Yun Lie looked over, and a faint change passed through his eyes.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “Senior Brother.”
They exchanged a glance, and although the intimacy between them was not obvious, it conveyed something distinctive.
The people nearby noticed it.
So these two were Dao companions. Before, the onlookers had not been certain, but now it was clear.
Cultivation emphasized the harmony of yin and yang, which was not necessarily confined to men and women. However, male Dao companions with compatible constitutions were uncommon, and two men who had fallen in love and formally joined their lives were rarer still. Naturally, the others looked at them a little longer.
Xu Ziqing approached, selected another heavy cloak, and bought it with spirit stones. Holding it out to Yun Lie, he said, “The icefield is bitterly cold. Senior Brother should be careful as well.”
Yun Lie nodded slightly and put on the cloak.
A Nascent Soul cultivator ordinarily would not be troubled by the icefield, but they were only here to search for divine water and did not wish to draw attention. It was best to display only Golden Core cultivation.
Seeing Senior Brother wear the cloak, Xu Ziqing felt warm inside. He reached out and fastened the concealed clasp at its front.
It might only be a disguise, but the fact that Senior Brother was wearing the clothing he had given him made Xu Ziqing happy.
Mortal husbands and wives could express their affection through such small acts. As cultivators, they usually devoted themselves to practice and seldom enjoyed these opportunities.
Once they were both suitably equipped, they left the shop without chatting or asking questions of anyone else.
They found another old-established shop and purchased a detailed map of the icefield, which should prove useful. They also bought strong spiritual wine, fire coals that would not go out, thick snow boots, and other necessities. After shaking off several suspicious people who had followed them, they entered the world of ice and snow.
The Desolate Snow Icefield stretched away in a boundless white expanse.
In this vast territory, freezing winds blew every day, cutting painfully across the face like knives.
Endless mountains of ice and snow extended into the distance. Almost no greenery could be seen, only unbroken whiteness.
“Quickly! Get out of the way!”
“That’s a Copper Demon Beast! Set the formation and use your talismans!”
“Feng Ying, Feng Bo! Draw your flying swords!”
“Everyone else, retreat!”
At the foot of a snow-covered mountain, a group of men and women in black fur coats had formed a ring. Their leader shouted instructions, and the others quickly used their spells and talismans in response.
They had finally managed to surround the fierce beast and attack it together. Their formations and talismans worked well, and the creature was badly wounded. But then an even more vicious demon beast sprang from a nearby snowdrift. It bit off one young man’s arm, making him scream in agony.
The leader hastily ordered another encirclement, but the second beast knocked several people aside in a few movements. It was much fiercer than the first.
Soon several cultivators were seriously injured.
The others panicked at the sight and could no longer restore their formation.
Feng Qi was a member of the Feng clan. Although he came from a branch family, he was bold, meticulous, and capable, giving him a respectable position within the clan. He had gone out to conduct business and had deliberately brought several fellow clansmen who depended on him. Yet shortly after setting out, when they passed a stand of snowy thornbushes, two Copper Demon Beasts had targeted them.
Copper Demon Beasts ordinarily lived alone. They were sixth-rank demon beasts, but Feng Qi himself was a Golden Core cultivator and the other clan members were not weak. They should have been able to deal with one. How could they have imagined that the attackers would be a male and a female together?
The female beast had emerged first. She was weaker and had been easily trapped. But she called her male companion, whose level was almost seventh-rank…
Clearly, they had encountered serious trouble.
Feng Qi was beside himself with despair. In only moments two of his subordinates had died, and another three had been flung aside, their fates unknown. Those still standing seemed terrified and close to collapse.
Worse still, Feng Qi knew he was no match for the male beast either.
Gritting his teeth, he bit his fingertip and coated his lifebound flying sword with blood. Then he pointed, sending the sword racing toward the male beast just as it was about to tear another person apart.
Caught off guard, the male beast had its forelimb pierced by the sword.
Blood immediately gushed out, staining the sword still redder and lending it a strange appearance.
The male beast roared in pain.
Then it forcibly tightened its muscles around the blade, preventing Feng Qi from recalling it.
This is bad! Feng Qi thought. He urgently tried to move the sword with his mind, but it remained trapped and would not budge.
Meanwhile the male beast endured its pain, abandoned the other cultivators, and charged directly toward Feng Qi!
Feng Qi inhaled sharply, hurriedly drew a great saber, and began fighting the male beast.
The male’s strength was tremendous, every movement savagely forceful!
How could an ordinary Golden Core cultivator defeat it in hand-to-hand combat with his own body?
The male beast’s assaults grew ever fiercer, and Feng Qi found it increasingly difficult to defend himself. Despair rose clearly in his heart.
