hree thousand miles away from the Ice Palace, there is a vast expanse of white snow forest. The ancient pines are all wrapped in frost, and the branches are covered with a thick layer of snow. When the biting wind blows, the snow falls from the branches and leaves.
A white rabbit cautiously peeked out from the snowy forest, looking around. When it saw a black hole suddenly torn open in the sky, its fur stood on end in fright, and it immediately darted into the forest.
"boom!"
A black portal suddenly tore open in the void, and a handsome sixteen-year-old boy dressed in snow-white clothes flew out of the portal. He breathed a sigh of relief and secretly sighed that he was lucky not to be caught in the spatial vortex and was teleported safely.
But soon, Wu Heng discovered something even more tragic. Looking down, he realized he was suspended a hundred meters in the air, with a vast expanse of white snow forest below. Suddenly, he was pulled by gravity and his body plummeted downwards at high speed.
"Ah..." A bloodcurdling scream echoed deep within the snowy forest.
"Damn it, they even claimed to be an ancient teleportation array, but they actually teleported me to a hundred meters in the void..." Wu Heng was bruised and swollen from the fall, with a human-shaped snow pit more than a meter deep beneath him.
If it weren't for his powerful divine body, he would probably be dead by now.
He struggled to climb out of the snow pit. Wu Heng's once handsome face was now a terrible sight. His face was black, and he cursed Ice Soul Frost Flame for being so wicked.
"Hmph, the ancient teleportation array is inherently mysterious and unpredictable. It's already lucky that it didn't send you into a spatial vortex. And yet you're still complaining." Ice Soul Frost Flame's tone was tough, but he was a little uneasy inside. He sighed, "It seems that even after thousands of years of not using this array, I can't help but make a mistake!"
Ice Soul Frost Flame's voice was no longer the cold, empty one it once was; it was now more like the voice of a woman, as beautiful as heavenly music.
"Huh? Why does your voice sound like a female animal?" Wu Heng asked himself, quite curiously.
"Fool, your voice sounds more like a male animal." The Ice Soul Frost Flame exuded a chilling aura, and Wu Heng shivered involuntarily, since the Frost Flame was still residing in his body.
The more he listened, the more it sounded like a woman's voice. Wu Heng wondered, could the spiritual fire of heaven and earth also have male and female aspects?
Ice Soul Frost Flame naturally knew what Wu Heng was thinking, and her mind was filled with black lines. If she were to regain her strength, the first thing she would do was to kill Wu Heng.
Unable to suppress the filthy thoughts in Wu Heng's mind, the Ice Soul Flame transformed into a dark blue light, flying out from Wu Heng's chest and turning into a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a blue dress.
Wu Heng was dumbfounded. He never expected that the Heavenly Spirit Fire could transform into a human form.
"Hmph, you are truly ignorant. In the ancient times, almost all powerful beings could transform into human form. Although you humans are the weakest race, it must be said that your appearance is the most perfect of all races," Ice Soul Frost Flame explained.
Her skin was as clear and translucent as white jade, her eyes were like autumn water, her figure was light and graceful, and her slender fingers were like a perfect work of art sculpted by God. They were wrapped in a thin blue dress, and her graceful figure was faintly visible. She was very beautiful and made Wu Heng's blood boil.
"Am I beautiful?" Ice Soul Frost Flame, transformed into a beautiful woman, asked in a charming voice. Every smile and frown of hers was incredibly alluring, and her flawless and exquisite face could instantly petrify any man in the world.
"Beautiful!" Wu Heng couldn't bear to blink and nodded involuntarily.
Her beautiful hair danced in the wind, her clothes fluttered, and a fragrance wafted over, captivating Wu Heng.
Finally, Wu Heng came to a conclusion and muttered to himself, "A beauty is indeed a beauty. Even if she hasn't bathed for thousands of years, her hair is still fragrant and her skin is as smooth as cream!"
"You bastard, who are you saying hasn't bathed for thousands of years?" Hearing Wu Heng's mutterings, Ice Soul Flame, who had transformed into a beautiful woman, was furious, her eyes flashing with murderous intent.
"No, no, I misspoke..." Wu Heng immediately begged for forgiveness. It's better to offend a petty person than a woman. This is indeed a wise saying. Women are quick to want to kill, which is terrifying.
"By the way, what's your name? I can't exactly call you Ice Soul Frost Flame from now on!" Wu Heng said with a fawning smile, practically drooling.
"In ancient times, I had a title, Snowflake…" Snowflake recalled her past memories, and a sad expression appeared on her beautiful face. Back then, she followed the Great Emperor to sweep across the world, but now she is all alone.
"Great, Snowflake, great name!" Wu Heng grinned foolishly, thinking to himself, "Now I can take a beautiful girl with me everywhere I go to cultivate!"
"Kid, you'd better keep your eyes open, or I'll gouge them out and feed them to the dogs. Anyway, I only need your body to heal my injuries; I don't care about anything else." Xuehua regained her indifferent expression. For a beauty of unparalleled beauty to have such an expression, the story behind her must be very rich.
"A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman; even when she's angry, she's breathtakingly beautiful." Wu Heng chuckled to himself, feeling rather lewd. But he quickly withdrew his undisguised, fiery gaze; he didn't want to miss tomorrow's sunrise.
