217: Chapter 217 Death Ice Valley

Looking at the gaze of affirmation and encouragement from his father, the Emperor, a sense of unprecedented achievement and responsibility surged within the Eldest Son's heart.

He knew that he was transforming, step by step, from an ignorant youth living under the protection of his father's vast wings into a qualified heir apparent who could truly shield this massive Empire from the wind and rain.

Cruel as it was, war was the best catalyst.

It was not only catalyzing the innovation and progress of the entire Wu Dynasty's technology and military.

It was also catalyzing the growth and maturity of the next successor of this ancient Empire.

As the three armies representing the supreme will of the Wu Dynasty embarked on their journey like three roaring dragons, the eyes of the entire continent were focused almost entirely on the main central legion that was about to erupt in a world-shaking collision on the frontal battlefield of the Tianshan Pass.

Everyone anticipated what kind of magnificent, epic duel—worthy of being recorded in history—would unfold between those three hundred war golems, like iron demon gods, and the Western Empire's supposedly indestructible Temple Knights.

However, everyone overlooked that on the seemingly secondary northern front, a silent and deadly contest, also crucial to the overall course of the war, had already quietly begun amidst those sparsely populated, frozen, and towering mountains.

The hundred-thousand-strong Northern Army, led jointly by the Minister of War Du Wei and the fierce general Xue Biao, had their mission defined from the start as a gamble filled with unknowns and perils.

They were like a group of dancers walking on the edge of a blade; every step forward required several times more hardship and sacrifice than the frontal battlefield.

The Northern Tianshan Range was a death zone where even the most experienced prairie hunters dared not easily set foot. The terrain was treacherous, with snow-capped peaks soaring into the clouds like countless swords stabbing toward the heavens, covered in white snow year-round.

The climate here was even more unpredictable; one moment it might be clear for thousands of miles, and the next, violent winds could howl with torrential blizzards.

Although most of the Northern Army's soldiers were elites selected from the southern mountains, skilled in climbing and mountain warfare, they had never witnessed the terrifying celestial might of the Far North's bitter cold.

In the Early Stage of entering the Northern Tianshan Range, everything went relatively smoothly. Led by experienced guides, the army advanced with difficulty but order along a pre-scouted, relatively gentle mountain path.

However, just as they delved deep into the heart of the mountains and reached a narrow canyon called "Ice Tear Valley," a sudden and terrifying blizzard, far exceeding everyone's expectations, descended without warning.

That wind came so strangely, so suddenly.

One moment, only scattered snowflakes drifted in the sky, but in just a few breaths, the wind began to shriek piercingly, like countless malevolent ghosts breaking free from the Nine Serenities of Hell!

Snowflakes the size of goose feathers were swept up by the violent mountain winds, lashing down fiercely like tens of millions of sharp ice blades upon the army struggling through the canyon!

The temperature plummeted at a rate visible to the naked eye!

Countless soldiers, even wearing thick cotton clothes, were still shivering uncontrollably, their teeth chattering. The heat they exhaled condensed into tiny ice crystals the moment it left their mouths and noses. Their exposed skin was left with blood-red gashes after being scraped by the knife-like cold wind.

Visibility rapidly dropped to less than three feet! Looking around, the entire world was reduced to a vast, white Chaos filled with the breath of death!

"Something's wrong! This blizzard is coming far too unnaturally!"

At the center of the army, the supreme commander of the Northern Army, the veteran Du Wei, sat atop a majestic northern warhorse. His aged face, blown red by the wind and snow, was filled with solemnity and vigilance. He shielded his eyes with his hand, squinting with difficulty to see the surroundings as he muttered to himself.

As a veteran who had experienced a hundred battles and spent a lifetime on horseback, having fought dozens of times on the northern prairies against barbarians who also lived in the ice and snow, Du Wei possessed a near-bestial sharp intuition for changes in the weather.

In his view, though this blizzard was fierce, it lacked the vastness and randomness that natural celestial might should possess.

The wind blew too regularly, and the snow fell too concentratedly. It didn't feel like a natural disaster, but more like a man-made calamity carefully planned and arranged!

His premonition was soon ruthlessly confirmed.

Just as the army's formation became somewhat chaotic due to the sudden blizzard and all the soldiers' attention was focused on fighting the bone-chilling cold, long chants filled with ancient and mysterious rhythms drifted down silently from the snow-capped mountain peaks on both sides of the canyon, like ghostly whispers.

