186: Snowy Night Wolf Attack and Divine Physician Li Feiyu

North Underworld Ice Field, Bai Family Village.

The night was as dark as ink, and the howling wind swirled heavy snow, sounding like the ghostly wails and wolf howls of the underworld.

"Awoo—!!!"

A shrill wolf howl pierced through the wind and snow, causing the "Ice Spirit Tree" at the village entrance, which had been emitting a soft white light, to sway violently as its radiance suddenly dimmed.

"Not good! It's a Rank Three 'Ice-Spine Wolf'! And it's a pack!"

Village Chief Bai Shan held a bone fork with several notches and stood on the ice wall at the village entrance, his face deathly pale.

Behind him, dozens of young villagers in the Qi Refinement Stage were trembling. A Rank Three Yao Beast was equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator! For their village, where the highest cultivation was only the tenth layer of Qi Refining, this was a catastrophic disaster.

"Bang!"

A giant wolf, the size of a calf with its back covered in ice spikes, slammed into the ice wall.

Ice shards flew everywhere, and cracks instantly appeared on the sturdy ice wall.

"Abba!"

Bai Yao shrank behind the crowd, her small hand tightly clutching an Ice Whip, her large eyes filled with fear.

"Yao'er, run! Take everyone and retreat to the ancestral hall!"

Bai Shan roared, bit the tip of his tongue, and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the bone fork, preparing to fight for his life.

"Roar—"

A trace of human-like mockery flashed in the Ice-Spine Wolf's eyes as it opened its bloody maw and unleashed a blast of pale white icy breath.

Bai Shan felt as if the blood in his entire body was about to freeze, and he closed his eyes in despair.

Just then.

A slender, fair, and seemingly powerless palm abruptly reached out from the darkness.

That hand lightly rested on Bai Shan's shoulder, and a warm current immediately dissipated the chill within his body.

"Village Chief, step back."

A slightly raspy yet exceptionally calm voice rang out.

Bai Shan snapped his eyes open.

He saw the young man in green robes who had been rescued during the day and was said to be heavily injured; he didn't know when the man had stood before him.

The cold wind blew against his tattered robes, revealing the faintly visible, sturdy muscles beneath.

"Senior... Senior Han? You are injured..."

"Just a few puppies, no need to get worked up."

Zhou Wannian (Han Li) said indifferently.

He looked at the Ice-Spine Wolf lunging toward him, as well as the dozen or so pairs of glowing green eyes looming in the darkness behind it.

He did not summon any Magic Treasure, nor did he perform any hand seals or incantations.

He simply... took a step forward.

Then, he threw a punch.

A plain and simple punch.

There wasn't even any spiritual energy fluctuation; it was pure Physical Body strength.

"Boom!"

The air exploded, letting out a dull sound like thunder.

That arrogant Rank Three Ice-Spine Wolf, which was in mid-pounce, didn't even have time to let out a scream.

"Pfft."

Like a watermelon smashed by a sledgehammer.

Its head and half its body were directly blasted into a mist of blood by that single punch!

"..."

The wind stopped.

The snow seemed to stop as well.

The wolf pack behind let out a series of terrified whimpers, tucked their tails, and turned to flee.

"Since you've come, stay here."

"It just so happens I can make a new fur coat for Yao'er."

Zhou Wannian's figure blurred and he disappeared from the spot.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several dull thuds echoed from the darkness.

Ten breaths later.

Zhou Wannian reappeared at the village entrance, dragging three intact wolf carcasses, which he tossed casually in front of Bai Shan.

"Skin them, eat the meat."

Zhou Wannian patted the blood from his hands, a harmless smile returning to his face.

"Village Chief, this wolf meat is very nourishing; remember to save a hind leg for me."

The entire village watched this scene, their jaws dropping to the floor.

Is this... the strength of a Foundation Establishment Stage Senior?

Isn't this too brutal?!

...A few days later.

Bai Family Village back mountain, Warm Pavilion.

After a few days of recuperation and the nourishment from the wolf meat, Zhou Wannian's external injuries had healed, and his cultivation had recovered to the Early Core Formation Stage level. Although still far from his Peak, he had more than enough power for self-preservation in this ice field.

"Husband, it's time for us to leave."

Purple Spirit had changed into a snow-white fox fur coat, which further accentuated her skin as white as snow and her peerless beauty.

"Mhm."

Zhou Wannian nodded.

"The recruitment order from Xiao Ji Palace only has a fifteen-day limit. If we miss it, we'll have to force our way in, which would be too troublesome."

The two walked out of the Warm Pavilion and arrived at the village entrance.

The entire village, young and old, was already waiting there.

"Senior Han, you're leaving already?" Bai Shan said with reluctance. "Won't you stay for a few more days?"

"No, Han has important matters to attend to."

Zhou Wannian patted the head of Bai Yao, who was hiding behind Bai Shan with red-rimmed eyes.

"Yao'er, I'm giving this 'Mystic Ice Sword' to you."

Zhou Wannian casually took out a top-grade Magical Artifact he had refined during his recovery using the bones and inner cores of those Ice-Spine Wolves.

"Cultivate well. If you have the chance in the future, come find me at Xiao Ji Palace."

"Mhm! Goodbye, Uncle Han!" Bai Yao hugged the precious sword and waved vigorously... Three days later.

Ice Rock City.

This was a magnificent city built upon a massive piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice, with walls a hundred zhang high and a body as translucent as crystal.

In the center of the city, at the Xiao Ji Palace outer gate recruitment office.

