Chapter Twelve: Hammer and Axe Fall

  "Brother Eagle, Brother Tiger, how many more seals do you need to advance to the ninth rank?"

  "Perhaps ten, perhaps eight, it's hard to say, only... where can we get so many seal rings, this is an impossible thing."

  Lei Xingfeng said: "The seal ring is here with me, it's just an ancient seal ring, hmm, I don't know if it can be used?"

  The mad eagle and the tiger were also at a loss, neither of them understood. Lei Xingfeng took out an ancient ring, which was the gold ring he had collected earlier.

  The ancient ring was just a strange gold ring before the seal was erased, and the two of them looked at it and examined it for half a day. The mad eagle even tried to cultivate with the ancient ring, but found no effect. He said: "Maybe we can only use it after unsealing, hum, to unseal, we must find... Old Master Gu." This so-called Old Master Gu was actually Lei Xingfeng's master.

  Lei Xingfeng nodded and said, "Mm, maybe we can use the ancient seal ring to exchange some of the seal rings that you can currently use with your ancestors. This way, you can advance to the ninth rank as soon as possible, which would make me feel more at ease..."

  Feng Ying and Shi Hu felt the concern of Lei Xingfeng, thanked him happily, chatted for a while before leaving, each returning to their room to cultivate.

  After Leixingfeng and the others left, he added a few more charcoal to the charcoal basin, poked it with fire tongs, and gradually increased the temperature. Only then did he sit on the thick animal skin cushion and start cultivating.

  As soon as he started cultivating, Lei Xingfeng immediately felt the difference. It was indeed very ordinary here, and the wheel of power in his body had already begun to rotate rapidly, gradually converting into seal power. Although the speed couldn't be compared with that when cultivating on a rainy day, it was at least nearly twice as fast as usual cultivation. No wonder this place, despite being extremely cold, still had cultivators who were eager to come in.

  One night of cultivation, Lei Xingfeng was very surprised. It's not easy to encounter a thunderstorm day, as he had thought before that it would be easy to find one. However, the number of times he could actually encounter a thunderstorm day were countable on his fingers. Although each time brought him great surprise, cultivation still relied on daily accumulation and unremitting efforts in ordinary times.

  The next day, everyone made great gains. Even Miao Ling, who had wanted to leave the most, didn't mention leaving again during breakfast. One night of cultivation here was equivalent to several days of cultivation in the secret space, not to mention the outside world, where the difference was really too great.

  Xin Zhaolun finished his breakfast and left in a hurry, while the others returned to their rooms to continue their cultivation. Once they discovered that the effect of cultivating here was extremely good, no one wanted to waste any time.

  After two days of cultivation, Lei Xingfeng felt that it was not suitable to continue. At this time, Xin Zhaolun had already returned, bringing a friend back with him, also a nine-ring true body master, named Jin Daya, friends called him Daxia or Jin Daya. This is an old man who looks very old, his eyes seem to never open, extremely thin and small in stature, standing next to the hammer head, he just reached the waist, the difference between the two was huge.

  However, Jin Deya was very polite to everyone, especially to Lei Xingfeng and Miao Ling, even with a hint of flattery. Lei Xingfeng felt a bit puzzled, as Jin Deya's strength didn't need to fawn on him at all.

  Finally, the mad eagle saw Lei Xingfeng's doubts and quietly explained: "Actually, he is trying to curry favor with you... He just wants to get the imprint ring, knowing that you are a disciple of the secret door, having the opportunity to get the imprint ring, he naturally doesn't dare to offend you."

  Lei Xingfeng wondered: "What's the use of Ring Imprint if it can only advance to nine rings? He is already at nine rings, what's the point of Ring Imprint?"

  Before Crazy Eagle could respond, Tiger Addict said: "It's not for promotion, but to prolong his life... one seal ring is enough for him to live two or three more years."

  Lei Xingfeng was surprised: "Does Yin Huan still have this use?"

  "Right," said the mad eagle, nodding its head. "Although the Seal Ring was originally used to prolong life with great effect, using it too much reduces its effectiveness. Even so, one Seal Ring can still extend one's lifespan by several months. Who among these Nine-Ringed experts wouldn't want to live a bit longer? And if they could advance in rank, that would be a completely different story. Of course, such good fortune is almost impossible."

  "Indeed, True Monarch can live for at least two thousand years, it's just that advancing to True Monarch is really too difficult."

  Lei Xingfeng said: "My master has nine disciples, at least half of them can advance to the True Lord?"

  The mad eagle let out a bitter laugh and said: "If there's one... that would be impressive enough, heh heh, if there are two, then it would truly be a miracle."

  Lei Xingfeng was secretly shocked, he didn't think it would be so difficult to advance from the Ninth Ring to the True Lord.

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Get ready, we're going into the mountains."

  ……

  The heavy snow-capped mountains, from the foot of the mountain, are truly breathtaking.

