Chapter 14: Snowflakes Like Knives (Part 2)

  One night of practice, all things peaceful.

  When Leixing Xingfeng woke up, he found that those two groups of people had already left. He asked: "Uncle Ying, when did they leave?"

  "Let's go, we've been here for a while, it's time for us to leave too."

  Lei Xingfeng nodded and said, "Mm, I don't know how far we'll be walking today." He stood up and adjusted his clothes, coat, and hat.

  Xin Zhaolun had everything ready and said, "Let's go, today we have to cross the Heigou Ice Valley, it's relatively dangerous, everyone cheer up, each of you eat some dry rations, no time for cooking."

  Everyone took out the cooked food they had brought with them, such as braised meat and other ready-to-eat dishes, and quickly started eating.

  Lei Xingfeng was well-prepared, and what he took out was a rice ball sandwiched with braised meat, which he quickly swallowed. This kind of dry ration was something everyone had prepared, after all, when outdoors, there were many times when it wasn't suitable to start a fire and cook.

  In just ten minutes, Xin Zhaolun said: "Alright, let's go. We'd rather leave early. Who knows what unexpected things might happen along the way? With a bit more time, we can be more at ease." He was experienced and everyone naturally followed his lead.

  As they walked out of the cave, Lei Xingfeng exclaimed in surprise: "Huh, it's snowing!"

  Xin Zhaolun couldn't help but curse, you know that the snow here is different from other places, because the wind here is extremely fierce. Once it snows, the snowflakes are like knives, if the quality of the sheepskin coat is not good, it will definitely be torn to shreds in the strong wind.

  The crowd was tied together with ropes, the hammer head raised its huge hammer and blocked it in front of its face. The snowflakes hit the hammer head, making a metallic collision sound.

  Lei Xingfeng couldn't help but curse and said: "I'll be damned... how evil!" He flipped his wrist, and a steel shield appeared in his hand, saying: "Uncle Eagle, this is for you."

  The mad eagle laughed and took it over, saying: "You actually still have this kind of thing."

  Lei Xingfeng handed a shield to Shi Hu, and he himself also took out a shield to block the snowflakes that were stabbing towards him.

  Anyway, no need to look at the road, with a rope leading the way, a group of people won't get lost, of course, on the premise that the leader doesn't get lost.

  "Today's road is not easy to walk."

  Lei Xingfeng buried his head behind the shield, his eyes fixed on the ground beneath his feet, following Crazy Eagle's lead in a slow and cautious manner.

  This road is several times more difficult to walk than yesterday. Yesterday, it was the wind that made people unbearable, but today, in addition to the wind, there are also snowflakes mixed with the wind. The snowflakes here are completely different from those seen before at Lei Xing Peak, and even different from those seen at Hu Ya Bao. To be more accurate, what's falling here should be called ice flakes, which are not only hard but also have extremely sharp edges. They swirl rapidly in the wind, like countless small knives flying through the air.

  Snowflakes hit the shield, clanging loudly, and Leixing Peak couldn't help but complain: "This isn't snow, it's knives! Knives aren't even this fierce!"

  The mad eagle laughed and said, "This is just snowing, if it's hailing, that's what's really uncomfortable. Of course, with our skills, we're not afraid, but when that thing falls down, it's quite scary, and we have to rely on defense to resist..."

  Lei Xingfeng and Crazy Eagle cooperated, with Crazy Eagle's shield in front and Lei Xingfeng's shield on top, covering the two of them. In fact, with their cultivation, they wouldn't have cared about these snowflakes, even if they were real knives - they weren't afraid. But their leather robes couldn't withstand it, and after a long time, they would really be torn apart by the snowflakes. In this kind of place, without thick leather robes to block them, even they wouldn't be able to withstand it.

  Fortunately, there is a hooded leather hat that can cover the mouth, so it's okay to talk, just need to speak loudly for others to hear.

  After walking for about two hours, Xin Zhaolun said: "There is a shelter ahead, let's rest and then continue! We are about to enter the Box Gorge Glacier, it's more dangerous there, everyone cheer up!"

  Soon, everyone arrived at a place with an ice cliff crack. Here, three sides had ice walls, only the top and entrance were empty. Looking at the snowflakes being blown out in the strong wind, leaving white marks, everyone entered the crack, and suddenly that biting cold feeling was greatly reduced.

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Alright, taking this opportunity, everyone eat a bit more dry rations, take a slight breather, and then we'll continue on."

  In a place like this, food is very important. As long as their stomachs are full of food and they are cultivators, they can withstand such cold weather.

  Consuming food is more important than consuming one's own physical strength and combat power. Physical strength and combat power are the foundation of maintaining fighting capacity, and if they are wasted unnecessarily, once danger arises, it will be really miserable. Xinzhaolun has a lot of experience with this kind of thing, and as long as he has the opportunity, he will keep letting everyone eat.

  In everyone's wheel storage space, there is ready-made food that has been prepared long ago. As for the hammer and battle-axe, they were all prepared by Xin Zhaolun. The two indigenous people didn't have a wheel storage space to use, so they had to carry everything themselves. Of course, since Xin Zhaolun hired them, they didn't need to worry about food either.