Was he truly going to die here this time?
He could not accept it. He simply could not!
Just then, Feng Qi noticed two figures not far away in the blowing snow.
They were walking quickly, though he had no idea who they might be…
But he had no choice. Even a desperate chance was better than none!
That last scrap of hope drove him to cry out, “Two fellow Daoists, please save us! I am a disciple of the Feng clan. If you help us, I promise a generous reward!”
He resisted the male beast with all his remaining strength and called several times, praying for some chance of survival.
Fortunately, this time his luck was good.
The figures drew nearer. One of them seemed to cast some unknown technique. Several strange vines shot forward and pierced the male Copper Demon Beast’s hide and flesh in only a few movements.
In another blink, all that remained of the male beast was skin and bones.
The vines then attacked the female, whom several cultivators were still barely holding off, and drained her just as thoroughly.
Finally the vines returned to the person who had cast them.
Seeing such savage beasts dispatched so casually, everyone was astonished.
Feng Qi looked at the two Copper Demon Beasts’ remains and swallowed hard.
They had saved everyone, but… these rescuers did not look like people who would be easy to deal with!
Having witnessed their abilities, Feng Qi did not dare neglect any courtesy. He ordered his companions to gather the bodies of their fallen clansmen, then stood respectfully with the survivors to await their benefactors.
After a breath or two, the figures in the snow came clearly into view.
They were two men. One wore a black fur cloak and the other a fiery-red one, and both had hoods concealing their faces. Yet their bearing was markedly different.
One glance was enough to tell they were not to be provoked lightly.
Feng Qi drew a deep breath, hurried forward, and bowed. “Feng Qi of the Feng clan thanks you both for saving our lives!”
He could tell that they were both Golden Core cultivators; otherwise they would not need such thick fur cloaks on the icefield.
Yet their abilities vastly exceeded those of his own group.
The man in the fiery-red cloak removed his hood, revealing a gentle, handsome face.
He looked like a young man, and his eyes seemed youthful as well.
That was enough to demonstrate his exceptional aptitude. Surely he possessed many other abilities too.
The young man smiled slightly. “Fellow Daoist Feng, it was a small matter. You needn’t mention it.”
Feng Qi felt somewhat reassured, but dared not relax completely. “May I ask the honored names of my two benefactors?”
However approachable this young man looked, Feng Qi could not forget those terrifying vines.
The man’s expression remained gentle. “I am Xu Ziqing, and this is my Dao companion, Yun Lie.”
Feng Qi could not help glancing at the man in black. His icy aura fit perfectly into the snowy surroundings, yet made Feng Qi want to stay as far away from him as possible. After regaining his composure, he said, “Fellow Daoists Xu and Yun, I belong to the Feng clan and have a little influence there. I don’t know what has brought you here, but if there is anything in which Feng Qi can be of service, I will not refuse.”
He had already promised a reward, and now he dared not go back on his word.
He thought it better to offer his assistance before these powerful men became displeased, thereby leaving a favorable impression.
Xu Ziqing noticed this and was indeed favorably impressed.
As it happened, he did need someone familiar with the icefield who could answer his questions.
Several days earlier, after he and Yun Lie entered the Desolate Snow Icefield, they had followed the clues recorded in the jade talismans in search of Southern Melting Extreme Water.
According to the reports, someone had once found an icy spring deep within a snowy forest in a hollow between snow mountains. Its cold had reached such an extreme that it generated heat. At its very center was a warm current, and deep within that current formed a little extremely hot water: Southern Melting Extreme Water.
A cultivator had witnessed this long ago. Mistaking the water for an ordinary yang-attribute water, he had taken some away. Only after trading it for resources and having it appraised did he learn that it contained some extreme-yang divine water! He was filled with regret and returned to the icefield, but could not find the spring again.
The incident itself, however, became an important report on the possible origins of divine water and eventually reached the Zhoutian Immortal Sect.
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie had spent many days searching snowy mountains. They found several icy springs, but none lay in an icefield ancient enough or possessed enough cold to produce heat from its extreme chill.
Only then did Xu Ziqing fully appreciate how difficult the search was.
Of the several possible locations, the Desolate Snow Icefield had originally seemed the most promising, yet the search here was already so difficult. Still, too little time had passed to give up. If they failed to find anything after some more days, they could no longer linger and would have to investigate another lead.
Thus the two had been on their way to try another mountain when they happened to hear cries for help.
They did not hesitate much. Demon beasts were about to eat people, and as fellow human cultivators, they naturally chose to save them first.
Their rescue seemed to have left the man genuinely grateful, however, and Xu Ziqing began to consider an idea.
What if he could get help from someone who had lived on the icefield all along…?