  The mountainous area is about over a hundred kilometers away from Hanshao Fortress, and it only takes around half an hour to fly there. However, due to the strong winds in the mountains, cultivators are not suitable for flying, and must rely on their two legs to walk. Of course, low-altitude flight is still possible. The wind here is very fierce, and the whistling sound is truly terrifying.

  Hiss! Hiss! Hiss......

  The wind was sharp as a whistle, and when it blew on the body, it was like a knife cutting. Everyone was wrapped in thick leather coats, but even so, they had to open up their defenses a little, it was really too cold.

  Lei Xingfeng was well-prepared, wearing thick velvet undergarments, then a barbarian leather armor, which was very special and could withstand the extreme cold. Outside the leather armor was a beast skin coat, and on his head he wore a fur hat that resembled a hood, covering his entire head, neck and shoulders, only revealing his two eyes, even his mouth and nose were protected.

  Even so, Lei Xingfeng was still shivering with cold, walking with difficulty and complaining loudly: "This wind... is too damn cold!"

  Hammerhead laughed and said, "You outsiders are too weak, can't even withstand this little cold wind. Hehe, if you encounter the White Hair Wind, I reckon you'll freeze to death."

  These two men made others very envious, wearing a thick leather robe with a thin layer of leather clothing inside, their hands and faces were completely exposed, but they wore a leather hat on their heads, which only protected their ears and the back of their neck.

  Lei Xingfeng wore thick, solid leather gloves and would occasionally spark a bit of lightning, his hands flickering with tiny arcs of electricity that made soft crackling sounds to warm up his palms, otherwise they would be completely stiff.

  The snow on the ground was not thick, but due to the strong winds, the snow on the ground was as hard as steel and would not let people sink into it.

  A rope binds everyone together, with a hammer leading the way in front and an axe bringing up the rear, while all others are in between.

  "Up ahead there's a cave under the cliff face," Hammerhead said loudly. "We can only make it this far today, we can't keep going."

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Hammerhead, you arrange it, no need to ask me!"

  "Alright! Speed up a bit, we must arrive there before nightfall!"

  Lei Xingfeng muttered: "It's dark and can't get there... will we freeze to death?"

  "Right, after dark, no one dares to be active in the wild, even locals."

  "Locals... aren't you afraid of the cold?"

  "Once you reach a certain limit, even if you're a local, you'll still be done for."

  After walking for about two hours, I saw a steep cliff that pierced the clouds, with crystal clear icicles hanging on it, layer upon layer.

  Hammerhead shouted loudly: "We're almost there, everyone add a bit of strength, hehe, once we get to the cave, we can eat!" He's just a foodie, always thinking about eating every day, so tempting him doesn't require anything else, just use food and it's enough.

  Xin Zhaolun was in front of Kuang Fu, Jin Deya followed behind the hammer head, then came Feng Ying, Lei Xingfeng, Shi Hu, a total of seven people. The reason for this arrangement is that once they encounter danger, Jin Deya can be responsible for the safety of the hammer head, Xin Zhaolun can take care of Kuang Fu's safety, and Feng Ying and Shi Hu can take care of Lei Xingfeng's safety. Among the seven people, four can fly, which is enough to ensure the safety of the other three.

  The wind grew louder and the speed faster, the hammerhead walking in front had to use a heavy sledgehammer to hold down his body, while others held steel spears, every step they took, they had to stab the spear into the hard ground like steel.

  They say a horse dies on the mountain pass when it sees its destination but can't reach it. The cliff looks near at hand, yet after more than an hour of walking, I still haven't reached it.

  Fortunately, they were all skilled practitioners, and the two local aborigines were also quite capable. Before dark, an hour later, they finally arrived at the foot of the cliff.

  After walking along the cliff for a while, he heard the pickaxe cheer and had already found the cave on the cliff.

  Hammerhead exclaimed loudly: "We're here! Haha, I can finally rest, I'm exhausted!" Even he couldn't take it anymore.

  Everyone untied their ropes and walked into the cave.

  The entrance of the cave was hung with icicles like a curtain, but on one side there was a big gap, revealing the entrance.

  Hammerhead said, "Luckily, there's no delay today. This stop is the most difficult to get through. If we encounter any obstacles along the way, we'll have to starve and freeze." Even he was extremely afraid of traveling at night.

  Lei Xingfeng walked into the cave, and suddenly felt a warm breath rushing towards him. He grabbed his hat off and let out a long sigh, saying: "Wow, I can finally breathe freely! Damn it, the air outside is like needles stabbing me when I inhale."

  "Here, no one dares to stay outdoors for a long time, we are already very great."

  Hammerhead laughed: "You guys are quite strong, some outsiders don't even dare to leave their own courtyard too far away, afraid that they won't be able to return to their room in time and freeze to death, haha."

  The cave extended downward, a very deep fissure. The entrance still had cold wind blowing in, so they had to go deeper into the cave to withstand the harsh weather. As they walked down along the cave, just after turning a corner, Hammer raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

  Lei Xingfeng immediately heard a faint sound coming from deep within the cave.

  "Someone!" Hammerhead whispered.