its massive bow suddenly raising its jaws like a giant beast, pressing a huge crater into the solid ice below, sending countless ice shards flying like a shower of diamonds!
However, simply using the stern to "ride the ice" was no longer enough. The bridge began to manipulate the stern ballast tanks, injecting and deflating water at high frequency to generate strong shock waves.
The propulsion pods at the stern quickly switched to low-pitch, high-speed mode, operating at full power with maximum propulsion at low speeds. The hull continued to exert pressure forward until a dull thud—the ice layer finally couldn't withstand the pressure and structurally collapsed!
The bow sank into the newly cracked ice crevice as if a hot knife were cutting into butter, while the crushed ice on both sides surged up like waves.
Behind the stern, a blue-green eddy carrying fragments of floating ice sank into the dark depths of the sea. On the pure white, boundless ice field, a dark blue channel thus grew.
Su Ming took out his phone, flew outside the ship, chose an excellent angle, and filmed a powerful ice-breaking video.
Since Beianqi couldn't come and witness this spectacular scene in person, she opted for a compromise and asked Su Ming to record the entire process for her to see.
****
On the third day after setting off, the Pansy overcame numerous obstacles and finally arrived near the desolate coastline of Northern Ice Island.
This place is still about 100 kilometers away from the Lanmo.
Several frost wolves were led out. Because they were often responsible for hauling cargo, their hip muscles were exceptionally strong. Su Ming had been practicing intensively on the deck these past few days and had finally learned how to make these unruly riding beasts obedient and to ride them relatively smoothly.
As a consequence, Su Ming plucked a lot of the fur off their necks.
He, Zijin, Stacy, each riding a frost wolf, with two more frost wolves following behind to carry supplies, headed toward their destination, Thousand-Blade Dragon Cliff.
The frigid temperature of minus thirty-five degrees Celsius caused the people riding on the wolf's back to complain repeatedly. Everyone wrapped themselves up from head to toe in thick windproof cloaks and scarves, and even their eyes were tightly covered with anti-fog goggles.
[That Yinfei guy, I really don't know how he can withstand this cold!] Zijin complained. Because she didn't want to expose her mouth to speak in the cold wind, she used Wind Message Spell to communicate directly.
"With that kind of unwavering willpower, what can't she accomplish?" Stacy asked, puzzled. "Why does she insist on joining that cult called the Plundering Clock?"
Su Ming carefully controlled his breathing. His breath was too weak to suppress the powerful frost wolf beneath him;
The scent is too strong, and it's easy to turn around and frighten them.
Stanton and Yuya had been away from home for too long and were eager to return. After waving goodbye to the three of them, they turned and plunged into the vast, biting cold wind. Su Ming was full of admiration for their decisive actions.
"Aren't these Feather Race afraid of the cold?" Su Ming asked.
"Of course they're afraid!" Stacy replied. "They're like the Old Humanity of ten thousand years ago, driven to this harsh land by other races, and forced to adapt to life here."
On the way here, Stacy had already explained the history of the Old Humanity in the other world to Su Ming. Now, she simply gave a concise account of the Feather Race.
After the extinction of the Old Humanity, the most powerful race in the Taya Plane was the Feather Race. As the first intelligent race to awaken magical abilities, their wings, originally used for flight, greatly degenerated as they deepened their use of magic, evolving into more flexible upper and lower limbs, and showing an evolutionary form that converged with humans.
Coupled with the Feather Race's significant advantage in reproduction speed, at their peak, they occupied more than 90% of the world's habitable landmasses.
All of this ended a thousand years ago when the remaining races of the Taya Plane united to launch a great war that swept across the entire world, ultimately driving the Feather Race away from those fertile lands.
[Are the biggest winners among them the new humans who can use magic?] Su Ming asked.
"Yes," Stacy replied, "After this war, the new humans occupied about half of the land, and have largely remained so to this day. However, the emergence of these new humans is very strange. They suddenly appeared five thousand years ago and rapidly grew in number. But from an archaeological perspective, no traces of human habitation have been found in this vast period of time, from ten thousand to five thousand years ago, and even from an evolutionary perspective, no clear evolutionary path can be found."
****
Several Feather Race gracefully descended from the cold sky, and after confirming the identities of Su Ming and his group, they all bowed respectfully.
Guided by them, the three quickly arrived at the ice cliff and entered the deep cave of the giant Lanmo.
After passing through a wide corridor, the group arrived at a more spacious interior space.
Su Ming and the other two tied the Frost Wolf to a thick stone pillar, brushed the snow off each other, and took off their heavy winter clothes.
A Feather Race servant went to inform them, and soon, several figures came to greet them.
Leading the way was a Feather Race woman with long gray hair. Unlike other Feather Race whose faces had very obvious bird features, her face was more human-like. In fact, from a human aesthetic point of view, this lady was quite beautiful and had a strange charm.
Su Ming immediately guessed the other party's identity: Chloe, the Ashy Drongo scholar.
Chloe stepped forward and gracefully performed a scholar's bow, "Welcome, Bone King Bay Owl."
"The arrival of Indigo Kite!"
"Chloe, long time no see!" Zijin's response sounded casual yet familiar.
Chloe was followed by a younger Feather Race. Just as Su Ming was about to take a closer look at the young Feather Race, heavy footsteps came from behind them, and the ground trembled slightly.
Soon, a huge blue figure came into view. He lowered his head, and his enormous dragon eyes looked down at them.
Having dealt with the Silver Dragon Guard before, Su Ming had gradually become accustomed to the oppressive feeling of being looked down upon by such a behemoth.
"Elder Lanmo, hello!" Su Ming greeted him first.
The scales of the Blue Dragon are very different from those of the Silver Dragon. Although they cover the scales more completely, they give the impression of having a soft texture.
"Welcome!" The dragon's deep voice echoed through the cave.
The Blue Dragon's massive body was wrapped in huge bandages, especially its chest area, which was completely wrapped up, and dark red bloodstains could be faintly seen seeping from the edges of the bandages.
"Lanmo?" Zijin frowned. "Your injuries are... quite serious!"
Stacy stepped forward, briefly examined his wounds, and then took a large backpack from the supplies carried by the frost wolf. "This is some specially prepared medicine for me, oral medication, one jar a day."
"Thank you, Physician Indigo Kite!" Lanmo's voice was filled with sincere gratitude.