84: Cold Howl in the Ice Valley

"Some people are starting to cause trouble. Be more careful." Chu Jingyu said.

He looked at the ink threads above his head. It seemed this thing wasn't as intelligent as he had imagined.

As long as they didn't stray too far from the main group, the ink threads wouldn't interfere with whatever they did.

Xu Yinghui and another elder nodded. They had no intention of sleeping either, so they lit a bonfire and carefully watched their surroundings.

After walking all day, their team from Heyu Town had long since dispersed. Now, only the three of them—Chu Jingyu and the others—remained here.

Dozens of meters away, several other unfamiliar Contract Masters were also resting. The commotion from Chu Jingyu's side had woken them up.

Having personally witnessed a high-level Uncommon Rank Contract Master die at Chu Jingyu's hands, their gazes towards Chu Jingyu were filled with vigilance, and they unconsciously distanced themselves further.

Chu Jingyu didn't care about the people around him keeping their distance. Aside from the hundred or so Spirit Rank Contract Masters flying in the sky, Chu Jingyu was not someone these ground-running Contract Masters could easily provoke.

Just like that Contract Master of the same Realm who possessed the strange ability to turn invisible in the dark, he still died under his Source Beast's pincers after a brief exchange.

No one should dare provoke him again in the short term, Chu Jingyu thought.

In the Human Race army stretching the battle line, the unrest occurring among the Uncommon Rank and Mortal Rank Contract Masters continued intermittently throughout the night. Some were injured, and some died, turning into a part of the ink canvas in the sky.

The high-Rank Contract Masters did not appear, even as the unrest occurred, seemingly indifferent to the deaths of these low-Rank Contract Masters.

The secret attempt to create unrest, incite a riot, and force the team to turn back ended in failure.

As dawn broke, the threads overhead once again dropped down in front of them, bending toward a new direction. Even though they hadn't rested well, everyone had to quickly get up and set off.

It wasn't until noon that all the Human Race members walked out of the forest, bearing the glaring sun overhead.

Before them appeared a narrow, long fissure valley. Whooshing winds carried broken snowflakes slowly penetrating from the depths of the canyon.

At this moment, the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast's "Heart of the Earth Vein" displayed its intended function, allowing Chu Jingyu to learn the name of this place through the discussions of others.

The Cold Howling Ice Valley, an unknown land rarely ventured into by the Human Race of Zhiyao County.

Even if a few Human Race members managed to reach this place, very few succeeded in returning to Within the Border.

Chu Jingyu looked at the canyon fissure before him, and a sense of familiarity arose in his heart. It felt extremely similar to the canyon behind the Chen Family Village Chief's house.

The only difference was that this canyon was deeper, the stone walls on both sides were taller and endless, and the biting cold wind made even them, the Contract Masters, shiver slightly despite standing under the blazing sun.

However, the Old Ancestor Huo, the master of the ink canvas in the sky, did not want the crowd to linger at the canyon entrance for too long.

The colorful ink threads dropped down in front of everyone, bending again, with their target pointing entirely in one direction: the depths of the canyon.

Many low-Rank Contract Masters didn't want to go inside, but they had no choice but to proceed.

As a sharp scream rang out, another blob of ink flew from the crowd towards the sky, and everyone silently began walking into the canyon.

As Chu Jingyu walked forward mixed in with the crowd, he reached out to catch a few scattered ice crystals floating down from an unknown source. Chu Jingyu rubbed them between his fingers, but even with his Uncommon Rank Contract Master strength, he couldn't grind the ice shards into dust.

Continuing forward, they fully entered the canyon. The canyon itself wasn't dark because many ice crystals, emitting a faint, eerie glow, grew on the walls on both sides and on the ground.

The pale light shone upon their faces and bodies, making them look like ghosts walking in a freezing Hell.

The sound of wings flapping in the air rang out. "Caw!" A familiar bird cry sounded.

Birds covering the entire sky above the canyon ambushed them from the walls on both sides. The sharp, rapid cries were like demonic sounds piercing the ears, causing headaches.

What followed were spikes formed by ice crystals filling the sky. The Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast affixed a layer of gold and white armor onto Chu Qinhui and Xu Yinghui.