  Lei Xingfeng had prepared a lot of cold dishes, especially various sauces and braised meats, and had prepared a large pile. The Crazy Eagle and the Tiger also did the same, preparing a large amount of food. Even Jin Daya, who was half dead, took out meat to eat.

  Mad Eagle took out a roasted duck, and with a flash of red in his hand, the entire roasted duck suddenly emitted hot air. Before he could eat two mouthfuls, the duck became as hard as steel. In this cold place, it only took a few breaths to freeze the hot duck into something as hard as iron. Therefore, every time Mad Eagle took a bite, his palm would flash once.

  Lei Xingfeng didn't have to be so extravagant, the meat he took out was all processed and about the size of a child's fist, it could be directly stuffed into his mouth. Every time, a small arc of electricity would flash in the palm of his hand, instantly heating up the piece of meat.

  After eating over ten pieces of meat and drinking a few mouthfuls of wine, Lei Xingfeng finally finished this replenishment. In fact, these things were just enough to fill their stomachs. They didn't have time to linger for long. Xin Zhaolun said, "Alright, let's get ready, we're going to enter the Box Gorge Glacier."

  Heigou Glacier, over 120 kilometers long and more than 30 kilometers wide. Fortunately, Xinzhaolun and his group were going to cross it, not follow its length. At their speed, they couldn't cover over 120 kilometers in a day, especially in such harsh weather conditions. Even if they were cultivators or high-level masters, being able to travel 80 kilometers in a day would be impressive. In reality, being able to travel 50 kilometers on the glacier was already something to smile about.

  This is also one of the reasons they dare not delay their time, they must quickly cross the glacier.

  As soon as they entered the glacier, Xin Zhaolun gathered everyone around him, forming a small circle. He said: "To make a long story short, remember two points. First... hurry up and don't stay. Second, once you encounter danger, whether it's human or beast, use all your strength to strike back, not seeking to kill the enemy, just seeking to repel them with one blow. Of course, killing them is even better. Don't get entangled, don't chase after them. Got it?"

  Lei Xingfeng's heart skipped a beat, but he restrained himself and didn't ask any questions. He simply replied: "Got it!"

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Alright, Hammerhead, you and I will walk together in a row. In narrow places, just point the way, I'll go first, you follow behind!"

  Hammer head said succinctly: "Good!"

  When everyone was on their way, Lei Xingfeng asked, "Eagle Uncle, are there wild beasts here?"

  "Yes, and many."

  Lei Xingfeng was speechless, and he said: "How is it possible... In this kind of weather, even humans can barely survive, how can there be wild beasts living here?" Before he came, he had always thought that this place was similar to Hu Yanbao's place, but when he walked into the ice field, he immediately dispelled this idea. It was too cold, and he couldn't think of any wild beast that could live in such weather.

  "Frenzied Eagle said: 'The wild beasts here, hmm, are ready to say that they can't be called wild beasts anymore, but rather special ice beasts. There's a considerable number of them and their strength is formidable.'"

  Lei Xingfeng said in confusion: "We've come all this way, but we haven't even seen one of these... uh, ice beasts."

  The mad eagle laughed and said, "This is normal, you think the ice beast is like the wild beasts on the mountain, everywhere, right? One ice beast occupies a territory of at least tens of kilometers. In this vast snowstorm, all smells are blown away. Even if they are separated by hundreds of meters, it's hard for them to meet."

  Lei Xingfeng also counted as a formidable hunter, he said: "That is to say, unless it's face-to-face, otherwise it's very difficult to encounter the Ice Beast."

  "Furious Eagle said: 'That's right, and even if we fight, as long as one side deliberately leaves, the other side will find it very difficult to track down. Most importantly, this is not the hunting season now, even if there are ice beasts, they have all hidden themselves.'"

  Lei Xingfeng raised his eyes and looked around, only to see steep ice pillars and icy cliffs everywhere. The snowflakes blown by the wind drew white lines in his field of vision, but he couldn't see clearly from a distance. He was puzzled: "I don't know what method Hammerhead uses to identify directions."

  "So when you're in the wilderness, it's essential to have a local guide and also protect them."

  "Oh, I see, I understand now."

  It wasn't the hunting season, so Leixingfeng pondered where the ice beasts would hide. After thinking for half a day without getting anywhere, he couldn't figure out the reason and stopped thinking about it, focusing on following the team forward instead.

  Xin Zhaolun charged forward, holding a steel shield in his hand. This was because he had seen Leixingfeng use a shield and thought it was great, so he asked Leixingfeng for one. He didn't have such a low-level weapon.

  The creaking sound kept coming, and Lei Xingfeng's scalp felt numb as he couldn't help but ask: "What the hell is this sound? Why do I feel a chill down my spine?"

  "Those were the sounds of ice cracking," said Hsi Hu behind him.

  Lei Xingfeng looked up and couldn't help but sigh: "If this thing collapses, we'll be in for it."

  "Nothing to worry about, with two 9th-rank and two 8th-rank cultivators here, no matter what kind of ice pillar or ice cliff collapses, we can just shatter them." As soon as he finished speaking, a continuous cracking sound could be heard from the front.

  Xin Zhaolun's voice came from the front: "Everyone be careful!"