The sound of those chants seemed to carry a strange magic, capable of producing a profound resonance with the omnipresent ice and snow elements in this world.

As the chanting rose, the already violent blizzard intensified once more in an instant!

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Countless massive ice spikes, several feet long and as thick as a child's arm, composed entirely of solid ice and shimmering with deadly cold light, actually condensed out of thin air! Then, with sharp whistles that tore through the air, they rained down upon the Wu Dynasty army below, which was already bunched together with nowhere to hide!

"Enemy attack! There's an enemy attack! Raise shields! Quick, raise shields!"

A Wu Dynasty officer, seeing the ice spikes falling like a rain of death, let out a hoarse and piercing warning, his eyes nearly splitting from the strain!

However, his warning was ultimately too late.

"Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!"

A series of tooth-gritting thuds, like blades entering flesh, rang out continuously within the chaotic military formation!

The soft armor worn by those poor Wu Dynasty soldiers, made of multiple layers of oxhide and silk, was as fragile as thin paper when faced with this magical attack containing terrifying piercing power!

Countless soldiers were easily pierced through by the falling giant ice spikes before they could even let out a scream, pinned firmly to the bone-chilling, snow-covered ground!

Scolding hot blood gushed from their wounds, and upon contact with the extreme cold air, it instantly condensed into seductive, blood-red ice crystals.

In just the first round of attack, thousands of Wu Dynasty soldiers died tragically in this cold canyon of death!

Yet, this was only the beginning.

The chanting from the mountain peaks, like a life-claiming curse, became increasingly high-pitched and rapid!

A visible, massive amount of ice-blue energy filled with a destructive aura began to gather frantically atop the snow-capped mountains on both sides of the canyon!

"Not good! They're going to trigger an avalanche!"

Du Wei's sharp eyes instantly bulged!

Without a second thought, he immediately used all his strength to let out the most piercing and desperate roar of his life to the entire army!

"Quick! Scatter! Lean toward the mountain walls on both sides! Hurry—!!!"

However, his voice seemed so insignificant amidst the violent blizzard that sounded like the howling of ghosts and wolves.

Moreover, in this narrow canyon where the widest part was only about a hundred zhang, how could an army of a hundred thousand, bunched together, be easily scattered in such a short time?

"Rumble—!!!"

At that moment, a terrifying boom loud enough to make the entire Tianshan mountain range tremble violently erupted from the peaks on both sides of the canyon!

The two towering snow-capped mountains, which had stood like pillars of heaven for millions of years, saw the heavy snow accumulated on their peaks for countless millennia suddenly collapse like a bursting dam under the trigger of that massive ice-blue magical energy!

Tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of tons of snow, mixed with countless uprooted boulders and trees, formed white tidal waves tens of zhang high and thousands of zhang wide that blotted out the sky!

They were like two ancient white gods of death awakening from slumber, opening their bloody maws wide enough to swallow all things, and roaring toward the Wu Dynasty army below—tiny as ants—with an unrivaled destructive force capable of crushing everything in their path!

Time seemed to be put in slow motion at this moment.

All the Wu Dynasty soldiers at the front of the canyon looked up blankly, and reflected in their pupils, filled with horror and despair, was that rapidly expanding pure white of death that finally completely filled their entire field of vision!

They couldn't even give birth to the thought of running away.

Because they knew that when facing such a world-destroying catastrophe like the descent of celestial might, any struggle or resistance was futile and laughable.

"No—!!!"

Countless piercing screams filled with indignation and despair converged into a tragic symphony of death at the final moment before being swallowed by the white tidal wave of death.

"Boom—!!!"

The white god of death finally descended.

The entire earth was wailing and trembling violently.

That deafening, terrifying roar lasted for several dozen breaths before slowly subsiding.

When everything settled, the narrow "Ice Tear Valley," which had been full of life, had completely disappeared.

In its place was a flat, white graveyard of death, completely filled in by incredibly heavy snow.

The vanguard unit at the very front of the army, composed of nearly ten thousand of the most elite soldiers, was thus silently and completely swallowed and buried by that world-destroying avalanche.

They didn't even leave behind a single intact corpse.

This was the first, and also the most tragic, major loss suffered by the Wu Dynasty army since the start of the war!

The entire Northern Army fell into a deathly silence.

All the surviving soldiers looked blankly at the white land of death that had been leveled in an instant; their faces were filled with lingering fear, sorrow, and a deep sense of powerlessness from the depths of their Souls.