The place was packed with people, and the queue stretched for several miles. Countless physicians, Alchemists, and even some Loose Cultivators who practiced fire-attribute Cultivation Techniques had come to try their luck.

After all, the reward offered by Xiao Ji Palace was too tempting—【Cold Marrow】, a sacred object that could assist in a Breakthrough of the Core Formation or even the Nascent Soul Bottleneck.

"Next!"

Inside the hall, an arrogant Xiao Ji Palace deacon (Early Core Formation Stage) dressed in white was sitting at a desk, waving his hand impatiently.

In front of him, a disheveled old man was walking away dejectedly.

"What 'Divine Doctor'? You can't even melt a piece of 'Hundred-Refined Mystic Ice', yet you dare to answer the call?" The deacon snorted coldly.

"Um... I would like to try."

A gentle voice sounded.

Zhou Wannian, accompanied by the veiled Purple Spirit, entered the hall.

By now, he had changed his appearance.

Through a Disguise Technique and simple bone adjustments, he had transformed into a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion but exceptionally sharp eyes.

"Name, cultivation, specialty." The deacon didn't even look up.

"Li Feiyu."

Zhou Wannian gave that eternal alias.

"Loose Cultivator, Early Core Formation Stage."

"As for my specialty..."

The corners of Zhou Wannian's mouth curled up slightly.

"Treating difficult and complicated cases, especially... Cold Poison in the body."

"Oh?"

The deacon finally looked up and glanced at Zhou Wannian with some surprise. It was rare to see someone at the Core Formation stage applying to be a physician.

"You talk big."

The deacon pointed to a stone platform nearby.

On the platform lay a blue block of ice, only the size of a fist, but emitting a suffocating cold air.

"This is 'Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade'. The cold air inside the Palace Master's body is ten times more formidable than this."

"If you can melt it within half a stick of incense, or force out a drop of ink from inside without damaging the ice..."

"Then you pass."

The people around all wore expressions of gloating at his misfortune.

This Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade was incredibly hard; even the Nascent Soul Fire of a Nascent Soul Cultivator might not be able to melt it, let alone force something out from inside.

"Is that all?"

Zhou Wannian glanced at the ice.

He smiled.

He didn't even step closer; he simply reached out a finger from a distance.

"Puff."

A bizarre flame, only the size of a bean and woven with green and red colors, danced on his fingertip.

【Qingmu Demonic Fire】.

"Go."

He flicked his finger.

The flame drifted lightly onto the Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade.

There was no intense high-temperature roasting.

That flame seemed to have a life of its own, "seeping" directly into the hard interior of the Mystic Jade.

Immediately following that.

A magical scene unfolded.

The originally indestructible Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade actually began to soften at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a piece of dough.

And the drop of ink in the center of the Mystic Jade was wrapped by those green-red fire filaments and "pushed" out along the grain of the jade, completely unharmed.

Drip.

The ink hit the ground.

And that piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade, after the flame left, instantly returned to its original state, without even a single crack!

"This..."

The entire hall fell into dead silence.

That arrogant deacon stood up abruptly, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"What kind of fire is this?! To be able to achieve such delicate control?!"

It had the temperature of fire, yet the vitality and permeability of wood.

This was simply a flame born for treating Cold Poison in the Meridians!

Zhou Wannian retracted the flame and put his hands behind his back, assuming the unfathomable air of a Great Master.

"This is my family's 'Longevity Fire'."

"I wonder if this little trick of mine is worthy of your noble palace's Dharma Eye?"

"Worthy! More than worthy!"

The deacon's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn; he hurriedly ran out from behind the desk and bowed respectfully.

"Great Master Li's divine skill! Truly a divine skill!"

"Quick! Someone! Invite Great Master Li to the VIP lounge!"

"I must immediately report this to the inner palace Grand Elder!"

Zhou Wannian winked at Purple Spirit behind him.

Purple Spirit shook her head helplessly.

Her husband's acting skills were becoming more and more polished... Half an hour later.

Inside the inner palace of Xiao Ji Palace, in a crystal palace floating atop an icy mountain Peak.

A woman dressed in silver palace robes, with a peerlessly beautiful but ice-cold face, was listening to her subordinate's report.

She was the Grand Elder of Xiao Ji Palace, a Middle Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator—【Human Venerable Han Li】.

"A green-red exotic fire? Able to penetrate Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade?"

A flash of joy appeared in Human Venerable Han Li's eyes.

"It seems the Palace Master's illness can be cured."

"Pass down the order: no matter what conditions this person proposes, as long as they don't violate our principles, agree to all of them!"

"Take him to the Forbidden Ground!"

"However..."

A cold glint flashed in Human Venerable Han Li's eyes.

"If he cannot cure it, or if he harbors ill intentions..."

"Let him become a new ice sculpture on the ice field!"

...On the other side, in the VIP lounge.

Zhou Wannian was leisurely drinking spiritual tea.

"The fish has taken the bait."

He sensed several powerful Divine Senses scanning him, but he was not flustered in the slightest.

Because the Mortal Cultivation Art within him was already running at its Peak; unless a Soul Transformation Cultivator arrived in person, no one could tell that a Heaven-Defying Nascent Soul and a heaven-reaching spirit treasure were hidden inside him.

"Great Master Li, the Grand Elder requests your presence!"

Soon, a female Cultivator in white came in to announce.

Zhou Wannian put down his teacup and stood up.

"Lead the way."

"I am also very curious to see..."

"Just what kind of grace the Palace Master, who possesses the 'Ice Phoenix Bloodline', holds."