185: The Frigid Land and the Fake Yeti

North Underworld Ice Field, the periphery.

Goose-feather snow flew across the sky, carried by the howling wind. This cold wind was no ordinary natural wind; it was laced with faint traces of "Mystic Ice Chill" that could freeze a Cultivator's spiritual power.

"Ding-ling... Ding-ling..."

The crisp sound of camel bells broke the dead silence of the ice field.

A hide-covered sled pulled by two second-tier "Snow Cloud Wolves" slowly came to a halt in front of Zhou Wannian (Han Li).

The little girl driving the sled looked no more than seven or eight years old. Wrapped in a thick white bear-fur coat, her small face was flushed red from the cold. She tightly gripped a long ice-crystal whip, her large eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of wariness beyond her years.

"Hey, you 'snowmen' over there!"

The little girl shouted in a clear voice, though it trembled slightly in the wind and snow. "Are you still alive? If you're dead, I'll have Da Bai (Snow Cloud Wolf) drag you back to feed the 'Ice Spirit Tree' at the village entrance!"

"Cough, cough..."

Zhou Wannian sat up from the snowdrift and brushed off the accumulated snow.

At this moment, his appearance was indeed quite wretched. His green robes were tattered, his hair was disheveled, and his face was as pale as paper. He held a comatose woman in purple (Purple Spirit) tightly in his arms.

"Little sister, we aren't snowmen, nor are we dead."

Zhou Wannian forced what he thought was a kind smile (though it looked somewhat sinister against the bloodstains on his face).

"I am... cough, I am a Cultivator just like you. I was pursued by enemies and accidentally lost my way here."

"A Cultivator?"

The little girl's eyes lit up as she sized Zhou Wannian up from head to toe.

"Then what's your cultivation level? Qi Refining Stage? Or... a great expert of the Foundation Establishment Stage?"

In her understanding, the Foundation Establishment Stage already represented great figures who could fly through the sky, tunnel through the earth, and were omnipotent.

Zhou Wannian drew his Divine Sense inward to check his current physical condition.

It was absolutely terrible.

His Meridians had been severely damaged in the spatial storm, with about thirty percent of them ruptured. Although his Nascent Soul was unharmed, it had entered a self-imposed dormant state to resist the spatial tearing forces.

Right now, the spiritual power he could mobilize was only at the level of the Early Foundation Establishment Stage.

"Cough, you could say... Foundation Establishment Stage," Zhou Wannian said vaguely.

"Wow! Foundation Establishment Stage Senior!"

The wariness in the little girl's eyes instantly turned into admiration.

"Then you must be very rich, right? Can you give me a Spirit Stone? I want to go to the city to buy candied haws!"

"..."

Zhou Wannian's lip twitched.

Are the children of the Great Jin so materialistic?

"I have Spirit Stones."

Zhou Wannian fished out a low-grade Spirit Stone from his Storage Pouch (fortunately, it could still be opened); it was something he had kept as spare change. However, in such a frigid and barren place, it was clearly a fortune.

He casually tossed it to the little girl.

"Take me to the nearest village and find a warm place for me to heal. This Spirit Stone is yours."

"Alright! Senior, please get on!"

The little girl caught the Spirit Stone, her smile so wide her eyes curved into crescents.

"Da Bai, Er Bai! To work! We've picked up a big benefactor!"

...The sled sped across the ice field.

Zhou Wannian sat in the back holding Purple Spirit, covered with a pungent-smelling animal hide blanket.

"Husband... so cold..."

Purple Spirit muttered in a daze in his arms, her body shivering uncontrollably. After all, she was only at the Core Formation stage and her Physical Body was not as tough as Zhou Wannian's; the chill here had already invaded her internal organs.

"Endure it for a bit."

Zhou Wannian took her hand and carefully channeled a trace of the Azure Blue Ice Flame's aura.

It sounded contradictory, using an ice flame to dispel the cold.

But this was fighting fire with fire. The Azure Blue Ice Flame was the ancestor of all fires (ice-attributed), and its level was far higher than the ordinary chill here. As soon as it entered her body, the Mystic Ice Chill that had invaded Purple Spirit's body immediately acted as if it had met its ancestor, obediently being assimilated and absorbed.

"Phew..."

Purple Spirit's complexion gradually regained its color, and her breathing stabilized.

Only then did Zhou Wannian breathe a sigh of relief and turned to look at the little girl driving the sled.

"Little sister, I haven't asked your name yet. Where exactly in the North Underworld Ice Field are we?"

"My name is Bai Yao, everyone calls me Yao'er."

The little girl said without turning her head, cracking her whip.

"This is the 'Cold Wind Plain,' the territory of our 'Bai Family Village.' The nearest large city is 'Ice Rock City,' which is one of the three satellite cities on the outskirts of 'Xiao Ji Palace'."

"Xiao Ji Palace..."

Zhou Wannian silently repeated the name in his mind.

Among the Ten Great Sects of the Great Jin, Xiao Ji Palace was the most mysterious and xenophobic. They occupied this land of extreme cold and rarely ventured into the Central Plains, but their strength was definitely not to be underestimated.

It was said that the founding master of Xiao Ji Palace—the Ice Soul Fairy—was a mighty figure who had undergone Ascension to the Spirit Realm in ancient times.

And the void heaven cauldron in Zhou Wannian's hands (and the Azure Blue Ice Flame within it) was precisely one of the treasures the Ice Soul Fairy had left behind in the Human Realm!

"It seems fate has its own plans."

Zhou Wannian touched the void heaven cauldron in his robes.

Ever since entering this ice field, the void heaven cauldron had been in a state of inexplicable excitement, as if a traveler away from home for many years had finally caught the scent of his hometown.