At this moment, the morale of the army began to waver violently!

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Some young soldiers with weaker mental fortitude had already thrown away their weapons, knelt in the snow, and buried their heads in their hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

Just as this aura, known as 'despair,' was about to spread completely and destroy the last shred of will in the entire army, a terrifying roar, filled with endless anger and sorrow like a wounded beast, exploded in everyone's ears like a thunderclap!

Ahhhhhh—!!!

It was none other than the fierce general Xue Biao, responsible for leading the vanguard, whose bloodshot tiger eyes were now streaming with two lines of hot, bloody tears!

He had just watched with his own eyes as nearly ten thousand of his subordinates—comrades who had followed him for years and were as close as brothers—were swallowed alive by that damned avalanche!

That heart-wrenching pain! That hatred that went deep into the bone marrow!

It drove this iron-blooded tough guy, who already had an incredibly fiery temper, into a state of total madness at this very moment!

You sons of bitches, you red-haired barbarians! I will make you pay for this blood debt with your own blood!!!

Xue Biao violently tore open his heavy armor, which had already been soaked through by ice and snow, revealing his robust muscles that looked like they were cast from molten bronze and filled with explosive power!

His burly frame was covered in hideous scars of all sizes, crisscrossing his body; each one represented a cruel baptism of blood and fire!

He grabbed the two heavy tiger-headed halberds from the weapon rack beside him—weapons that had long since drunk their fill of countless enemies' blood—and then turned abruptly, staring fixedly with his crazed, blood-red eyes at the three thousand elite soldiers of the vanguard's 'Death Squad' who had also survived behind him!

Brothers of the Death Squad! Xue Biao's voice was as hoarse as two pieces of rusty iron rubbing against each other, but it contained a crazed Battle Intent capable of igniting everything!

Buried beneath our feet are our brothers! Our comrades!

They are watching us! They are waiting for us!

Tell me! Are you afraid of death?!

Upon hearing their general's blood-stirring roar, the three thousand red-eyed Death Squad elites felt the grief and rage that had been suppressed to the extreme in their chests erupt like a volcano!

We are not afraid!

We are not afraid!

We are not afraid!

The roars of three thousand men coalesced into a monstrous Battle Intent capable of scattering the snow-filled sky!

Good! A cruel and bloodthirsty smile appeared on Xue Biao's ferocious face. Then follow me and charge! Kill your way to the mountaintop! Wring off the heads of those sons of bitches, the barbarians, to pay tribute to the spirits of our fallen brothers!

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Before his words had even faded, Xue Biao was the first to charge like a mad tiger descending from a mountain, holding his two heavy halberds as he launched a suicidal charge toward the nearly ninety-degree vertical, frozen cliff on the right!

Behind him, the three thousand Death Squad elites, also in a state of madness, let out earth-shaking roars, following close behind like three thousand tigers descending from the mountain!

They actually intended to brave the snow-filled sky and the rain of ice cones, climbing the thousands-of-feet-high, incredibly smooth frozen cliff with their bare hands, just to engage in the most primitive and bloody close-quarters combat with the Western 'Frost Mage Corps' hiding on the mountaintop!

To anyone, this was undoubtedly a suicidal act of madness!

Xue Biao! Come back! Have you lost your mind?!

Du Wei, in the rear, saw this and his eyes nearly split from anger! He never expected that Xue Biao would be so impulsive and reckless!

However, at this moment, Xue Biao, whose mind had long been clouded by endless hatred, would not listen to anyone's persuasion.

He drove the twin halberds in his hands fiercely into the hard ice wall, and using that weak support point, his burly body climbed upward as nimbly as an ape!

The Death Squad elites behind him followed suit, using their weapons as ice picks for climbing, sticking to the steep cliff like geckos, and with a posture filled with determination and tragedy, launched a death charge toward the unreachable mountaintop!

At the top of the mountain, the mages of the Western 'Frost Mage Corps,' wearing blue mage robes and holding staffs embedded with huge ice-blue crystal magic cores, saw the group of Wu Dynasty soldiers below acting like madmen, attempting to climb the cliff with their bare hands. Their faces all showed disdain and cruel sneers, as if they were watching a group of clowns.

A bunch of death-seeking Eastern barbarian monkeys. The leader of the mage corps, wearing a magnificent mage hat embedded with three huge sapphires that symbolized his noble status as a 'Grand Archmage,' said contemptuously in a tone filled with superiority and aria-like cadence, Since you are so eager to go to Hell to repent to your false gods, then I shall fulfill your wish.