The ground beneath their feet had somehow turned into ice. The Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast's "Golden Sand" ability could not be deployed.

Fortunately, Chu Jingyu had prepared for this. He quickly pulled a large mass of soil from his Brocade Pouch and scattered it into the air. Before it hit the ground, it transformed into glittering golden sand.

This was then controlled by the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast to float upwards, not only shattering the descending ice crystals but also attacking the Hán Háo Strange Birds whose wings carried cold winds from behind.

Seeing the Hán Háo Strange Bird Source Beast, Chu Jingyu was stunned for a moment. He then became even more certain that the ice valley near Chen Family Village had inextricable links to this canyon.

Perhaps that valley was built by the Liu Family in imitation of this Cold Howling Ice Valley. Maybe due to certain reasons, the Liu Family didn't dispose of the Chen Family Village canyon before relocating the Family, nor did they take away the Source Beasts they raised there.

Many conjectures flashed through Chu Jingyu's mind, and then he shifted his attention back to the battlefield before him.

This was the first time they had faced an attack from a Source Beast Beyond the Border since leaving Zhiyao County. In the Chenyue Forest, they hadn't strangely encountered a single Source Beast.

Fortunately, the Hán Háo Strange Birds attacking from above were not high-Realm, mostly low-level Uncommon Rank and high-level Mortal Rank. Chu Jingyu had more than enough capability to handle them.

But the situation was not good for some of the others; some even died directly under the ice crystal spikes.

Others had their flesh scraped away by the cold wind beneath the Hán Háo Strange Birds' wings after the ice crystals, or had their chests pierced by the Hán Háo Strange Birds' tough talons or beaks.

Not all Contract Masters could retreat unscathed when facing the attack. If Chu Jingyu hadn't resolved the Hán Háo Strange Birds in this area for the two elders behind him, they might not have been able to hold on.

These Hán Háo Strange Birds attacked suddenly and retreated just as promptly. The attack lasted for about two or three minutes, after which the Hán Háo Strange Birds flew back into the high sky and vanished.

Only a faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

Whether it was the corpses of the Hán Háo Strange Birds on the ground, or the bodies of the Human Race Contract Masters and their contracted Source Beasts, all transformed into blobs of ink and flew into the sky.

A chill ran through Chu Jingyu's heart. This scene reminded him of the Liu Family Head's Source Beast ascending to the Domain Rank. Back then, they only needed the Souls of the Heyu Town Human Race.

But this time, it was flesh and blood. Was the Huo Family performing the same action as the Liu Family did back then, trying to forcibly nurture a Domain Rank creature to maintain the Huo Family's Millennium of Glory?

The colorful ink threads continued to guide them toward the depths of the canyon. The team pressed on, and faint sobs were swallowed by the cold wind blowing from the depths of the valley.

[Some scattered thoughts on the setting:

"Origin Artifact: 1. Every Origin Artifact possesses the ability to Gain Sentience.

2. Besides gaining sentience, every Origin Artifact has its own Elemental Affinity. For example, the Shi Family's Elemental Affinity is Rock/Earth, possessing related abilities. The Liu Family's affinity is Ice/Snow.

3. Except for the Origin Artifact Chu Mu, other Origin Artifacts do not have Independent Consciousness and must be controlled by the Family Head. Hidden abilities may remain undeveloped."]

"Currently appearing Realms: Mortal Rank, Uncommon Rank, Spirit Rank, Domain Rank, Derivation Rank, King Rank..."

"Source Beast Aptitude: Inferior Grade, Common (Mortal Species), One-in-a-Hundred, Transcendent, Perfect, Peerless, Legendary, Mythical."

"Noble Family Rank Classification: Ninth-Rank Humble Family, Eighth-Rank Magnate Family, Seventh-Rank Renowned Clan, Sixth-Rank Bell-Cauldron Aristocrat, Fifth-Rank Feudal Royal Clan..."

"Source Beast Contract Quantity: One for Mortal Rank, two for Uncommon Rank. Above Spirit Rank, there is no fixed contract quantity per Realm; it depends on how much Mental Energy the Contract Master and Source Beast contract requires.

The more Mental Energy a Source Beast occupies, the fewer Source Beasts a Contract Master can contract."]