Unbeknownst to him, a heavy snowfall began to fall in the forest. The howling mountain wind made Wu Heng's long robe flutter in the wind as he walked through the snow-covered forest, leaving snow footprints with each step.
Wu Heng had been to this place before with cultivators from the Wu family. It was a region teeming with demonic beasts and fraught with danger. Powerful demonic beasts could even reach the Xuan rank. If he encountered one, he would surely die.
Of course, the most terrifying thing in this region is not encountering demonic beasts, but encountering human cultivators. There are no laws of heaven and earth here, only the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, and almost everyone engages in murder and plunder.
The cultivators who live in the snowy forests are basically mercenaries who live on the edge of a knife. They travel in groups to hunt down valuable treasures from monsters. Of course, they don't mind sweeping away the precious items that weak groups have worked hard for over a few months or even a year. The ruthless ones will even wipe out the weak groups in this world to prevent others from seeking revenge in the future.
Therefore, Wu Heng needed to find a relatively safe place to settle down before dark so he could repair the chain. As for why Wu Heng was in such a hurry to repair the chain, it was because just now, Xuehua had told him some exciting news: she could help him break through the second level of the mortal realm and reach the third level.
He began cultivating at the age of six and had already reached the second level of the mortal realm by the age of seven. Now, nearly ten years have passed, yet he has made no further breakthroughs. Now that there is hope of breaking free from these shackles, Wu Heng's blood is boiling, and his eyes are filled with anticipation.
As for why Xuehua wanted to help Wu Heng, according to her, she needed Wu Heng to become stronger quickly, otherwise, relying on Wu Heng's current weak strength to recover from his injuries, he would never be able to return to his peak strength in his lifetime.
Actually, she had been hiding an important reason, but Xuehua felt it was too early to tell Wu Heng now.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and Wu Heng's body was completely covered by the white snow. He walked mechanically through the snowy forest like a snowman. However, at this moment, Wu Heng's expression became solemn because he sensed a dangerous killing intent.
"Woo woo woo..." The heart-wrenching roar of the giant bear suddenly came from afar. Wu Heng immediately hid himself. Undeterred by the severe cold, he buried himself under the snow, seemingly blending into the world and becoming difficult to observe.
A severely injured giant snow bear stood upright and ran towards Wu Heng with heavy steps. Its several-ton body caused the earth to tremble slightly.
"A demonic beast at the first level of the Day After Tomorrow realm, I must be careful." Wu Heng carefully concealed his aura. If the Ice and Snow Giant Bear dared to get within half a meter of him, he would burst out of the snow and kill the Ice and Snow Giant Bear with one blow.
"Hmph, where do you think you can escape to, you beast!" A middle-aged cultivator chased after him with a sword in hand. Suddenly, a powerful burst of essence erupted from his body, and the immortal sword in his hand transformed into a stream of light, slashing towards the giant ice and snow bear.
Wu Heng's eyesight was astonishing; he immediately discerned the man's cultivation level: the second level of the Acquired Realm. He inwardly cursed his luck. In this snowy forest, encountering a human cultivator was far more dangerous than encountering a demonic beast, especially one whose cultivation was a whole realm higher than his.
The three-meter-tall snow bear, seeing its powerful enemy in pursuit, panicked and ran forward frantically, letting out heart-wrenching roars. Suddenly, the immortal sword, transformed into a stream of light, pierced through the snow bear's thick layer of fat, the sword stained with blood, emerging from the snow bear's belly.
"puff!"
Blood splattered everywhere. The already heavily injured snow bear could no longer hold on, let out a defiant roar, and collapsed. The snow bear's corpse lay less than three meters from where Wu Heng was hiding. Wu Heng felt a sense of relief; thankfully, the snow bear hadn't run a few more steps, otherwise he would have been forced to reveal himself.
The middle-aged cultivator walked through the snow, his eyes filled with fervent light. He had personally witnessed the snow bear, which originally had no cultivation, consume a rare elixir of heaven and earth, and its strength instantly surged, directly reaching the Acquired Realm, with a hint of a breakthrough in sight. He immediately attacked, severely wounding the giant snow bear and chasing it to this place.
Unfortunately, the celestial herb had already been devoured by the dead snow bear; otherwise, he could have sold it and lived a life of luxury. Cultivators like these, who live a life of bloodshed in the snowy forests, are generally those who haven't awakened their Dao Soul, possessing inferior talent and no hope of breaking through to higher levels. They have no choice but to risk everything in this place, hoping only to live a life of wealth and honor.
Of course, the giant ice bear that had recently consumed the elixir of heaven and earth had not yet completely neutralized its medicinal properties. If its blood were collected, it could still fetch a very good price.
Thinking of this, the middle-aged cultivator smiled. However, as he approached the corpse of the giant ice bear, his smile suddenly turned serious. He had sensed Wu Heng's presence and held the immortal sword in his hand, his killing intent intense.
"Oh no, we've been exposed..." Wu Heng exclaimed in alarm.
"Boy, you've been hiding your strength quite well, come out!" The middle-aged cultivator grinned sinisterly. He was no longer on guard; Wu Heng's strength was only at the second level of the mortal realm, posing no threat to him whatsoever.
At that very moment, Xuehua's voice rang in Wu Heng's mind: "The blood of that Ice Giant Bear will be of great use to you; you must obtain it!"