The deeper they went, the denser the extreme cold fiend energy became, until even the stone walls were covered in blue-white ice.
Before they had gone far, waves of spiritual magic fluctuations and the roars of ferocious beasts suddenly echoed from ahead.
Accompanied by a few screams, Su Yueli raised an eyebrow.
Clearly, other cultivators were hunting demon beasts and locked in a fierce battle.
Jiang Yunsheng stopped and looked ahead. He saw several cultivators of the Fifth or Sixth Realm driven into a corner by a Seventh Realm Ice Plains Giant Bear. They were covered in wounds, on the verge of losing their lives to the beast's maw.
Jiang Yunsheng raised his eyebrows slightly and shot a glance at the guard beside him.
Understanding the silent cue, Pang Lie's figure blurred. He raised his hand and unleashed a palm print through the air.
Boom!
Violent Tenth Realm spiritual energy swept out. The arrogant Seventh Realm giant bear didn't even have time to whimper before it was instantly turned into a pulp of meat.
The surviving cultivators stared in a daze. Once they clearly recognized Jiang Yunsheng, they were overjoyed.
They scrambled over, falling to their knees to kowtow and thank him. “Thank you, Crown Prince Highness, for saving our lives! Thank you, Your Highness!”
Jiang Yunsheng gracefully snapped his folding fan shut and waved his hand with a smile. “You are all cultivators of our Great Qian Dynasty. No need for such formality. Take your things and leave quickly.”
The group thanked him repeatedly. Just as they were about to depart, their gazes inadvertently swept over Su Yueli and Han Yu standing in the rear.
Especially when they saw Su Yueli's stunning, flawless face, they froze on the spot, their eyes widening slightly.
Once they had walked some distance away, they could not suppress their curiosity and began to whisper among themselves.
“Heavens... who on earth is that blue-robed woman? With such breathtaking beauty, could she be a Holy Maiden from some great family or a hidden sacred ground?”
“Impossible! Look closely, she doesn't have the slightest ripple of spiritual energy on her. She's clearly just a mortal martial artist!”
“A mortal martial artist? Could it be... she's the Crown Prince's newly favored consort? Tsk tsk, no wonder the Crown Prince personally brought her into such a dangerous place.”
Although they kept their voices very low, given the cultivation levels of the group present, every word was heard loud and clear.
Hearing their self-righteous gossip, Su Yueli felt a headache coming on, and a trace of displeasure quietly arose in her heart.
She turned her head slightly and cast a cold glare at the gossiping cultivators.
This glare was plain, lacking even a shred of killing intent.
Yet, the whispering cultivators felt as if they had been struck by lightning!
In their perception, the surrounding world seemed to collapse in an instant. Standing before them was no fragile woman, but a terrifying, colossal beast awakening from the primordial era, staring down at them with a bloody maw!
An unspeakable suffocation of death surged into their hearts. Their faces turned deathly pale as they swallowed hard.
“A demon... she's a demon! Run!”
They shrieked in terror and scrambled to flee out of the abyss, wishing they had been born with extra legs.
Su Yueli withdrew her gaze, her expression returning to its usual calm. She looked at Jiang Yunsheng and said, “Your Highness's guard is indeed powerful. Let us head inside quickly.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yunsheng's brow furrowed slightly.
In that fleeting instant just now, he had faintly sensed a hair-raising pressure from Su Yueli.
Though the feeling vanished in the blink of an eye—so quickly that he thought it was an illusion—it still left a seed of doubt in his mind.
How could a mortal martial artist with no spiritual energy possess such intimidating pressure?
Coupled with her mind-boggling physical speed over the past two days...
Jiang Yunsheng studied Su Yueli, his doubts growing deeper. He felt that this woman harbored more and more secrets, which only made his desire to possess her burn even more intensely.
The group continued to venture deeper.
Along the way, Su Yueli asked casually, “By the way, Crown Prince Jiang, what exactly are you looking to obtain by entering this abyss?”
Jiang Yunsheng smiled, a hint of pride in his voice. “To be honest, this prince is here to hunt an extreme cold ferocious beast and take the crystal horn growing on its head. That horn contains the essence of extreme ice, which is of great use to the cultivation technique this prince practices.”
Hearing this, Su Yueli's eyes flickered slightly.
The horn of an extreme cold ferocious beast?
According to ancient records, the guardian beast protecting the Grade Eight Nine-Leaf Nirvana Ice Marrow happened to have a unique, singular ice crystal horn on its head.
It seemed their goals had been aligned in the exact same location from the very beginning.
Su Yueli did not expose this, merely nodding slightly. “I see.”
Fifteen minutes later.
The four of them finally arrived at the core underground cavern of the Ice Soul Abyss.
It was terrifyingly cold here. The ice crystals on the ground glowed with an eerie, deep blue hue. In the center of the cavern, atop a massive block of ice soul, a strange icy herb floated quietly, radiating a nine-colored halo.
It was indeed the Nine-Leaf Nirvana Ice Marrow!
“We're here.”
Su Yueli's eyes lit up. She turned to Han Yu and instructed, “Disciple, stay where you are and do not move.”
With that, she stepped forward, walking straight to the ice soul, and casually plucked the Nine-Leaf Nirvana Ice Marrow.
The process was so smooth it was almost surprising.
However, before Jiang Yunsheng and his guard could even react, the entire underground cavern shook violently!
Rumble!
The ice wall behind them shattered, and a colossal beast, as massive as a small hill, burst out from the depths of the ice layer!
The beast was entirely covered in hard, deep-blue scales, exuding a terrifying aura comparable to the Tenth Realm mid stage. At the center of its forehead, a crystal horn shone with dazzling brilliance!
“Roar!”
Seeing its guarded treasure stolen, the beast flew into a violent rage. It opened its massive maw, carrying a devastating, murderous aura as it lunged straight at Su Yueli, who was closest to it!
This sudden turn of events turned Han Yu's face pale with fear, and she cried out, “Master, watch out!”
Seeing Su Yueli standing frozen in place, Jiang Yunsheng assumed she was paralyzed by the pressure of the Tenth Realm beast. He quickly shouted, “Pang Lie! Save her!”
Pang Lie did not dare to delay. With a loud roar, he unleashed his full peak Tenth Realm spiritual energy, turning into a streak of golden light that blocked Su Yueli's front. He slammed a palm toward the lunging Tenth Realm beast!
Boom!
A powerful shockwave exploded in the cavern. Pang Lie and the beast clashed head-on, both forced back several steps.
Shielded behind him, Su Yueli's lips could not help but twitch.
Save her?
Looking at Pang Lie standing righteously in front of her, Su Yueli felt utterly helpless.
It was merely a mid stage Tenth Realm demon beast. Even if Pang Lie hadn't intervened, she could have reduced it to dust with a punch or two.
Seeing Su Yueli's strange expression from a distance, Jiang Yunsheng assumed she was just being stubborn and trying to save face, prompting a smile from him.
In his eyes, this woman was like an untamed filly. Even though she was clearly terrified to death, she still refused to back down or show weakness in her words and expressions.
Yet, this temperament had a unique charm to it.
Jiang Yunsheng swayed his folding fan, a faint, condescendingly relaxed smile gracing his lips as he ordered Pang Lie:
“Commander Pang, slay this beast quickly. Do not let it frighten Miss Su.”
“Uh...”
Pang Lie was momentarily taken aback, then nodded.
However, as a Tenth Realm cultivator himself, quickly killing this demon beast that had guarded the herb for so many years would likely prove quite difficult.
Rate on N.U.
