79: Chapter 79 The Frozen Abyss at the Bottom of the Valley, the Beasts Stirring

The wind wailed as it passed through the crevices of the Ice Rift Valley, like an ancient elegy, gradually fading into the distance.

Shen Xiao stuffed himself into a sheltered hollow out of the wind.

This place could barely accommodate a person curled up; a protruding ice rock overhead just happened to block the line of sight, and the rock walls on both sides converged inward, forming a natural shelter.

It could not be considered safe, but at least it allowed him to catch his breath.

His back was pressed tightly against the freezing rock wall, and the cold seeped through his tattered clothes into his skin and flesh, giving him a shiver, but it also cooled his boiling blood slightly.

His lungs felt like they were on fire.

Every breath tugged at his throat, emitting a hissing sound like a leaking bellows.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands spread out on his knees, covered in blood and gore, his fingertips still trembling uncontrollably.

The cost of detonating the cold marrow crystals was more severe than he had anticipated.

The moment those pure cold-attribute energies were ignited, although most of them gushed outward, a few strands still followed the path of energy backflow and fiercely rushed into his already riddled Meridians.

At this moment, those cold energies were like ice snakes lurking in his blood vessels, gnawing at his Meridian walls with every heartbeat, bringing waves of sharp, bone-deep stinging pain.

And what unsettled him even more was the Dark Gold Core in his Dantian.

The Silver Pattern continued to emit a scorching temperature, like a red-hot branding iron pressed against his flesh.

That temperature was not radiating outward, but penetrating inward, burning the spiritual power circuits around the core inch by inch.

This was a warning.

Overusing "Destiny Resonance," forcibly raising the perception precision to the limit, and then coordinating with the core's overload to detonate the crystals—the System had issued a punishment.

It was not a direct deduction of cultivation, but a more insidious consumption: accelerating the core's instability and shortening its "self-repair" cycle.

Shen Xiao gritted his teeth, forcing himself to close his eyes.

His consciousness sank, following that resonance perception channel which was already numb with pain, slowly diffusing outward like a mass of scattered mist.

Blurry.

Chaotic.

But it could still be used.

The image of the mist zone gradually took shape in his mind.

The white mist formed by the volatilization of the cold marrow crystals had faded by more than half, but it had not completely dissipated.

The remaining cold energy was like a thin veil, shrouding an area of several hundred zhang.

Within that veil, a mass of brilliant golden light, like a sun tearing through dark clouds, was dispelling the surrounding cold energy inch by inch with a steady rhythm.

Lin Yun.

Shen Xiao's resonance perception dared not get too close, only wandering in the peripheral zone, vaguely capturing the dynamics over there.

Lin Yun did not seem to be injured.

That white robe remained spotless, and although the golden Luck light around his body was somewhat dimmed by the cold energy, it was still vast and majestic, like a moving lighthouse.

What was he doing?

Shen Xiao slightly increased the precision of his perception—his Meridians immediately transmitted a tearing pain, making him almost groan out loud, but it bought him a clearer image.

Lin Yun was driving the Cold Marrow Beast.

No, to be precise, he was using the natural suppression of the Heavenly Dao Luck against the Vicious Beasts, combined with exquisite footwork and palm wind, to guide the trajectory of that behemoth bit by bit toward the depths of the valley.

The Cold Marrow Beast was frantically waving its ice-crystal tentacles in the mist, its deep, massive maw constantly devouring the remaining cold energy, and its size had expanded a bit more than before.

But it seemed to be instinctively wary of Lin Yun's scorching Luck light; several times it tried to pounce and bite, only to be dodged by Lin Yun at an exquisite angle, while he simultaneously used his palm wind to push its body further away.

The restlessness of the beast horde was spreading into the depths of the valley in a controllable manner.

Shen Xiao opened his eyes, his gaze cold.

He understood.

Lin Yun was not stupid.

That guy had been played by him using the Cold Marrow Beast; anger was anger, but he did not choose to personally venture deep into this complex, jagged terrain to pursue, as that was too risky—heaven knows what other pitfalls were hidden in this Ice Rift Valley.

He chose a safer, more insidious strategy: driving the tiger to devour the wolf.

Using the suppression of the Heavenly Dao Luck against the Vicious Beasts to turn the "native" Cold Marrow Beasts of this Ice Rift Valley upside down, forcing them to rampage through the valley and trample every corner where someone might be hiding.

Shen Xiao would either be crushed into meat paste by the beast horde or be forced to flee from his hiding place and fall into the Luck trap that Lin Yun had set.

This was a patient hunt that did not require personal risk.

The hollow was not a place to stay for long.

Shen Xiao forced himself to stand up; the severe pain from his right leg made him stagger, almost falling down.

He gritted his teeth, leaning most of his body weight against the rock wall, using his left hand to grope along the cold stone surface, moving with difficulty.