"Xiao Ji Palace... if I remember correctly, the lineage left by the Ice Soul Fairy should contain secret techniques on how to Breakthrough to Soul Transformation or even Ascension to the Spirit Realm."

"And that legendary North Underworld Ice Phoenix..."

A glint of calculation flashed in Zhou Wannian's eyes.

Since I'm already here, wouldn't it be a waste of this spatial roller coaster ride if I didn't take something back with me?

...Half an hour later.

A village built against the mountain and made entirely of ice bricks appeared in the wind and snow.

Bai Family Village.

The village wasn't large, with about a hundred households. At the village entrance stood a massive, translucent ancient tree—the Ice Spirit Tree. Clusters of white fruit hung from the tree, emitting a faint Spiritual Qi that dispelled the surrounding wind and snow.

"Abba! Abba! I picked up two... oh no, I saved two Foundation Establishment Stage Seniors!"

Bai Yao shouted excitedly before even entering the village.

Soon, several burly men dressed in animal skins and holding bone forks ran out of the village. Leading them was a weather-beaten middle-aged man with a cultivation level of the tenth layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

"Foundation Establishment Stage Seniors?"

The middle-aged man (the chief of Bai Family Village, Bai Shan) looked suspiciously at Zhou Wannian as he stepped off the sled.

Although Zhou Wannian was in tatters, his composed demeanor in every gesture was indeed something no Mortal could possess.

"I am Han Li. I encountered a storm and sustained some injuries. Many thanks to your daughter for the rescue."

Zhou Wannian cupped his hands and casually released a trace of Foundation Establishment Stage Spiritual Pressure.

"Hum."

The surrounding wind and snow instantly froze.

"He really is a Senior!"

Bai Shan's expression changed, and he hurriedly bowed in salute.

"Junior Bai Shan greets Senior Han! My daughter is young and ignorant; if she has offended you, please forgive her, Senior!"

In this world where strength was respected, a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator was enough to slaughter their entire village.

"It's no matter; Yao'er is very cute."

Zhou Wannian smiled and took a bottle of yellow dragon pills (he had a pile of such low-level goods in a corner) suitable for low-level Cultivators to improve their magic power from his Storage Pouch.

"This is a bottle of Medicinal Pills to improve magic power; consider it the lodging fee for the next few days. I need a quiet room to heal; would that be convenient?"

"Convenient! Too convenient!"

Bai Shan took the pills and sniffed them, his beard trembling with excitement. This single bottle of pills was worth a year's income for their village!

"Quick! Go and clean up the best warm pavilion on the back mountain!"

...Late at night, inside the warm pavilion.

A charcoal fire made of "Warm Sun Wood" burned in the room, making it as warm as spring.

Purple Spirit had already woken up and was sitting cross-legged on the bed, circulating her power to heal.

"Husband, are we really going to stay here?" Purple Spirit asked with some concern. "This place is too close to Xiao Ji Palace; if we're discovered..."

"The darkest place is under the lamp."

Zhou Wannian sat by the stove, fiddling with a low-quality Jade Slip he had bought from the village chief (which recorded a basic map of the ice field).

"In our current state, we'd be easy prey if we encountered a Nascent Soul Cultivator. We must restore our strength first."

"And..."

Zhou Wannian pointed to a piece of information on the Jade Slip.

"Look at this."

Purple Spirit leaned in to look.

[Xiao Ji Palace Recruitment Order: Due to the urgent needs of the Palace Master's cultivation, we are now recruiting high-level physicians and Alchemists with 'Ice' or 'Yang' attributes from across the North Underworld Ice Field. Excellent benefits, including a chance to obtain the qualification to Cultivate 'Ice Soul Cold Light'.]

"Palace Master? Isn't the Palace Master of Xiao Ji Palace a Late Stage Nascent Soul great Cultivator?" Purple Spirit said in surprise. "Is she ill?"

"I'm afraid it's not an illness."

Zhou Wannian's lips curled into a playful smile.

"Ice and Yang attributes... this is usually a configuration used to harmonize Yin and Yang or break through a Bottleneck."

"If I'm not mistaken, that Palace Master has either had a mishap in her cultivation, or..."

A sharp light flashed in Zhou Wannian's eyes.

"Or her 'Ice Phoenix Bloodline' is about to undergo Awakening, and she needs Yang fire to suppress the cold poison."

"Yang fire?" Purple Spirit glanced at Zhou Wannian.

Evil-Warding Divine Thunder, extremely firm and masculine.

Qingmu Demonic Fire, wood generates fire, endless and unceasing.

"Husband, you aren't thinking of..."

"Why not?"

Zhou Wannian stood up and stretched.

"I can both infiltrate the core of Xiao Ji Palace to access the secrets of the void heaven cauldron,"

"and obtain that so-called 'Ice Soul Cold Light' (which is actually an upgraded version of the Arctic Essence Light)."

"This position is practically tailor-made for me."

"Once my injuries are healed..."

A familiar "Old Devil Han-style" smile appeared on Zhou Wannian's face.

"I'll go apply for this 'private doctor' position."

"But before that."

Zhou Wannian looked out the window at the pitch-black, snowy night.

"I have to resolve a little trouble for this village first."

"Trouble?" Purple Spirit was startled.

"Mhm."

Zhou Wannian pointed toward the village entrance in the direction detected by his Divine Sense.

"A few third-tier Yao Beasts (Foundation Establishment level) have snuck in."

"Since I took their pills, I should at least help them guard the door."

"Though Tiezhu is out of commission, my old bones..."

Zhou Wannian cracked his wrists, producing a series of popping sounds like beans roasting.

"Dealing with a few little puppies shouldn't be a problem."