Ice Cone Spell! Free attack! Let them fall into that bottomless abyss amidst their desperate wails.

Following his order, the dozens of Frost Mages on the mountaintop raised their staffs again, chanting cold incantations filled with the aura of death.

The next moment, countless ice cones, even denser and larger than before, poured down like an endless rainstorm toward the Death Squad soldiers who were struggling to climb the cliff!

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

A tragic and one-sided massacre unfolded!

Those Death Squad soldiers had nowhere to leverage themselves on the smooth and steep ice wall, and even less space to dodge!

They could only watch helplessly as those huge ice cones, flashing with deadly cold light, whistled toward them!

A Death Squad soldier's chest was instantly pierced through by a huge ice cone! His young face was filled with unwillingness, but he still kept his steel blade firmly embedded in the ice wall, not letting go until the very last moment of his life!

Another soldier's legs were broken by several ice cones! He let out a pained grunt, but he continued to climb upward stubbornly with only his remaining two arms!

One after another, vibrant lives fell from the steep cliff like dumplings, crashing onto the hard ice surface and turning into puddles of bloody mush.

Yet, not a single person retreated!

Not a single person gave up!

With their own flesh and blood, they paved a road of death leading to the mountaintop for the comrades following behind them!

Xue Biao had long since gone blood-crazy!

His burly body had already been slashed by countless shards of ice and blades, leaving wounds deep enough to see bone! Blood stained his bronze-colored skin, only to be instantly frozen into cold scabs by the bone-chilling cold!

He was like a vengeful demon crawling out of the Nine Nether Hell!

He only knew: Upward! Upward! And upward again!

Finally, after suffering nearly fifty percent heavy casualties, Xue Biao was the first to reach the summit of that snow mountain filled with the aura of death!

The moment his pair of crimson eyes, filled with endless blood and slaughter, locked in mid-air with the blue eyes of the mage corps leader—who had been looking down with the playful gaze of a cat toying with a mouse, full of arrogance and disdain—a feeling of extreme chill, from the depths of his Soul, surged unexpectedly in the mage corps leader's heart!

Protect the leader!

The surrounding Frost Mages clearly did not expect that anyone could actually survive and rush to the mountaintop!

After a brief moment of panic, they immediately gave up their attacks on the soldiers below and turned their staffs, which flashed with deadly cold light, toward Xue Biao, the terrifying enemy now within arm's reach!

Ice Wall Spell!

Frost Nova!

Ice Arrow!

Dozens of ice-type spells, filled with the cold aura of death, bombarded Xue Biao from all sides at the same time!

However, at this moment, Xue Biao's eyes could no longer contain anything else.

His eyes only saw the culprit who had killed nearly ten thousand of his brothers!

Die—!!!

Xue Biao let out a bestial roar that didn't sound human! He poured all the remaining Protective Aura in his body into his legs without reservation!

Boom!

The ice beneath his feet exploded violently!

His burly body, as if teleporting, endured the overwhelming magic attacks and instantly crossed dozens of feet, appearing in front of the mage corps leader, who was already scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

Puchi!

A huge ice cone pierced through Xue Biao's left shoulder, bringing out a spray of hot, bright red blood!

Yet, Xue Biao seemed not to feel any pain at all!

A cruel and satisfied smile appeared on his ferocious face.

He raised high the tiger-headed war halberd in his right hand, which had long been thirsty and impatient!

Then, he swung it down fiercely!

The mage corps leader's head, wearing the magnificent mage hat and filled with terror and disbelief, soared into the sky!

The hot blood spurting from the headless corpse splashed all over Xue Biao's head and face, making him look even more like a blood-bathed demon god returned from Hell!

With the death of the mage corps leader, the ice and snow elements between heaven and earth that they had originally controlled instantly lost control.

The snowstorm filling the sky quickly calmed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The gloomy dark clouds that had shrouded the entire valley also slowly dissipated.

A ray of long-lost warm sunlight passed through the gaps in the clouds, shining on this frozen land filled with death and tragedy.

Du Wei below, seeing the wind and snow gradually cease, felt a flash of resolute sternness in his eyes! He knew this was their last chance for a counterattack!

Entire army! Hold your positions! Archers! Give me indiscriminate covering fire aimed at the mountaintop! Cover General Xue and his men! Everyone else, follow me to clear the road! Tend to the wounded!