The resonance perception was mobilized again; this time he had learned his lesson and did not seek precision, just like a loose mass of mist, heading in the opposite direction of the beast horde's restlessness, searching for an area with relatively gentle energy flow.

On the left, three smaller Cold Marrow Beasts were frantically fleeing between the ice pillars; their direction was the valley entrance.

On the right, an unusually large individual was using its ice-crystal tentacles to smash an ice wall, its violent aura like a tangible storm, swirling the surrounding broken ice into a vortex.

Directly ahead, the energy veins were the most chaotic, but that was the direction leading to the other side of the valley.

Shen Xiao chose directly ahead.

He hid himself in the shadow cast by the rock wall, like a loach swimming among the reefs, every step landing on the "safe points" marked by his resonance perception.

The movement was slow.

Every few steps, he had to stop, leaning against the rock wall to pant for a few breaths, waiting for the stinging pain in his Meridians to subside slightly before continuing forward.

An unusual vibration came from beneath his feet.

It was not the roar of the beast horde trampling, but a deeper, heavier pulsation with a certain regularity.

Like a heartbeat.

No, it was like some huge, sleeping existence, breathing slowly beneath the ice layer.

Shen Xiao's footsteps halted.

He lowered his head and looked at the ice layer beneath his feet mixed with black Impurities.

The light of the night-luminescent stones had long since extinguished; at this moment, there was only the faint, almost negligible, ghostly blue ice light reflected from the distant ice prisms, barely outlining the contours of the ground.

But his resonance perception told him that something was moving beneath the ice layer.

Not a living creature.

It was a flow of energy.

The pulsation frequency of that pure cold marrow seemed to be connected to some deeper, more ancient existence.

Just like a river flowing into the sea, the cold marrow energy in this Ice Rift Valley was continuously gathering in a certain direction.

And that direction...

Shen Xiao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He perceived a trace of a completely different fluctuation.

That fluctuation was very weak, layered and obscured by the thick ice and chaotic energy veins, just like the sound of a heartbeat heard through ten layers of quilts.

But it existed.

That was a Restriction fluctuation with a meaning of suppression.

Shen Xiao's heart stirred.

He endured the severe pain in his Meridians, struggling to increase the precision of his resonance perception by one level—just by one level, the veins on his forehead bulged out, and he tasted a rust-like metallic sweetness in his mouth.

Information presented itself like fragments.

A Seal left over from ancient times.

Specifically targeting some kind of extremely cold or violent energy entity.

The spiritual pattern structure of the Seal had significantly decayed, with obvious cracks appearing at certain nodes.

The abnormal activity of the Cold Marrow Beasts was perhaps precisely because of the weakening of the Seal's power, allowing that violent energy suppressed deep within the ice layer to leak out more aura, attracting these Vicious Beasts that fed on cold marrow.

And the frequency of that Restriction fluctuation.

Shen Xiao's left hand unconsciously pressed onto the position of his Dantian.

There, the Silver Pattern on the surface of the Dark Gold Core was trembling with an extremely weak amplitude.

Resonance.

The abnormality of the core's Silver Pattern actually had some tenuous connection with this ancient Restriction.

Was it because of the System itself?

Or was it because the predecessor of this body, the original owner Shen Xiao, had once come into contact with something related to this Restriction?

Shen Xiao had no time to think carefully.

Because in the distance, in the direction of the valley entrance, that brilliant golden halo was approaching at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lin Yun's Luck pressure was like a tide, pushing forward layer by layer from the direction of the valley entrance.

That vast energy was not indiscriminately covering the entire valley, but was exquisitely following the main path along which the beast horde was being driven, forming a constantly shrinking encirclement.

Accompanied by the wailing and trampling of the driven beast horde, that web of death was closing in bit by bit.

Shen Xiao's back pressed against the cold rock wall; he looked up at the golden halo reflected on the distant ice prisms, then looked down at the ice layer beneath his feet from which the ancient Restriction fluctuation emanated.

His Meridians were throbbing with pain.

The core was burning.

His body had reached its limit.

But the corners of his mouth slowly pulled into a nearly insane arc.

A desperate situation?

This was a new starting point.

Rather than passively hiding, waiting to be crushed into meat paste by the beast horde or caught by Lin Yun's Luck net.

It would be better to actively trigger something.

This valley floor itself hid a huge "trouble."

An ancient Seal.

Cracks.

A suppressed extremely cold or violent energy entity.

These elements combined together were a ready-made chaotic storm sufficient to overturn the entire Ice Rift Valley.

A trace of nearly self-destructive ruthlessness flashed in the depths of Shen Xiao's eyes.

He raised his right hand, covered in blood scabs, and gripped his five fingers into the air, as if holding an invisible sword.

Then, he spoke in a low voice toward the ice layer beneath his feet from which the ancient Restriction fluctuation emanated.

His voice was hoarse, but carried a nearly joyful calmness.

"Come on, let me see!"

"You old antique, how much strength do you have left."